"What"s the matter, Brother?""I"m fine…"
He just received a wondrous ability… did he just obtain the holy sword which could defeat the demon king?
Nah, no matter how he looked at it, this newly obtained power didn"t seem like it could possibly stand up to Kanzaki"s power. It would probably be impossible to fight against Kanzaki head on. Perhaps this power had other uses, Seiji surmised.
By the way, why did things happen like this? In the previous timeline, someone sent a soul attack against him, but he obtained a mysterious power in this timeline? What happened to create such a difference? Was it all because he had a direct discussion with the demon king?
Yuuzou Yos.h.i.+hara… Why did this mysterious female voice want Seiji to stop the a.s.sa.s.sin known as the "Judge"? Was Yos.h.i.+hara"s real ident.i.ty Kanzaki…? Or was Yos.h.i.+hara actually Kanzaki"s main agent in the tournament?
At this moment, Seiji suddenly recalled the incident from Thunderbolt Literature"s Newcomer Awards Ceremony. At that time, the soul realm and incident were caused by Shoutarou Rinura, but Rinura wasn"t the person who cast the spell that caused the entire incident!
Could it be that Yuuzou Yos.h.i.+hara was just like Shoutarou Rinura? Was Yos.h.i.+hara the "creator" of the black mist realm on the island who accepted such a spell being cast on him!?
Seiji felt that this was highly possible.
Creating such a realm would require a spellcaster and a host creator. In this event, Kanzaki was without a doubt the main spellcaster, while Yos.h.i.+hara was probably the host who created the realm. This a.s.sa.s.sin would pay a heavy price for this—his very life and soul. And, the mysterious woman (whom Seiji suspected to be Risa Kobayakawa) wanted to prevent him from doing so.
An a.s.sa.s.sin who had a connection to a gentle girl… was this a real life version of Leon: The Professional from Seiji"s previous life?
Seiji couldn"t help but imagine what connection Yos.h.i.+hara had to Risa Kobayakawa, the third and final member of the Story of One Hundred Demons incident that involved Mayuzumi as well as Reo"s mother.
At any rate, Seiji felt that his inferences were quite reasonable. Although there were many things he still didn"t know, he felt that was a very likely framework.
So, what should he do if his guess was on the mark?
Seiji"s first idea was to have a discussion with the not-so-cold-after-all a.s.sa.s.sin.
But how should he talk to Yos.h.i.+hara? It seemed obviously suicidal to directly tell Yos.h.i.+hara that a mysterious female voice told Seiji to stop him.
Stopping Yos.h.i.+hara from becoming the host to create the black mist realm spell would be directly opposing and antagonizing the demon king. It would certainly lead to a bad end if Seiji was discovered!
So, Seiji would have to discuss with Yos.h.i.+hara in secret.
However, Seiji felt that Kanzaki would be secretly surveilling a chess piece as important as the host creator of the black mist realm spell. Would it be possible for Seiji to have a secret discussion with Yos.h.i.+hara while avoiding the demon king"s attention?
Perhaps he could try to talk to Yos.h.i.+hara after reaching a cooperative agreement with the Revenge Alliance.
Just like the previous timeline, the card game didn"t resume after everyone"s break.
Seiji stayed in the dining hall for a while. He then noticed that Yos.h.i.+hara walked out of the dining hall by himself.
This was a chance!
Should Seiji wait for Kanzaki to reply to the offer of cooperation, or should he risk things now by talking to Yos.h.i.+hara?
After swiftly weighing the pros and cons, Seiji decided to follow and try and talk to Yos.h.i.+hara.
Although this was quite risky, Seiji felt that there were too many possible unknown factors if he stalled. He might as well just try and learn what more he could.
And so, he and s.h.i.+ka left the dining hall yet again.
After Yos.h.i.+hara left the dining hall, he lit a cigarette. He noticed someone"s presence before he could even take a puff. Yos.h.i.+hara turned around to see the "Haruta" and his female partner. This caused Yos.h.i.+hara"s gaze to sharpen.
"Yos.h.i.+harsan, are you taking a walk as well?" Seiji smiled. "If so, how about walking together? I"d like to chat more with you about "Legend of the Heavenly Divine Sword.""
"Legend of the Heavenly Divine Sword" was a cla.s.sical hard-boiled fighting manga that they had chatted about previously during the card game. This was a sword-fighting manga set in an alternate history setting. Just the name of the manga alone seemed to reflect the older generation that it came from.
"I"m sorry, Harutsan. I would like to smoke by myself." Yos.h.i.+hara smiled and refused politely.
"I see… I won"t bother you anymore, then." Seiji looked straight at Yos.h.i.+hara. "Although, I just have one little question I"d like to ask. Do you know a female character named Risa in "Legend of the Heavenly Divine Sword"?"
Yos.h.i.+hara"s smiling expression instantly froze over for a moment.
"Aha! Right on the mark!" Seiji noticed that Yos.h.i.+hara"s expression had flickered.
"Risa… I think there was indeed such a character," Yos.h.i.+hara spoke slowly while taking another puff on his cigarette.
"About her storyline, did she get acquainted with an a.s.sa.s.sin swordsman, and then get involved in his battle and die because of it?"
"…I don"t remember too well. I think that might have been the case."
"My memories are rather hazy. I want to recall, but I"m unable to do so. It"s nagging me at the back of my mind. That"s such an awful feeling, which is why I want to ask more about it from Yos.h.i.+harsan," Seiji spoke in a sincere tone.
Yos.h.i.+hara fell silent.
He then puffed some more smoke before speaking again.
"If Harutsan and your companion don"t mind the smell of smoke, we can walk together for a little while."
There was no character named "Risa" at all in "Legend of the Heavenly Divine Sword"!
Yos.h.i.+hara was quite mystified as to why this "Haruta" knew the name of Risa and brought it up in such a manner.
Meanwhile, Seiji confirmed his previous inference: the mysterious woman must definitely be Risa Kobayakawa!
Yuuzou Yos.h.i.+hara having such a reaction to the name of Risa was the best evidence of this.
Did the world really work on six degrees of separation? Seiji could only exclaim over how all of this was actually connected to Mayuzumi and Reo"s incident.
It seemed likely to him that because he"d experienced that incident, he was able to hear Risa Kobayakawa"s voice and even see her.
"I really can"t remember the specific storyline. How much can you remember, Yos.h.i.+harsan?"
"I don"t recall much, either. It probably happened the way you said," Yos.h.i.+hara said in a low voice.
"What happened to that a.s.sa.s.sin swordsman after Rika died?"
"…He continued to do what he always did."
"I think that there"s more to the story after that. The swordsman a.s.sa.s.sin then accepted a job that he knew he would absolutely die in… Why"s that?" Seiji continued to talk in a coded manner.
"Probably in order to atone."
"To atone for Risa?"
Yos.h.i.+hara fell silent.
"Risa died because of the swordsman, so the swordsman wants to die for her as well. Perhaps that sounds reasonable, but that"s probably not what she wants to see." Seiji looked directly at Yos.h.i.+hara.
"…Indeed, it"s quite idiotic for the swordsman to do so. However, he won"t regret it," Yos.h.i.+hara spoke slowly. "Because the thing he regrets most in his life is causing Risa"s death."
His calm words contained an endless amount of heaviness.
Seiji fell silent.
"Harutsan, suppose that the person most important to you died because of you. However, there"s a chance to revive her at the cost of your own life. How would you choose?" Yos.h.i.+hara inquired.
This was a question without an answer.
That was because everyone would have their own answer.
Yos.h.i.+hara didn"t ask this question to hear Seiji"s answer. He wanted Seiji to know that he had already answered this question.
Even if the already dead Risa didn"t want him to do this, he wouldn"t retreat or regret.
"…Is the swordsman truly certain that the dead can be revived? That he"s not being scammed? That he"s not sacrificing yourself for nothing?" Seiji asked a flurry of questions. "And even if she"s able to revive, is he certain that she won"t have any negative side effects? That she won"t be in pain or even have a fate worse than death?"
Yos.h.i.+hara fell silent.
"If the swordsman isn"t certain that she can revive and have a normal life again, then this sacrifice can"t be called anything other than idiotic!" Seiji spoke in a sharp tone.
"Still, he has no other choice." Yos.h.i.+hara revealed a heavy expression. "Besides, his life is now… meaningless."
A chilly sea breeze blew past them.
"This is nothing more than wanting to die," Seiji spoke in a heavy voice.
"Perhaps so," Yos.h.i.+hara stated calmly.
"Saving her is only an excuse. He only wants to use the excuse of saving her to have a glorious death."
"Perhaps so."
"Just how idiotic can such a person be? Disgusting."
"Perhaps so."
"Doing something that might harm someone in the name of helping them is nothing more than utter insanity!" Seiji frowned. "You"re not a man who truly wants to save his lover. You"re nothing more than a suicidal maniac who"s claiming to love her, Yuuzou Yos.h.i.+hara!"