After waiting for a long time, Rentaro and Kisara finally saw the Silver King. Of course, just as Suibara said, trailing behind the Silver King were many Cursed Children.
Kisara was about to step forward, but Rentaro stopped her, as disturbing others was very impolite.
Although she didn't quite understand why Rentaro did that, she still obediently sat still. The young pair settled down on a set of stone steps, gazing at the tall silver figure amidst numerous small shadows.
"Once upon a time..."
The Silver King's voice echoed, deep, warm, and powerful, as he began a new story. This display surprised Kisara, who had only encountered the Silver King once before.
That previous encounter was the first time the Silver King had appeared before the world, almost wiping out all the high-level combat forces of the Civil Security. Thus, Kisara's impression of the Silver King was far from positive.
Powerful, savage, arrogant. A terrifying ruler.
But now, Kisara seemed to catch a glimpse of a different facet of the Silver King.
She watched him like a storyteller by a campfire she had once seen in an old newspaper, telling tales of an old world where there were no Gastrea, no Cursed Children. A world where, though suffering and injustice always coexisted with happiness and fairness, compared to this world, hope always existed there.
Not just Kisara, but even Rentaro was mesmerized. The two young people sat there, listening to the rhythm of the story flow through their hearts. Somewhere within them, there was still a child, yearning for this seemingly mundane thing.
The Silver King's stories seemed to be mere fairy tales mixed with a bit of fantastical and modern elements. But hidden within them were lessons. These children might not be able to understand them now, but the Silver King hoped that one day they would grasp his purpose.
Finally, the story came to an end.
Rentaro and Kisara also snapped out of their engrossment.
A moment of silence passed between the two. Rentaro even momentarily forgot why he had come here, looking slightly spaced out.
Just then, a benevolent voice rang out.
"Are you two new here?"
Rentaro turned his head and saw that the person who asked them was an old man with a slightly hunched back, his face full of wrinkles, showing the austerity and the rigors of time, but still wearing a smile.
"You are..."
"Just call this old man Matsuzaki."
Matsuzaki looked at Rentaro and Kisara, then looked toward the Silver King in the distance.
"He's truly amazing, isn't he?"
He spoke softly, as if speaking to the two young people, and also to himself.
"Those of us who have lived through the Gastrea War have all permanently lost something, leaving us incomplete."
"Twisted, deformed."
Matsuzaki's words made Rentaro think of those painful scenes. When exactly did everything become like this?
"But the children haven't yet. They have only been tormented by this world, but they still have a chance. His Excellency Silver King... even when he is busy with a hundred thousand tasks, he patiently dedicates time to rebuild the soul of each and every one of them."
Having said that, the old man smiled somewhat bashfully.
"You two can just ignore me..."
"Ah no, we..."
"But I just want you to know. How magnificent the figure over there is."
In the eyes of this Elder who had struggled to protect the Cursed Children, the Silver King's magnificence did not come from killing enemies or slaying the Gastrea Zodiac, but from small acts like this.
He knew that the Silver King was doing this to nurture children with a genuine worldview. What he was building was a society, was humanity, not some Garden of Eden of the gods.
This was the true salvation—the salvation of both body and soul.
Rentaro was still in a chaotic state of mind, fundamentally unable to fully comprehend what the old man said. However, when he collected himself, where was the old man?
"Uh... Kisara? Where did that old man go?"
"I wouldn't know."
Kisara frowned, then she shook her head and nudged Rentaro.
"Satomi, did you forget what we came here for today?"
"Ah..."
Rentaro scratched his head awkwardly.
At this moment, the Silver King had just finished his extracurricular program and the children were returning to class, so at least they wouldn't be causing a disturbance.
"Your Excellency..."
Rentaro took a deep breath, then walked up to the Silver King. When the King glanced back, Rentaro was instantly speechless, unsure what to say.
In their two previous direct encounters, the first time he was knocked unconscious, and the second time, although it grudgingly ended well, he was still beaten half to death.
A bad premonition suddenly arose in Rentaro's heart. Don't tell me he was going to get beaten again this time.
"What is it?"
The Silver King spoke in a tone low enough to make the air drop a few degrees, causing Rentaro to swallow audibly. Nevertheless, he overcame the psychological obstacle and bravely spoke out.
"Silver King... please accept me as your disciple!"
Rentaro spoke very loudly, as if to increase his own courage. But the only thing that answered him was a cold question from the opposite side.
"To what end?"
"H-huh?"
Rentaro momentarily failed to grasp why, and the Silver King repeated himself again.
"To what end?"
Purpose.
The word flashed in his mind.
"I want to become stronger, Your Excellency, so please..."
"Stronger for what?"
Rentaro paused again.
Many answers whirled in his head.
"Seitenshi told me that if I want to seek the truth, I must become stronger and stronger. I want to witness that..."
"And after that, to what end?"
The third question was delivered.
Even Kisara, silent next to him, secretly felt anxious for Rentaro. But having come this far, he could no longer retreat.
"I... I think..."
"Stop."
The Silver King raised his hand, and all fell silent.
"I know well enough what you are about to say next. Just empty, narrow nonsense about an unrealistic idealism that I have no desire to hear."
"You want the truth, don't you? Then listen closely, to every word and every syllable I am about to speak."
And the Silver King began to speak.
The expressions of both Rentaro and Kisara shifted from astonishment to terror, and finally, to shock. Not including the three of them, no one else knew what the Silver King was saying, but in the end, Rentaro even painfully covered his ears.
"Please, Your Excellency... stop talking..."
"What is it? Is the truth too much for you to bear, kid?"
The Silver King sneered, speaking mockingly.
"You claim to desire the truth of the world, yet you don't even dare to face it. Then where do you find the courage to proclaim before me that you will change the world? Ridiculous."
"I... I didn't know..."
"Do you seriously believe that every part of this rotten world treats the children mercifully and with leniency like Tokyo does?"
Rentaro knelt down, his face exceedingly pale. And the Silver King's frigid voice sliced through the young man's heart like a knife.
"It seems the people around you have coddled you too much. You have lost many things, but not everything, so you cannot understand."
"Go home."
"This world needs a god, not just some foolish hero."