Since Axiu Says So

"How extravagant..."

After eating a rich but somewhat awkward dinner, there didn't seem to be much else to say about the night. Guided by the respectful servants, Gu Mo arrived at the guest room prepared for him. In the flickering candlelight, the dim room still exuded luxury.

The tatami mats were flat and smooth, feeling comfortable and warm underfoot. The screens used to separate the inner and outer areas were exceptionally exquisite. The calligraphy, paintings, and wall ceramics decorating the room looked expensive. Everything was extremely refined and beautiful, a level of luxury and value unattainable by common people...

Looking around like this, even the well-traveled Gu Mo, who came from a later era, couldn't find anything to fault. This standard of guest room, aside from lacking various modern conveniences that improve quality of life, was not much inferior to modern living conditions in other aspects... In fact, modern people might not even have such conditions.

However, this was also normal. Regardless of the era, whether ancient or modern, domestic or foreign, the conditions enjoyed by the ruling class have always far exceeded the average level of the era. Because the common people themselves represent the overall level of development of the era, while the ruling class is always sustained by the power of the entire era.

When Gu Mo understood this point, he fell silent for a moment.

He had just thought that the old man was just sharp-tongued, with a bad attitude on the surface but actually quite thoughtful in his arrangements. But now it seemed... perhaps all the guest rooms here were of this standard. After all, guests received at the castle tower were often highly respected, and there likely wouldn't be different tiers of treatment.

So... it wasn't that the old man Saito Dosan was thoughtful, but rather that he couldn't find any worse conditions to host himself?

Hmm, thinking about it this way, it seems quite possible...

He twitched the corner of his mouth, unable to help but recall the bizarrely atmospheric dinner just now – although there were only four people, Saito Dosan had the servants bring out all the good wine and food. If Hidechiyo hadn't strongly resisted in the end, he might have prepared a banquet that lasted until dawn.

Not to mention the constant parade of large fish and meat, whole cows and sheep were carried up one after another, completely disregarding whether a few people could possibly eat it all. It was purely the image and feeling of an old father desperately wanting to give his daughter the best.

If it were just like this, Gu Mo would actually quite admire this viper. They say the most heartless are those in royal families, but as a regional lord, the ruler of Mino Province feared by all the feudal lords, Saito Dosan did not consider everything solely from the perspective of maintaining his power and position.

— Driven by his shared wish with Suzuka, he resolutely switched from being an Exorcist to a Sengoku daimyo, not to compete for fame, profit, or to conquer the world, but for the vision of a peaceful era where humans and spirits coexist harmoniously.

— The reason he secretly instructed Tokichiro and others to collect a large amount of Spirit Stones was not to achieve his own ambitions, but to prevent others from misusing them.

— After believing that Oda Nobunaga had the ability to unify this chaotic world, he wrote the document of cession without any reluctance, handing over the entire Mino Province.

A complex but not contradictory person, he pursued power not because he was interested in power itself, but from beginning to end, he only regarded it as a means to achieve his aspirations. He was very clear about what he wanted, not at all lost, and the motivation that brought all of this about stemmed from his feelings and promises to his closest and dearest.

So, Gu Mo originally quite admired him, thinking this was a life truly lived with passion and clarity...

Of course, that was just originally.

From the moment the old man looked at him askance, one second he was talking to Axiu with a smile, his tone as gentle as possible, his expression as benevolent as possible, and the next second he turned around and immediately glared at him with fierce eyes...

Snap! It was gone! .JPG

"What's his problem..."

Sitting on the floor, arms crossed, not only was the old man Saito Dosan annoying, but Gu Mo also felt a surge of anger as he thought about it.

He admitted that he had selfish motives, but no matter what, this could be considered a good deed, allowing the father and daughter who had been separated for many years to recognize each other earlier, instead of following the original fate trajectory, where the matter was dragged out until the very end, and the moment of recognition was followed by eternal separation.

But now it seemed that he had originally intended to leverage the situation, thinking it could effectively reduce the difficulty of the subsequent scenarios. How did it seem to have completely backfired...

Thinking about the old man's special treatment of him, Gu Mo felt his teeth itch. He wasn't that slow, and basically understood what was going on, understanding why the old man suddenly harbored such great hostility towards him, but this kind of thing was difficult to explain clearly.

Especially when the other party had already formed a preconceived notion and was looking at him with biased eyes, even if he wanted to clarify proactively, it might only deepen the suspicion, having the flavor of "protesting too much."

He was too experienced in this. When people have decided on something and are very invested in it, it's not something that can be cleared up with just a few simple explanations. After all, if the world were so beautiful and humans so simple, there would be no disputes.

Crossing his arms and frowning, Gu Mo pondered for a long time. He let out a long sigh, feeling that for now, he could only let things be.

Anyway, the old man could only glare at him when Axiu wasn't looking, and didn't dare to say anything too unpleasant in person. He would pretend not to see it, and after a while, when the old man realized that it wasn't what he thought, he would naturally understand.

In this situation, letting the other party observe for themselves, discover for themselves, and provide their own explanation would be truly convincing... at least much better than Gu Mo trying to explain and making things worse.

At the same time, a bold idea came to him. If the old man was really so unobservant and stubborn, then he would... he would...

He didn't know what he would do. He shook his head vigorously, clearing his mind of distracting thoughts. He stretched, looking around, preparing to get a good rest. Since leaving Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village the day before yesterday, his sleep schedule had suddenly gone from extremely regular to very irregular.

However, this was mainly because during his travels over the past two days, while exploring his System, he not only discovered the reason why he couldn't wake up every day, but also figured out a temporary solution to the problem, a way to allocate his online time.

That was by actively sleeping – he found that as long as he himself slept enough, he could allocate his active online time to other periods, instead of being forced to be fixed between midnight and eight in the morning... the only difficulty in this operation was that he had to be asleep for it to be effective.

Over the past two days on the road, whenever he had nothing to do, Gu Mo would close his eyes and rest, forcing himself to sleep whenever he could.

This was also why he was still able to be active at this time today.

Covering himself with the prepared clean blanket, he lay in the bedding and closed his eyes. Let's just leave it at that for now, there's no need to think too much. Even if the old man was targeting him, it was enough to know what was going on. Anyway, that old guy could only glare.

Viper of Mino? Lord of a castle and a country? So what?

Not to mention that Gu Mo knew his background well and had enough confidence himself, there was also his perception of this world, which would somewhat lean towards the "Dungeon" direction due to his past gaming impressions. As a player, even if he didn't subjectively feel superior, it was inevitable that he would unconsciously have a psychological advantage over the native inhabitants.

Just an NPC, as long as it wasn't his wife, then it was no different from other NPCs...

That was it.

"How nice..."

In the guest room on the other side, Tokichiro looked at the luxurious and exquisite room, feeling dazzled. He took a deep breath, only feeling a intoxicating faint fragrance in the air. This was not an illusion, as an incense burner in the corner of the room had been lit, with faint smoke curling and the fragrance being rich.

The aroma was fragrant, the scent pure and elegant, refreshing and soothing, and also had the effect of calming the mind.

This was the daily life of the upper class. He had only heard about it in the past and could only imagine it, but could not afford it at all. It was only today that he was able to benefit from Miss Axiu's presence...

Experiencing the class difference so directly, Tokichiro was not discouraged. Instead, he secretly made a determination, strengthening his resolve that he must seize this opportunity and rise in the world.

However, just as he was clenching his fist and encouraging himself, the door of the room was suddenly pulled open. The thin, monkey-like man subconsciously turned around, and the next moment, he was so startled that he stammered, his voice trembling: "Do-Do-Do-Dosan... Your Lordship!!"

His face instantly turned pale, and his lips lost all color. Why did Lord Dosan suddenly come to his room at this time, and with a sullen expression of displeasure? Had he finally remembered the previous events and come to kill him to silence him?

"Monkey! I've come to ask you some things. Where did you meet Axiu? Tell me everything truthfully."

Saito Dosan walked directly into the room and got straight to the point.

It wasn't that he was suspicious and needed confirmation about something. Rather, it was difficult to ask in front of Axiu earlier. Now that everyone had gone back to their rooms to sleep, he couldn't help but come find Tokichiro. He wanted to understand more clearly what kind of life his daughter had lived all these years.

"Huh?"

Tokichiro, whose legs were weak and who was about to kneel and beg for mercy, widened his mouth at the words, unable to react for a moment.

He didn't come to silence me?

"Huh what? Speak quickly!" Saito Dosan reprimanded him impatiently, his eyes glaring, forcefully repeating the command with astonishing presence.

"Oh, oh, oh, yes, yes, yes, it's, it's like this, Lord Dosan..." His mood tonight was like riding a roller coaster. Tokichiro spoke with a bit of trepidation. He forced himself to calm down, quickly thinking and organizing his words.

"According to your instructions, I've been traveling around various places recently to collect Spirit Stones. About half a month ago, I went to a somewhat remote place..."

As he narrated, Saito Dosan listened in silence. He finally understood how his daughter had been living all these years. If the monkey's information was correct and the story of the Exorcist had been circulating among those villages for a long time, then Axiu had likely been fending for herself for a very long time, making a living by hunting demons.

In that case, Miyoshino... that woman probably met with misfortune not long after leaving him, within a few years. Only the still-ignorant Axiu survived on her own.

While feeling immense grief, his sense of guilt also grew stronger.

Saito Dosan sighed heavily, seemingly feeling a bit dispirited. However, this state didn't last long. Soon, he thought of something else and looked annoyed: "Right, and that young brat! What's his deal?! Tell me about him!"

"Brother Gu Mo?" The monkey thought for a moment, then cautiously said, "He seems to be a Ming Person, and it's quite possible he comes from a wealthy and noble background. I just don't know why he ended up in a place like this..."

Saito Dosan's eyes flickered slightly. The monkey had a sharp eye; of course, he had also noticed this. That detestable kid clearly wasn't destined for a life of hardship. He was definitely used to being pampered, and one could even say his nobility was beyond words.

Even he found it hard to imagine what kind of background could cultivate such... well, such "nobility."

Putting everything else aside, the banquet tonight was already quite lavish, wasn't it? If Saito Dosan weren't trying to please his precious daughter, he wouldn't usually be willing to eat like that every meal. But that kid, on the other hand, looked completely unenthusiastic about the food, even as if he were chewing wax.

Ordinary people rarely got to taste meat year-round; eating meat was like celebrating the New Year. Even feudal lords, daimyo, and rulers of various provinces rarely ate entire cows and sheep at every meal. Yet, this kid looked so uncomfortable eating. Did he grow up eating dragon liver and phoenix marrow? Was his taste so picky?

And then there was the feeling conveyed through his words, actions, and demeanor. Saying he was neither humble nor arrogant was an understatement; it should practically be said that he treated everyone equally... That's right, it wasn't that the kid wasn't humble or arrogant in front of him. It was that in the kid's eyes, he, the ruler of Mino Province, only received the same treatment as everyone else, nothing special.

This was truly and utterly bizarre.

Although he didn't want to boast about his status and reputation, Saito Dosan knew that it was impossible for ordinary people to act like this in front of him. Just being able to speak clearly was already quite good.

In summary, even though the kid was dressed as a commoner and didn't have anything valuable on him, various details, his demeanor, and even the habits embedded in his every word and action revealed the atmosphere he had lived in during his past.

Therefore... his nobility was beyond words.

Having made this judgment, Saito Dosan nodded inwardly. What was most commendable was that despite having cultivated such nobility due to his past background, the kid didn't display any arrogance. Leaving aside the habitual details that couldn't be changed in a short time, at least he did very well subjectively.

Regardless of the reason for ending up in this country, he seemed to have calmly accepted the fact and was trying hard to adapt to his new identity and environment...

If it weren't for Axiu, he might have even praised the man's extraordinary qualities.

"I didn't ask you about that. I'm asking you, what's his relationship with Axiu?" Gathering his thoughts, Saito Dosan asked in a deep voice.

"His relationship with Miss Axiu..."

Facing this question, Tokichiro answered without hesitation: "Very good! Lord Dosan, in this humble one's opinion, they have been together for a long time. When I rushed back to Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village, what I saw was them..."

He embellished the scene at that time with artistic license and narrated it eloquently, finally concluding:

"This humble one also asked him at the time, and he said that Miss Axiu is the most special and important person to him, and Miss Axiu also tacitly agreed, not opposing this statement at all..."

"..."

"..."

"Is that so..." Saito Dosan's expression changed. After a long while, he seemed somewhat relieved, somewhat disappointed, and even somewhat gnashing his teeth as he muttered to himself.

So that's how it is. Since Axiu said so, there's nothing I can do.

"Achoo!"

In her own room, the black-haired girl, unable to sleep due to the unfamiliar environment, sneezed. Then she casually rubbed her small nose, her gaze still staring blankly at the ceiling.

Everything today was too overwhelming for her.