"Midori, what do you think the outcome will be?"

Haruto stood atop the spire of Tokyo Tower, overlooking the battlefield in the distance.

Compared to the earlier, raging tide of Gastrea—The number of Gastrea currently surging toward the Tokyo Area was now insignificant.

Those children, having gone through training under the Foundation's system—

And having received biological serums and equipment support from the Foundation—

Whether in evolution or cognitive development, they were now far beyond the primitive Gastrea.

Which meant, this battle was fated to be a one-sided massacre.

So, what Haruto was asking wasn't about that outcome.

Midori Fuse stood beside Haruto. Hearing his question, she tilted her small head, thinking deeply. Her oversized pointed witch hat nearly covered her whole body.

After a long period of pondering—

Midori looked up and shook her head toward Haruto.

Her soft, clueless expression combined with her cute demeanor—

Could melt anyone's heart.

"Lord Haruto, I really can't say… But we did help those people, and Her Holiness the Saintess is promoting us a lot too…"

The implication was: she believed the scales of victory might tip in favor of this world's civilization.

But Haruto only patted her head.

"Is that so? Oh right, Midori—you're best at 'scent-based fortune telling,' aren't you? Why don't you try it now?"

Hearing that, Midori's cheeks turned a little pink.

"Lord Haruto! You're teasing me again!"

She pouted softly.

Which, in itself, was already a huge improvement.

When she first came to Haruto's side—Midori was basically a timid, submissive child who never resisted anything.

Forget being teased—Even if she'd been slapped, she wouldn't dare to show the slightest dissatisfaction.

As for her so-called scent-based fortune telling—

That was just a cover story.

She always wore that oversized pointed witch hat—Because she didn't want others to see her soft, furry cat ears. To deflect people's curiosity and avoid probing questions—She used "fortune telling," which matched her witch aesthetic, as an excuse.

It helped that Midori was a feline-type Initiator.

And her infection level was high (enough to grow actual cat ears!). So her sense of smell was genuinely extraordinary.

She could pick up information that regular people couldn't perceive.

That's how the phrase scent-based fortune telling was born.

But after coming to Haruto's side—

Because of Haruto's care and assertiveness—

That cover became unnecessary.

Now, it was just part of her adorable past.

After all, Haruto practically wore his love for those cat ears on his face—and showed it through his actions.

If anyone showed even a hint of malicious curiosity toward Midori—

Haruto would mercilessly drive them off.

After her soft protest—Midori really did close her eyes and took a few deep sniffs.

She was performing her "fortune telling."

But before she could even come up with a result—Evidence began to appear that hinted at the game's true ending.

"Didn't expect those monsters to actually be useful."

"Heh, those monsters have always made great tools."

"Right? Oh, and that guy—what was his name again? Haruto? What a moron."

"Exactly, hahaha. He really thought we were sincerely asking for those monsters' help?"

"Forget about those lunatics and monsters, what's the Saintess even doing?"

"Tch. The Saintess is just too soft-hearted. She's always been defending those monsters, and now she's going even further."

"Well, whatever. Let her do what she wants. Once Tokyo Area gets through this, everything will go back to normal."

Those voices drifted up from below—

They were probably tourists or casual visitors to Tokyo Tower. Judging by their voices, they were likely some of the same people from the earlier conference room.

Because of where Haruto and Midori were standing—

An extremely high and inaccessible point, far from the visitor areas—

Those people didn't notice them.

And so they spoke without a care, shamelessly airing their views.

Midori's face turned pale.

Her eyes slowly turned crimson red.

Her small hands clenched tightly—tight enough to easily crush alloy steel.

If they were just talking about her, she wouldn't care. But—why were they speaking ill of Lord Haruto?

Haruto was clearly the kindest person in the world.

No matter how he treated the others, and no matter how he treated them—

He was always gentle to an unbelievable degree.

Why would someone like that—

Be called a madman?

Just as Midori was about to rush down—

Haruto gently hugged her.

Midori looked up at him in confusion.

Their eyes met.

And in Haruto's gaze, she saw no anger.

Only calm detachment—

And concern for her.

Midori understood immediately.

Her rage began to fade away.

And was replaced by a strange, indescribable feeling.

She realized—

Those people were meaningless.

No matter how much they misunderstood, slandered, or even attacked Lord Haruto—

It didn't matter.

Their only purpose now—Was to cast a vote in a few days for the New Gastrea Law.

That's it.

Once she thought that through—Midori finally remembered she was supposed to be embarrassed.

"Lord Haruto, we should go down now…"

She whispered, trying to change the topic. Being held like that by Lord Haruto was just too embarrassing.

Haruto chuckled softly.

Then he let go of the little girl—

And instead, held her hand.

Meanwhile, those guys below were still talking.

Until—

They heard footsteps from above.

The group fell silent and looked up in confusion. There shouldn't be any stairs up there...

And then—

To their horror, they saw Haruto and Midori leaping down from above effortlessly.

When Haruto landed in front of them—

Their faces were filled with pure terror.

Like chickens with their throats clamped shut—

They couldn't even scream.

But Haruto didn't even spare them a glance.

He simply walked past, hand-in-hand with Midori, down the Tokyo Tower.

It wasn't until long after Haruto left—That they finally came back to their senses and collapsed to the ground.

"H-He was up there the whole time!"

"Do you think… he heard us?"

"He won't command those monst—those Cursed Children to retreat, will he?!"

Panicking, they rushed down the tower.

Their first stop: the command center, to monitor the front lines.

They watched anxiously.

One day passed—

Nothing changed.

Everything remained the same.

Only then did they breathe a sigh of relief. Which just goes to show—They never realized their own mistake.

The fear and panic they felt—

Wasn't from guilt.

It was from fear of consequences.

And in this kind of atmosphere—The battle to protect the Monoliths finally came to an end. After 34 days of repairs, the collapsed Monolith was restored. The other 19 Monoliths were also undergoing gradual repairs.

The process didn't interfere with their protective barrier functions.

The Tokyo Area had finally weathered the crisis—

Hadn't it?

"Saintess… let's continue the game. It's time to determine the outcome."

At the Crystal Palace at the heart of Tokyo—Haruto appeared once again, as abruptly as always.

But Seitenshi showed no surprise at all.

Even hearing Haruto's words, which signaled the end, her expression didn't change. She just nodded a little wearily.

It was a moment that felt like leaving everything to fate.

Well—not quite.

It was more like—

Seitenshi had already exhausted everything she had.

The prejudice buried deep in people's hearts—

Was like a mountain.

No matter how hard she pushed—

It would not budge.

So even as the Saintess, what could she really do?

Perhaps, if she could truly understand the difference between the beings walking this world and herself—a mere human—

She might finally let go.

From a drawer beside her desk—

Seitenshi took out a document she had prepared in advance.

Not because of the "game." But because this was the third draft of the New Gastrea Law—

Something she had long planned to propose. She just never imagined—This bill would someday be tied to the fate of the entire world.

Haruto nodded—

Then his figure warped and vanished.

Seitenshi pressed a button on her desk.

Soon, a Royal Guard knocked and entered quickly.

"Your Holiness!"

Seitenshi handed over the pre-prepared document.

"Skip the hearings. Announce it immediately, then start the vote."

The guard nodded, unsurprised.

After all, this was already the third version.

The moment the paper left her hand—Seitenshi felt like all her strength had been drained. For the first time, she collapsed into her chair without any grace.

Staring at the ceiling—

She sat there in a daze.