The Villain Knight Doesn't Want to Be a Hero

When he woke up again from the bed, Katsuragi Takumi fell into such confusion.

Although he was hit by Lin Qiao's fatal blow, he no longer felt any pain when he woke up because the latter controlled the strength and had a medical emergency gun.

——Or rather, this is why he was able to wake up so quickly.

He came to a somewhat secluded park alone, and was somewhat moved by the noise along the way.

The busy streets with lights on are completely different from the desperate future.

His face was full of complicated expressions, and he looked up in a certain direction.

Seven years later, a sky wall will appear with that place as its center, dividing the country beneath its feet into three parts; and in another ten years, Pandora's Tower will rise there, and at the same time, a terrifying alien named Killbus will descend on Earth.

What a despairing future that is...

But now he is powerless and even becomes a hindrance when he steps onto the battlefield.

"Don't I have faith...?"

Sitting on the swing in the park, the slightly rusty iron chain made a teeth-grinding "sizzling" friction sound in the quiet night.

Although I really want to refute this, unfortunately, both Lin Qiao's evaluation and the subsequent inspection of the genius bottle by those who did not believe in it have confirmed this.

Science is the only thing worth believing in, but science denies him today.

"As expected, you are here."

"Father?"

While he was feeling somewhat dazed, Shinobu Katsuragi came over with her back to the street light.

His skinny body blocked the light from the street lamps, yet somehow made people feel at ease.

"....Why are you here?"

He turned his head to the side, his tone a little stiff.

The appearance of Katsuragi Shinobu made Katsuragi Takumi, who was originally in a bad mood, force himself to cheer up - at least he didn't want to show his cowardly side in front of his father.

However, in response to his forced calmness, Shinobu Katsuragi, as a father, did smile and recalled.

"When you were little, you liked to come here whenever you were alone and upset. I didn't expect that after so many years, this habit has not changed."

While sighing, Shinobu Katsuragi sat on the swing next to her.

"You're not in a very good mood, is there anything you want to say?"

"....No."

He lowered his head and replied insincerely.

How long has it been since I sat with my father like I do now?

It seems like it has been almost ten years since the other party committed suicide in public and secretly went undercover under Evolto.

After finally regaining his memory and seeing the other person, he was separated again in less than 20 minutes because of the killbus...

The same situation was faced by Shinobu Katsuragi. The person sitting next to him was not the elementary school kid who kept running around him, but an adult who was mentally mature and had missed his growth due to various reasons.

From the time Lin Qiao told him that Katsuragi Qiao was missing to the time he found him, he is still a little at a loss.

'How should I face him?'

The same problem was faced between Shinobu Katsuragi and Takumi Katsuragi.

They were clearly father and son, but there was an almost eerie silence between them.

It was as if there was an invisible wall blocking them on both sides - that was a high wall called time, which took 17 years to build.

"Hey, Qiao, can you tell me what happened in the future?"

After a long silence, Shinobu Katsuragi spoke first, using the future as a starting point.

“…”

Katsuragi Takumi hesitated for a moment and then nodded in response to his father's request.

Although theoretically telling people in the past what would happen in the future might trigger a considerable chain reaction, he couldn't think of such things at the moment.

In a slightly hoarse voice, he slowly told everything about the future.

However, since his memories were not synchronized with those of Sento, even though he heard others roughly describe their subsequent experiences, he only had a general idea of ​​what they had experienced.

Therefore, the focus of the conversation was still on the ten years when Shinobu Katsuragi "committed suicide".

"Did something like this actually happen...?"

"I'm such an unfit husband and father for abandoning my wife and children."

After listening to Katsuragi Takumi's description, Katsuragi Shinobu sighed with a heavy heart.

His appearance also made Katsuragi Takumi, who was already unable to control his tears, unable to control his tears anymore.

"No, father, you did nothing wrong! You had to do this in order to defeat Evolto and create a new world!"

As if to vent years of dissatisfaction, Katsuragi Qiao shouted at the top of his lungs.

Fortunately, this place is relatively secluded and there are not many people around.

Shinobu Katsuragi on the side just remained silent. No matter how to say it, it was indeed his dereliction of duty to abandon his wife and children for ten years.

After a long while, he continued to ask: "What happened after that? Didn't I act with you at that time?"

“…”

"That's it..."

Katsuragi Shinobu sighed with mixed feelings. Although the other party didn't say anything, he could probably imagine his own ending.

——I guess my future self won’t be very optimistic.

Katsuragi Takumi's eyes were red, and he pursed his lower lip tightly: ".....Father, am I disappointing?"

He was called the "devil scientist" because of his cruel human experiments, and the knight system he developed triggered a war that killed countless people. In the end, even the genius bottle he created himself denied him.

"Although I didn't say it out loud, I know that the person everyone is looking forward to is not me, but the person named 'Kiryuu Battle Rabbit'..."

"But then, what am I!?"

No one wants to see a demon scientist like him rather than a warrior of love and peace.

Katsuragi Takumi himself knew this.

But it is precisely because I understand this that I want to deny it.

He had done so many things, even abandoned his conscience, and was labeled a demon scientist, but in the end he had to be denied by his past. He could not accept this no matter what.

Unlike those who shout about bondage and faith, science is the only thing he firmly believes in, and only science is his salvation...

But when the Genius Bottle became unusable, this last bit of belief was shattered.

“…”

Shinobu Katsuragi did not respond in a hurry, but raised her hand and patted his head gently.

Katsuragi Takumi's body trembled, just as he remembered from his childhood.

Chapter 518 Accepting Another Self

Although Katsuragi Takumi really wanted to say that she had grown up, she didn't say it even when the words came to her lips.

In the park, the only sound was the quiet crying of the unrecognized demon scientist.

"As for me, I haven't seen what you look like after losing your memory, so it's hard for me to make any specific comments."

Shinobu Katsuragi spoke slowly, "But after listening to your and other people's descriptions, I really think that the child called 'Kiryuu Battle Rabbit' is very similar to you."

“…No.”

"No, they are very similar indeed."

Seeing his son vehemently denying it, Shinobu Katsuragi sighed and continued.

"You may not remember it, but in elementary school... you are now. Although your self-esteem is much stronger than others, you are indeed willing to open your heart and trust your friends wholeheartedly."

“…That was a long time ago…”

Shinobu Katsuragi chuckled: "Maybe it is true for you, but it is happening to me."

Not knowing what he was thinking of, he couldn't help but smile...but then the guilt in his heart became even stronger.

Demonic Scientist...

In just five words, what is revealed is a title that was accumulated with the lives and corpses of countless people.

Even after hearing the other party's previous story, Shinobu Katsuragi still couldn't imagine what kind of experiences the child who followed her and shouted "I want to become a scientist like my dad and benefit all mankind" had in the next 17 years to become that terrifying demon scientist.

I just think it has something to do with my fake death for ten years...

I am such an incompetent father.

The more he thought about this, the more bitter his expression became.

"But, Qiao, in my opinion, it is not that 'Kiryuu Battle Rabbit' replaced you, nor that you wiped him out, you are the same person..."

"...I'm not as naive as that guy."

Was it really him after all?

Even if the body is the same person, there are still differences in what truly determines a person's core.

Faced with Katsuragi Takumi's unwilling argument, Katsuragi Shinobu shook his head and slowed down his tone a little.

"Didn't I just say that... when you were a kid, you really looked like 'Battle Rabbit', remember?"

"Although your memory was erased by Evolto at that time, if you look at it from another perspective, isn't it the same as leaving behind the burden of the past and being reborn with relevant scientific knowledge?"

"..."

Reborn?

It seems that this explanation is indeed possible.

Shinobu Katsuragi glanced at Takumi Katsuragi who seemed to be deep in thought, and continued.

"To put it bluntly, a person's life is just a blank sheet of paper that is constantly painted. Everything we experience is the color that time has painted on us. It's just that Evolto's ability allows you to temporarily return to the state of a blank sheet of paper."

“But don’t forget that white is our original color. It’s just that we have too many colors on our bodies and have forgotten it.”

Yes, they are the same person.

Rather than viewing 'Kiryu Battle Rabbit' as another personality born after amnesia, it is better to view it as Katsuragi Takumi who has returned to being one year old, without being poisoned by society.

The choice made by Kiryu Sento is Katsuragi Takumi's choice, and Kiryu Sento's belief is Katsuragi Takumi's belief.

The only difference between the two is that Katsuragi Takumi has grown up and can no longer see the world from an innocent perspective, while Sento is just a child with an adult body and a vast amount of knowledge.

Katsuragi Takumi hates Sento's naivety, just like how grown-up people are afraid to face their own dark history;

And the reason why Sento hates Katsuragi Takumi is that he sees himself as an adult, busy and overwhelmed by mortgage and car loans, right?

It's just like Emiya Shirou and Hong A, both of them dislike each other, but they have to admit that it is indeed themselves.

“Rather than escaping or resisting, perhaps what you need is to reconcile with yourself.”

“…”

Make peace with yourself?

Katsuragi Takumi fell into deep thought, seemingly really considering something.

Seeing this scene, Shinobu Katsuragi smiled. He knew that the other party had listened to his words.

But even so, I still need to give my son, who has always been precocious, some time to accept it.

He looked at his watch, smiled and got up from the swing: "It's already this late, I'll go back and check your homework, otherwise you'll be unhappy again. You're looking forward to this the most, and you always hand it to me as soon as you finish your homework."

"...No way! I'm not that childish!"

"Really?" The smile on Shinobu Katsuragi's face became even wider.

"But if I remember correctly, your favorite thing is to complain that the homework is too easy, and then come up with a reverse question for the teacher, right?"