"Mahiro-kun, the payment has come in, and your share has been transferred. Thanks to you again, we've successfully secured another big contract!"
"If we can just find that case, we'll achieve financial freedom!"
"So, as the president, I've decided that once Satomi-kun returns, we'll go out for a team celebration!"
"That's fine, but I suggest you don't pop the champagne too early, President. Plans can change in the blink of an eye."
"Ugh, don't jinx it! This commission is definitely ours!"
Over the phone, Kisara chattered excitedly, her voice alone betraying just how thrilled she was.
And rightly so.
After all, their usual commissions ranged from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands—this was the first time they'd landed a job worth a hundred million, not to mention the even bigger ten-billion-yen reward waiting afterward!
With the threat of Hiruko Kagetane gone and the Gastrea that had swallowed the case being only Level 1 according to intel, it was no surprise Kisara was this exhilarated.
A short while later.
His phone buzzed with a notification—ten million yen had been deposited into his account.
This was part of his agreement with Kisara. Unlike Rentaro, who received a fixed salary, Mahiro took a 10% cut from each completed commission.
The money wasn't much, but that didn't matter—he wasn't in it for the cash, but for Kisara herself.
Long black hair, a high school kendo beauty—she ticked every box on his checklist.
I'm lusting after the president, and I'm honest about it.
Right now, however, he was driving against the flow of traffic, heading farther and farther from the city center while the distant Monolith loomed ever larger.
The surroundings, too, seemed to transition from prosperity to ruin, with dilapidated and abandoned buildings everywhere. Cracks in the asphalt roads sprouted lush green weeds.
This was the dark underbelly of Tokyo Area's prosperity—the Outer District.
"Guess the meager balance in my account isn't going to last much longer~"
The thought of a certain young lady's sly smile made Mahiro chuckle as he deftly turned the steering wheel, sending the silver-gray Aston Martin skidding through the broken road in a cloud of dust.
The reason for his remark soon became clear—as he neared the Monolith, a dark new city gradually came into view amidst the ruins.
Though calling it a "new city" was a bit of an exaggeration.
In reality, it consisted of only a few renovated buildings surrounded by sturdy walls made of super-varanium alloy.
Up above, several lolis on patrol spotted the car speeding in the distance and immediately shouted excitedly:
"It's Big Brother! Open the gates quickly!"
"Open up!"
"Open the gates!"
...
As the voices relayed one after another, several children at the front of the city wall began pushing with all their might, slowly opening the massive gate resembling an ancient city entrance until the car drove through.
"Big Brother!"
"It's Big Brother~"
"Long time no see, Big Brother! I've missed you so much~"
The moment he stepped out of the car, a large group of girls instantly swarmed around him, chattering noisily.
Their outfits varied, and their ages differed too—the oldest was ten while the youngest was merely six.
But the one thing they all shared was their crimson-red eyes.
These were all girls who had once lived on this land, abandoned by their parents—the pure generation, also known as the Cursed Children.
Over the past year, during his free time, he had scoured various parts of the Tokyo Area to gather these lolis, bringing them together and settling them here. The vast majority of his savings had been spent on this place.
Including quite a bit of gold...
"Hehe~ Yotsuba-kun is as popular as ever with these children~"
Just then, a silvery, elegant yet bewitching laugh drifted over, carrying the familiar Kansai dialect.
Following the voice, he saw a girl in a kimono standing beside a parked Mercedes not far away, gracefully making her way toward him.
She had long, wavy jet-black hair, wore a brightly colored kimono, and exuded the flawless demeanor of an ojou-sama. Her noble aura was strikingly similar to Kisara's. In the entire Tokyo Area, there was only one person with such looks and presence—Shiba Miori, the daughter of Shiba Heavy Industries' president.
"Long time no see, Miss Shiba. What brings you here today?"
Mahiro waved at the children around him, and they immediately scattered, returning to their respective posts.
"How cold~ You could just call me Miori, you know."
As usual, Miori closed the distance within a few words, but Mahiro took a slight step back, maintaining a polite gap between them.
It wasn't that he was allergic to beautiful girls—rather, over the past year of working with this Shiba heiress, he had learned his lesson.
She was undeniably stunning, with looks and grace that were second to none. But her merchant's cunning was just as sharp, especially when leveraging her charms in negotiations—something he had suffered from more than once.
Yet, seeing his reaction, Miori showed no trace of embarrassment or irritation. Instead, she stood still and murmured:
"I came because I missed you~"
"Is that so? I'm truly flattered."
"Ne, ne, what about the thing I mentioned before? Why don't you ditch Kisara and come with me? I know she only gives you 10% of the reward for each job. If you join me, I wouldn't mind reversing that~"
Snap!
Miori flicked open her iron fan, covering her face and leaving only her eyes visible, making it impossible to read her expression.
By the way, this was already who-knows-how-many-th olive branch Miori had extended to him.
And his answer remained unchanged as always.
"Miss Shiba..."
"Call me Miori~"
"Alright, Miss Miori..."
Stare——
"Fine, Miori." After several attempts to correct himself, he finally managed to continue, "You know that's impossible."
"Muu... Honestly, I just don't get it~ What's so great about that gorilla woman? Both you and little Satomi..."
Miori pouted unhappily.
Though Kisara was her lifelong rival, in some ways, she always felt like she inexplicably lost.
Was it because of those massive... weapons?!
Of course, it was all about personal taste!
There was no helping it—he just had a thing for black-haired, sword-wielding beauties.
Naturally, Mahiro couldn't say any of that to Miori, so he changed the subject instead. "Miori, how about we talk about the progress on the request I entrusted to you?"
"It's already done~"
Snap!
Miori closed her folding fan and pointed at a newly constructed temporary building in the distance. Several large wind turbines stood around it, their three blades slowly rotating with the wind.
"Your requested wind power station is all set up, Yotsuba dear~ Along with the matching transformer equipment. It's not much, but it should be enough for those kids to use."
"How much in total?"
"The transformers are on me—just pay for the wind turbines. Ten million yen total, no bargaining~"
"..."
Hearing the price, Mahiro's eye twitched involuntarily. "You're not just eyeing the balance in my account, are you?"
"Ara~ What are you talking about, Yotsuba-chan? I don't understand~" Miori played dumb with an innocent look. "I definitely didn't hear about how Yotsuba-chan took down the former IP rank 134, Hiruko Kagetane, and received a hundred million yen reward just two days ago~"
Who knows if this woman was deliberately provoking him or what...
Didn't you just spill it all out yourself?!
"Fine, ten million, right? I'll transfer it to you in a couple of days."
"Not now?" Miori blinked in surprise.
However, Mahiro gritted his teeth and said resentfully, "...Can't you let the money stay in my hands for at least a couple of days?!"
His expression completely cracked Miori up, and she laughed heartily without a care for her image.
But as her laughter gradually subsided, a faint smile lingered on the girl's lips as she gazed at the children in the distance.
"You know, Yotsuba-chan, you're really kind to those kids."
Unusually, Miori's tone wasn't dripping with her usual teasing charm this time—it sounded more like genuine admiration.
But Mahiro just shrugged. "Am I? I just remember an old saying from China—'In poverty, look after yourself; in prosperity, care for all under heaven.' What I'm doing is just within my means."
"Within your means, huh... But those from the Lost Generation won't even do things within their means."
Plundering the weaker, bullying the weaker—all to grasp at some fleeting sense of satisfaction.
That's what the Lost Generation did to the Cursed Children.
Now, watching those children's faces light up with happiness as the electric lamps flickered on, Miori found herself infected by their joy, a warm smile unconsciously forming on her lips.
Then, glancing at the unusually handsome boy beside her, she couldn't help but say:
"As expected, Yotsuba-chan, you're really gentle."
"If you think I'm so gentle, can I use that gentleness to bargain for a discount?"
"No way~ Business is business, and a deal's a deal. Besides, the prices I give Yotsuba-chan are already wholesale—I'm not making any profit."
A merchant claiming they're not making profit? That's about as believable as a politician's promise.
Especially coming from a shrewd businesswoman like Shiba Miori—there's no way anyone would buy that.
"By the way, Yotsuba-chan, what are you planning to do with all these kids you're gathering?"
"Why would you think that?" Mahiro countered, looking at Miori.
"Just a woman's intuition~"
Perhaps sensing that it was getting late, Miori gracefully walked toward her parked Mercedes. But just as she opened the door to get in, she suddenly turned back and said:
"Yotsuba-chan~ If you ever get tickets for Noah's Ark, save one for me, okay~"
"Noah's Ark? That's not right. This is just Arcadia in District 39—a home for these children."
A utopia he had built for them.
However, Miori didn't respond further. Whether she heard him or not was unclear as she got into the car.
But one thing was undeniable—this woman's intuition was frighteningly sharp.
He had no intention of helping this world in the slightest.
Especially after experiencing all sorts of events over the past year, he felt... that this utterly wretched world might as well just be destroyed.
...
...
...
Not long after Shiba Miori left, Mahiro gave the children some instructions on electrical safety before departing as well.
Though he still had plenty of time to spare, gathering the scattered Cursed Children was still a troublesome task.
Especially now, when they no longer held much trust in others.
However, just as he drove past a twisted and broken traffic signal lying in the middle of the road—an obstacle blocking the way—and not far ahead, the ruins of what was clearly once a gas station, he suddenly spotted a police car parked in a corner by the roadside.
Mahiro immediately hit the brakes.
That police car was nine-tenths suspicious, its exhaust pipe still emitting heat—clearly, it had just parked there.
But the question was, what was a police car doing in this desolate, abandoned wasteland?
The answer was already obvious.
As he stepped out of the car, Mahiro could hear sharp, frantic screams coming from inside the building.
"Let me go!"
"Shut the hell up, you thieving red-eyed brat!"
Thud!
A dull impact echoed faintly through the abandoned, unfinished building.
Two officers dragged a young girl deeper into the structure. The skinny, bespectacled officer pulled out a new pair of handcuffs, locking one end around the girl's wrist and the other around an exposed steel railing.
Gasping from the pain, the girl struggled violently for a moment before realizing escape was impossible. Seemingly resigned to despair, she stopped resisting, though the uncertainty of what awaited her left her face pale with fear.
Her crimson eyes trembled slightly, clouded with dread.
Meanwhile, the two officers silently drew their service pistols, checking the bullets in the chambers with sinister grins curling on their lips.
The malice radiating from them made them seem less like officers of the law and more like street thugs.
It was obvious—they intended to use the girl for target practice.
"I'll go first this time."
"Whatever."
They quickly decided on the shooting order.
The buzz-cut officer gripped his pistol, stepping back about ten meters before raising the dark muzzle toward the girl.
Bang!
The gunshot rang out as the trigger was pulled.
But bizarrely, no bullet hole appeared on the girl's body—no blood, no wound at all.
Even the girl herself seemed stunned.
"Hey hey, have you screwed around with women so much that you can't even hit a target at this distance?" The bespectacled officer sneered mockingly.
"Shut it! Missing the first shot is normal!"
Refusing to believe it, the buzz-cut officer took a few steps forward, this time steadying the pistol with both hands as he carefully aimed.
Then he pulled the trigger again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three consecutive shots.
Yet the result remained just as strange—the bullets still didn't hit the girl. It was almost as if...
They had vanished into thin air?
The bespectacled, scrawny officer also noticed something was wrong and stepped forward, saying, "Let me handle this."
Bang!
His shot was fired almost the instant he raised his gun.
Yet, just like before, it left no mark.
He moved closer by several meters, firing several more shots in succession until he stood right before the girl. Frustrated, he pressed the gun barrel against her forehead.
"You damn bitch, are you playing tricks? Think you can escape the punishment you red-eyed freaks deserve? Let's see you dodge this one!"
As he pulled the trigger, the girl shut her eyes in terror.
But this time, the gun only clicked—empty.
"Out of bullets?!"
The officer fumbled for more ammunition, but then a voice spoke up behind him.
"Officers, you sure have a lot of free time, bullying a little girl at this hour."
Mahiro emerged slowly from the shadows, a smile on his face. "How about playing with me instead? Mongrels."
The moment he finished speaking, he raised Nightmare and fired at the officer near the child. A spear of dry ice materialized midair, pinning the man to the wall.
Just as the man was about to scream, another flash of psionic light sliced through—his head cleanly disintegrated, the cut so smooth it looked lasered.
The air now carried a faint metallic tang and the scent of char.
The smell jolted the other officer awake.
Only then did he realize—his partner had just been killed!!!
"You bastard... daring to attack an officer—"
"Too much talk."
Mahiro pulled the trigger again, activating "Freezing Flame"—a spell that froze the primer in the bullet, rendering it useless.
Though, he might've misjudged the intensity, accidentally freezing the man's gun and hand together.
"Ah well, close enough."
Watching the man collapse in agony, Mahiro shrugged. "Test-firing is fun, I guess."
"Magic Bullet Shooter," activate.
A barrage of "Dry Blizzard" filled the sky, raining down on the man like a storm.
Thirty or forty shots each to the abdomen, chest, arms, and legs. Mahiro had controlled the power well—no penetration, just turning every part into pulp.
The man convulsed as if electrocuted, his body slamming hard into the ground.
The piercing screams made the girl squeeze her eyes shut, too afraid to look.
Only when the screams faded, when no more footsteps echoed, did she cautiously open them.
But to her shock—
The two men who'd brought her here were gone. Only dust remained, and standing atop it was a completely different older boy.
Feeling her gaze, Mahiro, bathed in the sunset, turned to her. He reached out toward the girl with the grimy face and deep, wine-red eyes.
Smiling, he said:
"Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Yotsuba Mahiro, leader of Arcadia in District 39. How'd you like to join us?"
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