chsdbacks Page 64
Page 64
—Although it was only one-sided.
Doing meaningless things, knowing full well that nothing will change, yet still willing to waste energy on it... wanting to save Rin's will, even willing to be an enemy of Yae Sakura, even willing to go on a killing spree in the village.
Even if no one approves, even if the world doesn't approve, we will still do it.
Jiangcheng, oh Jiangcheng.
How long can your will last?
Facing this encroachment head-on, feigning an indifferent and aloof demeanor, the enormous fox head rested comfortably on a pillow formed by its two forelegs—
Whether you like it or not, whether you admit it or not, whether you tolerate it or not, I will storm your village and rescue Rin.
Anyone in your village who wants to be sacrificed, I will kill, no matter who they are, even your father. If they want to kill your sister, I will kill them too.
It really is……
Do you really want to save the two girls from the bloody scar?
……
……
……
finished.
Gazing at the makeshift shelter he had built—cutting down the surrounding trees, cutting them into roughly the same size planks, laying them on the ground to create a basic sleeping area, and then lazily placing tatami mats on it as his temporary residence—Jiang Cheng took a deep breath and lay comfortably and relaxed on the bed.
Unlike the first time he met Mei, he didn't act as gently and sincerely as he had when they first met. Instead, he treated Yae Sakura with such violence... The girl must be furious.
This should eliminate the possibility of a romantic relationship, cutting off any future possibility of this similar girl developing feelings for him in a completely different way.
This way, one won't find themselves in trouble when a girl forcefully interferes with their own feelings, even when they themselves are unclear about them.
As for whether it will cause any obstacles?
It doesn't matter.
not give a damn about.
Don't care at all.
Even if this question is asked a thousand or ten thousand times, even if it's not just asked in your ear but asked to your face, the boy will always give only one answer.
It doesn't matter.
To break through the Heavenly Origin, one cannot follow the rules. The limit of developing Stigmata is S-rank. Now that we know how to develop Stigmata to the minimum level, we just need to follow the plot of Sakura Samsara slowly. So why be so restrained? It makes us seem like the main characters in the story who know nothing and understand nothing, like headless flies.
Since the Stigmata has changed, and since this change was caused by me, it means that someone definitely wanted to see my actions, rather than just following the most incompetent and mediocre copying.
Since the other party wants to see, then let them show it. If they want to see Jiang Cheng's behavior, then let them show it. Let them unscrupulously reveal their true nature.
Establishing a suitable channel for communication between the two parties in advance is always better than pretending and being seen through at the last minute.
In the end, is it really true that we need my fighting ability to fight Otto?
With Mei, a fully-fledged Herrscher, what use is another S-rank Herrscher?
S-rank and Herrscher are never equal in combat strength.
Even with the Divine Key, it's not worthy.
Jiang Cheng has a clear understanding of himself.
—Erosion Key Launcher.
——Jizo Mitama Sword Stand.
There's nothing to be ashamed of. In this world, having a skill to rely on is already quite good. Just like a PhD in a certain field before transmigrating, would anyone say that he's incompetent because he's not good at other sciences?
If that's really the case, then the young man would rather become incompetent, rather become mediocre, than use this opportunistic method to manipulate and control others when he himself is uncertain.
Especially now that it's no longer necessary—no longer needing to struggle for survival like when we first came into this world, and we can live our lives in our own way.
Go to sleep.
On the first day.
Jiang Cheng habitually planted the Jizo Statue on the ground, lay down on the rough tatami mat, squeezed his bare feet inside, and listened to the endless chirping of various birds at night, his cherry-colored eyes gently closing.
At this point, the world completely lost its color.
Everything returned to silence.
good night.
Macabaka.
……
……
……
The night sky, which had blocked out the sun, was replaced by sunlight that pierced through the clouds. The tender grass, not yet accustomed to yesterday's dampness, was forced to reflect the colorful brilliance of the dewdrops hanging on its fresh green leaves, which exuded the fragrance of the soil.
The light transformed from the dawn's first rays into the blazing sun, its aggressiveness and penetrability increasing dramatically, seemingly in an attempt to pierce through all shadows.
Through the layers of treetops, the sunlight shines down without reservation onto the bed exposed to the sky, adding a touch of rosy hue to the freshness of nature.
As the lingering smoke dissipates and spring's stillness fades, rain falls and birdsong echoes from the high rooftops. The jade-green banners atop the wall, washed clean of all leaden frost, rustle tender shoots brush against each other, their moisture almost like a zither string. A chill seeps into the pillowcase, and insect webs drift and stick to the bamboo curtains.
The morning mist dissipated instantly.
The world has come to an end.
The boy lay alone on the tatami mat, covered with a quilt that was practically useless.
The arrival of spring cannot cross the barrier of Jizo's Soul, but it can mix the dampness of the soil into the air, accompanied by the timely spring breeze.
Her hair would be blown about from time to time, as if someone was manipulating it intentionally or unintentionally, even her eyelashes would be brushed along with it, until that touch of cherry blossom color appeared.
It's dawn.
Do not……
It was almost noon.
As expected, I still love to stay in bed even now.
I sat up naturally from the bed, rubbing my eyes. After the comfort of sleeping until I woke up naturally, I felt a strange little sense of pride—the pride that I hadn't been changed by the world and that I was still myself.
The only pity is that this natural and refreshing morning routine, which belonged only to me, did not last long.
Just after I put my shoes back on, a gentle, wind-like voice appeared in my ear as if it had been waiting for me.
The moment of awakening was perfectly timed—
"Mr. Jiang Cheng, I've arrived."
"Is there anything else you need in your daily life?"
……
……
……
The moment I turned my head, the pink-clad girl from yesterday came into view—her beautiful, clear eyes, as if she had been waiting for a long time, like the first thing you see when you stretch and open your eyes in the morning. She was holding an antique-style porcelain basin and standing under a tree not far away. You could vaguely see that there were many things placed in the basin.
The falling cherry blossoms swirled up, and her hair, seemingly imbued with the colors of spring, was gently caressed by the breeze accompanying the falling blossoms, dancing lightly on her slender shoulders.
"I...I've prepared some supplies that you...should be able to use. Please don't find them offensive."
……
Beautiful spring colors, beautiful time of day, beautiful morning, and following closely behind is an equally beautiful young girl.
Anyone with even a modicum of emotional intelligence would probably be saying thank you at this moment.
So Jiangcheng is doing the exact opposite thing—
"So rudimentary."
Beneath the gentle, cherry blossom-like colors lay a stark contrast of seriousness, as the boy named Jiang Cheng judged these daily necessities with utter ruthlessness.
Just one or two sentences.
The color on his face was slightly cold.
The girl, who was secretly watching the boy, froze on the spot when she saw his cherry-colored eyes, his profile, and his hair, which was dyed like the hazy gray glass of the horizon in the morning light. She bit her lip, lowered her eyelashes, and let her eyes be hidden by her long pink hair.
Subconsciously, I wanted to say it aloud, to speak with the guilt and a sob in my voice like someone who has made a mistake—an apology from the victim.
Refused.
I refused...
He rejected me.
The silence was broken by his unwavering gaze as he turned to look directly at her, bringing her earlier staring behavior to the forefront—that gaze, devoid of any gentle warmth of the morning sun, was scrutinizing her from head to toe.
"You want to apologize, don't you?"
"You want to apologize for giving me feedback."
It felt as if even the head on the ground was being forcibly lifted, as if those cherry-colored eyes had pierced through its long hair and entered its face.
It's too hot.
Too direct.
It became the complete opposite of the coldness it had just felt.
“Either you tell me you don’t want it, or you silently take it back. Even if you think you’re in a weaker position now, at least blame me in your heart—blame me for my rudeness and disrespect.”
"Temporarily yielding because of someone else's influence is different from genuinely believing you've done something wrong. Don't subconsciously respond when others offer you advice."
"If I said so much yesterday, the underlying logic that made you decide to go with me to save your sister wasn't that I convinced you, but that you couldn't refuse."
"Don't you feel tired of living like this? Don't you feel that other people... those who only make demands of you are despicable and disgusting?"
"of course."
The boy calmly accepted the girl's unease.
I calmly met those eyes that I couldn't understand.
I don't understand what you mean by saying that this kind of thing is acceptable and permissible.
I don't despise stupidity because I can empathize with the situation those seemingly stupid people were in. Unless it's truly disgusting, I should always be at least a little tolerant of those who are destined to stay by my side.
All the boy did was add a touch of gentleness to his previous denials, so that he wouldn't actually become withdrawn.
It doesn't need to be much or too close; just say it as softly as possible—you're not so bad after all.
"All of this is too difficult for you because it's not your fault, it's other people's fault, it's the fault of those who deliberately raised you to be this way. The reason I bring this up is because when you decide to save people, you are destined to break the rules they set for you. Anyway, when you feel embarrassed to refuse someone, you can first think—how can they have the nerve to make things difficult for you?"
“I apologize for my previous deliberate provocation, but I’m certainly not a good person. Anyway, let’s start by conspiring to oppose your village’s classical traditions as accomplices.”
I……
Am I not that bad?
Having been raised to be too obedient and docile, even after meeting Karen, the girl, who had been fighting against the fox demon for five hundred years, would immediately choose to obey her demands. She was still subconsciously pondering the boy's accusations.
Words like "collusion" and "accomplice" were never even considered, in a place that had never been explored or visited in all the past.
Just a few words were enough to make the young shrine maiden, who had never even set foot in a mountain village in her entire life, have eyes welling up with tears.
So much so that he barely heard anything the boy said next, as he was constantly thinking about what had happened before.
This isn't your fault, it's someone else's fault—you've never been told this before. Whenever you make a mistake, it's always your fault, and you'll always be the one being blamed. Just like no one thinks sadness is an illness, no one thinks adults can be wrong. Even if adults are wrong, it's the children's fault.
Fathers and sons, rulers and subjects... Even in the small mountain villages of the Far East, the traditions have long been so deeply ingrained by these traditions that they have become the very foundation of the village, almost along with the custom of human sacrifice.
Why do you understand me this way?
How can someone understand me better than I do?
In short, the doubts could not be answered no matter what. Stealing glances at the boy's profile, she could not find any reason why he was different from ordinary people on that very ordinary face. Instead, she would blush with embarrassment later because she had actually done something like stealing glances at others.
Perhaps it's because this inner repression has become as heavy a problem as Rin's situation. Even the negative emotions surrounding Rin being chosen as a sacrifice only amplify this repression, which can only increase and never decrease.
Jiang Cheng, an ordinary person, could not comprehend the emotions of the girl who was only inches away from him.
It's like being on the surface of the sea, unable to see what lies beneath the surface of the ocean, a world known only to the mainland.