Beng San, I have an unfinished date with her

"To combat this negative thought, a mage made a decision and she imposed a belief on the city's combatants - never give up hope against the monster."

"That wouldn't be a problem, they do need a firm belief."

"But... the mage's ability is powerful, but the side effects are also obvious. For the human heart, vague orders can always be interpreted by different people as different truths, and they are regarded as absolute truth."

"..."

"On that day, when Sakura went on a mission, Suzu's body showed fluctuations that would only appear when a large wave of monsters occurred. The leader of the monsters - [Herrscher]."

"Ling was guarded, and the ordinary guarding soldiers...under the influence of belief, they misinterpreted and wanted to kill all the monsters. Ling naturally became the representative of the monsters in their eyes - the Herrscher .”

"They are already extremely crazy. If I arrive a little late...Ling's fate will only be worse. Even when I stop in front of them, they can regard me, who they have always regarded as their idol, as their most hated enemy. Treated as normal...."

"..."

Yae Sakura didn't make a sound. She was listening quietly while Takashi was talking to himself.

"I know, I went too, but I still couldn't save her... The Herrscher's cunning is far beyond our imagination."

"In the end, under the control of my wishful thinking, I thought Herrscher did not escape, and waited until Sakura returned to have a decisive battle with Herrscher who controlled Suzu's body."

"But in fact..."

"Before I exerted my power, the Herrscher had already escaped and used Fire Chasing Moth's own weapons to destroy the last country and the last fortified city."

“…an indescribably bitter defeat.”

"The Herrscher was still captured by the smartest strategist, just when Sakura exhausted all her resources to defeat the Herrscher who controlled her sister's body. Presumably, it must be the function of Ling's unyielding spirit that made the Herrscher's body appear. problem, the military advisor seized the opportunity.”

"But so what... The country has perished, the towns have been ruined, and only a few of our warriors are left wailing and decadent in the scorched earth."

"From then on, I accepted Sakura's final commission when she was dying, and buried her and Ling's remains in her hometown..."

"But there is actually nothing there, no human activities, no shelter, no animals... In fact, there is not even the huge cherry blossom tree that Sakura heart misses..."

"The last one I saw was created by me after I arrived at that place, and then destroyed by the disaster that followed."

"There are no traces of their existence in the world..."

Long opened his eyes, and the dark pupils were no longer there. The golden eyes showed his emotions and proclaimed the fluctuation of his power.

"After burying them, I started traveling, and after a long, long time, I came here."

"Their burial ground, the destroyed Changkong City, and now Yae Village."

"Just to find you."

"The Herrscher of Corrosion!"

Takashi quickly turned around and firmly grasped Yae Sakura's hand.

The nails on that beautiful white palm were now overgrown, like sharp claws like a ferocious beast. They joined together and reflected the dim light of the candle. He was caught by Long and stopped less than five centimeters from Long's back.

Her pupils turned red and revealed a fierce light, and her face was full of madness.

The Herrscher of Corrosion was inspired by Long's words!

In Takashi's heart-wrenching and heart-wrenching narration, Yae Sakura's defense gradually breaks down, and the dark success that Takashi has always wanted to know appears.

But just when Long's body moved slightly and got close to the "Herrscher", and was about to take action...

Yae Sakura's expression and appearance returned to normal instantly.

Long stopped for a moment, and the golden color in his eyes disappeared and returned to dark color.

Trouble, Herrscher's fluctuation disappeared again, and in Long's perception it became like the entire space.

"Huh? Takashi...you, how did you-!" Yae Sakura looked at her grabbed wrist and Takashi's face which was very close to her face. She felt strange and panicked, and then her face turned red. .

He closed his heart, turned himself into a fierce blade to perform sacrifices, and carried out the wishes of the villagers unconditionally.

As someone who has never left the village where she grew up, from the moment she was born, her clan’s bloodline destined her to become a shrine maiden who would protect this village. She would only obey the ardent eyes of her clan members and the respectful eyes of the villagers. Growing up with everyone's expectations, her self-esteem was gradually eaten away by the "miko's responsibilities".

Although her temperament has always been very calm, she doesn't panic when things happen.

But... being in such close contact with a man of the same age and similar appearance, she never thought that no matter how much she was being cannibalized, she was still a girl from hundreds of years ago.

Although I think Takato is pretty good and I can feel relaxed around him, but...but!

It’s too fast, it’s only been one day!

No!

Yae Sakura pushed Takashi's body away from her, and forcefully pulled her arm out of Takashi's slightly loosened palm.

Taking advantage of the strength, she stepped back and stood up. She leaned against the sliding door and tightened her miko uniform on her chest with both hands. She turned her back and said with a slight blush: "Takashi... you, you should rest first. You are not Tell me about patrolling tomorrow and have a good rest. I, I'm going back."

But she didn't turn her back completely, it was more like turning sideways, and her blushing posture was completely seen by Long...

"cherry.."

As soon as Takashi spoke, Yae Sakura quickly opened and closed the door and ran away, very fast, not caring about the steady posture of the miko before...

Long couldn't help but cover his forehead and said helplessly: "Oops... Why is it the same as before? My favorability level increased without knowing it."

"Ellie...I, I didn't mean it."

Long said to himself, as if he wanted to tell Ellie, but she couldn't hear him. After all, Alicia had not opened the spiritual channel, nor had she put her thoughts into the [Box of Memories].

What's more, the flow rate of time inside and outside is also different due to the influence of Long's power. For a day inside, only more than a second passes outside...

"..."

"Let's rest first..."

-

Yae Sakura's room.

After she returned to the room, she made the mattress and extinguished the candlelight and lay down, closing her eyes to calm down her thoughts.

Yes, calm down, calm down.

I am a shrine maiden of Yae Village, a shrine maiden who worships the gods...

calm.

But she still couldn't help but think of the stories Long told...

Those sisters, sad sisters.

Long's efforts...although failed, but...

Yae Sakura murmured: "So strong... Maybe only extremely strong people like them can become so strong... Even if their family and country are broken, they still fight against the enemy tenaciously... Even if they are personal For the rest of my life, I will still travel around and help others fight against monsters..."

"Don't believe in God, don't be afraid of God, just believe in yourself, just for yourself, just for everyone..."

"I... really can't compare at all."

"I can't compare to that Sakura... She is so brave, for her sister. She launched a resistance against the monsters and the Herrscher, fulfilled her responsibility as a sister, and rescued her sister."

"But I..."

"Rin...I'm so useless."

Yae Sakura held the pair of headbands in her hands and softly recounted her longing for her sister after a long absence. Although her heart was being eroded by darkness, she was also alive again...

A completely dead heart is not worth the darkness.

This space has become different from the past because of Long's arrival.

"Long, he is a good person."

Yae Sakura held Rin's headband, and fell asleep with some tears and a smile as the moonlight filtered through the paper window and shone on her body.

Change comes quietly: 147. Fixed point of memory, the beginning of abnormality

It's time for a new day.

Just like yesterday.

Before Takashi was awakened by the sunshine and the birds in the mountains, Yae Sakura had already woken up to take care of everything.

And while Long was getting dressed and doing some unnecessary washing, he opened the door.

Yae Sakura's footsteps sounded from the floor on one side of the corridor.

She came up with breakfast and said, "Good morning, Long."

"Ah, good morning Sakura. Please excuse me for getting up so early to prepare breakfast." Takashi scratched his head and took the wooden tray from her.

"It's not a bother, just leave it to me." Yae Sakura smiled slightly, walked to the steps along the corridor, put on her clogs, picked up a broom, and started cleaning the fallen leaves in the huge shrine.

Takashi looked at Yae Sakura, who was bathing in the morning sun and wearing a simple white and pink miko uniform instead of the battle-style modified miko uniform before, and felt a sense of tranquility and peace coming from her.

The sound of a broom sweeping across the ground came regularly.

The Yaezakura trees seemed to be emitting a faint light on the shrine walkway, and Takashi knew that it was not reflected sunlight...

He "saw" another light.

...

Faced with this signal, Long didn't know whether it was good or bad...

Because ordinary people, ordinary people, naturally will not show this beautiful light so obviously.

The brighter the light, the richer the darkness.

The darker the darkness, the more dazzling light appears outside the ordinary Yae Sakura.

The struggle intensified.

After a pause, he quickly put away his breakfast and went to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

"Sakura, I'm leaving."

"Okay, be careful on the road."

"Ah."

He returned to the bedroom, changed into combat clothes, took two knives and started his daily patrol.

.....

"Huh? Is this time of summer in the consciousness space?...Why does the sun feel stronger?"

During his patrol, Long was keenly aware of the difference between today and yesterday. Such a subtle temperature change could not be hidden from his senses.

Today, he first patrolled along the left side of the shrine. When he went down the Shinto stairs, he didn't feel any problem. After all, the shrine was surrounded by lush branches on both sides, and the huge torii gates erected every few meters were even bigger together with the trees. blocked the sun.

When we reached the stone road and the flat and solemn sacrificial platform, we realized something was wrong...

With doubts, Long continued to move forward slowly. He saw one or two figures worshiping and praying near the boulder on that side. There was nothing to say, it was the daily life of the villagers.

The villagers like to go to the boulder to pray. After all, the shrine is a bit far from the village. This platform is the same and has to climb a mountain, so many villagers rarely go up the mountain to worship. However, monthly supplies, etc. They will organize the transportation of young and middle-aged people on time.

This situation was discovered when Long came to the river on the edge of the village...

The river lowered its water level..

Long looked at it carefully and compared it with yesterday's waterline in his memory. It looked like it was missing a few centimeters. Of course the villagers couldn't see this detail, but he could.

"wrong..."

Long unleashed his power and quickly moved up the river. Even until the edge of consciousness space dozens of kilometers away could no longer move forward, the river showed no abnormality...

He even used his strength to create a huge flow of water at the end where he could no longer move forward, but it completely stopped the moment he was thrown into the river, without any impact on the flow of the river's water.

After returning to the village, Takashi rubbed his chin and muttered: "So...it's something that must happen in the memory space of consciousness."

Looking far away, Long saw the villagers working in the farmland. They were still guarding the farmland, riding water trucks to collect water for watering, and there was no warning of the impending disaster. Their bodies would not even react to the fluctuations in temperature. I have a big feeling... After all, it's just a false memory construct in the consciousness space, an NPC.

Takashi shook his head. Even so, he still had to do a good job in the work he had agreed to share with Yae Sakura. As his memory developed, that point would inevitably come.

What I need to do is try my best to help her find the path of hope before that point arrives, help her keep an eye on the beacon of resistance, and launch a decisive blow at that time.

"Lord Long."

"Good morning, my lord."

"Hello, samurai brother! Why didn't the miko sister come to patrol?"

"..."