The three of them walked through the silent shelter.
Just as Nia Honjo had said, this place had everything the cursed children needed.
Clean water and food, regular medical supplies, comfortable beds, a place to rest, and classrooms to learn in...
The shelter wasn't massive, but it wasn't small either.
After all, it was a building that had cost nearly 100 million yen.
Standing on the high wall surrounding the shelter, Elder Matsuzaki said with admiration, "This place is better than I imagined. I believe the children will love it."
"That's great to hear."
"But, Ms. Honjo, I still have one doubt."
"Go ahead."
"Who is standing behind you?"
"No one."
"In other words, you built a paradise for cursed children with your own will and your own money, on this wasteland where there's nothing but factories?"
"Yes."
"It's unbelievable," Elder Matsuzaki said, surprised. "What is your job?"
"I'm a bit embarrassed to say, but my main job is actually as a cartoonist," Nia Honjo said casually. "I draw and write stories at the same time."
"Ms. Honjo, I'm not so old that I don't know what a cartoonist is," Elder Matsuzaki said with a smile. "After all, before the Great Disaster, I experienced the golden age of Japanese comics."
"Have you heard of Silver Bullet?"
"A little. Wasn't it a very famous boys' comic before the Great Disaster?"
"That's my work."
"So... huh?"
Elder Matsuzaki's eyes widened slightly.
He took off his reading glasses, exhaled, wiped them with his sleeve, and put them back on.
Then he squinted and studied Nia Honjo appearance more carefully.
"Ms. Honjo, please forgive me for being impolite, but I have a question I must ask, no matter what."
"Go ahead."
"How old are you?"
"Well, I'm about the same age as you, in my forties."
Elder Matsuzaki took a deep breath and said, "This world is truly full of surprises."
"Haha, but I'll always be a seventeen-year-old girl at heart."
"That's good, that's good," Elder Matsuzaki said, laughing. "Youth is the greatest asset. Only youth can bring change."
"But, to be honest, I can't make much money drawing comics in this world anymore," Nia Honjo said, shrugging. "Besides being a cartoonist and a nun, I also work part-time as a police officer. This shelter was built with the reward I earned from completing commissions."
"If that's the case, Miss Honjo must be a very capable police officer."
"No, no, I wouldn't say I'm amazing. At most, I just know a little more than others."
After clearing her throat to steer the conversation back on track, Nia Honjo asked, "So, Elder Matsuzaki, are you willing to bring the cursed children here to settle?"
This was the main purpose of today's meeting with Elder Matsuzaki.
Although he had known about Nia Honjo for a month through Shiraishi Hina's introduction, he couldn't easily trust someone based solely on a child's opinion.
Moreover, this wasn't just about him it concerned the cursed children under his care.
Elder Matsuzaki had to take this seriously.
That was why he had come to meet Nia Honjo today: to inspect the shelter and to see what kind of person she was.
Only if Nia Honjo met his expectations would he agree to her proposal.
At least, that's what she had thought.
"Hmm? What are you talking about?"
However, Elder Matsuzaki looked puzzled in response to Nia Honjo question. "Do you think I would refuse?"
"After all, this concerns you and all the cursed children under your care," Nia Honjo said. "I don't want you to think I built this shelter just for show or something like that."
"Ah, Miss Honjo, you worry too much," Elder Matsuzaki said, shaking his head. "Even if it were just for show, who in this society would bother?"
"..."
Nia Honjo was momentarily speechless.
She had fallen into a logical fallacy.
In this world, the status of cursed children was lower than that of animals. Even if someone spent a fortune and effort to protect them, there would be no tangible benefit.
In fact, doing so might even earn hostility.
"So, Ms. Honjo, when I learned someone had built a shelter on this land to protect cursed children, I decided to bring the children here. In other words, if you had refused, I would have had to beg you."
"That's too much."
"Your investment in this shelter is far beyond my imagination. At first, I thought even the most generous person might only build a shelter for 20 to 30 children. I never expected it to be large enough to accommodate all the cursed children in Tokyo."
"Is it that exaggerated?"
"Ms. Honjo, there aren't that many wandering cursed children. Those with some abilities have been taken by the International Initiator Supervision Agency, and the rest have mostly died due to the harsh environment," Elder Matsuzaki said regretfully. "In all of Tokyo, the number of wandering cursed children will never exceed a hundred."
Harsh environment.
Nia Honjo knew that using this term to describe the living conditions of the cursed children was already too kind.
Having personally rescued Shiraishi Hina from the police, she knew exactly how brutal that "harsh environment" truly was.
"But things will get better from now on, right?" Nia Honjo said, taking a deep breath and speaking optimistically.
"Yes, yes, they will. Definitely," Elder Matsuzaki said, his face breaking into a warm smile.
"Well, let's go and bring the cursed children here now."
"No need."
"Why?"
"Because they're already here."
Following Elder Matsuzaki's gaze, Nia Honjo saw a group of girls carrying bags of all sizes walking toward them.
They didn't look well their skin was dry and sallow, and they were covered in dust.
But when they saw Elder Matsuzaki and the shelter, their eyes lit up.
"Hey-----!" A girl with twin ponytails jumped up. "Sister Nia! We're here!"
"I'm so tired. Couldn't you have hired a truck? I'd have paid for it," the girl in the sailor suit said, panting as she dragged two suitcases.
"Didn't you come here to help? Stop complaining," the boy in uniform said, pouting. "Give me the bag on your back. I can carry another one."
"Thanks to Enju and her friends, I was able to leave the children with them and come here alone to talk to you," Elder Matsuzaki said with a smile. "They're your friends too, right?"
"Hmph... friends..."
Nia Honjo was stunned for a moment, then thought about it carefully and smiled.
"I hope so."