The scarlet hakama swayed in the breeze, and the girl's hair, bunched up, swayed softly.
　The simple miko's formal attire, which didn't expose much skin, looked good against Yozora's black hair color.

　She was a substitute for Kagura, who had been changed in a hurry.
　Amidst the faint bustle of the miko apprentices busily preparing for it, Yozora felt the sound of wild footsteps clearly approaching.
　Drawn by such sounds, her meditating eyes snapped open.

''--What can I do for you, Mother?

　Konoha turned his sharp eyes, which could be taken as both anger and sadness, to Yozora.

'What do you mean--'

Oh, I don't know what you're talking about.

　Yozora smiles softly and blurts out.

You know that this kind of trickery is useless. I'll even allow you to take over for Kagura - but I will never let you serve as the grand festival. Good!

　There have been several times when Yozora has served as a substitute for hiyuki.
　Yozora has finished her training as a miko and is well known as the only daughter of holly. Although this is a sudden occurrence, if it were made known that it was due to Hyuki's poor health, the uninformed people would not be confused by Yozora's performance of Kagura as a substitute.
　So my mother approves of that.
　But that's not good enough.

Today or tomorrow will be no problem. But the threat of these magical beasts is getting bigger and bigger every day. Besides, Fuji Oyama can't remain calm forever. If that is the case, I think the right choice is for me to take over for the fledgling Hyuki and carry on with things as planned, but...

No, sir!

　Konoha shouted out.

'What the hell!　I'm doing this for you - so why are you willing to risk it all for yourself!　I don't want to lose my family, my precious child, and now I'm going to lose you!

　Konoha, who is always calm and is considered cold-hearted by those around her, even had tears in the corners of her eyes as she spoke with her emotions.
　I understand that this is just a desperate consideration for my beloved Yozora, and I was sincerely happy to see such a mother's thoughts.
　But even so - Yozora's determination is unwavering.

''This is the fate of the samurai family.

　I'm sure even Konoha knows that.
　But even so, I think my mother has been trying desperately to avoid it.
　Only for the sake of Yozora, the other Yozora.

'Yozora!
　Still, gentle eyes look at Yozora strongly and intensely.

''You must not push it on me - onee-chan....................She is not even a child of a warrior family, is she?　I'm sure you'll be unhappy to impose that fate on her.

"Hyuki was the one who got it all figured out.

That would be superficial.
　Yozora interrupted Konoha's words.
　There should have been no choice. There was no way that a mere orphan could refuse the offer of his mother, a great lord, to be a mere orphan.
　Yozora, who walked as a miko as well, knows that the person in question was suffering from the burdens of the warrior family and the training of a miko, despite the appearance of a full life and the status they had given her, but she was suffering from the burdens of the warrior family and the training of a miko.　　

　You don't have to ask.
　She must have wanted to run away, to escape.
　Still, she's a kind person who can speak out of strength and say she's on a mission.

'Even she was a people to protect, wasn't she!　Even now, as a warrior, we are a people to be sheltered!　She's already in so much pain and suffering and you're going to put all this pressure on her anymore!　You're asking me to risk my life!　That can't be what a warrior should do, can it!

　That's why Yozora was desperate to drag the hiyuki from her position as a princess maiden.
　Because it is the role of the warrior family to risk their lives for their people.
　That's why--

I will be in charge of the festival. Don't worry, Mother, Yozora will do her job and return to you safely.

　After saying that, Yozora smiled calmly.

''........Yozora.......''

　Her mother's face, which looked terribly painful.
　But Yozora didn't say anything more, only staring forward with dignity, alone.







◇






　The only illumination in the room, where no sunshine reaches, is the pale light of the Japanese country.
　There were only simple walls on all sides, and the room was rather bleak.
　But the structure of this room, with its simple white walls and sliding doors, reminded Haruka of something familiar.

(This is probably a deist temple or an orphanage.)

　Did they prepare a new place for you, or did they repurpose something that was out of date?
　At least I'm probably still somewhere in Kusatsu.

(If so, the question is still--.

　A man sits with his eyes closed, right beside Hyuki.
　Hanzo, relaxed and just sitting there in his natural state, is concentrating his nerves to the point that even the layman, Hyuki, can understand them.
　The man engages his own sense organs just to read Hyuki's movements, his breathing, his thoughts.

(What can I do ... if I can somehow create an opening and cause a commotion with my fancy magic--)

　Hyuki thinks desperately, but no good idea comes to mind.

(--Anyway, I'll suggest letting them go pick flowers...?)

　I look at it for a moment, but this unsympathetic and rude man seems to follow me without a care in the world.
　Covertness is, of course, an underhanded job.
　It was still hard to believe that the man at the top of the heap would let his guard down with the degree of means that Hyukki thought was possible.

　I'm not going to be able to get out of it.

"....why is this so important, sir?

　The silent man spoke to me for the first time.　

''........You were not willing to serve as a princess maiden, were you?''

"--I guess I could have been........

　Hyuki still looks down and then shakes her head a little.

'Nah, maybe even now - I'm weak, I'm thinking somewhere in the back of my mind that if I just stay here, Yozora will take care of everything... and I won't have to do anything scary. ..........

　Hanzo tells him without moving a millimeter of his expression.

''-- Master Yozora wishes to fulfill his own mission.

Maybe that's what that stubborn man is.

　Hyuki smiled slightly.
　There are people who want a mission that's a pain in the ass.
　There's a reason and a situation that's just an excuse.

　Hyuki already has more than enough fame as a princess maiden of the Shinto religion. Throwing away the role of the Great Festival, unknown to the people, will not cause any inconvenience to live.

　Then it would be more life-sustaining to stay here already.
　I can't help but think that it's okay to shelve my weakness and affirm that I'm going to run away like that.

　--but--.

That's not gonna work. That's not cool.

What--?

　I felt the man's face in front of me move for the first time.

'I can't play with that boy anymore because I'm too embarrassed to run away from my weakness - so, yeah, that's not going to work.

　The pouting Hanzo was new to Hyuki.
　If it were me until now, I surely would never have thought of risking my life for such a ridiculous, meaningless reason.

''And besides--I also got a little something I wanted to protect--''

　But that's all that matters to the hiyuki right now.
　So, I'm sure he's even ready for it.

''Hanzo, I will fulfill the mission of the princess maiden--so will you please step aside from that?''

　Hyuki looked straight at Hanzo and said so.
　The taciturn man loosened his expression a bit, then quietly shook his head.

''- I can't help but think that if it were you now, surely there wouldn't be any problems. But I am convinced that Yozora is the most appropriate person to be the master of the warrior family after the death of your house.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most of it.
　I'm sure he has no intention of giving up the road now.

''-Hmm, but you might regret it, right?

　Hyuki smiled mischievously.

'Do you think you can get away with it?'

Let's see, I don't know-- well, I'm sure I can't do it by myself, but--

　That of the hiyuki was really somewhat.
　There is no basis for this - but for some reason, I had a feeling.

　It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get your hands on a new one.
　When I think about it, she was already there for me when I wanted her to come.
　So I'm sure that--

'Shter-chan!　Help me out!

　A voice echoed, a moment later. With a roar, the ceiling exploded without warning.

''Mu--!

　It's too late to be alarmed, but it's too late to do anything about it.
　With the debris, the tiny little child that swoops down appears as if it were an angel.

'Aye!　I'm here to help you, girl!

　-- he was sure that if he called for them, they would come to help him, Hyuki was sure of it.