The 'Cleaning Rangers' performance unfolded in an orderly fashion under the organization of Chrollo, Sarasa, and the others.
Perhaps even the original author never imagined that in this dump, despised by the world as a waste disposal area, there was a group of young teenagers finding a rare sliver of joy while struggling to survive in Meteor City, all because of his work.
Following Machi, Uvogin, Nobunaga, Feitan, Phinks, Franklin, and others made their appearances in costume. Pakunoda, whose figure was just beginning to show signs of maturity despite her young age, rested her chin in her hands as she watched from the audience... Everyone sang, laughed, and enjoyed the stage to the fullest. As the host, Chrollo would occasionally think...
If only everyone could stay like this forever.
"Ouch... Dammit, Old Man, you hit too hard!" Uvogin took a "blade" from Nobunaga. Suspecting the other guy was using this public opportunity to settle a private grudge, he stopped pretending to be the "Bear Monster" and almost started wrestling with Nobunaga again.
"What did you call me?"
"Old man... so what?"
"I'm only one year older than you!"
"One year older is still older!"
"Hit him... hit him hard... Uvogin, beat him! Nobunaga... holy crap, that guy is too shady, he actually kicked him in the crotch!"
It was chaos. A perfectly good play turned into a mess because of Uvogin and Nobunaga. On the contrary, the group of children sitting in the audience watched with even more enthusiasm, shouting and cheering; it was incredibly lively.
"Heh heh..."
In the prayer hall, standing in the corridor by the window, was an old priest.
He watched all of this with a smile, accompanied by a young woman with a light veil covering her face.
"Renko, look how wonderful this is..."
Young teenagers wantonly displaying their youthful energy, possessing an inexhaustible strength, unlike him—old and decaying, gasping for breath after just two steps, with his days clearly numbered.
The woman had a cold expression. She didn't respond to the old priest's remark but instead brought up another matter: "Another group of human traffickers has arrived from the 'outside' recently."
Renko looked through the glass window at Uvogin performing "Bear Rubbing Against a Tree" to pin Nobunaga to the ground, and said calmly, "I wonder how many of these children will remain when the time comes."
Trash, weapons, corpses, abandoned infants... this was the bloody, cruel reality of Meteor City.
The old priest sighed faintly. "Respect the fate of others; let go of the need to save everyone."
"All we can do is provide a small stage. As for the future, who knows... how far these children will eventually go?"
Life is a long road. Dying early, dying late, it all ends in a pile of yellow earth...
"Just like Kikyo. Didn't your teacher also never imagine that she would have the life she has today?"
"That woman..." A ripple appeared in Renko's cold gaze, and she fell silent.
The old priest chuckled. His thoughts drifted away with the wind, crossing unseen mountains and oceans, swirling into Kukuroo Mountain, and landing in a garden.
It was evening. A man with silver hair swaying in the wind down to his waist was supporting a woman as they walked in the garden. Perhaps because she had eaten a bit too much for dinner, the woman accidentally sneezed, causing her belly to tremble, which startled her. "Baby, I'm sorry. It's Mommy's fault. Mommy apologizes to you."
Approaching her due date, the woman's nerves were taut, and she was clearly much more sensitive than usual.
Silva gently stroked her back, whispering words of comfort. He looked up and noticed Tsubone, with her two pink pigtails, standing silently under a streetlamp with her head bowed, waiting...
Silva calmly helped Kikyo back to the bedroom. After some effort coaxing her to sleep, he took the old butler to the study.
"Master, Scarface sent word. The Young Master has successfully passed the first trial." Tsubone pushed the glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. "The Young Master successfully stayed in the basement for two hours this afternoon."
The chair was pulled back. Silva sat down, crossed his hands, and rested his chin on them without saying a word.
Tsubone opened a file compiled by Scarface and One-Eye. Sliding it across the smooth tabletop, she gently pushed it in front of the man. "It contains the records of the time the Young Master spent paying respects to Master Zigg each time. Please take a look."
Silva stared absently at the thick night outside the window and waved his hand gently.
Fast... too fast... Even without looking, he knew. The number of times the boy entered and exited the basement was clearly fewer than him and his father Zeno, yet he was faster than both of them. He had passed the test of the [Sandworm] in the minimum amount of time!
One does not know the cost of fuel and rice until one runs the household; one does not know the terror of the [Sandworm] until one experiences it... What did this indicate?
Silva twirled a strand of his own hair, placing it before his eyes. Seeing that shimmer of silver through the light, he remained silent for a long time. Then, he opened a drawer, fished out a small booklet from the bottom layer, and tossed it over. "Give this to him."
"Yes." Tsubone received it with both hands and retreated respectfully.
The door closed with a creak.
When she reappeared, she was already in front of Roy.
She held the booklet with both hands and handed it over. "Young Master, the Master gave this to you."
Clang. At nine o'clock in the evening, the grandfather clock in the corner chimed.
Roy was leaning over his desk, writing and drawing, pondering how to carry out the "preaching" plan in Meteor City. He looked up, glanced at Tsubone, and took the booklet with a smile. "Rest early."
The old butler was suddenly stunned. A rare look of confusion appeared in her old eyes surrounded by crow's feet, which then quickly turned soft. She buried her head and said, "Yes."
Just as she had done in the study with Silva, she pivoted on her heel and bowed as she retreated.
Creak. The door closed.
Tsubone faced the door, her back to the night, and stood quietly for a long time. She suddenly remembered the conversation she had with Gotoh that day and gradually realized... the Young Master had started to become different.
He was no longer awkward. He no longer had barriers against this family and these people. He was more integrated and cared more, as if he had matured a lot in an instant...
At the very least, the old him would not have smiled at her, let alone occasionally utter a sentence of care and greeting.
It seemed that people became sentimental easily when they got old. Tsubone rubbed her sore eye sockets, took a breath, and left quietly. In the end, she took a deep look at the boy through the window, leaving Roy alone to flip open the small booklet given by Silva under the bean-sized light.
The booklet was not large; it was even very thin, with only a few pages. After looking at it carefully, Roy realized... this was part of the "Game Strategy" Silva had made when he participated in [re: The Game of the Dead] back then. It contained maps hand-drawn by Silva, events he experienced, and interactions with some important "NPCs".
At a certain moment, the boy's gaze focused, and he saw a familiar name...
Benjamin Frederick. It was that Lord "Benjamin" who had cast a projection using Frank Becki's corpse!
Roy frowned, then...
Below that, he saw his father's evaluation of him...
[Benjamin Frederick. Member of the "Colorless House" Security Knights. Honest character, brave and skilled in battle, reliable.]
[Note: "Colorless House"... A collective name for a territory carved out in the Uzuki Forest by "Abandoned People" grouping together to resist magical beasts... The Lord "Kohler Wilson" is powerful, suspected to be of the "Transmuter" type.]
[Suggestion: Start with the "Colorless House". Strive to pass the "Knight Selection" and join the Security Corps. After gaining a stable foothold, go deeper into the Dark Continent to explore.]
[Attached: Map of "Colorless House" and topographical map of surrounding famous magical beast territories...]
Reading this, Roy noticed that Silva had even highlighted the name "Benjamin Frederick" in red pen.
He understood.
Whether it was Silva, Zeno, or even Great-Grandfather Maha, perhaps they all still believed that [re: The Game of the Dead] was just a game created by Grandfather Zigg using the Dark Continent as a blueprint combined with his own Nen abilities, specifically for future generations to "hone their Nen abilities".
Perhaps, in the past, it was precisely because he realized Maha would detect some clues that Grandfather Zigg did not hesitate to use "Vows and Limitations" to restrict him from entering... On one hand, he was worried Maha would seek "revenge" for him and go to extremes; on the other hand, he might have harbored the intention of "protecting the Zoldycks".
It was a pity...
"People change."
The man whom his father, who rarely approved of anyone, had relied upon to protect the abandoned people and resist magical beasts, had in the blink of an eye become the Bishop who hunted the abandoned people...
Roy did not know what had happened in between, but after learning this news, he felt a great sense of irony and lamentation...
Grandfather Zigg once said... the world of humans belongs to humans, and the world of magical beasts belongs to magical beasts. But he never said... that humans could also lose their minds and become "animals" one day...
Roy thought of Little Mary and that "Thunder Lance". His heart felt heavy, filled with mixed flavors, and he was speechless for a moment.
Fittingly, the night wind lifted a corner of the curtain, making a rustling sound...
He leaned back in his chair, wanting to let out a breath, when he suddenly heard a panel prompt...
[Faith Power +1]
[Source: Kyojuro Rengoku]
[Note: Moving with the times, moving with the situation. Your "Believer" Kyojuro Rengoku's "destiny" has changed. He sincerely thanks you for saving his father, who was drinking all day, and guiding him to shake off his decline and get back on the right track.]
Roy: "?"
Suddenly, he smiled, and the knots in his heart vanished. Yes, time passes like a white colt crossing a crevice; fleeting. People will naturally undergo different degrees of change...
Body, state of mind, and perspective on things will all be different. Just as there are those who fall like Benjamin Frederick, naturally there are also those like Kyojuro Rengoku's father... Shinjuro Rengoku, who "reclaim their lives"...
"And what I need to do next is simply to shine warm sunlight into everyone's hearts and guide them upward."
The corners of his mouth turned up. Once the young man's mind was untied, he felt the world widen... He stopped reading the booklet and the books, turned off the lights, and went to sleep.
Hiss. The sound of snoring splashed up in this night that was chilly despite the warming weather...
Demon Slayer World.
Ever since bidding farewell to Roy and having a heart-to-heart conversation with him...
Kyojuro Rengoku, with a Nichirin Sword hanging at his waist and wearing a white haori with flame-dipped ends, left the Ubuyashiki clan residence. As usual, before accepting a mission, he went home to visit his father Shinjuro and his younger brother Senjuro.
This time, he made a decision that had been hidden in his heart for a long time but had not taken shape until now.
He would draw his blade against his father!