Seth Mullins became a đ„ Shibai - The Divine Reader!
Mateusz Nowak became a đ„ Shibai - The Divine Reader!
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Boom!
Finally, with an earth-shattering loud crash, the originally tightly closed door suddenly burst and shattered!
In the instant the man couldn't react at all, Michikatsu's figure instantly appeared behind him, grabbing his throat and lifting his entire body into the air.
"As a man with fully functional limbs, instead of finding ways to strengthen yourself, instead of relying on your own efforts to make a living!
You force your own wife to that filthy place, relying on tarnishing her reputation and honor to earn money to satisfy your disgusting desires!
With such conduct, do you even deserve to be called a man, a husband?"
"Ugh... let go... you let go..."
Clutching Michikatsu's arm and struggling desperately, being stared at by Michikatsu's eyes suppressing rage, the terrified man kicked his legs in mid-air and subconsciously defended himself:
"Amei... is my wife... how to deal with her... is naturally my business... you get out... get out... or I'll..."
Completely ignited by the man's words, veins bulged on Michikatsu's arm.
"At this point you still try to argue, showing no sign of repentance whatsoever. Scum like you are simply... beyond salvation!"
Angrily throwing the man to the ground, Michikatsu drew the sword from his waist and directly plunged it into the ground beside the man's feet. Then glaring at himâstill gasping for breathâhe spoke coldly, word by word:
"Fine, you want money, don't you? You like gambling, don't you?
Since that's the case, I now formally challenge you to a duel as a samurai, with our two lives as the wager. You hold the blade, I fight unarmed!
I will let you have thirty moves first. As long as you can touch me once, that counts as your victory, and afterward no matter how much money you want, I will find a way to get it for you!
I will give you enough money to gamble for a lifetime that you could never finish, letting you gamble to your heart's content!
But if after thirty moves, I seize the blade from your hand, then that counts as my victory, and at that time, your head will belong to me!"
"Eek! I, I..."
"What are you still hesitating for? Don't you want money? Pick up the blade! Swing it at me!!"
However, what disappointed Michikatsu once again was that this man who had just been showing off his dominance over his wife moments ago, now not only couldn't swing the blade at himâhe didn't even have the courage to pick up that blade.
"Madman... madman! Help! Help!"
Facing Michikatsu's repeated pressure, the man practically crawled and rolled away from his feet, screaming as he fled out the door.
"Coward!"
Not even bothering to look at the man again, Michikatsu directly kicked up his sword with his toe, then forcefully flung it behind him.
The blade instantly shot out, piercing through the chest of the man attempting to escape, carrying his entire body flying a full dozen meters or more before finally nailing him to the ground!
Michikatsu hadn't used any Moon Breathing techniques.
This worthless scum didn't deserve to make him use them.
At last, the surroundings finally quieted down.
His rage gradually subsiding, Michikatsu looked down at Amei beside himâcrouched in the corner covering her face, sobbing softly. After hesitating for a moment, he finally stepped forward and tried to ask with concern:
"Miss Amei, are you... alright?"
"Thank you for your concern, Master Yoriichi, I'm fine..."
Shaking her head slightly, Amei only asked:
"What about my husband? What happened to him?"
She had only heard the man's screams from outside earlier and didn't know what had actually occurred.
"I have killed him."
Michikatsu replied truthfully, and upon hearing this, Amei was stunned.
She opened her mouth, seeming to want to say something, but ultimately said nothing, only lowering her head and silently shedding tears.
"Miss Amei, scum like that man didn't deserve to be your husband, you... need not grieve for this..."
Michikatsu tried to offer comfort, but this time Amei didn't respond to him anymore. She simply remained curled up in the corner in silence, continuously sobbing softly.
*[If only Mitsuba were here right now...]*
Completely unsure of how to comfort someone, Michikatsu's eyelids lowered as he silently watched her.
In his mind, the faces of his former wife and children once again emerged from the depths of his memory at this moment.
After another long period of silence, Michikatsu let out a soft sigh.
He finally stepped forward and, beside Amei, slowly sat down against the wall just like her.
"Actually, I was once married..."
Slightly raising his head to look at the moonlight outside the window, Michikatsu suddenly spoke, breaking the silence inside the house.
"Huh?"
Perhaps completely unexpected that Michikatsu would suddenly say such things, Ameiâher face covered in tearsâsubconsciously looked up at him sitting beside her.
"That was... a very long time ago..."
His thoughts seemingly drifting back over eighty years ago, under Amei's gaze, Michikatsu slowly spoke:
"At that time, I was still the son of a daimyo. My wife was the daughter of a neighboring daimyo.
By now, I can barely remember her appearance anymore. I only vaguely recall that she was as beautiful as Mitsuba was then, as cultured and refinedâa... very excellent wife.
It's just that I, at that time, didn't love her.
After we married, she quickly became pregnant, and after she gave birth to our heir, we never shared a bed again.
Of course, the problem in all this wasn't with her, but with me."
Slowly lowering his head to look at his own hands, under Amei's curious gaze, Michikatsu continued:
"At that time, I had already been blinded by jealousy toward my genius younger brother.
During those days when he ran away from home, I lived in a daze every day, indifferent to Mitsuba, to my wife and child, even to the Tsugikuni family, to everything around meâlike a walking corpse.
But the moment I saw he was still alive, my heartâgnawed by jealousyâwould be immediately drawn away by him again.
Family, wife and child, honor... in order to catch up to him, I could even unhesitatingly abandon everything I originally possessed beside me.
I clearly knew this was wrong, yet I still dumped all those messes entirely onto Mitsuba and the others, following him and leaving without a care...
If we're really comparing, I actually... don't qualify as a true man, a qualified elder brother, or a husband either..."
"Master Yoriichi..."
"Miss Amei."
Turning to look at Amei beside him, Michikatsu spoke with an extremely earnest tone:
"To be honest, until just now, I hadn't fully understood why Mitsuba insisted that I accompany you here.
But now, I completely understand.
You must look forward.
Although you encountered scum like that man, a terrible marriage, these don't represent your entirety.
Your life is still in your hands, you are still young, your future path is still long. Don't let this terrible past affect your future life.
For every person living in this world, remaining obsessed with and drowning in those heavy past burdens will never bring any benefit.
As long as you're willing, as long as you truly hope for it, you can at any time open a new chapter in your life.
I think these are perhaps precisely the words Mitsuba wanted me to tell you tonight.
At the same time, they are also the lesson she wanted to teach me through this opportunity..."