Dr. STONE IF: The World Where Tsukasa Shishio Got the Petrification Cure - The Storm-Bringing Hunter —The Rule-Breaking Sisters and Tsukasa's Looming Shadow—

The mountain air was cold, biting at his skin. Senku walked alone along a narrow animal trail. Dry leaves crunched underfoot. Light filtering through the trees cast dappled patterns on the ground. (The smoke from the Shinjuku direction... three days since then. Taiju's arm wound still hasn't fully healed.) Senku replayed last night's conversation with Taiju in his head. "I'm coming too!" "No. Don't move. You'll tear your wound open." "But come on, you going alone is dangerous!" "I'll be fine. I'm not going to fight. Just to look." With that, Senku had set off for the mountain alone. His objective: reconnaissance. Confirm what that smoke was. And if possible, find resources that could be used to make gunpowder. "Now then. Where to start?" Senku set down the leather bag on his back and pulled out a battered notebook. He opened the pages. Geological notes, sketches of plants, records of petrification cure formulas. There weren't many legible pages left. "This area is on the edge of what used to be the Tanzawa Mountains... If the soil's rich in hot spring minerals, I should be able to find sulfur too." He raised his head and scanned his surroundings. That was when it happened. —Twang. The sound of air being split. Senku instinctively dropped low. Something grazed past his ear. "Tch—!" A single arrow was buried deep in a tree several meters ahead. If it had hit him, it would have gone straight through his skull. "Don't move." A voice. From above. Senku slowly raised his head. There was a figure on a tree branch. Backlit, so he couldn't see the face. But the bow in hand and the quiver on the back were unmistakable. "What village are you from? This is our hunting ground. Not a place you can just walk into." A woman's voice. Young. Senku slowly raised both hands. "I'm not from any village. I'm a scientist who woke up from petrification." "...Woke up from petrification?" Her voice wavered slightly. "Yeah. If you don't believe me, look at this." Senku pulled a small glass vial from his pocket. Inside was a small amount of a prototype petrification cure. "This is a medicine that undoes petrification. Scientifically speaking, the success rate is about sixty percent. Exciting, right?" The figure in the tree leaned forward. "...That can undo petrification?" "I'll show you." Senku picked up something the size of a pebble lying at his feet—something petrified, probably a mouse or a lizard. Then he dripped a single drop of the medicine onto the stone. A few seconds. Crack. The stone fissured and crumbled. From inside, a small mouse appeared. The mouse looked around, twitching its nose, then bolted into the grass. "...!" A sound came from the tree branch. The figure leaped down. A girl landed in front of Senku. Long, light brown hair. Braided in the back. Large amber eyes. Healthy, wheat-colored skin. An old scar on her left arm. A bow and quiver on her back. The girl lowered her bow with trembling hands. "It really... came undone...?" "You saw it yourself." The girl stared intently at the glass vial in Senku's hand. "Amazing... That's amazing! You really can undo petrification!" Her voice brightened all at once. "Yeah. It's still a prototype, though." "I'm Kohaku! I hunt in these mountains. What's your name?" "Ishigami Senku." "Senku! Hey, Senku, come to my village! I want to introduce you to everyone!" Kohaku grabbed Senku's hand and pulled. "Hey, wait. I haven't even decided to trust you yet—" "It's fine! I'll vouch for you! Besides, there's something in the village I want to show you." Kohaku turned back and grinned. That smile was enough to melt a little of Senku's wariness. --- Kohaku's village was in a mountain basin. Simple houses made of wood and stone. Crops planted in fields, chickens wandering around. About thirty people were staring at them. "Everyone, this is Senku. He woke up from petrification!" Kohaku called out to the villagers. But their reaction was cold. "Woke up from petrification... you say?" "Someone who touched the impurity, entering our village..." The villagers kept their distance from Senku, whispering among themselves. "Everyone, that's awful! Senku isn't a bad person!" Kohaku protested, but the villagers' attitude didn't change. Senku looked toward the center of the village. There was a small stone building. The entrance was sealed with a sturdy wooden door. Around it, ropes with white cloth tied to them were strung in a perimeter. "...What's that?" At Senku's question, Kohaku's expression clouded. "That's... the shrine of impurity. Where the petrified people sleep." "Petrified people, in there?" "Yes. In this village, the petrified are said to be impurities cursed by God. So they're sealed in the shrine, and no one is allowed near it." Kohaku trembled slightly, still gazing at the shrine. "...My sister is in there too." "Your sister?" "Ruri. She suddenly turned to stone three years ago. The village called her an impurity and locked her in the shrine. I've been saying all along that my sister isn't cursed, but..." Kohaku's voice trembled with tears. "No one believed me. But you—your science might be able to save her!" Kohaku gripped Senku's hand tightly. "Please, Senku. Save my sister. I'll do anything!" Senku looked steadily into Kohaku's eyes. Her amber eyes were wet with tears. She was desperate. "...Take me there. Show me this shrine." "Huh...?" "To undo petrification, I first need to examine the state of the stone. I'll confirm with a scientific eye what kind of petrification your sister is in." "...Thank you! Thank you, Senku!" Kohaku wiped her tears and smiled. --- Night. When the villagers had gone to sleep, Kohaku led Senku to the shrine. "Here. Don't make a sound." The shrine's door was made of heavy stone. Kohaku moved it aside with practiced hands. "There's only one lookout, on that raised platform over there. At this hour, he should be dozing off." "...You're used to this." "Because I've come to see my sister so many times." Inside the shrine, it was chilly. By the light of the torch Kohaku held, Senku surveyed the interior. Stone statues—over a dozen of them. Lined up along the walls. Every one was in human form. "So these are the petrified villagers." "Yes. They've been here for a long time." Kohaku walked toward the back of the shrine. At the very back was a stone statue carefully covered with cloth. "Sis, I'm here." Kohaku gently removed the cloth. The statue was in the form of a young woman. The same long brown hair as Kohaku. A gentle expression. She looked as if she'd been smiling right up until the moment she was petrified. "This is my sister, Ruri." Senku approached Ruri's statue. He brought the torch close and observed the surface. "...That's strange." "What is?" "The degree of petrification is different from the other statues. The crystal structure is clearly different." Senku pulled out his notebook and wrote something down. "Normal petrification crystallizes uniformly from the surface. But Ruri's statue started crystallizing from the inside. It's as if the cause of the petrification was inside her body." "What does that... mean?" "I don't know yet. But your sister's petrification is different from a normal petrification phenomenon. There's a high possibility that some other factor is involved." Senku touched the tip of Ruri's statue's finger. Cold. "...The compounding will take a few hours. Can you manage?" "Of course! I've been waiting for this moment forever!" Kohaku's eyes shone with anticipation. --- Senku began compounding in a corner of the shrine. He mixed the chemicals he'd brought with minerals collected near the shrine. "Adjusting the ratio of sulfuric acid to nitric acid... Can this mineral substitute as a catalyst?" Kohaku watched Senku's hands intently. "Amazing... You really do know everything." "I'm a scientist." "Hey, Senku. Why do you know so much about science?" "...To save humanity." "Save... humanity?" "To awaken all of petrified humanity with the power of science. That's my goal." Senku spoke without pausing his work. "Amazing...! I never even thought of something like that. But you might be able to do it!" Kohaku's voice was sincere. Senku relaxed his expression just slightly. (This girl believes in science. She doesn't doubt a word I say.) It was a first for Senku. --- That was when it happened. "Kohaku! What are you doing!" Torchlight gathered at the shrine's entrance. With the village chief at the lead, about ten villagers poured into the shrine. "Chief...!" "I'd heard you were touching the impurity, but... to think you'd let an outsider into the shrine!" The chief's face was red with rage as he glared at Kohaku. "You've broken the law! Kohaku, you are banished from this village!" "Th-That can't be...!" "This village has survived by following the laws, to escape God's curse. You broke those laws. We cannot keep someone who has touched the impurity in this village." The villagers shouted in unison. "That's right, banish her!" "Are you trying to spread the impurity?!" "Get out!" One of the villagers threw a stone at Kohaku. The stone struck her shoulder. "...!" "Stop." Senku stepped in front of Kohaku. "What you call 'impurity' is, scientifically speaking, just crystals. It's not God's curse or anything else. Petrification can be undone. I'll prove it." "Silence, outsider! You're one of the witches spreading the impurity!" The chief advanced on Senku. "You too, get out of this village! Right now!" "Stop... Senku is only trying to save my sister!" Kohaku tried to cling to the chief. "Silence! Your sister is an impurity too! A cursed statue! To try to save such a thing—" "My sister isn't cursed!!" Kohaku's scream echoed through the shrine. "My sister is just sleeping! I'm going to save her! I'll leave this village—fine!" Tears streaming down her face, Kohaku glared at the chief. "...I see. Then never come back." The chief spoke coldly. The villagers threw stones at Kohaku one after another. Kohaku bit her lip and endured. "Let's go, Kohaku." Senku took Kohaku's hand. "...I'm sorry, Senku. Because of me—" "Don't apologize. You just wanted to save your sister. What's wrong with that?" Senku left the shrine. Behind him, the villagers' curses rang out. "Never come back!" "Impurity!" Senku didn't look back. --- When they reached the edge of the village, Kohaku stopped. "...I don't have a place to go back to anymore." Kohaku wiped her tears and forced a smile. "But I don't regret it. If it means saving my sister, I don't need the village. ...I'm betting on your science." Kohaku's eyes were no longer crying. "...Yeah. I will undo the petrification. Your sister, humanity, everyone." Senku squeezed Kohaku's hand back. "...Thank you, Senku. I believe in you." Kohaku squeezed back. --- That was when it happened. —Clang, clang, clang. From the village watchtower, an alarm bell rang out. "What's that...?" Senku looked at the mountain ridge. On the ridge, illuminated by moonlight, figures stood in a line. Over a dozen. All armed. "...The Tsukasa Empire's scout unit." Senku's voice dropped. "Tsukasa Empire...? As in, Shishiou Tsukasa's...?" "Yeah. This village has been found. No—maybe it was targeted from the start." The warriors on the ridge began their advance toward the village. "The villagers...!" Kohaku started to run toward the village. "Wait, Kohaku! If you go, you'll just be killed!" Senku grabbed Kohaku's arm. "But...! They banished me, but... even so, the villagers are..." "I know. That's why we need a plan." Senku spoke calmly. "First, we rendezvous with Taiju. Then we drive off the scout unit with gunpowder traps." "Gunpowder...? You have something like that?" "Yeah. Only a little. But depending on how I use it, it's enough to scare off a dozen warriors." Senku took Kohaku's hand and ran. --- Taiju h

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Episode 4

Name: Dr. STONE IF: The World Where Tsukasa Shishio Got the Petrification Cure
Author: Novelia

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