Chapter 33

"A mimetic soul that could even copy Reiatsu?"

Haruto was genuinely interested in this information.

He just didn't know how much Reiatsu it would take to copy a Captain-level Soul Reaper, or what materials it would require.

If it could only copy Soul Reapers at the level of lower-ranking Seated Officers, its usefulness would be extremely limited.

There was also the question of whether copied souls could grow stronger, as well as the ethical and moral issues that would arise...

The technology Rikujō Kyōya had discovered probably couldn't be brought into the open in Soul Society.

"Interesting. Where is it?"

Haruto held out a hand to Rikujō Kyōya.

"To be honest, a Reigai really is worth more than your life."

"If you actually have the technology, then, in the interest of a fair trade, I could even throw in a little something extra..."

"Like these five gold koban?"

"..."

Haruto's banditry nearly made Rikujō Kyōya cough up a mouthful of blood.

Still, since Haruto had said it so seriously, did that mean... he might actually spare his life?

After all,

Rikujō Kyōya had said much the same thing Haruto had said earlier to many of the people he had killed with his own hands. As someone from a lower noble family, he didn't believe it for a second.

So—

"I'm sorry."

Rikujō Kyōya couldn't be too direct. He had to approach this a little more tactfully.

Since Haruto knew about Gigai, there was practically no chance of fooling him with false information on the subject.

After all, Rikujō Kyōya didn't know much himself. The slightest slip could get him killed on the spot.

So.

"I only know it exists."

"As for the technology..."

A trace of bitterness appeared at the corner of Rikujō Kyōya's mouth.

"Other than a blank Gigai body with no Reiatsu infused into it, I wasn't able to get my hands on any of the technology. I even bought the Gikongan."

"...Oh."

"Huh?"

Haruto's excessively flat response left Rikujō Kyōya completely unable to tell what the man who held his life in his hands meant.

Immediately afterward,

feeling the hollow sensation in his chest, he quickly understood what Haruto meant:

"Uh..."

He tried to make a sound, but the Reiatsu and power he had accumulated in his body as a Soul Reaper kept flowing out through the hole beneath his neck.

There was no bleeding.

That was because the blazing lightning had already charred the blood... His heart had been reduced to a sacrifice offered to the lightning even before that.

In the final moment before his death, Rikujō Kyōya gained a clearer understanding of Haruto's "decisiveness."

"Thud."

The sound of a body hitting the ground rang out on the street for the second time.

"..."

Haruto lowered the finger he had raised.

"Well~"

"Whether to kill him or not was a toss-up to begin with."

Haruto walked over to Rikujō Kyōya's fallen body and, as before, burned him to ashes with Haien.

"But a Reigai that can copy a Soul Reaper... That should be a secret Soul Society can't bring into the open."

Rikujō Kyōya had a little cunning.

Unfortunately, as a lower noble, his perspective was still quite limited.

Besides, the man really hadn't provided information valuable enough to buy his life—Haruto was a man of his word. He had given even someone who wanted him dead a chance to live. Haruto thought he was almost too saintly... It wouldn't be easy to find another Soul Reaper as merciful as him in Soul Society.

Through their conversation just now,

once he had confirmed that Rikujō Kyōya had only obtained a product of Reigai technology by chance, rather than the technology itself,

Haruto lost interest in him.

Lies or deception...

Those tricks usually followed a shocking truth.

Rather than listen to Rikujō Kyōya's carefully woven story, it was simpler to take his goods directly—as the third Haien of the day fell, a delicate blue-and-silver object shaped like a steel ball appeared where Rikujō Kyōya's remains had been scattered by the wind.

"Just as I thought."

Haruto picked his trophy out of the charcoal.

"This should be the blank Reigai body... If he really only had one, there was no need to ramble on so much."

"Thump."

Haruto lightly stamped his foot, and Rikujō Kyōya's burned remains turned to ash and drifted away on the winds of Rukongai.

"If only you'd brought it out sooner..."

"You might actually have survived."

Haruto finally finished cleaning up the battlefield.

As for the furtive gazes hiding around him, he paid them little attention.

Even if Soul Reapers came to investigate, they would only learn that a Soul Reaper had gotten into a dispute with ordinary people here—which was also why Haruto deliberately concealed his Zanpakuto when operating in Rukongai. As for any further details, even if the Gotei 13 discovered something, his investor presumably had a way to cover it up.

Haruto didn't leave immediately. Instead, he picked a house at random on the nameless, dilapidated street and knocked on the door.

After the occupant tremblingly invited him in, Haruto made no unreasonable demands, merely asking for some water.

The fight hadn't lasted long, but he had spent so much time in a filthy environment that his throat felt a little parched.

A drink of water was much needed.

Besides, he hadn't forgotten that he hadn't even had time to wash his face that morning. Naturally, he needed to clean himself up after all that fighting and killing.

"I've stayed here long enough, and I'm only halfway through the return journey. It's time to get back on the road home."

District 45 and District 66 appeared to be only twenty-odd Rukongai districts apart, but considering that the districts farther out covered increasingly larger areas, he still needed to make up some time.

He took one last look at the place where he had fought.

"Off I go~"

After confirming that all five had been burned to ashes by Haien, leaving little chance of any obvious traces being found, Haruto departed without worry.

Having defeated a Soul Reaper whose Zanpakuto specifically countered Kidō using Kidō alone, Haruto had gained a better understanding of his own combat strength.

With his physical abilities gradually improving as well...

Haruto figured that perhaps he could raise his assessment of himself from a few days ago—that he was "only fit to get by in Rukongai"—a little.

Volume one: 022, District 66

"Rustle, rustle."

Passing through a path lush with summer growth, Haruto emerged from the woods covered in green leaves.

"Slap, slap, slap."

Haruto vigorously brushed nature's gifts off himself.

He certainly wouldn't have ended up this badly if he had taken the main road normally. He had picked them up by crashing into things while constantly practicing Shunpo along the way.

"Finally here."

After six days, Haruto had finally arrived at District 66, which he hadn't seen in a long time.

"It's changed a lot..."

Haruto was quite familiar with this road.

After all, Haruto hadn't replaced anyone or inherited memories from a "previous life." These were all traces he himself had left in this part of Rukongai.

Including, but not limited to:

slipping into the woods in the name of adding to the population, and making a strategic retreat into the woods after losing fights with other gangs—

there were countless examples like those.

"It's gotten even more run-down after all these years."

Haruto walked toward the indistinct village in the distance.

This far into Rukongai, buildings more than two stories high were virtually nowhere to be seen. Even houses made purely of wood were rare. Most were woven from free building materials like thatch and vines.

When Haruto had still been here, he could at least see a few young faces.

But now...

When Haruto reached the "village entrance," he instinctively thought of the ten

years he had spent here, but he quickly returned to the present.

"There are fewer people, too."

Haruto hadn't seen anyone keeping watch between the woods and the village entrance. Villages like the one he had once lived in often had wells of their own, and as assets that could continuously produce precious water, they were usually heavily guarded by villages that were essentially gangs.

And the road at the village entrance was a means of spotting trouble at the earliest opportunity.

"Tap."

"Tap."

Haruto didn't stop, walking straight into the village.

"My eyes weren't playing tricks on me."

He observed his surroundings as he walked.

"It's one thing that they haven't built many new houses, but all these old ones look like they haven't been maintained in years. Some even look like they've been looted..."

"No."

The corners of Haruto's mouth rose slightly, carrying two parts helplessness, two parts bitterness, and six parts amusement.

"They've definitely been raided, probably quite a few times."

The road still faintly resembled the one Haruto had repaired back then, but the little groups that should have gathered in twos and threes were hard to find on either side. There weren't even any "old Pluses" sunning themselves while waiting to die.

"After all this time, there's no way new souls haven't come to District 66."

"Going by the usual pattern, and counting the few newborns, the population should have increased by a hundred or so, no matter what."

Ordinary souls were also made of Reishi, but those without talent gave off no trace of Reiatsu.

In Haruto's perception, although he could occasionally detect breathing inside the houses with holes in them, either deliberately concealed or naturally faint, there was no trace of Reiatsu whatsoever.

Haruto here...

was like a different form of life from a higher dimension.

"Those guys really haven't been doing well since I left."