Chapter 370: Am I Yours From Now On?
"What is her condition?"
After putting on a show for the clansmen of reluctantly agreeing to spare Isayama Yomi's life, Isayama Naraku immediately dismissed everyone and walked quickly to Yomi's side to check her status.
"Thank goodness... she just needs to rest for a while to recover."
Confirming that Yomi's life force was merely weak but not in immediate danger, Naraku let out a long sigh of relief.
"Uncle Naraku, why did we have to act like that just now?"
Even though Tsuchimiyaka Kagura had performed her role perfectly according to Naraku's instructions, she truly did not understand why he needed to resort to such theatrics in front of his own people.
"...Kagura, those guards who were just killed—do you think they have families?"
Surprised that Kagura would ask such a basic question, Naraku asked after a moment of silence.
"Of course they do..."
Kagura froze halfway through her answer. It was true; Yomi had just cut down several members of the Isayama clan right before her eyes. Even if Naraku, as the family head, could temporarily suppress the matter, how could the relatives who lost their loved ones let it go so easily?
"I'm sorry. I didn't think it through," Kagura apologized, lowering her head in shame as she realized what she had overlooked.
"The ones who truly deserve your apology aren't me, but the relatives of the fallen guards."
As Naraku spoke, he closed his eyes in pain. He was the patriarch of the Isayama family, but he was also Yomi's father. Faced with a choice between family interests and paternal love, he always had to sacrifice one. Today, he had shown favoritism to his daughter and forcibly protected her; this might very well become a hidden danger in the future.
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When Isayama Mei opened her eyes, the last rays of the setting sun happened to hit her face.
"I'm... still alive?"
Raising her right hand to block the sunlight, Mei stared blankly at the ceiling in a daze. Her memory stopped at the moment her heart was pierced by Mitogawa Kazuhiro.
"You're awake."
A slightly gloomy, lethargic male voice rang out nearby. This caused Mei to immediately scramble off the bed in alarm, pressing herself against the corner of the wall as she began checking her clothes.
"Don't worry, I didn't do anything to you. Besides, if I really had any wicked intentions, you wouldn't be able to resist anyway..."
Hachiman beckoned to her, signaling for her to relax.
"Was it you who saved me?"
After the initial panic subsided, Mei regained her composure. Looking at Hachiman, she remembered with surprise that she had met him once before. Feeling the massive fluctuations of spiritual power within Hachiman's body that he couldn't entirely hide, she instantly believed his words.
"Well, I guess so..."
Being questioned about the rescue by the person involved made Hachiman feel a bit awkward, and he shifted his gaze away.
"I see. If you don't mind, could you please tell me about the bad things I did during the time I lost my memory?"
Seeing Hachiman's expression, Mei seemed to understand something. She sat back down on the bed, adopting a dignified posture, and requested that Hachiman give her a general overview of what happened after she was turned into a puppet.
"Hmm?"
Hearing her request, Hachiman turned back abruptly. Mei was supposed to have lost all memory of the period when she was the Nine-Tailed Fox's puppet; why was she so certain she had done "many bad things"?
"After you met Yomi previously, didn't you immediately contact the Isayama family to have her brought back?"
Seeing the look of surprise on Hachiman's face, Mei knew her guess was correct. With a bitter, sorrowful smile, she explained her reasoning.
"The time I met with disaster was at night, and now it is dusk. Therefore, at the very least, a day must have passed. If I hadn't done anything wrong during that lost time, I would have woken up in an Isayama family hospital, not in a small inn like this..."
"......."
Mei's deduction left Hachiman silent. Indeed, given his personality, if there were no issues with Mei, he definitely would have called Kagura immediately to pick her up. He had placed her in this location temporarily precisely because he was considering the fact that she had slaughtered the Kunugi main house. Even if those actions weren't her own intent, she was the one who did them.
"You killed a lot of people."
After hesitating for a moment and seeing that Mei was clearly prepared for the worst, Hachiman decided it was better to tell the truth.
"How many?"
Mei was clearly not satisfied with such a vague answer. Who were those people? Ordinary citizens? Spiritualists? Strangers or her own kin?
"The main house of the Kunugi family."
Due to the delay in intelligence, Hachiman didn't know that Mei had slaughtered another family just this morning, but this answer alone was enough to make her heart turn to ash.
"I see... a crime like this cannot be forgiven even by committing seppuku."
Slaughtering the main house of a clan meant that the two families were now locked in a cycle of deadly vendetta. And as fate would have it, the family Mei had slaughtered was the Kunugi family—with whom they shared an alliance!
Schwing!
Thinking of the severe consequences of her actions, Mei did not hesitate to draw the tachi from the bedside and thrust it toward her abdomen.
Clang!
The sharp blade collided with Hachiman's palm. Then, before Mei's disbelieving eyes, the blade shattered into several fragments.
"Don't go trying to disembowel yourself at every turn!"
Hachiman shot her an annoyed look, then snatched the hilt from the stunned girl's hand and tossed it into the trash can.
"But my crimes..."
Snapping out of the shock of Hachiman's physical durability being harder than steel, Mei lowered her head and tried to explain in a low voice.
"Please, I went through a lot of trouble to save you from the Nine-Tailed Fox. Don't go dying on me so easily!"
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Hachiman felt a wave of mental exhaustion. He had originally thought Mei always wore a kimono just as a hobby, but it turned out her mindset was just like an ancient person's too.
Hachiman's words successfully stunned Mei. After a long silence, she kept her head lowered, a rare blush appearing on her face.
"In other words... I belong to you now?"
Hachiman: "......."
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