Civilian Security.
A new position born after the Gastrea War, basically a group of regulated mercenaries. Asahi was no Civil Security Officer; he hadn't even registered his residency, but this Civil Security label was quite useful.
At least, no one would question his bizarre physical appearance; after all, Civil Security was not lacking in eccentric members.
"So, how much?"
"Huh?"
"How much did the girl take?"
The man was momentarily stunned. It took a pull on his sleeve from the person next to him to reluctantly snap him back to attention. He looked at the ruined basket of food on the ground, mentally calculated a price, and then quoted the figure.
Asahi didn't delay at all, immediately pulling out double the requested amount, throwing it to the men, and sending them away.
"Tch... Civil Security again... They should be killing those red-eyes."
"Exiling them would be better..."
Seeing that the matter was concluded, the crowd gradually dispersed, everyone returning to their normal demeanor. It was as if the venomous words and curses they had just uttered were nothing more than wind and passing clouds.
Disgusting.
Asahi forcibly suppressed his personal indignation. More than anyone, he understood that this was not the time to touch this "enemy." His indignation, apart from offering a momentary release, would achieve nothing. It wouldn't help these children, wouldn't change the mindset of these people, and wouldn't bridge the gap between the two sides. It would merely give him a momentary sense of comfort and satisfaction.
He wouldn't do that.
Asahi cleared the fleeting thoughts from his mind. He knelt on one knee, extending his hand to the little girl.
"Are you alright?"
The girl quickly got up, gathered the bread and canned goods into the basket, and immediately turned and ran away, not taking his hand. Only her small silhouette disappeared into the stream of people.
Compared to the Nene group, who spent all their time in the Outskirts, the children who had to come here to earn a living were weaker, more resolute, and harder to trust anyone.
He wasn't angry; if anything, he was just heartbroken.
He stood silently in place, staring intently at his own hand, doing nothing.
"Thank you..."
Suddenly, Asahi heard a faint sound emerge. He looked up; the direction the sound came from was exactly where the Cursed Child girl had disappeared.
His hand clenched into a fist.
No more hesitation, no more doubt.
Since briefly reading about this world and generally understanding the situation of the Cursed Children, he knew he would face enormous resistance.
Since entering "human territory," he had realized that it was more than just "resistance"; this was the discrimination of an entire species! Even the supreme ruler, the girl called Seitenshi, the Holy Maiden, who had only just proposed a bill to enhance the rights of Cursed Children, was facing an uphill battle. And that bill was still far from his goals.
And this, still, was only the Tokyo Area. Here, luckily, there was still a leader as tolerant towards Cursed Children as Seitenshi. Thus, the "terrible" situation here was considered the easiest place to live among the five regions in Japan, maybe even the entire world.
He truly did not dare to imagine what kind of life the Cursed Children outside of Tokyo must be living.
The discrimination, the hatred, the resentment—from the victims of the Gastrea War, from the deprived generation—all were sadly piled onto another victim: the Cursed Child.
If the deprived generation had their families and happiness taken by the Gastrea, then they themselves had taken the families and happiness of these children.
Even their human rights, their faith, and the very idea of viewing themselves as human beings.
So, whom should Asahi swing his fist at?
The citizens?
The Gastrea?
The Cursed Children?
He would rather live outside the Unexplored Zone and kill Gastrea day after day than stay in this Tokyo Area for a single second or minute.
To the people here, the outside world with its ferocious, bloodthirsty Gastrea was hell, but to him, this place was truly hell.
And he was walking right upon it.
...
Returning to the case of the Jumping Spider Gastrea.
When Rentaro pinpointed the location and rushed there with Inspector Tadashima, they only saw Enju sitting there waiting, along with the neatly cleaved Gastrea corpse.
"Enju!"
"Ah! Rentaro!"
Enju leaped up, her twin pigtails flying as she charged straight into Rentaro's stomach. He caught her, but the impact made him feel like something was about to surge up his throat.
Ignoring that for a moment, he looked at the Gastrea corpse, his voice betraying a hint of surprise.
"Enju, did you take care of this thing yourself?"
He couldn't be blamed for his surprise, because it was genuinely too cleanly killed.
Enju was a Rabbit-type Initiator; her strength focused on speed and kicking power. Whenever she struck, she would either punch a hole through the opponent or directly tear it apart. There was fundamentally no way she could produce a cut like this, especially a clean, uninterrupted vertical slice from head to tail.
Moreover, there were no signs of a struggle on her body.
Sure enough, Enju shook her head.
"No, it was someone else."
"Another Civil Security Officer? Enju, was it a scary masked guy?"
Rentaro was worried because that Kagetane character was clearly lurking nearby and was also tracking the source of infection, just like them.
"No, but it was a strange person too, covered in a cloth cloak..."
He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. If it wasn't Kagetane, it was good.
Enju was genuinely strong, but Rentaro didn't dare to even think about her running into a monster of that caliber.
While the two were exchanging words, Inspector Tadashima cautiously approached the Gastrea corpse. Seeing the terrifying size of the spider, he couldn't help but sigh.
"So, this is what a human infected with the Gastrea virus turns into? How terrifying..."
He turned to the back, intending to ask Rentaro a few questions, but what immediately struck his eye was the sight of the small girl Enju raising her foot and kicking the young Civil Security Officer straight in the groin.
Clang!
Something seemed to shatter. Inspector Tadashima couldn't help but subconsciously cover his own crotch. As for Rentaro, the direct recipient of the blow, his eyes rolled back, he stared up at the sky, and collapsed, clutching his groin with both hands.
"Heartless Rentaro! Abandoning me with that monster! Is that how a great man should act!"
"H-How could I know... If I didn't handle this case well, Kisara would put me on the chopping block..."
Rentaro suffered, then suddenly remembered something.
"Wait, Enju, did that person ask for payment after destroying the Gastrea?"
In his mind, only a Civil Security Officer could easily take down a Gastrea, and it was strange for a Civil Security Officer not to ask for money.
"No, that person just asked me to deliver the last words of the man who turned into the Gastrea to his wife and daughter."
"He said he wanted to apologize."
The atmosphere became heavy after that sentence. Rentaro glanced at the motionless Gastrea corpse, a look of sadness flickering in his eyes.
"Is that so..."
"Inspector, I'll have to rely on you for this."
"It's nothing."
"But the credit for this case still goes to us, right?"
"If the killer has no objections, then so be it."
Hearing that they were about to get paid, Enju cheered. Rentaro gently patted the girl's head, softly saying, almost whispering:
"As you can see, this girl, even though she's an Initiator, is still just a ten-year-old kid."
"That's why I'll always be by her side, guiding and directing her towards the right path."
"Like a family."
Inspector Tadashima was also slightly moved. He shook his head and smiled, then stood rigidly and raised his hand to his forehead in a military salute.
"Thank you very much for your cooperation."
"Initiator Aihara Enju and Promoter Satomi Rentaro have successfully eliminated Gastrea!"
Both returned the salute to the inspector in the same manner.
"Oh, Rentaro!"
Enju tugged at Rentaro's sleeve.
"The supermarket has a sale today!"
"A sale... huh?"
The young man was momentarily stunned. His face went from solemn to questioning, and finally, panic.