Chapter 198: The Truth of Heian-kyo
Den of Demons...
Noah had already formed some conjectures about the various strange happenings in the Heian Capital, but he never expected Minamoto-no-Raikou's assessment of the capital to be so direct.
Thus, it was now Raikou's own experiences that piqued his curiosity.
Raikou didn't pause for long. After steeling herself, she looked at Noah and spoke.
"Your Majesty Noah, if you were to judge, do you think a prosperous city would become better if it imposed a restriction where anyone harboring malice in their heart would be burned to death?"
"No."
For this question, Noah didn't even need to think before giving his answer.
Because the answer was far too obvious.
"Under such a mechanism, only two outcomes would arise: either those who don't want to die isolate themselves from the world, forcing themselves to stay happy every day without a single negative emotion, or... everyone in the city dies out. Whether this possibility occurs depends solely on how long such a mechanism is maintained."
Hearing Noah's answer, Raikou nodded.
"Exactly."
"And in the Heian Capital, this mechanism has existed for a long time... Although I never specifically searched for whether any living people remained inside, during my time there... I truly never saw a single living soul."
Hm?
Raikou's statement puzzled Noah.
He remembered Little Kiara saying there were many people inside the Heian Capital—so many that they could even hold festivals, with everyone living peaceful and happy lives.
As for the latter part, Noah was only half-convinced.
But the number of people should have been obvious, shouldn't it?
"Please don't be confused."
Seeing Noah's expression, Raikou could guess his thoughts.
She wasn't at all surprised that Noah would find this statement puzzling.
After all...
"Even I wouldn't have realized this if not for my subordinate... Your Majesty Noah, do you recall me saying that when I first arrived at the Heian Capital, I was attacked by flames, and my subordinate shielded me, only to be burned to death?"
"Yes, I do remember. So what does that have to do with what you're saying now?"
"..."
Raikou paused at this point and let out a long sigh.
"At that time, there was only one wave of flames attacking us, so after my subordinate was burned to death, I managed to survive by chance."
"Afterward, everything I encountered in the Heian Capital matched the intelligence you received. At first, I was devastated by my subordinate's death, but upon seeing such a capital, I couldn't help but marvel."
"The people living there were all genuinely good souls who harbored no malice toward others. Everyone lived in happiness and joy, far from war, free from oppression, leading truly blissful lives. Even when they fell ill, shrine maidens provided free treatment... One could say, if there were a nation that perfectly fulfilled all ideals, I believe..."
"That should be the case."
"But just as I was sighing over this, I spotted the figure of my subordinate among the crowd..."
As Minamoto-no-Raikou spoke up to this point, Noah narrowed his eyes. He felt that the key point of the Heian Capital lay here, and indeed, that was exactly the case.
"...My subordinate no longer had any memory of me in his mind. His memory was that he suddenly appeared in the Heian Capital, and because he was being pursued before entering the Heian Capital, after mistakenly entering the Heian Capital, he carried intense malice with him, so he was attacked by flames, narrowly escaped death, and was rescued by a passerby."
"Afterward, he decided to stay in the Heian Capital, and to repay his savior, he worked to help out at his savior's home."
"When I first saw him like this, I was once happy that he hadn't died. As for his memory... at first, I only thought he had suffered severe trauma and lost his memory, after all, his martial skills were still as they always were, and I could even see traces of my own martial arts in him. Even the reflexes we had honed fighting various monsters in earlier years were still there. At that time, I was convinced he would definitely recover his memory."
"But unfortunately, I was wrong... because in reality, that was no longer my subordinate. It was merely something like a puppet created by the Heian Capital's mechanism after burning his soul as fuel following his death..."
"Such puppets are implanted with memories, then enter a state where they harbor no malice at all, afterward playing their roles within the Heian Capital... If someone tries to disturb their performance, only then do they seem to unleash all the malice accumulated over time, suddenly erupting with considerable intensity, then wrapped in the blazing flames of the Heian Capital, their charred bodies unleash unimaginable combat power toward the obstructer, attacking with full force until the obstructer dies or they themselves are completely burned out..."
Minamoto-no-Raikou didn't elaborate on this part, but even without her detailing it, Noah could hear the sorrowful tone in her voice.
Clearly, this must have been what happened between her and her subordinate.
Recalling these events again was somewhat uncomfortable for Minamoto-no-Raikou, but even so, she slowly continued speaking.
"I don't know whether there are still any living people within the Heian Capital today, but at least from what I've seen, they are all these puppets. As for living people... just as you said, under the Heian Capital's mechanism, how long do you think it would take for all living people to be burned to death?"
At this point, Minamoto-no-Raikou looked at Noah, and Noah shook his head slightly.
"Probably quite quickly... Although I don't know if the so-called Heian Capital only had the initial batch of people, but if that's the case, then it's indeed hard to imagine any living people existing within it now."
Hearing Noah say this, Minamoto-no-Raikou nodded and continued speaking.
"This brings me to the second point... If the Heian Capital had only its original inhabitants, then I must admit, I might have long since set aside the matter of confronting the Heavenly Fox—though I still wish to avenge my subordinates and hold no goodwill toward that fox who burned and even toyed with their souls, even I would not escalate the situation to the point of seeking aid from other nations."
"However, although that fox claims outsiders are not allowed to enter the Heian Capital, nor are its inhabitants permitted to leave... in reality, she periodically captures large numbers of Japanese people, brings them into the Heian Capital, and subjects them to what she calls a 'baptism.' Only after they have become qualified 'Heian Capital citizens' does she integrate them into the memories of some existing inhabitants, fully incorporating them into the Heian Capital. Then, she goes out to capture more."
"For this purpose, from the very beginning of the Heavenly Fox's establishment of the Heian Capital, she destroyed the most powerful nation in Japan at the time. Since then, whenever a strong nation has emerged in Japan, she has directly intervened to annihilate it."
"This is the true reason I sought external aid... and the horrifying truth behind the Heian Capital, this den of demons!"