Chapter 27: The Twin Sisters  

"Crunch~"

Cheap wooden boots stepped on dry branches as two small figures ran swiftly through the dense, obstacle-filled forest.

"Sister, I... I can't run anymore!"

The younger girl, Kurome, was exhausted. Since being taken by the slave traders, she had only been given enough food to barely survive.

After entering the forest and encountering various dangerous beasts, her stamina had been severely depleted during their escape. Now, she could barely move.

"Keep going, Kurome. Don't give up."

Akame encouraged her sister, but the roars of the beasts behind them were getting closer.

"Ah~"

Kurome, too weak to continue, stumbled and fell, tripped by a vine on the ground.

"Kurome!"

Akame immediately stopped.

"Don't worry about me, sister. Run!"

Kurome, lying on the ground, her eyes red from the pain of the fall and fear, shouted at her sister.

The wolf-like danger beast chasing them, seeing the fallen girl, pounced.

"Don't hurt my sister!"

Akame drew the only weapon she had—a small knife—and charged at the wolf, which was almost as big as her.

Akame was agile, dodging the wolf's bite and stabbing it in the neck.

But the angle was wrong, and the force too weak. The knife only made a shallow cut, and the wolf shook its head, throwing Akame to the ground.

An injured beast is dangerous. The wolf turned its attention to Akame, who was dazed from the fall, and prepared to finish her off.

"Don't hurt my sister!"

Just as the wolf was about to bite Akame, Kurome, having gotten up, seemed to tap into some hidden strength. She stabbed the wolf in the abdomen, and with the momentum of her charge, the knife sliced open the wolf's belly.

The wolf tried to retaliate, but Akame, now back on her feet, pushed the knife deeper into its neck.

With a final howl, the wolf, the size of a calf, collapsed, defeated by the twin sisters.

"Kurome, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. What about you, sister?"

"I'm fine too. We survived."

The two girls collapsed on the wolf's body, feeling the relief of having survived a near-death experience.

But the relief didn't last long. Low growls echoed from the surrounding forest.

The final howl of the wolf had summoned the rest of the pack.

"Akame."

Kurome was pulled behind her sister as Akame drew the bloodied knife from the wolf's neck, facing the three new wolf-like danger beasts.

"Sister..."

Kurome also gripped her bloodied knife, standing close to her sister. They were surrounded.

"I'll hold them off. You run."

Akame whispered.

"I won't leave. I'll fight with you."

Kurome shook her head, refusing to abandon her sister.

"Idiot, only if you run can I escape."

"Sister..."

"Don't cry. Mom and Dad are gone, but we must survive."

"Yes, I will..."

Before Kurome could finish, a voice interrupted.

"Excuse me, is this for me to eat?"

Broly had just crossed over and encountered two girls the Crystal Palace identified as potential targets.

**[Akame, current happiness value: 0]**

**[Kurome, current happiness value: 0]**

Beside them lay a fresh kill. Broly, having given his last box of pork cutlet rice to his father, was now hungry. So, he asked the two girls he had just met.

"Huh?"

The sudden appearance of the boy startled the sisters.

"Where did you come from?"

Akame asked warily, pulling her sister closer.

"Me? I just crossed over."

Broly answered honestly.

"Crossed over?"

Before the sisters could understand what "crossed over" meant, one of the wolves pounced.

"Watch out!"

Akame warned, but her voice cut off as the wolf's jaws clamped down on Broly's head.

However, it wasn't Broly who bled. The wolf's teeth shattered from the impact.

"Don't make my head all sticky."

Broly disliked the sticky feeling, which reminded him of Vampa spiders. He kicked the wolf lightly.

Though he didn't use much force, the wolf's eyes bulged, its spine protruding from its back as blood sprayed everywhere.

The gruesome scene didn't deter the other two wolves. Instead, the blood only enraged them further.

Their eyes turned red, and a faint red glow surrounded them as they charged like rabid dogs.

But with two loud thuds, Broly smashed their heads, adding more meat to his food supply in this new world.

"Blood doesn't taste good."

Broly, thirsty, lifted one of the headless wolf corpses and drank from the stump. After a few sips, he spat out the blood, his tongue red.

His palate, spoiled by normal food, found the blood unpalatable. During his first crossing, he had thought the Crest Worms were tasty, but now, the first taste of this world's food was revolting.

"Of course, it's blood, and from danger beasts at that."

Akame muttered, but she quickly pulled her sister back as the boy, resembling a wild child, offered the headless wolf corpse to them.

"Do you want some? I can share."

Akame: "..."

"Why would you offer us something you find disgusting?"

Kurome asked directly.

"Because I don't want to drink blood, but I also don't want to waste it."

Broly answered honestly.

The twin sisters: "..."

The logic was flawless.

"Anyway, thank you for saving me and my sister."

Akame said sincerely. Without this boy's sudden appearance, she and her sister might have died here, just like the other children killed by the danger beasts.

"No need to thank me. Helping you is what I should do."

Broly said happily. The Crystal Palace was reminding him that the happiness values of the two girls were steadily rising. In just a short while, Akame's happiness had reached 12, and Kurome's was at 9.

"My wives' happiness is my happiness."

Thinking of the 21 happiness points that could be converted into food once they joined the Crystal Palace, Broly couldn't help but salivate.

But according to his father Paragus's instructions, he had to maximize their happiness values before inviting them into the Crystal Palace. Otherwise, he would lose out on a lot of happiness points.

"Wives?"

Akame was confused.

"It means best friends."

Broly explained.

"I want to be your best friend."

He reached out to them.

"What are you doing?"

Seeing the boy who had just smashed a wolf's head with a single punch, both Akame and Kurome instinctively took a step back.

"Of course, to shake hands. This is how one of my best friends taught me to make friends (find wives)."

"Uh..."

The twin sisters exchanged glances. Sensing no malice from the boy, they relaxed and extended their small hands to shake Broly's.

"Shake hands, good friends. From today on, you two are my best friends in this world. Oh, do you want to eat some meat?"

"Huh?"

The topic shifted quickly, but Broly's words weren't surprising. He was always more interested in food.

Moreover, back when he used to eat with Fujimura Taiga, her happiness value would skyrocket.

That's right, Broly had already employed what he considered his first move for increasing happiness values:

**[Invite your wives to eat with you!]**

After their parents died, Akame had matured beyond her years due to the need to care for her sister.

"This place is dangerous. Let's find a safer spot to eat."

But this maturity didn't stop her from feeling hungry and wanting to eat.

"Okay."

Broly didn't see any danger here, but he didn't argue with his best friends. He simply grabbed some vines, tied up the four wolf carcasses, and slung them over his shoulder. This was his and his best friends' food supply.

"Help... help me!"

Not far into their journey, Broly and the twin sisters encountered a patch of carnivorous flowers. These dangerous plants usually remained still, but if prey came close, they would snap their large petals shut, trapping and digesting their victims.

Normally, these flowers survived by catching insects and small animals, but with children now wandering into their territory, the flowers had begun feasting.

The girl crying for help was half-swallowed by one of the flowers, her face filled with terror. The other children passing by avoided the dangerous patch, too focused on reaching the safety of the forest's center.

Akame was no different. She was about to bypass the carnivorous flowers when she noticed Broly setting down the wolf carcasses.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"Isn't she asking for help? She looks like she wants to get out. I'm going to help her."