"Elder! Meihui went to the city to find food and hasn't returned yet!"
A little girl with black hair and glasses said with a hint of worry to the kind-faced old man in front of her.
"Is that so? Did you go look for her?"
"We did, but we didn't dare to stay in the city for long, so..."
Hearing the little girl's words, the kind smile on the old man's face faltered, and a flicker of pain crossed his heart.
He knew that Meihui was likely in trouble; he was very clear about how those people in the city treated these children.
But he was powerless; he had already exhausted all his strength just to feed these children.
"Is that so?"
"Could Meihui be in trouble?"
"No, she's so strong, she'll definitely come back safely!"
"She must have been delayed by something!"
All the children present refused to believe that Meihui was in trouble; rather, they didn't dare to believe it.
Often, their companions would go to the city and never return, so they could only deceive themselves.
"Are you talking about a little girl with a brown hat and black hair?" Aihara Enju, sitting on the ground with her arms wrapped around her knees, asked the Cursed Children present.
"Have you seen her?"
"Is she alright now?"
"Enju, have you seen that child?"
The crowd, who had thought Meihui was gone for good, immediately asked eagerly upon hearing Aihara Enju's words.
Aihara Enju looked at the many little lolis present, all gazing at her expectantly, and replied directly:
"I saw her earlier. She was taken away by the police for stealing, but I heard from Rentaro that she was rescued later!"
"Rentaro didn't say who rescued her specifically."
Hearing Aihara Enju's words, the many little lolis present cheered happily:
"That's great! I knew Meihui would be fine!"
"Now we can finally rest assured!"
Compared to the little lolis' happiness, Matsuzaki remained worried.
Although Enju said Meihui was rescued, who could guarantee that the person who rescued her was a good person?
Over the years, he had seen too many such people, pretending to be good to deceive Cursed Children, and then, once they were lured to a certain place, they would... [Sigh! I hope Meihui met a good person!]
[Why does heaven treat these children this way? Does heaven truly have no eyes?]
Matsuzaki looked at the many children present, who, despite their ragged clothes, were still trying to live, and sighed inwardly.
"Clang, clang, clang!"
Just then, a series of knocking sounds on a manhole cover reached everyone's ears.
"Someone!"
"I'll go see!"
A little girl with pink hair ran to the sewer entrance, lifted the manhole cover with one hand, and asked the umbrella-wielding young man in front of her in a soft voice:
"What is it?"
"I'm a civil security agent; I'm looking for this child!"
Satomi Rentaro reached into his pocket, pulled out a photo, and showed it to the little loli.
The little loli looked at the little girl in the photo, paused, and said:
"Never seen her!"
"I still want to ask others."
Hearing Satomi Rentaro's words, the little girl used her right hand to toss the manhole cover aside and said:
"Well, the Elder is also here, please come inside and wait!"
"Alright, thank you!"
The little girl, leading Satomi Rentaro, ran with cheerful steps, shouting:
"Elder!"
Satomi Rentaro followed the little girl to the end of the passage and, by the faint light, saw a kind-faced old man and a group of Cursed Children.
"Are you the Elder?"
The old man heard Satomi Rentaro's question and replied in a gentle tone:
"Elder is a nickname. My name is Matsuzaki! I'm responsible for looking after these children."
"So that in the future they can live among ordinary humans without their red eyes being discovered, they must at least learn how to control their emotions."
"The era of being plundered is too cruel to them!"
Hearing the old man's words, Satomi Rentaro said softly:
"If everyone could think like you..."
At this point, Satomi Rentaro took out Aihara Enju's photo, showed it to Matsuzaki, and continued to ask:
"Has she been here?"
Matsuzaki looked at the photo and said:
"Unfortunately, I haven't seen her!"
Hearing that he hadn't seen her, a hint of disappointment flashed in Satomi Rentaro's eyes, and he mumbled softly:
"Is that so..."
Matsuzaki looked at Satomi Rentaro and asked:
"Where are you going next?"
"I'll search the entire district, because this is her hometown. I'll keep searching until I find her!"
After saying that, Satomi Rentaro turned to leave. Just then, Matsuzaki suddenly asked:
"Have you seen a child with a brown hat and black hair? She went to the city two days ago but hasn't returned yet!"
Hearing Matsuzaki's words, Satomi Rentaro's heart trembled. He quickly pulled out his phone, opened the corresponding photo, showed it to Matsuzaki, and asked:
"Is it this little girl?"
"Yes, it's her! Have you seen her? Is she alright now?" Matsuzaki urgently asked when he saw that it was indeed Xiao Meihui.
"She's fine now. She was taken away, but the person who took her shouldn't do anything to her, so don't worry!"
"Is that so! Then I'm relieved!"
Matsuzaki finally breathed a sigh of relief after getting a definite answer from Satomi Rentaro.
"Well, I need to continue looking for her!"
After saying that, he turned and left. Matsuzaki watched Satomi Rentaro leave and said to Aihara Enju, who was hiding in the corner:
"Is it really okay to just watch him leave, little girl!"
Aihara Enju lowered her head and whispered:
"This is fine!"
"Bang!"
Just as Matsuzaki was about to say something else, Satomi Rentaro, who had just left, rushed back, shouting as he ran:
"Hide quickly, there's a monster outside!"
"A monster? Is it a Gastrea? But there's a Monolith, isn't there!"
Upon hearing about a monster, Matsuzaki's first thought was Gastrea, but before he could think further, a series of heavy footsteps grew closer.
As the footsteps approached and the creature appeared before everyone, Matsuzaki seemed to forget how to speak, while many little lolis shouted:
"Pig... Pig-headed monster!"
"We're going to be eaten!"
"Elder!"
Just then, Aihara Enju jumped out and loudly declared:
"I don't care what kind of monster you are, no one is going to harm anyone here!"
Satomi Rentaro heard the familiar voice, turned to look, and exclaimed in surprise:
"Enju!"
But no one paid attention to Satomi Rentaro's surprise now; they all stared at the approaching pig-headed man.
Just as everyone thought the opponent was about to attack, the pig-headed man suddenly reached up and touched his head, saying:
"Uh... my appearance might have scared the children, but don't worry, I won't harm you!"
After saying that, he turned to the back and said:
"It seems I'll have to leave it to you!"
"Hehe, then leave it to me!"
To everyone's surprise, a beautiful woman with flowing black hair and a stunning face, holding a katana, walked past the pig-headed man and stood before the crowd. Then, she said gently:
"Nice to meet you. My name is Shizue Izawa. We are not bad people; we are here to help you!"
"Ah ah ah ah!!!"