— — — — — —
"What if he's lying to us?"
"We're the cursed children… no one's ever going to like us."
"Do you really think that place he talked about — the one that would take us in — actually exists?"
Doubt still lingered in their hearts. The world had been too cruel to them for too long. They no longer knew what was real and what wasn't.
While the children hesitated, Kazuma had already stepped into the elevator and left the building behind.
As he walked out, he happened to pass the woman from earlier. He gave her a warm, gentle smile.
Then, without stopping, he headed outside — the little lolis were still waiting for him.
"Huh? I must be seeing things again… maybe I'm too tired from work. I should really take a day off."
The woman rubbed her eyes. For a second, she could've sworn she saw that handsome young man smile at her again — but when she blinked, he was gone.
Was she hallucinating? Maybe being single this long was starting to get to her.
...
Outside, Kazuma found the girls waiting.
"Why the long faces? Did someone bully you again?"
The moment he saw them, he noticed how gloomy they looked — brows furrowed, eyes downcast.
"Master-Onii-Chan," Kayano said softly, "we saw a bunch of people carrying weapons go into the building. They must've been after you."
Mika stepped forward, carefully checking Kazuma from head to toe. Only when she was sure he wasn't hurt did she finally exhale, her eyes welling with tears.
"Why didn't you let us help? We could've fought too."
"We've been training really hard, and we're much stronger now!"
Enju puffed up her cheeks and pounded his chest with her tiny fists — though her eyes were red, her voice trembled with frustration.
They'd finally met someone who cared about them.
They didn't even want to imagine what would happen to them if something happened to Kazuma.
"Onii-Chan, you are the Guild Master, but next time let us help," Kayano said, clutching his hand tightly. "We heal fast, remember? We're not afraid of getting hurt."
Her eyes shimmered. She knew he was just trying to protect them — but they cared about him more than themselves.
"Yeah," Mika added softly, "Mika will protect Onii-Chan from all the bad people."
The girl who feared pain more than anyone was now saying she'd take the hits for him. That alone showed how much he meant to them.
"You girls do heal quickly," Kazuma said, "but getting hit still hurts. You don't like pain, do you?"
He smiled faintly. "I appreciate the thought, really. But as your guild master, some things are mine to handle."
He ruffled their hair one by one. They'd given him their trust — the least he could do was return it with honesty.
"Alright, enough worrying. First, let's get everyone cleaned up. After that, we'll go shopping for new clothes."
"And then," he added with a grin, "we'll grab a big meal. After that, we can go have some fun."
"Yay! I wanna go somewhere high and see the view!"
"I wanna try that fluffy thing called cotton candy!"
"I… I wanna taste real rice."
Their sadness melted away instantly. No matter how tough the world had been to them, they were still kids — their moods could turn on a dime.
"Um… we don't really need new clothes," Kayano murmured, tugging his sleeve. "These ones are fine. We should save the money instead."
She knew how hard it was to earn money. Even though she wanted to play too, she couldn't bear the thought of wasting it.
That money could buy so much food — enough for them to eat well for a long time. They wouldn't have to starve anymore. No more grass. No more garbage.
"Being thrifty is good," Kazuma said, smiling, "but enjoying the fruits of your labor is good too. You work hard, you deserve to enjoy it. That's our guild's second rule."
He straightened up proudly. "If the gods gave you talent, don't let it go to waste. Money spent will come back easily."
With that, he led the little ones to a nearby bathhouse. Of course, they would bathe separately — he wasn't that kind of Onii-Chan.
...
"Okay," Kayano said sweetly, holding his hand. "We'll listen to you, Onii-Chan."
For once, she didn't have to be responsible. She could just be a little girl, free to act spoiled and carefree.
"Um… what does that 'Money spent will come back easily' you said mean?" Enju tilted her head. "Does it mean poor people are dumb?"
Kazuma chuckled. "Not quite. It just means if we're strong enough, we can always make the money back."
He paused, realizing how little they knew about the world. Education… that was something they'd need to work on.
Reading, math, capitalism, basic knowledge — he'd have to teach them all that. The problem was… he was never that good at education himself.
He sighed. "Guess I'll figure it out as we go."
When they reached the bathhouse, the owner stepped forward awkwardly.
"Uh… sir, I'm not against serving the cursed children, but we still have other customers, so maybe—"
Before the man could finish, Kazuma tossed a thick wad of cash onto the counter.
"Not anymore. I'm renting the whole place today. And wipe that look off your face — if I see you frowning at the girls again, I'll hold your head underwater until the bubbles stop."
"Don't get it, and you won't live to regret it."
That was more than enough money to cover a private booking. The bathhouse was empty anyway — it was daytime, and business only picked up at night.
"Y-yes, of course! You're absolutely right, sir!"
The owner's expression flipped instantly. He grinned, clutching the money. Who cared if they were cursed children? Cash was cash.
"Heheh, finally, clean water!" Enju cheered. "I heard a bathhouse feels amazing, but I've never tried it before!"
Then she sprinted straight into the men's section.
"Hold it! Wrong door!" Kazuma caught her mid-run. "See that sign? That means it's for girls. If you can't read, just look at the color — blue's for men, red or pink's for women."
He sighed. "Forget it. I'll just show you how everything works."
He brought the girls into the women's section and patiently explained how to use all the bathhouse amenities.
"Technically, men aren't allowed in here," he muttered, "but since I rented the whole place, it's fine."
The owner thought about stopping him — then remembered the part about being drowned. He wisely decided to stay quiet.
A few minutes later, the girls were laughing and splashing around, finally learning how to bathe properly.
"Wow! The water's so warm! Not cold at all!"
"This soap stuff smells so good and feels slippery… do you think it tastes good?"
"No! You can't eat that! It's for washing, not eating!"
"Waaah! Kayano-nee, the bubbles got in my eyes! It hurts!"
"Hey! Keep it down in there!" Kazuma called from the other side of the wall, shaking his head with a helpless smile. "And Mika — keep your eyes closed when you wash your hair!"
"Okay, Onii-Chan!" came the chorus of giggles and replies.
For once, the cursed children sounded like what they truly were — just ordinary, happy little girls.
...
Not long after, they finished their baths—thankfully, without any awkward "oops, wrong side" h-anime nonsense. And Kazuma had already taught them how to wear bathrobes before leaving the wash area.
"You're all squeaky clean now. So cute. Here—one bottle of milk each. Drink up, then we'll go buy you some clothes."
He handed out cold bottles of milk. The girls sat together on a long bench, clinked bottles, and drank in one go before sighing in unison.
"I'm the cutest!"
Freshly bathed, Enju was practically glowing with confidence. She tugged on Kazuma's sleeve, climbed halfway into his lap, and puffed up proudly.
"M-Mika's kind of cute too, right?"
Mika, sitting beside him, held his hand and looked up timidly. Unlike Enju's energetic sparkle, her soft, gentle demeanor made her seem fragile—almost too delicate for the world.
"This one's dangerous when she grows up," Kazuma thought. "One glance from her and a hundred idiots will line up to play hero."
Kayano didn't say a word. She just reached out, gently hooked a finger around his, and looked up at him with big, expectant eyes. She didn't need to speak—the message was clear: "Me too?"
"You're all adorable," Kazuma said, chuckling. He patted each of their heads, then grabbed a comb and hair dryer, ready to help them dry off.
"Ow! Onii-Chan, softer! You're pulling too hard!"
"That's not how you brush hair! You have to go with the direction it grows!"
"Onii-Chan, I want twin tails!"
"Waaah! That's not twin tails, that's poop buns! You're bullying me!"
"That's it! I quit! You can all do your own hair—and if you can't, I'll just hire a stylist!"
Kazuma threw down the brush in defeat. Who knew brushing hair came with this many rules? He'd never had to care before—short hair was simple.
Twin tails looked easy. Grab the hair, tie it up, done. But somehow, every time he tried, it either sagged or slipped apart.
"How do Lucy and Mira do this so casually while eating lunch?!" he grumbled.
"Onii-Chan is so dumb," Enju teased.
"I think the word is 'dopey,'" Mika added thoughtfully.
"Hehe, but it's fine! We don't mind if Onii-Chan's dumb."
Their laughter filled the room again—light, warm, and carefree.
They really had changed.
Before, a joke like that would've made them flinch, afraid they'd said something wrong. But now, they laughed together. They'd learned that Kazuma wasn't someone to fear—he was family. And family could tease each other without worry.
While the bathhouse echoed with laughter, far away in the Ministry of Defense, a very different kind of noise filled the air.
"Gentlemen," the official at the podium began, "the reason I've gathered you here today is simple. A new organization has surfaced—one calling itself a 'guild.'"
"The Fairy Tail Guild."
He clicked a button, and the lights dimmed. "They're made up of outer Area initiators—feral ones. And they've been spreading dangerous, subversive ideas about overturning the existing world order."
"Several Cursed Children have already been influenced. Some even tried to join them."
He smiled coldly. "But don't worry. We've taken those girls into custody. They'll be… corrected soon enough."
The men in the room shifted uneasily, a flicker of pain crossing their faces. They could picture it—the agony those little girls would go through.
But in the end, they were just Cursed Children. If a few died, replacements could always be found out in the outer districts.
And a few of them even owned some already—treated them like pets. So no big deal, just trash.
"This Fairy Tail is dangerous."
The official continued, "it poses a serious threat. I want all of you to cooperate in eliminating it."
He turned to the screen and brought up a series of photos. Blood. Bodies. Shattered walls.
"Those… those are ranked security agents!" one man gasped.
"And the ones inside—those are mercenaries! I know a few of them—they're not pushovers!"
"Sir, zoom in on that photo."
The official obliged. The image expanded.
Gasps filled the room.
"All of them… one-hit kills."
"Look at their eyes—they're still wide open. They didn't even see it coming."
"That means whoever did this was faster than their reaction time," someone muttered, a chill in his voice.
"Exactly. Every one of these positions covers the entire room—no blind spots. For them all to die without reacting, the attacker must've been unbelievably fast."
Among the attendees was an ex-mercenary. He knew exactly how cautious professionals like these were—and that made it even scarier.
'They never even got the chance to fight back.'
He swallowed. "Sir, how many people were there? Who struck first? What kind of weapons did they use?"
The official sighed. "We don't know. We only have these photos. All we can confirm is that there were six people: one adult man and five Cursed Children."
He hesitated before adding, "As for weapons or combat style—we have no data at all."
The room fell silent.
"Wait," someone said sharply. "Didn't your forces engage them? How can you know nothing?"
Every eye turned to the official. Suspicion was written on every face. The Ministry had a reputation for using private agents as cannon fodder—and hiding key intel until it was too late.
Under their accusing stares, the official's expression wavered. Finally, he exhaled.
"Everyone we sent, aside from the Cursed Children, is dead. The man who acted… was named Kazuma, the guild master of Fairy Tail."
He lowered his voice. "No one saw what he did. He just… walked. And then everyone was dead."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
He didn't fight. He walked.
And they all died.
Cold dread crept up every spine in the room. No one wanted this mission anymore. Facing monsters was one thing—mindless beasts could be killed. But this? This was suicide.
Then, from a dark corner, a low, distorted voice suddenly echoed through a speaker.
"Well, well. You've all been chatting quite a bit."
The official froze.
"I have to say, listening to you was entertaining. You clowns really think you run the show, don't you?"
The voice chuckled—a quiet, mirthless sound that made the air feel colder.
"So here's a little game, kill that official standing in front of you, and I'll let the rest of you walk out alive."
"Otherwise…" The laughter sharpened into something cruel. "You're all dying here today."
.
.
.