The girl rode away in the taxi, but her final expression and words struck straight into Kallen's mind, overlapping with the scene in his memory just before the explosion on his last tram ride.
"Would you like a chip too, big brother?"
"Oh, I just left Mom's place. I'm going back to Dad's now."
"Because you're so good-looking, big brother. You can easily make money without doing bad things."
Was it a coincidence?
Yet it couldn't be a coincidence.
Was it someone who knew her, knew what she had been through, and deliberately said those things after seeing him?
But then again, she really did seem to be the girl herself.
But if it was her, how had a little girl grown so much in just a few days?
After the tram explosion, Kallen had left her sitting on the ground crying while he went to find Alfred. After that, he had gone to the hospital and never returned to look for her;
Kallen felt no guilt about that. They had only just met, and he had gathered her into his arms before the explosion and saved her life, without even letting her get hurt. That was enough.
Kallen had neither the time nor the interest to go back and see his good deed through to the end by escorting her home-or, for that matter, providing a full course of counseling at her doorstep?
The taxi was already out of sight, and Kallen chose not to pursue it. The other party seemed to have done it deliberately: run into him, say hello, and then leave, with no intention of having a deeper conversation.
Still, Kallen felt no fear. His "Order God Church" identity only had to be hidden from the "Order God Church"-strictly speaking, only from its upper