Chapter 301: The Price (Patreon)

"Actually, every time Tailless changes masters, a price must be paid."

"A price?"

Misako's words made Geno raise an eyebrow. If it was something Misako felt the need to hide, this price was certainly not a simple one.

And her next words confirmed it.

"Yes. I only learned about this myself after I entered the blade."

Misako paused, gathering her thoughts before continuing to explain to Geno.

"The truth about the price of Tailless's power is this: every time its wielder changes, a soul must be sacrificed."

"What?!"

Geno stared at her in disbelief. He'd never imagined the price could be so cruel.

But Misako seemed to have already braced herself for this reaction, and she went on explaining more about Tailless.

"Every generation's family head has wielded Tailless to shine on the battlefield against the Ethereals. And the more Ethereals it cuts down, the more power it gains."

This was the first Geno had heard of it. He'd assumed Tailless was simply strong on its own — he hadn't known it had this ability.

"And once Tailless has accumulated enough power, it feeds a portion of it back to its wielder, to raise the compatibility between them."

"That's the real reason nearly every generation of the Hoshimi family has been able to wield Tailless. Partly it's because Tailless has always been highly compatible with the Hoshimi family, and partly because even when compatibility starts out low, it can be gradually built up over time."

"Of course, this power doesn't come free. Every time Tailless changes wielders again, the previous family head must sacrifice their own Corruption-ravaged flesh and their own soul, in order to suppress the restless power raging inside Tailless."

"That is the truth behind Tailless devouring its masters."

Hearing this, Geno finally understood. By Tailless's logic, there was no limit to how many wielders it could have, but for it to accept the next one, a soul had to be sacrificed. So whenever a Hoshimi family head sensed their end was near, they would offer up their own soul and flesh to Tailless, allowing the next head to inherit it.

This bloody legacy of soul and flesh had continued unbroken all the way down to the present, until it was finally cut off in Hoshimi Souichirou's generation.

"Souichirou and I both felt that although this tradition was the foundation of the Hoshimi family, it was still far too bloody and cruel. So even though the previous family head fought hard against it, Souichirou refused to keep wielding Tailless. Instead, he turned to politics, choosing to seek another path forward for the Hoshimi family."

It was a pity that the path Hoshimi Souichirou had committed himself to met its end before he could see it through.

"What happened that day left me no choice. I had already suffered severe Ether Corruption, so I sacrificed myself to Tailless, so that little Miyabi could live on safely."

Misako, her face full of guilt, gently stroked the head of little Miyabi in her arms. She had saved her own child, but in doing so had also left that child motherless from a young age.

She didn't consider herself a good mother.

"Mom, I've never once blamed you."

Little Miyabi stroked Misako's cheek and wiped away her tears, showing a composure identical to the grown Miyabi of the real world.

Having heard the whole story, Geno had calmed down a little, but he still didn't quite understand what little Miyabi had meant about her mother disappearing.

Misako saw his confusion, and with a reluctant look, stroked little Miyabi's head again before continuing.

"The price Miyabi paid, in that incident all those years ago, was my soul. But now, we have no more souls left to pay."

"But..."

Misako's tone turned firm, and she looked at Geno with sincerity.

"If my soul is ground down completely, as the price, it could grant you the right to wield Tailless."

This was the real reason little Miyabi had said her mother would disappear. Because although Misako had sacrificed herself to Tailless long ago, her soul had clearly still been preserved intact within the blade, just like all the family heads before her.

But the situation now was that there was no other soul left to carry out the inheritance ritual for Geno. So Misako intended to sacrifice herself a second time, using the price of her own soul's dissolution to secure Geno the right to wield Tailless.

"Are you kidding me?! There's no way I'd accept something like that! I don't want power that has to be bought with someone else's sacrifice!"

Anger flared up in Geno at once, and his voice rose several notches.

Misako's expression showed she'd expected this. Though they'd spent little time together, she had already read Geno's character.

"Just as I thought. You really are just like him."

"Huh? Like who?"

Geno, still angry a moment ago, suddenly heard the wistful note in Misako's voice, and much of his anger drained away.

"You remind me of my husband, Hoshimi Souichirou. You're almost exactly like him when he was young — back then, when he heard the conditions for inheriting Tailless, he said the very same thing you just did."

Hoshimi Souichirou — the current head of the Hoshimi family, Miyabi's father, Misako's husband, and the man chiefly responsible for formally pushing the Hoshimi family into politics.

These days his fame paled somewhat beside that of his daughter, the current Void Hunter Hoshimi Miyabi, but within New Eridu's political circles he was still a figure of considerable weight.

Especially given his ongoing partnership with the Mayflower family.

"If that's the case, then you should understand — there's no way I'll ever let you sacrifice yourself."

Facing this, Geno's expression turned serious. If there was one thing he hated most, it was this — the idea that accomplishing something always meant someone had to be sacrificed for it.

Perhaps to those who believed in equivalent exchange, that seemed fair enough. But to Geno, so-called power would never outweigh a single person's life.

No matter how strong that power might be.

"But if you don't do this, then how will you deal with the Calamity Beast?"

Worry was written all over Misako's face. She wasn't entirely ignorant of the outside world, and she understood exactly what Geno was up against.

Geno thought for a moment, then raised his head to look at her, as though he had already found his answer.

"I'll solve it my own way. Even if I fail, it won't be built on someone else's sacrifice."

His tone was firm. He turned and walked slowly toward Tailless, still floating there in the void.

Under Misako's bewildered gaze, Geno reached out and placed his hand on Tailless's hilt.