“That goes without saying.”
Hearing this answer, Shinji actually felt a sense of relief.
If Sakura said she didn’t hate him, that would be the truly terrifying part.
“Look at the way you’re crying, Sakura.”
His tone held no pity, sounding slightly exaggerated like the Shinji of the past, likely to make Sakura accept what he was about to say.
“You don’t need to forgive me because of my apology.
My crimes are enough to incite the wrath of both gods and men.”
He shifted his position slightly to make his numb back a bit more comfortable.
“However, even though I am guilty, at this point, I won’t hand over my life to you to atone for my sins.”
Sakura stopped crying.
With red, swollen eyes, she looked at Shinji strangely.
She didn’t understand what he was trying to say.
If he admitted his sins, yet didn’t intend to atone for them, what was the point of these words?
“You are free now, Sakura.
The rotten lid of the Matou Family has been lifted.”
Shinji’s voice lowered.
“As the perpetrator, the only thing I can do for you, and the best choice for myself, is to completely disappear from your life.”
“Disappear?”
Sakura repeated the word in a daze.
“What do you mean by that?”
Looking at Sakura’s stunned and bewildered expression, Shinji suddenly felt a bit irritable.
The atmosphere was too heavy; it wasn’t suitable for the negotiation that was to follow.
Therefore, he took a deep breath, his facial expression shifted instantly, his eyebrows arched, and he reverted to that annoying, exaggerated tone from the past.
“Huh?
You aren’t overthinking things again, are you?
Do you really want me to commit suicide to apologize?”
He gave an exaggerated scoff, then his voice suddenly deepened, becoming incredibly realistic and cold.
“I’m just going to leave Fuyuki City, leave the world of Magecraft, and leave this god-awful place.
I’ve had enough of everything here, including you.”
So that’s it…?
The strange sense of dissonance in Sakura’s heart faded slightly.
Escaping—that really fit Shinji’s personality.
But, the Shinji who had a pathological obsession with Magecraft and would spare no cost to prove himself, was actually going to give it up voluntarily?
“Giving up Magecraft… are you serious?”
Sakura couldn’t help but ask.
“Is that what you’re concerned about?
That you won’t be able to comfort yourself in your heart later by saying your older brother is just a piece of trash with no talent for Magecraft?”
Shinji snorted coldly, then changed the subject.
“Speaking of leaving, this involves practical matters.
Sakura, I want to talk to you about dividing the family assets.”
Although she had indeed thought that way in the past, as expected, it was still about profit, wasn’t it?
Sakura’s eyes dimmed a little, but this actually made her feel it was more real.
“The Matou Family’s Magecraft inheritance will all belong to you.
Those things are completely useless to me now.”
As the local powerhouse of Fuyuki City, the Matou Family’s accumulation over hundreds of years was not to be underestimated.
“And the real estate under the Matou Family’s name, the property rights of the land serving as Spirit Lands, as well as the corporate shares and magic patents registered under the Matou name in the secular world… adding all these up, the value is probably around several hundred billion yen.”
He knew very well that the Matou Family’s wealth was astonishing; it was a massive resource accumulated by generations of Magi in the secular world.
“Take all of these as well.
This is what you deserve, and it’s also the mess you must take over as the new head of the Matou Family.”
Hearing these astronomical numbers, Sakura felt no sense of reality.
She didn’t care about money, nor did she care about status.
“However.”
Shinji showed no sign of shame; he extended a finger and waved it in the air.
“I want to take 10 billion yen in cash.”
“This amount of money shouldn’t be a bone-breaking sum for the current Matou Family.
This money is enough for me to squander for a lifetime.
Once I take this money, I’ll get the hell out.
From then on, whether the Matou Family lives or dies, or whether you are happy or miserable, it will have nothing to do with me.”
10 billion yen.
This was a huge sum, enough to let him live an extremely luxurious life in any corner of the world.
But compared to the value of the Spirit Lands held by the Matou Family and the accumulation of centuries of antiques and Mystic Codes, this was less than five percent of the total assets.
This was an extremely cost-effective deal.
Using this small amount of money to buy out the entanglement of a scumbag older brother.
Sakura opened her mouth; she wanted to refuse.
Not because of the money, but because this decisiveness, which felt like he was settling his affairs before dying, made her feel uneasy.
“Older Brother, actually you don’t need to…”
“Enough!”
Shinji suddenly raised his voice.
Because he exerted too much force, a sharp pain shot through his chest, causing his face to instantly turn deathly pale.
But he didn’t stop; he knew what Sakura was thinking.
This girl was too kind and too weak.
If he didn’t act more resolute, she might even try to keep him there out of that ridiculous sense of sympathy.
He didn’t want to see that victim expression of hers; it would constantly remind him of the crimes committed by the Shinji of the past, even if they had no direct connection to him.
“I don’t want to hear any of that nonsense right now!
You can leave!”
Sakura did not leave.
She stood where she was, her fingers tightly twisting the hem of her clothes.
Shinji’s abnormality was too worrying; that sense of emptiness made Sakura feel even more uneasy than when he used to go crazy.
“Your body hasn’t recovered yet, the doctor said…”
“I told you to get out!
Can’t you understand human speech?!”
Shinji suddenly lashed out, using all his strength to violently wave his arm.
“Crash!”
The vase and water cup on the nightstand were all swept onto the floor by him in one go.
The sound of breaking glass was exceptionally grating in the hospital room.
Water splashed everywhere, and the fruit knife spun and slid to the corner of the wall.
“I don’t want to see you!
Seeing you like this makes me sick!
Take your pity and get out!
Once the money is ready, wire it to my account, and then don’t ever appear in front of me again in this lifetime!”
He gasped for breath, his vision blacking out due to lack of oxygen, but his gaze remained fiercely fixed on Sakura, like a wounded beast refusing to let anyone approach.
Sakura was startled by this sudden violent act, her body instinctively shrinking back.
Looking at the emotionally agitated, pale-as-paper Shinji, she knew it was useless to say anything now.
Continuing to stay here would only aggravate his condition.
“I understand.”
Sakura lowered her head, her voice barely audible.
“I’ll go call the doctor.
As for the money… I will handle it.”
She turned around and walked quickly toward the door.
The moment her hand grasped the doorknob, she paused, as if she still wanted to say something, but in the end, she didn’t turn back and walked out.
As the door lock clicked shut, the hospital room returned to silence once again.
Shinji’s fierce expression instantly collapsed.
“Hiss!
It hurts…”
He slumped on the bed, cold sweat having already soaked through his hospital gown.
The outburst just now had almost exhausted all the strength he had just managed to build up.
His heart pounded violently in his chest, not because of anger, but because of weakness.
“…Playing a villain is really physically demanding.”
He let out a long sigh and closed his eyes.
Although the methods were a bit ugly, this was the best ending for Shinji, and also for the current Shinji.
As long as he got that 10 billion, and left Fuyuki, this place of trouble, he would be free.
As for the future…
That would be a new life belonging to Shinji.