Chapter 11 - Leo

A small queue stretched from a blue-haired girl with a ladle and a saucepan.

But even this queue was longer than Esdes and Ryuu had expected. There were about twenty people here when they expected to feed eight.

Esdes didn't care, so she wanted to say right away that they would have to decide who gets the food and who doesn't. So she was hoping to see how the homeless would fight for a plate of food, but Ryuu intervened. He suggested simply reducing the portions by half and thus saturating twice as many people.

The most interesting thing is that such a large number of homeless people gathered here only thanks to Mayne, who ran around the slums and notified the homeless about it.

– Stand straight behind each other! Whoever breaks the order will get nothing! – menacingly twirling the ladle, Esdes said

The queue of those wishing calmed down, as soon as the commanding voice of the Esdes erupted.

– "A born commander." – Ryuu thought with a smile, leaning against the wall nearby. He watched his sister with a lazy smile, who accepted sincere words of gratitude from the homeless when they received their food. – Dear sister, more affection and tenderness in your voice, as we agreed! Ryuu said loudly

Esdes twitched her eyebrow and smiled as tightly as possible – Is that okay?

– Not bad, but you can do better.

After a while, the food in the pot ran out and Esdes clearly showed this to all the homeless who did not have enough food by turning the pan over – that's it.

Only three slum dwellers did not get food, and this list included Mayne herself, which undoubtedly upset her very much.

While she was notifying the others, they took their places in the queue. Moreover, she lost her original place in the crowd and, as a result, she ended up at the very end.

Clenching her fists in bitterness, she sat on the threshold of the destroyed house and tried not to cry, looking at the ground under her feet, although it was difficult for her, because large drops of tears hung in the corners of her eyes, risking rolling down her cheeks.

Suddenly, a full plate of food appeared before her eyes–Here you go.

Mayne looked up in surprise and saw that Ryuu had come up to her completely unnoticed. He was handing his plate of food to the girl, and nearby, Esdes was squinting at it.

–M-me?" Mayne asked uncertainly, rolling her eyes

–Who else?" Ryuu smiled with his trademark sweet smile, which almost hypnotized the girl. She stared at him without blinking and contemplated his face and smile as if he were a sculpture or a painting.

– Aw~u? Take it. – seeing that Main had lost touch with reality, Ryuu, grinning, thrust the plate into the frozen hands of the girl and, leaving, said finally – You did well by inviting all of them, but from now on think the same about yourself.

– Well, why did you do it? Esdes asked lazily at once–It was supposed to be a lesson to her.

– She already understood everything, there is no need to make this lesson more traumatic. Ryuu replied with a smile, winking at his sister

– Pf, from where only in your heart it's all. Sometimes I feel like you're not my brother. We are so different from each other. Esdes shook her head

Ryuu shrugged his shoulders and nudged his sister in the side with his elbow, asked with a smile – Well, how do you help the weaker ones? It was nice to hear the words of gratitude, and? It's nice to help others?

Esdes raised her head and rested her chin on her index finger while she thought– Hmm, well, this is much nicer than I expected, however...

- what? Ryuu asked with interest, already satisfied with the result

– They praised me, showered me with words of gratitude based on their benefits. Just from everything. Esdes spread her hands

– Huh? Ryuu raised an eyebrow

– It is in their interest to keep me interested in this charity, because in this case I could, for example, feed them, like this, more often. They will choose the words that I would like to hear to amuse my ego and sense of fulfilled civic duty. – smiling, Esdes said – Everything so that I would not give up this idea and continue to feed them like this. This is not gratitude, only the expectation that I will feed them more often.

Ryuu sighed, because he understood that Esdes' guess was very close to the truth, if it wasn't at all. The words of this astute girl are quite harsh, but they are true and it is quite difficult to argue with this.

– Not without this, Esdes, you can't blame them for this, since their situation is already deplorable. It's almost about survival...

– Exactly. – Esdes smiled – When it comes to survival, all moral principles, traditional foundations and justice itself go back several plans. A person shows himself to be real.

Ryuu shook his head and smiled, saying – But remember that pink-haired girl. She went to call the others, although it reduced her chances of getting a portion of food.

Esdes waved it off – It's not from kindness, but from short-sightedness. In the end, she would have been left empty-handed if it wasn't for you. It is impossible to be kind when you have nothing yourself. Accept, brother, that my vision of the world is more rational and sound. Father didn't lie when he taught us. Good, evil, justice... People think about all this only when they are sure that tomorrow they have something to eat and where to spend the night.

– You know me, Esdes, my point of view cannot be shaken somehow.

Esdes grinned–Stupid, but that's what I like about you, brother.

...

Making their way through the thickets, two small, black-haired girls ran away.

– Hurry up, Kurome! It's close! the eldest of them shouted

– Akame, I can't. – crying, almost hysterical, Kurome said. Her right foot was bloody.

– Damn it! Akame said when she saw her sister's foot. She stopped and quickly knelt down in front of Kurome – Show me.

Kurome humbly lifted her leg, whimpering and Akame saw a good hole in the girl's foot. There were, in the forest of Gifnor, in addition to dangerous animals, there were also equally dangerous plants, so it's easier to step on the thorns of one of them, especially for a barefoot three-year-old girl.

– Grraaaaaaar! The guttural roar made the sisters' insides jump with fear

Akame bit her lip and resolutely said, turning her back to her sister – Get in. Quickly!

Without bickering, Kurome quickly climbed onto her sister's back, hugging her waist with her legs – Sorry, sorry, sorry... – she whispered, burying her face in the top of Akame's head and crying

Meanwhile, Akame quickly got to her feet and resolutely ran.

– Don't apologize, it's all right. We will survive, Kurome.

However, Kurome continued to apologize, as if not hearing her sister.

An Earthen Lion was running after them. He had excellent armor, but low speed and mobility, and therefore the girls still managed to avoid his paws.

With the injury to Kurome, now their speed has significantly decreased and Akama had to run along the razor's edge when she barely had time to run under the roots of an ancient tree and break away from her pursuer for a while.

Suddenly Akame saw smoke in the sky. – "A bonfire? Camp!" she quickly realized

For a moment Akame bit her lip – "They may be as weak as we are..." – she thought, but after looking at the pitiful face of her beloved sister, Akame clenched her jaw and ran towards the supposed camp – "Sorry, sorry, sorry..." – she said in her head

...

Half a minute later, Akame jumped out into the clearing and immediately shouted – Help! Help me!

However, when she saw two blue-haired children who were only a little older than herself... The girl's insides were ready to turn over from annoyance and bitterness

– Rrraaaaarr! – the lion roared, behind Akame, rushing into the clearing

It was a ten-meter monster, vaguely resembling a lion. Instead of wool, brown armor, which can easily be confused with ordinary dirt and stones. Large claws, like the paws themselves, gave a good arsenal of attacks.

Due to his slow speed, he couldn't hunt most of the beasts, so he had to adapt and acquire an excellent disguise for ambushes.

Meanwhile, Ryuu and Esdes stared in surprise at the guests who had arrived. They thought that some kind of beast was rushing towards them, which was nothing new. And it turned out that someone needed their help.

- "Akame and Kurome... What a meeting! First Mine, now you... Today is just my day, I see." – thought Ryuu, getting up from the stump

Squinting, Esdes noticed something - "They look quite plaintive... It is clear that they are not finishing... Oh! If we save them, then I can persuade Ryuu to cook something! Even the meat itself came running to us, it's a sin not to use it. God, how kind I am." – she chuckled contentedly and shouted to Ryuu – Throw me at this lion, faster!

Ryuu smiled and immediately understood what his sister wanted. They did this quite often, especially when they were hunting prey that flew in the sky.

Running up, he picked up the Esdes and threw it with all his might, like a torpedo, straight at the lion.

At great speed, Esdes flew twenty meters, leaving the shocked Akame and Kurome behind.

The lion did not even have time to raise his huge heavy paw, as Esdes slashed with all her strength at the lion's neck with her falchion.

Esdes flew a few more meters and landed gently on the ground.

Turning, she saw with a proud smile how the lion's head fell on its side. The falchion was not long enough to completely sever the neck, so that the head hung on the remnants of tendons and skin.