Starting With The Sefirah Castle In The Anime World-Chapter 158 - : Regret

"Why?"

Ren slowly approached Toshihiko.

"Isn't it because her father caused your mother's car accident?"

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"!?"

Toshihiko's expression was a mix of shock and disbelief, almost comically so.

"Did you really think you were hiding so well?"

"Everything about you has already been exposed."

"Even if she drank the poisoned lemon tea you prepared, wasn't it her own will?"

"Her own will!?"

Toshihiko looked at Sayuri, who was still coughing up blood on the ground. His face was filled with astonishment, but there wasn't a single trace of regret—only rage.

"This is my revenge! How could she have known!?"

"She was just a tool for my revenge, just like all those other women! She was only after the Takasugi family's wealth!"

Yes.

Sayuri was just like every other woman he had encountered.

They all approached him because of his money.

He wasn't wrong.

Using money as bait, he had lured Sayuri in.

It was a fact. He had succeeded. He got close to her. He gained the chance to take revenge.

"...Nineteen..."

Sayuri, standing nearby, let out a deep sigh and lowered her head.

The illusion of childhood love had been too strong.

She had believed in the boy she once loved, convinced herself of his kindness.

But now, stripped of that illusion, she finally saw the truth—time was indeed a thick filter.

It had concealed so many flaws, allowing her to see only the goodness in the boy from her past while ignoring how much he had deteriorated over the years.

The wealth of the Takasugi Zaibatsu...

Ren suddenly chuckled, as if he had just heard something truly amusing.

"You really think it still exists?"

"What do you mean?"

Toshihiko suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Your adoptive parents treated you well. They even entrusted you with overseeing the main business of the Takasugi Zaibatsu."

"But you lacked the ability to manage a corporation of that scale. Under your leadership, the Takasugi Zaibatsu has long been drowning in debt."

"On top of that, you love to play around, and your adoptive mother spoiled you too much, which only reinforced your reckless nature."

"In itself, there's nothing wrong with enjoying life. Some people gain valuable insights and connections from it. But you? You only indulged in pleasure."

"You surrounded yourself with drinking buddies and fake friends."

"Do you even remember how they tricked you?"

Toshihiko's mind instantly recalled the many mistakes he had made while running the company, all based on the advice of those so-called 'friends.'

His body trembled involuntarily.

"You always discussed company matters with them, and they secretly recorded everything you said."

"Otherwise, do you think the rival conglomerate that took over the Takasugi Zaibatsu's position just happened to be so well-informed?"

"If it weren't for a few critical decision-making errors, the Takasugi Zaibatsu might have had a chance at recovery. But instead of listening to the professional advisors managing your family's business, you listened to your drinking buddies."

"And that... was your downfall."

Ren's smile widened slightly.

"So, tell me—how much liquid capital do you think the Takasugi Zaibatsu has left?"

"Twenty... twenty million?"

A chilling sense of dread crept into Takasugi Toshihiko's heart.

"It's two million. And not in US dollars—just two million yen."

"Your adoptive father nearly fainted when he found out."

Toshihiko's heart clenched with guilt.

Because he hadn't even known his father had collapsed.

"The only thing keeping him going... was your marriage to Sayuri."

"If you successfully married her, the Takasugi Zaibatsu could finally escape its current crisis."

"Even if the Zaibatsu were to fall apart, with your father-in-law's influence, no corporation would dare completely crush what remains of it."

"So, this wedding... it wasn't Sayuri chasing after your two million yen."

"She was trying to help you in her own way."

The more Ren spoke, the more nauseated Toshihiko felt.

"Actually, Sayuri even had your ex-girlfriend investigate the accident from twenty years ago."

"She already knew that her father had been pursuing a criminal when the incident occurred—and that his actions inadvertently led to your mother's death."

"It was because she knew that... she was willing to end this grudge with her own life."

"How... how could it be like this..."

"But... there was a flaw in the information she received."

"The truth is, it wasn't her father's car that hit your mother twenty years ago."

"The one who actually ran over your mother was the criminal he was chasing."

Toshihiko's entire body jolted.

His face went pale with fear.

"That's right. The one who hit your mother... was a criminal."

"Maybe her father failed to save her in time, but that was only secondary responsibility."

"The real murderer—the one who truly took your mother's life—was the criminal."

The memory that Toshihiko had tried so hard to suppress surfaced once more.

Back then, his hatred had been directed solely at the policeman who had shaken off his grasp.

But he had deliberately ignored the actual culprit, the man who had been behind the wheel.

"That criminal was sentenced to life imprisonment over twenty years ago."

"He's still in prison even now, alive and well."

"He doesn't even know that he killed your mother."

Ren paused.

"I think you knew this all along, but you just didn't want to accept it."

"You wanted to pin all the blame on the officer who didn't save your mother."

"You convinced yourself that Matsumoto Kiyonaga owed your mother a life."

"Or maybe, after being taken in by the Takasugi Zaibatsu, you never even looked into the truth of your mother's death."

"You lived your comfortable life, blaming everything on a single policeman."

"You never even thought to direct your hatred at the real criminal."

"As if Matsumoto Kiyonaga himself was the one who ran your mother over."

Toshihiko's face turned deathly white.

He had forgotten?

No.

He knew.

The events of that day were still etched vividly in his mind.

He had seen it with his own eyes.

A madman had driven recklessly through the alley.

He had watched as his mother was flung against the wall, like a ragdoll.

She had collapsed to the ground, unmoving.

Barely breathing.

Then, the fierce-looking policeman had appeared.

Toshihiko had clung to him, begging him to save his mother.

But the officer had pushed him away.

Ignoring everything else as he rushed forward to arrest the criminal.

"...No... No..."

Toshihiko collapsed onto the ground, his entire body trembling.

His eyes were locked onto Sayuri, still coughing up blood.

He shuddered and cupped her face in his hands.

"Don't die... Don't die..."

"This isn't my fault... It's not my fault..."

Did Toshihiko start to regret everything?

Yes.

He truly regretted it.

But only after he realized he was going to die.

(To be continued.)