The Destruction of the World by Fire by Shiden Kanzaki Read Free Book Online

almost animal instinct that told Rentaro the news would not be good.
    Looking back fearfully, he saw on the TV that a reporter at the scene was talking with a commentator in the studio. The reporter held the mike with both hands and seemed to look right at Rentaro. The caption in the upper right corner of the screen said in harsh brush strokes, VIOLENT ACT BY ONE OF THE CURSED CHILDREN! ACTIVIST MURDERED!!!
    The room froze, and Rentaro’s temple pulsed with burning pain. Tensions had already mounted to the point where there was no doubt about who the perpetrator was.
    According to the reporter, the Tokyo Area branch chief of a secret anti-Children organization with almost one hundred thousand members in Japan was found dead in a park a few kilometers north of his home in Tokyo Area District 2. The park was a gathering spot for young delinquents, so at first, it was thought to be their doing, but that was not the case. According to the eyewitness report, the man was attacked by a group of children who looked like they were from the Outer District, and in the heat of the fight, he hit his head on the handrail near the stairs. His skull was cracked, and he died at the hospital he was brought to due to a cerebral contusion. Before he died, he was also confirmed to have traumatic cuts.
    The Pureblood Japan Association was a large organization said to have many politicians and influential people from different Areas. The chairman was subsequently reported as harshly denouncing the savagery and brutality of the case.
    The female reporter was polite. She kept to the broadcast codes and continued speaking respectfully. However, the words she used dripped with contempt for the Cursed Children.
    Rentaro shook his head softly. “Kisara!”
    Kisara had turned pale with her eyes open wide and was hugging his body. “This is bad, Satomi… This will greatly change public opinion.”
    Kisara’s misgivings soon turned to reality. The Seitenshi’s measure that was going through the House of Councillors that would respect the basic human rights of the Cursed Children, the New Gastrea Law, was rejected. In its place, a newly prepared measure on “the reevaluation of the danger of transmission of the Gastrea virus from the Children to humans and countermeasures against it” was efficiently submitted and passed through the lower house of the Diet.
    This measure was popularly known as the Family Register Revocation Law, and the moment this measure went into effect, Enju and the others had their family registration and citizenship taken away, losing all protection under the Japanese Constitution. It was an extremely cruel law.
4
    “I see, then there aren’t any particular problems there, huh? ……Yeah, I know. Sorry for the trouble. I owe you one…… Yeah, okay, I’m hanging up.” Rentaro pushed the END CALL button and sighed, moving off the wall he was leaning on.
    “All right!” he yelled, lifting his head and looking with gloomy eyes at the field the soccer and baseball clubs were sharing as they ran around cheerfully. Rentaro was in front of the sports field of Magata High School. There were only four days left until the Monolith would be destroyed. That news still had not been made public, and Tokyo Area maintained a temporary peace. But when that was made public, this peaceful scene…
    Rentaro stuffed his hands into his pockets, hunched his shoulders, and walked out of the shadows of the school building. When he did, the scorching sun shone down on him, and he longed for the shade of the trees. He pulled at his uniform to send some cool air to his chest, but the sweat pouring out of him showed no signof stopping. He couldn’t believe they could do club activities under this blazing sun.
    As he neared the statue in front of the school, he noticed a small crowd of people there and stopped in surprise for a moment, but as he got closer, he realized that it was nothing he needed to worry about.
    “It’s a foreigner!”
    “Her