Mori calmly scrutinized Hyakki, pushing away any dark thoughts from his mind.

“Dazai, use your ‘No Longer Human.’ I can’t clearly see his injuries.”

“…Ah, okay.”

Dazai placed his hand on Hyakki’s hair, and as his fingers made contact, the layer of illusion that distorted the five senses dissipated, revealing Hyakki’s true condition.

Mori quickly tended to his burns with efficiency and focus, not distracted by questions about how it happened.

Doctors who faced Hyakki couldn’t help but be reminded of their calling.

—To save lives and heal the wounded.

As long as he could keep this child alive and alleviate his pain and suffering, Mori felt he wasn’t just a bloodstained executioner but a human briefly awakened to kindness and morality.

Hyakki sat on a chair with minimal contact surface, his hollow gaze reflecting his empty features.

He kept looking at himself, actually observing his life flames.

“Why is there a new red spot on my body…?”

“Didn’t I kill a evil beings?”

“No, he was definitely a demon god, deserving death for his heinous crimes! There’s no way I killed the wrong villain!”

“Even without the system’s mission requirements, I would have killed this demon god!”

Hyakki’s life flame was simple in structure, with twelve scarlet demon god spots scattered across the pure white fire. The demon god’s power remained within him, enhancing his physical abilities and polluting his soul.

Besides these twelve scarlet spots, there was now a faint red spot near his right shoulder. He had used his right hand prosthetic to slay the demon god’s soul.

While Hyakki was lost in thought, Mori bandaged him with the best burn ointment from the clinic, stabilizing his life flame. Hyakki’s chest and right leg were particularly severe, with charred muscle layers. His face, however, remained as grotesque as ever—still unbearably hideous.

“It seems you’ve lost your mask,” Mori said, removing his gloves. “Fortunately, I scanned Hyakki’s mask with an instrument and can temporarily print a human face using 3D blueprints.”

As he spoke, Mori turned to ask Dazai, “Do you want it expressionless or with a smile?”

Dazai answered honestly, “Don’t you think having a perpetual smile is quite creepy?”

Mori pondered this, imagining the kind of smile seen in horror movies.

“Besides, with the illusion in place…” Dazai gazed at Hyakki. “There’s no issue going out, even without the mask. I won’t dislike Hyakki for superficial reasons.”

Mori glanced at Dazai and Hyakki, then walked over to clean his hands.

**Dazai,**

**When you no longer care about appearances, how can you tolerate the mundane souls of others?**

**Living too clearly, too thoroughly, is not necessarily a good thing.**

He lowered his head and smiled slightly.

Watching the growth and changes of these two kids, exploring their inner selves, was one of the joys of taking them in.

“Hyakki, don’t overthink.”

Dazai pinched one of Hyakki’s fingers. The prosthetic was worn, no longer as smooth as it had been, each mark a testament to battles fought. Fortunately, replacements for limbs were available through the Port Mafia.

Hyakki… had killed someone with his own hands. Unfortunately, it hadn’t restored his organs.

“Look at me.”

They would share this burden of sin, and Dazai would help him find redemption.

“I’m much uglier than you.”

Dazai’s offhand remark left Mori speechless, prompting him to think about his own receding hairline. If Dazai claimed to be unattractive, what did that make him, with wrinkles at the corners of his eyes?

Mori sighed, drawing a retort from Dazai: “Mori, please don’t eavesdrop.”

Mori grumbled, “I’m standing right here!”

A reminder not to learn to ignore adults at such a young age and to stop flaunting their bond.

Hyakki’s heart perception sensed two life flames, one large and one small, one black and one gray, helping him. The red light illuminated the darkness, dispelling the confusion and guilt over possibly having killed someone. Having spent years hunting down evil beings, what mattered to him wasn’t the act of killing itself but the nature of the sin committed by the person.

**Humans, evil beings, demons, the multitude of living beings…**

**I only kill those who commit evil.**

In the world of his mind, Hyakki stubbornly poked at the gray system panel, unable to see any rewards.

Killing a demon should have resulted in regaining an organ!

…