"This is my husband, Ryuji. He possesses a treasure that can allow you, all of you, to be revived for one day."
It was only then that Mai noticed the couple who were walking toward her in excitement. She froze completely and instantly turned her head in Ryuji's direction. Only to realize that at some point, Ryuji had already stepped outside the dojo and was waving at her.
She was just about to say something when the couple grabbed her hands.
"Mai! You're Mai, right?!"
The woman in the couple gripped Mai's hands excitedly. At first, she had still been a little uncertain, but after hearing her father-in-law call out, her emotions completely overflowed. The man beside her was also clearly excited, yet he looked toward his father, wanting to understand what was actually happening.
"One day of life?"
Hanzo's gaze also turned toward Ryuji. The moment Mai said those words, a realization suddenly surfaced in his mind.
He still had roughly 100 days and 8 hours of life remaining.
And combined with what Mai had just said, he also saw Ryuji waving as he walked out of the dojo gates. His eyes couldn't help but narrow.
Ryuji's aura was very different, clearly that of a true expert. With two greatswords strapped to his back, he looked nothing like an ordinary martial artist. Instead, he resembled a demon-slaying swordsman.
And most importantly...
Where is Andy?
Andy was his disciple, someone he had personally chosen to properly protect Mai. Andy's talent was also quite good and he also had a reliable older brother. As long as Andy grew normally, and considering the bond he had developed with Mai, Hanzo could not imagine any possibility of Andy abandoning her.
That child would protect Mai even at the cost of his own life.
Unless he had failed to react in time.
Hanzo glanced at the calendar and realized that only a few years had passed since his own death.
"What exactly happened?"
His heart was full of doubts. But at that moment, Mai had already recognized the woman who shared so many similarities with herself—her mother.
She threw herself into her mother's arms and began to cry.
Her life had been truly tragic. She had lost both her parents at a young age and before even reaching adulthood, she had lost her grandfather as well. That was also one of the reasons why she had become so deeply attached to Andy.
Because in this world, the only person she could rely on had been Andy.
Her father had clearly sensed the same things as Hanzo. Looking at his own father, he felt regret for his past ignorance and deep guilt.
"Father, I..."
But Hanzo said nothing. After so many years, having experienced life, death and the torments of hell, he had long since come to terms with it all. He gently pushed Mai into his son's arms and then took a deep breath.
"Do what a father should do."
He also wanted to hold his granddaughter and express all his worries but standing before his son, he knew that both his son and daughter-in-law wanted to understand what Mai had been through. So he let go of her hand and chose to watch from the sidelines.
Since there were one hundred days of time, there was no need to rush.
After all, that man named Ryuji…
He was simply too extraordinary.
To be able to resurrect the dead, what exactly did he want from Mai?
Although Hanzo believed his granddaughter was a treasure beyond compare, he also knew that no matter how precious she was, she could never be worth almost full year of lifespan, especially when that year was spent merely to make his granddaughter happy.[1]
Unless it was true love, otherwise...
Watching Mai cry until she could no longer speak, Hanzo let out a sigh. A strong sense of foreboding rose in his heart.
Yet seeing his son and daughter-in-law in tears as well, along with his sobbing granddaughter, he could no longer hold back his own tears.
For now, reunion was what mattered most.
Outside the dojo, Ryuji, listening to the sound of crying from within, couldn't help but shake his head.
"Using such a ridiculous ability just to pick up girls and doing it this way, no less... guess I'm the only one who would do something like this. Still, with things done this way, Andy's influence should be completely erased."
Ryuji shook his head. Abilities like conceptual lifespan and resurrection were, in truth, best used for causing trouble or learning. Using them simply to make girls happy, to make them completely devoted to him, was considered extremely low-tier or lowbrow among web-novel protagonists.
After all, other transmigrators weren't driven by what hung between their legs.
Every one of them was chasing transcendence, grand ambitions and great undertakings.
"But there's nothing I can do about it. I'm just a lucky, worldly man."
Closing the door, Ryuji began strolling around the Shiranui family dojo. Very quickly, he noticed many wooden training dummies that had clearly been smashed in anger.
Some of the artificial rock formations showed obvious signs of violent destruction as well.
Ryuji casually ran his hand over the shattered stone, then spotted a red folding fan embedded deep into the rock. It was obvious that Mai had once been so furious she had completely lost control.
Recalling the image he'd seen of her in the Demon Slayer world, the picture of a heartbroken young woman instantly came to mind.
Ryuji shook his head, idly playing with the folding fan in his hand, its fine steel frame twisted and deformed beyond repair. Then glanced back toward the house, where muffled sobbing and conversation could still be heard.
At that moment, he noticed several of Mai's clothes hanging under the eaves—mostly refined, elegant homewear, but also a few bright-red martial arts outfits, the kind that were extremely revealing.
For a brief moment, he felt the urge to lean in and smell them. After all, that could be considered a kind of foreplay, especially that one piece of clothing that looked a bit like an eye mask. But he immediately felt it was too perverted, and honestly too trashy, so he gave up on the idea.
And if Mai's father or grandfather saw me doing that, it would be unbearably awkward.
But the moment that thought crossed his mind, Ryuji suddenly shuddered. A sense of fear washed over him, making him realize something.
He had never thought about things like this before.
"…My level of perversion has definitely increased..."
~~~~~~~~~~
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[1] The combined lifespan including Mai's Father and Mother