Volume 2
Epilogue Part
2
Blue is Worried
About Black, White Doubts About Red 2
Translator : PolterGlast
―Western Hakudō Province, Konusa Capital.
Sacred Precincts,
Junkei Great Shrine.
In the center of the
hall known as a shrine, Shiro suddenly raised her gaze.
Her gaze was directed
at nothing but emptiness.
A girl around 10 years
old, standing by her side, followed Shiro's gesture and turned her gaze, but
all she could see in her eyes was the lattice pattern on the ceiling.
"Shiro-sama?"
"―Kurome. For a
girl, she seems to be a bit rowdy, huh?"
"? ―Ah."
Shiro probably did not
expect a response. When the girl tilted her head, Shiro turned her head to face
toward behind the girl.
There was a
weary-looking woman, probably in her thirties or so.
The girl's face broke
into a smile as she saw the woman's face.
"Mother!"
"Kagura. Have you
served Shiro-sama well?"
"Yes!"
The girl's smile
brought a wry smile to the woman's face, and she responded by stroking and
patting the girl's head.
Although the girl's
smile comforted her, it didn't make her anguish go away. With a sighing
expression on her face, the mother sat down next to Kagura.
The family crest sewn
into the collar of her kimono swayed slightly.
Three tigers biting
their tails encircled a bale of eagle feathers.
One of the Four
Sovereigns, which governs the Western Region Hakudō Province. It was the head
of Jinroin, Jinroin Hotori.
"...... There
have been signs of disturbance in the water dragon veins, and finally, the
other day, miasma was found to have seeped through."
"Well, it is
indeed dangerous.
How's Kokuten
Province's situation?"
"They were on the
verge of collapse, but they seem to be able to hold on now."
"Hopefully so. As
for Kuro, she will be all right on her own for the time being.
―If we do our part, good fortune will naturally
follow."
Shiro smiled with a
carefree smile while keeping her eyes downcast.
Except for her eyes,
which were hidden from view, she had a graceful appearance, from the color of
her hair to the tips of her toes, reminiscent of silvery white, just as her
divine name implied.
She is around 17 - 18
years old.
Despite her gentle
appearance, the two people present there were well aware that her character was
not so straightforward.
A graceful white
beauty who guides everything with her wits and wisdom.
She is the great
divine pillar of Hakudō Province, who knows everything in the western region of
the country.
―She is Tsukishiro.
"...... Shall we
make a move?"
"It goes without
saying. I don't like being delayed, you know."
"We will inquire
about the situation at Kokuten Province then."
"Good, but do it
in a casual manner.
Tell the envoys to
stay for one month and confirm the situation in the capital."
"We could be
mistaken for being unaware of anything, couldn't we?"
There are two main
purposes for sending envoys.
The first is to
establish communication, and the second is to tell the other party that we
already know something.
In the case of the
latter, the effect may be lessened if the envoy does not move in a flamboyant
manner.
"No, it won't. The
more we move, the more serious the situation will become for Kabeju and Shumon
Province.
It's because they
don't have enough Onmyoji. Once the source of the problem, the Kokuten
Province, is no longer trusted, the only options left to rely on are the
Ministry of Onmyou in Central Province or Hakudou Province.
―If we fail to anticipate the outcome, then which one
shall we observe?"
Is it time to
use divination?
She muttered
pleasantly and flipped her right palm, and there were five brightly-colored
wooden amulets sandwiched between her fingers.
Red, blue, white,
black, and finally yellow.
She let these colorful
pieces play in her palm for a while, and then she threw them down slowly,
The five pieces that
left Tsukishiro's palm fell on the tatami mats haphazardly.
"Now, how are
they arranged...?
―Hmm?"
"Ara?"
*Crack*. With a faint,
brittle sound, the black and red wooden amulets were split in half, exposing
their cross-sections.
The expression on the
faces of Tsukishiro and Hotori, who peeked at it, was dyed with puzzlement.
"I can understand
if it were just Kokuten Province, but what does it have to do with Shumon
Province?"
"....... Now
then. The way they are split is similar to each other, so they are not
unrelated.
Their left corners
seem to be peeled off, which means that those two girls are about to bare their
fangs at each other."
"Is it a civil
war!?"
Tsukishiro's twin eyes
opened slightly in surprise upon hearing the stuttering of Hotori.
Tsukishiro's iris,
mixed with her pure white figure, was tinted with a golden glow that seemed to
possess the pale color of the moon, just as her divine name implies.
Golden iris. It is
called Kinsei, which is said to reveal lurking evil spirits.
"......It hasn't
gone that far. However, if we leave it alone, it will be.
―The black amulet cracked slightly earlier than the red
amulet, and the cause was the black one. Should we stick to our plan?"
"We'll send an
envoy to the Kokuten Province immediately."
Hearing Tukishiro's
muttering, Hotori left the shrine in a hurry.
In the center of the
shrine, which had regained its silence, Kagura peered up at Tsukishiro, who was
lost in thought, and inwardly wondered.
She was aware that the
divine pillar to which she dedicated herself favored divination more than
anything else.
However, divination is
a ritual in which a person asks the divine pillar about the divine will.
In other words, when
Tsukishiro performs divination, it means that she is truly seeking divine will
in correspondence with the divine pillars.
"Is it so strange
that I am divining the Divine Pillars?"
Doubts must have
filled Kagura's gaze. Tsukishiro turned her twin eyes, which were downcast,
toward Kagura.
"M-My
apologies."
"I don't mind.
The children of Jinroiin will always have that question in their minds when
they are young.
...... Hotori was no
exception, so there is nothing to be ashamed of."
"Yes."
"As you may have
thought, divination is a ritual to ask the great divine pillar for the divine
will.
Indeed, if I were to
perform it only on myself, I would not be able to foresee any results.
―But if the other divine pillars were to be involved,
the result would be different."
Holding a white sake
cup with a gold rim in her hand, Tsukishiro sipped the water of Henwakamizu.
A single shimmering
particle of silvery white light trailed down her mouth and dissipated into the
void.
"We divine
pillars cannot speak any falsehoods. And every divination must be answered.
Divination can never
betray you unless you ask something difficult."
"Yes."
Kagura nodded her head
vaguely, as though she did not quite understand the meaning behind these words.
Even her gestures were
the same as those Jinroiin girls whom Shiro described earlier.
"Fufu. Well,
you'll understand it when the time comes.
―Rather than that, this divination makes me
curious."
Clearing her throat,
Tsukishiro pointed to the center with a sharp gaze.
The yellow amulet
seemed to be isolated from the others.
"There is no
fluctuation when it falls, and it is evenly separated from the other
pieces."
"Is it perhaps
unrelated?"
"Impossible.
Even in the civil war
400 years ago, some kind of fluctuation appeared on it.
The Imperial Princess.
The fact that there are no fluctuations, is it suggests that she is on the
defensive?
―Alright."
Tsukishiro nodded her
head, as though she had reached a decision in her mind.
"Ao, who pretends
to be an older sister, will probably get in touch with Kuro.
―If so, shall I disturb Aka first? It would be even
better if I could divert her focus to Central Province first.
―Kagura, it's almost lunchtime, no? Then―"
――――――――――
Tilting her head at
Tsukishiro's wish, Kagura made her way through the mansion.
The aged cypress
planks under her feet squeaked, reminiscent of Ningtingale's chirp, as she
walked.
*Squeak-squeak*. The
girl's mouth naturally curled into a smile as she felt as though she was
playing with a little bird.
―And,
Kagura's smile bloomed
into a broad smile as she spotted a mature man walking across her path.
Her walking speed sped
up and she rushed to the man's side.
The expression on the
man's face, who was barely over 30 years of age, but still retained some
youthfulness, turned soft at the sight of Kagura.
"Father!"
"―Oh, Kagura. If
you are looking for Hotori, she is in her office."
"Yes, I'll visit
her later.
Is Father staying here
for a while?"
"No. I have
finished my negotiations with the Central Province, and now I have to return to
the Nakiri territory."
"I
see......"
Kagura looked down in
disappointment as her conversation with her father, whom she rarely saw, was
immediately cut short.
Seeing this, he gave a
wry smile and patted the girl's head.
Kagura's expression of
not-so-satisfied with this gesture, which was very similar to that of Hotori,
appeared momentarily, and her cheeks puffed up as though she was trying to make
up for it.
"...... I already
ten years old. Please stop treating me like a child."
"To me, no matter
what your age is, you will always be my child.
But you've turned ten
this fast, huh? Are you about to have lunch, Kagura?"
"Yes. ―Ah, right.
I have a favor to ask you, Father."
―On your way to the lunch, tell the first person you
encounter to do this.
What passed through
Kagura's mind was the mandate that was requested by Tsukishiro.
Her father's eyes
blinked at this rarely heard request from his daughter, whom he rarely met.
However, he nodded his
head in agreement, a selfishness he had not heard in a long time.
"At your
service..."
After accepting this
request, the father tilted his head as he watched Kagura leave.
It was a very strange
request.
"It was a very
strange request to be sent as an envoy to Shumon Province,......"
At the very least, it
would not be the kind of request that a young girl would wish for.
Fortunately, however,
the Nakiri territory is located on the border of Shumon Province. So, it was
not too much trouble to go there. Thinking so, he turned on his heel.
"There are people
I haven't seen in a while as well, so this is a perfect opportunity to meet
them."
Swaying on his back
was a layered flower-pattern of Nadeshiko.
He is the head of the
Yuge family, the third of the eight families, and is responsible for supporting
Jinroin.
He is widely known as
the strongest in Takamagahara,
―His name is Yuge Kojou.
――――――――――
The place is deep in
the mountains, where no sunlight can penetrate.
The undulating
darkness swam between the old trees, tracing the slight flow of miasma.
―Hi, hi...... hi, hi, hi.
The darkness engulfs
everything, creating a silence, and after it passes, nothing remains but the
same dimly lit grove of trees.
―Hee, hee.
Only the laughter that
lurks in the darkness colors the space between the trees and then disappears.
"It was a
harvest, a harvest.
It was worth the
risk."
Ambrosio. No,
Vansuir's interference had served its purpose well.
Although he regretted
that he could not retrieve the sacred artifact, it was a trivial matter now.
Kanna-no-Mikura.
Feeling elated at the appearance of an unexpected being, a reddish-black
crescent moon is carved in the center of the darkness.
It is a wild card that
could render all measures futile, but it was fortuitous that during the
preparation stage, it came to learn which divine pillar protected it.
Also, the fact that it
was the fire element's divine pillar.
That alone was worth
the expense, including the change, of abandoning Vansuir.
―Hee, hee, hee.
Like a gourd, like a
catfish, the darkness swelled and rippled from the joy.
The darkness laughed,
but the sound it made was quieter than the buzzing of insects,
―Eventually, the darkness had reached the depths of the
mountain ridge, where no one had ever before set eyes on it.
The air around it was
so thick with miasma that no one in their right mind would want to be there.
This place, which was
the destination of the darkness, was the deepest part of the largest pool of
miasma in the nearby area.
*Swosh*. A human
figure emerged from the darkness.
It is the man who
called himself Padre, the man who had played with Vansuir and Shumon Province
and had done his best to mess with them.
"Hee, hee. This
filthy miasma of the human world sure is more comfortable.
―This dense miasma, as if submerged in mud, feels like
bringing me back to life."
Nodding in
satisfaction, Padre inhaled the miasma and exhaled deeply.
Obviously, it was an
impossible act for a human being, and the rock lurking in the innermost
darkness wriggled.
―Ga.
"...... Long time
no see. General (Padre)."
Every time the rock
moved, a piece of moss-covered debris crumbled to the ground.
The true identity of
the rock standing there was a mighty giant demon who had reached old age.
"O~o, o~o. Well,
well, if it's not Douji-dono.
―Are you in good health?"
"As you see.
After several hundred years, I've finally come to understand how comfortable
the miasma pool is.
How about you,
General? Aren't you boasting that you sowed seeds in Baratush?"
"How many years
have it been?
The blooming season
has already passed and everyone is enjoying the harvest.
―Speaking of which, doesn't your voice sound a bit
funny? Have you perhaps grown rusty in the art of human speech after being a
shut-in for a long time?"
"I am tired of
playing among humans."
Padre shrugged his
shoulders and laughed.
"I have traveled
over Baratush and further to the west.
―The Western Tomoe Continent has so little miasma that
Youmas rarely appear there.
Even I, with my meager
knowledge of the miasma, was troubled by this tasteless condition, where neither
blessing nor miasma was to be found."
"Hou."
"Sanctuaries are
closing. According to Vansuir, it's the coming of the Iron Age.
I offered them
Baratush as an opportunity to sow seeds, and they swarmed over like a pack of
dogs."
The wealth has turned
into gunfire, and desire has turned into a ship heading for Baratush.
Remembering those scenes, Padre laughed.
He had also tried to
raise some pieces to invade Takamagahara, but since this was just a way of
killing time, he had no expectations of that much.
However, the play gave
him an unexpected result.
It was Ambrosio. The
one who left him with a very unexpected result.
Even though he was
beginning to lose interest in the petty man's name, he still managed to give a
faint smile of gratitude.
"Speaking of
which, the other day two of my pets disappeared, was that your doing,
General?"
"Ah, indeed. I
wanted to poke Karen before playing at the Southern Boundary, so I woke up the
snake in Kutsunagahara.
I wanted to have
enough of them in time, so I used Kidou, which I had mastered in Tsonma, to
summon them.
Which ones you were
referring to?"
"It's two
frenzied ogres that have grown up.
You sure like to give others a hard time, no matter where it is,
huh?"
That's what makes it
fun. So Padre boasted.
After a while, while
thinking that it would be nice to talk about the endless topics, Padre turned
to Douji and said,
"Now, let's get
to the main topic.
I have confirmed
Kanna-no-Mikura."
"We have no
chance of winning, so it's better for us to lie low and keep sleeping."
Douji was not that
surprised. It was Kanna-no-Mikura's destiny to be born in the midst of a
turbulent era, just as the divine pillars had wished.
But no matter how
formidable an opponent they may be, they have one absolute weakness, which is
age.
Even if
Kanna-no-Mikura is able to overturn their weakness, they have no choice but to
succumb in the face of lifespan.
But,
"No, Douji-dono.
If there is an
opportunity, now is the best time.
Now is the perfect
time, when the serpent strikes and they are exhausted after Vansuir's invasion.
Furthermore, the
current Kanna-no-Mikura is in the hands of the Fire Element.
With everything in
place, there is no reason not to make a move now."
"Hmm."
Padre laughed and
rejected the idea of staying put.
And besides, there is
a reason why they should make a move.
"Apparently,
someone has seen through the lifeline.
―All of my followers has been stolen from me."
"...... Have the
falsehoods spouted by the God of Lies been exposed?
Looks like it is not a
simple matter."
The [Holy Church of
Guidance] was split off from the [Holy Church of Ariadne], and he hijacked its
faith along with its doctrines.
It was this faith that
supported Padre, a divine pillar whose myth is falsehoods.
Even if the [Holy
Church of Guidance] is destroyed, the faith will not disappear.
However, if anyone saw
through this deception, and once doubt arose about the doctrine, the [Holy
Church of Guidance] would collapse.
This is because doubt
is the poison of faith.
The sword of truth
that Akira saw through struck at the very heart of Padre.
"I don't have
much time, so I'm counting on you, Kangyoudōji-dono, to help me.
Yagyō, Yagyō. It's
Hyakki Yagyō. Let the land fall down."
After taking a deep
breath, Padre, who was once also called Nurarihyon,
drowned in laughter.
"Now, come have
some fun with this fallen god!!"
A foreign god who had
drifted ashore from beyond the ocean.
The evil god, whose
myth is falsehoods, loudly proclaimed his next target.
―Hee, hee, hee, hee, hee.
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