“When I told it to Tsu that I burned down the village, he got angry like a raging fire. He’s a troublesome guy who didn’t even thank me for what I did for him.”

I tried to persuade him, but he refused and criticized me without showing any gratitude. So, I…

“But what kind of whim is this?”

Shukin voice brought me back to the present from my thoughts of the past.

“That’s about letting go of Tsu’s children, isn’t it?”

“Yes. At the time of that incident disguised as an accident, You did not allow me to put an end to the siblings.”

Tsu and his wife were already dead, but the siblings were still alive.

　Shukin, who was accompanying me, insisted on killing them. He said, “It is not recommended to leave a grudge.”

“When I was a child, the only manga my parents gave me was a second-hand historical manga. It was about the story Yoritomo and Yoshitsune..”

“I see, and what about it?”

His tone was one of disbelief, as if thinking I was trying to dodge the question.

“When I read that history manga as a child, I thought to myself, ‘This guy is the biggest idiot ever.'”

“Are you talking about Yoshitsune or Yoritomo?”

“Neither. I’m talking about Taira no Kiyomori.”

“Oh, I see.”

The Tale of the Heike is so famous that it was even adapted into a television drama. From the perspective of Yoshitsune and Yoritomo, it was a revenge story with a sense of exhilaration. While there are some aspects of Yoshitsune’s ending that are open to interpretation, overall it wasn’t a bad outcome.

The problem lies with Kiyomori.

“After killing numerous members of the Genji clan, they were eventually avenged because they spared the lives of the two young siblings out of sentimentality. At that time, if they had mercilessly killed them, they would have been safe.”

“That’s true when you think about it. There are various opinions about whether they were swayed by sentimentality or not.”

Later, I researched and found that there were indeed theories that there were other motives and circumstances at the time.

However, the book I read stated that they had helped the wife at her request.

“To be honest, I didn’t understand it. They should have cut off all possible concerns for the future. Even the slightest possibility does not require sentimentality… that’s what I thought.”

“Are you talking about the siblings?”

“Yeah. It seems that even someone like me had sentiments.”

If we had not spared the lives of the children, they might have not become a nuisance in the future.

However, I  hesitated to take the children’s lives with my blood-stained hands, having already killed a friend in a fit of anger

“And this is the result of letting them go. We have no right to laugh at Taira no Kiyomori.”

“That’s correct.”

His  tone was calm and devoid of emotion, but their words were sharp.

“I understand that letting them go was one thing, but why did you decide to meet with them now?”

“One of the main reasons is that they became aware of our scheme.”

“Is it appropriate to describe this act as a scheme?”

Shukin worries too much about minor details. Regardless of how one words it, the substance does not change.

“I never imagined that Jin-kun would awaken to prophetic dreams. We were actually more cautious of Yae-kun. Let’s admit that this was unexpected.”

“I was a dropout. Despite being the eldest, I had no talent. It seems I had a chip on my shoulder.”

Since the two moved to that location, they had been under surveillance as a precaution.

But Yae became a recluse, and Jin quit his job and they both entered early retirement.

I never expected to have any involvement with them again, let alone become enemies, but here they were.

“I was truly surprised when I heard about the precognitive dream”

“It seems that he and his sister were not aware of the presence of bugs until just recently”

“They found and destroyed them on the day that we made the phone call.”

I had become aware that the detectives were investigating the children of the family, and had been sniffing around our affairs as well, at the beginning of this month.

Given the timing of events, I became wary that something might be up and decided to take action. Until then, I  had only been monitoring from afar, but I had a deliveryman plant bugs in the entryway and living room.

I  had never expected that Jin would have a precognitive dream and end up becoming my opponent.

“Is it the obsession of the Tsu family?”

“Obsession? I would like to say that such unscientific things don’t exist, but we wouldn’t have any credibility if we said that.”

There are unseen forces that exist. We cannot deny them.

“By the way, it seems that Yae-sama and Hanako-sama (Diya’s Real Name?) are spreading information about Modoki on the internet.”

“Leave it be. There’s nothing we can do about it even if we make a fuss about it now.”

As of now, the discussion about it has only spread to a small corner of the internet. Even if it were to rapidly spread within a few days, it would be too late to stop the plan from being executed, even if something were to happen to me.

“Do you really plan to carry out the attack on the 29th?”

“I don’t know, but fulfilling our promises is one of our principles.”

“I understand that, but I don’t see the necessity of doing something like that.”

Although I have known Shukin for many years, it seems like he still doesn’t understand me. The answer is already decided.

“It’s just a whim.”

“I seeeeeeee.”

“You also want to see the success of Modoki, don’t you?”

“Well, to be honest, I would like to see it.”

This guy is a scientist through and through. He didn’t even hesitate to conduct human experiments. When problems arose from the medication, he added further improvements silently.

“To add, we are in the position of villains.”

“Without a doubt, we are the villains. It is certain that we will be the greatest disaster for humanity.”

“To the children of the Tsu family, there may not exist a more ideal villain than us. We are the enemy of their father and a threat to the world. So, let’s play our role as the villains to the fullest!”

Shukin let out a long and deep sigh, as if he were about to release his soul.

I turned towards the window and drank the grape juice in my hand while looking at the night view. I couldn’t help but think that wine would have been more fitting here.

“Do you still regret killing Tsu-sama? Putting yourself in danger to ease the worries of his children.”

“You read too much into things. I believed that just as I had the right to seek revenge against the people of the village, Yae and Jin should also have the right to seek revenge. That’s why I provided them with the opportunity.”

That was the only reason.

“Is the world without Tsu-sama boring?”

I answered with silence, neither affirming nor denying.