I created a foundation

Facing the clear eyes of friends full of doubts and curiosity.

Eriri knew it was her turn to "hand in her homework."

Her heart, which was a little nervous because of lying, miraculously calmed down completely when she saw their carefree and pure appearance, knowing nothing about the darkness of the world.

A gentle smile of helplessness, a hint of "I really can't do anything about you," appeared on her face, belonging to an older sister, and she began to tell the white lie that she had rehearsed in her mind countless times.

"You three idiots were all so scared that you were possessed by evil spirits. Of course you don't remember." Her tone was a little reproachful, but more of concern.

"Seeing you all looking pale and talking nonsense, I really had no other choice. I had no choice but to call my mom for help."

"Then, my mother used her connections to help me invite a very, very powerful 'master'." She deliberately emphasized the word "master" to create a sense of mystery.

"The master came to see you and said that you had simply provoked some unclean, small 'things' by playing that unlucky game. He easily 'invited' them away and gave each of you a talisman. Here, it's in your schoolbags, remember to keep it close to you."

The so-called "talisman" was, of course, a cryptic, childishly drawn talisman she'd drawn last night using yellow paper and cinnabar. But for her friends at that moment, it was the most reliable psychological comfort.

"Wow! Really? Master? That's amazing!"

"No wonder I feel so refreshed today! It's all thanks to the master!"

"Xiao Yingli, your family is amazing! They can even hire a master like this!"

The three innocent girls didn't have the slightest doubt about Eriri's flawless lie. They excitedly discussed it, and soon the topic shifted from the mysterious "master" to where to go shopping on the weekend and the latest cosmetics.

They returned to their bright and brilliant daily life.

Eriri looked at them quietly, seeing the genuine, carefree smiles on their faces, and listening to their youthful chatter.

Although she felt a little guilty and melancholy in her heart because of lying.

But more than that, there is an unprecedented, heavy sense of satisfaction and...relief.

She finally understood.

She finally experienced it firsthand.

The true meaning of the Foundation's existence.

I finally understood what kind of heavy "responsibility" Lin Qing and Kasumigaoka Utaha were carrying.

Ignorance is truly bliss.

And these so-called "investigators" who know the "real side" of the world may not have to drag everyone into this darkness.

Instead, it should become a solid, unknown dam.

Using his own body, his own lies, and everything he had, he protected those ordinary, happy people behind him who knew nothing about this, that seemingly ordinary, but in fact extremely fragile and precious...

daily.

At this moment, Eriri felt that she had truly completed the mental transformation from a protected person to a "guardian".

She was no longer confused or afraid.

Her golden eyes sparkled with an unprecedented light, as bright and determined as stars.

Chapter 0044: Senior sister, is your kendo for killing people?

On the other side of Tokyo, when Eriri's "test" had just come to an end, another prelude to the "inside" world was quietly playing in a dirty alley filled with the smell of rotting garbage.

The last rays of the setting sun had long been swallowed up by the towering skyscrapers. Night, like an invisible beast, descended upon every corner of the city.

Busujima Saeko, carrying a bamboo sword bag and dressed in a well-fitting sailor uniform, was walking home alone. She had beautiful, long, violet-colored hair, tied back in a neat high ponytail with a headband. She had a beautiful face and a tall, well-proportioned figure. Each step she took was steady and powerful, emanating an aura of authority, like a drawn sword, a stark contrast to her delicate appearance.

As the champion of the National High School Kendo Tournament and the contemporary heir of the centuries-old kendo master "Bushima-ryu", she herself is synonymous with "strength" and "discipline".

Suddenly, two staggering figures walked out from the shadows deep in the alley and blocked her way.

They were two drunken, murky-eyed street thugs, emitting a nauseating, sour odor of cheap alcohol and sweat, with obscene, aggressive smiles on their faces.

"Oh? Look, there is a super beautiful girl here!" One of the yellow-haired thugs looked at Busujima Saeko's exquisite body with a frivolous and malicious look.

"Senior, are you going home alone? Do you want us brothers to play with you?" Another fat man with a face full of flesh even stretched out his dirty, greasy hand and tried to touch Saeko's shoulder.

Faced with the insulting words and impending harassment, Busujima Saeko's face did not show the slightest fear or disgust that an ordinary girl would have.

Her eyes, in an instant, became extremely cold, like two pieces of black ice from the Far North that had not melted for thousands of years.

Before the two thugs could react, she moved.

Her movements were so fast that they didn't even make a sound of wind.

She didn't even draw the bamboo sword from behind.

Facing the fat man who had extended his groping hand, she casually took a half step to the left, dodging his attack at an extremely tricky angle. Then, like a venomous snake hunting for prey, her right hand shot out with lightning speed, precisely grasping the man's wrist and twisting it in the opposite direction.

"Crack!"

A crisp, dislocated bone sound was particularly harsh in the silent alley.

"Ah--!" The fat man let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered. His entire arm was twisted at a strange angle and he lost all his strength in an instant.

The other yellow-haired thug had just reacted to his companion's screams and was about to start cursing.

What greeted him was a clean side kick from Saeko without any unnecessary movements.

Her leg techniques are not as elegant as those of Kasumigaoka Utaha, but are full of the purest military fighting skills, with the purpose of destroying the enemy with iron-bloodedness and efficiency.

"boom!"

The hard tip of the shoe kicked the yellow-haired gangster's knee joint accurately.

Another crisp sound of bones breaking was heard. The yellow-haired thug didn't even have time to scream before he rolled on the ground, hugging his completely deformed leg and wailing in pain.

The entire process, from the start to the end, takes no more than three seconds.

The battle should have ended here.

But Busujima Saeko did not stop.

She slowly walked up to the fat man who was still wailing on the ground and lifted her foot.

Then, in his sight, he stepped down slowly and hard.

"Crack——!"

This time, it was the sound of the kneecap being completely crushed.

“Ahhhhh——!”

The fat man let out a scream that was ten times more shrill than before. His whole body was twitching with pain and he almost fainted.

Listening to this wailing filled with pain and despair, which sounded like the most beautiful symphony in the world, a morbid and extremely happy blush uncontrollably appeared on Busujima Saeko's face.

She could clearly feel the blood in her body boiling and cheering.

A sweet, intoxicating pleasure derived from the "violence" itself, like the finest drug, spread throughout her limbs and bones, causing her heart, which had become calm due to years of practice, to tremble wildly.

is her.

It was the other self called "evil ghost" hidden in the deepest part of her soul that ran out again.

She felt a deep fear from the depths of her soul for the "evil ghost" in her heart that longed for destruction, enjoyed killing, and indulged in the suffering of others.

She abruptly retracted her foot, no longer looking at the two thugs who had completely turned into mud on the ground. She turned around and quickly fled away from this dark alley that had brought her extreme pleasure and extreme fear.

……

Return to the quiet and deserted temple full of history.

Busujima Saeko changed into a pure white, spotless kendo uniform and meticulously tied up her long purple hair again.

Barefoot, she slowly walked to the center of the dojo and knelt on the cold wooden floor in the most standard "upright sitting" posture.

In front of her, on the ancient knife rack, quietly, lay an ancient sword wrapped in a black scabbard.

That was the heirloom demon sword that had been passed down through the generations of the Busujima family, leaving behind countless bloody legends in history.

"Muramasa".

Saeko stared at the knife as if it were not a weapon but a single confessional that could hear all her sins.

She slowly stretched out her white, slender, yet powerful hands that belonged to a swordsman, and gently stroked the cold black scabbard that seemed to be able to absorb a person's soul.

"I...once again, couldn't control myself."

She closed her eyes and began her daily "confession" to the demon sword in her heart.

"The 'evil spirit' in my heart has come out again."

"I enjoy the sound of their bones being crushed. I revel in their cries of pain."

"What happened to me?"

"I study swordsmanship, day after day, year after year, practicing so hard, but...what is it for?"

"Is it for protection? Or is it to... more efficiently satisfy that 'evil ghost's' thirst for killing and destruction?"

Her heart was filled with confusion, pain, and deep self-loathing.

She longed for someone who could give her an answer.

Or, there could be someone who could draw out the sharp blade and completely and forever kill the "evil spirit" in her heart that was becoming more and more powerful and uncontrollable.

Just at the moment when her fingers, due to her inner struggle, unconsciously touched the cold handle of "Muramasa".

"Om-"

The demon sword that had been lying quietly on the sword rack for hundreds of years suddenly made an extremely slight, yet extremely clear, buzzing sound like a heartbeat.