When I passed through the wooden gate, I felt that the army that was still fighting in chaos and fiercely in the vicinity seemed to be a little leaderless and in chaos, but Yanagiquan, who was in a hurry to get to Bentendaiba, had no time to take care of this.

After that, there was a forest, and then there was the Exotic Bridge. Liu Quan is already familiar with the geography of this area.

Will you be able to get through here safely and reach Bentendaiba? Will those terrifying premonitions come true? Can that chilling history be repeated in this illusory world?!

Liu Quan barely suppressed the cold that was gradually steaming in his heart, and desperately urged the horse to gallop forward.

Her short freshly cut hair fluttered in the wind, and the long hem of the oversized coat she wore over it fluttered gently as the horses galloped. After abandoning the infantry/gun she was still carrying when she walked out of Wulengguo, all she had now was a knife with a large and a small knife stuck in her waist. The purple ribbon wrapped around the hilt loosened a little, fluttering in the wind as the horses galloped by.

A wooden door has been left behind her. The horses under the crotch of Willow Springs had already rushed into the woods in the direction of the Exotic Bridge. In my ears, there seemed to be the rumbling sound of cannon in Bentendaiba from time to time.

…… Mr. Hijikata is in Goryokaku, and he doesn't know what he's doing at the moment?

…… He would never have guessed her crazy, absurd, illogical adventure plan, would he?!

…… Million...... Don't chase it out, Mr. Hijikata.

…… Don't spot the foot/gun she abandoned in the grass by the roadside.

…… Don't see her long hair cut off halfway......

…… Even if you see those, even if you have already guessed her plan, don't catch up, Mr. Hijikata.

…… Because, it doesn't matter if you win or lose, it doesn't matter if you have long hair, and it doesn't matter if she takes a gun or a knife.

…… It's you, Mr. Hijikata.

…… The important thing is that you are alive, and that after today, after tomorrow, after countless such days of rising and setting...... You can still live, Mr. Hijikata.

There are so many people that I can't save, there are so many people that I can't keep, and there are all sudden and irrefutable partings along the way.

But this time was different. This time I gambled my life, and I can't let you repeat your fate.

Your life shouldn't have come to an abrupt end so short.

Mr. Hijikata...... There are many people who will be happy if you live.

It's true. Many people here, many people who have left, and ...... Ten years later, a hundred years later, many people ......

You'll be happy. I'm glad you didn't die, and I'm glad that you survived such a brutal war......

Even the shogunate, even the Shido, was not worth sacrificing like that.

There must be a way to continue the way you believe in the priesthood if you live, Mr. Hijikata.

[Bang-!]

In Willow Spring's consciousness, which had been compressed by the oncoming wind that had been carried up by the rapid gallop, a gunshot suddenly rang out.

The strong impact made Liu Quan's body shake a little.

Frightened by the sound of the gunshot, the horse raised its hind legs and threw the willow spring out of the horse.

Liu Quan only felt a darkness in front of him, and then his body was thrown high. Before she could land, she heard the sound of the frightened horse's hooves running wildly, and it was getting farther and farther away from her, and at last she didn't know where it had gone.

At the moment when he had just been shot and fell off the horse, Liu Quan even felt a sense of relief.

But soon, the impact of the fall brought more pain to her body. She couldn't even tell if the part of the shot was more painful, or if the impact of rolling on the ground after falling from the horse was more terrible.

The body rolled many times on the bumpy dirt road due to inertia, and many parts of the body were worn out, and it was painful and hot. It was as if the whole back was about to fall apart, and when I moved a little, I heard the bones click.

When the body is completely still, the pain from the left lower abdomen slowly spreads to the brain, and then spreads.

The pain is hard to describe, sometimes it is a hot pain, sometimes it feels cold, as if the vitality in the body has been lost with the bubbling blood, and sometimes it is a throbbing pain, as if the pain has become a blunt knife, and it slowly grinds the cracked wound back and forth, intending to cut the flesh and take out the internal organs.

Liu Quan lay there on her back, her long hair, which had been hastily cut off on the way, was now about the same length as Hijikata's hair, and was scattered on the ground at the back of her head, mixed with dirt and blood, and a lock was attached to her face, which tickled her a little, but she no longer had the strength to raise her hand and pull the disobedient hair aside.

She slowly moved her left hand, struggling to the painful left lower abdomen, and touched it, immediately feeling a certain sticky feeling of liquid on her hand.

…… Are you going to die......?

This simple question immediately crossed her mind.

The black coat he was wearing, which was exactly the same as Hijikata's, seemed to be able to convey his body temperature and unique smell, and Liu Quan opened his eyes and stared blankly at the unexpectedly clear sky above him. The sky was divided into strange patches of blue by the canopies and branches of the trees in the woods, and through the dense leaves, she seemed to be able to see the white clouds flowing slowly in the sky.

…… It doesn't seem to matter if you die like this......

A dazed thought floated through my mind.

…… Sure enough, someone wanted to plot against him from behind......

Immediately afterward, such an inference rose from her somewhat hazy consciousness.

…… Who wants to plot against him......!Who doesn't want him to live?!

But even after a hundred years, there will be no answer, let alone now.

Liu Quan felt his breathing slower and slower, and his heart beating harder and harder each time. The massive loss of blood quickly took away the temperature of her body, and she now felt as if she was immersed in a pool of water that was about to freeze on a winter day, and slowly sank to the point of reaching a roof.

It seemed that the only thing on her body that could keep her warm for a while was the coat. Liu Quan slowly closed his eyes.

…… It's not going to die like that, is it?

However, it was not wrong, the pain, cold, exhaustion, and other near-death experiences she felt at this moment had not alleviated the physical torture caused to her by the slightest bit.

…… But there's nothing wrong with just lying quietly for a while...... Anyway, those people, the villains who wanted to kill the vice leader of the Shinsengumi back then, saw this scene and thought that their plan had succeeded and stopped, right?

Not to mention...... The system doesn't say how the player will come back from this near-death experience. Judging from the countless times it had watched her get hurt and indifferent, perhaps this time she could only suffer slowly in this kind of serious injury that was enough to take the life of a normal person, leaving only one breath, and then recovering even more slowly?

All sorts of chaotic and unrelated thoughts swirled through her already somewhat chaotic mind, but in the end, when her initial anger, panic, and uneasiness from being hit by a bullet and falling from a horse were all gone, all that flew through her mind was a scene that could be remembered as the best scene of her life.

The people who appeared in those scenes were very familiar and vivid.

The lively and cunning general secretary who is a little bad-hearted, Shinhachi, who is a little funny but extraordinarily straightforward, Heisuke, who is generally scheming as a young boy, Zuo Yuki, who is handsome and dashing like a public lover, Director Kondo, who is a good man, Uncle Gen, who is kind like a reliable elder, Shimada who is as loyal as a big bear, and Yamazaki, who is always hidden in the shadows but is extremely reliable......

Also, Shannan, who was once gentle and gentle, but in the end drank water and became a bloodthirsty Rakshasa because of his stubborn self-esteem as a swordsman, and defeated the madness of the Rakshasa at the end of his life and left his own coercion to her......

And, always so taciturn, calm and rational, but always played around by her, listening to her every word with an inexplicable face and extremely seriously, and agreed to catch up with the little one who reunited with everyone.

Tears crept out from under her closed eyelids, slipped down her cheeks, and fell silently into the ground beneath her.

In the end, she thought of the Shinsengumi Onino's deputy chief, who was strict and worried, and gave death orders or seppuku orders to his subordinates at every turn, but unexpectedly trusted and admired Mr. Hijikata and wanted to rely on.

Her mind flashed through many, many pictures of him, many, many words he had said, his expression, his character, his back...... But at the end, what came to her mind was a sentence that she had almost forgotten.

【…… She's good enough to handle it on her own. 】

Ah, this is what he said to the two of them at the end of Keio's second year, when she and Chizuru disguised themselves and sneaked into Shimabara to find out the news.

At that time, they discovered the ronin of Sacho, who was drinking and having fun in the corner house while planning a plot to attack the Shinsengumi. Chizuru hastily informed him, but when he arrived, he decided to let her stay in the corner house to spy on the ronin, and only take Chizuru away from the place that had become dangerous.

At that time, he said: [...... She's good enough to handle it on her own. 】

…… Is that so...... Mr. Hijikata...... Do you really think that with my skills, I am enough to deal with all the dangers on my own......?

Such a thought floated, and Liu Quan wanted to smile bitterly, but found that he was no longer able to do it.

…… At that time, he must have really believed that.

He believed in her skills and in her wisdom. He believes that she is not a weak woman who will cause trouble to others, but will only helplessly let others go to great lengths to protect. He believed that she was strong enough, strong enough to stand side by side with him to solve those dangerous problems, and believed that she could be relied on in a critical moment.

I don't want to admit it, but I ...... It seems that in many moments, this sentence, which sounds a little hurtful at first glance, has been kept in her heart, inspiring herself to have the courage to move forward in any danger.

Because that person believes in her so deeply.

Liu Quan let out a long sigh of trembling.

The physical pain seems to be gradually increasing, while the consciousness is becoming lighter. It seems that what the system bacteria have said is becoming less and less enough to make people have strong self-confidence and convince themselves that they can get through the current life and death situation safely.

What if the system loses its credibility only this time? What if you die like this? Even so, it's too late to regret it, right......?

She blinked, thinking blankly, wondering if at the moment of dying, the [Advanced Transfiguration Technique] produced by the system bacteria would be like the superpower that was sealed before her, once she lacked mental power and physical maintenance, the ability effect would disappear and become unusable?

…… I'm sorry, Mr. Hijikata...... I seem to ...... I've come across something that I can't cope with with on my own......

…… I made a samurai oath with you, but in the end, I still couldn't keep it......

…… After all, I'm just a woman, so I can't be a samurai...... I must have looked ridiculous now that I made that vow.

…… But...... I didn't mean to miss the appointment.

…… However, it seems that I can only follow you so far......

“…… Snow Leaves!!"

Suddenly, a voice shouted a second before her consciousness was about to float.

"Yukiba!Yukiba!!Please wake up, Yukiba!!"

The deep, magnetic voice was so familiar, full of sternness, worry, and nervousness. But now, the owner of that voice may have shouted so hard that it seemed like even the vocal cords were going to tear.

"Open your eyes, Yukiba!!Open your eyes and look at me!!"

The voice was like a flash of lightning, suddenly splitting her already chaotic world, tearing through her dazed consciousness, and pulling her back into the real world.

"Please don't die, Yukiba!!"

The owner of the voice seemed to kneel beside her, leaning down toward her face, clasping her shoulders with both hands, as if trying to get closer to see her bloodless face.

His shout was heard very close to her face. She could no longer ignore the voice, nor could she let her already weak will sink into the chaos.

It took all her strength to open her eyes. The eyelids were so heavy that they seemed to fall down again at any moment.

"I ...... I'm fine, dirt...... Earthwork...... Mr. ......"

It took all her strength to squeeze a sentence out between her teeth.