Chapter Fifteen: Make It Up to Me Later

“I am Seiko Takano, founder of the Women’s Mutual Aid Society.”

“I am sorry to interrupt everyone, but there are some things I must say.”

“When I first established the society, my purpose was to promote social equality. Takamagahara endured a long history of pirate rule, during which women were treated merely as commodities passed between pirates and as tools for bearing children. That toxic ideology still exists today. Even when many women suffer abuse at the hands of criminals, they lack the courage to defend their own rights.”

“Even when they bravely speak out, many onlookers instinctively fall into the mindset of slut-shaming, believing that the victims were persecuted because they themselves were not chaste enough.”

“The society was founded to promote equality and address such problems in two ways. On the one hand, we encourage and support victims in standing up and fighting back. On the other, we use public opinion to expose the crimes of the perpetrators, hoping that more onlookers will abandon such poisonous ideas and stand firmly with us.”

“Unfortunately, because of my negligence in managing the organization, some members of the society were corrupted by outside influences, and have instead caused even greater harm to society.”

“According to my investigation, an unknown organization has been providing financial support to certain members of the society over a prolonged period, fostering hostility and hatred within them and encouraging them to fabricate incidents and launch indiscriminate attacks against innocent men. They cloak their actions in the false name of ‘resisting oppression,’ but in truth, they are driving the situation toward complete loss of control.”

“Wrong is wrong. Deliberately harming innocent people cannot be whitewashed into righteous and permissible behavior simply because it is done for ‘a greater reason’ or ‘a nobler goal.’ Besides, time will eventually deliver a just verdict.”

“If this loss of control is not curbed in time, then no matter how many neutral onlookers currently support equality movements out of a simple sense of justice and sympathy for the weak, just as many will eventually lose all trust in those movements.”

“And once the term ‘equality movement’ is completely stigmatized in society, women will lose the ability to defend their own rights.”

“As the founder of the Women’s Mutual Aid Society, I deeply regret my failure to manage it properly, and I am heartbroken by the harm it has already caused society. Here, I offer my apologies to everyone who has been hurt, and to society as a whole.”

“I am sorry.”

“At the same time, I promise you this: I will not allow this mistake to continue spreading.”

“I will continue investigating this organization. I will give everything I have to sever every tentacle it has extended. I will also purge every corrupted member from within the society and will not allow them to inflict even greater harm upon society.”

“I promise that I will spend the rest of my life destroying the monster I personally hatched. Even if it costs me my life, I will not hesitate.”

After reading the entire statement, Rinna Tsukimiya checked the trending searches again. Sure enough, most of them were discussing this very matter.

Although the original post had been deleted promptly, Seiko Takano’s account was, after all, a hugely influential account followed by countless fans. Otherwise, she would never have possessed the power to establish the Women’s Mutual Aid Society in the first place. Within half an hour of the post going up, her followers had already frantically reposted it across every major platform.

At present, most of the discussions surrounding the trending topics had reached a clear consensus about Seiko Takano:

Traitor.

There was no need to explain what kind of people followed Seiko Takano’s account. Yet even in the eyes of her most moderate supporters, she claimed that some “unknown organization” was corrupting the society, but had produced no evidence whatsoever.

After reading the statement from beginning to end, the only conclusion anyone could draw was that Seiko Takano no longer wished to advance the equality movement. Instead, under the pretext that one must not overcorrect, she intended to suppress the movement herself.

As a result, she was being savagely condemned across every major forum.

Several of the trending topics were posts from administrators of the Women’s Mutual Aid Society, announcing that Seiko Takano had been expelled from the organization. They declared that they would continue advancing the cause of equality and would never give up.

Rinna Tsukimiya sighed and turned to Chen Zi’ang.

“Senior, so this is actually…”

“Yes.” Chen Zi’ang’s voice was heavy. “This is Seiko Takano’s declaration of criminal intent.”

At the end of her statement, Seiko Takano had mentioned “purging every corrupted member from within the society.” Most netizens probably assumed she meant expelling them, which was why the other administrators had rushed forward to announce that Seiko Takano herself had been expelled.

Unfortunately, only a very small number of people, such as Chen Zi’ang and Rinna Tsukimiya, knew that Seiko Takano’s so-called “purge” was not something as trivial as kicking people out of the organization.

Put simply, if someone accepted money to do evil, knew that they had accepted the money, and knew that what they were doing was wrong, then there was essentially no hope of reforming them. The only option was to stop them.

As for the methods a witch might use to stop someone, Nishikawa Mie’s example was right there before them. Nothing more needed to be said.

Murder.

“Even now, I still find this impossible to believe.” Chen Zi’ang remained silent for a long while before sighing.

“Indeed.” Rinna Tsukimiya fell silent for a moment, then said helplessly, “Perhaps she simply realized that every other path was blocked.”

“I don’t know.” Chen Zi’ang shook his head.

He had already sensed that Rinna Tsukimiya felt a certain degree of understanding—even agreement—toward both Nishikawa Mie and Seiko Takano.

Of course, agreement was not the same as sympathy. Chen Zi’ang himself sympathized with what they had endured, but he would never approve of what they had done.

As for Rinna, perhaps it was simply a form of empathy between women.

“Since this has happened,” Rinna Tsukimiya asked softly, “are we still going on our trip to the moon tomorrow?”

“Of course.” Chen Zi’ang smiled. “We’ve already taken the leave… Is there anything fun to do on the moon?”

“There is.” Rinna Tsukimiya smiled as well. “There’s a lunar-rover race across the plains, a stargazing event using the observatory’s space telescope, and a base music festival with unlimited drinks and refreshments… But, Senior, let me ask you this: if Seiko Takano starts slaughtering people down here, will you still be able to enjoy yourself on the moon with my sister and me?”

“Of course.” Chen Zi’ang answered seriously. “If I’ve promised to do something, I’ll do it.”

“But you wouldn’t be able to enjoy yourself, would you? You’d keep taking out your phone every now and then, with nothing but work on your mind.” Rinna Tsukimiya gazed into his eyes and spoke gently. “How about this, Senior?”

“I’ll buy tickets back to Takamagahara for tomorrow.”

“But we originally agreed to stay and play for a week, so there are still six days left… You’ll have to make it up to me later, all right?”

(End of Chapter)