The Elders' Guard

When Carl stepped out of Sarasa's house, dusk was flowing along the corrugated metal eaves like a rust-red river.

The last ray of the setting sun caught in a crack in an abandoned oil tank, stretching his shadow longer and larger.

The Qi and Blood Pumpkin had lived up to Carl's expectations, successfully restoring Sarasa's health.

In return, the corn cakes Sarasa's foster mother had pressed into his arms were still steaming, their sweet corn aroma filling Carl's nostrils. They were the best food Meteor City residents had, reserved for honored guests.

"One slice of pumpkin for a day's food. What a bargain, what a bargain~"

Carl squeezed the bag of corn cakes and walked out of the alley with a smile.

"Tap, tap!"

The mold-stained wall at the mouth of the alley suddenly trembled as the sound of metal boot heels striking the ground swept in like a black tide.

Coming toward her was a squad of the Elders' Guard, dressed in matching black uniforms with pistols at their waists.

Carl pressed herself against the base of the wall, becoming a gray shadow, but the hawk-like gaze of the man in the lead still swept across her back.

He was a middle-aged man with a knife scar across the bridge of his nose, and his callused hand rested on the gun belt at his waist.

It was already evening. Normally, the members of the Elders' Guard would have dispersed and gone home by now, but because of the child kidnappings, Meteor City was under martial law, and the guards took turns patrolling the streets without pause.

"Brother-in-law..." Near the front of the squad, a black-haired young man had barely breathed the words when the captain's iron-clamp fingers gripped his neck, leaving bruises.

"Use my rank on patrol!!!"

After shooting his good-for-nothing brother-in-law a fierce glare, Fyodor reached inside his coat and pulled out a loaf of buckwheat bread that was still warm:

"Already complaining when we've only just started patrol? Didn't you learn enough from last time?"

In front of all the other guards, Fyodor slammed the bread into the young man's chest and gave him a lecture to go with it.

Four days ago, they hadn't needed to be on duty so early in the morning, but his brother-in-law had insisted on making a fuss, shouting things like:

"It's my first day patrolling the streets. I have to catch a criminal for the elder!"

"That's right, this is my duty as a member of the Elders' Guard!"

After all that fuss, he had succeeded in getting their squad to cover someone else's shift and patrol the streets early in the morning.

And then...

The moment the flower made of flesh and blood appeared in his mind, Fyodor's mouth twitched sharply, and the look he gave his brother-in-law grew even more hostile.

"Look, the captain's lecturing that kid again."

"Nothing unusual there. Who doesn't know the captain's still eating vegetarian because of what happened last time?"

At the rear of the squad, two guards who had witnessed the whole thing whispered to each other.

If they remembered correctly, hadn't a scene like this played out every day for the past few days?

The guards patrolled at a brisk pace and soon passed Carl, heading toward the end of the street.

Aside from Fyodor, who gave Carl a look, the others simply ignored the plainly dressed child.

"The child kidnappings seem to have had a big impact on Meteor City!"

Watching the black-clad squad gradually recede into the distance, Carl came to that conclusion.

She didn't think a patrol like this served any purpose. After all, if a Nen user really wanted to commit a crime, these ordinary people would be useless even with rocket launchers!

Besides, no matter how often they patrolled, the kidnapped children wouldn't come back!

Could the elders of Meteor City really not understand something so simple?

They were just putting on a show!

"In a few more days, they probably won't even keep up appearances..."

With a sigh, Carl headed toward her shack.

Meteor City's system was peculiar. The city had no mayor; an organization called the Seven-Member Council of Elders held that power instead.

The city's everyday decisions were made by a vote of the seven elders.

Ironically, three of those seven elders came from mafia families!

Among the four remaining elders, were there really any who protected the interests of Meteor City's residents?

Carl held out no hope.

What good could the people in power be in a place that had long relied on the mafia for protection and supplied it with talent?

The economic base determined the superstructure!

She had already played every card she had to save Sarasa.

Anything more was beyond what she could deal with at her current stage!

The sky darkened, and night fell.

The South District's roads were as densely intertwined as ever. Carl wrapped her cloak, mended by Sarasa's foster mother, tightly around herself, the rough patches rubbing against the tender skin at the back of her neck.

There were few pedestrians along the way. Two successive downpours had washed the stench from the air, giving his nose some much-needed relief for the time being.

"Clang, clang, clang~"

With the scraping of old hinges, the door to the corrugated metal shack slowly closed.

Inside, everything was as it had been.

"Enter the manor."

"Hum~"

With a ripple through space and time, Carl set foot on the manor's soil.

The faint fishy, rotten smells were suddenly torn apart by the fresh fragrance of grass and trees.

Three crescent moons hung in the black-cloth sky, their light coating the Bomb Pomegranate in a sapphire sheen.

"Inhale~~"

"Exhale~~~"

As she felt the manor's pure air fill her lungs, a profound sense of safety welled up in Carl's heart.

The living conditions in Meteor City were truly awful. Every day, it was either a terrible stench or child kidnappings!

If not for the Phantom Troupe and Sarasa, she wouldn't even have taken a single step outside the space!

"Hopefully things will quiet down for a while."

Carl stretched and walked toward the quilt spread on the ground.

At the church, besides asking everyone in the Phantom Troupe to help look for new seeds, she had specifically told them to avoid coming to see her for the next three months unless something important came up.

Everyone in the Phantom Troupe had also volunteered to take over the cleanup activities in Meteor City, which took place every two or three days.

Carl's reason was simple: she needed plenty of time to plant and tend to Nen Komugi.

In fact, she, the manor owner, just wanted to settle down and farm for a while instead of running around Meteor City all day...

Ever since coming to this world, she had barely had a day to herself. She had been either fighting mafia thugs to the death or matching wits and courage with Nen users.

After five days straight of that, Carl felt as though she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Harvest."

As she passed the ripe Bomb Pomegranates, Carl forced her eyes open, and eight dark green fruits fell into the warehouse at her command.

The Bomb Pomegranates' smooth skins reflected the dark circles beneath his eyes, but there was nothing to be done. The manor's fields still needed expanding, and for every day he slacked off, there would be less to harvest in the future...

"Puff~"

At last, Carl flopped onto her back on the quilt and closed her eyes in comfort.

The tall pomegranate trees blocked the light of the three crescent moons overhead, leaving her a quiet, tranquil space in their shade.

Carl rolled over, buried her face in the wheat-scented bedding, and slowly drifted off to sleep.