Kisara giggled, visibly brightened up and tucked her hair behind her ear.
"I apologize for dampening your spirits, but there is no such thing as mastery in swordsmanship."
"The moment you reach that point, arrogance and illusion will dull your blade. When Master Sukekiyou began teaching me the secret sword arts, he said..."
'It is truly a pity that your blade has become so dull. I will only teach you my remaining moves.'
"Thanks to those teachings, I didn't become arrogant. Only then could I focus on reaching a higher level."
"... Is that eccentric old man still alive?"
"He is 120 years old this year, still very healthy and cheerful."
"Tch, how the hell did that old man manage to live so long?"
"What, got a problem with me, kid?"
A third voice appeared in the dojo, startling both Kisara and Rentaro. Neither of them had felt anyone approaching.
However, that voice...
"Master!"
"Eccentric old man!"
Both exclaimed and jumped up. Seeing that the young pair were still in such high spirits, Sukekiyou laughed loudly, stroking his goatee.
Sukekiyou, Kisara's sword master. An old man over a hundred years old who still looked extremely vigorous. Every muscle fiber and firm structure on his body was the result of nearly a hundred years of grueling practice and combat. Honestly, Rentaro couldn't see anything about him that suggested he was 120 years old.
Three years ago, after transmitting the entire Tendou-style Sword Art to Kisara, Sukekiyou left Tokyo. Although he had reached the ultimate level of the Tendou style, as an outsider who didn't fit in with the politically heavy Tendou clan, the two sides had long gone their separate ways and were no longer involved with each other.
Kisara had thought she would never see Sukekiyou again in this lifetime.
"I am very happy to see you two looking so well."
Sukekiyou smiled kindly.
Not only Rentaro and Kisara thought so; he himself hadn't thought he would return to Tokyo again.
Three years ago was also the deadline when Sukekiyou tried but failed to mend the deep-seated hatred of the Tendou family within Kisara. He disliked the Tendou family, and he disliked Kikunojou, but his sword style originated from the Tendou family.
Therefore, Sukekiyou could only remain an outsider, leaving without returning, simply fulfilling his duty. That duty was to warn the Tendou family (though no one took the warning seriously) and to transmit the entire sword art to Kisara.
"Truthfully, the reason I returned this time is because of... the Silver King."
Sukekiyou sat cross-legged and spoke seriously.
"Wait, the Silver King?!"
Rentaro was astonished. Why was the Silver King involved in this?
Sukekiyou didn't wait for Rentaro to guess, but directly stated his main purpose.
"Because I want to challenge this person. His martial arts... give me a feeling of excitement that I haven't experienced in too long."
Sukekiyou was a pure warrior, who spent nearly his entire life honing his fighting technique to the peak. And nothing was more attractive than clashing with another peak.
Kisara and Rentaro looked at each other, momentarily unsure what to do.
Challenging the Silver King?
He must be crazy!
"The eccentric old man is still an eccentric old man!"
Rentaro silently spat in his heart. After the whole world saw the Silver King push a Gastrea the size of a mountain into space, only someone completely insane would dare to challenge him.
Besides, who was the Silver King? He was the king of an entire Area, with an army under his command. It wasn't a place one could just visit or leave at will, let alone get an audience with. Therefore, Sukekiyou's challenge was fundamentally a joke.
...
In the end, all three of them made their way to the Silver King's Area. There was no helping it; Rentaro needed a favor anyway.
Enju didn't accompany them today because she had to undergo a comprehensive medical check-up at Doctor Sumire's place.
Looking at the towering gray wall in front of them, Rentaro couldn't help but feel a shiver of fear. He felt as if behind that wall, muzzles were pointed directly at him. And he wasn't the only one; Kisara was just as anxious.
Only Sukekiyou remained calm as usual, even casually looking around. Rentaro secretly hoped he wouldn't do anything crazy, like suddenly yelling, "Fight me, Silver King!" If he did that, all three of them would be riddled with bullets.
Fortunately, nothing happened. The three were personally ushered in by Suibara. However, only Kisara and Rentaro were allowed into the "inner area," while Sukekiyou was required to go through some procedures.
Faced with this strictness, he didn't show any opposition at all; rather, he complied readily.
"Hey, you, don't tell me you're treating this place as a date spot."
Suibara glanced at Kisara not far away, nudging Rentaro with his elbow while flashing a slightly crude smile. She seemed to have heard that, her cheeks reddening slightly, and when Rentaro turned to look, she immediately looked away.
Rentaro didn't know what to say, only able to whisper into Suibara's ear.
Suibara's expression instantly changed from teasing crudeness to pallor.
"You're saying... that's true?"
"Of course, I..."
"You're crazy! You come here out of the blue to ask to become the King's disciple? Is martial arts or whatever more attractive than this busty girl over there?!"
"Hey, I heard that!"
"Oh dear... we're friends, help me out a bit."
While the two were still clustered together, a stern voice rang out, cutting off their conversation.
"Squad Leader Suibara, what are you doing here? Who are these people?"
"Commander Luke."
Luke frowned, looking toward Rentaro and speaking in a tone that was not pleasant at all.
"Don't tell me this is the idiot who caused trouble last time."
"Apologies, Commander."
Suibara smiled, trying to smooth things over. Luke didn't want to cause trouble either, so he just snorted coldly and walked past.
"Don't overthink it, Luke isn't a bad person. It's just... being a leader, you know, it's normal for him to be quite serious."
Suibara sighed and explained.
Although the difference in administrative titles was small because the entire Area was under the absolute control of the Silver King, they could still be divided into three levels: regular staff, Squad Leaders, and Commanders.
A Commander could be said to be a direct retainer of the Silver King.
Luke was one of the people who followed the Silver King from the very beginning, and now could be considered the Silver King's loyal aide. Therefore, his unwelcoming attitude toward Rentaro, the troublemaker from that day, was understandable.
Suibara also understood Luke's feelings very well; after all, their circumstances were quite similar. Both were Promoters who ran everywhere with their Initiators, finally finding a place they could call home.
Rentaro didn't mind much.
Regarding meeting the Silver King, Suibara said that although the King was very busy and no one knew his schedule, every day he would dedicate a period of time to educating a group of Cursed Children.
At that time, Rentaro could go and ask him.
"You two can walk around here. Judging by the time, the King will appear in about half an hour."
"Thanks for the help, Suibara."
"Don't be so formal, man."
Afterward, Suibara left to return to his post, leaving Rentaro and Kisara in the middle of the street.
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
"Um, that..."
"W-what?"
"... Should we take a walk?"
Rentaro scratched his head, his face frozen like a statue. For a moment, he seemed to forget what he was going to say.
In the end, they just walked, but very quickly, the young couple's attention focused on the area itself.
"Honestly, this place is much bigger than when I visited last time."
Rentaro looked around, unable to help but sigh in admiration.
Before, this place was just a fairly large residential area, but now he could see the model of a small town.
Kisara casually picked up a map from the roadside. On it was the master plan of the Area. The place had expanded from the original eight zones to twenty-four zones, still arranged in an octagon. The area even occupied more than half of Zone 40.
Moreover, the atmosphere here was inexplicably comfortable. It was completely different from the suffocating feeling common outside.
"Perhaps it's because this place receives the protection of the Silver King."
Rentaro thought to himself.
It made sense. Although the remaining human territories were protected by Monoliths, Gastrea could still slip through, and this happened constantly. If not, Civil Security agents like them wouldn't have any business.
Under such conditions, negativity and despair were almost the shared mentality of the vast majority of people, to the point that they were so used to it they couldn't recognize it. Negative emotions didn't just affect the psychology of an individual; they also shifted an entire society. What remained was merely a dying collective, a rotten order.