Holy Residence, the Mansion of Tokyo's Leader.
Seitenshi's expression was simultaneously solemn and heavy as she stared at the reports in her hand. She sighed, glancing at the old man standing respectfully behind her.
"Is all of this true?"
The patriarch of the Tendou family, Kikunojou Tendou, gently bowed, softly confirming.
"Absolutely, without a doubt."
Hearing this, Seitenshi felt her burden only grow heavier, her chest tight with suppressed emotion. For the first time, her exquisite face found it hard to maintain its composure and looked exhausted.
"Very well, you may withdraw."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The Tendou patriarch bowed respectfully, then retreated, leaving Seitenshi alone. She brought a hand to her forehead, closing her eyes as if utterly drained.
The Seven Stars Heritage.
This thing was lost somewhere in Tokyo. Once it was successfully activated, it would be no different than an atomic bomb being dropped here.
Because it would be the catalyst to summon a Level 5 Zodiac Gastrea. Once it was drawn here, Tokyo would certainly be destroyed.
The Monoliths could only repel Level 4 Gastrea, but Level 5 Gastrea—individuals that had jumped out of the Gastrea evolutionary process—regarded the Varanium Force Field emitted by the Monoliths as nothing.
"Fortunately, the target has been identified, and the Seven Stars Heritage has not yet been activated."
"It can still be saved."
The fatigue vanished, and Seitenshi returned to being herself. She immediately summoned her subordinates.
...
When Asahi returned, the sun had completely set.
He saw that the lights in the camp were still brightly lit. Hundreds of children were either wandering around or inside the tents, engaged in various activities, looking full of life. They were no longer like the time before, when they only knew survival, living, but just aimlessly passing the days.
"Ah! Silver King is back!"
A little girl hanging upside down on a horizontal bar shouted loudly when she saw him approaching. Immediately, a throng of Cursed Children swarmed out like a disturbed beehive, crowding tightly around him. Seeing this scene, the gloom behind his armor slightly eased.
Silver King—the silver colored king.
The first time he met Kagetane Hiruko, the man had given him this name, as if mocking him for gathering Cursed Children with no good intentions, like an ambitious king trying to build an empire. Asahi didn't care much, so he let the children call him that.
It sounded better than the two words "Quasi-Human". Even if he didn't look much like a king.
But one thing the masked man said was correct.
He had ambition, great ambition at that.
"Silver King! You came home too late today!"
Nene frowned and complained.
Even though she no longer called him a Quasi-Human, Nene hadn't changed her mode of address. It wasn't because she was being disrespectful, but because the girl didn't understand what the word "King" (vương) represented.
This girl was smart and quick-witted. Even being a Cursed Child living in the wilderness hadn't stunted her advanced perception. So, he had deliberately groomed Nene to be a small commander to manage these children. After all, there were hundreds of Cursed Children, and it was hard for him to look after them all. He could only divide them into small groups, as part of a larger group, and proceed that way.
Asahi also considered recruiting more people, not Cursed Children, but normal people with a certain level of education. However, this plan had to be pushed to a later stage, especially after his survey of the Tokyo Area.
It wasn't that there were no people with good intentions toward Cursed Children; the most typical example was Seitenshi, the ruler of Tokyo. But most of the remaining people dared not show their goodwill. In a society where everyone hated Gastrea and hated Cursed Children, goodwill would be a deviation, and most people feared becoming a deviation in society.
Therefore, everything needed clear planning.
"Alright, children, line up. Today we're going to learn how to read and write."
"Read and write? What is writing?"
An innocent child asked.
Asahi rubbed the girl's head. Then, he took a large board out of his cloth bag.
Inside were not weapons, but a pile of tools.
There were textbooks, chalk, a blackboard, and some other small objects.
Under the gaze of hundreds of little eyes, he unfolded the blackboard, extending it into a dark panel that was four meters long and two meters high. This was the largest size he could find.
He duplicated the textbooks, distributed a copy to each child, and then turned to the board, gracefully tracing a large letter with the chalk in his hand.
"This is writing."
Many Cursed Children had been abandoned since birth. Others were chased away when they were a little older. Cursed Children could not attend school, resulting in the children having almost no access to any system of knowledge.
They could talk, but they lacked a systematic way of learning.
Therefore, he had to teach them firsthand. He didn't need to worry about the language barrier; for someone who held absolute Transference (chuyển vị) authority from the Infinite System, the language of aliens wouldn't be a difficulty for him.
As for the reason why he was teaching them to read and write, there were many, but the main ones revolved around the knowledge system, thinking, and perspective hidden within it.
Modern people might not realize it, but as someone who had traveled through different worlds and experienced several different cultures across various eras like Asahi, he deeply understood how invaluable knowledge was, and why it was the backbone for civilization to emerge, exist, and sustain itself.
Resources can be mined in a short time, but knowledge, especially a systematic body of knowledge, fundamentally has no shortcuts. Researching, investigating, validating, summarizing... to produce a complete knowledge system.
It also affects many things, from logical thinking to how one views problems.
But from this, Asahi could also deduce more truths about this world. About how it had "handled" the Cursed Children.
First, they had to make the Cursed Children hated, making their status akin to a slave, a commodity that could be used at will. Only then could the upper echelon maximize the exploitation of these children without worrying that their power would be shaken by lower classes opposing it. Whether they opposed it or not wasn't important, as long as the number of people who discriminated against Cursed Children remained the majority in society.
Second, preventing Cursed Children from accessing knowledge. It's simple: the ignorant are easily dictated and ruled. History has proven this countless times. As long as these children remain naive and obtuse, they will forever be fragmented and easily used.
Solving this situation requires a person to stand at the forefront, resisting all the pressure directed at them, until the Cursed Children officially mature.
This pressure does not only come from the upper echelon whose foundations are being shaken, but also from the very components of the populace living in hatred.
This world may give birth to such a figure in the future—it could be a human, or a Cursed Child. The result could be that the two sides live together peacefully, or that they destroy each other in war, or that the Gastrea wipe out everything...
The savior of the Cursed, of the world, could be anyone. Because the world has infinite possibilities. But Asahi couldn't wait until then.
He, Asahi... no, Silver King, will be the one to bear the burden.
"Alright! Today's lesson is finished here."