Chapter 120: Silver Soul (Side Story)

"Okakura, Ueda wants us to go to the battleship and move some food."

"Ah, coming."

Okakura Take yawned. She and Ando had only just returned from shopping for ingredients, and she hadn't expected to be sent on another errand so soon.

"Ando, are the Enmi really such formidable opponents?" Okakura asked, looking at Ando beside her.

"Yeah, I heard that whenever the Enmi are deployed in battle, the enemy is as good as dead," Ando said, gesturing animatedly.

"Is that so..." Okakura looked up at the towering battleship in front of her. Since returning, she had heard rumors—for instance, that some strange reinforcements had appeared on their side during this battle, carrying the flag of the "Yorozuya" and defeating the Enmi.

She also heard about a strange middle-aged man who had infiltrated the Joui faction. He was incredibly easygoing, drinking with everyone until they were all passed out drunk. In the end, this man even helped them win the battle, and now everyone was calling him the "War God of the Battlefield."

Though the title "War God of the Battlefield" made Okakura want to roll her eyes, what she found even stranger was that such an odd man had managed to get everyone in the Joui faction drunk—even someone as guarded as Commander Takasugi. From that perspective, the man was indeed powerful.

After entering the battleship, Okakura said to Ando, "Ando, you check the lower decks, I'll take the upper ones."

"Got it," Ando replied.

Parting ways with Ando, Okakura began making her way toward the top of the ship; weapons and such were someone else's problem.

As she reached the top level, Okakura heard a sound coming from a corner ahead. Frowning, she slowly approached...

"Ah—!! What is that!"

"Ah—! What's wrong?"

The first scream was Okakura’s, startled by the sight, while the second came from the monster standing in front of her.

Looking at the strange creature that consisted only of two legs, Okakura drew her long sword and asked, "Are you an Amanto?"

"Amanto? Me? No!" the two-legged creature said in a panic.

Okakura looked at him suspiciously. If he only had two legs, how was he even speaking? What kind of bizarre thing was this?

"Ah! This is terrible. Why am I the only one whose glasses disappeared first? And now my body is fading so slowly—when will I ever be able to go back?" the two-legged creature stamped its feet in frustration. Okakura remained curious about where the sound was coming from.

"Are you an Enmi?" Okakura asked curiously. She hadn't seen an Enmi before they were wiped out, so she didn't know what they looked like.

"Huh? Enmi? No, I'm human," the two legs replied.

Are there humans on Earth with only two legs? Okakura was even more confused.

Suddenly, the two legs jumped up excitedly. "Great! I can feel the fading speed increasing; I'll be able to go back soon!"

"Eh? Back? Back where?" Okakura asked.

The two legs ignored her, continuing to mumble excitedly to itself, while Okakura noticed that the legs were indeed slowly disappearing from top to bottom.

"Wait!" Okakura lunged forward. She had never seen such a strange human before, and seeing him about to vanish, she reflexively wanted to hold onto him.

But to her surprise, the moment her hand touched the fading legs, she felt herself begin to disappear as well. The speed was incredible; within seconds, only her head remained.

"Eh! What is going on!" No sooner had she spoken than her head, too, vanished...

"Ah..." It was unclear how much time had passed, but Okakura felt her eyes finally opening, as if waking naturally from a deep sleep.

She opened her eyes, rubbed them, opened them again, and rubbed them again... After repeating this countless times, she finally stopped and couldn't help but exclaim, "Where am I!"

Before her stood rows of dilapidated skyscrapers. The wide streets were completely empty, and when the wind blew, dust and sand swirled everywhere.

"What on earth is happening? Wasn't I just on the battleship?" Okakura looked left and right, completely stunned. She couldn't process such an inexplicable situation.

*Vroom, vroom, vroom—*

The sound of motorcycle engines came from behind. Okakura quickly stepped aside, thinking it best to move out of the way.

But to her surprise, even though she had moved, the motorcycles didn't pass her by; they stopped right beside her.

The bikes were ridden by a group of thugs dressed in rags, with hair dyed in various colors and styled into mohawks. Each of them wore a surgical mask, which Okakura assumed was just a prop to look cool.

"My god, this kid looks terrifying, and he's not even wearing a mask."

"Boss, he must be from the countryside."

"Yeah, only country bumpkins are this stupid."

The mohawked thugs circled Okakura, observing her like a monkey in a zoo.

"..." Okakura was furious. These mohawks were incredibly annoying!

"Hahaha, I didn't think there were still idiots walking around Edo without a mask. Hey, kid, you got any money? Since you look like you just crawled out of the boonies, hand over your cash and I might find you a place to sleep, hahaha!" the leader, a red-mohawked thug, laughed loudly.

"Are you trying to rob me?" Okakura asked.

"Cut the crap, hand over your money and don't waste our time," the leader said arrogantly.

"Sigh... you guys are the real idiots," Okakura sighed.

"What! You ugly brat, you dare insult us? Get him! Strip that ugly kid and throw him in the trash!" At the leader's command, the other mohawks charged at Okakura on their bikes.

Okakura clenched her fists. She decided that since these thugs dared to rob her, she would just rob them back.

Just as Okakura was about to act, a black shadow dropped in front of her. It was a man in a black robe with his entire face wrapped in bandages, leaving only one eye visible. He glanced back at Okakura before charging forward.

"Ah..." Okakura watched blankly as the man suddenly appeared and used a staff to knock the thugs—bikes and all—to the ground.

After finishing off the gang, the man stopped. He turned to look at Okakura, remaining motionless for a long time. The intensity of his gaze gave her goosebumps.

"Uh... thank you for helping me. Is there anything else you need?" Okakura asked cautiously.

The man remained silent. Okakura wondered if the bandages were wrapped so tightly that he couldn't speak.

"Sir? If you don't mind, could you tell me where this is? I'm from the countryside and have no idea where I am," Okakura said.

"This is Edo..." the man finally spoke. His voice was incredibly hoarse, as if someone were strangling him.

Edo! Okakura froze. She couldn't believe she had ended up in Edo!

"And what year is it now?" When Okakura asked this, she already had a bad feeling, and after hearing the man's answer, she felt her worldview shattering.

She had arrived in Edo fifteen years in the future! She hadn't expected to cross the barrier of time into the future so easily.

"What is going on..." Okakura slumped to the ground. Suddenly thrust into this strange future, she had no idea what to do.

Just then, the man in the black robe walked up to her. "Leave Edo."

"I want to leave too..." Okakura gave a bitter smile. "But even if I leave, I have nowhere to go..."

The man was silent. After a few seconds, he spoke again, his voice still sounding like it was squeezed from his throat: "Follow me."

"Eh?" Okakura looked up, studying the man. Generally, someone who covered their entire face and body in black robes was suspicious, and she was wary of his motives.

However, she decided to follow him for a bit; if something felt wrong, she would just run away. She figured that since she looked so ugly, he shouldn't have any malicious intentions toward her.

"Fine, I'll follow you, but wait a moment first," Okakura said, flashing a sly grin.

Five minutes later, she had emptied the pockets of all the thugs lying on the ground. Jingling a stack of coins in her hand, she smiled. "Alright, I'm done. Sir, you were the one who took them down, so here, take two-thirds of the money."

She held out a stack of cash to the man.

The man looked at her and shook his head. "I don't want it."

"Huh? You really don't?" Okakura asked, surprised.

"No."

"Alright then." Okakura silently tucked the money back into her own pocket. She figured maybe this man really was a good person if he wouldn't even take money offered to him.

With this cash, she thought she could survive in this future world for a while. She decided to follow the man to figure out what was going on, then find a job to support herself and see if there was any way to return to the past.

Although this world was technically her own, she felt much more familiar with the past. This world gave her a very bad feeling...

Okakura followed the man through the streets, seeing ragged people huddled in the alleys. Every so often, groups of thugs on bikes would ride by, smashing shops and shattering windows of abandoned buildings. Yet, there were no police to stop them. This world was truly chaotic...

Okakura was perplexed. If the Shogunate had moved to Edo, how could it have become like this? The Kyoto she saw fifteen years ago was already prosperous, and she had assumed Edo would be even grander. She never expected the future Edo to be so desolate.

"We're here," the man suddenly stopped. Okakura wasn't paying attention and bumped into his back.

"Where?" Okakura rubbed her forehead and looked up, then she cracked...

Although the building in front of her was old and dilapidated, and the sign hanging out front was so dirty it was barely legible, Okakura could still make out the faint characters: "Paradise of Love"...

Why would this jerk take her to a love motel!