Volume 2
Epilogue Part
1
Blue is Worried
About Black, White Doubts About Red 1
Translator : PolterGlast
―Eastern Kabeju Province, Suzuyashiro Capital.
The divine precinct,
Suiki Sacred Cave.
In a corner
overlooking a deep mountain valley, which is inaccessible to humans, stood a
small arbor.
"―Fufu, Kurome. I
thought you were unusually restless, but I see that you have a temper tantrum."
The coquettish tone of
voice colored the arbor as a light breeze blew across it.
The monologue was
delivered while she was picking the petals of an out-of-season iris, perhaps
blown by a mountain storm, and scrutinizing them with her fingers.
"So, you are
here, Ao-sama?"
"Midori, huh? You
look rather exhausted."
The girl's eyes, which
had been reflecting the petals of the iris, were now looking at a woman who
looked to be at least 20 years old.
The woman, called
Midori, replied with a sigh of affirmation to the voice that seemed to flutter
in a teasing manner.
"......As you may
already know, the water dragon veins leading from Kokuten Province are
beginning to be tainted with miasma.
The dragon veins are
quite large-scale, so the Onmyoji we have on hand are not enough to purify
them.
―We need to summon more Onmyoji as soon as possible,
but its origin is Kokuten Province.
Since we can't trust
them and can't see the situation clearly through their side, we can't
......"
"Leave it alone,
leave it alone.
Even though she's a
divine pillar, she's still a child, so it's nothing more than a late-night
tantrum.
―Well, I'd like to say so, but things aren't going so
well for the people, huh?"
"Yes. Now is an
especially crucial time. If things continue as they are, it could be fatal to
the autumn harvest."
"Hmmm. That would
be a little bit unpleasant.
―Right, I remember I once sent the son of one of the
eight families to become the son-in-law of Ugetsu in order for him to become
more proficient in the art of Onmyoujutsu."
"...... I
believe, he was Fuwa's second son."
"Call him back.
It's for times like this that I let him retain his family name.
It would be better if
we could inquire about the inner affairs of Kokuten Province as well."
It was a solid
decision and not bad. Hariin Midori, the head of Hariin, who resided at the top
of Kabeju Province, returned the nod of affirmation.
Especially recently,
there are many who are dissatisfied with Ugetsu's strong influence.
Although people would
be hesitant when it comes to making a fuss so openly, if there is a good reason
to secure the number of Onmyoji who will be useful in times of emergency, no
one would be openly opposed to it.
"Let's see. For
starters, let's exploit the stubbornness of the Ugetsu family as a fallacy and
incorporate it into one of the concession proposals.
The Fuwa family is
famous for its tight-knit nature. But, since the problems in Kabeju Province
stemmed from Kokuten Province, I am sure the head of the family would have no
choice but to accept it."
"Fufu. I'll be
counting on you.
Well, I'm tired of
playing with the mountain wind. Shall we return to the cave then?"
The girl jumped up
from the couch set up in the arbor.
Her black hair,
glistening like a gem, fluttered in the air along with the girl's body.
At first glance, the
black hair looked ordinary. However, when the sunlight shone on it, the color
had a complex blue glow with multiple layers.
Her light, dancing
toes landed soundlessly in the center of the arbor.
The girl who appeared
to be around 17 years old, with eyes of red quartz and black hair that shone
blue in the sunlight, possessed an inhuman beauty.
"...... Ao-sama,
you are behaving rather inappropriately."
"Don't say that,
Midori. I can only stay in such a small sanctuary, so if I don't move around a
little, I might get bored."
She passed by Midori
with a huge smile on her face.
......That's
not what I mean.
I'm not saying
that I don't trust and respect my own divine pillar, it's just, that I wonder
why she has such a carefree and clumsy personality.
―Furthermore,
"She is my
younger sister, so as her older sister, I worried about her,
...... Ukyan~!"
"........................
Haa."
"Uuu~u~u~~"
The divine pillar
called Ao laughed as she took a huge step onto the stile that led to the
passage hall, but she grandly missed it and hit her hips hard.
Midori could not hold
back her sigh as she witnessed the half-crying divine pillar rubbing her lower
back, as she often does.
―Why is she so, how can I say it, so clumsy ......?
Just as always. With
no mention of the fall, this divine pillar returned to the large hall of the
sacred cave where tatami mats were laid out.
Ao sat down on the
seat of honor, held up a tuft of her own hair, which could be either blue or
black, and scrutinized it thoughtfully.
"Well, until now,
she has never lost her temper, and I guess such things are bound to happen over
the years.
It's Shiro that
concerns me. I have to pat my sister on the head before that fortune-telling
fanatic takes advantage of the situation."
"......Ao-sama, I
have been wondering this for a while, but why did you regard Kuro-sama as your
younger sister?
According to the
legend, all four pillars were born at the same time."
"Of course, it's
because I am two heads taller than Kuro, and look, I have breasts as
well."
"............Are
you talking about appearance?"
Sure, there is a
bulge, and it's certainly lovelier in some ways, but it's not something someone
of her age would proudly brag about.
Midori, who became a
mother last year, was dizzy from the sheer ridiculousness of it all.
This is because once a
woman learns to give birth, her desire for that kind of attractiveness is
drastically diminished.
All that remains is
the desire to maintain one's appearance, and makeup naturally follows suit.
"Yeah. This is
not something that can be taken for granted.
―After all, our appearance will never changes.
No matter what, the
personality we aspire to is influenced by the way we look."
"Is that
so?"
Unfortunately, it was
difficult to sympathize with the divine pillar in front of her. The girl with
the blue radiance smiled benevolently at Midori, who could only give a raw
reply.
"Uh-huh. But
well, shall we go ahead and appease Kurome's tantrum first?
It pains me to trouble
the Imperial Princess, but please contact the Ministry of Onmyou to dispatch a
representative to her.
That will at least
give us a little bit more time to work things out."
"Although I feel
reluctant to owe a debt to Central Province, I guess we have no other choice.
...... Tenryo
Academy's summer vacation will be over soon, so I'll ask my sister to contact
Shizumi-sama."
"Alright. Well,
try to at least find out how the other water veins are faring."
"Rest
assured."
"Good, I'm
counting on you."
Ao smiled
magnanimously in front of Midori, who responded with affirmation.
Her smile is like that
of a flower that sways in a warm and calm spring breeze, gentle, yet full of
life and strength.
She is the Divine
Pillar of Wood Element, who is known throughout the Eastern Kabeju Province,
―She is Seiran.
"............
Come to think of it, you mentioned that appearance is important, right?"
"Hmm?"
"By that logic,
the eldest sister would be Shiro-sama."
"..........................."
The Great Divine
Pillar of the West is slightly taller than Seiran and has a chest proportionate
to her apparent age.
At Midori's spot-on
point, Seiran quickly averted her gaze to the side.
"Ao-sama?"
"I don't
recognize that black-hearted fellow as my sister.
At best, ...... she's
just my twin."
...... Wouldn't that,
on the contrary, make their relationship closer?
The question tickled
her thoughts, but wisely Midori kept the matter away from her tongue.
The fact that
Kanna-no-Mikura, a child of the Fuwa family of Kabeju Province, was the
originator of the civil war that broke out 400 years ago was a secret matter
that only the Eight Families and the Four Sovereigns were allowed to know.
The traces of the
Civil War were so deep that it was engraved in history.
Since then, she had
been on bad terms with the Great Divine Pillar of the western region of Hakudō
Province.
She gulped a sigh of
relief as she looked at Seiran, who was chomping on a bun in dissatisfaction,
and then looked in the direction of the northern region of Kokuten Province.
The miasma has started
to seep in, but it's still mild.
There was no
cloudiness in the weather, and the clear blue sky remained tranquil.
―I hope everything will be fine and our fears will be
unfounded.
It would not go so
smoothly.
It was not a hunch,
but a conviction.
As a Kannagi who has
inherited the bloodline of a divine pillar, she has a better intuition than
most people.
It is so accurate that
it can be called a divine revelation.
Her intuition told
her.
―The dark cloud seemed to have deep roots.
――――――――――
―The Northern Region of Kokuten Province, Nanatsuo
Capital
The sacred precincts,
Kuroyouden
When Akira and the
others were engaged in a decisive battle, Genrei suddenly raised her face in
the midst of the darkened sanctuary.
"........................
Akira?"
She was the only one
present in the Kuroyouden, and the only response to her mutterings was silence.
Her voice, however,
seemed to waver in the distance, and it caused a ripple in her emotions, which
had been blocked up, even if she didn't believe it.
"Akira?
........................ Akira~a!!"
Even as she cried out,
it was all in vain, her limbs sank into the surface of the water, and multiple
ripples spread out and disappeared.
Even so, Genrei
desperately clung to the little hope that was born.
She traced the dragon
vein of water Qi that she controlled, desperately searching for traces of Akira
through her Divine Energy, even in the thin water dragon veins that she had
never been able to recognize before.
The water in
Kuroyouden swelled in agony at this act, which would be the same as peering
directly into one's own body if one were an ordinary person.
"...... This
is... Kuro-sama!? Please stop, Kuro-sama!!"
Shizumi, who had
noticed something wrong with the whimpering Kuroyouden, saw how distraught
Genrei was and desperately pleaded for her to stop.
After a few moments,
she regained her composure and stood up from the surface of the water.
"―Shizumi, what's
going on?"
"............
What might it be about?"
"Akira is
............ alive."
"!?"
Faced with a situation
that even the divine pillar could not hide its bewilderment, Shizumi needed a
few moments to digest the meaning of the words she had just told.
"..................My
apologies, Kuro-sama. I understand your desire to cling to the light, but,
Akira-sama is―" "I know that!!"
Poor consolation was
just like poison, so she dared to deny it, but instead an even harsher cold
sharpness returned to Shizumi.
Perhaps responding to
the divine pillar's bewilderment, the surface of the water, which had become
calm for the first time in a while, echoed a gentle surging wave that lingered
along the wall of the Kuroyouden.
"But, the divine
name has been breached.
It is the divine name
I personally split from my own name and bestowed upon him, so it cannot
possibly be wrong!"
To the divine pillar,
a name is also oneself.
It is not just a word.
In the extreme, it is treated the same as a sacred artifact that holds a
separate myth.
In the past, there was
only one case in which Genrei had split her divine name, and that was when she
gave Akira a regeneration talisman.
However, Shizumi
desperately denied this hope. Even if the divine name was split, it was still
merely a talisman after all.
"It's the
talisman that Akira-sama had, is it not?
The fact that someone
else used it means that..."
"That's
impossible.
―In the first place, it can only be used by Akira.
To activate the
talisman, it is necessary to invoke my divine energy that resides in
Akira.....-wait."
The mutterings that
escaped from her rebuttal to Shizumi made Genrei forget to even shake her body.
"Why can he use
it? Wasn't my divine energy removed from Akira?
Is it perhaps not
removed ...... but sealed? Who has sealed my divine energy?"
Shizumi felt a
chilling phantom pain licking her spine as Genrei muttered this thought.
The face of the young
girl, whose emotions were being whittled away, was painted in the form of a
blank Noh mask before Shizumi's eyes.
"Aka? Shiro?
Ao?...... Mother?
Someone has sealed and
hidden my divine energy deep within Akira!"
A fact that had been
ruled out of possibility because it was too ridiculous finally emerged in
Genrei's thoughts.
The only two options
to suddenly make it impossible for Genre to track the divine energy from Akira
are either to seal the divine energy or for Akira to die.
This is because in
order to dye the divine energy that already filled Akira into one's own divine
energy, it is necessary to squeeze and drain the divine energy first.
If the divine energy
is to be squeezed out, this act will immediately become known to Kuro.
Akira was alive and
invoked the talisman.
This fact was seen by
Kuro as proof that Akira was resisting the other divine pillars.
"Wait for me,
Akira!
I will save you!
Shizumi, search for Akira's whereabouts. Akira is hidden in one of the four
provinces!"
"Kuro-sama, we
are in the process of preparing an army for Ugetsu as well.
At any rate, we can't
set any plans unless we know where Akira-san is."
"Let the defiled
beasts take care of Ugetsu!
Akira is more
important!
...... It was burned
quite far away and only for a moment, I can only grasp it was the southern
direction.
It would have been
nice if he had at least stood on a water dragon vein."
"Understood.
...... In the South it is, I will send someone there.
―Kuro-sama, please rest your body at ease until the
response arrives."
While Shizumi was
desperately trying to appease her emotions, Genrei arrogantly issued a decree.
"Hurry up,
Shizumi.
―Make sure you know where he is."
"As you
wish."
――――――――――
"―Even if you say
so..."
Chidjiiwa Kaede and
Dougyou Sonomi looked at each other in bewilderment.
Just as they were
rushing around to get ready for the battle to destroy Ugetsu, the news from
Shizumi came with a shocking impact that overturned the very foundation of the
situation.
"I understand how
you feel. Fortunately, it was before the war preparations and distribution
network was established, and the only thing that will change is that the funds
will be diverted into searching for Akira-san.
The only problem is,
we don't know where Akira-san is now."
"Yes. We only
know that he is in the south and there are many possibilities......"
Shizumi could only nod
at Kaede's point of view as a matter of course.
After all, Kokuten
Province is the northernmost region of Takamagahara. Even if they exclude their
own province, there is still a considerable area of region remaining, and even
though it is a small island nation, it is still roughly 70 to 80% of the
country.
"Let's just use a
straight line south of Nanatsuo to determine the extent of the area.
If we assume that
Akira-san were in those areas, then where would be the most likely
location?"
"...... If we
consider the most influential noble families in a simple straight line, the
first is the Central Capital Tenryo. Next is the third of the eight families in
Hakudō Province, the Yuge family, with its territory, Nakiri.
Finally, there is
Shumon Province's second of the eight families, the Kuga family, with its
territory, Hasebe."
"I would like to
suggest that it might not be a problem to exclude Shumon Province from the
search list.
It is clear from the
information we have gathered from Ugetsu that Akira-sama ran away from home
penniless.
―It is hard to believe that a child of at most 10 years
of age could have arrived at the southern limit of the country without any
money."
Sonomi's point is
understandable.
―But,
"...... No, we
should include Hasebe territory on the search list.
Maybe we should
include Shumon Province's Capital (Karen) as well."
"But it is
slightly off to the west from the straight line. Shall we include it?"
"Yes. And, please
include Hakudō Province's Capital as well. In any case, since someone is hiding
Akira-sama, there is bound to be some interference from the divine
pillars."
Shizumi nodded her
head and listed a number of possibilities.
Yeah. If the divine
pillars are involved in this abduction, then this possibility is not
impossible.
The decision of the
divine pillar is the one that will lead to the outcome of all events in the
province where the divine pillar is in control.
No matter how slim the
possibility may be, there is no way for anyone other than the Kanna-no-Mikura
to escape from that outcome.
"If so, then why
not include Kabeju Province's capital (Suzuyashiro) as well?
The eight families
that were related to Akira-sama are the Fuwa family. Isn't Kabeju Province the
most suspicious?"
"―No need."
A voice coming from
behind Shizumi cut off Sonomi's suggestion.
From the darkness
behind, without a sound of footsteps, a woman dressed in a simple but fine
woven navy blue kimono stepped forth.
A small, swinging knot
at the collar of her kimono is a tortoiseshell pattern with a nine-layered
knot.
She was Gioin Ito, the
former head of the Gioin family.
"The divine
pillar of Kabeju Province suffered considerable damage in the civil war 400
years ago, to the point of almost losing Kanna-no-Mikura.
In addition, their
divine pillar values honesty. I don't believe she is so unrepentant as to
direct her lust for Kanna-no-Mikura of another province."
"Mother......"
"I have heard the
story.
―The closest possible location is Tenryo.
Fortunately, the
summer vacation will be over soon. Shizumi, you should return to the academy.
It should be easy to
make a movement in the central capital if you bring a few people with you as
escorts."
"Yes. ...... Umm,
what about you, mother?"
"With Ugetsu
gone, the nobility will need to be reorganized. The nobles, especially the ones
in the council, have been allowed to play with power for too long.
......It seems that
the parliamentary system was too early for Kokuten Province."
It is true that since
the introduction of the parliamentary system, the abuses committed by the
greedy nobles have been frequently reported.
Taking this
opportunity to sort everything out is a decision that Shizumi can understand.
"Shall I deal
with it?"
"We don't need to
go that far.
―More importantly, Hariin and Kihoin are enrolled at
the academy, aren't they?
You should at least
see how they are behaving. Although it was unnecessary, if Akira-san decides to
accept them, we will accept them.
―Fortunately, if they only sealed Kuro-sama's divine
energy, he would not have gone so far as to use the Arawakamioroshi. There is
still a possibility of retrieving him back."
"Yes, I will try
to find a way so that we can meet face-to-face with Akira-san.
......Mother, will
Akira-san forgive us?"
"I don't
know."
Ito didn't have the
words to respond to the sullenness that escaped from her daughter either.
―But, whatever it is,
"I guess we have
to be sincere and apologize.
We must admit that it
was Gioin's fault for trusting Ugetsu too much and neglecting him."
"Yes. I am sorry
to have put you through such a hard time, Mother."
"You mustn't
worry about me. Gioin's long-cherished wish. No, what kind of parent would not
wish for their daughter's happiness?"
The days of confusion
continued, but finally, a ray of light was revealed to them.
Ito's words brought
peace to Shizumi, and involuntarily she shed tears.
"Get it done.
Kuro-sama will be at
peace whatever Akira-san's decision is."
"Yes,
Mother."
―At the end of the confusion. Following the light that
was finally revealed to her, Gioin stepped forward to the truth.
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