Chapter 104: This World Needs Me to Change It!!! (4.5k)

April 30, 2024, 5:37 AM, rain.

Beside Hongwanji Cemetery.

Dark clouds covered the sky, and the ethereal sound of the tide faintly echoed through the drizzling misty rain, while spirit power from another world occasionally drifted down with the raindrops.

Nanjo Ai held a black umbrella, still expressionless, rainwater continuously dripping from the umbrella's edge into the mud pit beside her feet, soiling this pair of expensive shoes.

The funeral was simple, few people around, suppressed sobs of grief coming from ahead of her, but unable to move Nanjo Ai's expression.

Pat pat.

Nanjo Ai turned back following the footsteps, seeing two people in school uniforms walking straight toward her.

Uesugi Toru and Tokugawa Ririko.

The two seemed to have rushed over in a hurry, so neither had an umbrella, the drizzling rain soaking their hair and thin school uniforms, making them look especially disheveled.

"Came?"

Nanjo Ai pointed at the black-and-white girl already framed in a photo frame ahead: "Say goodbye to Mafuyu."

Ririko was stunned for an instant.

She slowly clenched her fists, lowered her head, tightly closed her eyes, letting rainwater flow from her cheek and drip down together with the blood flowing from her palm.

But Uesugi Toru was different; he just quietly stared at that cheap photo frame, that faded photograph.

No one knew what he was thinking.

"Uh, Nanjo Sister." She heard Uesugi Toru say, "Didn't Mafuyu Sister talk with us last night?"

She answered flatly: "Mm, so it was last night."

Then, Kurosaki Akira in a black suit and over a dozen Onmyoji walked before Nanjo Ai, all bowing their heads together.

"Sorry."

Kurosaki Akira rarely apologized, but today he sincerely bowed his head, otherwise even he himself could not forgive himself.

He was thinking whether he, this Minor Officer, and the dozen or so guys behind him were all good-for-nothing fools, why not a single person noticed something wrong in advance, why not a single person noticed Ai Parting Li just walking into the Special Affairs Division Headquarters so brazenly.

Nanjo Ai gave a neither shallow nor deep hum, patted Kurosaki Akira's shoulder: "It's not your fault; if I must say, it's my and Mafuyu's fault."

"If I could have carried that Spirit Board with me or handed it to Kondo, that would be good."

Although she said this, Nanjo Ai knew it was impossible.

Before the wave arrived, she had handed that crucial Spirit Board to Shizuka Mafuyu, wanting to lure Ai Parting Li out from among the millions of people in Arakawa Ward.

If that Spirit Board had stayed with herself or Kondo Tomoya, Ai Parting Li would absolutely never have appeared.

And Shizuka Mafuyu was the only person Nanjo Ai could absolutely trust.

She was an ordinary person, and almost twenty-four hours a day stayed with her, her personality traits being so fervent and vivid, exactly like her former self.

Even if Shizuka Mafuyu had the slightest change, Nanjo Ai could tell.

Nanjo Ai touched the Spirit Board she was now carrying with her.

——The only thing Shizuka Mafuyu did wrong was that, even when she and Kondo Tomoya had deliberately left and the rest of the entire Special Affairs Division had not discovered Ai Parting Li, she still did not hand over the Spirit Board, but instead recklessly pressed the alarm.

Among herself and many, many people including her younger sister, Shizuka Mafuyu almost without hesitation chose the latter.

Just like her choices from when she could remember until now, Nanjo Ai had long known.

So she died.

Ai Parting Li was thus discovered by Kurosaki Akira and others, not only severely injured, but this Spirit Board was also not taken away.

"Is it Ai Parting Li?"

Nanjo Ai heard Uesugi Toru ask beside her, so she nodded: "It's her."

Uesugi Toru calmly nodded: "I understand."

Even through the rain curtain, Nanjo Ai could smell the surging anger in the hearts of the two high schoolers beside her, but the one who should be most angry was not them; it should be herself.

But what about herself?

Nanjo Ai wasn't sure; perhaps she had long gone numb, in these five years of becoming an Onmyoji she had seen too many colleagues, juniors, and superiors die without warning.

Then they, along with their hot blood, ambitions, and ideals, would be burned together, stuffed into that small box and buried in the earth.

She could not remember how many times she had solemnly said "don't die," but each time not long passed before she had to say it again.

Always like this.

Nanjo Ai had hoped since childhood to live a quiet life, no different from an ordinary person.

Eat well, grow up well, live well, and then die well.

So she worked part-time and went to school like an ordinary person, naturally failed to get into university, then entered society to work, using a full five years to become a qualified company slave, and after quitting used another five years to fritter away her savings bit by bit.

Finally, she was dragged along in a muddle by a high school classmate to become an Onmyoji.

But just an ordinary Onmyoji.

Ordinary cultivation, ordinary contracted Shikigami, ordinary work.

But until Nanjo Ai came back to her senses did she discover that she seemed no longer able to die plainly as she wished.

Just like in childhood.

——Shizuka Mafuyu did not want to be put in a small box and buried in a cheap cemetery; she wanted to live a good life with her younger sister.

——Hasegawa said he would enter the Five Person Council within five years, but actually wanted to return to his hometown to be a proper PE teacher; he said he had been bullied at school for six years since childhood because of his weak body.

——Kitamura Ryu, after being pulled in to become an Onmyoji, said he would quit once he earned one hundred million yuan, return to the countryside county to marry a virtuous wife and have a pair of children to enjoy retirement.

——And Takagi wanted to earn enough money to cure his mother's illness; Shimizu wanted to become a Great Onmyoji to reform society so that orphans like him could live like normal people; Tachibana wanted to become a legendary police inspector to strike down evil; Taniguchi said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with his two contracted Shikigami...

Too many, too many.

But in the end they all died.

Except Nanjo Ai, no one would remember these words anymore.

If even she died, then these words she remembered word for word, those things worthy of being called "dreams," would truly be buried in the earth and lose their meaning.

Having the ability to do great things means doing great things — this was Rituna Minami's life creed.

So she did her best to ensure she wouldn't die without warning.

Rituna Minami thought somewhat irritably, subconsciously taking out a cigarette and biting it between her lips as she waited for a while.

But no one beside her took out a lighter to light it for her.

She clamped the umbrella handle between her neck and shoulder, pulled out that nearly used-up flint lighter from her pocket, and just as she was about to light it, the cigarette went "pa-da" and fell onto her shoe tip, then rolled "gu-lu-gu-lu" into the muddy puddle.

Rituna Minami squatted down to pick it up, shook it in the air, then relit it.

The earthy fishy smell rushed into her nose.

Rituna Minami smacked her lips — it was a familiar flavor.

She remembered Shizuka Mafuyu's dream, had reminisced enough, and might as well continue working now.

After all, people can look back, but they must keep moving forward, and life must go on.

She walked behind Kurosaki Akira and the other Onmyoji, coughed twice, and spoke loudly: "Those who still have work, go do it first. The tide of chaos is coming soon — don't grow too lax just because you're prepared."

Everyone was about to respond, but her and Kurosaki Akira's mobile phones rang at the same time.

The two looked at each other, answered the calls,

"Nanjo Shao Shu!"

"Kurosaki Shao Shu!"

The operator's anxious voice came from the other end of the phone: "Traffic lines, schools, hospitals, and other important areas throughout Arakawa Ward have suddenly erupted in large-scale chaos. Preliminary assessment: Ai Biri Li detonated the hidden 'seeds'."

Most of those present showed startled expressions, but Rituna Minami remained expressionless: "Major Officer Kondou should have already activated Plan A, right?"

The other end of the phone was stunned for an extremely brief moment, then said: "Uh——yes! Everyone, the materials regarding 【Ai Biri Li, Seeds, and Shindoku】, including detailed mission arrangements, have all been uploaded to your mobile phones!"

"Arakawa Ward has entered a state of full martial law! This mission's code name is 【Red Tide】. I hope everyone can contain the Red Tide in time!"

"Wishing you martial luck and prosperity!"

After the call ended, the sorrowful and silent atmosphere at the cemetery changed abruptly. Kurosaki Akira immediately straightened his face: "Nanjo Shao Shu, take care!"

Rituna Minami glanced at her phone and nodded at him: "Mm, take care."

After Kurosaki Akira and the other Onmyoji left, Rituna Minami redialed the phone: "Anything else to say?"

But this time, Kondo Tomoya's heavy voice came through,

"Nanjo Shao Shu, the number of seeds and the affected area are doubling and spreading rapidly. The situation is on the verge of collapse."

Since only four people remained present, Rituna Minami put it on speaker.

Except for Shizuma Manatsu, who was still sobbing, the other three were all stunned.

Rituna Minami asked: "Wasn't the Star Barrier set up a few days ago? Can't they detect the precise location of the seeds?"

"Sakata Shokun was specifically trapped. Without an Astronomy Yin-Yang Master leading the barrier, it won't take effect that quickly." Kondo Tomoya's voice rose and fell. "I'm trying to rescue him."

Rituna Minami pressed: "What about reinforcements from the other major districts?"

"——Ai Biri Li should have agreed with the other Eight Sufferings and some Great Demons to launch chaos simultaneously. No one can spare a hand for now."

As expected.

Rituna Minami frowned slightly: "What about the Self-Defense Force and Armed Police? Wasn't Plan C supposed to let them open up some armed force to suppress the chaos?"

Some noisy sounds came from Kondo Tomoya's end, but they soon quieted down along with the sound of sword cries: "The soldiers and Armed Police arranged in advance didn't show up. Instead, some traffic police and criminal police are spontaneously maintaining order."

"An unexpected Great Demon appeared?"

"No." Kondo Tomoya's voice trembled slightly. "It's because the chaos came too suddenly, startling those government officials who weren't informed in advance."

"——They, from the very moment the chaos first sprouted, every single one of them fled."

Rituna Minami's expression froze, barely concealing her astonishment.

Uesugi Toru could even hear the crisp sound of her specially made phone being crushed out of shape by her grip.

"They all fled? There must be at least one……"

"They all fled. The military and Armed Police are leaderless, and no one dares to act on their own to kill 'seeds' that look exactly like ordinary people. We don't have the authority to command them either."

"Right now! Hu——at least thirty or forty thousand people have been infected by the Red Tide, already more than ten times over!"

Kondo Tomoya's voice was drowned out by explosions and roars, not very clear:

"Nanjo Shao Shu, now I ask your opinion as usual — either go immediately to counterattack and exterminate the Red Tide after rescuing Sakata Shokun; or try to gather the general populace, preserve our living strength, and wait for rescue?"

——A world like this might as well be destroyed sooner rather than later.

The black umbrella had unknowingly slid to the ground. Rituna Minami clutched her hair in extreme irritation, muttering wildly in her heart: "I clearly told them exactly what to do when the time came…… why did they still flee!"

"Why can't they even do something this simple? Why why why!"

"Clearly things could have been resolved so easily……"

"Just what kind of trash and corrupt officials are sitting in the government now? Corruption as usual is one thing, but in a situation like this, even rats in the sewers know you can't just keep fleeing……"

Rituna Minami thought expressionlessly: "Just what are we doing, and whose interests are we protecting? Does Mafuyu's death really have any meaning anymore?"

"After the Red Tide ends, once seven or eight out of ten people in Arakawa Ward are dead, those scum who fled will all return to their seats as if nothing happened……"

But everything she had experienced in these twenty-two years — the junior high and high school she attended, the convenience store where she worked part-time, the companies she had stayed at — would all become ruins.

Her former classmates, teachers, colleagues, friends, superiors, juniors, even this cemetery…… everything, everything, would be swallowed and disappear by this ever-intensifying Red Tide.

So was she supposed to forget all of this again, go to a new place, and start a new life?

Enough already.

"Nanjo Shao Shu?"

Kondo Tomoya's voice interrupted her thoughts.

Rituna Minami suddenly said: "I'll go."

Kondo Tomoya paused: "What do you mean?"

"Literal meaning."

"——Link all Star Barriers to me, I'll locate every Seed, I'll suppress the Red Tide, I'll exorcise Eight Sufferings·Aibetsuri, I'll quell this unrest, I'll cut off the heads of those incompetent bastards one by one! No matter where they flee!"

Uesugi Toru could see Rituna Minami's expressionless face growing angrier and angrier, her pupils turning colder, like iron.

Rituna Minami said word by word: "This world needs to change!"

Emotions suppressed and accumulated for twenty-two years burst forth, the Company Slave Identity she had painstakingly adapted to was torn apart by her, Rituna Minami nearly roared, speaking the last sentence indisputably:

"——Needs, me to change!!!"

The specially made mobile phone hard as steel was kneaded into a pile of scrap iron, sparking with electric sparks as it fell onto the shadow spreading beneath Rituna Minami's feet, swallowed up.

Nure-onna and Hiyobou drilled out, standing dazedly to one side, feeling for the first time their usually calm and easygoing owner showing such emotion, so frightened they were at a loss.

And the surging shadow took substance, gently embracing Rituna Minami from behind, a voice sad and caring: "Little Love, going to become a hero again?"

"To hell with being a hero!"

Rituna Minami bared her teeth in a savage grin, grinding her teeth: "I just want to go kill the bastard who killed Mami right now, then slice all those incompetent old things into a thousand cuts!"

"What elections, government, Family... all these Old Era things should be swept into history's trash heap!"

Rituna Minami bit by bit reined in the rampant and exaggerated emotion on her face, once again becoming cold and rational.

Spirit Power far more surging than the sea rose from the ground, sweeping away the clouds piled up in layers above the Sky.

Uesugi Toru saw her turn back, seeing the sky rise within those iron-colored pupils, streaking across like stars falling like rain.

He heard her say,

"Ruling the New Era doesn't need so many people."

"Their dreams, I'll realize them all."

Only then did a brand-new task prompt pop up before Uesugi Toru's eyes——

【Special Limited-Time Mission, "Red Tide" activated!】

【This mission's objectives are as follows——】

【Objective One: Together with Rituna Minami, suppress the spread of the "Red Tide".】

【Objective Two: Together with Rituna Minami, exorcise Eight Sufferings·Aibetsuri.】

【This limited-time mission will distribute rewards based on participation and contribution! The higher the comprehensive contribution, the richer the reward!】

He couldn't help but be stunned, this task had suddenly appeared because of Rituna Minami's decision just now.

In other words, if Rituna Minami hadn't undergone that strange change just now, Arakawa Ward would definitely be destroyed by both Aibetsuri and the Red Tide?

End of Chapter