"Rentarō?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Tendō Kisara turned her head in surprise to look at her employee. "What are you doing here?"
At this question, Satomi Rentarō's heart grew even heavier. "Miss Kisara, wasn't it you who said our performance was lacking and told me to find time to pick an Initiator so we could take on missions?"
You don't remember the task you assigned me?
"Oh! Right, that thing! I remember now!" Tendō Kisara paused, finally recalling. It seemed she had indeed given him that task the day before yesterday.
"Sorry, I've been thinking about Lord Su Mo for the past two days and forgot," she said casually.
Tendō Kisara didn't mean anything by it, just a simple explanation, but to Satomi Rentarō, it sounded different.
"Mr. Su Mo, is that this gentleman here?" he asked, hiding the bitterness in his heart and forcing a generous expression as he looked at Su Mo with a hint of curiosity.
As a traditional, gentle protagonist, although his thinking was a bit too deeply ingrained with certain ideas, his social skills were decent. He was even soft to the point of being a pushover and wouldn't hold anything against Su Mo just because of his one-sided feelings.
In fact, he had already noticed the respect and admiration in Tendō Kisara's voice when she mentioned Su Mo's name. For someone as proud as Kisara, who always carried herself as a young lady, to admire a man so much... besides her deceased father, this was a first.
This alone almost extinguished any thought of competing. His goddess's willing, day-and-night obsession... what right did he have to interfere?
He was just curious who Su Mo was, why he had never heard his name before, and how he had become so close to Tendō Kisara upon appearing.
"Mm," Su Mo nodded slightly in response to Satomi Rentarō's question.
He was actually a little interested in this original protagonist. If he wanted to experiment with cosmologies in this world, this might be an excellent tool.
Su Mo had no objections, but Tendō Kisara was a little dissatisfied with Satomi Rentarō's tone. "Rentarō, be more respectful towards Lord Su Mo. This is a person of a stature you could never imagine!"
Although Rentarō's attitude was fine for an ordinary person, in front of Su Mo, Kisara didn't believe anyone was qualified to speak to him as an equal. In the face of a god who could destroy the universe, maintaining basic humility was the proper etiquette for the weak.
Her words were, of course, not wrong. In a sense, she was looking out for her employee, not wanting him to offend Su Mo.
But to Satomi Rentarō, it was a little hard to take. How could the proud Tendō Kisara be so humble in front of this man? It suddenly felt like his goddess was someone else's simp.
However, being soft-natured, he didn't argue and immediately said, "Understood, Miss Kisara. My apologies, Lord Su Mo."
On second thought, he was a servant adopted by the Tendō family, similar to a long-term laborer. If the man before him was the young lady's fiancé, his status would indeed be higher, so using a respectful title was only natural.
Major points for Team Pushover.
"No need to be so formal," Su Mo said, shaking his head calmly. He was about to say something else when he felt a slight tug on his sleeve.
Looking down, he saw Aihara Enju looking at him with shining eyes, one hand covering her mouth, her gaze as lively as a little rabbit's. She was even glowing faintly red with excitement, a trait unique to Cursed Children.
It was obvious she was asking if she could speak, not speaking directly for fear that Su Mo would mistake it as her wish.
Just a few minutes ago, she had been cold and resistant, but now she had become quite affectionate. This showed that Su Mo's earlier judgment was incredibly accurate; these children were easily deceived.
"Speak your mind. You can take your time thinking about your wish," Su Mo said, not teasing her, which finally gave her the courage to speak.
"Um... L-Lord Su Mo? Is that guy over there the kind-hearted bad guy you mentioned earlier, the one who will turn me into a monster?" Aihara Enju asked in a hushed, conspiratorial tone, mimicking Tendō Kisara's form of address and pointing at Satomi Rentarō.
The intelligent girl had already guessed what was going on. The term "kind-hearted bad guy" was rather child-like.
"Mm," Su Mo nodded, not intending to hide it.
"Then I'm definitely not going with him."
Hearing this, Aihara Enju shuddered and immediately hid behind Su Mo, moving away from Satomi Rentarō. She didn't really understand all the talk about saving or destroying the world, but she knew she didn't want to become a monster.
"?"
Seeing the little girl's wary expression, as if he were a thief, Satomi Rentarō was a bit baffled. With his usual affinity for children, he rarely met one who was resistant to him.
If she were alone, he wouldn't mind showing some kindness to restore her trust in humanity. But seeing how close Aihara Enju seemed to be to Su Mo and Tendō Kisara, he gave up on the idea. Anyone that child was close to probably wasn't a bad person.
He just didn't know what the child was whispering about.
Puzzled, he glanced at the other Cursed Children in the hall, who were eating.
By now, their bellies were full.
They had gone from wolfing down their food to eating slowly.
They had actually been full for a while, but living a life of not knowing where their next meal would come from made them reluctant to give up any opportunity to eat. Anyway, with their constitutions, it was impossible for them to eat themselves to death.
Looking at the state of these Cursed Children, Satomi Rentarō scratched his head, confused. "Speaking of which, Miss Kisara, why has the treatment of these children suddenly improved? Is some big shot from the Ministry of Defense coming for an inspection?"
Even he knew how these Cursed Children were treated, so he refused to believe this was the norm.
"Of course not. If those guys were coming for an inspection, they'd probably want the public to see them still starving!" Tendō Kisara sneered, then said seriously, "But, while it's not the Ministry of Defense, there is indeed a big shot here. All this food was provided by Lord Su Mo."
"Lord Su Mo is a really good person!"
Hearing this, Satomi Rentarō was slightly stunned, and a genuine respect began to enter his gaze as he looked at Su Mo. In this social environment, there were very few people who would care for the Cursed Children.
"...If you can't give a proper compliment, don't!" Tendō Kisara was a bit speechless. The term "good person" was too shallow an evaluation for an existence on Su Mo's level.
"S-sorry!" Satomi Rentarō didn't know what he had said to displease the young lady. After apologizing, he remembered his original question.
"By the way, Miss Kisara, you still haven't said what you and Lord Su Mo are doing here."
"Could it be that Lord Su Mo is also picking an Initiator and plans to help out at Miss Kisara's company?"
At this possibility, Satomi Rentarō's heart skipped a beat. I-if that's the case, wouldn't my existence be even more meaningless? And if Su Mo is some rich guy, would Miss Kisara just give up the company after marrying him?
"Of course not," Tendō Kisara said, exasperated. She naturally didn't know what he was nervous about, only thinking his words were too detached from reality.
Lord Su Mo working for me? I couldn't afford that even if I sold myself.
"I'm just accompanying Lord Su Mo to take a look! As for what he wants to do, I'm not sure," she said truthfully.
"..."
Realizing Tendō Kisara's "whatever he wants" attitude, Satomi Rentarō didn't know whether to be relieved or heartbroken.
Following him around without knowing anything... who would believe it's not true love?
"So Lord Su Mo is here for this child?"
"More or less," Su Mo nodded, then looked at Tendō Kisara. "Thank you for guiding me this time. Since you've already agreed, I will reshape this world in my own way. And in return, I will grant your wish."
Hearing this, Satomi Rentarō was still in a daze, not understanding what Su Mo was suddenly talking about.
But Tendō Kisara's eyes widened, her face filled with an expression of ecstatic joy. "Lord Su Mo, are you serious?"
Just a moment ago, she had been envious of Aihara Enju. She never expected that her own turn for a sky-high fortune would come so soon.
"Of course," Su Mo nodded calmly.
Tendō Kisara had basically offered him a world as a guide. He naturally wouldn't be stingy in giving her a corresponding reward.
Tendō Kisara's face lit up with joy.
"...Miss Kisara's wish?"
Hearing their conversation, Satomi Rentarō wanted to ask, but he held back. Even he knew not to interrupt a couple's intimate moment.
No matter what, she wouldn't tell her lover about her darkest wish, right?
With this thought, he politely took a step back and turned his gaze to the other Cursed Children. "Then I won't disturb Lord Su Mo and Miss Kisara's date. I'll go pick an Initiator who can work with me."
The excited Tendō Kisara naturally had no time to respond, nor did she refute the word "date."
Feeling somewhat dejected, Satomi Rentarō looked at the children before him.
However—
For some reason, when they met his gaze, not only did the Cursed Children not rush forward as he had expected, but they all took a collective step back. Their eyes darted away, all of them peeking at Su Mo in the corner.
"?"
For Satomi Rentarō, who had always been popular with children, this was a first.
Hey, Lord Su Mo over there has already chosen his Initiator. According to the rules, he can't choose anyone else. No matter how grateful you are to him, you can't become his Initiator! Compared to the impossible Su Mo, I'm the more realistic choice, right?
"Is there no one who wants to go with big brother?" Satomi Rentarō asked, squatting down, feeling a little awkward. He had thought he would have a choice, but it turned out none of these children were interested in him?
His pride was a little bruised. Even though Tendō Kisara wasn't paying any attention to him, he could feel his cheeks burning.
Or rather, it was precisely because she wasn't paying any attention to him that while his cheeks were burning, his heart was ice-cold.
Fortunately, his gentle nature prevented him from getting angry.
Just as he was about to try a gentle offensive and ask a few more times, Aihara Enju, who had been deep in thought, suddenly raised her hand.
"Lord Su Mo, I've decided on my wish!"
Satomi Rentarō and the other Cursed Children immediately looked over.
So Lord Su Mo even granted his Initiator a wish. He really is a good person worth entrusting oneself to!
Under their curious gazes, Aihara Enju's eyes swept over the other Cursed Children who were looking at her with pleading eyes, then landed warily on Satomi Rentarō, who was preparing to extend his "demonic claws" to the other Cursed Children.
"My wish is... to save all the Cursed Children like me, so they can live happy lives."
With a slightly nervous expression, she made her ultimate wish, one she wasn't sure could ever come true.