Fuyuki City, nightfall.
After the daytime unrest and riots subsided, the citizens who had returned home either reunited with family and friends, ducked into bars for a drink, or strolled along the streets, celebrating the joy of surviving the catastrophe. A strong sense of everyday life gradually spread through the city.
Driving Tokiomi Tohsaka's car out from the Tohsaka residence, Samael took Chloe through the bustling crowds and made his way to the shopping district with practiced familiarity. Looking at the night scene, which seemed even livelier and more prosperous than usual, his deep eyes grew thoughtful.
Since ancient times, Japan had been an island nation plagued by disasters. Wars, earthquakes, volcanoes, and famines were frequent, and most lives seemed fragile and fleeting. Thus, the Japanese developed a distinctive view of life and death, along with a strong culture of mono no aware.
Of course, the "mono no aware" in Japanese culture referred to a kind of tragic beauty, a beauty of melancholy, and a pessimistic feeling born from the brevity of life and the impermanence of time. Roughly speaking, once people reached a certain state of mind, they pursued "the beauty of eternity within an instant"—only "nothingness" was perfect in this world, because all existence was bound to be incomplete and fade away.
Therefore, in their subconscious, worldly affairs were impermanent, and beauty could vanish in the very next second. No matter how turbulent the waves in their hearts, all that surfaced was the faintest furrow between their brows, barely perceptible.
Over time, the notion that "the world is impermanent" took deep root in the Japanese psyche. It also indirectly fostered a live-for-the-moment attitude, allowing them to face life, death, and disaster with greater composure.
"Are we there yet?"
Just as Samael was slightly lost in thought, Chloe's depressed