"Gwen, have your people found anything lately?"
Josh, hooded, came to stand before Gwen, his eyes full of gravity.
When he had first taken in those street children, he had not actually paid much attention to them.
Surviving in Blood Port was certainly impressive, but that was probably the limit of what they could do. At the end of the day, they were just children.
Expecting them to gather intelligence?
What a joke. If adults could not manage it, what use could children possibly be?
He had only agreed to let them join because he pitied them. The so-called missions had merely been words, an excuse for his own kindness.
In Blood Port, kindness was an exceedingly extravagant thing. Josh had to carefully hide it beneath his hood, and that was one of the reasons he had founded a cult.
If he showed kindness, people would expect him to remain kind forever.
So although Josh had been quite interested in Gwen, he had not held much hope for her.
But now, everything was different.
During the Life Mother Goddess Church's rebellion, this white-haired little girl had been the first to raise the alarm, even before Granny had come knocking.
Come to think of it, Josh had actually been a little surprised. He had thought his friends would choose to leave. On one side was chaotic and dangerous Blood Port; on the other was Castel, which they had left long ago. There was simply no comparison.
Yet in the end, everyone had stayed.
At first, they had not thought too deeply about it. It had been more of a youthful impulse. But when they saw the steadfast looks in the believers' eyes, they could no longer bring themselves to speak of regret.
Besides, this feeling was not bad either.
Ever since