Of course, Zoro couldn't go to see Tengen immediately. His doctor strongly opposed it.
"That's nonsense."
Shoko said flatly. Her brown eyes were bloodshot with fatigue from two sleepless nights, but they still burned with determination.
"Your entire body was poisoned just two days ago. And now you want to go to the Star Palace as soon as you come to your senses? After you just hid the Vessel?"
Absolutely not. Shoko slammed a syringe down with a loud thud.
"No way. Absolutely not. If you want to go, you'll have to kill me first."
"Why would I kill you?"
"Exactly, if you're not prepared to go that far, then don't even think about it."
Meanwhile, Toji had wrapped Zoro's body in a blanket several times, turning him into a human roll cake. Zoro wriggled, but in his poisoned state, he couldn't resist.
Toji sat down heavily on the patient bed, hugging the big blanket-wrapped bundle that was Zoro.
"Now, let's go to sleep."
"It's too hot. How can I sleep like this?"
It was midsummer. It wasn't the weather to be wrapped in a blanket. Toji yawned loudly, deliberately making it exaggerated.
"I think I could sleep. I haven't slept at all for the past two days."
"..."
Zoro fell silent. He slowly moved closer to his father, and Toji wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into a snug embrace.
His large hands gently stroked Zoro's small back. After a moment of consideration, Zoro finally sighed and apologized.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to."
"Yeah, I know."
Zoro wouldn't have gotten hurt on purpose. It was all because of that bastard.
Toji ground his teeth. If Zoro hadn't been in such critical condition, he would have torn that guy to pieces.
"By the way, what happened to him?"
"I killed him. I had someone else bring the body to the morgue in the technical college."
Even though it was the assistant supervisor's body, the fact that the bisected brain had teeth meant that Shoko and Toji knew something was wrong.
However, they had been too busy taking care of Zoro to properly investigate over the past two days.
Toji patted Zoro's back in a steady rhythm and asked.
"How did you get caught like that?"
He had seen the enormous residuals and the collapsed mountainside, and with Zoro soaked in poison, it was clear there had been a major battle, but Toji didn't know the details. The fight had already been decided by the time he arrived.
Zoro, with his eyes half-closed from sleepiness, spoke slowly.
"He set off a bomb... yawn, then used a Domain Expansion."
"What?!"
"Say what?"
Shoko and Toji were astonished. Toji grabbed Zoro in shock.
"How did that... Oh."
"Snore..."
Seeing Zoro fall asleep with a snore, Shoko chuckled.
"He fell asleep already."
Just a moment ago, he was complaining about how he couldn't sleep because it was too hot.
Unconsciously reaching for a cigarette, she remembered she was in front of a patient and stopped. Toji remained silent, rhythmically patting Zoro's back.
Shoko looked at Toji with a pitying expression. Look at that face, sleeping so peacefully after dropping a bombshell on his father.
'It's not like he just breaks windows like a normal kid.'
Instead, he's the troublemaker who constantly gets into life-and-death battles with cursed spirits and curse users. Shoko deeply sympathized with Toji for having Zoro as a son.
"You have it tough, don't you, Sensei?"
Toji, lying down, cast a glance at Ieri. There was no warmth like when he looked at Zoro, but neither was there the gloom and desperate resolve of the past two days.
In short, he looked alive. Pulling out a lollipop instead of a cigarette, Shoko continued.
"Please keep struggling as much as possible."
It seems you need to stay by that boy's side to keep living.
...
After regaining consciousness, Zoro underwent three days of treatment and two days of medical and sorcerous examinations before he could leave the infirmary.
[Hey, getting discharged within a week is fast.]
On the other end of the phone, Gojo said.
[If it's poison, Shoko couldn't have fully detoxified it with reverse cursed technique. And it wasn't even a common poison but a new one created by a curse technique. For most sorcerers, that would be retirement-level. No, most would end up dead.]
Dead bodies, huh. Zoro snorted.
"I won't die from something like that."
[Of course not. You're Zoro.]
Despite the playful tone, there was concern and relief evident.
In both his past and present lives, many people worried about Zoro regardless of his strength.
Zoro considered that quite a great fortune.
"How's Riko?"
[She's fine. Absolutely nothing happened. But she cried when she heard you were hurt. She seems to think it's her fault.]
Zoro frowned. Gojo's voice suddenly turned serious.
[What do you think? Were they targeting the Vessel or you?]
"…Who knows. Probably me."
If they were targeting the Vessel's escort, they should have gone after Gojo and Toji instead of Zoro, who had returned to the school.
However, it's not certain. They might have targeted this side, knowing only Geto's and Zoro's locations.
'Satoru had to protect Amanai, and Father and Suguru had to protect me, so they couldn't investigate properly.'
Moreover, the problem was that Toji had killed the guy by splitting his head with the Inverted Spear of Heaven. The one who knew best why he did it was already in the afterlife.
[It doesn't matter. We can investigate together.]
His confident voice suggested that with them together, there was nothing to fear.
Zoro, well aware of how destructive youthful recklessness and overconfidence could be, didn't want to scold him this time. He recognized it as an attempt to lift his spirits after lying idle for days.
"…Thanks."
Zoro spoke softly but clearly. After a moment of silence, Gojo's laughter echoed over the phone.
[You're honest in these moments.]
Zoro covered his reddening cheeks with his hand, even though Gojo couldn't see his face from afar. Once he calmed down, Zoro continued.
"It was Father who killed him. Have you talked to him?"
[Don't even mention it.]
Gojo's voice was exasperated.
[While you were unconscious, I tried calling that gorilla because of that. I called more than twenty times, and he didn't pick up once!]
Zoro raised his eyebrows at Gojo's rapid explanation.
"Really?"
[Yes! I had to get Suguru to call him instead. When he finally answered, he didn't make sense of what he was saying or what I was saying. It was like the world had ended; he was ready to follow you right away if anything went wrong—]
Snap.
Toji's hand appeared out of nowhere, folding Zoro's phone shut. Zoro narrowed his eyes, and Toji nonchalantly spoke.
"You said you were going to meet Tengen. Let's go."
"I was on a call."
"You're done now, aren't you?"
So shameless. Zoro shook his head. Gojo's words echoed in his mind.
'Ready to follow you right away if anything went wrong—'
Zoro knew he meant a lot to Toji. He'd be a fool not to.
But Zoro didn't want Toji to stake his entire life on him. Whether it was Zoro or anyone else, relying on another person for everything was dangerous.
Because when that person collapses, everything comes crashing down with them.
Zoro took Toji's hand and spoke calmly.
"It's not wise to make another person your salvation, Father."
In the end, the only one who can save you is yourself.
Believing that someone else would save your life is nothing but an illusion.
Toji, looking utterly bewildered, turned to Zoro and asked, "Are you really saying that to me?"
He had only played the role of a proper father for a very short time. If left alone, he would have quietly died and disappeared from life—a villain whose pathetic and miserable death would have been welcomed by all.
But Zoro had stubbornly found him, dragged him back home, given him a dream, affection, and a respectable life in the open. They had been together.
'And now he's saying the only one who can save you is yourself?'
"What do you mean?"
Seeing the innocent gray eyes and the puzzled tilt of his head, Toji realized that Zoro truly didn't understand. The fool standing before him didn't even know he had saved Toji.
It gave Toji a headache. He wondered how Zoro couldn't know, then thought that perhaps, given Zoro's nature, it made sense. Unconsciously, words slipped from Toji's mouth.
"You idiot."
"What?"
"You fluffy moss ball."
"Are you picking a fight?"
"I don't fight with my freshly recovered son. If you want to kill me, go ahead."
"You're mean."
"You're just realizing that now?"
Toji roughly tousled his son's now vibrantly green hair.
...
A week later, Zoro walked down the corridor leading to Tengen's palace again. He had intended to go alone, but everyone was so adamantly opposed that Toji ended up accompanying him.
'There was no rule against both of us going.'
Toji followed right behind Zoro. Zoro could easily sense that Toji was alert to everything his senses picked up.
'He'll wear himself out quickly like that.'
Despite being told to relax, he hadn't listened.
'Father must know that they didn't call us here to harm us.'
If that were the case, they wouldn't have waited for him to recover. Toji surely realized that too but was likely just anxious.
When they reached the entrance of the palace, the same sorcerer who had come to see Toji before bowed deeply to them.
"Welcome. He's been expecting you."
"My father is coming with me. Is that a problem?"
"No problem at all. Please follow me."
Zoro followed the sorcerer.
Tengen's palace was literally a palace. It was grand and vast, like the royal palaces he had seen in his previous life.
But compared to such places, Tengen's palace felt somewhat... well, how should he put it...
"It feels lonely."
Toji snorted at Zoro's comment.
"Why?"
"You're probably the only one who would say that after seeing Tengen's palace."
Some sorcerers even revered it as the dwelling place of a god. Saying it looked lonely was a very Zoro-like thing to do.
"...!"
Zoro's head turned as if drawn by a force toward the underground of the palace. There was something there.
Zoro grabbed the railing and looked down, but Toji stopped him and clicked his tongue.
"Don't. If you get lost here too—"
"Father."
There's something down there.
Hearing the certainty in Zoro's voice, Toji knew this wasn't just Zoro getting lost as usual.
"Hey, what's down there?"
"Huh? Oh, that place? Uh, there's nothing there. Why do you ask?"
That's a lie. Zoro exchanged a look with Toji, and Toji also realized there was something there.
Toji quickly scooped Zoro into his arms and, in the blink of an eye, stepped onto the railing and jumped down.
"Zenin-san!"
Toji felt like his body passed through something in midair. A barrier. A very strong barrier covered the underground area of the palace.
Instinctively, he checked on Zoro, but Zoro was unimpeded by the barrier, still cradled in Toji's arms without any shock.
Thud.
Toji landed safely on the ground, deftly avoiding countless tightly strung golden threads. Seeing the talismans tied between the thick strings, Toji frowned. They were clearly not ordinary talismans.
"Father, over there."
At Zoro's quiet call, Toji's gaze naturally followed the direction Zoro's finger pointed.
And they saw it.
"..."
Toji didn't know what to call it.
Behind the densest cluster of golden threads lay something flesh-colored and lumpy, vaguely resembling a human corpse. Looking closer, it seemed like pieces of human or animal flesh had been roughly cut, sewn together, and stuffed. It was slightly transparent, resembling the shed skin of a large insect or snake.
The strangest thing was that despite its grotesque and horrifying appearance, Toji felt no revulsion looking at it.
Instead, a strange tenderness arose.
Much like the feeling he got when he looked at Zoro.
"What is this?"
Zoro, too, felt no disgust. His muttering voice was laced with bewilderment, but that was all.
"—A very long time ago, it was something intended to be used as your body."
As soon as the voice was heard, Toji spat out the storage curse. In an instant, the curse spirit's mouth swelled and Toji drew out the handle of the black blade. Turning towards the source of the voice, he already held the jet-black, armed blade in his hand.
From the shadows emerged a middle-aged woman with a neat, traditional appearance and an androgynous face.
…No, can that even be called a 'woman'? Or even 'human'?
Though she appeared to be an ordinary middle-aged woman, Toji's sensory perception warned him that she was different. He had never sensed this kind of presence before, causing him to tense up completely.
"You're Tengen, aren't you."
Zoro spoke calmly. The woman, Tengen, nodded.
"You recognized me immediately. Yes."
"You have multiple breaths."
Just as stones have the breath of stone and swords have the breath of swords, a human has their own unique breath.
'But this person, I sense the breath of multiple people.'
Toji, whose sensory perception wasn't as advanced, couldn't distinguish this, but Zoro could. Aside from the most prominent and distinct breath, there were two more faint breaths.
The most prominent breath was undoubtedly Tengen's, while the other two...
"They're from the vessels, aren't they?"
At Zoro's assertion, Tengen's eyes widened, and she gave a bitter smile.
"You can sense their presence, can't you?"
I cannot sense them, Tengen added.
"Can you tell me what they are saying?"
"Why should I?"
"...Indeed, you have no reason to. I apologize."
"Hey."
Toji cut in, warningly interrupting Tengen.
"Continue with what you were saying earlier. You said you intended to use my son's body. What does that mean?"
Even though she mentioned it was a very long time ago, Toji didn't bring that up.
Tengen looked at Toji for a moment before she began to speak.
"I don't know much about your son."
"Then why—"
"But I do know a lot about the person who brought him into this world."
Toji's face went pale, and he fell silent. Zoro frowned.
"Brought me?"
"Yes. His name is— 'Kannon.'"
Tengen recalled a sorcerer from over a thousand years ago who had named themselves the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Once a friend, later an enemy.
Hearing the name Kannon, Toji immediately remembered where he had heard it before. Zoro, who initially wore a puzzled expression, now looked uncertain.
"If it's Kannon, then surely..."
"The name written on the box that stored your sword."
Well, it was Tengen who had engraved that name on the box, not Kannon. A wry smile crossed her lips before fading away.
"Come inside. There's much to discuss."
It was time to explain everything to the outsider who had been unwittingly brought into this world.
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