Chapter 36: Even If the Gods Agree, I Do Not

"Is... is that so?"

Tsukigaro Yomei subconsciously glanced at his right hand, which was being held, and while forcing a smile, he also wore an expression of deep distress.

"Actually, I haven't done anything remarkable."

"Facts are facts. I must thank you for your rescue."

Hyakusuke felt that Yomei was not particularly resistant to his intentions, so he took a step forward, closing the distance between them.

"Also... you may know nothing about me, but I have been watching you."

Watching? What was the meaning of this?

Yomei suddenly snapped back to reality. He seemed to associate the words with something, his face flushing deep red as he used the sleeve of his other arm to cover his face.

*Wait, is this a confession? Lord Hyakusuke, could he be infatuated with me...*

No, this won't do. I am actually a man, but doesn't he know my true identity?

He was nervous; his heart was pounding violently.

That's right, ever since he turned into a woman, he could still be considered a beauty. He must just be confused and temporarily bewitched by my looks.

*Tsukigaro Yomei, do not get carried away, and do not be shaken. This is just a misunderstanding!*

He desperately tried to convince himself in his heart.

Yet, even as he told himself to "stay calm," strange thoughts still lingered in Yomei's mind.

This man before him, knowing full well that he was also a man, still harbored feelings of love for him. Did this mean that his emotions transcended mere gender?

In an instant, anxiety, confusion, doubt, and shame, mixed with a tiny spark of excitement, surged forth. Various complex emotions filled his chest like molten lava.

"No... it's not like that."

He could not hide his anxious emotions.

"I... no, I know all about your situation."

Hyakusuke continued, indifferent to the reaction. "You may not yet realize your own importance, but I understand it very well... I feel there are some things I must explain to you..."

He did not notice that the young girl-like figure stood rooted to the spot, his fist clutching the flute trembling slightly, his face flushed redder than ever, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

No, even Hyakusuke did not have the ability to peer into the human heart. He assumed that the secret of the gender-bending transformation had been exposed, causing Tsukigaro Yomei to waver.

"There is nothing for you to worry about regarding what has happened to you," Hyakusuke said in a deep voice. "There will be a way to solve it later. The Tsukigaro territory in Kita-Ou was taken by demons, but we will surely find a way to take it back. In the future, there will be many things I hope to help you with."

*This... what on earth does this mean?*

Yomei bit his cherry-red lips. His body and soul felt an unprecedented sense of shame; he wished he could immediately cover his cheeks with his hands in embarrassment.

*He said... he hopes to help me?*

The grip Hyakusuke had on his right hand slowly tightened. Yomei found that he could barely pull his hand from the other's palm, nor could he retreat to escape.

The man's face drew even closer, and the scent of masculinity closed in as well. Half of his body went limp; he stood stunned, his mouth dry, his heart drumming, and his breathing becoming rapid.

*Does he... care about me this much?*

Yomei's heart was pounding.

How could he be so sinful? Had he truly bewitched a man like this?

"As long as it is something I can do, I will do it to the best of my ability."

Hyakusuke's face was resolute.

*Th-that is to say... he wants to protect me?*

Something in his heart could no longer be suppressed.

"A-are you serious?"

Finally, Yomei asked aloud.

Hyakusuke nodded solemnly.

"I can swear it."

He said, "Lord Yomei, please, you must trust me. There are some important matters I must inform you of."

***

Hyakusuke thought to himself that while he could not reveal the whole truth, he could disclose a significant amount of information.

*For example, information regarding the upcoming 'Amakahara Chapter of the Heavenly Cherry Blossom' is of great significance to the success of the strategy.*

"As long as you believe in me, we will surely find a way to solve the problems of the future."

Hyakusuke gripped his wrist tightly, expressing his thoughts deeply.

"You must have been in great pain and found it unbearable since turning into a woman... Please, rest assured, I will find a way to solve this matter as well."

"——I will help you turn back into a man!"

Huh?

The girl's expression began to crack.

No, not literally, but the change in his expression was so violent that it gave that illusion. The shy, rosy face filled with longing was instantly covered in frost.

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"

Tsukigaro Yomei spoke in an icy voice.

With a sharp "snap," he pulled his right hand away, the force of it nearly sending Hyakusuke's hand flying.

"My name is 'Mei,' and I am the daughter of the Nakuya family... It is truly laughable that you would confuse a woman like me with the young master of the Tsukigaro clan."

The young girl gazed at him with a blank expression.

Hyakusuke's hand, which had been pushed away, froze in mid-air.

"That is all for today."

Tsukigaro wore an expression like a mask, eyes cast upward as he spoke.

"...I am going back."

He turned around and walked away quickly.

"Wh-what happened?"

Hyakusuke was in disbelief.

...The atmosphere had been fine just a moment ago. Why did he suddenly get angry?

"What... exactly did I do wrong?"

He murmured, dazed.

The start had been very smooth, but it had ended in failure—a total breakdown of the conversation.

*I have no idea why he suddenly changed his face.*

...

The ox-cart caravan heading toward Snow Yaksha Lake traveled at a steady pace.

The half-demon oxen pulling the carts were sure-footed and had greater endurance than camels; this was a breed of ox specially cultivated by the Kurohime Mountain clan for hauling.

In this fictional world based on the game "Moonlight Brilliance," because a supernatural system existed, the development of technology had taken a different path.

According to the game's background setting, during the Crusades, Europeans accidentally opened the gates of Hell in the Holy City of Jerusalem, leading to a demon invasion of Europe. Countless mortals were corrupted into demon-kin, flooding Europe and Western Asia, nearly destroying the surrounding nations.

Under the leadership of the Vatican's Papal Court, the Holy War erupted. The centuries-long war between humans and demons became the endless history of Europe.

This battle continued to rage on European soil to this day. Utilizing new alchemy, the Thirteen Holy Knights, who had absorbed the original Christian blood, became the most powerful hero units in the human world.

Even so, the human allied forces were retreating step by step in the face of the demons and their creations. To combat the hellish legions, the Church did not hesitate to use forbidden powers, stealing various perverted "black technologies" from future timelines, pushing forward an early industrial path with steel, gunpowder, and alchemy.

At that time, the corrupted battlefields of Eastern Europe were covered in trenches. Artillery, bullets, and sorcery attacks crisscrossed; soldiers huddled in trenches, clutching their crucifixes and shivering.

Everywhere in Europe, sky-high chimneys stood tall. Factories, operating by absorbing toxic gases from the interdimensional hell, saw mortals working as cruelly as ants. Under the whip and the overseer, they worked like gears in a giant machine, striving with all their might for the "Holy War."

On the other hand, the Central Plains, ruled by the young Emperor of Tomorrow (having lasted until the 18th-century timeline), saw the contradictions between righteousness and evil, immortals and demons, which had accumulated over centuries, finally erupt in this era.

The young Emperor of Tomorrow had just ascended the throne; the government was unstable, treacherous factions had usurped power, and there were internal and external troubles, with floods and droughts occurring everywhere and starving people filling the land.

Evil practitioners and hidden great demons were all waiting for their chance... and the "Ghost King," who occupied the Iron Fortress on Mount Beiman, wanted to take advantage of the chaotic times to establish a netherworld in the human realm;

Many powerful figures of the demonic path were also searching for the whereabouts of the last piece of the Chiyou Tablet.

The foreign tribes in the north, bewitched by extraterrestrial demons, were sharpening their weapons, ready to march south and trample the Central Plains;

Deep within the underground palace of Mount Li, the First Emperor, revered by vampires as the original ancestor, was also slowly opening his blood-red eyes from his slumber, ready to lead an army of terracotta warriors to tear the earth apart and devour the entire human realm.

High above in the Ruins of Kunlun, the many Celestial Immortals with the ability to "observe time and space," faced with the changing tides of the world, looked down coldly at the earth as if they were playing a game of chess.

Political strife, the suffering of the people, foreign invasions, conflicts between righteousness and evil, the rise and fall of dynasties, and even the world itself, were all considered by these high-dimensional existences to be nothing more than a small fraction of the countless time variables.

Even if the world were destroyed, to the superior beings in the Ruins of Kunlun, it would be but a tiny ripple in the vast universe, insignificant—the observers' eyes turned toward a grander chessboard and a more profound struggle.

"So, that is why I said that Tsukigaro Yomei, this fated protagonist, is extremely important."

Hyakusuke walked behind the ox-cart, muttering to himself in his heart: "Europe is currently in the 'Trench Crusade 2.0' version, where humans and demon armies are fighting until their brains are about to explode... In the Central Plains, it's a clash between immortals, demons, righteousness, and evil. In fact, the super-powered individuals among humans are all busy dealing with world-ending crises."

This also led to the outbreak of the Underworld Vortex in the island nation, which these super-powered individuals failed to notice. By the time they realized it was a major crisis affecting the world, it was already too late.

It was the same principle as when a certain priest used "Made in Heaven" to accelerate time, and the Italian "dance star" couldn't catch up no matter how hard he tried.

"Although I don't know where I offended her, I still have to clear up the misunderstanding, right?"

Hyakusuke looked up, casting his gaze toward the ox-cart once more.

*It would be best to find a way to make him turn back into a man?*

...

*What do I do?*

*I think I messed up.*

Tsukigaro Yomei's heart let out a wail.

*Wuuuuuuu～～～～～～*

Infinite regret surged in his heart.

...*What on earth was I getting angry about?*

It was his own misunderstanding in the first place, yet he had gotten angry at someone else out of sheer embarrassment.

Remembering what happened last night, his cheeks twitched repeatedly, and he muttered under his breath.

*How unseemly.*

*Come to think of it, I should have built a good relationship with my savior... why did I pick a fight with him for no reason?*

*How stupid.*

He recalled everything that happened yesterday; whether out of annoyance or shame, the tips of the young girl's ears turned red.

His foster sister, Ayaka, watched all of this with cold eyes. Her intuition as a woman was sharper than anyone could imagine.

Precisely because of this, she vaguely sensed what was happening to Tsukigaro Yomei... In fact, recently, the foster sister had realized that her brother's tendency toward feminization was becoming more and more serious.

*This won't do.*

Ayaka pondered secretly.

Her brother was the one who would inherit the Tsukigaro house and would need to leave descendants for the clan in the future. With the person who was most suitable for him right by his side, how could he be obsessed with being a woman?

Ever since they boarded the ox-cart, Ayaka had been watching Yomei, noticing that he was clearly troubled, occasionally furrowing his brows, and occasionally blushing for no reason... These abnormal behaviors made Ayaka feel restless as well.

*My intuition cannot be wrong.*

*I never thought he would be moved by that person...*

Fortunately, her brother might not have noticed his own changes yet.

*There is still a chance.*

Ayaka clenched her fists secretly.

*I will not let this happen... Even if the gods in heaven agree, even if the ancestors of the Tsukigaro in the underworld agree, I, Ayaka, will not agree.*

That's right, it must be destroyed!

Because Ayaka was clenching her fists too tightly, her nails dug into her palms.

However, this petite young girl seemed entirely unaware...