To keep a crowd of oddly dressed people from causing a panic, Frieren and Marushiru cast an aura-dampening spell on everyone except Rosen before leaving.
Why didn't they cast it on Rosen?
Because ordinary magic has no effect on Rosen~.
Still, Rosen can flexibly control his own presence, so drawing attention isn't a concern.
Shortly after they left the building, several police cars screamed to a halt.
A handful of officers in Island-Nation uniforms rushed upstairs, guns drawn.
Tendou Mokore recalled that Satomi Rentaro had claimed he'd called the police; her loathing for him climbed another notch.
That bastard actually brought the cops over something like this.
"Whoa, he really called them! Are you two even friends?"
Watching the police seal the entrance, Gabriel asked in disbelief.
"I must've been blind before."
Tendou Mokore didn't want to talk about it anymore.
If Satomi Rentaro stood in front of her now, she'd charge up and slap him twice.
"No worries, he's not here. When I find him later, I'll let you beat him up to vent."
Gabriel giggled mischievously.
"We'll see..."
Tendou Mokore sighed.
Then she looked toward the city center.
"The new Tokyo Government complex is about ten kilometers straight ahead; it's the tallest building in Tokyo now, easy to spot."
"Huh? I thought the Tokyo Metropolitan Building was only two-hundred-something meters. That's the tallest?"
Saeko asked, puzzled.
"It wasn't before, but it is now. Anything taller was destroyed in Gastrozoa attacks. Once buildings reach a certain height, the chance of aerial Gastrozoa strikes skyrockets, so countries worldwide passed laws capping building heights."
Tendou Mokore explained patiently.
Then she gave a sardonic smile.
"But because humanity keeps losing ground, new housing has to stack higher. The poorer you are, the higher you live. The truly rich still have detached houses, of course."
The group kept walking.
Although Rosen could Spirit-Step everyone there in an instant, Rias and the others suggested the five-kilometer walk to observe present-day society.
"On the surface it looks like any ordinary city."
Tokisaki Kurumi looked around.
Tokyo's streets were pristine, shops blazing with neon signs. Salarymen in suits, jks in uniforms, flashy punks with piercings and dyed hair. On the first block, several maid-clad girls were handing out flyers.
Even Rosen was taken aback.
Though he knew the plot, it still felt surreal: outside the Giant Stone Monument lay an apocalypse with Gastrozoa lurking, yet life here carried on unchanged.
The other group members felt the same.
Especially Saeko.
Her world collapsed almost overnight. Even knowing safe cities existed, the people there were nothing like the populace before the outbreak.
"After all, the Giant Stone Monument has kept the area safe for years, so most citizens assume they can sleep easy,"
Rosen said.
"Though it's the apocalypse outside, resources are actually in surplus—far more people died than goods were destroyed."
Some understood; others didn't.
As they were about to cross the final street, a graceful yet childish voice floated down from the pedestrian bridge.
The melody sounded like a Hymn.
At the center of the bridge stood a girl.
White hair matted with dust, she wore a tattered pink jacket riddled with holes, grimy track pants, and shoes that didn't fit.
There was a lot of dirt on the girl's face, but what was most striking was the bandage covering her eyes. (For exhilarating novels, visit Feilu Novel Network!)
Her face was thin and a waxy yellow, showing signs of malnutrition.
As everyone walked over, they saw a plastic board hanging on the girl, with "I am a Cursed Child from the Outer District" written on it.
At her feet was an empty bowl.
Besides Rosen and his group, other pedestrians occasionally passed by on the overpass.
But after glancing at the words on her sign, their faces showed disgust, and they quickly sped away, as if avoiding something dirty.
Just then.
Two young men with dyed yellow hair walked past, arms slung over each other's shoulders.
One of them opened a can of soda, then casually tossed the pull tab into the girl's begging bowl.
The clinking sound of metal against the bowl was very similar to the sound of someone dropping money.
The girl immediately stopped singing and bowed forward.
"Thank you!"
However.
When the girl squatted down and felt the pull tab in the bowl, the joyful expression on her face quickly faded, replaced by sadness and grievance.
The girl pursed her lips, but didn't say anything.
"Pfft hahahahaha!"
However, the two young men with dyed yellow hair, who hadn't gone far, burst into laughter.
"You really are too much, you know."
One of them said to his companion.
"What does it matter? It's better if monsters like her all die out sooner!"
Completely disregarding the girl's feelings, the young man said with a laugh.
And at this moment.
A convoy of several cars passed over the overpass.
The cars had banners and loudspeakers.
"Never forgive the Gastrozoa!"
"Make all the Cursed Children get out of Tokyo!"
"..."
Hearing the sound of the loudspeakers, the girl involuntarily shrank back.
And in other streets, Cursed Children who were being expelled also appeared one after another.
Some Cursed Children even carried crying infants on their backs.
The girls around Rosen watched all this, involuntarily freezing in place.
Their fists clenched, and the temperature in the air dropped considerably.
In this world, even though Cursed Children are all little girls no older than twelve or thirteen, almost no one treats them as normal people.
Even the higher-ups only treat them as tools for battle, discarding them after use, without any pity whatsoever.
If even the officials are like this, let alone the common people.
"If you want to stay, then stay here for now. But be careful not to cause too much trouble yet. Once we have all the Cursed Children in Tokyo gathered in our hands, then you can move freely."
Rosen said.