"..."
No fear of the flames, no anger at the people, no grief over failure.
At this moment, the Holy Child felt neither sorrow nor joy.
Listening to the mindless roar of the mob, gazing up at the blue sky above the fire, she felt only one thing…
Tired. At last, she could rest.
She suddenly thought of Zeroy and of the mission on the virtual screen.
She had prepared to conquer a girl, yet in the end had never even met her.
The rewards of the mission had seemed incredible, but now she had no chance of ever claiming them.
Would the mission transfer to someone else after her death?
She didn't know.
And now she didn't care.
It didn't matter anymore. She couldn't do anything anyway...
·········
If she went by memories of her past life, Zeroy knew that if there were anyone who could govern the world she purged, it would only be the Holy Child. Though something of a figurehead, at least her heart held the people, and she strove to help them accept the Cursed Children.
That was rare indeed.
Like a single white flower blooming among a field of darkened, evil ones.
Especially after purging a dozen cities, Zeroy had become ever more aware of how personified this world was.
Not one of the ruling class was human. Patriotism? Concern for the people? None.
They held supreme authority, but they were the greatest evils in the cities.
They treated not only the Cursed Children as less than human, but all others too—mere blood slaves, cattle, pigs. And such trash, no matter their abilities, all met the same bloody end before Zeroy.
However, her knowledge of the Holy Child came only from her past-life memories.
The anime had revealed little. The true Holy Child of this world, her reality, and whether she matched her portrayal, all had to be judged in person.
On her way to the Tokyo Area, Zeroy set Hercules Base to autopilot and scoured the net for info.
Just to understand the basics before meeting and making her final judgment.
She hadn't expected to find so much truth about the Cursed Children. Someone had been posting it online, urging people to stop the persecution.
Zeroy clicked through, then closed it fast—
She couldn't read more. It only stoked her killing intent.
The videos, photos, and documents themselves weren't the problem. It was the comments, swarming with inhuman voices.
Any rare notes of sympathy or reflection were instantly attacked.
Tracing the source, she found that the one posting this truth was her target…
The Holy Child.
She soon found more: the Holy Child had been forcing through the New Gastrea Law, granting the Cursed Children their human rights.
Her approval ratings had plummeted overnight.
"Noticing already? Sharp."
Though Zeroy wasn't sure why she acted this way.
From her knowledge of the anime, the Holy Child must have realized the purge was coming and tried to save people.
Albeit this was reality, not fiction. She might be doing it only to save herself.
Zeroy hoped for the former.
She would cleanse this world of its pests; even so, that didn't mean it would become a paradise free of evil.
The so-called innocents might later become pests for many reasons.
Their innocence was only that they hadn't yet done evil. There was no guarantee they wouldn't. A vile environment bred such outcomes—the high crime rate here was proof of that.
That said, a wise ruler could change the environment, stabilize hearts, and reduce evil.
In Highschool of the Dead, failing to find a successor forced her to disband the survivor base and leave people to fend for themselves.
She didn't want this world to repeat that mistake.
Killing pests wasn't enough—she needed to see the aftermath managed too.
With that in mind, she investigated the Holy Child further—her life, deeds, governing ideals.
The more she saw, the more satisfied she became.
Among so many distorted pretenders, the Holy Child's normalcy was precious.
Though most real power lay with Tendō Kikunojo, and in two years she had done little, each act she managed was undeniably wise and for the people, winning her high approval.
It showed she had real ability.
Kikunojo even seemed to be grooming her as his successor, sparing no effort in training her.
All that remained was to meet her and perform the final judgment—if she passed, this world's successor was chosen.
The only issue: she was sixteen, still a high schooler.
If she truly was kind-hearted, her youth might make her too merciful.
A ruler could not govern on mercy alone.
Excessive mercy was hypocrisy.
If her mercy spared pests who then harmed innocents, she would be no better than those who shielded zombies and pests—their accomplice.
That would be tested in the judgment.
However, Zeroy doubted it would be a problem.
She remembered two scenes from the original work.
First: in diplomacy, she showed the weakness of youth against older leaders. She was young and needed correction.
Second: when a guard captain revealed his true face and nearly killed a Cursed Child and Rentarō, she gave Rentarō full authority to decide his fate.
He could have shot him on the spot before her eyes.
So while merciful, she wasn't so soft as to shy away from blood.
In the end, Rentarō only crippled the captain's hand...
...
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