Kaii-san and I - Ch. 142 - The Four Children Consumed by the Mountain
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Seems like he pulled a fast one by deliberately devaluing the importance of rescuing the kid.
"It's not like I wanted to rescue this stupid kid anyway!"
Well if you don't want him, I don't want to keep him, checkma...wait no!
"It's not like I wanted to rescue this stupid kid anyway!"
Well if you don't want him, I don't want to keep him, checkma...wait no!
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Once again our boy is wise beyond his years.
I think from what I can understand the mountain spirit took that lost child for not obeying specific rituals but our boy wanted to save him. Though in order for the mountain to return the lost kid something must be given in value so our boy offered his "act" of helping the kid because he values helping the kid as much as the kid himself.
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I think from what I can understand the mountain spirit took that lost child for not obeying specific rituals but our boy wanted to save him. Though in order for the mountain to return the lost kid something must be given in value so our boy offered his "act" of helping the kid because he values helping the kid as much as the kid himself.
...
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The spirits were expecting a "life for a life" mentality, but that's not what he has. We know from previous chapters the boy doesn't value life in and of itself but rather what is done with that life, given that he's aware death isn't an end but only a limitation.
By directly helping the kid, he helps the kid's family as well. This helps multiple people, which is a pretty good use of his own life. By leaving the kid's survival up to chance he helps no one, and is even denying the main spirit another child rather than exchanging one for another, which isn't a particularly good use of his life.
By directly helping the kid, he helps the kid's family as well. This helps multiple people, which is a pretty good use of his own life. By leaving the kid's survival up to chance he helps no one, and is even denying the main spirit another child rather than exchanging one for another, which isn't a particularly good use of his life.
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- "The most powerful option you have in a negotiation is simply walking away."
- This might be the closest English translation. But masks the nuance pointed out by Landale.
It might have more to do with the boy (through his own suffering) understanding the worth of life.
- The act of saving him -- is as important to me -- as the child itself."
- Finding the merit in the doing of a thing, as important as the thing itself.
Which other Kai-san have commented on throughout this series.
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I think you have it. "He wants to save the boy" is what the spirits thought he wanted, but "he wants to save the boy" was what he actually wanted. By definition, the value of his desire to save the boy is identical to, well, the value of acting to save the boy.Once again our boy is wise beyond his years.
I think from what I can understand the mountain spirit took that lost child for not obeying specific rituals but our boy wanted to save him. Though in order for the mountain to return the lost kid something must be given in value so our boy offered his "act" of helping the kid because he values helping the kid as much as the kid himself.
...
He could no longer act to save the boy, but the spirits couldn't interfere with the boy being saved by anyone else, and since he knew rescuers were already searching the area, it was enough.
To understand what's going on in this chapter, read the title: The FOUR Children Consumed by the Mountain. That refers to the four little goblins, the previous victims of kamikakushi. The boy objectively knows that the missing boy DOESN'T NEED TO BE RESCUED. The Lord of the Mountain is kind to the children it kidnaps and they live happily by its side, immortal, eternally young and mischievous. Now, there would be an impact to the people of the outside world, but that's because they don't have this knowledge, and in any case he's a bit of a misanthrope - their emotional pain isn't his problem and will be healed by time anyway.
Therefore, from a strictly objective in-world perspective of the boy, the act of rescuing the missing boy only has value to himself. Subjectively, it would satisfy his desire for personal justification. Objectively, it might have given him a new friend or incognito appreciation from people who care about the missing boy. By the Lord of the Mountain erasing the act, the boy loses all that potential value he could have derived from the rescue. It's an equivalent exchange from both his and the Lord's shared perspective of the unseen world.
Therefore, from a strictly objective in-world perspective of the boy, the act of rescuing the missing boy only has value to himself. Subjectively, it would satisfy his desire for personal justification. Objectively, it might have given him a new friend or incognito appreciation from people who care about the missing boy. By the Lord of the Mountain erasing the act, the boy loses all that potential value he could have derived from the rescue. It's an equivalent exchange from both his and the Lord's shared perspective of the unseen world.
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