The Nature of Evil

To think I’d actually have the chance to see this monstrosity again…

I found myself unconsciously rubbing my temples, a strange, non-physical ache throbbing in my head.

Given the immense size of the case, Brother Mingdao awkwardly hoisted it upwards, clearly deeming it unsuitable for the tabletop.

“Could you elaborate?” I asked, a hint of desperation in my voice. ‘It seems I’m losing my composure,’ I chastised myself inwardly, ‘I should at least use an honorific for Senior.’

Just as Brother Mingdao was about to speak, Sister Ruka covered her mouth, her gaze averting as she addressed him.

“Number Two, would you mind putting that tentacled creature away for now? I’m genuinely feeling quite unwell.”

“My apologies.”

The words barely left his lips before Brother Mingdao promptly pushed the massive case containing the creature back upwards, and with a magical flourish, it vanished into thin air.

As the case disappeared, both Leidi and Sister Ruka visibly relaxed, sitting up straighter. It seemed this particular item was exceptionally repulsive to women, and I, too, shared their aversion.

While I found myself intrigued by this ability, so similar to Sister Ruka’s, I recognized that now was not the time to delve into such curiosities.

“Of the three of you, your reaction seems particularly… pronounced,” Brother Mingdao noted, offering me a wry smile.

“Because of that *thing*, I was effectively incapacitated for two months, for absolutely nothing!” Though I wasn’t literally grinding my teeth, the sheer annoyance made it feel as if I were. I was, to put it mildly, quite displeased.

“To think such a repulsive creature was responsible for your attack…” Leidi’s gaze softened with sympathy.

Indeed, I felt I deserved every ounce of their pity. That day two months ago had been nothing short of a catastrophe for me!

“Since Number Two hadn’t provided me with the specifics, I’d assumed it was a relatively common type of monster,” Sister Ruka added, her sympathetic gaze tinged with what I perceived as an unspoken apology.

“The monster you just saw wasn’t actually the one that attacked you,” Brother Mingdao stated, his tone turning slightly more serious.

At last, we were getting to the crux of the matter.

“I’m aware,” I replied, propping my slightly heavy head with one hand on the table, my gaze fixed mournfully on the opposite side. “The one that attacked me was considerably larger.”

Leidi and Sister Ruka, essentially bystanders in this particular narrative, listened on in silence.

“Two months ago,” Brother Mingdao began, a faint blush creeping onto his face as he averted his gaze, “when I arrived at the collapsed mall, the monster that had attacked you was already reduced to a tattered mess, sprawled amidst the ruins, as if punctured by something. You, too, lay nearby, your clothes in tatters, while two women were vigorously kneading your chest, and a maid silently observed the scene from a distance…”

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…

A brief, awkward silence descended upon our conversation.

While I couldn’t see Leidi’s or Sister Ruka’s faces, I suspected that of the three of us seated across from Brother Mingdao, my own expression was likely the most convoluted.

“Ahem, ahem… Well, you didn’t really need to be quite so… *descriptive*,” I interjected, sitting up straighter and clearing my throat, a faint blush warming my cheeks. “And perhaps, let’s get to the main point.” The sensation of simultaneously wanting to laugh and cry was truly akin to a mouthful of wasabi.

‘Please don’t tell me he was trying to lighten the mood with that,’ I mused. ‘If that’s the case, I might have to completely re-evaluate Brother Mingdao… though, admittedly, it *did* achieve its intended effect of easing the tension.’

“Upon my arrival,” Brother Mingdao continued, “the maid who had been observing introduced herself as the attendant to the successor of Gate Number Four, and subsequently took you away. As for your Grandma and the other woman, who identified themselves as non-natives of this world, I confirmed their credentials before facilitating their return to the world beyond the Gate, as per their request. Following that, I recovered the severely damaged monster corpse and departed the scene.”

Brother Mingdao’s explanation was commendably concise, presumably encompassing the entirety of what he knew at the time.

‘That maid must have been dispatched by Leidi, having encountered Grandma and the others before Brother Mingdao even arrived. But why didn’t she at least *try* to stop their outrageous behavior? She just stood there, watching me being manhandled! I swear, I’ll tell Leidi to dock her pay!’

‘Never mind… that’s just me displacing my anger. Her inability to intervene was probably Grandma’s doing, as usual… Still, the monster was utterly destroyed. Could Grandma and her companion have been the ones who defeated it? No… that’s a truly terrifying thought. And Grandma just returned then and there?!’

“Did my Grandma say anything to you?” I asked, deciding to set aside my rambling thoughts and focus on a more pertinent question.

“Before her departure,” Brother Mingdao recounted, a slight flush on his face, “she pointed directly at me and declared, ‘Even if you’re handsome, you are absolutely forbidden from pursuing my grandchild.’ Those were her precise words.”

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…

Silence descended once more, though this time it was Brother Mingdao who bore the brunt of the awkwardness.

‘Brother Mingdao… are you perhaps a little *too* honest?’

‘And… Grandma… should I be thanking you for that? You truly know how to make an entrance…’

“Subsequently, sensing something amiss with the monster’s remains, I entrusted the corpse to Miss Lilia of Gate Number One for investigation. Concurrently, over the past two months, I’ve been verifying a certain matter across the entirety of China.” As he transitioned back to serious business, Brother Mingdao’s gaze settled upon us once more.

“What became of that monster’s corpse?” I inquired, a flicker of unease stirring within me.

“For reasons of my own,” Brother Mingdao began, his expression grave as he met my eyes, “I’ve established a particular barrier system across all of China, but—”

“During the incident when you were attacked by that monster, the barrier remained completely untriggered.”

“Isn’t that an incredibly serious matter?!” Sister Ruka exclaimed abruptly, her sudden interjection causing me to jump.

“The barrier I deployed is designed to react to a certain threshold of ‘evil’,” he explained. “Even in death, the residual ‘evil’ emanating from a monster of that magnitude should have far surpassed the barrier’s warning level. Yet, it registered absolutely no reaction…”

“Was the barrier compromised?”

Sister Ruka pressed on with her questions. It was clear this was no longer my moment to speak, leaving Leidi and me to listen in quiet contemplation.

“No,” Brother Mingdao confirmed. “As of yesterday, after inspecting and replacing the final node in Hainan Province, no anomalies were detected anywhere.”

“How is that possible…”

The atmosphere of our discussion seemed to plummet to an icy stillness. Even with my limited understanding, I grasped the gravity of the situation.

“Just last night, shortly after I informed you of your flight delay, Miss Lilia contacted me. She reported the findings from her investigation into the monster’s corpse, leading to the conclusion that the creature appeared to be a product of scientific creation…”

“That repulsive *thing* was man-made?!”

Sister Ruka’s face was a mask of utter shock, and upon hearing her reaction, both Leidi and I found ourselves mirroring her stunned expression.

‘Man-made… What kind of mad scientist from an apocalypse scenario is behind this?!’

“And there’s something even more astonishing,” Brother Mingdao continued. “After I relayed the situation with the barrier, Miss Lilia proposed a remarkably bold hypothesis to explain this outlandish occurrence.”

As he spoke, Brother Mingdao carefully selected some fries from the snack bowl on the table. He first divided them into four roughly equal portions, then combined two of the smaller piles to create a single, larger one.

Three distinct piles of fries now rested on the table, yet I remained utterly bewildered by their significance.

Just as I prepared to voice my confusion, Brother Mingdao preempted me.

“From your perspective,” he asked, “what difference do you perceive between these two smaller portions of fries and that single, larger one?”

‘Uh… difference? Aren’t they all just fries?’

“‘One plus one’ versus ‘two’?”

Leidi was the first to speak, a flicker of understanding seemingly dawning on her, though her words still eluded my comprehension.

“Precisely. Now, where does the distinction lie?”

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Silence once again enveloped us. Sister Ruka and I merely shook our heads, baffled by the fries, while Leidi remained fixed on them, as if on the verge of a profound discovery.

Abruptly, Leidi lifted her head, her gaze locking with Brother Mingdao’s.

“Brother Mingdao,” she began, “you mentioned that the barrier you established across China reacts to a certain degree of ‘evil’, correct?”

“Indeed,” Brother Mingdao affirmed with a nod.

‘Was there some hidden implication here?’

Leidi then extended a finger, pointing to the larger pile of fries as she spoke with grave seriousness.

“Brother Mingdao, let’s assume your barrier only triggers an alert when it detects a level of ‘evil’ that is greater than or equal to ‘two’,” she articulated carefully. “In principle, then, it would disregard any entity exhibiting a level of ‘evil’ less than ‘two’, wouldn’t it?”

Leidi’s explanation was beginning to sound like a convoluted riddle; I wished she had written it out.

“Yes, that’s precisely it,” Brother Mingdao readily confirmed.

“In that case—” Leidi declared, now gesturing towards the two smaller piles of fries.

“The ‘evil’ of ‘one plus one’ would not be detected by the barrier, would it?”

Clap, clap—

Brother Mingdao applauded Leidi, a clear gesture of approval.

Sister Ruka and I, however, remained utterly bewildered. What did it all mean? Was there truly a distinction between ‘one plus one’ and ‘two’?

As if she had anticipated our confusion, Leidi turned her gaze towards me.

“If two children and an adult were intent on hitting you, which would you be more wary of?”

“An… an adult, of course. Children hitting shouldn’t hurt too much, right? Right?” Under Leidi’s intense, serious gaze, my words steadily lost their conviction.

“Then, if we replace the two non-threatening children with two ‘ones’, and the threatening adult with a ‘two’, doesn’t the same logic apply?”

‘Huh?’

‘Uh?!

‘Ehh!!!!!’

Suddenly, it clicked!

I whipped my head around to face Brother Mingdao.

“That monster… was it a collection of ‘ones’?”

‘Was that monster actually an amalgamation of many smaller creatures?!’

“Yes,” Brother Mingdao confirmed, giving me a significant nod before turning to Sister Ruka, whose expression had darkened considerably. ‘What was wrong with Sister Ruka?’

“Which means, Ruka, the barrier you set up in Japan would also be utterly useless against this kind of monster…”

‘Wait, wait, wait, don’t tell me…’

“Just now… that one you brought out… was it… caught in Japan?” Sister Ruka asked, her face clouded with gloom as she slowly lowered her head.

‘Please, let my premonition be wrong…’

“Regrettably, yes…” Brother Mingdao uttered the cruel truth with a touch of helplessness.

‘Something terrible has happened… Japan is no longer safe.’

Brother Mingdao reached out, gently stroking Sister Ruka’s head, as if to offer her encouragement.

“Don’t worry, I’m here in Japan now. I won’t let any harm come to you…” Brother Mingdao’s voice softened considerably.

“Mm…” Though still looking down, Sister Ruka moved Brother Mingdao’s hand to her face, her voice seemingly regaining a touch of its usual vibrancy.

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…

Leidi and I exchanged a stiff, silent glance, maintaining our closed-mouth smiles.

It seemed we were both thinking the same thing…

‘We don’t mind you two openly displaying affection, but could you perhaps add a plural ‘us’ to that last statement?

Leidi and I want to be safe too…’