Volume 8 Chapter 3 Part 3 (1/2)
”(Schnee here. I have arrived at the town ruled by the Kujou. But, where are you at s.h.i.+n?)”
At noon the day after s.h.i.+n taught Araki about infusing magic power when forging, s.h.i.+n received a Mind Chat from Schnee.
”(I will explain the situation and come meet you. Please wait near the castle gates.)”
s.h.i.+n thought that they would need more time, so he was a little surprised. He explained the situation to Karin, who was coaching him as usual, and headed to the gates.
Once he pa.s.sed the gate, s.h.i.+n found Schnee, wearing the equipment she had used in Falnido. As soon as she noticed s.h.i.+n's presence, she ran up to him smiling.
Her tail, provided by the transformation set, swayed left and right.
”You arrived quite fast. Where are the others?”
Schnee was waiting beside the gate by herself. The other members were not present.
”I came ahead of others. You would get involved in all sorts of unnecessary troubles on your own, after all. Filma and the others agreed too.”
She had come by crossing the sea with Water Pa.s.sage. The wind and waves meant nothing to her.
s.h.i.+n was a little hurt at this lack of trust.
”looks like I need to reconfirm what everyone thinks of me.”
”Kuu?”
Yuzuha's cry sounded like she was saying ”That's not how it is?” to s.h.i.+n.
Truthfully, he had climbed Mt. Fuji and his ident.i.ty had been found out by Kankurou, so the situation could not be called exactly peaceful, so s.h.i.+n could not completely deny Schnee's words.
”You are Saegusa Karin, yes?”
”Yes, your name is lady Yuki, is that right?”
The two women had barely met before, but they remembered their respective names and faces.
They seemed to be talking in a friendly way, but there was a certain tense atmosphere between them.
From Schnee's conversation with s.h.i.+n, Karin had instinctively perceived that the woman harbored some affection towards the man.
Schnee, on the other hand, found that Karin's expression while looking at s.h.i.+n was different from before, and now contained a sort of affection.
”You have taken good care of s.h.i.+n. Now that we are reunited, we will stay at an inn in town.”
”There is no need for concern. Since you came all this way, please stay at my residence until your other companions arrive.”
”..”
Schnee was trying to take s.h.i.+n out of the Saegusa house, while Karin was trying to keep him in.
s.h.i.+n was unsure about what to do with the two women and the figurative sparks darting from their eyes.
He knew that a careless intervention would have made him the new target of their battle, but he couldn't leave things like that.
”(Yuzuha, help!)”
”(Impossible.)”
s.h.i.+n pleaded to Yuzuha for help, but her refusal came instantly. She knew how dangerous the situation was.
”H-hey, Yuki. Even if I were to leave the residence, I think we should at least thank the master of the residence, don't you agree? Even after that, it would not be too late to leave, right?”
s.h.i.+n gathered his courage and spoke to Schnee.
It didn't have to be decided then and there whether he would leave the residence or not.
”.that's true. Understood.”
Schnee nodded, then they returned to the Saegusa house.
Kuyou would not be back until late at night, so Kayo welcomed them in his place.
”Oh my, what a beautiful lady. Being s.h.i.+n's companion, I imagined you would be his lover.”
”It is true that she is my fiance, but there are other companions coming. She is Yuki, she just arrived before them.”
”My name is Yuki, pleased to meet you.”
”I am Kayo, wife of the head of the Saegusa family. If your other companions are not here yet, please stay in our house.”
Schnee had greeted Kayo politely, and was invited to stay in their residence together with s.h.i.+n.
”It would not do to impose for such a long-”
”My daughter's life has been saved by him, this is barely enough to express my grat.i.tude.”
Kayo's words were spoken with a completely innocent tone: it was difficult to think that she was the same person that tried to make a couple out of Karin and s.h.i.+n.
Her feelings of grat.i.tude towards s.h.i.+n were genuine. s.h.i.+n too, through his experience staying in the Saegusa house, had no reason to doubt that. Kayo would sometimes show a humorous side, but deep down she was an honorable person, who would not leave debts of grat.i.tude unpaid.
”..understood. Allow me to be your guest.”
”I am glad to hear that.”
After a brief exchange, Schnee agreed: the two companions and their fox would stay in the Saegusa residence together.
The situation evolved that very night.
”The inheritance ritual?”
”Yes, it was supposed to be postponed, but we have decided to hold it 10 days from now.”
At dinner, Kuyou mentioned that a formal match would be held to decide the inheritor of the divine katana Black Moon. The Hinomoto Brave Ten would gather at the Kujou residence and engage in battle until one victor remained.
For a tournament battle there would be one compet.i.tor without an opponent, so Kankurou would partic.i.p.ate and allow his opponent to pa.s.s if they had shown a sufficient degree of ability. Kuyou also added that several candidates had already expressed that they would not partic.i.p.ate.
Kankurou's species was one of long life expectancy, but most Hinomoto citizens were the opposite. They must have thought that even if they inherited Black Moon, they would not fight with it for long.
Kuyou, though, hoped Karin would do her best in the tournament.
Kuyou was the 2nd seat of the Brave Ten. He might not match Kankurou in ability, but his sword arm was not to be underestimated.
His advanced age, however, meant that he was long past his physical peak. Thinking about the future, he decided to leave room for the younger generations.
”Tomorrow the notice will reach all the territories. It'll be like a festival.”
When events like this are held, all sorts of kiosks and stalls are set up, creating a festival-like atmosphere. It's one type of entertainment.
Ordinary people can't watch the formal matches. The battles' results are announced immediately, and they say that some people bet on predictions of the results.
As it can serve as stress release for the citizens, many lords turn a blind eye.
”It's a bit of a shame that we can't see it though.”
”Hmm, so would you come too, sir s.h.i.+n? I could reserve seats for you.”
”No, I would prefer not to stand out, so allow me to decline.”
Receiving special treatments would not be an advantage for him. He knew that because of his match against Kankurou, he was already talked about.
”Hmm. If you came, I'm sure that Karin would truly give her all though.”
”F-father!? What are you saying!?”
Karin's face grew bright red after Kuyou's words. Maybe because he now knew that s.h.i.+n wasn't interested, Kuyou teased Karin from time to time. It was never in bad humour though, just a kind of communication between father and daughter.
To see that reaction from Karin after refusing her put s.h.i.+n in a tight spot though.
The next day, news about the formal matches had already spread throughout the castle town, and part of the town was already in a festive mood.
Spectators from the houses serving the Kujou already started gathering.
s.h.i.+n proposed to go walk around the castle town because of the occasion, and Schnee agreed to accompany him.
Karin wanted to join them too, but Kuyou brought her to the dojo to practice for the formal matches.
s.h.i.+n changed and waited at the gate for about 15 minutes, when Schnee arrived.
”.Kimono and animal ears combination. Fantastic.”
”(Schnee, so pretty!)”
s.h.i.+n let out a mumbled comment, charmed by the sight of Schnee in a kimono. Yuzuha cried in agreement.
”s.h.i.+n?”
Schnee looked at him, slightly puzzled. Her dog ears shook.
She was wearing a brilliant blue kimono with a design of scattered white petals which stressed its elegance.
As they walked side by side, her hair tied behind her head would sometimes show her pale neck, a sensual glimpse inside her neat appearance.
”No, nothing. The kimono looks very nice on you, andwell, I-I was charmed, that's all.”
”oh, thank you.”
Schnee smiled, her cheeks slightly flushed. Needless to say s.h.i.+n was charmed again.
”Now that I think about it, I haven't been to the castle town since the day I first arrived here.”
While walking through the town, s.h.i.+n was surprised at how bustling it was. The first time he came, he barely had time to look around, since they went straight inside the castle walls.
”Oh, really?”
”I didn't want people looking at me suspiciously, and I used all the free time I had for training.”
The Saegusa residence was located inside the Kujou castle walls. The mood inside was not so light as to allow him to take walks at leisure.
He knew there was someone watching over them, but s.h.i.+n decided to use this opportunity to look around a typical Hinomoto town.
He knew that wearing adventurer clothes would have made him stand out, so he changed into something fitting of Hinomoto.
s.h.i.+n was wearing a traditional garb, deep green in color. It was a very common attire in Hinomoto. The color combination was pretty somber, so Schnee's brilliant elegance stood out even more next to him.
”Well, let's make the best of this opportunity and enjoy the festival.”
”Yes, let's.”
The festival meant a great number of stalls. The two walked around at leisure, stopping at Hinomoto's characteristic stalls.
The people around them looked bright and cheerful. s.h.i.+n didn't know how far the rumours of the west's suspicious movements had spread, but the people were in a truly festive mood, as if they wanted to dispel those ominous whispers.
”(By the way, do you know anything about the Five Supreme Blades?)”
s.h.i.+n recalled his encounter on top of Mt. Fuji and inquired to Schnee via Mind Chat. Looking at a stand selling swords had reminded him of Munechika.
He had already talked to Schnee about his battle with Munechika, but had forgot to ask her if she knew anything.
”(I'm afraid I have never heard of that name. If they appeared in town they would certainly cause a big commotion, so, like the Munechika you met, maybe they dwell in uninhabited locations? Their usual stance is to wait for those coming to challenge them after all.)”
”(Now that you mention it, that's true. She looked like she was protecting something, and there might also be a reason why Kagutsuchi wasn't there anymore.)”
s.h.i.+n nodded, thinking that Schnee might have had a point. There was also the possibility that Kagutsuchi was inside the small shrine on the peak, after all.
As Schnee had answered, anthropomorphized blades such as them did not go around searching for challengers.
It was a theory based on the game era, thus they couldn't be completely sure, but if there weren't any rumors about them in 500 years, it was likely to be as Schnee said, or so s.h.i.+n thought.
”Well, no need to think about that. Oh, sir, you have some nice goods here.”
Thinking that it was not a topic to bring up while enjoying a festival, s.h.i.+n changed the subject by talking to the owner of the stall they happened to be in front of.
The 40-something man, wearing work robes, sold all sorts of accessories.
”Er, s.h.i.+n?”
Schnee was a bit confused by s.h.i.+n suddenly striking a conversation to the store owner, but s.h.i.+n signaled to her to wait a moment.
”Oh! You have a good eye, young man! I made all of these with my hands, carefully picking what materials to use! They're a wee bit more expensive than the other shops around here, but the quality's guaranteed!”
As the man had said with a tone full of confidence, the accessories here were of higher quality than the similar ones sold in the nearby stalls.
s.h.i.+n picked one of the displayed items.
”Let's seeI'll take this.”
”You really have keen eyes to go and pick that one. But it's a bit more expensive than the others, you know?”
”That's all right. I think this one fits my companion best.”
Saying this, s.h.i.+n looked at Schnee. The stall owner followed his eyes and nodded as in agreement.
”Haha!! I see! For that beauty over there, this one fits the most indeed! Okay then, normally I'd ask 5 gold jul, but I'll let you have it for 4.”
”Is that alright?”
”Accessories like this can end up standing out even more than the one who wears them, but your companion is not inferior in terms of presence! She's fitting to wear it. I like her!”
The stall owner was rather pleased.
s.h.i.+n thanked him and paid, then turned again towards Schnee.
”And so, will you wear this?”
”Ehm, is it really ok for me to?”
”Honestly, you're not allowed to refuse. Please do!”
”.understood.”
Schnee couldn't hide her surprise at the sudden present, but she was certainly happy.
What s.h.i.+n had chosen for her was a two-p.r.o.nged hairpin with a transparent blue pearl as decoration. From the base of the pearl hung a flower-like ornament made in silver.
Schnee removed the simple pin she was using to hold her hair and replaced it with s.h.i.+n's present.
”Howhow do I look?”
Schnee's was slightly embarra.s.sed as she asked her question.
”Just wonderful, If I say myself, miss.”
”I didn't think it would have looked so beautiful myself.”
The words popping up in s.h.i.+n's mind were all too simple: ”it looks good” and ”pretty”.
Those who had witnessed their purchase at the stall looked at the two with celebration (20%), envy (50%), and jealousy (30%) in their eyes. The two quickly left the scene and mingled among the crowd.
”I didn't think so many people would be looking at us. I was focused and didn't notice.”
When Schnee replaced her pin, they heard voices from the crowd and realized they were the center of attention.
”(s.h.i.+n, charmed. Focus, scattered.)”
”Mmgh!”
”The stand owner was rather loud, too. I suppose he meant to attract customers too.”
”I see. Using you to promote himselfhe's got guts! But good choice!”
”Ehm”
”(We lost s.h.i.+n.)”
s.h.i.+n spoke with conviction, but Schnee wasn't sure if he was angry or complimenting her. To her it seemed obvious that they would attract attention.
Yuzuha was kind of annoyed at this s.h.i.+n, though.
”Hm? What?”
He pretended not to hear Yuzuha's last comment.
Accepting that they couldn't avoid the fact that Schnee attracted people's attention, they resumed their walk. As they were pa.s.sing through a large avenue, they heard a commotion from the front.