He couldn't figure it out, but he didn't ask any further questions.
This was Rita's own business, and it did him no harm whatsoever.
Bill, standing nearby, was also very surprised by Rita's words, but merely smiled along with her.
Meanwhile, somewhere within the Jifunola Sea of Trees.
"Si... Sister... I can't walk anymore."
A little girl wearing only a thin cloak, her face smeared with blood of all kinds of colors, spoke between ragged breaths.
She wore skintight clothes like workout gear. Her short black hair resembled a swallowtail; though it had been cut rather poorly, it made her look spirited.
"We're almost at the finish line. Keep going, Kurotama!"
Hearing the little girl's words, Akame, who was walking ahead of her, slightly turned her head and spoke seriously. Her face was just as filthy, sweat streaming down without pause. Her stamina was also nearing its limit.
She was dressed similarly to the little girl named Kurotama, except her hair was slightly longer and her eyes were crimson red.
However, after they walked a little farther, a horrifying sight suddenly entered their view.
Before them, many children about their age were being devoured alive by Dangerous Species resembling man-eating flowers. Blood and all kinds of severed limbs were scattered across the path ahead.
The sound of bones being crushed made their hearts tremble. The two little girls, only seven or eight years old, were so frightened that they froze, even forgetting to run.
"W-we're going to be eaten!"
Kurotama stared at the horrifying scene before her with terror in her eyes, muttering blankly as tears faintly streamed down her face.
"We can't go this way. We'll take another route!"
Akame, beside little Kurotama, hurriedly grabbed her arm and led her in another direction, comforting her as she said,