Chapter 22: Remuneration

It was still early morning when Izumi Akazawa followed Yumeo Ryuu from behind. For the first time, she didn’t ride in her family’s car but walked to school alone. This small change brought a subtle sense of novelty to her.

Suddenly, her footsteps halted.

“What’s wrong?” Ryuu asked with a gentle smile, concern evident on his face.

“Well...” Akazawa’s gaze faltered as she looked at Ryuu’s smiling face. Panic fluttered within her. She lowered her head, then suddenly lifted it again, determined not to show weakness. “Am I really going to die?”

“You will,” Ryuu nodded calmly, uttering words that felt audacious. “If I’m not by your side.”

That was confidence taken to an extreme.

Akazawa suddenly laughed, her ponytail swaying slightly with the movement.

“Well... I want to ask you something...” She quickened her pace to walk alongside Ryuu. “Don’t you feel resentment? Suddenly arriving at Yomi Mountain.”

“Resentment? Why?”

“Because of the curse.” Though a smile remained on Akazawa’s face, her eyes dimmed with sorrow. “Suddenly being brought to a place so close to death—it has nothing to do with you.”

“True enough,” Ryuu agreed, looking around. No vehicles rushed out unexpectedly, no bridges crumbled. Everything seemed safe for now.

With that thought, Ryuu lifted his head, eyes fixed on the two girls walking ahead—Minami Misaki and Liu Ling. Their heights were similar, just reaching his chest. One with red hair, the other black; one long, the other short. Their hair gently swayed in the breeze.

“So, what do you think? Don’t you feel any resentment?” Ryuu asked back with a smile.

“No...” Akazawa shook her head and looked at the two classmates ahead. “This is my duty. This is my war. The curse took my brother’s life. No matter what, I won’t yield to it. I will defeat it—no, I must defeat it.”

“By any means necessary?”

Ryuu raised an eyebrow, a casual question that struck Akazawa’s heart like a heavy stone.

“By any means necessary...?” Akazawa lowered her head, pondering Ryuu’s words. Unbeknownst to her, Ryuu was watching her, waiting for her answer.

“Would you? Ryuu, would you be willing to do anything to achieve your goal?”

“That’s a sudden question directed at me.”

Ryuu stopped walking and casually sat on a stone bench by the roadside. Fallen leaves and petals scattered across the seat.

“I once knew someone without any emotions,” Ryuu began with a smile, meeting Akazawa’s gaze. “My father tried everything to bring him back to humanity, but in the end, he refused.”

“Why?” Akazawa’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Because emotions cloud judgment.” Ryuu’s eyes gradually sharpened. “I never agreed with that view. Because reason is also a kind of emotion.”

“I don’t understand any of that,” Akazawa admitted, sitting down as well. It was still early; she decided to listen a little longer.

That was Ryuu’s intent. When a person is under intense stress, the psychological strain becomes a heavy burden on the body. Mistakes that would never happen under normal circumstances become likely.

“Let me put it this way...” Ryuu stretched out his hand and watched a leaf slowly drift into his palm. “Each of us is like this leaf—small, fragile.”

Then he clenched his fist, crushing the leaf into a ball. Slowly, he opened his hand again; the leaf floated down.

“Many things are inevitable, but...” Ryuu suddenly smiled, “if you hold onto hope, you might succeed. Just don’t lose yourself.”

Akazawa pursed her lips and shook her head. “That sounds so cliché and makes no sense.”

“Of course,” Ryuu leaned back against the stone chair, “I was just babbling.”

Akazawa burst out laughing, doubling over.

After a while, she straightened up and looked at Ryuu seriously, asking word by word, “So what’s your answer? Would you do anything to achieve your goal?”

Ryuu didn’t reply. He tilted his head to watch the clouds drifting across the sky, shifting and rearranging in his vision.

“Have you heard of the moral dilemma?”

“Dilemma?”

“A runaway train is heading toward its destination. Ahead, there are two tracks. One leads to an endless cliff, where the train would fall. The other has a person tied to the rails.”

“And then?”

Curiosity shone in Akazawa’s eyes.

“You’re the switch operator controlling the tracks. You can divert the train to run over the person tied on the rails, saving the passengers. Or you can leave the train on its path to the cliff, killing everyone aboard.”

Ryuu sat up straight and pointed a finger at Akazawa.

“Is it better to save the many by sacrificing one innocent? Or is it just a life-or-death arithmetic problem? After all, they’re all lives.”

Ryuu’s words froze Akazawa. She shook her head in distress and looked at him, awaiting his answer.

“If the person tied on the tracks was someone I cared about, I wouldn’t hesitate to let the whole train perish,” Ryuu said, standing and brushing himself off, as if shaking away trivial morals.

“If... I mean... if...” Akazawa looked up at him with utmost seriousness, “if there were people you cared about both on the train and on the tracks, what would you do then?”

“What would I do?”

Ryuu laughed.

“Destroy the train or die before it. So, I guess I’m on the side of ‘by any means necessary,’ too,” Ryuu said, looking at Akazawa with a rare, genuine smile.

“So... what about me?” Akazawa lowered her gaze, looking at Ryuu’s shadow on the ground. “Am I someone you’d be willing to do anything for...?”

No answer came. Suddenly, the shadow in front of her shifted!

Ryuu’s silhouette leapt over her head like a dark cloud, briefly blocking the light before settling behind him again.

Turn around!

Akazawa felt as if she were dreaming.

A crane rushed from behind, heading straight for Ryuu’s back. There was nothing between the crane’s hook and Ryuu except one person.

Ryuu!

Like a hero from a comic, Akazawa watched Ryuu leap lightly into the air. Raising his wrist, a silver light flashed.

The silver glow surged with Ryuu’s left fist, striking the hook with a loud clang. Sparks flew, and in that instant, Akazawa’s thoughts froze, leaving only one ghostly notion swirling around her.

The next to die would be her—really her.

I’m... going to die...

Akazawa had resigned herself. But Ryuu, suspended in midair, wanted only to curse. He felt as if his left arm had been completely broken. The once rigid hidden blade at his wrist bent awkwardly.

Yet, a smile spread across Ryuu’s face, for he had achieved his purpose.

The hook that had aimed for Akazawa’s head was struck with all his might and sent flying. Thanks to his enhanced physical abilities, Ryuu’s body was no longer that of an ordinary human.

Using the hook’s momentum, Ryuu flew in the opposite direction and scooped up the stunned Akazawa still standing on the spot.

With a forceful kick against the stone bench, Ryuu shifted direction, flying backward at an angle.

The hook swung back and slammed into the bench’s backrest, sending stone fragments flying.

With another sharp sound, Ryuu landed holding Akazawa behind him.

Shaken, Akazawa stared wide-eyed at Ryuu beneath her, mouth agape in disbelief.

“Just now—”

Before she could finish, Ryuu moved swiftly. Gripping her shoulders, he twisted his body with force.

Akazawa was pinned beneath him.

“You!”

Bang!

Smack!

Blood splattered across Ryuu’s back.

He—

Akazawa, never before so worried, watched the blood slowly drip down Ryuu’s arm, reaching her face.

Tears spilled uncontrollably from her eyes. Though he was hurt, she couldn’t help but weep.

She lowered her gaze.

A long kiss.

“This is the price,” Ryuu whispered.

The tears seemed to hear voices, finally slipping down from the corners of her eyes.

Only then did Ryuu’s earlier words echo in Akazawa’s mind.

“Destroy the train or die before it.”

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Ahhh... so the moment of eruption was prepared... Then, on that day, the school administration wants to take attendance... No, please don’t!

Can we reschedule the eruption to April 2nd? I was hoping to push for 24-hour subscriptions.

Today, I’ll continue writing diligently... Also, Lin Hai Ting Tao has been up for a month, wildly updating a million words... so impressive... climbing to second place on the monthly ticket leaderboard with a niche competitive story... idol~ o/ lalala

Thanks to BXeroXB, Fallen and Redemption, Kiririn☆, Rebellious Xixi, Frozen Speechless, For Loli, Forgotten Dust 2, East Wind, Marseille Bacteria, and Xuanyuan Killer Madness for their generous support~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~