Chapter 25 - #25 Who to choose? (1/2)

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'How is it possible for a flame to come out of his eyes?!' Akame thought with a shocked expression while Kurome had fascinated expression when she saw it.

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”Why did you save me and big sis?” Kurome asked with a confused expression while keeping close to Akame.

”Calm down, I don't want to do anything to you or your sister.” I said with a helpless smile when I saw how Kurome was afraid of me.

”...What's your name?” Akame asked still with a cautious expression but maybe she was starting to feel guilty, after all, I saved her sister yet she was treating me this way.

”Akashi, nice to meet you two.” I said with a small smile and nod.

”...Kurome” Kurome introduce herself but kept on hiding behind Akame's arm. But it was visible that they were slowly dropping their guard down.

”Since you are fine, I think that I can go on.” I said with a smile and began to leave the place.

”W-wait!” I heard Akame's voice so I stopped and turned back at them with a confused expression.

”...Can you lead Kurome out of here safely?” Akame asked me with an uncertain expression. She was hesitating whether to trust me or not.

”Wha-? What are you saying, big sis?!” Kurome immediately grabbed Akame's hand with a shocked expression.

”...I am sorry but I can't, however, don't worry. You two are strong, together, you will be able to leave this forest.” I said with a regrettable expression but I still decided to walk up to them.

”I see...What is it?” Akame muttered with a sad expression but when she saw me approach them, she immediately took a step back and moved Kurome behind her.

”Don't worry, I don't want to do anything bad and even if I wanted to, I would have already done it.” I said while putting my hands up.

”Then what are you trying to do?” Akame eased up a bit but she still asked with a suspicious expression.

”First of all, Kurome-chan, can you please stop hiding? I won't bite you.” I crouched down a bit to match their height and asked with a gentle smile Kurome who was hiding behind Akame.

”...Big sis?” Kurome looked at her sister and Akame simply nodded her head after a few seconds of hesitation.

Kurome finally stopped hiding behind her sister and instead stood right next to her.

”Don't be shocked, alright?” I said and put my hand on their shoulder.

”?!” Akame immediately frowned when I did this without telling them anything, she tried to move away from me but she stopped after feeling a comfortable warmth coming from my hand.

”...What was that?” Akame asked me when I finally retracted my hands while Kurome was just staring at me with a puzzled expression.

”Nothing special but you should be much calmer right now. With rational thinking, you will be able to leave this forest no matter what.” I said and patted their shoulder a few times before turning around to finally leave.

”W-wait! Will we meet again?!” This time it wasn't Akame's voice but Kurome's voice instead which slightly surprised even me.

”Kurome?” Even Akame was surprised by this.

”...Once you leave the forest we will be able to meet again but...I am not sure about the time afterward.” I said with a forced smile since I knew that I could only take 1 person with me back to the Capital.

These sisters have a lot of potential, it's regrettable that I can't take both of them under my wings.

”Anyway, I think you should really go. There are already a lot of Danger beasts around us, I will attract their attention so you just go ahead.” I said while looking around us with my hands once again in my pockets.

”T-thank you!” Akame said with a grateful expression and started running while dragging Kurome behind her.

---When the sisters started to run away---

'I need to get Kurome out of this forest! That's the most important thing!' Akame thought but Kurome's thoughts weren't exactly the same.

”Big sis! Why are we leaving him there all alone?! He saved us and this time he is even attracting attention from those beasts just to buy us some time!” Kurome shouted at her sister with a pleading expression.

”?! We can't help him and he chose to do it himself plus he will be fine.” Akame was shocked by Kurome's outburst but she still explained everything.

”How can you be so sure that he will be fine, big sis?! Didn't you see how many kids already died here?!” Kurome said with moist eyes when she remembered the sight of these dead kids.

”He didn't even have a speck of dirt or blood on his clothes, he will be fine! Trust me and just focus on getting out of here!” Akame said in a commanding tone and Kurome finally quieted down but she still had a skeptical expression.

'...' Kurome didn't know that to think about this encounter so she just kept running while glancing behind her from time to time.

----Akashi's POV----

...I am not sure if I was able to gain Akame's trust in such a short moment of talking with them but it seems that Kurome is a bit different. She seems to be shy and afraid of strangers but her trust is also easier to gain once you show her that she doesn't have to be afraid of you.

I hope this was enough to get that bonus reward.

Anyway...

[Class: Assassin (Lv. 9; +13 Agi, +7 Int, +4 Str, + 2 Cha) 960/2560 XP]

[Special Class: Fire Monarch (Lv. 6; +12 Cha, +10 Int, +9 Const) 204/320 BXP]

They really give me a small number of experiences. I should just run around for a few more minutes before leaving the forest, maybe I will see a few more interesting kids.

...

After a few more minutes of running around the forest, I found 1 particular girl.

Reddish-brown long hair and green eyes, huh? It looks like she is doing pretty good for a kid. Her main power should be in her legs. She is quite fast on her legs and her jumping power is also quite abnormal for a normal kid.

...It doesn't look like she will need any help so there is not a very big chance for me to make any contact with her if I don't want her to be suspicious of me. Anyway...I am really happy to finally see a kid with a flat ċhėst, kids in this world are extremely weird so seeing her almost non-existant ċhėst makes me nostalgically think of my old world.

-----The Empire's camp near the forest----

”There are many more kids than I anticipated” Gozuki muttered when he saw that there was quite a lot of kids alive.

”That kid still has yet to leave the forest...Should we start giving the results to the kids?” Uncle Bill asked with an annoyed expression.

”No, let's wait for him. He has to choose one of the kids, it would be bad if he chose the one with the potential to be my pupil. Therefore we can't give them their ranks yet.” Gozuki shook his head and replied with a calm expression.

”How can you be so sure that he will come out when he is there for so long already.” Uncle Bill asked with a skeptical expression.

”Just look at how at ease his guardian is. Do you think she would take this job lightly? It only shows that- Hm? Looks like he is here.” Gozuki explained but when he noticed a figure walking out of the dense forest, he immediately stopped talking.

Uncle Bill looked towards the forest's entrance and saw Akashi walking out with a smile on his face while he was stretching his arms behind his head.

Kids also noticed Akashi and looked towards him with shocked expressions except for Akame who had complicated expression since she indeed abandoned him there, leaving him only 2 words ”thank you”. Kurome also had a shocked expression but that quickly changed to smile and she waved at Akashi.