long time.
They, them, and they were not characters in black-and-white manga, but rather living wonderfully in this world, protagonists of their own world.
Haruto looked up, met Genya's worried gaze, and forced a tired smile: "It's nothing, Genya, just a bit mentally exhausted."
Tamayo pulled out a vial of medicine and handed it to him: "Drink this, you'll feel better."
Haruto had seen this medicine before; it was the one Tamayo gave him the first time he came here, when Genya used Tamayo's signature Blood Demon Art, Bewitching Blood: Daytime's Demonic Fragrance.
Haruto gave Tamayo a meaningful look, then drank the medicine. A moment later, the dull throbbing in his head vanished without a trace.
"…Genya," he pondered for a long time before calling out to his young apprentice: "Could you go out and buy something for me? Just on the main street, buy anything and wander around for about half an hour before coming back."
Genya immediately understood his meaning: "Is there something you need me to avoid?"
"Yes." Haruto nodded apologetically: "I want to talk to Miss Tamayo about something… something that can only be understood when one becomes an adult."
Only adults can understand?
Yushiro suddenly snapped out of his admiration for Tamayo's beauty, subtly shuffled two steps closer, and perked up his ears.
"Oh, okay." Genya stood up, looking bewildered, and took the money pouch Haruto handed him.
"Yushiro, you go too. Help me get some gauze and disinfectant from the clinic, and take Genya out with you."
Yushiro, who had a bad feeling early on, his face fell: "Miss Tamayo..."
"Take good care of Genya, okay?"
Only after the two closed the door and disappeared from the mansion's entrance did Haruto put down the teacup he had been holding for a long time: "Miss Tamayo..."
"A potion is impossible. I only intend for you to try one dose. It causes too much damage to the brain."
Haruto was startled, then shook his head, saying: "You've misunderstood me. I'm not asking for another dose of the medicine... To be honest, my past life was truly boring, and there were no moments that I could immerse myself in."
"So that's why you woke up within an hour and a half?" Tamayo mused: "The time I took the medicine, I slept for three whole days, which completely scared Yushiro."
"You have a long life; naturally, you have more memories."
Tamayo gently shook her head, looking up at him: "So what do you want to ask? Is there something that requires Genya to be sent away? I thought he was your closest disciple."
Haruto was silent for a moment, then looked directly into Tamayo's eyes: "Miss Tamayo, I want to increase my strength. How can I break through the physical limitations and enter a new realm?"
"Refine your Breathing Technique."
"The effect is too slow."
"Improve your swordsmanship."
"I've already pushed it to its limit."
Her beautiful purple eyes fell on Haruto's face, curving into a dangerous arc.
"Haruto, your current thoughts are too radical; it's easy to stray onto a different path."
"For example?"
"For example, like me, becoming an immortal demon."
"You know I don't mean that."
"What are you so anxious about?"
Tamayo's words pressed on: "What did you see in your memories?"
"..." Haruto let out a sigh of relief: "A prophecy."
"What prophecy?"
"Everyone will die."
"Who uttered the prophecy? Which deity was it?"
"..."
Tamayo leaned back slightly, resting against the wall, having won this war of words.
Haruto was speechless, only able to turn his head away, frowning at the clean sweet pears on the table.
"Don't eat it." Tamayo said leisurely: "You won't say anything, yet you want to eat my food?"
"I said, everyone will die." Haruto replied dejectedly.
"Does that include you?"
"That also includes..." Haruto's words trailed off.
As if he had thought of something, his eyes slowly widened.
Of course it doesn't include him!
He, Takanashi Haruto, is currently just a mischievous monkey rolling around in the original work's pond!
He kicked over Sabito's and Kuwano Masachika's bento boxes, danced his way into becoming a Pillar, and gave the viewers who sent bullet comments an extra Star Pillar Gaiden to watch!
He himself is the biggest variable!
Perhaps that sentence should be understood this way.
To the audience, they are characters in a black-and-white manga.
Manga has an ending, anime has a conclusion, but their lives are always in the present continuous.
From the moment he saved Sabito, he was already rushing down the path of breaking free from the original work's reins.
Thoughts flashed through his mind like lightning, and the knot of frustration in his chest finally exhaled with a long sigh.
"Have you thought it through?" Seeing his expression, which had been conflicted, gradually calm down, Tamayo's words became less aggressive: "You don't want to become a demon anymore?"
"I never wanted to become a demon." Haruto grumbled: "If I become a demon, I'd have to eat human flesh, and human flesh is so unappetizing... What I actually wanted to say is, didn't you once tell the Butterfly Sisters that you were developing a demon transformation medicine?"
Tamayo suddenly understood: "Ah~ there was indeed such a thing, but I've already given up on that medicine."
She gently shook her head: "I couldn't control the berserk factors in Genya's blood after demonization, because there were no suitable experimental subjects.
I once made many batches of the medicine, bought a few... terminally ill people who had lost their minds, wanting to 'Genya-fy' these patients in the same way Yushiro was demonized... but it still failed. All the people injected with the medicine died within a few days, some from life exhaustion, others from demonization and subsequent death after the injection."
Tamayo lowered her head slightly, her face devoid of expression.
"Since then, I've paused the research on demonization medicine. Even if they are patients, they should die with dignity."
Haruto pondered for a moment, then hesitated before speaking: "What should the finished demonization medicine be like?"
"In my conception, it's merely an enhancing drug, like a stimulant used in sports, to mobilize the body for a short period, and to possess super strong recovery abilities after being injured—of course, all of this must be based on the user still being human." When it came to medicine, Tamayo was as vibrant as the Butterfly Sisters.
"Is there absolutely no possibility of successful development?"
"Later, I made several improved versions, but I didn't want to use other people's lives to complete the research anymore, so I just drew conclusions, recalculated, and drew conclusions again on paper..."
Haruto fell into a long silence once more.
Tamayo watched him, not understanding what he was thinking.
"If... cough cough, I mean if."
After a long while, Haruto cleared his throat, scratching his chin somewhat unnaturally: "You can continue your research. When you think it might succeed, call me over. I'll be your test subject."
The beautiful woman's eyes widened suddenly, showing a hint of bewilderment: "Haruto?"
"Miss Tamayo." The white-haired swordsman seemed to have cast off a heavy burden, a relaxed smile gracing his lips.
"I also have many secrets, you know."]}