Ever since the weather had turned cool, Ishigami Village had begun tightening its belt, sometimes living on fish caught from the sea or going out to gather nuts.
Fortunately, winter had not arrived yet, so they could still stockpile more food.
Chen Yu had previously asked Tsukasa to send people out to find seeds and food ingredients, so Tsukasa's people would not have to risk traveling several kilometers in search of food during the winter.
With Xiao Xi, Miwa, and Reiko there, they could also survive injuries without their wounds becoming infected.
That meant he could spend the winter in peace. If they ended the conflict before autumn of the following year, they could head to Treasure Island early, then go to America.
Food, food...
If only we had a large ship now, we could sail back home to the Central Plains. There's so much food there.
Ah, what a shame. We don't have one yet.
Then Chen Yu began training Kohaku and Kinro, while Magma sparred with him in close combat.
"Magma, your reactions are slow again." As Chen Yu spoke, he punched Magma in the right cheek, then sent him flying with a spinning kick.
"Ch... Chen Yu... can we take a break...?" Magma asked, struggling to raise his right hand.
"A break? We've barely gotten started!" Chen Yu said, loosening up his arms and legs.
"But... we've been fighting all day..." Magma said, gasping for breath.
"Huh? Has it been that long?" Chen Yu looked toward the sun and discovered that dusk had already fallen.
"It has been a while. Start endurance training tomorrow, then we'll continue the day after," Chen Yu said with a wave.
Lying on the ground, Magma breathed a sigh of relief at those words and fell asleep on the spot.
Damn it, we started fighting before sunrise, and he didn't even let me eat. We fought straight through until dinner. This isn't training-it's abuse!
"Take him away and prepare some food. Once he wakes up, boil the medicinal herbs I left on the table and have him drink the decoction," Chen Yu told Shorty, who stood nearby.
"All right." Shorty immediately ran over to Magma, hoisted him onto his back, and staggered away with him.
Seriously, couldn't you ask someone to help? Honestly...
Chen Yu was speechless at the sight.
"Kinro, Kohaku, how are you doing?" Chen Yu asked the two as they fought nearby.
"Full of energy," Kinro replied, panting heavily.
"I can keep going." Kohaku stepped back, keeping her eyes on Kinro as she answered.
"All right, all right. Go get something to eat." Chen Yu waved them off.
"Whew..." At those words, both breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the ground.
"I'm exhausted..."
"This is even more tiring than climbing a mountain..."
Chen Yu paid them no further attention and went over to where Shorty had been. The tally of how many times he and Magma had landed hits on each other was carved there.
Looking at the densely packed five-stroke tally marks on one side and the lone T-shaped mark tucked away in some far corner on the other, he sighed. Was I too harsh?
Judging by the score, he had lost count of how many openings he had offered Magma, but Magma always thought he was setting a trap and refused to attack.
Then he looked at the wooden boards beside it, which recorded the results of the past few days' training.
Seeing that Chen Yu had finished, Senku walked over. "Done? How did it go?"
Seeing that it was Senku, Chen Yu answered, "Magma's very good. If we handed him over to Tsukasa, he might just barely be able to take over for him. Unfortunately, there's still a gap. Tsukasa started training as a child, after all. Magma got some exercise when he was little, but once he grew up, he relied entirely on brute strength. It's a shame. We started too late."
"That's still pretty good, isn't it?" Senku said, looking at Chen Yu.
"Yeah, it's pretty good. With these few on our side, we're doing all right," Chen Yu replied.
Then, without either saying anything, they both fell silent.
(I looked ahead again and realized that the poison gas scene came after the fire. I got the timeline wrong. Sorry.)
Senku thought about what he needed to do next to stand against Tsukasa, while Chen Yu thought about what he had changed.
He had changed Magma's personality, prevented Hongye Yan from setting the fire, and kept Gen from getting hurt. Tsukasa had not become Senku's sworn enemy, either. Instead, he was fighting for his own ideals.
Tsukasa, you couldn't win even when you were his sworn enemy. This time, you're only opposing Senku to prove yourself. There's no way you'll win.
"Senku, do you remember where the hospital was?" Chen Yu suddenly asked.
"After thousands of years of changes, you're asking me where a hospital that far from our school was? I only know the general area. Why?" Senku replied, exasperated.
"Nothing. We'll take it slowly." Chen Yu stopped pressing the question and continued gazing at the sky.
"Well, the Long-Distance Telephone is almost finished. Want to try it out?" Senku asked, looking at Chen Yu.
"A telephone? To get in touch with Taiju and Yuzuriha?" Chen Yu asked at the mention of a telephone.
"I originally planned to contact you. With your help, we could end this faster. But I didn't expect you to be unable to go back, so now we can only rely on Taiju and the others," Senku grumbled.
Seriously, having Chen Yu on Tsukasa's side would be so much better than having Taiju there. With how well the two of us work together, we could wrap this up quickly. But now Chen Yu can't go back. Just thinking about it is annoying.
"I really am sorry about that. I could have gone back originally, but Hyoga found me out, so now I can't," Chen Yu said with a smile.
"Then how long are you planning to stay?" Senku asked.
"It's not about how long I'll stay. I'll go back when this ends. Or rather, once it ends, I won't be going back-I'll be coming home," Chen Yu corrected him.
"Then it'll have to be next year."
"Next year it is."
"By the way, you said before that Tsukasa would really appeal to some of the girls in the village. Is that true?"
"Of course it is. Tsukasa's handsome, after all, and he's strong, too. In this era, it'd be easy for him to find a wife."
"That makes sense..."
"Right? Right..."
Elsewhere, Tsukasa sneezed. "Achoo..." Chen Yu, when will you finally be able to come back openly? Ah...
In the end, the two did not head back to rest until very late.
Hyoga had already taken information about the village back with him. Although it was only a small portion, it was enough for Tsukasa to devise a plan against Ishigami Village. Meanwhile, Ishigami Village had Chen Yu, a doctor who knew the Tsukasa Empire inside out, so he also had ways to launch an attack against Tsukasa.
But Tsukasa's side could take countermeasures, such as setting traps or relocating.
His own side, however, could only stay here and defend the village.
What a headache...
Forget it. Whatever happens, I'll deal with it later. The decisive battle will be here soon.
(Since this is a minor detail, I'll mention it now. About the three newly introduced characters, I'm not sure whether this works, but picture Xiao Xi as Natasha from Honkai: Star Rail, Reiko as Guinaifen, and Miwa as Pela-without glasses.
Also, I suddenly had a nosebleed when I woke up this morning, and I have no idea why. Then I suddenly got sleepy around noon. Wait for good news from me tomorrow. I originally planned two updates, but it looks like I can only manage one.)
Before you continue