Seitenshi moved quickly. It didn't take long for her to assign a school to Ren Isana, and she simultaneously issued an order to gather and shelter all the Cursed Children across the city.
Furthermore, Seitenshi enacted a series of pre-prepared laws. Starting today, abusing these children would be strictly treated as a criminal offense, and verbal harassment was strictly prohibited. Alongside these were numerous protection clauses. The promulgation of these laws instantly caused an uproar. No one expected Seitenshi to suddenly pass such legislation.
Of course, the contents of the laws also moved many people. After all, how could they justify relying on the children's power while simultaneously cursing them? They were heroic children, yet they had been forced to bear a multitude of stigmas purely due to Kikunojo Tendo's selfish desires.
Seeing this, many fell silent. Everyone knew the strength they possessed as Initiators. With Seitenshi laying it out so plainly, the public had nothing to say in rebuttal—because her words were undeniably correct.
Following the enactment of these laws, the children wandering the city streets were immediately taken into protective custody and transported to the designated school.
Ren Isana and his group were already waiting there. Seeing the first batch of children arrive, the corners of Ren's mouth curled up slightly. Without hesitation, everyone got straight to work.
After gathering the large group of children, Ren had Mahiru Shiina begin treating them. Many of the children were suffering from various injuries—some fresh, some old.
Some were even missing arms or legs. It was easy to imagine just how horrific their living conditions had been. The children who excelled at fighting fared a bit better, but those unsuited for combat were in absolutely terrible shape.
As Mahiru Shiina cast her [Healing Magic], the children's eyes widened. Seeing the [Magic Circle] manifest from her hands, they couldn't help but cry out in awe.
"Magic!!"
"The pretty lady can use magic! Are you an angel, pretty lady?"
"So amazing!! Wow, Yiyi's hand is back!!"
"Waaah..."
The children simply couldn't believe their eyes, especially those who had been missing limbs. Under the effects of Mahiru Shiina's terrifying healing talent, everyone was completely restored to their original, healthy states.
After the round of healing, Mahiru Shiina was thoroughly exhausted. Out of the hundreds of children brought in this time, a significant number required treatment, and her Magic Power simply wasn't enough to cover it all naturally.
Once the final child was healed, Mahiru finally took out a Blue Potion and drank it. Ren stepped forward at this moment. "Alright, if anyone is still feeling unwell anywhere, don't hesitate to speak up."
Ren looked directly at the children as he asked. Seeing them stare back at his group with eyes full of pure adoration, he couldn't stop his lips from curving into a smile.
*Being stared at by a bunch of adorable kids like this gives a huge sense of accomplishment. It feels absolutely fantastic.*
Hearing Ren's words, the children hurriedly shook their heads. All of their injured companions had been completely healed by the gentle older sister; no one was hurting anymore.
Seeing their reaction, Ren chuckled and continued, "Then, do you all want to learn magic?"
Mahiru Shiina had already left a profound impression on these children. By now, they likely trusted her one hundred percent. Establishing a good first impression was incredibly important.
Ren's words instantly made the children's eyes light up. Not a single one of them hesitated to nod. They all scrambled to shout, "We want to! We want to!"
This was magic, after all. What innocent child hadn't fantasized about becoming a magical girl one day?
Especially since this world also had anime like that. Because of this, the moment Ren asked the question, the entire group of children was buzzing with excitement.
"If you want to, I can send you over there to learn," Ren said slowly, describing the situation on the other side. "Over there, no one will bully you. There will be many people who can use magic to teach you how to cast spells and grow stronger. You'll be able to eat your fill and sleep soundly every single day."
Listening to Ren's description, the children's eyes filled with longing. Wasn't this exactly the kind of life they had always dreamed of? If they could truly have a life like that, then of course they all wanted to go.
At that thought, some of the more impatient children hurriedly called out, "Onii-chan, when can you send us over? Is that place far away?"
Seeing this, Ren smiled and immediately replied, "Don't rush. I'll draw a [Magic Circle] for you right now, and then use [Teleportation Magic] to send you all over in the blink of an eye."
After saying this, Ren had the closest child step forward and placed a magic mark on her. When the first child saw the [Magic Circle] land on her body, she couldn't hide the pleasant surprise on her face.
In their eyes, this was real magic—magic that would send them to a place where they could learn magic themselves. It made them incredibly happy and excited.
There were hundreds of children, and Ren placed a mark on every single one of them. Once he confirmed there were no issues, he finally asked, "Is everyone ready?"
Hearing this, all the children shouted with faces full of excitement, "We're ready, Onii-chan~!"
The neat chorus of childish voices made it sound like they were in a kindergarten. Watching this scene, the smile on Ren's face grew even brighter. He raised his hand and declared, "Then, let's begin!"
As his words fell, a purple [Magic Circle] appeared beneath everyone's feet. Seeing this, they immediately gasped in awe. Amidst their curious gazes, the group felt their vision blur for a split second.
The scenery before them changed instantly. The entire group was directly teleported into a highly sci-fi-looking room. However, the children weren't afraid.
Instead, their faces were full of excitement. That Onii-chan had really sent them to another place! Wasn't this way too amazing? At this moment, every single child was thrilled.
Following their appearance, staff members quickly noticed them. Someone immediately came over to lead them out, guiding them through a series of disinfection procedures and providing them with fresh changes of clothes.
In addition to this, they were injected with a potion designed to treat the Gastrea virus. Only after all of this was completed were the children sent together to the designated schools. Furthermore, the person in charge here learned about what had happened on the other side through the children's accounts.
This information quickly reached Natsuki Minamiya's ears. Looking at the report in her hands, Natsuki's expression was incredibly bizarre. *Those brats really are operating with absolute lawlessness.*
They just directly took over a city? Although the children's accounts weren't very detailed, they could easily analyze exactly what had happened over there from the fragmented information.
After pondering for a moment, Natsuki used [Communication Magic] to contact Ren. "You brat, did you just directly conquer the Tokyo Area?"
A bunch of news broke out, then those officials fled in fear of punishment, Seitenshi took power, and then these children were gathered together. A gentle older sister healed them, and then a handsome Onii-chan placed magic marks on them and sent them all over.
That Seitenshi was probably being controlled by Ren and his group, right? It had to be said, the situation was a bit beyond Natsuki's expectations. She had assumed Ren would send the children over little by little.
She never expected that guy Ren to pull off such wild maneuvers—directly controlling the leader of a city and having her help gather the children, while they simply handled the transportation.
Ren, who was currently preparing to receive the second batch of children, suddenly heard Natsuki's voice. He didn't hide anything. "That's right. The entire Tokyo Area is already under our control. Next, we'll be sending even more children back."
Having confirmed the matter, Natsuki said, "Pace yourself. Since you've already taken control of the entire region, you're going to become a thorn in the side of the other areas."
She couldn't help but offer a reminder. With something like this happening, the other regions would definitely react. Those people might even unite to cause trouble for Ren's group.
"I know, but it doesn't matter. More importantly, Natsuki-sensei, when are the others coming over? This world is honestly just so-so. The only things of real value are those children. It'd be better to arrange for people to come over sooner so we can send all the children back earlier," Ren chatted casually with Natsuki.
If the others came over earlier, they could send more children back sooner. Although Ren and his group could send quite a few back every day, compared to the scale of an entire world, their small numbers were just a drop in the bucket.
Not to mention, in a world like this, delaying even a single day meant many children would die. That was the last thing Ren wanted to see. So right now, he really hoped Natsuki could send people over sooner.
Hearing Ren say this, Natsuki thought for a moment before replying, "I'll try my best to arrange for some people to go over and help you. When the time comes, I'll completely open the portal for you. Make sure you're prepared on your end."
Since Ren had already progressed to this stage—directly taking over an entire city—she might as well just help open the portal completely and let some people head over early.
"That couldn't be better. After all, getting people here sooner to send those children away means saving them sooner. Plenty of kids are dying every day because of this," Ren said, his eyes instantly lighting up at her words.
With a portal open, Ren could directly send people through and even return at any time. He was absolutely in favor of this with both hands raised. The more people that could come, the better.
"Let's leave it at that for now. I'll contact you again tomorrow." Having made her decision, Natsuki hung up the call with Ren. She immediately used a spell to vanish from her spot, setting off to arrange these matters for him.
Since they were going to send people over ahead of schedule, she naturally had to inform the others. After all, she didn't have the final say alone; this matter required discussion with the rest of the higher-ups.
Natsuki quickly reported the situation. After a brief discussion, the higher-ups reached a decision and approved Natsuki's proposed course of action.
Opening the portal between the two sides earlier and bringing those children back was highly beneficial. To them, that group of children was indeed incredibly valuable. As long as the hidden dangers within their bodies were resolved, they were natural-born warriors.
If nurtured properly, they would become a great asset in the future. After all, the new generation needed to be cultivated well. The potential of those children promised a bright future. As long as they didn't fall prematurely, their talents would make them peerlessly strong.
The older generation was still around, the second generation had already grown up, and now the third generation was rapidly maturing—especially Ren and his peers, who brought surprises every time. Now, the future of the fourth generation was also visible.
As for the fifth generation, there was no rush, but barring any accidents, they would definitely be able to bridge the gap in the future. Even if they couldn't, the second and third generations could still hold the line, unless some major incident occurred.
Otherwise, their side wouldn't face any issues for several hundred years. Because of this, they absolutely had to support the effort to bring those children back.
Ren and the others were unaware of all this. Right now, they had already begun sending the second batch of children back. Just like before, Mahiru Shiina treated them first. After gaining their trust, Ren would step in to talk to them about sending them away.
Once trust was established, sending them away was simple. Not a single child didn't want to obtain the power of magic. In just one day, Ren directly sent away over a thousand children.
"I'm so tired!" Mahiru Shiina's face was full of exhaustion. Three consecutive batches of children had been brought over, and all of them had some sort of issue. They bore numerous injuries, and the most severe case was a child on the verge of death.
If she had arrived even a few hours later, she would have lost her life. Fortunately, Mahiru's talent was powerful enough; otherwise, that child truly couldn't have been saved. But precisely because of this, Mahiru's Magic Power was completely drained dry.
"I need to get a good rest." Seeing that it was already late outside and figuring no more children would be sent over today, Mahiru immediately spoke up.
Hearing her words, Ren nodded and smiled. "Thanks for your hard work. Today was all thanks to you, our angel sister. Otherwise, those kids wouldn't have trusted us so easily~!"
Hearing Ren's praise, Mahiru's small face flushed red. She waved her hands dismissively. "No, no, no, it's not just my credit. Everyone actually helped a lot to earn those children's trust."
She didn't dare take all the credit for herself. Asuna and the others had also done a lot to win the children over. Sincerity was exchanged for sincerity. Although the children were young, they all knew who was truly treating them well.
The group chatted for a while before returning together to Miori Shiba's villa. By the time they arrived, the others were already waiting there. Everyone had been operating independently today.
Leo's team had swept through the city and cleared out quite a few Gastrea. He reported all of this to Ren. Relying on Motoki Yaze's talent, they had pinpointed their targets with perfect accuracy.
As for the others outside, it went without saying. The group killed any Gastrea they saw, clearing out quite a number along the way. Many corpses were left scattered outside.
Those things weren't edible anyway, so they could only be discarded on the spot. However, everyone still had some gains. For instance, Kai's squad brought out some items they had managed to acquire.
"Class Rep, this is an organ I harvested from a Gastrea. This thing can shoot lasers. Do you think it's useful?" Although he didn't know if it had any utility, Ren definitely would.
Ren looked at the lump of metal-like organ Kai brought out, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes. After inspecting it up and down for a moment, he couldn't help but say, "It's a material. It can be used to forge equipment."
After observing it for a bit, Ren delivered his conclusion. This thing was just like metal and could absolutely be used for forging. In that case, the parts from those Gastrea were actually quite useful.
Hearing this, everyone's eyes instantly lit up. If that was the case, they would have to make sure to collect them properly. After all, everyone needed materials to upgrade their weapons, and they weren't in a place where materials were uniformly collected anymore.
"So that means anything that looks like metal can be collected, right? Along with some of the Gastrea's special organs." Leo's eyes were also shining. Gastrea came in all sorts of bizarre forms.
It wasn't strange at all for some to possess special abilities. Today, they had encountered Gastrea that could spit poison or shoot silk. Those were all good materials! They had been a bit too hasty in discarding them.
"It's just that we have to dissect them ourselves..." Listening to Leo's words, Kai looked miserable. The one he collected today was fine since he sliced it off the exterior, but some organs were deep inside the bodies.
"How could getting good stuff be that easy? So if you encounter a special Gastrea, you should just be secretly thrilled. However, you basically don't need to bother with ordinary Gastrea. Only the high-tier ones will have special materials." Ren glanced at Kai.
*You're complaining when there are materials for you to pick up? Are you so used to the Dungeon in DanMachi that having to dissect things yourself feels uncomfortable? Hilarious. You should know that many people in this world have to do their own dissecting.*
"It's just a bit hard to get used to. After all, in the Dungeon over there, everything drops automatically." Kai scratched his head awkwardly. Ultimately, it was because he hadn't shifted his mindset yet.
Everyone gathered to report on their work. Once Ren confirmed there were no major issues, he nodded. "Then everyone, go back and rest. Thanks for your hard work today. We'll continue tomorrow, though it won't last much longer. Natsuki-sensei will probably be able to send people over tomorrow."
Hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up. If reinforcements were coming, that would be fantastic. After all, relying solely on them to completely eradicate the Gastrea outside was a bit difficult. But if more people arrived, the outcome would be entirely different!
After finishing his piece, Ren dismissed them to rest. In the end, only Ren's squad, Asagi Aiba, and Miori Shiba remained. Ais and Lefiya had stayed behind with Seitenshi to continue acting as her bodyguards.
"What's the reaction from the other regions?" After the others left, Ren turned his gaze to Asagi Aiba. When he left earlier today, he had specifically instructed Asagi to monitor the movements of the other areas. With such a massive event occurring here, Ren didn't believe they would remain indifferent.