The Outer District?
That was the very edge of the Tokyo Area, the slum of slums, a place specifically used to exile and segregate Cursed Children.
It was at least several kilometers away from here.
How on earth did a blind little girl cross such a long distance to get here?
While the Seitenshi was dazed,
...passersby came and went.
Some walked past without a glance, some detoured in disgust, and someone even deliberately kicked the iron bowl, making a sharp "clang" sound, before laughing and leaving as the girl apologized in panic.
No one stopped.
Even fewer gave any alms.
Under the reflection of the bustling lights, this corner seemed like a dead end forgotten by the world.
Heimer didn't intentionally bring the Seitenshi here.
But in this rotten world, such corners were everywhere.
If only people were willing to lower their noble heads and take a look.
"Go ahead."
Heimer motioned.
If one doesn't even have the courage to face the truth, how can one talk about salvation?
The Seitenshi took a deep breath.
Trembling, she took two steps forward and slowly crouched down.
Her priceless, pure white gown, hand-sewn by a top designer, dragged across the dusty ground without a care.
She reached out, wanting to touch the girl.
Wanting to give even a tiny bit of warmth.
But.
At the moment the Seitenshi's fingertips were about to touch the girl's thin shoulder,
...the blind girl's body froze as if she had received an electric shock.
The Seitenshi's hand froze in mid-air.
A surge of unspeakable bitterness welled up in her heart.
She tried to make her voice sound gentler, and even gentler.
"Don't... don't be afraid."
"I'm not a bad person."
"I just... I just wanted to ask..."
The Seitenshi's gaze fell on the bandage over the girl's eyes.
"Your eyes... are they sick?"
"As far as I know, a Cursed Child shouldn't get sick, right?"
And...
The Seitenshi bit her lip.
"Also... if you didn't hold this sign..."
"If you didn't write down your identity as a Cursed Child..."
"With your singing, you should be able to beg for money, right?"
"Why... would you display an identity that makes people hate or even attack you like this?"
After all, she knew that in this city, discrimination against the Cursed Children was public.
Even though the Seitenshi didn't want it to be this way.
But that was the reality.
To openly admit to being one of the Cursed Children like this was no different from actively inviting malice.
Hearing this excessively gentle voice,
...the blind girl was slightly stunned.
She seemed somewhat unable to believe it.
In this world, besides the companions who also scavenged for food in the trash heaps, could there actually be someone who would speak to her in such a tone?
She tilted her head to listen.
After confirming that the other person really seemed to have no malice.
Only then did she slowly relax her tense body a little.
Then.
She raised her hand and gently touched the dirty bandage around her eyes.
On that little face, frozen blue, she once again revealed that humble, ingratiating smile that seemed to have been carved into her very bones.
"This..."
"It's okay."
The girl's voice was very soft, yet she spoke a sentence that struck the Seitenshi like a bolt of lightning.
"...The mother who abandoned me said she hated my eyes."
"Mom said... these red eyes are the eyes of a monster."
"So..."
The girl paused.
"In order to make Mom not hate me so much."
"In order to let Mom look at me one more time..."
"I let Mom... pour aluminum inside..."
Poured lead.
These simple three words.
Spoken from the mouth of this child of only a few years, in that calm, even credit-seeking tone.
Boom—!
The Seitenshi only felt a "buzz" in her brain.
A blank slate.
In that instant.
She felt that the noisy street sounds, the flashing of neon lights, and even the sound of the wind, all vanished.
The entire world.
Only these three words remained echoing.
Poured lead.
That is... pouring molten, scalding liquid metal...
Into a living person's eyes?
And...
And it was by her own mother?
"Ugh..."
A strong sense of nausea instantly surged up her throat.
The Seitenshi covered her mouth, her face pale as paper, her body swaying, nearly collapsing to the ground.
Too cruel.
Too absurd.
This is not hell at all.
This is ten thousand times more terrifying than hell!
Because hell punishes sinners.
But here...
It punishes a child who was willing to destroy her own eyes just to please her mother and receive a little bit of love!
"Mom said, this way, I won't look at her with those eyes anymore."
"And... after the aluminum solidified, it could never be taken out."
"Even if my eyes wanted to grow back..."
"But because it was stuffed full of aluminum blocks... so they couldn't grow."
"Every time they wanted to grow, they would push against that metal... it would be very painful."
"So... they couldn't get better."
As the girl spoke, she even scratched her head shyly.
"Although... it hurts that I can't see."
"Although... Mom didn't want me in the end."
"But... it's okay..."
"Because I'm ugly..."
"And my eyes became like this... it's really scary."
"But as long as... I cover my eyes, it's fine."
"And as long as I keep smiling... as long as I behave... telling everyone that I am a monster..."
"Even if everyone hates me... but... someone should pity me, right?"
"Even if it's just giving me leftover bread..."
"Because I... I really can't survive without relying on others..."
"I have a younger sister..."
"But my sister is very small... very shy... she doesn't dare to come out."
"So if I don't come out... my sister will starve to death..."
If she didn't come out.
Her sister would starve to death.
What simple logic.
So simple that it didn't even require thought.
Compared to the excruciating pain of having to endure the metal in her eyes, compared to the despair of being abandoned by her own mother, compared to the humiliation of being treated like trash by passersby.
In this child's world.
All of this.
Was actually not as terrifying as the word'starve'.
Because hunger means death.
Therefore, in order to keep her sister from starving, she even felt—that taking this pain, which would drive an adult insane, as a price to endure, was only natural.
This is...
Her people?
This is...
This is the [Cursed Children] she swore to protect every day while sitting in that spacious, bright, and climate-controlled office at the Holy Residence, facing piles of documents and groups of well-dressed ministers?
If this is so.
Her "New Gastrea Law".
The speeches she delivered in front of those media cameras.
What do they count for?
What do they amount to at all?
"I'm sorry..."
"I'm sorry... I'm really sorry..."
Thump.
A muffled sound.
The Seitenshi fell to her knees in front of this girl, who was covered in dirt, emitting a strange odor, and had her eyes wrapped in bandages.
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Rexlent
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"