Chapter 23: A Moving Sight
Time flew by, and a month later.
On top of the newly constructed palace in Heiwu Street.
Gilgamesh looked at the citizens gathered outside the palace and loudly declared, "By the name of Gilgamesh, I declare that today, a nation is founded here, named Uruk!"
The citizens outside the palace, upon hearing Gilgamesh's declaration of nation-building, immediately erupted in excitement.
Amidst the fervor, they shouted loudly.
"King!"
"Uruk!"
This day was destined to be a sleepless night for Uruk.
In Hōkō and Tobi's territories, the cheers, exclamations, and shouts of the people rose and fell in waves.
People began to sing and dance, celebrating the successful founding of Uruk in their own ways, and praising Gilgamesh's greatness.
At this moment, everyone was beaming with joy.
And some people, as they laughed, suddenly started to cry.
Before Gilgamesh appeared, they were like walking corpses, living a life worse than death every day in a place interwoven with poverty, backwardness, chaos, and death.
They were like fallen leaves drifting in the wind, without direction, without hope, without support, and even without a home to return to.
Their hearts had become numb, covered by the solid ice of desperate reality.
Under these circumstances, Gilgamesh appeared; he was like the sunlight from the sky, breaking the desperate reality and melting the solid ice covering their hearts.
Their hearts also began to beat again, and became warm once more.
Hope, vitality, and smiles, which they had never dared to imagine before, appeared one by one in their lives.
Now, the establishment of the Kingdom of Uruk even gave them a sense of belonging, a home to return to.
This feeling of fallen leaves returning to their roots deeply stirred their heartstrings.
They knew that from now on, they would no longer be homeless wandering souls.
Of course, they knew that all of this was brought to them by Gilgamesh.
Therefore, they thanked, respected, adored, and loved Gilgamesh, their King, from the bottom of their hearts.
Abarai Renji and Rukia completely let loose that night, singing, dancing, and laughing heartily with the people.
Even the temporary architectural talents who came from the Da Maeda Family couldn't help but be infected and joined the throng of singing and dancing.
They witnessed how Hōkō and Tobi developed from nothing, step by step, to their current state.
They also saw the changes in the people of Hōkō and Tobi with their own eyes.
This made their respect and admiration for Gilgamesh no longer limited to his architectural talent.
It can be said that Gilgamesh's personal charisma had completely conquered them, making them think of staying more than once.
However, they each had their own ties in their hearts, whether family, lovers, or friends.
Therefore, they could only forcefully suppress the thought of wanting to stay.
But now, they threw everything else to the back of their minds, simply indulging in the joy in their hearts.
Above the palace, Gilgamesh looked at his singing and dancing subjects below, feeling very pleased.
Beside him, Yoruichi Shihouin, in her Black Cat form, quietly lay on the railing of the balcony, looking at the lively scene below, a look of emotion flickering across her face, while also feeling a sense of shared honor.
Yoruichi Shihouin had already pledged her loyalty, so the more brilliant Gilgamesh was, the happier she became.
Gilgamesh had now moved to a stone table nearby and sat down, inviting Yoruichi Shihouin, saying, "Today is a day worth celebrating, Black Cat, come and have a drink with me."
Yoruichi Shihouin came to the opposite seat from Gilgamesh, tilted her cat face, and responded, "Okay, but it seems there's no wine, I remember Hōkō doesn't have a place that sells wine."
Gilgamesh smiled slightly, and then a golden ripple appeared beside him.
Yoruichi Shihouin was already familiar with Gilgamesh's method of summoning golden ripples, only considering it his Zanpakuto ability.
However, Yoruichi Shihouin didn't know why Gilgamesh wanted to summon golden ripples; what did this have to do with drinking?
As Yoruichi Shihouin looked on in confusion, an ancient-looking wooden wine barrel emerged from the golden ripple, slowly landing on the ground.
And after the wooden wine barrel, two exquisite golden wine cups also emerged from the golden ripple, landing on top of the wooden wine barrel.
Yoruichi Shihouin was stunned.
Although the wooden wine barrel hadn't been opened yet, she could already faintly smell a hint of rich wine aroma.
Yoruichi Shihouin knew that the wooden wine barrel in front of her contained fine wine, and it was a rare and precious wine in the world.
That rich wine aroma, though just a hint, had already made her, who had tasted countless fine wines, eager to try it, and she couldn't help but swallow her saliva.
Although she didn't know why a wooden wine barrel would appear from the golden ripple, it no longer mattered now.
As Gilgamesh opened the sealed wooden wine barrel, a rich, mellow wine aroma wafted out.
Just by smelling it, Yoruichi Shihouin felt a little drunk, unable to imagine how delicious this wine would be.
Looking at the wine cup Gilgamesh handed to her, Yoruichi Shihouin instinctively reached out with her cat paw, wanting to pick up the cup and drink it all at once.
But she quickly realized that a cat's paw couldn't pick up a wine cup at all. Yoruichi Shihouin, with her craving for wine piqued, couldn't care less and immediately released her transformation.
As a puff of smoke rose, Gilgamesh saw a graceful, tall figure faintly appearing within it.
"Gulp!"
"Ah, so refreshing, truly fine wine!"
Along with a boisterous female voice, the rising smoke dissipated.
What appeared before Gilgamesh's eyes was a beautiful woman with dark skin, a tall and graceful figure, a ponytail, and not a stitch of clothing on her body.
This beautiful woman was indeed Yoruichi Shihouin.
At this moment, Yoruichi Shihouin held a wine cup in one hand and had the other hand on her hip, standing with her feet apart, her face showing a look of pleasure from drinking fine wine.
Because of her stance, Gilgamesh clearly saw everything.
However, Gilgamesh's expression did not change at all; only his deep, wine-red eyes showed appreciation, as if he were admiring a beautiful work of art.
If it weren't for the young age of this body, Gilgamesh wouldn't have minded taking the opportunity for some wonderful things to happen.
And on the palace balcony, besides Gilgamesh and Yoruichi Shihouin, there was no one else.
The people outside the palace also could not see the scene on the balcony.
Looking at Yoruichi Shihouin, who still wanted another drink, Gilgamesh, while sipping his wine, said, "I think you should put on some clothes first, rather than drinking."
As he spoke, Gilgamesh's wine-red eyes, filled with appreciation, looked at Yoruichi Shihouin again and continued, "Of course, if you don't want to wear them, that's fine; I don't mind continuing to enjoy this moving sight."
Yoruichi Shihouin paused, then looked down following Gilgamesh's gaze.
At this sight, Yoruichi Shihouin's face instantly flushed with embarrassment, and her heart was in utter disarray; she immediately used Shunpo to flee the scene.
Gilgamesh's joyful laughter reached her ears, causing Yoruichi Shihouin's heart to pound rapidly.
Yoruichi Shihouin didn't know what was wrong with her; she used to not care much, so why did she feel so flustered now?
After Yoruichi Shihouin left, Gilgamesh slowly rose, holding his wine cup, and walked to the railing of the balcony.
Looking at the jubilant scene outside the palace, Gilgamesh raised his wine cup and took a sip, softly saying, "Uruk is now initially stable; it's almost time to go to the Central Spiritual Arts Academy."
End of Chapter