"Xiaotong, are you sick?"
Pardo reached out and touched the little girl's neck. Red patterns covered the skin there—sinister-looking and clearly not anything normal.
"Pardo-nee, I don't know." The girl named Xiaotong shook her head.
"That's Honkai Disease. Right now, there's no effective cure for it." Koji spoke up. As he did, he directly muted the little kids so they couldn't hear—but Pardo could still hear every word clearly.
The moment she heard there was no cure, Pardo's heart sank. The smile on her face vanished, worry surging up uncontrollably.
"Boss Koji… there's really no way?" Pardo asked tensely.
She was really close with these kids. Hearing they had an incurable illness—how could she not be terrified?
"Kid, you know this disease?"
A white-haired man wearing a mask appeared. His tone was blunt and direct—he'd always been like that.
He treated this place as his home now. These little rugrats could be annoying, sure, but he genuinely liked this kind of life.
"Yeah. It's an illness caused by being unable to adapt to Honkai energy. Someone took in the kids who had Honkai Disease, but that kind of illness will affect the normal kids around them too," Koji said.
Calling it "contagious" wouldn't even be wrong—Honkai energy was constantly influencing living beings every second.
"Aponia…"
"That sickening kindness of yours—is this what you wanted to see?!"
Kalpas turned around and roared at the house. The anger he'd been suppressing finally spilled over. That woman was a fool—an absolute fool.
Right now, he honestly wanted to tear that nauseating face of hers to pieces.
Creak…
The door opened. A tall, slender nun stepped out. Her beauty went without saying—she radiated an ascetic, forbidden kind of allure. What drew the eye most was… well, the kind of figure that looked like it had its own weather system. As she walked, it swayed precariously, like it was about to break free from the fabric holding it back.
"If your average Twitch chat guy were here, he'd immediately type: MOMMY???"
Maybe because she usually cared for so many children, Aponia carried a warm, maternal glow about her.
"I'm sorry… it's all because of me…" Aponia's face filled with pity, tears sliding down the corners of her eyes.
"Just one 'sorry' and that's it?"
"Aponia, what are those tears supposed to mean?!"
Seeing her like that only made the fire in Kalpas's chest burn hotter—past the point of restraint.
He'd finally found a home… and now it was about to be destroyed by Aponia's own hands. The feeling made him want to go insane.
If he wasn't afraid of the kids seeing something bloody, he would've beaten Aponia senseless right here.
"Honored guest… you should have a way to treat this disease, yes?"
Aponia looked at Koji, her gaze pleading.
"If you can… I'll do anything."
A nun with that kind of sultry sincerity begging like that—Koji's brain instantly started running little "what-if" scenes.
It wasn't that his willpower was weak.
It was that Aponia's figure was criminally evil.
"Kid, if you've got the ability… I owe you a favor." Kalpas said seriously.
He didn't casually owe anyone anything. That alone showed just how much he cared about these kids.
Pardo didn't speak. She only looked at Koji with those big, watery eyes—pitiful enough to melt steel.
"I do have a way. But I won't be staying here long-term. Can you promise that from now on you won't take in children who already have Honkai Disease?" Koji nodded.
With Aponia's personality, there was an extremely high chance she'd keep taking in kids nobody wanted.
And if that happened again and again, even if Koji cured these kids today, it would only treat the symptoms—not the root.
Aponia: "..."
She truly couldn't guarantee that. The whole reason she took these little ones in was because she couldn't bear to see them displaced and wandering.
"Aponia, put away that disgusting kindness of yours." Kalpas snarled.
He had no issue with children—but he absolutely wouldn't let the kids in this convalescent home get hurt.
"Nia-nee… I also think we already have plenty of kids. There's barely any space left in the convalescent home…" Pardo said softly.
The place wasn't that big to begin with. There were already enough kids.
When so many children were crammed together, illness spreading was only a matter of time.
"I understand." Aponia nodded. There really wasn't much room left here anymore.
Koji began to act. He directly dispersed the Honkai Disease from the children's bodies. As long as they didn't come into contact with overly high concentrations of Honkai energy, they wouldn't have problems again.
When the patterns on the kids' necks faded away, smiles finally appeared on Aponia and the others. Kalpas's face was hidden behind his mask, but you could still feel how happy he was…
"Aponia-mama, our bodies feel really comfortable!"
With the Honkai Disease gone, the children felt like a heavy burden had been lifted. Their whole bodies felt light.
"Go play—but be careful," Aponia said gently. Before, because of the Honkai Disease, many of the kids were very weak and couldn't do too much strenuous activity.
The children dashed into the courtyard to run around, leaving the adults behind.
"I cannot see you in the threads of fate, honored guest. You should be from beyond Earth, shouldn't you?" Aponia looked at Koji. Her hazy eyes seemed capable of seeing through destiny itself.
Even without becoming a Fusion Warrior, Aponia had awakened some abilities.
Occasionally, she could glimpse pieces of the future—and the threads of fate.
"Isn't Master Thousand also from beyond Earth?" Koji replied, answering a question with a question.
"What kind of title is that?" Kalpas complained. He didn't like it at all. But what surprised him more was that Koji actually knew he came from beyond Earth.
He had no memories of his past—he only knew he was special, not someone from Earth.
"Brother Kal is an alien?" Pardo stared at Kalpas in amazement.
"What's wrong, little cat?" Kalpas's tone turned a bit dangerous. Pardo immediately hid behind Koji.
In this convalescent home, the person she feared most was Kalpas—he looked terrifying, and every time she saw him she had to tread carefully.
"Kalpas, before you came here… did you tear apart someone who could make ice with their hands?" Koji asked.
If Kalpas had ended up here on Dusk Street, that meant the Herrscher of Ice had already been killed by him.
"You mean that one? Yeah, she could make ice. But she was too weak—didn't even satisfy me."
Kalpas immediately thought of the Herrscher of Ice. He'd killed her, but he'd been injured too. Afterward, he'd wandered until he reached this convalescent home, where Aponia took him in. In daily life, he worked as a helper—moving and hauling living supplies.
"Impressive. That was a Herrscher. There aren't many people around who can tear a Herrscher apart bare-handed."
As expected of someone from beyond Earth—his strength was outrageous. And yet, from start to finish, nobody had ever revealed Kalpas's true origins.
(End of Chapter)
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