บท 37: Chapter 37
Everything was shrouded in darkness.
Though nothing was visible, Zoro walked on.
Then, a white and singular path appeared.
"..."
Zoro looked at the path but chose not to walk it, turning back into the darkness instead.
...
When the white path appeared for the second time, Zoro, as before, did not walk it and turned away. The same happened the next time, and the time after that.
Appearing, then turning away.
Appearing, then turning away.
...
At some point, the white path stopped appearing before Zoro.
Still, Zoro kept walking.
...
Then, he broke free.
...
Click, clack.
Sounds could be heard.
Like a broken machine, something seemed caught and misaligned.
...
"Brother!"
At Megumi's call, Zoro woke from a shallow sleep. Sitting against the wall, Zoro slowly rose to his feet.
'I think I had a strange dream.'
After his reincarnation, Zoro found himself dreaming unusually often, though he couldn't quite remember what the dreams were about.
Zoro pushed the thought aside as he noticed Megumi looking at him with eager, bright eyes, clearly wanting something. Right now, taking care of Megumi was his priority.
"What's up?"
Megumi pointed with his finger at the cover of the picture book he had been reading. A giant apple with an indiscernible small animal peeking out. A mouse? Or perhaps a mole?
Megumi said,
"App—le."
"Do you want an apple?"
"Yeah!"
Fortunately, there were some apples left from the day before yesterday. Zoro got up and went to the kitchen. He took an apple out of the fridge, washed it clean, and placed it on the cutting board. Zoro took out a kitchen knife and began to peel the apple.
Tatatatatat!
The knife moved so quickly over the cutting board that it was almost invisible. The red apple skin slid off smoothly, and the white flesh of the apple was cut into pieces the size of sugar cubes.
Zoro separated the small, neatly cut pieces of apple for Megumi and the larger slices with only the skin removed for himself and Toji, placing them on a plate. He popped a large piece of apple into his mouth and chewed.
"Tart."
It was a good thing. Despite his youth, Megumi didn't particularly like sweet things. He especially disliked sweet side dishes, like bell peppers, for example.
Megumi toddled over to Zoro, eyed the apple, and swallowed his saliva.
"Hungry."
"It's almost ready, just wait a bit."
"Okay. Megumi wait."
Megumi nodded his head vigorously.
Gently stroking Megumi's tufty hair, Zoro carried two plates to the living room.
He sat Megumi down in a toddler's chair that was a combination of a table and chair and fastened a bib around his neck. Then, he handed him a child-sized fork.
As soon as Zoro placed the plate filled with neatly cut apple pieces in front of Megumi, he poked a piece of apple with the fork. When Megumi put the apple piece into his mouth, his green eyes widened in delight.
"Yummy!"
"That's good to hear."
Pleased that it suited his taste, Megumi kicked his legs happily while sitting. The first time Zoro had given him a fork, the outcome was messy enough to be uncertain whether the food had been eaten or just scattered on the floor, but now he had gotten quite good at eating by himself.
'Still spills a bit, though…'
Zoro noticed an apple piece escaping the plate due to Megumi's clumsy use of the fork. Looks like it's time to clean up again. Getting used to cleaning after meals when raising a child, Zoro didn't mind much.
As Megumi joyfully ate his apple, he suddenly paused and picked up a piece with his fork, offering it to Zoro.
"Brother, ah."
"I've got my own. You eat."
"Papa too?"
"Papa has his own too."
Zoro glanced at Toji, who was lying on the living room sofa with his eyes closed. It might seem like he was asleep, but Zoro knew he was pondering something.
Lately, Toji spent more time sitting or lying down, quietly thinking. Of course, his senses weren't dulled; if Megumi was about to fall, he'd catch him, and he'd respond immediately if Zoro called. But if left undisturbed, he could remain in that state for hours.
'Since when?'
It seemed to have started from the day Zoro received the Wado Ichimonji. What had happened when toji went to buy the Wado Ichimonji? That was something Zoro didn't know.
However, Zoro did know one thing.
'It seems like he's moved past the stage of confusion.'
When Zoro first asked Toji what he wanted to become, Toji clearly appeared confused and flustered. But now, he seemed to be contemplating seriously.
Whether Toji had a dream or a desire, Zoro didn't particularly care. Whether it was an act of evil or something everyone thought impossible. However…
'I just hope he doesn't take too long to decide.'
The reason was that Toji had stated he wouldn't train until he had defined his dream. In a world with poor public order like in their previous lives, there would be pirates or bandits everywhere for Zoro to challenge, but now Toji was his only worthy opponent.
Zoro was eager to wield the Wado Ichimonji as soon as possible. Feeling the itch to use his sword, Zoro pushed the Wado Ichimonji with his thumb, slightly drawing the blade before sliding it back in.
Click.
The sound of the sword sliding back caught Toji's attention, snapping him out of his reverie.
Zoro pricked a large apple slice with a fork and offered it to Toji, who absentmindedly accepted and ate it.
Noticing Zoro, who was nearly as tall as the long cloth-wrapped sword he had belted around his waist, Toji asked with a hint of reluctance.
"Are you going to keep carrying that around?"
"Yeah."
"Isn't it heavy?"
And long. Although Zoro managed to balance it well, it didn't look comfortable from any angle.
"Do you want to put it in the spirit realm?"
"No."
Toji didn't press further at the firm response. His son must be quite stubborn.
"Then at least put it somewhere in the house. …You're not planning to go outside with it too, are you?"
"I am."
"…You're going to get arrested for carrying a blade."
"In this country, kids don't get punished. Plus, katanas are considered craft items, not weapons."
"Where did you learn that?"
Even if he wouldn't be punished, it wasn't good for a five-year-old to be seen walking around with a sword by everyone, especially in the crowded streets of Tokyo.
"Katanas are considered craft items when they're quietly placed in a display cabinet or hung on a wall at home. Walking around with one strapped to your waist like you're doing is definitely going to draw strange looks and lead to being stopped for questioning."
Moreover, Zoro's sword was far too sharp to be mistaken for a mere craft item by anyone who saw it. A misstep could lead to Zoro being dragged to the police station and locked up in a cell. They needed to find a solution.
Suddenly, Toji thought of an artifact he had acquired somehow but had never really used, left neglected within the armory of his spirit realm.
Ugh, Toji spat out the spirit realm from his stomach. He then pulled out a red cloth from the inflated mouth of the spirit realm.
"If you're going to keep wearing your sword around your waist, use this."
"What's this?"
"It's an artifact. If you use this as a belt and secure the weapon to it, the weapon won't be visible to non-sorcerers. To be precise, it won't be visible to anyone who can't see the spirit realm."
It was taken from a paranoid sorcerer Toji had killed in the past. That sorcerer, fearing a high-ranking spirit could appear at any time, used this belt to dangle various weapons and carried them everywhere.
It was only invisible to non-sorcerers; spirits and sorcerers could see it clearly, so Toji rarely found a use for it, as his targets were usually not non-sorcerers.
Toji handed the red cloth to Zoro.
"It won't be visible to the eye, but it can still be felt if touched by non-sorcerers, so be careful not to bump into anyone with the scabbard. And the moment you draw the weapon, it becomes visible again."
Actually, Toji was more worried about Zoro encountering a sorcerer. Sorcerers were few, but in a city as populous as Tokyo, it wouldn't be strange for one or two to be among the crowds.
'There are enough crazies out there.'
If by chance a sorcerer saw Zoro and thought he had potential, scouting or even kidnapping wouldn't be out of the question.
'I won't let it slide if that actually happens.'
Unaware of Toji's imaginings of slicing a sorcerer trying to kidnap Zoro into pieces, Zoro accepted the cloth without hesitation.
"Thanks."
He untied the belt he was originally using and replaced it with the one Toji handed him.
The moment Zoro secured the Wado Ichimonji to the new belt, it disappeared from his sight. It was still tangible, though not visible. Zoro blinked.
"It really is invisible."
Drawing the sword, its form reappeared to Zoro's eyes. Zoro smiled, satisfied.
'This could be useful.'
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