Hijikata gritted his teeth, so hard that even the lines on the side of his face were tense. He looked very pained, as if the person who had been seriously injured was not Liu Quan, but him.

At last he seemed to have made up his mind, and with his free right hand reached into his pocket, fumbled for a moment, and took out a small bottle.

“...... Please drink it. With an expression that resembled death, he said to Liu Quan roughly.

Then his palm loosened slightly, leaving only the three fingertips of his right hand to carry the top end of the vial, and lifted it above Liu Quan's face, so that she could see the vial and its contents clearly as she lay on the ground.

...... It contained a blood-red liquid that shook gently in the bottle as his slightly trembling fingertips.

Liu Quan's eyes widened for a moment.

"This ...... It's ......!!"

Hijikata gave a wry smile that resembled self-abandonment.

"That's right, it's like water. ”

His voice was so low that it was barely audible.

"It was discovered while sorting out Shannan-kun's relics...... Shannan-kun left a note stating that the bottle was the latest achievement developed by Tsunado to allow Rakshasa to carry out activities in broad daylight...... He was probably attracted to the powerful effect of this bottle of water at first......"

"I was supposed to destroy it, but I don't know why it didn't. ...... Is it because my heart is also shaken, or am I not willing to simply die one day when I have to fight for my life to protect the Shinsengumi......

He paused, looked past his hand holding the vial, and looked down sadly at her almost snow-white face from above.

“...... You died in my place...... I must not allow this to happen......"

Liu Quan's gaze circled back and forth between the bottle of water and the face of the earth.

"I didn't ...... What does this mean...... I was just...... Too bad luck......" she barely managed to squeeze out a few words.

“...... What nonsense are you talking about?"

He cried out as if he couldn't stand it, his pretty eyes fixed on her, and his face was undisguised with anger and pain.

"You secretly cut your hair short to the same length as me, and you're still wearing my coat...... Where's your gun?!Why didn't you bring it, but you brought your knife and the threat that Shannan-kun left for you?!" His questions were more aggressive than the other.

"When we were separated in Wulengguo, you were obviously not like this...... Didn't you know how to use a foreign gun? And didn't you use it in previous battles? Then why didn't you end up with that gun, but you brought a knife like me? Are you lying? What do you know that I don't know?! Why didn't you let me go to Bentendaiba, but rode out on horseback yourself pretending to be me?!......

Liu Quan couldn't say a word.

“...... Anyway, drink this. Hijikata abruptly stopped denouncing her assertion and ordered her in a tone that did not rise or fall.

Liu Quan stared at his face and shook his head slowly.

“...... No, no......" she replied in a low voice.

"I ...... I have not yet...... It's so easy to die...... This is supposed to be a bullet...... through, and did not ...... Stay in the body...... As long as...... As long as you can carry it...... After that, I can ...... high fever" She subconsciously wanted to refuse to drink the water that changed into water, and made up reasons intermittently.

“...... Think of Yamazaki!!" Hijikata shouted, his face full of pain that he didn't want to recall the past and had to bring it up.

Liu Quan choked.

Yamazaki...... On the Mt. Fuji Maru, he struggled with the high fever of the wound and repeated infections, but finally stopped breathing...... Is that reassuring and trustworthy, silent and reliable, always hidden in the shadows, doing the best work but no one knows......

However, to make her a rakshasa, the most painful thing is not herself, but him, right?!

Didn't he, like her, have witnessed how Shannan went berserk, how bloodthirsty, how he lost control, how he was extreme, and how he became another person they didn't know? Didn't they once kneel beside Shannan together, and could only watch him disappear with their eyes?!

Didn't he think if she had that day...... What will he do when that time comes?

"Drink it. ...... I beg you......" Hijikata's voice lowered, and the tone of his voice was painful and weak, and it didn't seem like his own.

"I ...... I can't watch you die like this...... Even if you want to use it to prolong your life, even if it can only be extended for a limited time...... I don't want to give up even a little bit of hope......"

The sound of cannon fire in the distance seemed to be gradually subdued. Ryuzumi lay in the glade of the woods, looking up at the face of the earth and the clear sky behind him.

Suddenly, the voice of Reiji Munakata came to her mind without warning.

[Xinya, thank you. 】

Thank you for trying to survive when everyone was already desperate. 】

[This is your shining virtue, please continue to work hard like this in the future.] 】

...... Oh, yes.

I almost forgot about it - we made an appointment to try to live.

Although the road was full of indescribable and unimaginable ups and downs, so difficult that she almost planned to gamble with her life, even gambling with fire and almost forgetting the few farewell words that Sonata Reiji had left in her ears, but at the end, she finally remembered it again.

And, for some reason, she also thought of the hug that Reiji Munegara gave her so hard that it almost penetrated the bone marrow after she broke free from the illusion of the Colorless King.

Now, are you living well in a world that is safe and sound, and there is no longer any fear of collapse, Zongxiang Senior?

I'm sorry. I will never forget your words again, and I will no longer rush to death without authorization. Because I now understand that my life is more valued and cherished by someone than myself.

Although we know that the guarantee of the system bacteria should be reliable, but now that we think about it, no matter how great the dilemma and how unpredictable the enemy, we always have a better solution than simply and rudely sending them to death, right?

And...... Here, it can be regarded as a ...... of plot development The key is to choose limbs, right?!

Want to live a long ...... Want to exit the market in a reasonable way...... A qiē clue finally points to the change of water in this vial - this, an extremely important plot item in the original game! It turns out that in her story, she also plays the ultimate and decisive role?!

Shinsengumi, Deputy Chief, Changing Like Water, Rakshasa -

It seems that all the key clues that appeared in the original work have been connected so far, and a whole cycle has been perfectly formed.

At that moment, she had a subtle illusion that this was not just a game world that she had to carry out a mission to save.

This is the reality she has to face right now.

This is the guidance of fate.

“...... I see. ”

Liu Quan replied in a low voice, and then with all his might, he raised his right hand with great difficulty, tremblingly grasped the lower end of the vial in Hijikata's hand, and slowly clenched it.

“...... Please let me ...... Do it yourself. ”

Hijikata didn't let go right away. He probably had already seen that she probably didn't have the strength to pull the cap of the bottle and drink the water smoothly, so in order to ensure that this would continue her life that was about to end, he planned to complete a series of preparations for her before drinking the water.

Liu Quan said again with difficulty.

"The whole thing...... Please let me do it myself. ”

There was no need for him to come back to help. If this moment is still not the end of her mission, then it will be necessary to spend more time with him in the future, but if he does not immediately dispel his guilt now, then when he faces him in the future, as long as she shows that she is affected by the power of the rakshasa - he will not be able to face the ugly and twisted her who has become a rakshasa, and he will remember that the reason why she has become like this is to go to Bentendaiba to die in his place - The feeling of guilt and the shame of being sheltered by a woman again will always come up at some unexpected moment, right?

Moreover, it doesn't matter if this body drinks water and is transformed into a rakshasa. Because it wasn't her own shell in the first place. Moreover, sooner or later, she will have to leave here, no matter whether the mission succeeds or fails, it is impossible to stay in this kind of game world forever.

Liu Quan placed the small bottle on his chest, firmly grasped the bottle with his left hand, and groped with his right hand, and it took several efforts to pull out the cap.

"I, in fact, have a deep fear of death...... So Mr. Hijikata was on the verge of despair...... It gave me another hope that I could refuse to die...... I, in my heart, I'm so happy......"

Her voice was hoarse, but she smiled softly.

“...... Probably, it seems that you can understand the choice of Mr. Sannan and Heisuke-kun at that time. ”

"Because you can't live without that. ”

"And live well...... What a luxury...... For the sake of this, it is worth abandoning a qiē to take the risk......"

"It doesn't matter if you want to be called cowardly...... It doesn't matter if you want to be feared and hated...... Because I want to live...... It's my own will, and it's none of ...... anyone else."

Hijikata's mouth opened slightly in shock.

"Suppose one day, Mr. Hijikata will see me turn into a rakshasa's ugly appearance...... And I feel that I can't face my words......"

"No!no!!!" Hijikata immediately interrupted her loudly.

As if he hadn't heard his rebuttal, Liu Quan continued to speak to himself.

“...... Then I won't be cheap...... Mr. Hijikata continued this life for me. Can I leave...... I can live seriously wherever I go. But...... Of course, it's still the best choice to stay with Mr. Hijikata......"

Hijikata was stunned, a look of astonishment on his face.

Then, he burst out laughing, and for the first time since he had found her wounded in the woods, the expression on his face had softened.

"Really...... I thought you were going to say something......"

Liu Quan looked at him with a smile, and the pain in the wound seemed to be far away from her. The body became light and fluttery, as if it was about to float, to float into the air, to float above the clouds.

However, there is no such pain as if life is about to end. Maybe the system didn't deceive me and really pulled her back from the brink of death......?

"So...... You think I'm going to say, if Mr. Hijikata ...... I hate me, and it's not too late for me to end this life?...... I'm not that stupid. She said weakly in a joking tone.

"Mr. Hijikata used to hate me before, and I survived...... It's even more unlikely I'm going to die now......" She blinked, gathering the last bit of strength in her body and raising the vial in her right hand.

In the next second, all the blood-red liquid in the bottle was poured into her mouth.