Inside the restroom, Kurozawa examined himself in the mirror.
His clothes were tattered, revealing bloody and bruised flesh, and he was covered in a lot of dust. Overall, he looked quite disheveled and messy.
Turning on the faucet, Kurozawa used the running water to wash away the dust and blood from his wounds.
The stinging pain didn't stop him.
He shouldn't have gotten the wounds wet, but they were simply too dirty. Bits of corroded fabric were stuck to the bloody flesh, making him feel uncomfortable all over.
It took Kurozawa over ten minutes to clean himself up so he wasn't covered in dust and blood.
Otherwise, in the state he was in before, he would have likely caused another stir as soon as he left the restroom.
This train car is quite far from mine. The commotion probably hasn't spread here yet, so no one should recognize me.
Taking off the torn lower half of his haori, Kurozawa wrapped it around his waist to cover the somewhat frightening wounds. Then, he pushed the door open and stepped out of the restroom.
As soon as he opened the door, he came face-to-face with someone waiting to use the restroom.
Seeing Kurozawa's bare chest and clothes wrapped around his waist, the person had a strange look in their eyes, but didn't say anything. After a quick glance, they hurried into the restroom.
Kurozawa looked around and found that this was a regular seating car. There was a narrow aisle in the middle and somewhat crowded seats on either side.
Since they were seated, about a quarter of the people were unable to sleep due to the train's bumping. When they saw a person with a bare chest and toned, muscular physique emerge from the restroom, various looks were cast his way.
These looks included surprise, disdain, envy, and an urge to lick, which Kurozawa's sensitive perception of gazes keenly detected.
Hey! Some weird emotions just popped up. What the heck is that 'urge to lick' thing?!
A vein bulged on Kurozawa's forehead, especially after he discovered the source of that gaze was a balding, weathered middle-aged man.
Ignoring the stares, Kurozawa walked towards the vicinity of the balding middle-aged man.
Seeing Kurozawa approaching step by step, the middle-aged man swallowed hard and looked up with a smile. Kurozawa also smiled back very kindly and then pointed at the middle-aged man's clothes.
"Do me a favor."
"What?"
After a brief and pleasant exchange, the two reached an agreement on Kurozawa's request.
A minute later, Kurozawa was wearing a jacket and had found an empty seat in a corner of another train car.
Kurozawa crossed his arms, lowered his head, and closed his eyes to rest.
The fight with the female Demon might quickly spread throughout the entire train, and someone might come to search for Kurozawa. However, it was more likely that, to avoid causing panic and chaos, the train conductor would seal off the news, isolate the people in that car from others, and hand the matter over to relevant personnel after the train safely reached its destination.
The usual human approach to unexpected incidents like this is to stabilize the situation and prevent it from escalating.
Although Kurozawa wasn't sure what the train conductor would choose to do, he was no longer interested in thinking about it. Those were things he couldn't interfere with, and thinking about them or not would yield the same result.
In his dark vision, he looked at Gray-White.
His four physical attributes hadn't changed, but Kurozawa was somewhat surprised to find that the Power of Despair had increased by 8 points and Potential Points by 60 points. This was a bit strange.
Based on his gains from slaying Demons on Mount Fujikasane, Kurozawa thought there was some correlation between the Power of Despair and Potential Points. He would get about ten Potential Points for every point of Power of Despair, and the difference wouldn't be significant.
However, the difference between 8 points of Power of Despair and 60 points of Potential Points had exceeded Kurozawa's previous judgment.
The experience gained on Mount Fujikasane seems a bit off.
But why the difference?
Through multiple tests, Kurozawa already knew that the Power of Despair had nothing to do with the level of despair of the target killed. Whether they died in deep despair or died in release from despair by fighting to the death, the Power of Despair obtained from Demons of similar strength was roughly the same.
So, where is the problem?
What is the difference between this female Demon and the Demons on Mount Fujikasane?
If he had to say, the female Demon's aura was stronger because she had sufficient blood to consume, and her Blood Demon Art was also difficult to deal with. Her troublesome level significantly exceeded that of the Hand Demon on Mount Fujikasane.
It can't just be this. There must be something I haven't thought of.
Kurozawa attached great importance to this change.
Because Gray-White was extremely important to him, Kurozawa really wanted to know what Gray-White was, what he himself was, and the Power of Despair, as an independent and special attribute within Gray-White, was naturally a key and important ability. The more he understood it, the better.
As for the Power of Species Annihilation, another independent special attribute coexisting with the Power of Despair, it remained at zero points and hadn't increased at all. Kurozawa didn't have any intention of exploring it; he didn't have the ability to even if he wanted to.
Let me think carefully... What's the difference... Where's the difference...
After a few breaths, Kurozawa had a new idea.
Mount Fujikasane is a prison. The Hand Demon inside has even been imprisoned for over forty years.
The female Demon, on the other hand, has been active in the outside world. This means she has a much greater understanding of the world than the Demons on Mount Fujikasane.
Is the difference between a countryside Demon and a city Demon because of this? Experience?
Kurozawa's head was starting to hurt from thinking, but he couldn't think of any more differences.
But this idea was a bit absurd and was quickly dismissed by Kurozawa.
Forget it, I won't think about it anymore.
Once I gain enough Power of Despair, everything will eventually come to light.
Suppressing the questions in his heart, Kurozawa chose to sleep. He always fell asleep quickly. Although he was in a sitting position, in just a few minutes, Kurozawa was already asleep.
As a swordsman, sleep is also a skill that needs to be mastered. Almost all swordsmen can have full and saturated sleep, controlling their wandering thoughts. As long as there's no warning of danger, they can calm their minds and sleep soundly until dawn.
But this time, Kurozawa had a dream.
In the hazy dream, Kurozawa appeared back in the sleeper car.
The tall girl who had been secretly looking at him, wanting to talk to him, was sitting quietly by his bed.
Kurozawa's will was strong. The moment he appeared in this scene, he knew he was dreaming.
"Why... didn't you save me?"
A low murmur came from the girl's mouth.
She had her back to Kurozawa, her long hair hanging down, her body without even the slightest tremor, like a statue.
"I wanted to save you, but it was too late."
Kurozawa was silent for a moment. Even though he knew it was a dream, he still answered the girl.
Actually, he could have chosen to focus his mental will and wake up from the dream, but Kurozawa didn't do that.
The girl's question appeared in Kurozawa's dream, coming from Kurozawa's subconscious. Kurozawa's answer was also a reply to himself.
Kurozawa wasn't a kind person. If something happened to someone unrelated to him, he wouldn't even blink. But he wasn't cold-blooded either. After all, he had met this girl and had a brief interaction with her, only for her to die in front of him like that. Her prime of life was so fragile, easily shattered. Kurozawa couldn't ignore it.
"You wanted to save me... but I still died. Why? Why was it me who died?" The girl's voice was very low.
Kurozawa had spoken to her before and remembered her voice was originally light and pleasant.
After another moment of silence, Kurozawa sighed softly: "Even gods cannot look after everyone. Ultimately, it's simply because you were too unfortunate."
"Natural disasters, illnesses, man-made calamities... all can kill people. You died at the hands of a Demon, just like anyone who died from a natural disaster, from a man-made calamity, or from any accident. There is no difference."
He paused, then Kurozawa said calmly, "If there must be a difference, the only difference is probably that you spoke to me and were a passerby on this moving train who left a good impression on me."
"This is also why you appeared in my dream."
"Is that so? I understand..." The statue-like girl spoke softly, and then her figure faded, disappearing from Kurozawa's dream.
In an instant, the dream shattered, and Kurozawa woke up.
For a long time, he looked through the window at the starry night sky.
"I couldn't save you, but my conscience is clear."
-----------
Machine Translation by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
Read 777+ original & fanfic translations in English, Español, Português, Deutsch, Français, or Русский at: https:// randomtranslator.com/
Join our Discord: https:// discord.gg/NSWvfN7vua
-----------