"Hello, my name is Kanna. Want some candy?" Kanna pulled out a lollipop from her pocket and offered it to Liz.
Under Shining's tense gaze, Liz, with a somewhat weak smile, accepted Kanna's candy and put it in her mouth. "Mm, my name is Liz. And the candy is very sweet, thank you, Kanna."
"You're welcome, Sister Liz. If there's anything you want to eat, just tell Kanna. Kanna knows exactly where all the delicious food is in all the shops on Rhodes Island, and what every cafeteria is good at."
Unlike the tension around her, Kanna was very happy about Liz's reaction, so she continued to confidently boast, as always.
"Kanna, don't scare the guests!" Seeing Shining's nervous expression, Lena walked over and led Kanna away.
Not just Shining, but Nearl, too, was very shocked. Before, she had always thought Kanna was just a child who liked to rest here. Even when Lena said she was an Elite Operator of Rhodes Island, Nearl hadn't paid much attention.
But this sudden burst of speed alone was enough to make her feel pressure. As a Kuranta skilled in running, Kanna's speed wasn't unattainable for her, but it would require her to reach peak running speed after a warm-up. Yet, the other party moved as if it were just a casual jog, and most terrifyingly, she could stop effortlessly, defying inertia.
It was then that she truly felt that Rhodes Island was full of hidden talents.
When Kanna was led away by Lena, she didn't resist but waved goodbye to Liz, "Sister Liz, next time I come, I'll bring you delicious desserts, the really, really good kind."
Liz seemed completely unaffected and nodded at Kanna. "Then I'll look forward to our next meeting."
"Phew! Finally done." After that, Kanna didn't follow but walked back into the small house. After a while, Lena returned, looking relaxed.
"Kanna-chan, no more scaring guests like that!" Lena had also seen Kanna's speed for the first time, but she wasn't overly surprised. The reason, of course, was that after all this time, she had long heard about Kanna's "glorious deeds" from other Operators and patients who came to the recuperation room, and she had also heard of the other party's ten-thousand-word guarantee, so she had long anticipated Kanna's strength.
"Aww!" Kanna humbly accepted Lena's criticism.
"Sister Lena, regarding the Infected, there's something I'm very curious about." Seeing Liz, Kanna suddenly thought of something she had been quite curious about before.
"Speaking of which, users of Originium Arts are basically all Infected with oripathy, right!"
"That's right, of course. Most Originium Arts rely on the Infected resonating with nature through the Originium particles in their bodies, thereby releasing spells." Lena nodded. The method of releasing Originium Arts was almost a continental consensus, with nothing to hide.
"I heard Amiya say that if an Infected person frequently uses Originium Arts, or if their Originium Arts are very powerful, then each spell cast will deepen their infection?"
Lena looked at Kanna with some surprise. If the previous question was common knowledge that everyone knew, this latter one was information that only a few people would deliberately seek to understand. "Amiya's words are also correct. Both powerful Originium Arts and frequent spellcasting will cause the Originium concentration in an Infected person's body to rise rapidly. Do you have any objections to this, Kanna?"
"No, it's not that. I was just thinking, Amiya said that the leaders or high-ranking officials of these countries on Terra are basically all highly skilled Originium Arts users. So why would they tolerate discrimination and oppression of the Infected by non-Infected people? Shouldn't they be more biased towards the Infected, since they are of the same kind?"
Hearing Kanna's question, Lena fell silent, which was rare for her. After a long moment, she gently stroked Kanna's hair and softly said, "I'm sorry, Kanna. Sister Lena can't answer this question, and I don't know who can give you the answer. Perhaps you have to find it yourself, see with your eyes, listen with your ears, and finally gather everything you know in your mind, and then you will get the answer you need."
"Oh! I have another question!" Kanna raised her hand to continue asking, and only after seeing Lena nod did she continue,
"If those important figures are Infected, do they often need to use spells to scare their subordinates, like they do on TV? If so, aren't they afraid of oripathy breaking out? Do you think they might use spells very elegantly on stage, but then rush to find a doctor for medicine and injections backstage?"
Hearing Kanna's words, Lena thought about the scene and burst out laughing. "Kanna, don't talk nonsense. Although many high-ranking officials have a bad attitude towards the Infected, it cannot be denied that these are the very people who make this world relatively stable. Although they don't like the Infected, the Infected don't need anyone's liking. Our rights, our living space, we can all fight for with our own hands."
"I know, it means walking someone else's path and leaving them nowhere to go..."
Before Kanna could finish speaking, Lena gently patted her head. "You child, I think I should suggest to Doctor Kal'tsit that you're old enough for school... Don't grow up and not even be able to read."
Hearing Lena's words, Kanna was greatly surprised. She hadn't expected that Sister Lena, usually so gentle and lovely, harbored such malicious intentions... School, that truly was a terrifying word for a youngster.
"No way! Kanna doesn't want to go to school..." Kanna shouted as she flapped her short legs and ran out of the Greenhouse.
Behind the small house, Shining and Nearl were not far away.
"What do you think of that child's question?"
"People of Terra are born with desires. As long as desires exist, conflict is inevitable. This cannot be changed by whether there are Infected or not; one can only say that the prejudice between the Infected and non-Infected exacerbates this conflict.
There is no absolute answer to this question. Everyone looks at it from a different perspective, and naturally, the answers they get will be different. For this, I think Miss Lena is right; only when that child has seen it with her own eyes and experienced it herself will she understand the weight of that question."
Shining recalled her process of leaving the Sin Eaters and wandering with Liz, and let out a rare sigh.
After leaving the Greenhouse, Kanna rubbed her belly... This feeling, it must be mealtime.
Thinking this, she headed towards the cafeteria, and decided in her heart that she wouldn't go to the Greenhouse for at least a while. After all, if Lena's suggestion reached Kal'tsit's ears, her life as a street urchin would be over!