"Rentaro, why do you look so gloomy? Aren't you happy to be out with me?"
Enju skipped down the street, holding Rentaro's hand.
"I'm just thinking about Hiruko Kagetane. He stole something and has been gone for a day and a night."
Rentaro paused slightly, not telling Enju the news he had just heard from the doctor.
"Don't worry, we'll definitely catch that big bad guy and get our stuff back from that little shorty."
Compared to the worried Rentaro, Enju was full of confidence: "How's my Gastrea invasion rate?"
"Hmm, no change, still twenty-four percent."
After every battle, Rentaro would bring Enju here to check her Gastrea invasion rate.
This time was no exception.
Because after high-intensity combat, the Gastrea invasion rate of Cursed Children would increase, even with inhibitors.
When the Gastrea invasion rate exceeded 50%, Cursed Children would transform into Gastrea.
But what he didn't know was...
Because of his trust in Sumire, he never imagined that this doctor, who was like an elder to him, would deceive him.
In the basement they had just left, the purple-haired female doctor looked at the medical report in front of her with sleepy eyes.
And the Gastrea invasion rate percentage was clearly written: 39.7%.
"I hope you won't hate me, Rentaro."
Looking at the numbers in front of her, Sumire murmured to herself.
"Only by raising your rank will you have the authority to know more things. If you knew this child's Gastrea invasion rate, you definitely wouldn't let her fight anymore. But it's fine… The upcoming events shouldn't be borne by these children."
Closing the report on the computer, Sumire looked at her laboratory, calculating what she needed to take with her.
...
"Rentaro, Rentaro, look there!"
Enju, who was holding Rentaro's hand, suddenly started shaking Rentaro's arm.
"What is it? I don't have any more money to buy you things."
Rentaro thought Enju had seen something she wanted to buy again, but when he looked over, he saw a somewhat astonishing scene.
A large group of children walked down the street.
Like children from a school on an outing, two or three hundred children swayed down the street, but this group consisted only of girls.
In front of them, a gray-haired girl constantly shook a chess piece in her hand, making sure the children behind didn't fall behind.
"These are… Cursed Children…"
Looking at these two or three hundred children, everyone around them moved away as they walked down the street.
It wasn't out of politeness to children; from their expressions, it was clear these people feared these children.
Because their eyes were the blood-red color unique to Cursed Children.
"Why are there so many Cursed Children?!"
Rentaro stared blankly at the scene before him. One Promoter could only be paired with one Initiator, and every Initiator would receive training to hide the Cursed Children's special eyes.
But clearly, these children in front of him had not been trained.
Wait!
Rentaro quickly realized something was wrong; these children seemed to be…
Children from the Outer District have come in!?
Why would this person bring those children in!?
Thinking this, Rentaro lifted his leg and walked towards the gray-haired girl, but was pulled back by someone.
"Enju?"
It was Enju who pulled Rentaro back. She shook her head at Rentaro.
Although she said nothing, Rentaro understood her meaning.
"Do you really think this is okay?"
Rentaro asked Enju.
"I… I don't know either, but I can see…"
Looking at the bustling children, Enju's eyes held some complexity: "They are all very happy."
While the two were pulling each other, the leading girl had already walked past with the children.
Perhaps because they had suffered, these children behaved very well, unlike the noisy children in ordinary schools. As a result, despite there being only one adult, she was able to manage everyone well.
Looking at the passing group, Rentaro hesitated: "Let's follow them, Enju."
Enju nodded. She didn't know if doing this was right or wrong, so she at least wanted to see what they were going to do.
Although they weren't related by blood, Enju had an unusual affection for these children from the Outer District.
Unlike other pedestrians who avoided them, Rentaro and Enju quickly followed them.
And as they followed, Rentaro heard a commotion from afar.
"Why won't you sell it to me! Do you think I don't have money!"
Rentaro thought there was a conflict and quickly walked over to understand what was happening.
It turned out that the gray-haired girl had brought a group of children to buy fried chicken, but the shop owner refused to sell it to them.
The reasons were simple: one, there were too many people, and two, these children were Cursed Children.
"So you're discriminating against us, aren't you! Do you think I can't afford it!"
The gray-haired girl clearly had a terrible temper, giving Rentaro the feeling that she was about to act at any moment.
Even the children behind her had started pulling her, wanting to leave.
An adult being pulled by children—for a moment, Rentaro didn't know who the adult was. However, Rentaro learned the girl's name from the children: Senti, which sounded like a foreign name.
Crash!
With a crisp sound, Rentaro's eyes widened.
Where did she get that from!? Who carries something like that around!?
Looking at the gold brick smashed onto the table, he was completely stunned, and the clerk in front of him was also stunned.
On one hand, it was because of the gold that was smashed out; on the other hand… the gold brick directly shattered the glass tabletop.
"You just think we don't have money, don't you!"
Breaking free from the children's hands, she reached out and pulled out two more gold bricks from her person, smashing them onto the glass table with two loud thuds.
Rentaro's eyes widened even further. He couldn't tell where she had pulled out the gold from, and furthermore, the value of these gold bricks—each one was worth hundreds of thousands of yen.
Where did this person get so much gold?
Before Rentaro could figure this out, he suddenly realized something was gravely wrong.
One should not flaunt wealth. Although there wasn't such a saying in Tokyo, his experience in society made him very aware of what would happen after displaying such wealth.
Especially since the other party was also with a group of Cursed Children.
Realizing this, Rentaro looked at the several police officers rushing over menacingly from a distance and immediately felt that things were going to be bad.