— — — — — —
Kazuma watched Tina. His tone sounded casual, like he was asking whether she had breakfast, but the question at its heart was about life and death.
"..."
Tina met his eyes. She panicked, though not because she was afraid of death.
It was because… she wasn't ready to leave this life yet. She wasn't ready to return to that cold reality, knowing she was unloved and unwanted.
"The loudest sorrow is the one that doesn't speak..." Kazuma sighed lightly.
"Tina, you could give me a reason. For example, you came here to assassinate me, but after spending time together, you were moved and gave up the mission. Something like that."
He spoke gently, even though Tina remained silent, head lowered. He already understood her situation.
"…I'm sorry."
Tina didn't try to defend herself. These past days truly had been happy. All her life, she'd been living in pain.
But for these short fifteen days, she felt something close to peace.
She could sleep whenever she wanted during the day, without using caffeine or pain to stay awake. She didn't have to obey orders at night or force herself to do things she hated. She could just be… a kid.
Watching Anime together. Sneaking snacks past midnight. Doing this, doing that, just living.
For the first time in so long, she didn't feel like a weapon. She felt like a normal girl.
"These days were really wonderful. If I could, I'd like to live like this a little longer."
"But the warm sun always sets, and the sweetest dream has to end when morning comes."
"Mr. Kazuma, what happened between us these days… wasn't an act. I really like everyone. But… I am a killer. Completing missions is my role. My reason to exist. If I fail, then I have no purpose. I become nothing."
Her way of addressing him had changed from "Guild Master" to "Mr. Kazuma." She didn't have to explain anything. In the next moment, they would be enemies. But even so, she didn't want him to misunderstand her.
"You've been here a while now," Kazuma said. "Even if you slept through every lecture I gave, you must have heard something."
"When you face an enemy, there's only one rule. Act first. Strike first."
He looked down at her small figure.
"…Mr. Kazuma, can I ask for one thing? If I die, please don't tell the others I was an assassin."
"Tell them I ran away from home. Please."
Tina didn't resist at all. After all, even if by some miracle she defeated Kazuma, the others would kill her afterward.
So better to die here, before the girls she cared about discovered the truth.
"Ran away from home, huh."
Kazuma's eyes also glowed red. The next moment, he moved.
His speed exploded to its absolute limit. Magic, martial technique, killing intent layered together into one.
Blood-red Armament Haki wrapped around his fist. Not only that, but the overwhelming pressure of Conqueror's Haki wove through it as well.
Except it wasn't Conqueror's Haki he wielded. It was pure killing intent, sharpened to the point of becoming real.
Tina felt her body lock in place. She couldn't move at all.
At first she struggled. But only for a second.
Then she stopped.
She was just a child, barely nine. She was tired. So tired.
If this was the end, maybe she could finally rest.
Kazuma's fist shot forward. Power roared into the sky. The heavy clouds overhead shattered apart.
The explosion echoed through Tokyo like the roar of some ancient beast. People woke from sleep in terror.
The cursed children rushed to the scene. And what they saw was this:
"Tina-Chan… Master Onii-Chan…"
They stared at Kazuma, then at Tina lying on the ground, confusion filling their eyes.
What happened? Were they sparring?
"Tina… you could have just stayed like this. Didn't you like this life? Wasn't it enough?" Kayo murmured quietly.
She had noticed something wrong long ago. But she trusted Kazuma's judgment, so she said nothing.
She thought maybe things could stay peaceful. But deep down, she knew this day would come.
"Tina…" Kayano lowered her head. Even knowing Tina might have been the enemy, her heart still ached.
"What's going on? Why is Tina lying on the ground? Did she fall asleep? But she only gets sleepy during the day…"
Enju looked around, bewildered. Everyone else looked solemn or shocked.
She felt like the only one who didn't understand anything.
"Tina might have been sent to assassinate the Guild Master. So today… she acted, and Master defeated her," Kayo said gently.
Enju froze. Her emotions surged.
So Kayo stepped forward and hugged her. The first time she had ever initiated a hug.
"…I don't know about the assassin part," Enju muttered, "but Tina isn't dead."
"I can still hear her heartbeat."
Kayo blinked. Right. She didn't check.
Kazuma loosened his fist. He had mastered full Haki infusion.
He walked forward, lifted Tina up gently, and looked at her tear-soaked face.
"Tina, out there, you may be a cold, efficient killer. But here, with us, you're just a lonely little girl who joined our family."
"Why?" Tina's voice trembled. "Why didn't you kill me? I came here to assassinate you. I—"
"You don't have any killing intent," Kazuma said.
"Not once have you ever looked at me like someone you wanted to kill."
Tina was silent for a second, then she cried.
She cried like the child she actually was.
Tina didn't know why the tears wouldn't stop. The sadness swelled up inside her, unstoppable.
"When assassins try to kill someone, there's always killing intent," Kazuma said quietly. "But you don't have any. Not even a spark of it in your eyes."
"I… I'm a cold-blooded killer who uses any means necessary to complete my mission. I…" Tina's voice trembled.
"What cold-blooded killer? You're just a clueless, softhearted little girl."
He glanced at her with a half-smile.
"You don't have killing intent. You just look silly. Silly and stubborn."
The final punch he threw earlier had been real, without holding back. But using Observation Haki to glimpse seconds ahead, he had seen it in advance:
Tina didn't resist. She didn't dodge. She just stood there and died, smiling weakly and whispering thank you before she fell.
The girls came running afterward. They learned the truth. But even knowing everything, they cried and mourned her.
"Fighting is all I've ever known," Tina said, voice hollow. "But now I've lost. I don't even have the courage to fight. I've lost everything."
"If the organization finds out I failed, then I have no value. I can't go back."
"And I can't stay here either. I don't have any reason to exist anymore."
Her eyes were empty as she stared at the moon hanging in the cold night sky.
For the first time, she was thinking for herself. But she had no idea what she should do. No idea where she could go.
"Meaning of existence?" Kazuma rested a hand gently on her head. "Your existence itself is the meaning. Look. Look at their faces."
Tina lifted her eyes. The lolis watching were worried. Some were crying. Some biting their lips to hold back tears.
"They're… because of me?"
Tina froze. They were crying for her. For her.
She turned to Kazuma again.
"Mr. Kazuma…"
"What did you just call me? You called me Mr. Kazuma before. I let it slide. What should you be calling me from now on?"
"G…Guild Master. Can I stay? I won't run away again."
Her tone was small and childlike, almost pleading.
"You can. After all, we're Fairy Tail—we're family," Kazuma said. "Now, go ahead and reintroduce yourself."
"…Tina. Tina Sprout, of the Fairy Tail guild."
There was determination in her eyes now. The assassin named Silent Killer had died in that moment. What remained was just Tina.
"That's better. Go explain things to the others. I need to take care of something."
He turned to leave, but Tina darted forward and grabbed his hand.
"Tina is coming too."
"Kayo is here."
"Kayano too."
"Uhh.. I'm Enju!"
"...."
All the girls clung to him. They still didn't fully understand what just happened, but they knew one thing:
Tina didn't have to leave. And that was enough to make them happy.
"…So, what are we doing?" Enju tilted her head, still confused.
"Killing," Kazuma said simply. "Once the desire to kill rises, it doesn't just go away. Tina lives, so someone else dies."
"And that organization dared to send an assassin after me. They think they get to sleep peacefully? Never. I always return favors the same night."
"Strike first or be the one who suffers," the girls said together. This time, Tina said it with them.
In the darkness, their eyes glowed faint red. Shadow soldiers rose behind them. Together, they walked toward the enemy.
By morning, the body of Dr. Ayn Rand, one of the Four Sages, was found hanging above a public street. His blood had been used to write Kazuma's name and the guild's.
And somewhere else, the headquarters of that secret organization was nothing but rubble and pulped corpses.
The world woke to terror—thousands dead in a single night.
...
At the Governor Residence in Tokyo
After seeing the pictures, Seitenshi turned pale and vomited.
"What is this organization?"
"It's one of the underground groups in the United States. They take assassination and covert mission contracts. We found a secret branch inside our borders. They were all wiped out by Fairy Tail."
"And not just here. Reports say the main branch in America was annihilated too. Dr. Ayn Rand was killed and strung up in public. Many politicians tied to the organization were killed as well."
"Preliminary numbers show over ten thousand deaths. All high-ranking, heavily protected individuals. And this… all happened in a single night."
Even the one reporting it trembled. Ten thousand people. Eliminated like cutting threads.
"Why? They were living people! Does he not feel any remorse?"
Seitenshi clenched her fists.
"According to our investigation, the organization attempted to assassinate members of Fairy Tail, which provoked retaliation."
The man stopped speaking there, remembering something.
Fairy Tail's brutality and dominance were well-known in Tokyo. Insulting Fairy Tail was like spitting upward and hoping the sky didn't fall.
But Seitenshi didn't understand. "So just because of that? And he didn't even prove they were all involved? Ten thousand people, killed just based on suspicion?"
"Isn't the damage he's already done enough? Gastrea are attacking everywhere, and the Initiators barely fight anymore. They all ran to Fairy Tail. And the moment we try to stop them, Fairy Tail's members show up like they can see the future and wipe out every Promoter on the spot. Whole villages are already gone. So many innocent people have been killed."
The attendant looked at her, pitying her innocence.
Fairy Tail didn't need proof or a reason. When absolute power speaks, evidence is irrelevant.
If Kazuma said you were guilty, then you were already dead.
As for those innocent villages… he remembered the words of one girl: "We're cursed children. So why do you expect us to save you?"
----
At the modified research lab inside the hospital
"Ayn really was a fool. Or maybe blinded by his own confidence." Sumire Muroto typed calmly, reading the incoming news.
"Ten thousand in one night. The message is obvious. Whether or not you were involved, if there's even the slightest connection, then you're a target. So be careful."
She smiled faintly. "A completely unreasonable declaration."
She understood perfectly.
Kazuma was making his stance known: "It is better to kill the innocent than to let the guilty escape."
.
.
.