"Mr. Takahashi," she asked politely, in her usual calm tone, "I'm curious. What are the main components of this Nutrient Solution? Its mechanism of action: does it supplement trace elements in the soil, or does it improve soil quality by promoting the proliferation of beneficial microbial communities? May I take a sample for spectral analysis?"
Her question was professional and direct.
Like a sharp scalpel, it pointed straight at the heart of the matter.
Masao Takahashi looked at the young woman before him, and a flicker of imperceptible coldness flashed in his eyes. He hadn't expected the legendary "young miss" of the Chitanda Family to be more than a vase who only knew the four arts.
But the smile on his face only grew warmer, more benevolent.
"Hoho, as expected of the young miss of the Chitanda Family. Just like your father, you have such a deep spirit of inquiry into agriculture."
He skillfully sidestepped Chitanda's question.
He spoke in a tone of an elder praising a junior. "As for the specific components, those involve our company's core trade secrets, so forgive me for not being able to disclose them in detail. But please rest assured, it is entirely beneficial to the land and the crops, with no harm whatsoever. We can even provide the first batch of products free of charge, so you can witness its miraculous effects with your own eyes."
His words were watertight.
They demonstrated "sincerity" while using the all-purpose excuse of "trade secrets" to block any further questioning from Chitanda.
Hearing it would be free, Chitanda's father dismissed the last shred of doubt in his heart.
He ignored his daughter's hesitant, pleading look and gladly accepted Masao Takahashi's "kindness."
That afternoon, under the "professional guidance" of the "agricultural consultants" sent by Abundant Future, the Chitanda Family's farmhands applied every drop of that expensive "specialized Nutrient Solution" onto the land. That land had only just regained its vitality.
At first, everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction.
On the second day, the rice seedlings grew even more impressively than before. The leaves looked thicker and a deeper green.
Chitanda's father beamed with joy and was even more grateful to Masao Takahashi.
However, on the morning of the third day, when Eru Chitanda came to the field again to collect her daily observation samples, she was shocked to discover...
All the land that had been treated with the "Nutrient Solution" was beginning to show a strange sign.
That sign was as if all life force had been drained, and the land was "withering to death."
The soil had become hardened and cracked, taking on an ominous gray-white color.
The originally lush green rice seedlings had begun to turn an ominous yellow-brown from the roots up. As if overnight, they had aged decades.
The death of the earth had quietly arrived.
It came when no one was prepared. It was more insidious than the pest infestation, more thorough.
Eru Chitanda immediately took soil samples and ran back to her room. She had converted that room into a makeshift laboratory.
She tried to use her own knowledge to analyze the truth behind this land's "death."
...
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, in Seiji Fujiwara's office.
On the massive screen, the various life indices of the Chitanda Family's land were being displayed in real time. The data was being transmitted back from the Kamiyama Region.
Soil pH, organic matter content, microbial activity. All the data was plummeting off a cliff. The speed was alarming.
Fuyumi Irisu, this newly appointed "personal secretary," stood behind him. In her absolutely professional tone, devoid of any emotion, she reported the situation.
"Reporting to the boss. Masao Takahashi's 'Nutrient Solution' is actually a slow-acting soil toxin. Its main component is Sodium Chlorite."
"In the initial stage, through strong oxidation, it stimulates the crop's root system, creating an illusion of 'false prosperity.'"
"But subsequently, it completely destroys the soil's microbial ecosystem, and solidifies all the organic nutrients in the soil, converting them into stable compounds that plants cannot absorb. Eventually, the land will be entirely 'dead.' For decades to come, it will be impossible to cultivate anything on it. It is a very clever and vicious commercial tactic."
Seiji Fujiwara listened to the report, an amused smile appearing on his face.
"You see, what's more terrifying than poison is poison disguised as the cure. What's more pitiful than ignorance is trying to use limited knowledge to fight against limitless malice."
He paused, his eyes glinting. That glint was as excited and cruel as a hunter's.
"Last time, I only made her understand the gap in 'power.' This time, I don't just want her body. I want her to develop absolute 'faith' in me."
"I want to thoroughly destroy all of her inquiry into this 'outside world.' I want her to understand from the bottom of her heart that in this world, all 'knowledge' is unreliable, all 'authorities' can be bought. Only I, Seiji Fujiwara, am the sole 'truth,' the sole 'answer.'"
...
...
Eru Chitanda locked herself in the laboratory for two whole days and nights.
She exhausted all of her knowledge. From basic chemical titration to complex spectral analysis, to microbial culture observation.
She tried to identify the unknown "toxin" in the soil.
But all her efforts failed.
The chemical agent used by Masao Takahashi had been carefully formulated. Its molecular structure, after combining with the organic matter in the soil, formed an entirely new, extremely stable inert compound. Existing conventional detection methods simply could not identify it.
For Chitanda, it was like trying to crack a code.
That code was written in a language she had never heard of. She could see the existence of the "problem." She could observe the mass death of the soil microbes, could detect the sharp drop in organic matter. But she fundamentally could not understand the essence of the "problem," could not find the key that would open the black box.
Her vaunted "thirst for knowledge" and "analytical ability," for the first time, hit a high wall before reality. That wall was cold and hard, impossible to cross.
Just as she was mentally and physically exhausted, on the verge of despair, a string of blows arrived one after another. As if following a pre-programmed sequence, they pushed her into an even deeper abyss.
She took her preliminary analysis report and drove through the night to find the teacher she most respected. The report was filled with "unknown" and "cannot be parsed," full of frustration. That teacher was a professor emeritus at Kyoto Agricultural University.
After that white-haired old professor received the soil samples she had sent, he ultimately gave her only a phone call.
He had used the school's most advanced mass spectrometer and nuclear magnetic resonance equipment for the analysis. The voice on the phone was full of helplessness and gravity.
"Eru... I'm so sorry. We... we couldn't analyze the specific components of this contaminant either. Its structure is too stable. We tried every method, but couldn't break it down. It's like... like injecting cement into the soil. From our perspective, this land... is already completely 'dead.' And, it's irreversible."
"Irreversible..." Those three words struck Chitanda's heart like three heavy hammers.
Her last hope was completely shattered.
On the other side, her father had completely fallen into the trap that Masao Takahashi had set for him. As he watched the land wither day by day, he sank deeper into the trap, the trap of "sunk costs."
The "agricultural consultant" from Abundant Future once again "kindly" came to visit.
"Chitanda Patriarch, please don't worry!"
The consultant wore an expression of "concern" on his face. He brought out an even more elaborate set of pseudo-scientific theories and began his manipulation. "This kind of 'rejection reaction' from the land is completely normal! It means it's rejecting the old, unhealthy ecosystem and preparing to embrace a new, higher-energy equilibrium! It's about 'breaking down to build up'! Right now is the darkest moment before dawn, and we absolutely cannot give up!"
His tone shifted, finally revealing the dagger: "What you need now is not to stop, but to increase the dosage of the 'Nutrient Solution'! At the same time, use it together with our newly developed 'Soil Activator'! As long as you make it through this stage, everything will get better! Of course, this Activator is rather expensive, but to save the land, I believe this small investment is worth it!"
Chitanda's father, this old man who had been pushed to the brink, latched on tightly to this lifeline like a gambler who had lost everything and was desperate to make it back.
Without hesitation, he was ready to agree. He had even already begun calculating which ancestral plots to mortgage to raise the money.
And this scene was witnessed by Eru Chitanda. She had just returned from Kyoto.
"Father! You can't trust them anymore!"
She rushed in.
She still held that test report in her hand.
The report read "irreversible death." She tried to stop her father's mad behavior. "The land is almost dead! Their products are nothing but poison! This is the report from the university lab!"
"Silence!" Chitanda's father slammed the table and roared at her, "What do you understand?! These are experts sent by Mr. Takahashi! They know more than that armchair-theorist university professor of yours! We've already invested so much. If we give up now, we'll have nothing!"
"But this report..."
"I don't care about any report!" Her father's eyes were bloodshot, his expression nearly deranged. "Either you produce a method that can solve the problem, or shut up! Don't spread your nonsense here! Our Chitanda Family does not feed idle people who only spout sour-grapes talk!"
The most violent argument in their history erupted between father and daughter.
Chitanda looked at her father's face.
That face was twisted by obsession and despair. The pillar of "family" she had always relied on was now violently shaking. That pillar had once been the warmest one.
She was driven out of the reception hall by her father.
She stood alone, helpless, in the empty courtyard. The evening wind blew, carrying a hint of chill. She felt as if she were standing naked in a frozen wasteland.
She felt that she had been abandoned by the entire world.
At that moment, a black Rolls-Royce stopped in front of her.
The car window lowered, revealing Fuyumi Irisu's cold, beautiful face. She was dressed in a secretary's uniform, her expression detached, like an emotionless messenger.
"Senpai?" Chitanda was a little surprised.
"Get in." Fuyumi Irisu's tone carried no emotion, as if she were executing an order.
Chitanda hesitated, but still pulled open the door and got in. The air inside the car, like the aura around her senpai, was cold and distant.
The car slowly started up and drove away from the Chitanda residence.
The cabin was filled with a suffocating silence.
In the end, it was Fuyumi Irisu who spoke first. She didn't look at Chitanda, only stared straight ahead.
"The boss wanted me to deliver a message to you."
Hearing the words "the boss," Chitanda's body involuntarily stiffened.
Fuyumi Irisu seemed not to notice her reaction.
She simply repeated the message in a tone close to recitation, completely flat. That message was full of erotic suggestion and psychological coercion.
"'Your land needs my technology to 'live.' Just as your body needs my 'watering' to truly bloom.'"
"'Tonight, wait for me in your room. Let me see what kind of 'sincerity' you're prepared to offer in exchange for the 'answer' once again.'"
These words, like a string of the most obscene, most vicious incantations, were burned into Chitanda's heart.
Her pure face instantly flushed red, her eyes filled with shame and humiliation.
"How... how could he... lump... lump something like that together with saving the land..."
"There's nothing he can't do."
Fuyumi Irisu cut her off.
In her voice was a numb sorrow, the kind that only someone who had been there could carry.
"In his eyes, you, me, our families, even this world, are all just toys he uses to satisfy his curiosity. And toys have no right to negotiate terms with their owner."
She pulled the car over to a quiet roadside. She turned her head to look at her junior. She was about to fall into the abyss again.
"That's all I can tell you. The choice is yours to make."
After saying that, she spoke no more. She silently handed Chitanda a tissue. Because she saw that Chitanda's tears had already begun to fall uncontrollably.
...
Meanwhile, in Seiji Fujiwara's office. He was watching the screen. On the screen, the "life index" of the Chitanda Family's land had approached zero.
He gave an instruction to the assistant beside him:
"Have the technical department prepare the initial module of the Soil Ecosystem Reconstruction and Self-Circulating Microbiome Matrix."
He knew that fruit would once again be delivered to his lips tonight. He had already tasted it once, and it was the sweetest. It would wash itself clean and present itself to him.
...
...
Eru Chitanda did not know how she got home.
Senpai Irisu's cold, despairing words and that man's "divine oracle" laden with erotic suggestion pressed down on her heart like two mountains. She could barely breathe.
She locked herself in that crude laboratory once again. But this time, she did not attempt any more futile analysis.
She simply sat there quietly. She replayed everything that had happened. From the start of the pest infestation up to now.
Her clever mind, for the first time, was not used to inquire into the unknown of the "outside world." It was used to examine her own "incompetence."
She had tried to use science to solve the pest infestation. Science had failed.
She had tried to use knowledge to analyze the soil. Knowledge had failed too.
She had tried to use familial bond to persuade her father. Familial bond had failed all the same.
Everything she had trusted, everything she had taken pride in, before this man, all seemed so fragile, so vulnerable.
In this world, the so-called "truth," the so-called "answer," did not exist in books, did not exist in laboratories, and certainly did not exist in the mouths of those so-called "authorities."
It existed only in that man's hands.
He was the only "truth."
He was the only "answer."
And to obtain this "answer," she had to pay the price he set, the only price.
A massive surge of emotion instantly drowned her. Within that emotion was an indescribable sorrow, anger at her own incompetence, and a quiet hatred for this fate. That fate had been imposed on her by that man.
She did not cry. She simply sat quietly, letting this cold despair erode every inch of her body.
She knew that all her paths had once again come to an end.
She had no other choice.
To save that land that was about to completely die. To pull her father back from that insane scam. And also... to once again witness with her own eyes that "god's" power. That power transcended human comprehension.
She had to, once again, offer up herself.
When night fell, she walked out of the laboratory.
She didn't speak to anyone. She simply returned silently to her own room. It was an antique and elegant boudoir, full of a maiden's atmosphere.
She bathed, and burned incense.
Then, from the deepest part of her wardrobe, she took out a Shiromuku. The garment was new, pure white, without any pattern.
It was the wedding dress her mother had left her. It was meant to be worn only on the day of her future marriage.
She knew that tonight was her "wedding day."
She was marrying herself off to the devil named Seiji Fujiwara. Marrying herself to the fate named "despair."
Meticulously, Chitanda put this heavy wedding garment on her own body.
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