I had originally planned to give up on having Shiki awaken the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, but then it occurred to me that Root Shiki should already exist. Shiki simply had not become aware of her existence.
If Shiki kept exploring through killing, perhaps she might come to comprehend the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.
My Exceptional Luck and Necromancer gave me a ninety-percent chance of surviving, and if I activated it proactively, it could guarantee my survival one hundred percent. I had long wanted to practice maintaining my consciousness and combat ability after being injured.
This would let me test whether she could awaken the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, guide her murderous impulse, and train my own survival instincts after injury. Bleeding and shedding tears for my wife was nothing.
After a while, Shiki noticed that my wounds had stopped bleeding and were even beginning to heal. Only then did she say in surprise, "You really can't be killed."
I replied, "Who knows? I've been like this ever since I joined the Holy Grail War. Back then, I was hit by an enemy Servant's Noble Phantasm. It should have been a fatal wound, but I got back up completely unharmed."
Maybe I was immortal now. Maybe I wasn't. Who knew?
Then I pulled Shiki into my arms and said, "I'll be in Mifune City for the next few days. If you get that urge, come find me. And if you want to stab me, remember to aim for the chest. I make my living with this face." Shiki retorted, "Narcissist."
"But it's already so late. How about you stay here tonight? You can sleep in the bed, and I'll take the sofa."
With that, I went to take a shower on my own. After all, I was covered in blood. Shiki sat alone on the bed.
After showering, I asked Shiki whether she wanted to wash up, but she refused. Maybe too much had happened today; before long, Shiki fell asleep. Watching her sleeping face, I gradually drifted off as well.
You're asking whether anything happened? Please, Shiki wasn't even fourteen yet. I couldn't bring myself to do anything.
The next day, after taking Shiki home, I began thinking about the plot of The Garden of Sinners. Fujino from Remaining Sense of Pain would no longer appear, so that storyline could be ruled out.
In fact, if I abducted Shiki to Tokyo, then unless Araya Souren followed us and found someone else to take her place, none of the plots would hold up. It was even debatable whether Araya Souren had discovered Shiki at all.
What I needed to consider was simply whether to trigger those plots. The Counter Force's corrections were far too overpowered, so it was best not to completely negate the storyline.
Then the best method was to cooperate with Araya Souren and guide the direction of his plot.
You might say Araya Souren was a bad man who had killed many innocent people. But did fewer people die in the Holy Grail War? Did that make the Holy Grail War an evil ritual? In the pursuit of the Root, they were all necessary sacrifices.
Looking over The Garden of Sinners, Paradox Spiral was the only time Araya Souren had committed an act of slaughtering an entire building. In the other incidents, he had merely guided events from behind the scenes.
Most importantly, I had a huge advantage against Araya Souren. He was a famous barrier mage, so how about learning what the Mystic Eyes that broke barriers could do? I could teach him a lesson in minutes. If Shiki could do it, then surely I could too.
The days passed one by one. Now, whenever I went to pick up Shiki, everyone in the Ryougi Family greeted me with smiling faces and shouted, "Young master, you're here to pick up the young miss!" It was practically a honeymoon period.
Shiki, meanwhile, had completely let herself go. Even without a particularly strong urge, she wanted to slash me twice, calling it "testing the feel."
It was not until the wounds in the same spots began hurting more and more, and healing more and more slowly, that I realized Shiki's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception seemed to be awakening. So I hadn't taken all those slashes for nothing.
I asked Shiki whether she could see anything extra in her vision. Shiki said that whenever she thought of drawing her blade, she would occasionally see a faint line. Striking along that line felt exceptionally easy.
Sure enough, this was a sign that the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception were awakening. It seemed I could not let her slash me anymore. If the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, said to be capable of Godslaying, backfired, I would be finished.
Fortunately, Aozaki Touko contacted me. She said Araya Souren had arrived and had arranged for the three of us to meet. I had been planning to bring Shiki along to probe Araya Souren's capabilities anyway. In my view, with everything laid out in the open like this, how could I lose?
The meeting place was a coffee shop. The two of them were already seated there. I walked over, greeted them naturally, and watched their expressions.
Aozaki Touko showed no particular reaction upon seeing Shiki, but Araya Souren wore a look of uncertainty and shock. It seemed Araya Souren had already been paying attention to Shiki.
No one was born evil. Araya Souren had been Aozaki Touko's classmate during her time in London, a Caster who had lived for over two hundred years.
According to Touko, he had originally been a monk. As a Caster, he was utterly ordinary, but his skill in constructing barriers ranked among the finest in the world.
A barrier was something that separated the inside from the outside; to create a world complete unto itself, one first had to complete oneself.
Araya, who possessed no special talent, completed himself through accumulated years and conviction, becoming a first-rate barrier mage.
He constantly carried three stationary barriers: Fearlessness, Vajra, Scorpion, Daiten, Dingjing, and Wangxian. They unfolded through both flat and three-dimensional structures, and as long as a living creature touched the circular lines that formed them, its ability to move would be instantly taken away.
According to the results of the fourth popularity poll, the name of his barrier was the Six Realms Boundary.
Araya had not been born into a family of Casters, but into a family that believed in the Tendai Sect during Japan's wartime era. As a child, he had read extensively through the Tendai Sect's scriptures and was known as a prodigy. Even then, he had displayed talent in barriers.
After becoming a monk, Araya went to study at the Tendai Sect's main temple, where he began harboring the powerful ideal of "saving all living beings."
Thus, he began traveling across the land to help the people, journeying throughout the country to save others.
However, after continuously witnessing the massacres and destruction brought by war, he came to understand that he could never save everyone. The evils he saw also made him question whether humanity was worth saving at all.
After feeling his own insignificance and powerlessness, he began doubting the firm beliefs he had once held.
Once the despairing thought arose—As far as I am concerned, no one can be saved.—he decided that if he could not save people, then he would at least clearly record their deaths.
Shiki and I sat down together. After some polite exchanges, I said, "Mr. Araya Souren, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to attend this meeting. I trust Miss Aozaki Touko has already told you about my request. If you can help my friend, the price is negotiable."
Araya Souren said, "I do indeed have a solution. But what price are you offering?"
It seemed Mr. Araya Souren did not know certain things. Aozaki Touko had stubbornly refused to explain them.
"Oh, my mistake. When we got in touch, your earth-shattering deed had not yet spread, had it?"
Araya Souren asked curiously, "What news? Could you tell me about it?"
Aozaki Touko said, "I presume this is Miss Shiki Ryougi. The Genji clan collectively proposed marriage to the Ryougi Family, with a bride price as high as two billion US dollars."
Araya Souren was stunned.