Chapter 219: Shuten-doji Enters the Countdown
"..."
Upon waking, Shuten saw Ibaraki sitting by her side and slowly revealed a smile.
"Could you fetch some sake?"
Shuten tried lifting her hand several times, realizing that although she wasn't completely immobile, she was far weaker than before.
Yet, she didn't show any particularly pessimistic expression about it, simply speaking to Ibaraki in a straightforward manner.
"..."
Ibaraki was deeply hesitant.
Because Scáthach had said earlier that Shuten should avoid alcohol or strenuous exercise for the next ten years, and it would be even better if she could quit drinking altogether through this.
But before she could voice her refusal, Shuten seemed to understand her thoughts. She pursed her lips and looked at Ibaraki with such a pitiful expression that Ibaraki shrank back, lowered her head, sighed, and went to fetch the sake for Shuten anyway.
Seeing Ibaraki like this, Shuten laughed again.
She had always been this way. Even now, having lost her strength and the longevity of an Oni, Shuten still maintained her smile. At the very least, not a trace of negativity could be seen on her face.
For her, this was what it meant to live.
To live freely, to act freely.
As long as there was fine sake, splendid feasts, and delicious food—no matter what, she never seemed like someone who would harbor resentment.
It was precisely because Ibaraki understood Shuten so well that she still went to pour the sake for her after sighing.
And she also knew that if Shuten wanted to drink, she wouldn't just want sake alone.
So after preparing the sake, she had other Oni prepare delicious food as well.
As for the surroundings, there was no need for deliberate decoration, because Ibaraki knew Shuten loved splendid, elegant things. She had already arranged everything before carrying Shuten in. As for other details, it was enough to arrange them slightly according to Shuten's preferences.
Thus, she quickly prepared everything, then slowly helped Shuten sit up. She placed the fine sake and delicious food before her and, like a little puppy, jumped to sit opposite Shuten. Spreading her legs, she sat not in a formal kneeling position but more like a duck-sitting posture.
"Ibaraki, keep me company while I drink~"
Shuten leaned against the headboard. Her recovery was poor, and she could clearly feel the weight of the cup when she lifted it, but she was still very happy.
In contrast, Ibaraki, after a few cups of sake, lowered her head. As an Oni who wasn't easily intoxicated, she couldn't bring herself to smile no matter what.
Noticing her like this, Shuten slowly set down her cup.
"Don't be like this, Ibaraki. It's nothing. As Oni, we live as we please, no matter what happens..."
Hearing Shuten say this, Ibaraki looked up.
Her eyes were red, and she explained to Shuten in a trembling voice.
"But... but... but you'll die!"
"And if we're supposed to live as we please, then right now, I just can't feel happy. Isn't that also living as we please..."
Ah!
Seeing Ibaraki like this, Shuten, leaning against the headboard, began to think about her own situation for the first time.
She had no real sense of losing her power or her shortened lifespan.
After all, even without her power, no one among the Oni would dare bully her. With the capable Ibaraki around, she could still drink as she pleased, eat as she wished, and perhaps even live more comfortably than before.
As for the shortened lifespan...
Shuten, who always adhered to hedonism and believed that everything would die when its time came, saw no issue with it either.
Perhaps in her eyes, a thousand or ten thousand years were no different from ten or a hundred years.
Maybe when she grew old and died with a human lifespan, in her final moments, seeing the fine wine left undrunk, the delicacies left uneaten, the banquets she could no longer attend—only then would she feel some regret.
Shuten was well aware of this, so she paid great attention and importance to it.
She thought, at the very least, she should avoid such a situation in the end.
But that was all.
Beyond that, Shuten harbored no complaints, no negative emotions, no dissatisfaction, no resentment toward everything that had happened to her.
This was her.
The epitome of hedonism, Shuten-douji.
But now, as she watched Ibaraki like this, she didn't know whether it was because Ibaraki, who had known her for so long, was so sorrowful that it affected her, or because her drinking companion's sudden sadness had moved her. In any case, even she was no longer smiling. She only waited until Ibaraki finished crying and making a scene before speaking slowly.
"Ibaraki... there was no other way, was there? If we hadn't let that warrior go back then, perhaps we wouldn't have survived until the rescue arrived. Compared to living in such a cramped, pitch-dark place with nothing at all, I would rather die after a hundred years of pleasure."
"But for you, my death might seem too cruel... Yet many things are like this. Once they happen, crying and making a scene won't solve anything."
Shuten poured herself a cup of wine, then poured one for Ibaraki as well.
At that moment, Ibaraki raised her head. Shuten, who had already wiped the smile from her face while Ibaraki was looking down, instantly wore an expression Ibaraki had seen many times—a smile she could never get enough of, one she wished she could gaze upon forever.
"I only understand pleasure, and I know that the Oni have come this far entirely because of your efforts... So, Ibaraki, live more freely and unrestrainedly from now on."
Hearing Shuten say this, Ibaraki's eyes reddened again, fresh from crying.
But this time, she didn't cry or make a scene as before. Instead, she pursed her lips, her mind replaying the many things that had happened between her and Shuten over the years.
Finally, she sniffled and nodded quickly.
"...Yes!"
Seeing her like this, Shuten reached out and gently ruffled her hair a few times.
Ibaraki could clearly feel that Shuten's touch was unusually light—so light it didn't seem like an Oni's. Yet she also felt that hand was heavy, equally heavy in a way that didn't seem like an Oni's either.
However, just as the two of them were in a good mood and Shuten was about to say something, a female Oni with short black hair pushed the door open. Even though she knew she was being extremely disrespectful, she still shouted excitedly at Shuten and Ibaraki.
"Lord Shuten, Lord Ibaraki—Noah... ah, His Majesty is here!"
Hearing this Oni's words, both Shuten and Ibaraki were stunned for a moment. Then, the messenger Oni blurted out what had truly excited her.
"His Majesty said... His Majesty said he can cure Lord Shuten!"