Chapter 72: Selfish Person
The massive fleet sailed across the sea, having already left the borders of Inazuma.
The sky was growing darker, and the sun was about to dip below the horizon.
Yuxie sat at the bow of the ship, looking up at the sky.
At the edge of his sight, he could see a faint island drifting amidst the sea of clouds.
Many things in this world have no clear right or wrong, but Yuxie's intuition told him that the person living on that Sky Island might not be acting in the best interests of the ordinary beings on this continent, Teyvat.
The true cause of the war with Khaenri'ah… Was it because Khaenri'ah had first treated the Heavenly Principles as enemies? Or had the Heavenly Principles only acted when they realized Khaenri'ah's actions had crossed certain forbidden lines, thus calling upon the Seven Archons?
Over time, Yuxie had forgotten many of the details. He no longer knew the full story behind this war, and perhaps even Makoto herself didn't fully understand the intentions of the Heavenly Principles at this point.
Yuxie knew that he couldn't end this war, nor could he make everything right. All he could do was hope to prevent a few of the regrettable things from happening.
The sea breeze was a bit wild, blowing Yuxie's hair into disarray.
"What are you thinking about?"
A clear, melodious voice reached his ears through the wind. Yuxie turned to see Miss Mikoshi Chiyo standing next to him, having approached without him noticing.
"Nothing much, just thinking... why does war always have to exist?" Yuxie replied, gazing at the vast expanse of the sea.
No matter which world you were in, if history were a newspaper, war would take up a significant portion of it.
"Yeah, if only there were no wars..." Chiyo sighed, her gaze fixed on the sea. Her long hair fluttered in the wind, and under the setting sun, her beautiful face appeared even more radiant.
"Attention all—large monster spotted ahead, right off the bow!"
A loud voice rang out, and soon the news was passed throughout the entire fleet.
Yuxie stood up and turned to look toward the sea ahead.
On the surface of the water, a massive black creature slowly rose, its blood-red eyes fixed on the fleet.
It was unclear whether the outbreak of the war had given these monsters an opportunity to stir trouble, or whether someone had intentionally unleashed them.
Even in places outside the battlefield, peace was hard to come by.
In fact, such monsters were not an uncommon sight on the battlefields of Khaenri'ah.
"Commander! A large monster has appeared off the right front of the sea! The second division of the Okuzumeshuu requests permission to engage!" The captain of the second division of Okuzumeshuu hurried over to Yuxie, urgently seeking orders.
"No need. Conserve strength and proceed normally," Yuxie said. "As for that big guy, leave it to me."
"Commander, are you really going to face that monster alone?"
"Don't worry. Proceed as usual, follow orders." Yuxie patted the captain's shoulder and turned to leave the deck.
Although Yuxie had been the commander of Okuzumeshuu for some time, many of the soldiers had never seen him fight.
Yuxie's strength had always been a topic of rumors among the Okuzumeshuu.
Some said the commander was unmatched in power, capable of taking on a thousand cavalry on his own. Others claimed that Yuxie was not appointed commander because of his strength, but because of his sharp intellect.
In any case, Yuxie's ability to lead was not because of his martial prowess, but because his soldiers trusted him and believed in his character.
"General Chiyo, are you sure the commander is going alone? Is it really okay?" one of the soldiers asked anxiously.
"Don't worry." Chiyo smiled reassuringly at the captain.
The fleet continued its course, undeterred, while Yuxie boarded a small boat and headed toward the large creature emerging from the sea.
As he drew closer, he could make out the creature more clearly. Its body was covered in scales, resembling a giant fish, but beneath the water, it seemed to possess limbs as well.
Under the setting sun, the creature's scales reflected the light like mirrors.
The small boat gradually came to a stop, and Yuxie stared at the massive beast in front of him.
"Can you speak?"
The creature didn't answer with words. Instead, it opened its mouth wide and let out a loud roar. Its sharp fangs were terrifying, and an unbearable stench emanated from its open mouth.
"You really need to brush your teeth," Yuxie said indifferently, and at the same time, a faint glow flickered in his hand as the Cloud Cutter appeared.
"If you can get away and don't harm innocent humans, I'll let you go," Yuxie continued.
The creature responded with another loud roar.
"Hungry... I'm hungry... eat... food..." A strange voice suddenly came from the creature's mouth. Its gaze shifted away from Yuxie and locked onto the fleet.
"You can talk? And those aren't your food," Yuxie said. "Were you ordered to do this? Who created you? You don't look like you were formed naturally."
"Knowledge... I... I'm hungry!" The creature suddenly exerted force, causing the water to churn. It ignored Yuxie and charged toward the fleet.
Clearly, Yuxie alone couldn't satisfy its hunger—it wanted to devour the entire fleet.
Yuxie steadied himself on the rocking boat, and Cloud Cutter slid out of its sheath.
There was no choice—he couldn't let the fleet fall into danger.
The blade gleamed.
The sea was sliced apart.
The advancing creature halted, splitting into two.
Waves surged as the dismembered body of the monster slowly sank beneath the water.
Yuxie sheathed Cloud Cutter in silence, watching as the creature's body disappeared into the depths, before steering the boat back toward the fleet.
Back on the ship.
The captain of the second division had not left.
When Yuxie returned, the captain of the second division did not hold back his praise.
"Commander, many people say you became the commander because of your intelligence, but I didn't expect your strength to be so formidable! You actually single-handedly..."
"Enough." Yuxie interrupted him. "Go back to your post and stay focused."
The second division captain paused for a moment, then stood at attention and saluted.
"Yes, sir!"
After the captain left, Yuxie sat back down in his previous position, and Chiyo sat beside him.
"That monster just now could speak human language. It seems to have low intelligence," Yuxie said slowly. "Of course, this isn't particularly strange. Monsters with low intelligence aren't rare. It's just... it feels odd."
"These kinds of monsters are appearing in many places now," Chiyo said. "This is probably not a simple matter. The cause of it all is likely tied to this war."
Yuxie took a deep breath, then let out a long sigh.
Suddenly, he froze.
It felt like a clue had flashed across his mind, but he couldn't grasp it.
"What's wrong?" Chiyo asked, noticing his reaction.
"Just now... I asked that monster if it was being controlled, who created it. Aside from telling me it was hungry, it said one word," Yuxie paused. "It said 'knowledge.'"
"Knowledge?" Chiyo asked, slightly confused.
"Could it be...?" Yuxie said. "Forbidden knowledge."
Forbidden knowledge—this concept was unclear in Yuxie's mind, just a vague and abstract idea.
But one thing was certain: this forbidden knowledge was no trivial matter.
Like a chain reaction, it suddenly occurred to Yuxie.
King Deshret and Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had fallen because of forbidden knowledge, and it was this cursed forbidden knowledge that had led to the destruction of Khaenri'ah.
Yuxie was a selfish person. He didn't want to understand this forbidden knowledge, nor did he want to do anything grand. He only wanted to prevent certain regrets from happening again, even if it meant paying some price for it.
End of chapter
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