It was an old saying.

　--In the land of harmony, there is a hero. This hero comes out of the door to exorcise disaster.

　The legend is about two thousand years old, and therefore its transmission varies.
　It is said that the prayers of the priestess called the heroes.
　It is said that there is a gate to another world hidden in the Mado-Ohashi Shrine.
　It's also said that heroes defeated the worst monsters that eat and swallow everything with one fist.

　Nowadays, it's just a legend.
　Among the common people, it was adapted for fun and became a snack to drink.

　But the princess maidens know this.
　They are not embellished tales, but mere facts.

　That's why the miko is in love with them.
　They can't help but yearn for the last princess - the legendary hero, Range Sinohara himself, who saved Himiko, who was to die as a sacrificial princess, saved Himiko from being sacrificed, exterminated the forest of tyranny, left behind a divine prayer technique, and transformed the doomed princess into a miko.

　All those who are princess maidens, surely, are.
　They are alone.
　They are the only princess miko to rule the world, so they must not rely on or rely on anyone else.
　And when the time comes, it is natural to shed blood for the sake of the people.

　But--

　And yet...

　--help me," he said.

　I would like to at least put such words into the story.





◇





　Stunned, I lose my breath.
　Why, why, why am I here?
　No, how did he get to this place in the first place?
　Hyuki was simply confused.

　The place is named without a twist, deep inside the Akisui-den, the princess miko's room, is an important place where the miko's private life, not to mention the space used for prayers and training exists, so there are few things to enter without a second thought, and it's impossible to break in.

　And yet, in front of the sunshine, she was there.
　The small child, standing tall and dressed to the nines, pauses and speaks to the firefighter with a determined pose and a mature tone of voice, but he doesn't know how to respond, and the silence that fills the place is as if time has stopped.

　It's as if we are repeating that moment when we first met.
　Although confused, Hyuki couldn't continue to ignore the small child and spoke up.

''Well........you're the child from that time, right?　As I recall, Stell, right?

　Yes, when the hijinks say.

'Huh!　How did you find out...?

　A startled voice came back from behind the mask.
　Apparently, she thought she had disguised herself perfectly with one of the wooden masks sold in the Land of Harmony.
　This might be a very childish reaction indeed.

'Why, um, how did you get here?'

　The little girl seemed to have given up on the words of Hyuki, and she took off her robe and slowly removed the dragon mask that covered her face.
　Her hair, beautiful as gold and bright as the sun, was dominated by a small swirl of hair.
　Small ears that popped out in a pinprick.
　It was a characteristic of the ear chiefs (elves). They have long lifespans and are excellent at magic, and a few of them had settled in the Land of Harmony before the country was closed off to the outside world, and since they were held together as one of the villages, they were not a race that could be considered foreign, although they were rare.

　Peeking out from deep within the mask was a small, lovely, yet dazzlingly beautiful face.
　It would be reckless to say not to admire it.
　Just by looking at the bewildered gestures, an indescribable desire for protection arose from the depths of my heart.

'Ummm, run?　Is it?

(-----?)　

　What a vague statement from Shtel, Hyuki couldn't believe it at all.

(This place is on top of a mountain, right!　You're Akisui-dono, right?　(Security and all that, especially now that things are supposed to be awesome!

　So it's no wonder that Hyuki is confused as to why a child can so easily break in.
　It's a good thing that you're able to have a good time with your friends.
　But even so, it's hard to imagine that such a child would ever dream of breaking into a guarded mansion deep in the mountains all by himself.

　It's a good thing that you're not the only one, because it's the only thing that can make you feel better about yourself.
　It's a good idea to make sure that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about it.

''Shtel, you know, I've come to see my onee-chan!

What--!

　It was a straightforward word.
　Because he was an innocent, untainted child, those words were awful and harsh, and they shook Hyuki's heart.
　A whirlpool of emotions rushing in like a muddy stream, the heart was torn apart by just a single word that Shtel uttered.
　Words uttered with such a heart.

Why?

　It was doubt.
　It was also a suspicion that was impossibly ugly, in contrast to her.
　Hearing such words from Hyuki, Shtel tilted her head slightly.
　It was as if she hadn't expected to be asked such a question.

''Umm, because you wanted to see me?''

(Sigh!　(He's a.........)

　Adults want reasons for their actions.
　They want to assert their actions as the right thing to do to those around them.
　Because they want to justify, justify, justify their actions.

　But I'm sure kids don't.
　So, surely, what Shtel sincerely wanted to do right now was to go and see him, Hyuki was reminded of that.

''H--!　Ah--!　Hmm, hmm. Well, then, Stell, you came to see your sister, ugh, I'm so glad you did!

　Hide your inner turmoil.
　Hyuki tries to maintain the dignity of her elder sister.
　It's a good thing that you've just turned 15 years old, and although you try to call her an older sister, her bloodless sister hates her to no end, so it's impossible for her to understand how to act as an older sister.

''Ehehe.''

　Even at the flimsy words of Hyuki, Shtel smiled with a heartfelt joy.
　Just by looking at that smile, it was as if she was being shown her own ugliness.

　While looking at such a firefly, Shtel is wandering around the futilely large firefly's private room.
　Then he nodded as if he had just thought of something.

Come on, little girl.

　It's not a matter of what the upsetting hiyuki's mind is, Shtel says, without a care in the world.
　It's a good thing that you're not going to be able to find a way to make your life easier.
　It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

''Nah, what shall we play--''

　Surely no one can resist this smile, one can't help but think so.
　The only thing Hyuki could do was to join forces with Shtel.






◇





Well, I lost....

　Hyuki muttered, severely depressed.
　Even now, Hibiki had been defeated so easily that she still couldn't feel a sense of reality about her defeat.

''Thank you very much!''

　In contrast to such a hiyuki, Shtel had a happy smile on her face.
　The countless pieces that fought each other on the board. The battlefield that was drawn could be said to be Shtel's overwhelming victory.

''Tu, you're so strong, Shtel........''

　It was a light-hearted attempt at the Japanese national board game, Shogi, that Hinoki had started, only to be soundly defeated by Shtel.
　Shogi is a traditional sport in the Land of Harmony that has spread to the cities. In this country, there are even professionals in the field.
　Among the warrior families, it can be pointed at in social gatherings as well, so naturally, the hiyuki can also point to a certain extent.

　The princess miko would spend a lot of boredom in peacetime, and she would sometimes spend her free time killing time with her good friends the samurai maidens, so she thought she was reasonably skilled when it came to shogi, but when she opened her eyes, this was the result.

　Hyuki had played hundreds of games of shogi before, but this was the second time for Shtel, he said. His mother taught him yesterday, and since he was going to play, he decided to play today.
　That's why he hadn't the slightest idea that he would lose to Shtel, who looked only four or five years old.

'Are you good, Shtel?　Yes!

　Seeing the honestly happy Shtel, the hijuki threw away all the pride he had left.
　In any case, he already fully understands that the child in front of him is not normal. The one who cares about it is the one who loses.

''Yeah, I think you're strong I might not be that strong, but maybe Shtel-chan can even be a professional.

　Part of it is that she's lifting up, but she's definitely talented.
　If she wanted to, she could introduce her to a professional in the field through her hijuki connections, if she wanted to, but Shtel's gestures were lean, precise, and relentless, and she was coming to choke on her balls.

'Hmmm, then maybe I'll be able to get a hold of my mom someday?'

　By the way, when I pointed at him with his mother, he lost easily with a flying wheel drop.
　According to her.

The game of shogi is extremely difficult to play, and there are so many moves in the game that it could be called cosmic or otherworldly, but it is also a simple game in which the first player to corner a ball wins. I'm not very bright in the game of shogi, but I'm confident in my computational processing skills. I can easily read a hundred boards, a thousand boards and ten thousand boards.

　In the end, Shtel just did what his mother had said, just foolishly searching for and executing a procedure to jam his opponent's balls in the shortest amount of time, right in front of him.
　As a result, in fifty or so moves, Hyuki was forced to resign.

'I don't know, but hopefully I'll win some time.'

　Hyuki felt the strangeness of the child in front of her, but she was also convinced that if it was a visitor from beyond the door, then it was a visitor from beyond the door.
　Izumi Haruka, the former Princess Priestess of the Sea, Izumi Haruka, who was the Lord of Mado-Osha, had told her mother-in-law about the visitor who had visited from beyond the door.
　She hadn't been told as of yesterday, but at today's meeting, Hyuki, the princess maiden, had been informed of their presence.
　That's why I think now that the disturbance didn't become a major incident.

The next time you do this, hey, let's do this, okay?

　As Shtel said this, an unearthly object was spread out in front of Hyukki's eyes.
　A white rug with six colored circles of red, blue, yellow, green, black and white arranged in a regular pattern. And a small magic tool that made some kind of sound.
　At least, Hyuki had never seen it before and had no idea what it was as if it was a thing.

''Well, Shter-chan, what is this?''

It's called "instantaneous germs. She said that if she wanted to get along with me, she'd do it this way!

　Shtel says confidently, but the hijinks don't know what's going on.
　I wonder how it's supposed to play, or so I thought.

...first team has a yellow right hand.

　There was a mechanical sound.

This is how you keep your body in a clammy, colored gutter.

...rearguard, green left hand.

I don't know.

　Hyuki moved his body as he was instructed.
　Then.

But, you know, if you fall down or get your knees or hips on it, you're screwed.

　I heard Shtel's voice right beside me.
　The colors indicated were just next to each other, their faces naturally close enough to hear each other's breathing.
　There was a loveliness there that seemed to get sucked in the more I looked at them up close.

(.........as I thought, cute.......)

　What a thought for Hyuki, the next instruction is given.
　The instructions are black on the right hand.
　Shtel innocently moves her body closer to the hijuki, and her hair touches the hijuki's cheek.

(Ha!)　This is ... that's what this game is about!　(What a thing to let the kids have!

　The Twister Game is only a family game.
　However, fireflies have no way of knowing that.
　This game, in which our bodies are forced to be in close contact with each other every time we are instructed, will certainly be dangerous in many ways unless we are close to each other, the same s*x, or with children.

(Huh--!)

　It's a lot of close contact and surprisingly physically demanding.
　The breaths we exhale from our mouths become a bit ragged and we can feel each other's body heat.


(Kook--!　(Visitors from the door, hard to underestimate - this is certainly a good way to get along--!

　Hyuki was immersed in the game with these thoughts in mind.
　After a moment of playfulness until Shtel was satisfied, Shtel got tired and jumped into Hyrule's lap and closed her eyes.
　After doing whatever he wanted, he was tired and went to sleep.
　I wondered if such a time had happened to me, but it didn't really exist.
　It was nice, but at the same time, I wondered if it was a good idea now.

　In the meantime, the sun slowly began to tilt, and it would soon be dusk.
　Then, Shtetl, who has been resting her head on the lap of the firefly, opens her eyes with a snap.

''Hmm, I have to go home soon--''

I see. Can you go home by yourself?

　However, that would be a foolish question for Shtel, who broke in alone, and we can't just follow someone on the way home.

'Much better, then, onee-chan--see you tomorrow!

'Oh, yeah, bye bye. I'll see you tomorrow ... what?　Oh, just--

　Hyuki tried to call out for Shtel, but it was already too late, and Hyuki no longer knew where Shtel was, as he jumped out of the room with great force and disappeared.

''What was that........''

　In the end, I'm still not sure what she came here for.
　One kid who came like a storm and left like a storm again.

(No way, that kid is a legendary hero----no way.)

　Hyuki looked out the window as he followed the little shadows.

I'll see you tomorrow--

　That was what he muttered to himself.