Chapter 34: Throwing Herself into His Arms

"Doctor Ryosuke, the children are all asleep. Do you mind chatting for a bit?"

The mother brushed a strand of hair from her forehead behind her ear.

Ryosuke glanced at the sleeping Rei and Sasuke and signaled to talk outside.

They came to the living room. On the table were tea and snacks that had been prepared in advance.

The mother invited Ryosuke to sit and then sat beside him, poured tea, and handed it to him.

Only, this distance… was a bit too close.

The mother was only twenty-nine years old, still in the most plump and beautiful stage of womanhood. It seemed she had just bathed before coming, her hair ends were slightly damp, and a faint fragrance wafted over. Looking again at her fair cheeks tinged with a rosy glow, she resembled a fully ripened peach, full of rich allure.

Looking at the teacup she handed over, Ryosuke seemed to hear a line, "If you are willing, then drink half a cup of this remaining wine."

Ryosuke chuckled lightly.

The mother asked, "My lord, why are you laughing?"

Ryosuke waved his hand, took the tea she offered but didn't drink it, just placed it on the table and asked, "If you have something to say, just say it directly. No need for all this."

Though the two were very close, as the mother met Ryosuke's clear eyes, all the ambiguous atmosphere she had tried to create, like steam rising from tea, quietly dissipated and vanished.

She stared blankly at the man in front of her, suddenly feeling that all her earlier thoughts were despicable and childish.

"I'm sorry, Doctor Ryosuke. I thought…"

She thought that to rely on Ryosuke and receive his protection, this sort of offering was appropriate.

But now she finally realized, her actions were an insult to Ryosuke's character.

'Doctor Ryosuke would never be like other men. How could I think of him that way?'

Noticing the respect in the woman's eyes, Ryosuke scratched his face awkwardly and looked away.

Still kneeling, the mother took a letter from her bosom and respectfully offered it to Ryosuke with both hands.

"This is?"

The mother didn't explain, just pushed it forward a little more.

Ryosuke accepted it, opened it, and saw densely written small characters.

At the top was her name, Mayuri.

Below detailed the situation of her ancestors, how they fled war to settle in Snowy Village, the work she was skilled at, and a detailed description of the Bloodline Limit ability.

Mayuri placed both hands in front of her, "Doctor Ryosuke, from today onward, we mother and daughter will follow in your footsteps, serve your daily life. If you have any requests, you may ask me."

After speaking, Mayuri bowed deeply.

Ryosuke looked at the résumé in his hand, then at Mayuri kneeling and bowing, and for a moment felt dazed.

Had the job market in both his previous and current lives gotten this bad?

Ryosuke folded the letter.

"I'm just taking you to a new village. No need to be this… formal."

Mayuri raised her head and smiled lightly. "Maybe it's a woman's intuition, but I feel I will be troubling Doctor Ryosuke for a long time to come."

Ryosuke smiled and poured her a cup of tea too, lightly clinking the cups.

"Then, may we have a long future ahead. Please take care of me."

After sending Mayuri off, Ryosuke breathed a sigh of relief, stood up and walked out of the house, speaking toward a patch of shadow, "No need to hide, come out."

"Ehehe..."

Sword Grandpa stepped out from the corner of the wall, awkwardly saying, "Seems like I came at a bad time."

"No, you came at just the right time."

Ryosuke had been planning to find Sword Grandpa before departure the next day.

Now that he came, it saved time.

"You came for those two broken ninja blades?" Ryosuke asked.

Sword Grandpa nodded.

Famous blades were more attractive to him than beauties, wealth, or power.

He couldn't sleep tossing and turning in bed, so he gritted his teeth and came over.

"However..."

Sword Grandpa scratched his head. "I didn't expect to hear your whole conversation, and even less expected you would refuse her service."

Earlier, Mayuri basically packaged herself up and delivered herself to Ryosuke's mouth. He only had to open his mouth to eat.

They say sons take after their mothers, looking at the daughter's appearance, you could imagine how beautiful Mayuri must have been.

Ryosuke asked, "What do you take me for?"

"A normal man."

Men trade secrets for trust.

Women use their bodies to express loyalty.

In this rotten world, it's a well-known unspoken rule.

Ryosuke was willing to ensure the safety of a mother and daughter. For the mother to offer her body in return for gratitude and loyalty, utterly commonplace.

Ryosuke chuckled, "And now?"

Sword Grandpa patted his chest, "Just like me, unyielding to women's charms, a true iron-blooded man."

Ryosuke shook his head.

It wasn't that he wasn't lustful. But the logic of the situation was just unacceptable to him.

Besides, the woman's husband, or rather, ex-husband, was still sleeping in the next room. Ryosuke knew this was a Japan-inspired world, but this… was just too Japanese.

Ryosuke entered the house, brought out the two broken blades and handed them to Sword Grandpa.

Sword Grandpa rubbed the two legendary ninja blades, eyes full of complex emotions. After a while, he sighed, "My old man spent his life forging swords, dreaming of making a blade surpassing the Seven Ninja Blades. He died with regret."

"Now me, a lifetime of forging, and at this age, I thought the dream passed down for two generations would die with me..."

"Thanks to you, I can finally forge a blade that can cut through the Seven Ninja Blades."

Ryosuke smiled.

In the field of Seven Ninja Blades, they had reached their limit.

Sometimes, when traditional domains can't outmatch the old strong players, switching to a more niche track might provide an opportunity to overtake them. This is a proven strategy.

"Sasuke and Rei's blades, I'll leave them to you. I'll come get them later."

Sword Grandpa smiled. "Of course. Leave it to me!"

After Sword Grandpa left, Ryosuke summoned Aerosmith and flew a round to confirm no one else would disturb him, then returned indoors, picked up the half-finished teacup, and continued sitting in front of the draft paper, calculating his current gains.

'Before arriving at Snowy Village, I had 310 soul fragments.'

Ryosuke wrote 310 on the paper.

[Killed Wolf Squad No. 2, 3, 4, and 5, got 270.]

[Killed Fuguchi, got 240.]

[Killed Zabuza Momochi, got 480.]

[Killed Raiga Kurosuki, got 460.]

'Current total soul fragments… 1760.'

'Converted into draws, that's 176 pulls!'

As long as Ryosuke wasn't too unlucky, it was enough to draw one golden-rank Stand.

'Should I draw?'

This time, Ryosuke was nearly cornered by the combined forces of Zabuza and Raiga.

Now that the news of him killing two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had spread, the enemies coming after him would only become tougher, more cautious, and better prepared to counter his every ability.

If he had one golden Stand, it could definitely become his trump card.

If he could get something like Death Thirteen or Whitesnake, he could even resist genjutsu.

But…

Ryosuke summoned Star Platinum.

Level 2 Star Platinum, having lost its surprise intel advantage, could no longer overwhelm members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

If the enemy operated in teams and Star Platinum was entangled, Ryosuke would be left to face them alone.

'Upgrading Star Platinum to level 3 would significantly improve its direct combat ability.'

And if the JOJO system followed the manga design, the prerequisite for time stop was likely upgrading it to max level (gold).

So should he draw a new golden Stand, or strengthen Star Platinum?

Ryosuke scratched his head.

'Such a happy dilemma.'

After much thought, he decided, 'Upgrade Star Platinum!'

Drawing a new golden Stand carried too much uncertainty.

If he got overlapping function Stands, or something support-type like Aerosmith, it wouldn't help much in his current situation.

Ryosuke decided to upgrade Star Platinum, which had the most potential.

The soul fragments flowed out, and countless seven-colored shimmering shards rained down upon Star Platinum.

Originally, upgrading Star Platinum from level 2 to level 3 cost 1000 soul fragments.

But Ryosuke had done some pity pulls earlier and gained some leftover EXP, so he only spent 830 to level it up.

It became more burly, its aura sharper, and its already terrifying strength, speed, reflexes, and precision all improved across the board.

What surprised Ryosuke most was that Star Platinum gained a new ability.

[Platinum Skin, Extreme hardening of Star Platinum's skin, allowing it to withstand enemy attacks to a great extent.]

Ordinary slashes, fire, and wind blades, before, Ryosuke had to dodge or block with fists, wasting valuable time.

Now with Platinum Skin, he could ignore most attacks and charge straight at enemies with wild punches.

'Level 2 to level 3 costs 1000 shards. From level 3 to 4 will be 2000… so expensive!'

'But worth it!'

Whether in terms of raw power or future potential for time stop, these 1000 shards were worth spending.

930 soul fragments remained.

Ryosuke decided to save them for now as strategic reserves.

If he encountered a difficult enemy later, he'd draw for emergency power.

If not urgent, he'd slowly save up to upgrade Star Platinum and try to unlock time stop soon.

———

[The Next Morning]

Ryosuke, Sasuke, Rei, Mayuri, and Haku, five people, set off for the survivors' village.

There weren't many villagers seeing them off, only a few. Haku's father didn't come either.

Ryosuke waved to Sword Grandpa, the village chief, and others, pulled the reins, and the wagon slowly rolled away.

As the wagon vanished from sight, the village chief lowered his hand, when suddenly, a shout came from behind, "Bad news! Haku's father hanged himself!"

The villagers rushed over, only to find a lifeless corpse.

The old village chief sighed, "What a self-inflicted sin."

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