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Last Embryo Volume 1 Chapter 7 Part 1

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

Editor: Weasalopes

After Sakamaki Izayoi, Tokuteru Mikado and Prithvi Mata finished eating, they were ready to leave Don Bruno’s restaurant.

「So, what are you going to now, Tokuteru? Think you’re going to have to use 『Touriten』? (TL Note: Heaven of the Thirty-three, one of the six heavens belonging to the realm of desire in Buddhism)」

「No, this time I don’t think there will be a need for me to go that far. Now get on, both of you. We’re heading out.」

He urged them as he turned on the engine of his car. When everyone was finally inside, he made his way towards the Kan-etsu Expressway heading towards Katsushika, of of Tokyo Metropolitan Area’s districts.

「Kan-etsu? Hey, where are you taking as, you asshole?」

Izayoi asked Tokuteru with ever-growing suspicion as he tried to recall the almost-forgotten map of Tokyo and its surroundings in his mind.

「As you’re probably aware, my domain in Japan is a rather small one, so I’m heading to the only place where it will be possible for me to open the 『Astral Gate』.」

Stepping on the gas, Tokuteru went straight towards Katsushika. Figuring out where exactly he was taking them took Izayoi a solid while of thinking with his hand on his chin.

「Katsushika… Katsushika… if you’re taking us there, then does that mean we’re heading to Shibamata Taishakuten temple? Why? You have some business there?」

「Indeed I do. Shibamata Taishakuten is the domain that has been assigned to Uesugi and I in this land, and it is also where our company’s headquarters is located. Out of all the temples and places with high spiritual power, it is the easiest place from which you can connect to Little Garden. It might be only 400 years old, but it has the layout necessary to perform the paradigm shift and open the 『Astral Gate』 without any major difficulties.」

Shibamata Taishakuten: one of the temples devoted to the worship of Taishakuten and Bishamonten established in the 6^th year of the Kan’ei era in the early Edo Period. Out of all the temples that worshiped Taishakuten, that one located in Japan could be called the most known and prominent one. If one was to take into account the fact that the main area of his domain was the ancient India, then Shibamata Taishakuten was a really young domain indeed, but given the urgency of their situation there was probably no other place they could go to right now.

If the people who came to  the place every day knew that the deity they were praying to was actually so close to them, most of his believers would probably pass out on the spot, because no matter how you look at it, the Gods people were familiar with were not the kind to reside so close to mortals, choosing to inhabit the more secluded places instead. Thinking about how sociable Taishakuten actually was, Izayoi laughed in amazement.

「Talk about being a graceful God! So tell me, has Katsushika changed much during the five years I was away? Or has its shopping districts and back alleys stayed the same as ever?」

「Of course it stayed exactly the same. No place on earth would have gone through any drastic changes without the help of any external factors across the span of mere 5 years., but it is exactly that unchanging part that draws the people to it all the time, and I cannot say that it is something I dislike. If anything, it pleases me to see that the area around the place that worships me has become such a lively neighborhood.」

Tokuteru’s expression softened for a moment when he casted a quick gaze at the scenery outside of the car’s window.

While we’re on the subject of Taishakuten, he might be one of the oldest Divine Spirits in the world, but his legend is filled with surprisingly large amount of human influence and their emotions. Originally known as a womanizing drunkard, he was the type of deity who quickly gained both fame and notoriety among the masses due to his unpredictable, but largely harmless behavior, but his title as the King of the Gods wasn’t just for show either. He might be filled with lust and love for both women and good alcohol, but whenever he was needed he would always step up to the challenge, and that was probably what helped him win the hearts of his worshippers. Izayoi nodded in agreement with his words, but shook his head soon after, as if he remembered something unpleasant and wanted to get it out of his head.

「You know, there are times when I feel like visiting that shrine of yours, but I guess right now we don’t have the luxury to be so petty about stuff like that. After everything settles down in here, I’m going back to Little Garden immediately.」

「There’s no need for you to be in such a rush, you know? Even though you want to go back as soon as possible, it might be a while before Little Garden’s time will be in sync with this world’s time, so even if you spend some time Suzuka and Homura, you might just have enough time for a quick break as long as you coordinate it properly.」

「Don’t give me that crap, okay? When I first went off to Little Garden, I have done so with the intention of casting everything, even my loved ones behind without intending to ever go back to them. And yet here we are, after three, no, I keep forgetting it was five in here; after five years of skipping out on them like a deadbeat dad I suddenly appear back before them as if nothing ever happened. I don’t know about you, but I think it’s rude and disrespectful towards both those whom I have chosen to abandon and my own determination to go trough with it.」

Gradually, his expression changed from smiling to deadly serious, but Tokuteru and Pritt couldn’t say anything to that because they were fully aware why he was so hell-bent on sticking to his guns no matter what.

Canaria, the one who established and managed Canaria Family Home orphanage, and Sakamaki Izayoi, the oldest and the most special of the kids who lived there. When both of them disappeared without a trace and as much as a shred of explanation, Saigo Homura and Ayazato Suzuka were still nothing more than 10-year old kids. Losing the two of the most important people in their lives must have felt like a punch to the gut in and out of itself, but that times that came after that must have been especially hard for them to get by. And now, five years later, those two, brats who always clung onto their Big Brother for protection were now both 15 years old, just about to reach the first important crossroad in their lives after which they will have to continuously conquer trial after trial that life was going to throw against them.

If Izayoi expected them to act as if nothing happened throughout those years when he ditched them for unexcusably selfish reasons when they were at the time when they needed him the most, he would be a hopeless fool. But, as if his karma finally caught up to him to bite him in the ass, just when he wanted to finish his job in this world and go back without ever meeting them, the very opposite thing ended up happening, for various reasons.

Tokuteru understood why he wanted to keep both of them in the dark, but that doesn’t mean he agreed with the way he has chosen to go about it. So while the atmosphere in the car was becoming more and more tense, he simply took out a cigarette, light it, and held it in his mouth without saying anything for a few minutes.

「I see what you mean by that, and I still cannot agree with the way you’ve chosen to handle it. Right now you’re still acting out the scenario where you’ve never met your family again, but that is no longer the case. You have met them again, and rolled them up in your mess, so if you ask me, that excuse of yours stopped being valid the moment everything decided to stop following your script.」

「That’s…… ugh…..!」

Knowing that Tokuteru’s words were painfully true, Izayoi had no choice but to gritt his teeth and be silent.