Raiden Bosenmori Mei wanted to say something, but Leon stopped her with a look.
From his eyes, she read something.
That night, shortly after Leon and Mei left.
The Kobayashi mother and daughter both rushed out of the house, faces overflowing with excitement.
Especially Kobayashi Kazeka.
That small face still carried a trace of dream-like unreality.
Her black-death disease had miraculously healed after dinner…
"Kazeka-chan, hurry and chase after them to thank our benefactors properly! They can't have gone far!"
"No need to chase, Mother!"
Kobayashi Kazeka grabbed Kobayashi Nagi's wrist and gently shook her head.
"Doctor big brother and Mei big sister… never once said they could cure my illness from beginning to end."
"The juice he gave me must have been the medicine that cures black-death disease."
"He never said it outright—perhaps he simply thought it was a trivial matter to him."
"But to me…"
Her words stopped there. Kobayashi Kazeka's eyes reddened as she bowed deeply toward the village exit.
"A casual act of kindness from our benefactors is a debt we can never repay in our entire lives!"
Kobayashi Nagi wiped the corners of her eyes and bowed in gratitude just like her daughter.
Great kindness and great virtue—never to be forgotten!
Thank you!
Thank you…
…
The red-leaf forest they had passed through on the way here was pitch black.
At some unknown point, moonlight had become a rare sight in Izumo.
Raiden Bosenmori Mei carried a lantern, using its faint light to glance at Leon walking silently beside her.
"Is there food on my face?"
"No. I was just thinking—before coming to Izumo, how many years had you been a doctor?"
"That's not what you're really curious about. If you want to know why I silently do certain things, you can ask directly."
"I was afraid it might offend you, so I didn't want to ask straight out," Raiden Bosenmori Mei answered honestly.
Leon gave a helpless smile.
That was basically the same as asking.
But he also knew Mei was a bit naturally air-headed.
From childhood to now, she had lived in a rather serious environment. Aside from the makeup all Izumo women were required to learn, she had almost no hobbies.
As for her swordsmanship attainment—
That was talent, effort, and inheritance.
It had nothing to do with hobbies.
"It's not offensive at all. It's just like how you immerse yourself in swordsmanship every day without fail."
"Doing the same thing every day, emotions get worn down by accumulated time and become calmer and calmer."
"You also start to feel that some things don't need to happen—or rather, don't need to be faced."
"Countless people have thanked me with tears of gratitude. Gradually, I developed a certain… numbness toward such genuine emotions."
"It can also be described as indifference or not caring, because to me—"
"It's merely fulfilling my duty—saving those people or things that should be saved. That's all."
Leon's tone held no fluctuation, as if he were speaking of something utterly insignificant.
To him, it truly was.
Thinking back to the days she had occasionally accompanied Leon on house calls, Raiden Bosenmori Mei suddenly understood.
But…
"I can't yet empathize with your feelings."
"It's best you never do. That would mean you've begun walking the path called loneliness."
"After a long time, it's easy to get emo."
"Doctor someone?"
"…Never mind."
Leon quickly changed the subject.
"I no longer remember how many years I've been a doctor, yet sometimes I don't even count as a real doctor."
"…Come to think of it, I've actually never had a medical license."
"Hm?"
Raiden Bosenmori Mei was a little confused.
Leon's leaps in conversation were too big; she couldn't quite keep up for a moment.
"Ah… it's going to rain again."
Lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, followed by a delayed earth-shaking boom.
Raiden Bosenmori Mei habitually took out an umbrella.
"Though Izumo often has thunderstorms, lately they seem a bit too frequent."
Leon stared at the spot where lightning flickered, deep in thought.
"Indeed far too frequent. Perhaps this is some kind of omen."
"…You mean—"
"Have the shogunate notify the decree-blade wielders to prepare. It may not be more than five years."
"…"
Their conversation ended, and the next moment the scene switched to a battlefield.
From the players' perspective, the plot transition felt smooth—though some would say it was a bit stiff.
But once they remembered this was Leon's past memory, it didn't feel strange at all.
In fact, he might have already forgotten this memory himself; only that single feather recorded it all.
A slightly unnatural transition was perfectly normal.
If the timeline were stretched to years—ten years, a hundred years, even a thousand—
Telling the story gradually would become an endlessly long epic.
Leon's voice-over narration once again rang out amid successive battle scenes.
"The third of the eight million gods to descend upon Izumo from Takamagahara—Takemikazuchi-no-kami."
"In this battle, Izumo broke 13,084 swords—the highest price of the three apocalyptic blood wars."
Beneath the corpse of a colossal beast whose true form could not be seen, only four people remained standing.
Aside from Leon and Raiden Bosenmori Mei, there were two decree-blade wielders.
The aftershocks of the battle alone were enough to tear ordinary mortals apart.
"Divine Harvest Era 0121: The master smiths of Izumo disassembled Takemikazuchi-no-kami's divine corpse to forge the blade."
"Divine Harvest Era 0124: The third divine-slaying decree blade—[Thunder]—was forged by the legendary swordsmith White-Haired Oni."
"Divine Harvest Era 0125: 103,762 warriors completed the test. Raiden Bosenmori Mei was chosen and became the decree-blade Oni of [Thunder]."
"The wielder of [Thunder] can command lightning to tear the sky and mete out heavenly punishment with stellar thunderbolts."
Raiden Bosenmori Mei held the decree blade, her expression calm.
The next plot image was from the perspective of Raiden Bosenmori Mei fighting with the blade.
The wings were no longer on her back—they had returned to Leon.
After becoming a decree-blade Oni, she had completed her metamorphosis.
Leon's voice continued.
"Divine Harvest Era 0199: The fourth of the eight million gods, 'Shinatsuhiko,' launched a surprise attack on the far north. The holder of decree blade [Truth] fell in battle. Endless gales raged, and the god vanished without a trace."
"Divine Harvest Era 0224: The holder of decree blade [Heaven] passed away from old age."
"Divine Harvest Era 0226: Decree blade [Truth] welcomed its second holder. That same year, Shinatsuhiko returned."
"I stilled the raging winds and assisted Raiden Bosenmori Mei in slaying the god of storms. The price: 3,222 broken swords."
"Divine Harvest Era 0230: Decree blade [Storm] was born. For seventeen years, no fully compatible wielder was found."
"After three successive holders, decree blade [Storm] lay unused for over 157 years before finally welcoming a fully compatible wielder."
"Divine Harvest Era 0297: The eight million god 'Ame-no-fuyukinu' descended. Izumo broke exactly 5,700 swords. It was felled by three decree-blade wielders."
"0301: Decree blade [Frost] was born."
"Divine Harvest Era 0298 to 0376: No gods descended upon Izumo. Plagues resurfaced, and the population suffered heavy losses."
"Divine Harvest Era 0377: The eight million god 'Iwanosohime' descended upon the far west."
"Izumo broke 17,263 swords and succeeded in slaying it."
"Five years later, decree blade [Fate] was born."
"Those not fully compatible who touched the blade either died or were crippled. Over fifty-four years, a total of over 132,000 lives were lost. The mere mention turned faces pale."
"Divine Harvest Era 0436: By chance entering within a thousand meters of decree blade [Fate] and resonating with the blade…"