"Mmmm. I see... so that's what happened. I knew there was something off about Wabonoske, but to think he would willingly transform into a beast... It's all so strange. When did he contact Harumichi? Also, if they were working together, how come he was transformed into that hideous gate as well?"
"Mmmmh. I couldn't see everything clearly, but their fight was truly incredible. For a moment, from that Omaru boy, I felt a presence much scarier than yours..."
"Ohhh… you don't say? Huuuu..." Yorimitsu took a deep breath, the weight of the revelation settling in his chest. "Good job for keeping up with everything while I was gone. You did well, Inoue."
"Yes... Thank you, Master. As I promised, I will do as I am told from now on," Inoue spoke directly into Yorimitsu's mind. At that moment, they were trekking along the road, and Inoue was purring contentedly as Shion carried him; her expression was that of unriddled envy.
'Ha, to think she also has a side like this; I guess it doesn't matter who it is, all women like cute things?!" Yorimitsu's gaze was glued onto her.
…
"T-t-t-Taisho! I... I... I was a fool! Hahahahhaha!" Watanabe mocked, pitching his voice high and trembling as he repeated Gabimaru's mannerisms from when Yorimitsu had pulled him back from the brink.
"Oh, shut up!" Gabimaru snapped, his face flushing a deep pink.
"Only a true man can admit his weakness and strive to be better," Gabimaru added defensively, but Watanabe was too busy making fun of him, clutching his own head like a terrified child.
'Mmmm. He truly is resilient,' Yorimitsu thought, watching Gabimaru. 'To think he managed to steady himself in such a short amount of time.'
They continued their march, their sandals crunching against the dry earth as they passed through yet another barren rice field.
"Taisho!" Gabimaru called out, his voice sharp with unease.
"Isn't it a little strange? This is the fourth one now. As far as I can see, they are all just like this." Gabimaru knelt and picked up a fallen twig from the dry earth. But the moment he lifted it, the wood disintegrated into fine dust, crumbling through his fingers and vanishing back into the soil.
"Yeah, it is," Yorimitsu replied, his eyes narrowing. "But I cannot sense a trace of Reiryoku. It doesn't feel like Onmyōdō or any curse I recognise. Regardless, we can ask the villagers when we arrive." He pointed toward the horizon, where the jagged silhouettes of a settlement were beginning to emerge through the haze.
'Inoue, I need you to go scout again...' Yorimitsu commanded silently.
Without a word, the cat leapt from Shion's arms, his two tails swaying like silk ribbons through the air. Instead of hitting the ground, a pulse of light blue Reiryoku rippled beneath his paws with every step he took through the sky. With each stride, his body grew transparent, flickering like a dying flame until he vanished entirely.
Shion's hand twitched forward, a silent ("No!") echoing in her posture as she reached for the spot where the cat had been. She quickly caught herself, her arm dropping as her expression smoothed back into its usual bland, unreadable mask.
"That is a truly interesting creature you have there," Gabimaru noted, watching the empty air. "It can use Reiryoku as well? A spirit-beast like that... it must have cost you a fortune, if as a noble clan."
"Mmmmhh. Yeah. It did, didn't it?" Yorimitsu muttered, his voice heavy with a sudden, sharp sorrow. He looked away from the group; his gaze fixed on the distant village.
"I wonder how my family is doing..." he murmured to himself, the words barely audible over the wind.
…
"Anyway, the faster we finish this mission, the sooner we can return. Since something this major has occurred, it is a must that we report it to the higher-ups at the Academy." Yorimitsu's voice returned to its steady, commanding tone, and his pace quickened ever so slightly.
"Yeah, but Taisho... why did you want to continue the mission instead of heading straight back? Gabim—"
"No," Gabimaru cut in. He looked down at the bandaged stump where his hand used to be, twisting his arm slowly before glancing back at Watanabe with a stern expression.
"It would be an insult to all those who died. Even though the Taira boy was a coward, and Omaru... they both sacrificed themselves. It is our duty to see this through to the end."
'Mmmmmm. Thank you for speaking in my place, Gabimaru,' Yorimitsu thought, a bitter taste in his mouth. 'But if you knew the truth, I am certain you would be furious. The very person whose honour you are trying to defend is a traitor.'
Yorimitsu glanced down at the dry, cracked path.
'There is a reason I have to finish this. The Taira and Minakaze families have always worked together. The fact that Taira joined my group instead of siding with his usual allies... I can sense a conspiracy brewing. If I can gather information by seeing this mission through, I can have my family prepare for any conspiracy.'
They continued their march until the skeletal gates of the settlement loomed before them. The moment they stepped across the boundary, a wave of thick, suffocating air crashed over them. It felt like treading through invisible sludge. The atmosphere was stagnant, reeking of wet rot, old copper, and a cloying, sweet foulness that clung to the back of the throat.
At the entrance stood a shaggy, moss-covered post. Carved deep into the wood were the Kanji for Kitakami (北上).
"Gah—ohohoho!" Gabimaru doubled over, coughing violently as the stench hit his lungs.
As they moved deeper into the village, the architecture told stories; the houses were all built on tall stilts, their timbers stained with a distinct two-tone mark. The lower halves were bleached grey where water had once flowed, but now, that space was choked with a thick, oily black crust of decaying roots and dead silt.
Everywhere they looked, the hollowed-out shells of people lined the thoroughfare. Malnourished men lay slumped against the stilts, their ribs tracing sharp lines through translucent skin. Children huddled in the shadows of tilted alleyways like frightened animals, and the elders, those few who remained, shot the group piercing, predatory looks.
"Be careful!" Yorimitsu warned, stepping forward.
Pull.
Pull.
"Hhhhmmmpt!" Yorimitsu grunted, his momentum breaking as something caught on his robes.
When he glanced down, he saw a toddler. Her hair was a matted thicket, tangled and pulled in every direction as if she had been clawing at her own head. She didn't speak. She simply stood there, eyes glassy and vacant, and opened her small, filthy hands in a silent, desperate plea.