"Clean-up Squad" was seamlessly staged under Kuroro and Sarasa's organization.
Perhaps even the original author would not have imagined that in this garbage station considered by the world as "scrap accumulation area," there's a group of half-grown teenagers struggling to make a living on Meteor Street while seeking bits and pieces of joy from his work.
After Machi, Uvogin, Shalnark, Feitan, Phinks, and Franklin took the stage, Pakunoda, whose youthful charms were budding, leaned her head on her hands in the audience, watching... Everyone was singing, laughing, enjoying the stage to the fullest... As the host, Kuroro occasionally pondered...
If only everyone could continue like this.
"Hey~ damn it, old man, you hit too hard!" Uvogin, who got "sliced" once by Shalnark, suspected this guy held a personal grudge, using public revenge privately, stopped pretending to be the "Bear Monster," almost wrestled with Shalnark again... "What did you call me?"
"Old man... so what?"
"I'm only a year older than you!"
"Being a year older is still older!"
"Hit... hit him hard... Uvogin, beat him! Shalnark...damn, this guy is too sinister, he actually kicked his groin!"
The drama descended into chaos because of Uvogin and Shalnark, creating a muddle, yet the group of children sitting in the audience watched more enthusiastically, shouting and cheering, making the scene lively.
"Hohoho..."
In the prayer hall, standing in the corridor outside the window, was an old priest.
He watched all this with a smile, accompanied by a mysterious young woman with a veil covering her face.
"Lianzi, look how wonderful it is..."
The green youth squandered the breath of youth, filled with energy, unlike him, old and feeble, gasping for breath with every step, seeing his days dwindling.
The young woman remained calm, refraining from responding to the old priest, instead bringing up another matter: "Lately, a new group of child traffickers has arrived from 'outside,'"
Through the glass window, Lianzi watched Uvogin "Bear Rubbing Tree," pressing Shalnark to the ground, calmly saying: "By then, who knows how many of these children will be left."
"Garbage," "weapons," "corpses," "abandoned infants"... This is the bloody cruel reality of Meteor Street.
The old priest sighed faintly: "Respect others' destinies, let go of the savior syndrome,"
"All we can provide is a stage not too big, as for the future, who can tell... where these kids will ultimately end up?"
The road of life is long, whether you die early or late... just... a handful of yellow earth...
"Just like Killua, did your teacher ever imagine back then that she would have the experiences she has today?"
"That woman..." A ripple emerged in Lianzi's cold gaze,
She fell silent.
The old priest chuckled, his thoughts drifting far away with the wind, crossing over mountains, traversing oceans, swirling into Kukuroo Mountain, landing in a garden.
It was evening, a silver-haired man with hair swaying gently down to his waist was accompanying a woman for a walk in the garden. Perhaps having eaten too much dinner, the woman sneezed inadvertently, causing her belly to tremble and startled her: "Baby, I'm sorry, it's mom's fault, mom apologizes to you."
On the verge of giving birth, the woman was quite nervous, noticeably more sensitive than usual.
Silva gently stroked her back, soothing her softly, while glancing towards Tsubone as she stood silently under a streetlamp, her two pink pigtails swaying.
Silva quietly escorted Killua back to the bedroom, after some cajoling, coaxing her to sleep, he headed to the study with the old housekeeper.
"Master, Scarface delivered a message, Young Master Roy has successfully passed the first trial." Tsubone adjusted her spectacles on her nose: "Master spent two successful hours in the basement this afternoon."
Pulling out a chair, Silva sat down, intertwining his fingers, resting his chin silently.
Tsubone unfolded a document organized by Scarface, gently sliding it across the smooth tabletop in front of the man: "It records how long Master takes during each offering to Lord Jager, please have a look."
Silva gazed absent-mindedly at the thick night outside the window, lazily waving his hand.
Fast... too fast... Even without looking, he knew, the youngster's movements in and out of the basement were fewer than those of him and his father, Zeno, but faster than both of them, completing the trial of the [Sand Worm] with the least time!
You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you manage a household, without experience, you don't know the fear of the [Sand Worm]... What does this indicate?
Silva pinched a strand of his hair, placed it before his eyes, seeing that silver hue, pondered silently for a long time, opening a drawer, reaching for a booklet at the bottom, tossing it over: "Give it to him."
"Yes," Tsubone respectfully received the booklet with both hands and retreated.
As the door closed with a creak...
Already, she was in front of Roy.
Tsubone respectfully presented the booklet with both hands: "Young Master, it's from the Sir."
"Dong~" At nine in the evening, the clock in the corner chimed...
Roy was hunched over the desk, writing and drawing, contemplating how to unfold his "preaching" plans on Meteor Street, lifted his gaze briefly scanning Tsubone, smiled receiving it: "Rest early."
The old housekeeper paused for a moment, rare uncertainty flickered in her elderly eyes lined with crow's feet, then quickly softened, bowing her head approvingly: "Yes."
She, just like she did in the study, treated Silva the same way, moved her heel, and bowed to retreat...
"Creak~" as the door closed....
Tsubone faced the door, her back to the night, standing quietly for a long time, suddenly recalling the brief conversation she had with Wutong that day, gradually realizing... the young master was starting to change.
He was no longer stubborn, and he no longer had barriers towards this family, these people. He integrated more and cared more, as if in just a moment, he had matured a lot...
At least, the old him wouldn't have smiled at her, much less occasionally uttered "concern and greetings".
People seem to become sentimental as they age,
Tsubone rubbed her aching eyes, took a breath, and gently walked away, but not before taking one last deep look through the window at the young man, leaving Roy alone with the dim light, flipping through the small booklet given by Silva.
The booklet wasn't big, even quite thin, with only a few pages. Looking carefully, Roy slowly realized... this was part of the "game strategy" that Silva created when he participated in [re: Death's Game], featuring maps hand-drawn by Silva, events he experienced, and interactions with some important "NPCs". At one moment, the young man's gaze focused, seeing a familiar name...
Benjamin Federick, the projection of "Benjamin" embodied in Frank Becky's corpse!
Roy frowned, and then...
saw below his father's evaluation of him.....
[Benjamin Federick, a member of the "Home of the Colorless" Security Knights, honest and brave, can be depended upon]
[Note: "Home of the Colorless"... "Outcast" band together to resist magical beasts, is the name of the territory established in the Forest of Aries... The lord "Col Rewston" is very powerful, suspected to be "Transmutation",]
[Suggestion: Start with the "Home of the Colorless", strive to pass the "knight selection", join the security group, and after establishing oneself stably, further explore the Dark Continent]
[Attached: Map of the "Home of the Colorless", and a terrain map of the surrounding known 'magical beast' territories...]
Roy saw here,
noticing that Silva even used a red pen to specifically highlight "Benjamin Federick's" name.
It was clear—
Whether it was Silva or Zeno or even Great-Grandfather Maha, perhaps they all still believed that [re: Death's Game] was nothing more than something Grandfather Jager created based on the Dark Continent, combined with his own Nenryoku, specifically as a game for the later generations to "harden their Nenryoku".
Perhaps, back then, it was precisely because he discovered Maha could detect some clues, that Grandfather Jager did not hesitate to use "Constraints and Oaths" to restrict him from entering... partly fearing he would go to extremes to "avenge" himself, and partly possibly with the intention of "protecting the Zoldyck".
Unfortunately...
'People change.'
'The man who once protected the outcasts against magical beasts, whom even the father who hardly acknowledged others relied upon, suddenly became the bishop hunting down the outcasts....'
What happened in between, Roy did not know, but after understanding this news, he felt an immense irony and sigh....
Grandfather Jager once said... the human world belongs to humans, and the magical beast's world belongs to magical beasts, but he never said... humans also have a day when they could turn into "beasts"...
Roy thought of Little Mary, thought of the "Thunder Spear", his heart heavy, mixed feelings, momentarily speechless
Just then, the evening wind lifted a corner of the curtain, rustling...
Leaning back against the chairback, intending to take a breath, he suddenly heard a panel notification...
["Power Of Faith" +1]
[Source: Kyojuro Rengoku]
[Note: Moving with the moment and the situation, your "follower" Kyojuro Rengoku's "fate" has changed, sincerely thanking you for saving his perpetually drunken father, guiding him away from decadence, and getting back on track]
Roy: "?"
Suddenly smiling, all the knots in his heart vanished,
yes, time flies like a fleeting horse, vanishing in an instant, people will naturally undergo varying degrees of change... body, mindset, and perspectives will all be different, just like... Benjamin Federick's fall, there will naturally be... like Kyojuro Rengoku's father... Rengoku Shinjuro "retrieving life"...
"And I, what I need to do next, is to shine the warm sun into everyone's heart, guiding them upward."
The corners of his mouth raised, as the youth's thoughts were released, suddenly finding the world vast... the booklet, the book, he simply didn't read them, turned off the lights, and went to sleep.
"Rasp~" Snoring rose, on this night that was warm but still chilly...
Demon Slayer World.
Since he parted with Roy and had a heartfelt dialogue with him,
Kyojuro Rengoku, with a Nichirin Sword at his waist, clad in a white haori with flames at the ends, left the residence of the Ubuyashiki Clan, just as he would always do before taking on a mission, returning home to visit his father Shinjuro and his younger brother Senjuro.
This time he made a decision that had been latent in his heart for a long time, yet had never taken shape—
To draw his sword against his father!