I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Arima paused for a moment at this point.

He bit his lower lip, his face dominated by intense grief.

Seeing Arima's expression, the light in Souji's eyes disappeared at a visible speed.

No, no...!

Souji silently pleaded in his heart.

Don't tell anyone!

The commander subconsciously raised his hands.

She wanted to cover her ears.

She didn't want to hear what Arima was going to say next.

But... it was too late.

"Based on the assessment... the body shape of the last corpse found... matches Tachibana-kun perfectly..."

After speaking, Arima closed his eyes in pain.

Arima's pronunciation was very clear, his voice was very bright, and he spoke standard Edo-accented Japanese.

But Souji still couldn't understand what he was saying.

I don't understand what Arima is saying... or rather, I refuse to understand or acknowledge what Arima is saying.

A strange tremor shot up from the soles of my feet to the top of my head and surged into the depths of my mind.

It was as if a sound-isolating barrier had formed around him.

The sounds around us, the sounds of the world, gradually faded away and disappeared.

A ringing sensation filled my ears, and all I could hear was a buzzing noise.

The tremor in my brain gradually turned into dizziness.

Souji felt dizzy and as if he had lost his balance.

He couldn't even distinguish the position of the sky and the earth, couldn't perceive himself, and forgot that he was a person named "Okita Souji".

It seemed like a second later, or perhaps a year later, Harada's roar brought Souji back to his senses.

"Hey! Mr. Arima! Is what you said really true? Are you sure you didn't hear me wrong?"

Harada lunged forward and grabbed Arima by the collar.

"Hey, Harada, stop this!"

Nagakura grabbed Harada's wrist, trying to pry Harada's hand off.

In terms of seniority, status, and professional title, a junior like Harada should not have been so rude to Arima.

No matter how hard Nagakura tried, Harada's hands remained completely still.

"Sōji, you..."

Hijikata appeared behind Souji at some point. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then hesitated and stopped.

Souji turned his eyes as if looking at something, or perhaps his empty eyes were looking at nothing at all, scanning his surroundings.

Harada, still agitated, continued to clutch Arima's collar.

Nagakura held Harada firmly in check.

Kondo looked deeply saddened.

Hijikata cast a worried look at her.

Inoue's body swayed slightly.

A rare look of disappointment appeared on Saito's cheeks.

Kyubei, the loyal old servant of the Aoto family, collapsed to the ground and wailed loudly.

Kiryu remained composed, but a hint of shock flickered between his brows.

Chiba Jutaro looked on incredulously.

As for her two rivals in love...

Kinoshita Mai blinked, then blinked several more times, as if checking the clarity of her vision.

Then, like a baby learning to walk, she took cautious steps forward...

In the next instant, the girl staggered, her delicate body falling forward like a puppet whose strings had been pulled out.

Fortunately... just as she was about to fall, Kiryu reacted quickly and stopped the fragile puppet that was about to collapse and was trembling.

At that moment, the already petite girl in red appeared even smaller.

"Waaaaah..."

In an instant, Kinoshita Mai's eyes filled with tears.

Tears, the size of peas, slid down her bloodless face and dripped to the ground.

Her red lips opened and closed repeatedly, but she couldn't put her thoughts into words.

"Waaaaaah...!"

The crying intensified rapidly.

The pent-up emotions burst forth like a flood.

Unable to hold back her tears any longer, Kinoshita Mai broke down in tears.

I cried so hard, I was so heartbroken.

Kiryu didn't say anything... he just silently hugged her and quietly watched over her...

Souji's other rival... Sanako's reaction was almost the complete opposite of Kinoshita Mai's.

No matter what happened to her, even when she was kidnapped by the madmen of the Exile Group, this Yamato Nadeshiko remained calm and composed, showing no negative emotions and without crying.

As the commander's gaze fell upon her, he saw her slender neck held high, gazing up at the sky.

Because of the angle, Souji couldn't see what kind of expression Sanako was making.

Strangely enough, Souji felt very calm inside.

There was no shock, no bewilderment.

Even when faced with the sudden news that "Aoto is dead," Souji did not do anything unusual in front of everyone.

But my body sensations are getting stranger and stranger... Everything that comes into view seems unreal.

She vaguely sensed a huge... "monster" emerging inside her.

This "monster" expanded rapidly over time.

It filled my chest, then surged up my throat, and then poured into my mouth, nose, and eyes.

Affected by this "monster", Souji felt his eyes start to burn and his nose repeatedly sting.

"Hiss...! Hiss...!"

The commander desperately suppressed his emotions, enduring the pain with all his might, and sniffed hard.

She doesn't want to cry.

It would be incredibly embarrassing to burst into tears in front of so many people.

They painstakingly wait for the emotional waves to subside, while relentlessly building high dams to block those emotions.

However... they caught up.

The "monster" caught up.

Souji knows what this "monster" is.

It is an emotion called "sadness".

The "monster" slowly rose up and gradually gripped her entire body.

No...don't come near me...

The commander pleaded desperately.

As long as he doesn't confront this emotion, as long as he doesn't acknowledge its existence, Qingdeng is still alive.

She took it for granted and naively thought that way.

But this is ultimately just a futile attempt to deceive oneself.

The "monster" disregarded Souji's will, continuing to expand, continue to grow, and continue to extend its large claws towards Souji.

An alarm bell rang in Souji's mind, urging her to run! Get away from this place as far away from this "monster" as possible!

However, his legs felt like they were made of lead, his feet seemed glued to the ground, and he couldn't move his body. Souji had lost control of his body.

Finally, the "monster" grew to its limit and tightly gripped the commander.

"Ah ah ah ah ah……"

The commander clutched his chest and stomach, and slowly squatted down.

"Commander!"

Hijikata, who had been standing behind Souji since the beginning, ready to help him at any moment if anything went wrong, quickly leaned forward and supported Souji.

Souji turned and glanced at Hijikata, with whom she had a brother-sister-like relationship.

The earthen mound was right in front of me, yet for some reason it seemed to be in a very far place.

Souji slowly withdrew his gaze from Hijikata and lowered his head.

What I saw was the charred ground scorched by the fire and my own tiny toes.

"Aa ...

His mouth emitted fragmented, meaningless groans.

A neutral, gender-neutral voice... without a doubt, it is my own voice.

Even though she was speaking, it felt like someone else was talking to her.