The mess left behind by the Soul King and that damn monk….
Actually, my disciple is way too terrifying.
"Sigh…."
Through the conversation we had a few days ago, I finally remembered—or rather, was forced to remember—exactly what kind of man Tsunayashiro was.
He is the ultimate lunatic who, driven by his own fear, seals away and dismembers the very source of that fear into pieces.
What do I mean by that? My disciple is a world-class, psychopathic serial killer who, simply because he didn't want to die, will eventually seal the Soul King, clip his nails, hack off his limbs, and tear out his brain and heart just to throw them away.
He's the kind of high-tier nutcase who would rank first in any contest of depravity—the man who will eventually stuff the Soul King's corpse-like husk into the Royal Palace to use as a wedge to keep the worlds together.
To think such a terrifying man was treating me as his master. If I had turned him away out of annoyance when we first met, he probably would have held a grudge and stabbed me in the back by now.
"Ugh…."
Living for a million years sounds daunting, but it's a thousand times better than being murdered, stuffed, and having my limbs lopped off.
When I think about it, the lore mentioned that the Soul King remained 'alive' even in that state….
'That means he had to watch his own limbs being severed while he was still conscious.'
I wouldn't be able to stomach that, even if I were dead. I have no desire to become a Soul King who has to endure such a fate. I started this training in the first place because I didn't want to die; I have no intention of getting taxidermied because I backed the wrong horse.
'I'm getting the chills.'
I wonder if the mother of "Kim Hitler" in that one novel I read felt like this. Actually, she said she was proud of him, so she's probably a lot different from me.
'Until just recently, I only thought of him as a talkative, inquisitive, and annoying brat….'
I remembered far too late. The moment I heard his name and thought it sounded like a villain from the original series, I should have run away without looking back. Or at least thrown out a decent excuse and gone into hiding.
But I didn't.
'…It's too late for regrets now.'
If I was going to do something, I should have done it a long time ago. The time has passed. It has passed by a long shot. So, what can I do?
'I have to accept it….'
Of course, "accepting it" doesn't mean I'll just acknowledge that maniac as my disciple and leave him be. If I leave him to his own devices, he'll eventually stretch his demonic claws toward me. I can't just sit still until it's too late to act.
But that doesn't mean I'm going to kill Tsunayashiro either. If I were to kill him here and now, the world would come to an end.
According to Tsunayashiro, if the Soul King remains alive, his habit of eradicating Hollows will lead to the total annihilation of the Reishi that maintains the world's structure, causing everything to collapse.
If I kill Tsunayashiro, the Soul King lives. If the Soul King lives, the Three Worlds will never be divided. If that happens, the original story is completely shattered. The world will simply continue in this state forever… waiting for the inevitable destruction to arrive.
'Now that I think about it, it was the Soul King who maintained the Three Worlds too.'
In the end, the only things I can do are either side with Tsunayashiro to backstab the Soul King… or secretly run away and hide before things go south.
Siding with the future Soul Reapers is one option, but I want to avoid getting entangled in unnecessary business like betraying the Soul King and then being bound by duty. Look at that monk. After he betrayed the Soul King, he ended up stuck in the Royal Palace, unable to leave unless he had to have a one-on-one meeting with Yhwach or the Seireitei was being pulverized.
I don't want to live like that. They say with great power comes great responsibility?
Then I just won't get great power. I just won't do anything that requires responsibility.
Right. More than anything, I want to be free. I just want to live a life of leisure. So….
'If things look bad, I'm bailing without a second thought.'
Good. That's enough of that. If I keep agonizing over the same topic, my sharp-witted disciple might notice something strange and start getting suspicious. Let's stop thinking about it.
I nodded to myself, grabbed an axe, and chopped down a tree with a satisfying swing. I cut it into manageable chunks and brought them back. Then, I retrieved the iron chisels and carving knives Tsunayashiro had made for me last time.
Why am I suddenly woodcarving in the middle of a serious existential crisis? Because there's nothing better than carving to clear one's mind.
"Now, what should I make with this?"
I pondered for a moment, but I had actually already decided. Yes, it was time for an action figure. Unlike before, when I had to crudely scrape wood with broken stones and brute force, the arrival of chisels and carving knives allowed for much finer detail.
I could finally create the figures I had wanted to make for so long. And not just by making parts and gluing them together—I was going to carve a single-piece figure out of a solid block of wood.
"Hmm…."
The problem was deciding who to carve….
'What is safe to make right now?'
First off, carving the original protagonist's group or supporting characters was a big no-no. Who knows what kind of butterfly effect that would cause? In that case, there was only one safe, middle-of-the-road choice.
*Scrape, scrape.* Instead of blocking out the whole shape first, I began carving slowly from the front. I had the form of the face, body, limbs, and even the clothes visualized in my head, so I simply carved them into existence.
Unlike a 3D printer that builds things up, it felt like a "Reverse 3D Printer" that carved things away. Because of that, it initially looked like one of those Four Heavenly Kings statues engraved into a wall, but if I kept at it, an action figure would be finished.
Of course… I had to deal with my disciple first.
Sensing a presence approaching, I put down the carving knife and looked toward the source. Sure enough, before long, Tsunayashiro emerged from the bushes with a grim expression.
…What's with him now? Is he already scheming to backstab the Soul King or me? No, surely not… right?
I shook my head and looked down at the figure in my hands to steady my mind. The half-finished figure looked as if half of its body was still fused into the wood. Looking at it this way, it actually looked a bit like it was taxidermied against a wall.
"Master."
Letting out a deep internal sigh, I turned my head toward my disciple, only to see him staring at me with a look of pure shock. No, he wasn't looking at me—he was staring at the carving in my hand.
"That… Could it be?"
"Oh, this? It's the Soul King. Carved it well, didn't I?"
Perhaps because I had emptied my mind while carving, it was only after the words left my mouth that I realized exactly who I was showing a Soul King figure to. I screamed internally. However, even seeing the half-finished Soul King, the disciple showed no reaction. That made it even scarier. An improvised explosive device with no visible timer is much more terrifying than a time bomb where you can see the seconds ticking down, isn't it?
That was exactly how it felt. The lack of reaction was bone-chilling.
"...."
Would it be okay if I just quietly moved on? With that thought, I pulled the figure back and slowly began carving with the knife again.
It wasn't just my imagination; a gaze so intense it practically stung my back was fixed right on me. I felt like I was going to lose my mind from the pressure.
Why was I so intimidated by a mere disciple? How am I supposed to handle a lunatic who seals the Soul King and hacks off his limbs?
You're not supposed to engage with crazy people.
While I was carving the figure with trembling hands, I failed to control my strength and sliced the carving knife clean through the figure's arm.
I looked at the figure—where the 'arm' had become 'ar/m'—and then slowly turned my head toward my disciple. My disciple, who had been staring at the severed arm of the Soul King figure, finally gave a slow nod.
"I understand."
Understand what, you lunatic? Stop finding meaning in every little thing and 'understanding' it! I wanted to scream that at him, but I was afraid he'd say, "Forgot my true nature, didn't you? Hup!" and seal me away too. I quietly set down the Soul King figure and left the area.
'I have no intention of becoming Soul King No. 2.'
I wasn't running away because I was scared. I was simply putting into practice the lesson that one should never bet their life on a gamble.