#24 Akame and Kurome

"You are exaggerating, heh. By the way, this is Ichika, my guardian." I said while pointing at Ichika standing next to me who was completely silent ever since we entered the camp.

Gozuki just nodded at her and she returned the gesture.

"Hm? And you are...?" I asked with a smile while looking at the bald man standing near Gozuki.

"You can call me Uncle Bill, I am the one supervising this exam. I heard that you want to participate in it...is there any specific reason for it?" He introduced himself with a slight bow and then asked me with an intriguing expression.

Yeah, the main reason was to recruit one of the survivors to our house and then to show off that our house isn't so formidable just for show. I wanted to say but I stopped myself.

It will be much better if I will act all innocent. This might give them a much stronger impression of me.

"I think that mister Gozuki will inform you of the specific reason later, but that wouldn't be enough for me to come here personally. I simply wanted to go and play with other kids, there aren't many kids in the Capital so I wasn't able to make any friends...Although I am slightly older, I don't think it will pose any problem to make a few friends from here!" I closed my eyes and said with a bright smile.

["Survive" in the Gifnora Forest inhabited by Danger Beasts]

[Condition: Play around in the forest]

[Bonus: Make at least 1 friend that will actually survive without your help]

[Reward: +2 Free stat points]

[Bonus Reward: +2 to all stats]

[Failure: Impossible to fail...]

When I opened my eyes I noticed that both of them were looking at me with a surprised expression. Uncle Bill's eyes even began twitching for a little while.

---

'This kid...we are trying to find the best candidates for training assassins and he is saying that he wants to play around in that forest?! This makes me want to cough out blood. Plus...what does he mean by the main reason? There is something else other than participating? Why haven't Gozuki informed me about this?!' Uncle Bill thought while glancing at Gozuki who just shook his head.

---

Whoa! What a nice and easy quest but what does "friend" mean? Do I have to make that person trust me? It will be kinda hard if I can't even help them but neither the "help" is specified. Maybe I can save him once but I can't actually lead him out of the forest. Maybe it's "make him trust me but don't make him dependable on me" kind of quest, hehe.

"Anyway, it seems that you are about to start, here you go Ichika." I muttered and then handed my family's heirloom sword to Ichika.

"There is no need for you to do that. All kids will be given their weapons so you don't need to get rid of your own weapon." Gozuki said and jumped down from the top of the dead Danger beast.

...That katana attached to his belt must be Teigu...those strange markings on its scabbard look like a seal. That weapon must be really dangerous.

I thought while taking a quick glance at his katana but this didn't go unnoticed by someone strong like Gozuki.

---

'...Did he just glance at my Murasame? This kid really isn't just a normal kid, those eyes were full of caution before they returned to their usual boring state.' Gozuki thought when he noticed Akashi's quick glance.

---

"No no, I wouldn't want to be in advantage because of a weapon. Others might become jealous and I wouldn't be able to make any friends." I quickly waved my hands to show that it's unacceptable.

"Alright, you can continue." Gozuki just nodded at me and then said to Uncle Bill.

----When men lead the children into the forest----

"...Are you sure you don't need to guard him?" Uncle Bill asked while looking at Ichika who was leaning against a tree with closed eyes.

"Hm? There is no need, in this forest, there are only a weaker types of Danger beasts." Ichika opened her eyes and answered with a confident expression before closing her eyes once again.

"*Why is that kid here, Gozuki?!*" Uncle Bill whispered to Gozuki with an angered expression.

"*I promised his father to give them 1 survivor of the test.*" Gozuki answered with a calm expression.

"*You did what?! So that's why he is here but why would he want to participate in this too? There is no advantage in doing this. Is he doing that because he doesn't want us to think that he is here just to make sure that the one who is sent to them is the real survivor?*" Uncle Bill muttered with a thoughtful expression.

"*I am not sure but that kid is definitely not weak.*" Gozuki replied.

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

They even forced us to split up so we wouldn't depend on each other.

I was given just some shitty quality dagger. Are they really expecting those kids to survive with those weapons? Well...I won't need to use it.

I thought and attached the dagger to my belt and then looked in the sky with both of my hands in my pockets.

Who should I try to find? That kid with blond hair and golden eyes looked quite determined, he has a lot of potential but I wonder if I can find him. There were also those black-haired twins, well, at least one of them looked determined, the other one was more scared than determined but she also looked younger so it's understandable.

...As I was thinking about where should I go with an absent-minded expression while looking in the sky, I heard some wailing near me.

I turned my head in the direction of the sound.

...Is that plant type Danger beast? It must have been burned by my passive [Child of Fire]. But really, it must have been really weak that I didn't even notice it attack me. I guess that passive skill is also making me ignore threats that can be countered by this ability.

I started hearing a lot of hissing sounds and other unrecognizable sounds all around me but I didn't feel any danger.

"Hehe, this should have been hell for those kids, I will return the favor and make it also hell for the Danger beasts." I muttered with a crazy smile.

Let's move!

I started to walk into a random direction and Danger beasts immediately started jumping at me from all sides but all of them were burned 1 meter in front of me. I guess they will attack me even more since that passive skill also must make me look unguarded when it looks like I am not even aware of those weaklings.

...

Hehe, at least, I don't need to worry about getting lost since everywhere I go there are a few limbs of the Danger beasts lying on the ground.

I already met a few dead kids, mostly eaten alive. Even though I am accustomed to seeing death, it's still a bit disturbing to see small kids die.

Hm? Looks like I have found the twins.

I thought when I noticed then running away from a few Danger beasts some distance away from me.

...

"B-big sis! I can't...run any longer!" A girl with short black hair said with a ragged breath while supporting herself by holding her knees.

"You can do it, Kurome! We are almost out!" Replied the other girl who looked almost identical to the first girl with the exception of the length of her hair and her height.

I was slowly following them by jumping from branches of the trees to other branches. But even the trees weren't safe from the Danger beasts and maybe even more ferocious ones were up here. Unfortunately, to me, they were just little weaklings that burned away in a second once they attempted to attack me.

Hm? Let's see how they will cope with that.

I thought when I noticed that they were headed to the swarm of plant types Danger beasts that were busy feasting on their preys.

...

"?! A-are they being eaten alive?!" The girl named Kurome immediately had a horrified expression when she saw the sight in front of her.

Nope, they are already dead, thankfully. Even I wouldn't want to look at how these weaklings are eating kids alive. Thankfully, they are hunting for a food and not for fun or it would look differently.

"We can't go that way! Let's go back!" The other girl grabbed Kurome's hand and forced her to look away from that horrible sight.

"I-" Kurome started to tremble but the other girl forced her to look at her.

"Don't worry, I am here with you." The other girl said with a determined expression without any fear in her eyes.

Whoa, those eyes are pretty insane for a kid. She is really a fearless genius. It's already given that she will definitely survive, most likely together with her sister.

"...Mm!" After a few seconds of hesitation, Kurome nodded her head and calmed down, replacing her fear with a new determination.

Hmm...Those sisters are definitely strong together. But knowing the Empire...they won't allow two of them to be in the same unit. This might end up with them hating the one who split them up. I can only take one person with me...it will be hard to decide but I don't want to split these sisters. Not because I would feel guilty or anything but because I don't want the one who would follow me to hate me.

They started to run once again but they spent too much time standing still so some wolves like Danger beasts were able to catch up to them. One of them jumped on Kurome from behind, trying to bite her into neck.

"Kurome!! Get away from my sister!" The other girl shouted and firmly drove that shitty dagger into the beast's neck, ultimately killing it.

Oh? Good reflexes but there are still 2 more. To be honest, I feel kinda guilty because the second one is my fault. It wasn't like I wanted it to follow them but I somehow caught its interest but when it noticed that I am too high for it to reach, it decided to follow the wailing sound of its nearby kin.

When the other girl was occupied with the first beast, the second one jumped on her from behind and she couldn't do anything else but helplessly glare at it.

"G-go away from my sister!" Kurome who had horrified expression suddenly shouted and jumped at the beast with her own dagger. She was able to kill it as her sister did and she finally rested her body on the dead beast but there was still that 3rd beast I have unintentionally lead it to them.

"Kurome, look out!!" The girl shouted at her sister but she was too far away from them while the beast was already ready to bite Kurome's neck.

...Shit, I guess that's as far as they can go...I should have hidden my presence. I would have never thought that I would cause someone misfortune by my arrogance, heh.

I thought and scratched the back of my head with a forced smile.

[Phantom Strike] I used my skill to blink towards the enemy in a second.

I loudly snapped my fingers.

*whoosh* *whoosh* *whoosh*

[Energy: 640/655]

3 flames appeared out of nowhere, consuming all 3 beasts.

"Ahh!" Kurome exclaimed in surprise when the beast she was resting on suddenly disappeared without any trace, making her fall on the ground.

A little dimwitted?

"Kurome! Are you alright?" The other girl totally ignored my presence and run up to her sister to check on her wounds.

"W-what was that?" Kurome just shook her head and tried to make up some logical reason why the beast disappeared so suddenly.

"You are..." The other girl finally raised her head and saw me standing a few meters away from them with a smile and my hands behind my back.

---

'He is that kid who came by himself and even talked to those 2...How come there isn't even a speck of dirt on his clothes or face?' Kurome's sister thought while hugging Kurome tightly and glaring at me with a cautious expression.

---

"What is going on big sis-?" Finally, even Kurome noticed me and she had no idea how to react so she simply stared at me with a shocked expression.

"What do you want from us?!" The other girl asked me with a hostility visible in her eyes.

"...You know, I have just saved your sister. Can't you at least thank me and tell me your name? Those are the first proper steps on how to show gratitude." I said with an annoyed expression but a small smile was still on my face.

"...It's Akame. That flame was from you?" She said while giving me a suspicious look and immediately asked another question.

"What do you think?" I said with a smile and a flickering flame came directly out of my right eye.