Chapter 513:

The Awakened General

Shift


I had to start back pedaling her train of thought or things were only going to get worse. An angry and crazed girl with a genius level strategist mind would only end in pain. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure there’s much I could do to stop her. Though for some reason, I was going to try anyway. “Woah, I think you’re skipping a couple steps. You need to think about this.”

She shook her head, already becoming fixed upon the goal in her mind. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to convince her otherwise of what she’s doing. Losing her parents may have pushed her over an edge that I couldn’t stop. If that’s the case, what should I do? Did my own goals have any meaning anymore? She may no longer be the same woman that I’ve chased all this time.

“They attacked, I shouldn’t hesitate to strike back.”

That’s hardly a surprising mindset. As a child, revenge normally would be one of the reactions, though also least possible to achieve. But this was Aya, if she put her mind to it I had no doubt that she could succeed. That was the frightening thing about her, inexperienced in the real world as she was, she knew how to build a plan. “But they’re still likely searching for you. You’re safe right now, but the moment that they discover you, you're going to be dead.”

It was then that I realized what I was looking at wasn’t just rage or emotion like I thought, but she had a disturbingly clear view that I could see in her eyes. The day she spent mourning and traumatized looked as though they had never happened. It gave her clarity of mind that sent a chill down my back. I hadn’t counted on this, though thinking about it now I probably should have. She wasn’t normal in any respect. She recovered from this too quickly.

Or maybe, she’s redirected her anger into focused revenge.

I didn’t really know. More questions than answers filled me at the moment. While they continued to pop up for me, I knew I had to work to defuse the situation with Aya. “You can’t just walk back. I know my parents are bastards, but they’re going to be prepared for a counterattack.” Honestly, I doubt that they considered it. They weren’t necessarily dumb, but their greed and obsession with power made them blind. She probably could catch them off guard, especially since they didn’t know where she was and might have considered her to have fled in fear.

“The balance must be made whole.”

“How are you even going to do it? Do you have access to any resources? You won’t be able to just walk up and kill them.”

Hopefully that would be enough for her to realize that she didn’t have a chance. I didn’t know what her network was compared to mine. But I hadn’t seen anyone, so I think she’s cut off from it if they’re not already dead. She wouldn’t be able to make a move as she was. “I will create my army and crush them!”

Chapter 513 – The Awakened General

I paused. ‘She’s going to create an army? She’s playing the long game with this…’ Her level of commitment to this course became even more clear now. Doubt started to build up for me as I didn’t know if I could stop her from this path. “An army? Do you have anyone that you can turn to?”

“I have you,” she stated with a simple matter of fact tone that I just sort of nodded in agreement, not even questioning it for a moment. It was true that she wasn’t wrong about me being here and helping her. I didn’t want to see her be killed like her family.

Damnit! I couldn’t believe I’m even thinking this. She’s the enemy, my target, why should I be caring? It was because she’s the one I have to beat, right? If she was gone I didn’t have my purpose or goal. I needed her alive. Yes, that was the fact. That’s the only reason she needed to be here so that I could prove to her that I’m better than her and that she’s wrong about me.

She’s always been wrong.

But I wasn’t getting anywhere with this. She stared at me waiting for me to reply. The look in her eyes showed me her hand extended out. Aya sought out the help that she needed to have her vengeance. There was no one else that could help her. It had been like that since the beginning, she helped herself. She wanted me, but I refused her that day. How would things have been different?

In the end, none of it really mattered. I had to focus on the fact that nothing here was real. The only reason I engaged with this world and played its game was because of her. She was the one I faced before and defeating her even in this fake world had some value to me. That was the only reason I needed.

I needed an actually good reason to tell her, something that she would believe. This craziness had to end. “You’re asking me to kill my own parents?”

“I was under the impression that you didn’t even like them.”

“Well…I guess you’re not wrong, but I hate them, they're still family.”

“They saw to my parents’ deaths. I won’t forgive them.”

“There must be some other way that justice is served that doesn’t require this.”

“This isn’t about justice, it’s about what’s right.”

“What’s right? Do you hear yourself? Killing someone is right?”

“I’m owed this. They committed the wrong, not I. I’m just doing what’s within my rights.”

‘Damn feudal laws.’ I already knew that I wasn’t going to be able to talk her out of it. I wasn’t sure why I even got sucked into trying to do that. It was a pointless effort as this showed. A sigh came from me knowing that I reached the end point with Aya. ‘Only bright side is that this gives me a line that I can draw.’

This was the path that she planned on following. Perhaps it was what the script of this story had in mind for her. Nothing I did could turn her away, a pre-determined destiny. I didn’t really know what it was honestly. I didn’t know how things all worked. You would think having real players in this world would make a difference. I didn’t know. “I can’t follow you. This isn’t right. They’re bastards, but they should be arrested, not killed. If you can do that, then I can.”

“You forsake…” Surprised again, I saw emotion in her eyes when she finally knew that I wouldn’t agree with her. It wasn’t something that I expected to see from her. So many different sides to Aya that I never knew about. A stabbing in my chest that I couldn’t place made me wince watching her. “Then this is the end…”

“Aya…this doesn’t have to…” She stepped aside to go for the doorway. ‘What am I saying?’

“This is the choice you made and this is mine.”

Aya already made it out several meters before I turned and chased after her. “What are you going to do? Where will you go?”

Pausing, she looked back at me over her shoulder. Fierce determination washed through her, the resolve she showed me before. “What I said I would do. Wherever and however it must be done. I will see things through.”

There was no stopping her, apart from tying her down. I gave up at this point trying to do anything to convince her.

I had lost her.

Contemplating my options, I waited at the hut for a few hours. Trying to find the right solution didn’t matter anymore, but my mind still tried to figure it out. It dwelled on it far longer than I wanted, but I couldn’t stop.

Eventually, I forced myself to stand even with my head still spinning angles and plans. I wished it would accept things like I have.

I only made it about half way back before one of Nerine’s spies showed up for me. We made it back to the Hirohata Clan with no trouble. Things seemed to be normal within the estate, the death of the Izumi Clan did little to change things. These sorts of things seemed to have little impact in the immediate, but shifted power around behind the scenes. I doubt things would remain that way for long. Between the Lord’s thirst for power and Aya’s revenge, nothing would be the same anymore.

Plans only went so far and I had nothing at the moment. Waiting for Seiji and Nerine to arrive did my mind no favors. It couldn’t stop thinking about Aya. She continued to consume all of my thoughts no matter what I did to close her out. I wished it would understand that she was the enemy.

“You returned,” called out Seiji as he entered the room. The servant already had left us alone, understanding the situation. “Where’s Aya?”

“She ran off on her own…”

“What?! She’s going to get herself killed!”

Seiji reached out and grabbed me by the collar of my kimono. Even in this world, his strength was impressive, nearly lifting me up. “You don’t think I didn’t try to stop her?”


“Seiji, calm down. I can—“


“You’re not going to find her, at least around here.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

I stared at him asking for him to let me go. It took him a little bit to cool off and see, but he released his grip. “She wants revenge. She’s going to kill my parents.”

“But she’s got no way to do that,” Nerine reminded me.

“That’s not going to stop her. She’s left to do whatever it’s going to take to see them dead at her hands. She’s going to bring an army back.”

“Army?” he asked with a little disbelief, though I guess I couldn’t blame him. He knew less about Aya than I. Seiji didn’t understand how she worked and the drive that she had to accomplish her goals. There was a way out of what was to come.

I stared at the two of them, only ones I could count as allies on my side. If she committed herself to this course then so would I. We’d have our next game on the battlefield of war. “She’ll be back and she’ll likely kill anyone that stands between her and her goal. We need to prepare for the day that she returns. I’m going to need your help once more if we are to survive.”

As passage of time saw many things change. The children that Yuki and Saki began as had grown up to adulthood finally. However, they hadn’t been so fortunate as the rest of their friends in the hand that the world dealt them.

Standing behind a well dressed man in his thirties with a top-knot and a little more fat around his gut than looked healthy were the two siblings. Yuki and Saki, dressed in gray and white kimono, stood quietly keeping their presence minimized before the large man before them. They politely followed him as he walked through the busy streets.

They arrived at a colorful three story building with no outward signs of what business was inside. Before they entered a content looking young man staggered out just barely keeping his feet moving forward. Yuki looked over to Saki as they swallowed slowly. Fears became confirmed as they entered the first floor of a lavishly lit hall.

Through the air sang a thick sweet aroma that could effortlessly weaken the constitution and drift the mind off to pleasant dreams. Red silk hung from the ceiling in loops and arches covering up the wood ceiling and turning the room a soft shade of pink. And all that echoed through the building were the voices of women.

Sweat started to bead up over Yuki and Saki’s neck as they entered a forbidden place in their minds. Both wanted to flee immediately, but didn’t have that luxury. Their minds were so caught up in how they didn’t belong here that they didn’t even notice the man they followed finished making his arrangements.

“Come,” he ordered in a clear voice that snapped them out of their haze.

“Yes, Master,” they answered, getting their feet to move almost as though he commanded their bodies.

Up on the third floor, he slid the door open and within was a beautifully painted woman carefully dressed as if she should be at the court rather than within this place. She had a powerful air about her that sobered Yuki and Saki immediately and almost found themselves drowning in her presence. “I’m told you’re the best.”

“That is for you to judge, my dear Lord.”

“Yes, entertain me and show me your worth.”

“You can call me, Aya. How would you like me to address you for the night?”

Eytha
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