These four words, like final chains, completely shackled Kazuha's soul. Her 'privilege' to touch Kanjuro's deepest secrets required the life of her childhood friend and the blood of a high-ranking police official in exchange. On her completely warped scale of values, Kanjuro's 'truth' far outweighed the two lives she once knew so well.
She tightly gripped the black pistol in her hand, her knuckles turning white from the force, yet her eyes burned with a fanatical and resolute light. Looking at Kanjuro, she nodded heavily:
'I understand... Brother Kanjuro. I will... do it.'
Hattori Shizuka also gripped her gun tightly. She didn't speak, but that silence itself was the most terrifying answer.
Kanjuro looked with satisfaction at the two women before him, holding weapons to kill their kin with resolute eyes. He knew that they had passed this final and most cruel test. They had not only sacrificed their bodies and souls to him, but now, they would personally stain their hands with the blood of their closest relatives as a ticket to the 'truth' within his heart.
Darkness completed its final coronation at this moment. Inside the hunter's cabin, the order to kill kin had been given, and twisted love turned into cold killing intent. Meanwhile, Kanjuro sat like a demon king at the center of a spider web, waiting for the prey to be dragged into eternal darkness by their most beloved. Kanjuro's words about the 'unique gift' were like a magic spell, planting an extreme desire for that unknown 'truth' in the hearts of Kazuha and Hattori Shizuka. This desire temporarily overwhelmed the fear of the bloody task they were about to perform, instead making them even more curious about Kanjuro's past.
Kazuha couldn't help but ask, her eyes sparkling with an inquisitive light: 'Brother Kanjuro, your past... those secrets that only you know, does... does really no one else know them?' She longed to be the unique person who could touch his core.
Meeting her expectant gaze, Kanjuro admitted frankly, his tone carrying a sense of aloofness: 'No. Those past events and reasons buried in the deepest depths are, so far, known by no one.' He deliberately created this unique 'honor'.
Just as his voice fell, the space behind Kanjuro distorted like ripples on water, and a cold, ominous Spiritron fluctuation rippled out. A tall, slender figure slowly took shape—clad in pitch-black armor and holding a Reverse-patterned Holy Flag, her golden pupils burned with the flames of revenge and a trace of imperceptible complexity. It was the Witch of Vengeance summoned to this world as Kanjuro's Servant, Jalter.
Her appearance brought a coldness and pressure that was out of place with the modern world. Her gaze first swept over Kazuha and Hattori Shizuka, who were gripping their black pistols with resolute eyes, and finally fixed on Kanjuro. Her tone carried a hint of unbelievable mockery and questioning:
'How surprising, master.' Jalter's voice was like clashing ice. 'The "truth" and "true face" that you've carefully hidden, which even I haven't been able to see in full, you're actually willing to... disclose here and now to a girl whose mind is clearly lost and who has lost herself under the influence of your "spear of longinus"?'
She directly exposed the mental intervention method Kanjuro might be using (the spear of longinus, which can be understood here as a manifestation of Black Magic with strong mental suggestion or emotional distortion effects), questioning the reality of Kazuha's current 'love' and 'loyalty'.
Kanjuro was not surprised by Jalter's sudden appearance; instead, it was as if he had expected her prying. A knowing smile curled at the corner of his mouth, and he did not directly respond to her questioning.
As for Kazuha, upon hearing Jalter's words, she reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, immediately retorting in excitement. She straightened her back, and although her hand holding the gun was still trembling slightly, her eyes were exceptionally sharp as she looked at Jalter, her tone serious and firm:
'You're lying! I truly like Brother Kanjuro! It's not because of any influence from the spear of longinus!' She worked hard to defend the 'purity' of her feelings. 'My feelings for him are my own choice!'
Facing her excitement, Jalter only responded with an even colder sneer, her laughter carrying the indifference of someone who had seen through the world:'Sincerity? Choice? Little girl, do you know what that uncontrollable deep affection and burning possessiveness that flooded into your soul when you slept with master actually means? Is that really your "own" feeling?' Her words were like a sharp sword, attempting to pierce the carefully constructed emotional bubble.
However, Kazuha's reaction once again exceeded her expectations. Instead of being stumped by the question, Kazuha became even more agitated, even taking a step forward. A light bordering on paranoia burned in her eyes as she retorted loudly:
'What if I do understand! If I clearly know what it means, what would I choose to say to Brother Kanjuro? Should I say, "I already know what kind of person you are, you don't need to pretend in front of me"?'
Her voice carried a desperation of burning her bridges:
'No! To me, no matter what kind of person he is, he is extraordinary! I love everything about him, including the darkness he might not want to show! This feeling needs no reason and accepts no questioning!'
This declaration of completely abandoning herself and fully embracing everything about Kanjuro (including his dark side) caused even Jalter, who was used to human distortion and fanaticism, to be stunned. Her golden pupils constricted slightly, and when she looked at Kanjuro again, there was a trace of indescribable confusion and... wavering in her eyes.
'Could it be... that I was wrong?' she murmured to herself, seemingly re-evaluating the state of the girl before her and the nature of the methods Kanjuro used. What Kazuha displayed seemed not to be simple mental control, but a more thorough, more eerie... identification and sacrifice at the level of the soul.
Watching this scene, the smile on Kanjuro's face grew deeper. He spoke at the right moment, his voice calm yet carrying the sense of being in control of everything:
'Jeanne, you should understand now.'
His gaze turned to Kazuha, filled with 'appreciation' and 'expectation':
'Next, as long as Kazuha and Shizuka help me complete that task—killing Heiji Hattori and Heizo Hattori...'
He emphasized the bloody mission once again and linked it to the 'truth':
'I will tell her the secret about me that only she... is allowed to know.'
He tightly bound the final 'reward' with the cruelest 'test', like hanging the only treasure—one that must be stained with blood to be touched—before a tamed beast.
Jalter looked at Kanjuro silently, then at Kazuha with her fanatical gaze and tightly gripped weapon, and then at the silent but equally resolute Hattori Shizuka. Finally, a trace of complex realization flickered in her eyes, which burned with the flames of revenge. She said no more, her figure slowly receding and merging back into the shadows, like a ghost watching and waiting.
The atmosphere inside the cabin became even more frozen due to Jalter's appearance and questioning. Kazuha's'sincerity' seemed even more 'real' and terrifying in her fierce self-defense. Kanjuro knew that the final obstacle (even the questioning from his own Servant) had been cleared. Now, he only waited for the two 'blades' he had personally forged to bring him the final, blood-colored offering. Hearing Kanjuro's near-promise of a 'unique gift' to Kazuha and seeing the (feigned)'special favor' in his eyes that was only shown to Kazuha, a strong desire and sense of being left out welled up in Hattori Shizuka's heart. She plucked up her courage and took a step forward, her voice carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling and pleading:
'Kanjuro... that... that truth about your past... I... I want to know too. Can I?' She hoped to share that deepest secret with him, proving that she held an equally irreplaceable position in his heart.
However, Kanjuro turned his head, and the gaze he directed at her instantly became cold, even carrying a hint of imperceptible distance. He shook his head, his tone calm but beyond doubt:
'Shizuka, you... are different.'
He paused deliberately, as if weighing his words, but in reality, he was performing a precise emotional severance:
'Back then, after you found out you were pregnant with my child, you chose to give him up, not letting him come into this world.'
His words were like a cold dagger, precisely stabbing into the oldest, most painful, and most guilt-ridden wound in Hattori Shizuka's heart.
'A woman who wouldn't even keep our bloodline... what right do you have to ask to know my deepest secrets?'
0 Asking for Flowers 0 --- These words were like a final judgment, making Hattori Shizuka's face turn instantly pale. Her body swayed, and she could barely stand. Massive disappointment and the pain of being rejected instantly overwhelmed her. She lowered her head, tears welling in her eyes, and murmured: 'I... I was afraid then... I was wrong... I really know I was wrong...' She intertwined her twisted love for Kanjuro with the guilt brought by her decision back then, further deepening her pain and obedience.
Kanjuro ignored her confession, merely looking away with indifference. What he needed was not her repentance, but her absolute obedience without any extra conditions.
He refocused his attention on the upcoming task, his voice returning to its previous calm and commanding tone:
'Alright, now, let's begin according to the plan.'
'Kazuha, Shizuka, each of you use your phones to call Heiji Hattori.'
He instructed them on the cold-blooded trap in detail:
'Tell him that you've escaped my control or found an opportunity to get away from me, and that you want to meet him alone because you have something important to tell him. Tell him absolutely not to tell anyone, especially Heizo Hattori.'
'As for the location... choose a place that each of you considers hidden enough and convenient to take action.'
...'Then...' Kanjuro's gaze swept over the two black pistols emitting an ominous aura, 'take the opportunity when you meet and he's completely off guard... to kill him.'
This clear and cruel instruction made the air almost solidify.
Hattori Shizuka took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the complex emotions in her heart. Her disappointment over Kanjuro's refusal to tell her the truth transformed into an even more resolute determination to carry out the order—she needed to 'atone' through a perfect performance to regain his 'favor'. She nodded vigorously: 'I understand.'
As for Toyama Kazuha, her reaction was even more intense and complex. Hearing that she was to personally kill Heiji Hattori, with whom she had grown up, her heart instinctively twitched. A faint trace of reluctance and struggle surfaced like a hidden reef beneath the water. Her childhood friend's smiling face, their past arguments and protection... those sealed fragments of memory tried to break through the warped emotional dam.
However, this faint ripple of emotion was instantly overwhelmed and swallowed by the yearning for the truth behind Kanjuro's past "Only Grace." That unknown "why" was like a fatal temptation of forbidden fruit, hanging at the end of a thorny road of blood and betrayal.
She tightly gripped the black handgun in her hand; its cold touch seemed to give her strength while freezing the last trace of hesitation. She lifted her head, and though a faint, imperceptible trace of struggle remained in her eyes, it was replaced by a fanaticism and resolve driven by desire. Facing Kanjuro, she nodded heavily, her voice trembling slightly yet exceptionally clear:
"I... I agree."
"Though... I'm a bit... conflicted..."
She murmured as if to convince herself, but then her tone became unusually persistent:
"But... I really... really want to know... Brother Kanjuro, about your past..."
To touch that one and only "truth," she was prepared to personally sever all ties with her past, using the life of her childhood friend as a sacrifice.
Kanjuro looked at their reactions and nodded with satisfaction. He had personally pushed them into the desperate situation of killing their kin, using the "truth" as the sole bait to make them fall willingly.
"Then, let's begin," he said indifferently.
Kazuha and Hattori Shizuka exchanged looks, then each took out their phones and began dialing the familiar number. The sound of the keys being pressed was exceptionally clear in the silent cabin, each beep sounding like a knock on the door to hell. Once the call connected, they would follow Kanjuro's instructions, using lies to lure Heiji Hattori out, and then... use Black Magic bullets to put an end to his life.
Kanjuro sat quietly in the corner, like the true director behind the scenes, admiring the final act he had choreographed—a mix of betrayal, lies, and blood. The hunt had begun.
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