"I'm a little worried about those children."
Seitenshi shared her thoughts.
The moment her words fell, the entire room went silent.
She realized she had said something she shouldn't have. She wasn't supposed to show sympathy for the Cursed Children, those treated like sewer rats.
But she didn't understand.
The Cursed Children hadn't done anything wrong. They weren't born like that by choice.
Unlike most officials, Seitenshi was one of the few who was willing to approach the Cursed Children and treat them as equals.
"Enough, Seitenshi."
"Cursed Children are not worth pitying. They are no different from Gastrea, just monsters."
"Yes, you're far too kind."
"Those disgusting creatures must be plotting something."
"Otherwise, why are only the Cursed Children disappearing?"
"..."
No one was willing to accept the Cursed Children.
But if that were true, then why were they all gathered here? Why did they seem worried and uneasy?
The answer was simple. The power of the Cursed Children was indispensable.
Civil Officer squads were two-person teams.
And a human Civil Officer without an Initiator was no more than a beast without fangs.
That would drastically raise the difficulty of resisting Gastrea.
'Isn't it laughable?'
Suddenly, a voice echoed in Seitenshi's ears. She was briefly startled before hearing the voice continue.
'They rely on the power of Cursed Children to protect humanity.'
'Child after child dies fighting Gastrea.'
'To Civil Officers, they're nothing more than disposable tools.'
'One dies, and they adopt another. The merit system still works the same. Their IP ranks still rise.'
In the end, the Cursed Children gave everything, but couldn't even gain basic human rights.
'What a meaningless death.'
"Who are you?!"
"Who's speaking to me?!"
Seitenshi couldn't suppress the impulse. The words burst out of her mouth.
But then she quickly realized what she had done.
She turned, preparing to explain her outburst to the national leaders, but when she looked up, she was no longer in the meeting room.
Instead, she stood in a boundless white space.
Floating there, she looked up to see a young man seated in a chair.
"You are?"
"Sit."
Rin summoned another chair and gestured for her to sit down.
There were still good people in this world. Seitenshi, the girl before him, was one of them. She was kind, with a pure heart.
'As expected of one of this world's heroines.'
Rin had originally planned to summon a human with a good heart and sufficient status to explain the great flood.
He hadn't expected the person to be Seitenshi.
"You, you, are you the God the children spoke of?"
Aside from a miracle, Seitenshi couldn't imagine anything that could bring her from the conference room to this pure white space.
"According to human understanding, I'm no different from God."
Rin snapped his fingers, and the white world faded.
It was replaced by the beautiful scenery inside the Void Ark.
An unpolluted environment.
The Cursed Children played freely, laughing with expressions Seitenshi had never seen before.
"As you can see, I'm the one who took them away."
"As for where they are, you can call it Heaven, Eden, Wonderland, Utopia. It's all the same."
Rin conjured two cups of black tea and some pastries, inviting her to relax.
"Thank you."
It still felt surreal to her, but she could feel the genuine happiness radiating from the girls.
That was enough.
When she had first heard the news that the Cursed Children were disappearing, her first concern wasn't the future of humanity. It was for the children's safety.
Seitenshi was a qualified leader, just born in the wrong era.
Had it not been for this post-apocalyptic world, she might have become an excellent politician, devoted to serving the people.
"Did you bring me here because you have something to command?"
Her tone was very humble. She was a believer at heart, always praying for the children's salvation.
And Rin's appearance, presence, and abilities completely matched her concept of a God.
"You've heard it, haven't you?"
Rin said, "Today, I will unleash a world-destroying great flood and reshape the civilization of Earth."
"Is that true?!"
Seitenshi was shocked. She had assumed it was just cultist nonsense.
She never expected to hear this cruel reality directly from the mouth of God.
"Yes."
Rin stopped her before she could beg.
"I will eliminate all Gastrea, take the children away, and deliver proper punishment to the wicked."
"Punishment... you mean..."
"Death?"
"No. Death is far too lenient."
"True punishment is having one's soul fall into hell, to be burned by karmic fire and endure endless torment."
As Rin spoke, it was as if Seitenshi could see it.
The sight of hell appeared before her. Its countless tortures made her shudder.
"What?"
Rin asked, "Do you think it's too cruel?"
"...."
Seitenshi wanted to say yes, but she couldn't bring herself to deny God's judgment.
At least God wasn't destroying all of humanity.
He was judging it.
Which meant there were still people who would be spared.
"May I ask... how many will survive?"
"Approximately four-fifths."
"That means about one-fifth will die."
A single sentence wiped out 150 million lives.
But this was the most precise figure Violet had calculated.
The souls of this world's people were already too corrupted.
They were no different from Gastrea. In fact, they were even more twisted and cruel.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)