"Would humans be angered by an ant baring its fangs and waving its claws?"
"Of course not."
"The same goes for gods."
"Besides-"
"If your own child suddenly broke down, what could you do as a parent besides ache for them?"
At those words, Kisara Tendo froze for a moment.
She instinctively wanted to look up to check, only to avert her eyes in a fluster.
His own child?
The words this man had said to her surfaced in her mind-
-He had come precisely for her.
Five minutes ago, she probably would have dismissed those words as sweet talk.
After all, ever since she was little, she had seen far too many people approach her under various pretexts, trying to exploit her or the Tendo Family.
Those people spoke of "the greater good," "the future," or "the will of the gods," but behind the scenes, all they had were schemes that could never bear the light of day.
But now.
For a moment, she found herself dazed.
The sunset's lingering glow spilled through the window lattice onto him, gilding his excessively handsome face and making him look truly... truly unlike a mortal.
As though he really were a god who had stepped out of those ancient myths, looking down upon a lost lamb.
"And another thing."
Haimo raised a finger and gently wagged it.
"About the question you just challenged me with-if gods really exist, why don't they come save this world?"
"There's a serious problem with that question itself."
"Do you really think it's the gods' responsibility that your world has become this mess?"
"What do you mean?"
Kisara Tendo looked up blankly, her mind still struggling to keep up with the abrupt shift.
"The Gastrea Virus."
Haimo uttered the term that made the entire world pale at