Just as Miori Shiba had expected, Seitenshi thought about the invitation for a moment before agreeing to it. After all, she was nothing more than a mascot here anyway.
Since Miori had invited her, she naturally accepted. She also arrived quite quickly; Seitenshi called for her driver and headed out with a few bodyguards.
When the bodyguards escorted Seitenshi to Miori's villa, they didn't even show any intention of following her inside. Seitenshi rang the doorbell.
Hearing the chime, Miori woke from her [Meditation]. She glanced at Ren Isana and the others in the living room before hurrying over to open the door. Seeing Seitenshi standing outside, Miori quickly said, "Come in first."
With that, she reached out, pulled the other girl into the house, and immediately shut the door. This scene left Seitenshi somewhat confused, but the moment she stepped into the villa's main hall, she froze.
She saw a group of strangers sitting there. Furthermore, as she stepped into the hall, something appeared on the floor—something that could only be seen in works of fiction.
"Magic?" Seitenshi simply couldn't believe her eyes. Was this a [Magic Circle]? Was this some kind of joke? Magic actually existed in this world? This wasn't scientific at all!
The [Magic Circle] instantly enveloped her, and she realized that the entire villa seemed to be isolated from the outside world. This was clearly out of the ordinary!
"Miori..." Seitenshi stared at everything, her mouth slightly open. She didn't know what to say anymore. What exactly was going on? Who were these people? What were they doing?
"I'm sorry, Seitenshi. You'll understand." Seeing the situation, Miori sighed. She let go of Seitenshi and walked over to Ren's side. This action left Seitenshi speechless, unable to find the right words for a moment.
She looked at the scene in bewilderment. What exactly had happened? Why had things turned out like this? Seitenshi didn't understand. She couldn't grasp the current situation at all.
"Seitenshi, please take a seat!" At this moment, Ren spoke up, gesturing for her to sit down first. Her dumbfounded expression was honestly a bit troubling to deal with.
Hearing Ren's words, Seitenshi hesitated for a moment before silently walking over to the sofa opposite him and sitting down. She looked at the people in front of her, then glanced over at Miori.
"Excuse me... what exactly is going on?" Seitenshi voiced the question in her heart. What had happened here? Could someone give her an answer?
Ren looked at the young girl before him, who exuded an aura of absolute purity. He had to admit that those politicians really knew how to pick their figureheads, choosing a beautiful girl with excellent temperament and personality.
"Hello, I'm Ren Isana. I apologize for calling you here in this manner." Although Ren said this, he didn't look apologetic in the slightest. This scene instantly left Miori speechless.
*Couldn't you at least pretend when you say things like that? It sounds like you're just reading off a script.* Miori felt incredibly helpless in her heart.
"Who are you people?" Seitenshi wasn't stupid. After a moment of silence, she began to ask questions. Everything happening before her eyes indicated that this was no simple matter.
Facing Seitenshi's inquiry, Ren smiled and said, "We come from another world. Our main purpose for coming here is to save those you call the Cursed Children."
Hearing this, Seitenshi was completely stunned. Her mind was buzzing. What had she just heard? People from another world? Was this some kind of massive joke?
But thinking back to the [Magic Circle] she had seen upon entering, Seitenshi suddenly fell silent. Their world shouldn't have such things, right?
If they did, the Gastrea wouldn't be a match for them at all; they might have even become an endangered species by now. Confirming this point, she couldn't help but look at Ren and ask, "Sir, may I ask what business you have, bringing me here through such means?"
She didn't blame Miori, because in her eyes, Miori must have been unable to resist these people. That was why she was forced to call her over. That had to be it!
"We are here to save the Cursed Children. The people of your world are truly too rude. It's clearly their own incompetence, yet they insist on venting their frustrations on a group of children." Ren looked at Seitenshi calmly as he spoke these words.
Hearing Ren's words, Seitenshi opened her mouth but found herself completely unable to refute him. In today's society, venting negative emotions on those children had become a subconscious instinct for everyone.
Aside from a small minority, most people feared and hated those children, believing that everything wrong with the world today was caused by them. Even if she wanted to change things, it was incredibly difficult to achieve.
But certain vested interests didn't want to change this at all; they only wanted to maintain the status quo. Only then could they keep those children obedient. For many people, simply offering a tiny, insignificant amount of charity was enough to make those children overwhelmingly grateful.
It was a highly profitable transaction with no risk involved. Those people had no desire to change the current situation. They even wished for things to get worse, because only then could they step forward like saviors to win over the children with extraordinary powers.
Children who had been starved of love since birth would give their hearts and souls to anyone who treated them just a little bit better. Many people were happy to see this happen. Therefore, Seitenshi couldn't refute Ren's words at all.
"We can cooperate, Seitenshi." Ren quietly looked at the speechless girl in front of him and immediately stated their objective.
Hearing Ren say this, Seitenshi frowned. She looked at him in confusion and asked, "Cooperate? May I ask what aspect you are referring to?"
She didn't understand what Ren wanted to cooperate with her on. After all, she was currently nothing more than a puppet. Although she had become the nominal head of state, she was well aware that she held absolutely no real power.
"We can make you the Seitenshi in the truest sense of the word. From now on, the entirety of Tokyo will operate with your ideals at its core." Ren slowly uttered words that made Seitenshi's heart race.
However, she remained relatively calm. After listening to Ren's explanation, Seitenshi frowned and asked:
"Then what do you want in return?"
There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world; she knew this very well. Such things often required an even greater price. Before she fully understood everything, she couldn't easily make a decision.
"In return, I want you to issue a decree when the time comes—a proclamation to all the Cursed Children around the world, stating that the Tokyo Area welcomes all oppressed children." Ren laid out his conditions.
Hearing this, Seitenshi felt it wasn't that simple. She looked at Ren quietly and said, "There must be more to it than that, right? Just gathering those children?"
If that were truly the case, it would be far too cheap of a price. Because if she truly had absolute authority, such a thing could be accomplished with a single sentence.
"Of course. Once those children arrive here, you cannot stop them from going wherever they want in the future. That is our only demand." Ren nodded. *This girl actually has some brains.*
*To think she didn't just agree immediately. If she had, I would have had to re-evaluate her intelligence.*
When Seitenshi heard this, she understood. The true goal of these people was the children. Recalling what Ren had said at the very beginning, Seitenshi asked somewhat uncertainly, "You want to take all those children away?"
Not being able to stop them from leaving meant that if Ren and his group sent all those children away, she wouldn't be able to interfere. This was equivalent to saying that if she agreed, she would be packaging up all the children who came here in the future and handing them over to Ren.
"That's right, that's exactly what it means. The birth rate in our world has been dropping every year, and it's stressing our teachers to death. Since the people of your world despise those children so much, I figured we might as well take them all back to our side and raise them." Ren's tone suddenly shifted, changing from serious to a playful grin.
Seeing this sudden shift in Ren, Seitenshi was a bit bewildered. What was this? Coming to their world to solve a declining birth rate problem? And besides! Who said they didn't want those children? That was utter nonsense.
"To you, they are Cursed Children, but to us, those kids are incredibly talented seedlings. As long as they learn magic or True Qi, they will grow up to be an invaluable asset in the future." Ren looked at her with a smiling face.
*Now that my goal is out in the open, how will you choose, Seitenshi?* Thinking of this, Ren couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation.
"Impossible. No one has the right to decide the future of those children!!" Seitenshi refused without a second thought. Selling out all those children in exchange for real power? If that was the case, she couldn't do it!
Hearing Seitenshi's words, Ren immediately laughed. He nodded in strong agreement and said, "You're absolutely right, but..."
Ren's tone shifted sharply, his entire demeanor turning ice-cold. "But some of the people in your world make me sick. Since you don't know how to cherish those children, you might as well hand them over to us. You don't have a choice in this matter."
He decided to just lay his cards on the table and stop joking around. Calling her over and giving her face meant he was negotiating with her; not giving her face meant he was simply informing her. Regardless, Ren was taking those children, and no one could stop him!
Seitenshi's face instantly turned pale upon hearing this. The implication was obvious: she had to agree whether she wanted to or not. From the very beginning, these people had never even considered the possibility of her refusing.
"You..." Seitenshi wanted to say something, but at that moment, Miori spoke up. She sighed and said, "Seitenshi, I strongly advise you to agree to this."
Hearing Miori's words, Seitenshi was confused. She looked at Miori in bewilderment. So Miori was already in league with them? Calling her over wasn't something she was forced to do?
"You know nothing about true power. If Ren and the others wanted to, they could instantly destroy all of Tokyo, and the consequences would be unimaginable. And this is just one class of people coming over. Furthermore, they are all students." Miori left it at that; there was no need to say anything more.
If she didn't agree, Ren and his group could turn the entire world upside down. And they were just a group of students. When the day came that their army descended, Seitenshi wouldn't be sitting here chatting with Ren.
She might even be locked in a cage and dragged to court or something. The people of their world never had a choice from the very beginning. The moment the other side discovered the passage to this world, the ending was already set in stone.
Since that was the case, it was better to cooperate fully and strive to gain benefits that suited their own interests. A world capable of traveling to other dimensions—even the slightest scraps they leaked out would be enough to gorge themselves on, right?
As for the crisis in this world, the Gastrea and all that—was that even an issue? In their eyes, it probably wasn't a problem at all. Especially after cultivating a bit of her own Magic Power through [Meditation], she had an even clearer understanding of the strength possessed by Ren and the others.
Last night, aside from explaining [Meditation] to her, Yukari had also educated her on the concept of power tiers and what kind of existence they were.
In their world, starting from elementary school, they would slowly come into contact with methods to temper their bodies while studying academic subjects. Once they reached middle school, the intensity of their physical conditioning would increase.
Finally, in high school, the popularization of the basics would be expanded. Then, upon reaching the right age, they would awaken their talents and be divided into classes. From the moment their talents awakened, everyone would leap over the dragon's gate, and their strength would skyrocket.
Upon graduating high school and entering university, reaching Tier 3 was considered passing. Those with better talents could choose a good school and continue their advanced studies to improve their strength. By the time they graduated from university, their strength would reach Tier 4, Tier 5, or even Tier 6.
As for Ren and his group, in Yukari's words, their class was a special elite class. They were currently freshmen, yet they had already explored other worlds. This world was their second.
Having understood these circumstances, Miori had a clear grasp of the power disparity between the two sides. This was a complete dimensional crush; resistance was futile. Therefore, it was best to just obediently surrender.
Otherwise, when their army arrived in the future, it would be like facing aliens. Or rather, they probably wouldn't even need an army to come, right? Ren and his group alone could conquer this world.
After listening to Miori's words, Seitenshi opened her mouth in shock. *These people are just a group of students...*
Hearing this information, she was completely at a loss.
A group of students could destroy a city, so she really had no choice at all? From the moment Miori called her here, the outcome had already been decided.
"If Seitenshi has no further issues, then I'll have my classmates start taking action. The ones truly calling the shots in this city right now seem to be the Tendo family, right?" Ren said, shifting his gaze toward Asagi Aiba.
Seeing this, Asagi understood his intent. Meanwhile, Seitenshi and Miori immediately grew tense upon hearing this. What were these people planning to do next? Just as Seitenshi was about to say something, Asagi spoke up first.
"That old geezer is simply inhuman. To protect his own position, he's even willing to murder his own relatives. On top of that, there's a massive amount of corruption among his subordinates." Asagi's words instantly caused Miori and Seitenshi to freeze.
But Asagi didn't stop there; she continued to reveal things that made their blood run cold.
"Tsk, tsk, it's truly impressive. They even managed to cut corners on the Monoliths built around the perimeter of the city. Aren't those supposed to keep the Gastrea out? The guy in charge of building Monolith 32 definitely pocketed a lot of money." Asagi directly disclosed the many hidden pieces of information she had uncovered.
That string of criminal evidence instantly made Seitenshi feel as if she had been plunged into an ice cellar. Her eyes were filled with disbelief. How dare they? How could they dare to interfere with something so crucial?
"Gather a bit more, then make it public. When the time comes, our classmates will take a trip and make those guys 'commit suicide.' Then, Seitenshi, you will step forward directly to take over everything and place the entire city under martial law." Ren immediately began formulating a plan, arranging the fates of those corrupt officials clearly and decisively.
Meanwhile, Seitenshi was still in a state of shock. Listening to the plan Ren laid out, she was bewildered. Was this really okay? If they did this, wouldn't rivers of blood flow?
"I imagine you wouldn't want the Monoliths to collapse and allow the Gastrea outside to enter the city, right, Seitenshi? What are you still hesitating for at a time like this?" After finishing his plan, Ren looked at the bewildered Seitenshi.
At this moment, Seitenshi fell silent. She understood that regardless of whether she agreed to Ren's plan or not, these people would probably do it anyway. For a moment, Seitenshi began to panic.
If all those things were made public, the entire city would fall into chaos, wouldn't it? What about the resulting unrest? Moreover, those people's connections were deeply intertwined; they had people everywhere in the city, from the highest levels to the lowest.
Making a move against them like this would completely paralyze the entire city, wouldn't it? Thinking of this, Seitenshi hurriedly said, "No, if you act recklessly, it will cause a riot. Their connections are incredibly complex; pulling one hair will move the whole body. It will be very difficult to clean up the mess afterward."
Hearing this, Ren immediately threw his hands up and said, "You don't need to worry about that. The one thing this world doesn't lack is people who want to move up. As the saying goes, you just start the fight, and there will be plenty of people to follow up. There are plenty of people who want to advance their careers. Whoever disobeys, we just kill them, and that's that."
His method was simple, brutal, and highly effective. In any case, Ren guaranteed that he could easily allow Seitenshi to take control of the entire city. Seitenshi didn't need to worry about these things; she just needed to wait and take over everything they left behind!