Uesugi Tetsu saw Tokugawa Ririko wipe the glistening droplets from the corner of her lips and asked in confusion, "Uesugi-kun, why are you following me?"
For some reason, when the girl saw Uesugi Tetsu suddenly appear, she thought of the new knowledge she had learned that morning.
Ririko subconsciously took two steps back, her expression turning strange as she groped at the air with both hands. "Could it be that you want to do this and that to me?"
Splash, splash, splash.
Cool water gushed from the stainless-steel faucet.
After drinking his fill, Uesugi Tetsu pursed his lips helplessly. "I came here to drink water."
As he spoke, he did not forget to turn off the faucet. His awareness of water conservation grew deeper every time he saw his monthly utility bill.
Ririko crossed her arms and snorted. "Oh, what a coincidence. You've found the place with the best-tasting tap water in the school."
"But since it's Uesugi-kun, I suppose I can reluctantly share this treasured spot with you."
Uesugi Tetsu stared at Ririko, who seemed like a completely different person, and finally voiced the question in his heart. "Does your aloof mode activate whenever there are too many people around?"
"That's right."
Ririko nodded and put on a listless, bitter expression.
"If you've never experienced having every desk and shoe locker stuffed full of love letters, with people confessing to you both during lunch break and after school every day, you probably won't understand why I do this."
Uesugi Tetsu broke into a cold sweat.
There was nothing wrong with high school students having a little too much energy, but this was taking things way too far...
As she spoke, Ririko put that unapproachable attitude back on and spread her hands coldly. "After doing this, the whole world becomes peaceful."
Uesugi Tetsu could not help applauding in admiration. "Is this the older generation of artists' ability to switch between restraint and abandon? I've witnessed it firsthand."
After their brief chat ended, Ririko lowered her head and gazed at her reflection in the water before speaking. "Uesugi-kun, I think I understand what that cop did back then now."
That cop... Sister Nanjō?
Ririko's voice sank. "For ordinary people, knowing too much really isn't a good thing."
Remembering the peril he had faced after learning about his father's ghost identity, Uesugi Tetsu sighed. "Sometimes, ignorance may truly be bliss."
Ririko said, "I think I should go apologize to her."
"You'll get the chance."
After saying goodbye to Ririko with a smile, Uesugi Tetsu found a patch of grass bathed in sunlight and lay down. As for the teacher, Ririko would naturally handle that.
He closed his eyes.
A tremendous pressure of water crashed down on him.
The fresh scent of grass vanished in an instant, replaced by the choking stench of sulfur.
Silently transforming into Laughing Brahma, Uesugi Tetsu skillfully pushed open the door and stepped out, hurrying toward the workshop.
His original plan had been to gradually reduce the number of apprentices at the workshop, making sure not to waste a single bit of soul ash, and then kill the foreman at the end.
But the incident at noon, when Shizuma Manatsu photographed White Brahma, along with the Onmyo Bureau's helplessness against supernatural methods, constantly reminded Uesugi Tetsu that time was running out.
Since he had to race against time, he could no longer slowly scrape together the tiny amount of soul ash from the apprentices.
"Roar!"
Uesugi Tetsu's reckless rush naturally caught the attention of the farmer by the roadside. The moment it saw his Western-style school uniform, it charged over like a madman.
"Fool."
Uesugi Tetsu snorted coldly, and a hatchet appeared in his hand out of thin air.
His steps did not slow in the slightest. He simply took a deep breath, built up the energy within his body to its limit, and released it in a thunderous burst.
A flash of rust-covered steel flickered and vanished.
Gurgle.
The farmer's head fell at the same time as Uesugi Tetsu's departing footsteps, kicking up a little insignificant dust.
Soul Ash +5.
Before long, Uesugi Tetsu arrived at the place where he had previously observed the workshop.
It was clearly much earlier than when he had come last time. There was no sign of the twin moons in the sky, yet the rumbling sound of machinery still came from inside the workshop.
He tidied his clothes by the stream. After confirming that there were no flaws, Uesugi Tetsu swaggered toward the operating workshop.
When he reached the workshop's entrance, Uesugi Tetsu was surprised to find that although the apprentices inside had noticed his presence, not one of them dared leave their station.
He called out loudly, "Call your person in charge over."
Although none of the apprentices answered, less than two minutes later, the foreman he had seen previously through Hundred-Eyed Demon's eye moved quickly toward the entrance.
The foreman's expression went through a remarkable transformation.
The instant he saw Uesugi Tetsu's Western-style clothing, his face became furious and savage. Yet when he saw that Laughing Brahma mask, it turned into one of extraordinary enthusiasm.
"Mr. Laughing Brahma, greetings."
The foreman approached with a smile plastered across his face and took the initiative to extend both hands toward Uesugi Tetsu. "May I ask what brings you to my humble abode...?"
Uesugi Tetsu saw the dense yellow mist above the other man's head but did not attack immediately. Instead, he asked, "I've noticed that your workshop seems somewhat different from traditional workshops."
"Yes, yes!" The foreman bent at the waist and sighed heavily. "Outside factories have exploited everyone for far too long. At the same time, they've been destroying the environment without regard for the consequences, polluting and ruining the farmland around us."
Uesugi Tetsu fell into thought. The direction of this story seemed completely different from what he had expected.
The foreman paused, his eyes flashing with brilliance. "So I thought we should cultivate a group of craftsmen and workers of our own—local ones."
"And then learn that assembly-line technology as well..."
Uesugi Tetsu raised an eyebrow. "Learn from the barbarians to defeat the barbarians?"
The foreman was stunned for a long while before roughly understanding the meaning of those words. He immediately nodded. "Yes, that's exactly what I mean!"
Uesugi Tetsu asked again, "Would you mind stepping somewhere private to talk?"
The foreman nodded and pointed toward the unoccupied forest nearby. "Of course."
In the foreman's eyes, a Brahma wearing Western-style clothing must have been a highly educated graduate who had gone to the factories' place of origin to study.
Otherwise, how could these Brahmas, whose heads were supposedly filled with nothing but muscle, wear such clothes and behave so civilly?
Just like that White Brahma who had come to the village to recuperate not long ago. When he had sent apprentices to establish contact, the other party had actually swallowed them alive.
He was simply the epitome of an uncivilized, bloodthirsty beast!
Unlike the one before him—fully dressed, mild in speech, and polite in manner.
A glimmer of hope surged in the foreman's heart.
Perhaps this was their chance to drive away those outside factories...
After entering the forest, Uesugi Tetsu walked on without saying a word, while the foreman followed closely beside him.
Several dozen seconds later, Uesugi Tetsu finally spoke. "Your workshop has some potential. Can you move it out of this village?"
The foreman shook his head. "We can't. Neither the machines nor the apprentices can endure a long journey."
"Besides, if even we leave, who will care about Arakawa Village in the future?"
Uesugi Tetsu said nothing more.
The two of them walked farther and farther from the workshop.
Perhaps the silence had lasted too long. The foreman took the initiative to start a conversation, angrily saying, "Several apprentices disappeared a few days ago. It must have been those damn outsiders!"
Hearing this, Uesugi Tetsu stopped walking.
They were already far enough from the workshop.
Before you continue