Chapter 10 The Final Gift

[Seino Raimei]

[Remaining lifespan: 219 days]

[You're not suitable for prolonged combat]

A poem by Minamoto no Muneyuki once described winter like this:

In the mountain village

Winter brings more loneliness

I think, as I see

No people's eyes, no grass

All withered and gone

Seino wrapped his thick fox fur coat tighter. The long snow-white robe dragged across the even whiter snow. He clasped his hands together and blew a breath of hot air, watching the vapor slowly dissipate in the air. At last, he felt the cold.

[You don't have to do this]

The voice of the Human Principles System sounded in his ear.

"Someone has to do these things."

"And compared to young people, an old man near death is more suitable.

Seino ignored the system's voice and continued walking forward. Snowflakes fell on his shoulders, melting into water. The chill seeped through the gaps between fur and fabric, penetrating into the marrow of this aged body.

Unlike what Narukami thought - that he was enjoying leisure in the Pillar General's mansion,

And unlike what Sara hoped - that he was resting by the fireplace drinking sake to recover from illness,

The Pillar General had long since left the mansion and was no longer in Inazuma City.

He was on the distant Narukami Island, the place where the sacred sakura blossoms.

How to describe the winter on Narukami Island?

Should it be the azure sea road smooth as a mirror, with gentle winds and ice crystals slowly caressing, singing rustling poems,

Or at the far horizon, a touch of indigo mountains, or jewel-like snowflakes drifting, with sacred sakura trees beautiful as a painting in all four seasons...

For young people with fiery spirits, perhaps they could think of such extravagant words to praise the beautiful scene before them.

But if an old man were to write, Seino would only write one word throughout:

Cold.

Cold to the bone, like a snake coiling around endlessly. His lungs convulsed violently, as if supplying poison to his heart - every breath of air inhaled was mixed with shards of ice.

It was dry lips and stiff limbs.

But he still kept his hand on the scabbard. The tachi was sheathed in an intricately carved scabbard, with layers upon layers of granite forging. The blade showed lightning-like patterns.

The tachi, named Snake Cutter.

Long ago, in Seino's prime as the Pillar General - it was with this sword that he slew the great serpent of Watatsumi Island. The blood of the god still congealed on it.

Now, Seino Raimei would use this sword to do something else.

He slowly exhaled another breath and walked deeper into the forest.

In the place he left behind,

The snow was stained. Red blood and black fluid mixed together, dyeing large patches of snow dark. Piled up were corpse after corpse, their eyes already glazed over.

Seino's white fur coat dragged blood, the trail of blood slithering deep into the forest.

This was a forbidden zone for living beings.

The serpent's pollution had never dissipated. Even after many years, the vengeful spirits of the slain god still lingered in this land. It was Inazuma's centuries-old persistent ailment, a hidden danger buried in its foundation.

Even now, this pollution had not been eliminated.

Inazuma dispatches Shogunate samurai every year to clear the filth. From time to time, they also hold grand sakura cleansing rituals to purify the pollution. But Inazuma's pollution is always like a weed.

Not only are the vengeful spirits of the slain god entrenched here, but there is also the pollution from Khaenri'ah five hundred years ago... Inazuma's illness is rooted in its bones.

Seino once said that Inazuma's predicament lies not only in national policy,

In the land of Inazuma, man-made disasters are secondary; natural calamities are eternal.

And he, the Pillar General, in the remaining life of this lifetime, what he could do for Inazuma, the last thing he could do for her, was to eradicate these rotten roots.

Clear away the filth.

Or rather, slaughter all the filth!

"Cough, cough, cough..."

He coughed up blood.

The cold wind pressed the surrounding treetops very low. The leaves rubbed against each other, making hissing sounds like snakes. More filth rushed out from both sides. Their exact forms were unclear, as huge as mountains, with eyes as red as blood.

Seino did not draw his sword. He only gazed at those monsters with his silver-gray eyes, his mind completely clear.

The silent sword fell in his heart, and what arose was thunder.

Countless monsters passed by him, countless heads flew into the sky.

What fluttered in the air was red blood and white snow. Snow and blood mixed together, all sprinkled on Seino's white fur coat.

The originally clean fur coat was now covered in blood red.

"Cough... cough!" He covered his mouth and coughed up blood.

[You're not suitable for prolonged combat]

Seino had grown old, too old to draw his sword anymore. But even without drawing his sword, he could still kill enemies.

Only, what it cost was his life, his remaining life.

He continued to walk forward.

[Your lifespan has decreased by one day]

...

More giant beasts fell, more filth dissipated, but Seino also coughed up more and more blood.

Time slowly passed, and gradually, it was twilight.

[You don't REALLY have to do this]

The voice of the Human Principles System echoed in Seino's ears:

[The filth can never be completely killed. New ones will grow every year. You're already old, you can't do anything anymore. And your new body is not yet mature. If you go on like this, you'll only harm yourself. This is meaningless]

Hearing the Human Principles' words, Seino paused.

"Meaning, what is meaning?"

He stood among the corpses, took out a cigarette from his sleeve, lit it with a flint, and took a light puff, feeling the smoke flow through his trachea:

"Human Principles System, what do you think is the meaning of Seino Raimei's life?"

...

[To fulfill your mission of protecting human principles]

[But you've already succeeded, and now you're old]

"No, that's not the meaning of Seino Raimei. That's the meaning of you, the system."

The Human Principles System fell silent.

Seino extinguished the cigarette. In his vision, more filth rushed out.

Bloody, terrifying, hateful, powerful, thick layers of resentment piled up into a tidal wave, threatening to submerge the old man's body.

It was the great serpent.

The resentment of the great serpent.

He gently closed his eyes.

Smelling the bloodiness just within reach, as if returning to the battlefield of his prime, his heart pumped boiling blood, his lungs exhaled strong and powerful breaths. The soldiers were by his side, and behind them were the people of Inazuma -

He was not a frail old man, he felt again, vividly, the breath of being alive.

"What Seino Raimei seeks in death is to die alone as a person."

"But he doesn't want to die in bed."

"He doesn't want to die while being cried over by loved ones, doesn't want to be watched as he dies."

"He doesn't want to roast by the fireplace, with each day just eating and sleeping, living an ordinary life, and finally becoming too old to get out of bed, dying in a miserable state."

"He's been strong all his life, he's been proud all his life, so he doesn't want to die an ordinary death."

Seino opened his eyes. Before him was a sea of resentment, vengeful spirits coiled like mountains, blood-red color dyeing half the sky.

He slowly gripped the scabbard of the sword he hadn't drawn in ten years. His aged heart, after a long time, beat like thunder once again!

"Seino Raimei should die on the battlefield."

The mountain-like filth gathered together, revealing a vague outline. It was a great serpent.

"To die like lightning, brilliantly streaking across the night sky, only for that brief moment, then disappearing like a dream."

"The life of lightning is inherently meaningless and short, unable to change anything. The night sky remains dark, lightning as insignificant as mortals, like my life."

He held his sword horizontally, his silver-gray eyes reflecting the shadow of the god's lingering resentment.

"But after the lightning dies, the thunder will echo through the valleys."

He smiled. His face, no longer young, yet showed a youthful smile.

"Kill all the filth, and they will eventually be reborn."

"You ask me what the meaning is -"

"The meaning is that, long after, when the snow melts, when I'm no longer here, when Ei walks out of Plane of Euthymia at that time,"

Seino Raimei smiled, it was a smile unique to the great Pillar General - hearty, unrestrained, a laugh that could inspire people.

Although his entire body was covered in blood, his lungs painfully convulsing, the cold penetrating his bones.

"She can see a clean and flawless spring. Days without filth must be beautiful to see."

"The young soldiers who cleared away the filth can return home, with no sacrifices this winter."

"Wives can reunite with husbands, children can see their fathers,"

"The people of Inazuma can have a satisfying and reunited new year."

"That is the last gift I give them,

Seino Raimei's last two hundred and twenty-one days -

This is the meaning of those days."​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​