Chapter 28: Volume 2 - CH 4.2

Translation Notes

1. A yorishiro, in Shinto, is an “object representative of a divine spirit; object to which a spirit is drawn or summoned; object or animal occupied by a kami​“

2. I’m not 100% sure on this, but the “be” (部) ending seems to be referring to the “hereditary occupational groups” during the Yamato period. I think it’s supposed to be some kind of role that is given to the people of Kakurenomiya, like tsukaibe are those in charge of being running errands, toribe I guess are like special birds or something

3. Shougetsu’s role of haburibe is 葬者部 in Japanese, which contains the character for “to bury”

Just as Jusetsu ran down the steps, Koushun was about to come upstairs. He was followed by Ei Sei, who was holding a candle. The remnants of sunset drifted around them, and a light purple curtain had fallen. The sun had set, but it was still too early for the darkness of night. The heat of the day hadn’t yet left, and a heavy, lukewarm wind was blowing.

“What’s wrong?” Koushun asked when he saw Jusetsu. He immediately sensed that this was something unusual.

“Onkei hasn’t returned from Jakusou Palace.”

Koushun knitted his brows. “Jakusou Palace? Why is he there?”

“I asked him to investigate the Magpie Consort,” Jusetsu bit her lip. “He returned once to give a report and went back again. I told him to find out a little more about the Magpie Consort and the eunuch…I should have stopped him. No, I should have gone myself. I—”

I was afraid. She was afraid to investigate it for herself because she was assailed by an unfamiliar fear. That was why she pushed Onkei to do it.

She used to do everything by herself before. She became less self-reliant and more spoiled when she started to have others by her side.

“I have become weak.”

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Relying on others, depending on the kindness of others, involving others…

“Jusetsu.” Koushun grabbed her arm. “You’re going to Jakusou Palace, aren’t you.”

As he stared into her face, Jusetsu nodded.

“Then just think about that. Other things can be considered later.”

Koushun’s voice resonated directly to Jusetsu’s core. It always did. In a way, his voice controlled her. But this time, it calmed her down. She gritted her back teeth and nodded again.

“I’ll go as well. That will be quicker.”

Koushun set off first and started walking. As she followed him, Jusetsu looked back at the palace. Jiujiu and the others were peering at her anxiously through the doors. Jusetsu turned forward and quickened her pace.

As the last vestiges of daylight faded, darkness fell quickly, and an indigo-blue darkness spread out around them. The color darkened as they continued onward. The flame of the candle held by Ei Sei, who was at the head of the group, was flickering. They stepped into the woods of laurel trees and rhododendrons. As soon as that happened, they heard a loud cry and a flapping sound and startled to a stop. A bird’s shadow swooped overhead, and a guttural cry echoed through the air. The bird perched on a branch, shaking the leaves. It was the spotted nutcracker. The white spots on its feather seemed to stand out in the darkness. Jusetsu let out a small breath and hurried on.

Jakusou Palace was quiet, as though it was holding its breath. It was completely silent. Not even the sound of insects could be heard. They went to the building where the Magpie Consort resided, but the front door and the doors facing the outer corridors were all closed, and it was pitch black beyond the latticed windows. There were no lights. The same was true for the lanterns hanging outside, and there were no lights in any of the palace buildings or corridors.

It isn’t as though this is Yamei Palace.

The night was supposed to be brilliant with lights in order to protect against Yeyoushen. Why was this place dark as well?

Ei Sei stood in front of the doors and announced their visit.

“Please open the doors, Lady Magpie Consort.”

There was no response for a while. When Ei Sei was about to call out again, the doors slowly opened.

It was an attendant who opened them. She was terribly pale and haggard. She knelt down and said, “We sincerely apologize for keeping you waiting.” The room was completely dark. “The consort dislikes light. I will light the lanterns now.”

The attendant, with her fragile body that looked as if it would snap in half at any moment, went back and forth across the room, lighting the lanterns. The inside of the room emerged dimly. The spacious room couldn’t be illuminated by one or two lights. A dimly lit curtain could be seen in the back of the room, and a woman could be seen rising from a bed.

Koushun stepped in, and Jusetsu followed. In the poor light, Jusetsu’s figure was hidden in his shadow. She looked around, but there seemed to be no other servants except for the haggard attendant. The eunuch in question wasn’t here. Jusetsu covered her nose with her sleeve. As soon as she stepped into the room, she was struck by the choking smell of incense. A sweet, clear, lily-like scent. It was sweetheart incense. It was like wandering into a lily garden. The room was hazy, probably due to the smoke from lighting incense too much. Next to the curtains, a white porcelain incense burner was placed on top of a cabinet, exhaling smoke. Mixed in with the scent, there seemed to be a faint, fishy odor lurking behind it. Was it just her imagination? No——

“Your Majesty…”

A dwindling voice came from behind the curtains. The woman who had been lying on the bed tried to peel away from her cushions and get out of bed. Her body was tottering.

“Stay where you are. There is no need to push yourself.”

Koushun called out and approached the curtains. Ei Sei, vigilant of their surroundings, stuck close to him. Jusetsu and Koushun walked up to the woman.

“I’m sorry. Having you see me in such a state…”

Her thin voice sounded familiar to Jusetsu. Koushun opened the curtains and stepped within. Jusetsu followed. The Magpie Consort, who had raised her head, widened her eyes in shock when she saw Jusetsu and gasped.

She was practically skin and bones, her cheekbones were prominent and her skin had lost its luster, but she was a good-featured woman. She had an elegant appearance that could be called graceful.

“Y…you…”

The Magpie Consort paled and lowered her head. There was no mistaking it—her voice was the same as the palace lady who asked her for a resurrection.

“You left your veil at Yamei Palace. I have come to return it.”

Jusetsu took out the piece of thin silk from her pocket and tossed it onto the bed. It fell to the mattress without a sound.

“You should also give me back my palace’s eunuch.”

The Magpie Consort’s head jerked up. Jusetsu stared straight into her eyes.

“Return him or else, Kin Keiyou.”

The Magpie Consort—Kin Keiyou—stiffened, and all the blood drained from her face.

“P…please forgive me, Lady Raven Consort.”

“What do you want me to forgive?”

“Ah…”

Keiyou buried her face in her hands. Jusetsu felt a fretfulness, as if her chest was being scorched. A cold sweat broke out on her skin.

“Keiyou, where is Onkei—the eunuch?”

When Jusetsu questioned her sharply, there was a sound like a beast groaning. It came from the other side of the door in the back. Keiyou, with some unknown reserve of strength, jumped out of her bed and stumbled towards the door. Lady Magpie Consort, the attendant rushed to intervene, but Keiyou pushed her away and opened the door.

A stifling smell struck their noses. A fishy odor. This was the smell that was mixed in with the incense.

“…the smell of blood.”

Koushun murmured. Jusetsu narrowed her eyes at what lied beyond the open door. It seemed to be a continuation of the room. There was no light and it was pitch-dark. But there was something there.

Jusetsu sensed it and stepped forward cautiously, holding her breath. Keiyou stood in front of the door and called inside. “Brother!”

Keiyou’s voice was shrill and out of tune. Her voice had a strange tone, a mixture of fear and affection.

“Brother, please be quiet. Wait a little longer. I’ll properly ask his Majesty.”

Brother?

Keiyou suddenly turned around. Her eyes were looking at Koushun. But her eyes were so dark that it was hard to tell where she was looking.

“Your Majesty, I’m sorry. I was hiding my brother here. However, he does not have a normal body, so there is no choice but to let him stay here. So please—”

“Wait,” Koushun’s brow furrowed slightly and he spoke quietly. “Didn’t your brother die?”

Keiyou’s face twisted. It was as though a thin piece of glass had shattered inside her. “He died. He’s dead—even though he was so healthy!” Her high-pitched shouts sliced through the darkness. “He had never gotten sick, and had never been still since he was a child, so even though he often had minor injuries, he seemed to be unbothered by them, and soon he was riding his horse around the fields and mountains again…we live in the countryside, and there are many mountains around our house that are perfect for riding around in. My brother liked to hunt. Whenever he went out to hunt, I was always worried that he might get into danger, but he would always come back safely. And yet——”

Keiyou’s voice, which seemed like it would disappear at any moment, got stronger and sometimes wavered, yet she still spoke with all her heart as though she was delirious from fever. Everyone was silent, unable to interject.

“My brother and I are each other’s only sibling. My brother defended and protected me when I was little, and sometimes—no, often—scolded me and got into silly fights with me. We grew up together. My brother was a brilliant person and unrivaled in the martial arts as well. He excelled over his schoolmates, and to me, he was the best of the best. He was lively and beautiful, and he was never afraid of anything—I…”

Keiyou’s voice trembled, and she covered her face with her sleeve.

“I adored my brother. I even decided to the inner palace if it would help him when he eventually became a government official. And yet, he…he…”

The crying continued for a while.

“…My brother’s death is some kind of mistake. He shouldn’t have died. That was why I asked the Lady Raven Consort to bring him back to life.”

Koushun glanced at Jusetsu.

“When she told me that she couldn’t do it, I lost all hope. I thought of following my brother into death. But then…”

Suddenly, Keiyou’s face brightened. Her cheeks were tinged with red.

“Someone who could grant my wish appeared.”

Koushun quietly cut in.

“…Your wish is, in other words…”

Even in the presence of Keiyou’s obviously bizarre speech, Koushun’s tone was calm. He was probably like that to begin with, but it seemed as if he was just barely holding back Keiyou’s agitation.

“He said it wouldn’t be so difficult to bring my brother back to life.”

Keiyou’s eyes were glistening wetly.

“I was skeptical because he had only just joined the eunuchs. He asked for my brother’s hair or a fragment of his bones, as well as some soil. I asked my father to send me a lock of my brother’s hair. I…I haven’t even seen my brother’s body. All I have is a lock of his hair. This made me even more eager to see him again. With the hair and soil, the man made my brother. When he was making the mud doll, I was furious, thinking that he was trying to fool me with childish tricks, but when he finished, my brother was there.”

As Jusetsu listened to Keiyou talk, she quietly stepped into the adjoining room. It was completely dark inside, but her eyes adjusted after a while. There was a chair in the middle of the room, and someone was sitting in it. From their height, they must be a man. She couldn’t make out his face.

However, the smell of blood became even stronger when she entered the room.

“It really was my brother. My brother has come back to life. He can move. He can’t talk yet, but his face, his body—he’s my brother. It’s a bit difficult to keep him alive because it takes a lot of work, but it’s fine. I won’t cause anyone any trouble. No, he gets hungry sometimes, so it might cause some inconvenience, but—”

Keiyou’s voice was so thin as she talked on and on that it made one wonder where she was keeping that strength in her weak body. It was as if she was trying to cover up her anxiety by talking, rather than being agitated and unable to stop. In fact, her voice was trembling with fear.

“I will never let something like this happen again. So please, have mercy—”

Jusetsu focused her eyes on the back of the room. What was there? There were several objects that looked like buckets there. All of them were filled with water, which appeared black in the darkness. No, it wasn’t water. It was…

“What do you mean by, ‘something like this’?’

Koushun questioned her. Keiyou was at a loss for words, and her face scrunched up.

“Oh…Your Majesty, I—”

Keiyou’s voice had almost dissolved into sobs. She inhaled like she was weeping. Jusetsu looked around the room. Beyond the row of buckets, she could see a person lying down in the corner. Jusetsu slowly stepped forward. Neither the person sitting in the chair nor the person lying down moved. The person lying down was on their stomach, and their hands seemed to be tied around their back. They were wearing eunuch’s robes. She couldn’t see his face, but she knew him just by his stature.

“Onkei!”

At the same time she shouted his name, Jusetsu ran towards him. She kicked over the buckets that were in front of her, but there was no time to worry about that. Kneeling by Onkei’s side, she called his name. She was relieved to find that his arm was warm when she touched it. She placed her fingers on the nape of his neck to make sure he had a pulse. It was dark and hard to see, but it didn’t look like he was severely injured.

“Onkei,” she called his name several times, and Onkei opened his eyes.

“Niangniang?”

He called out hoarsely. “It’s me,” Jusetsu responded, putting her fingers on the rope that bound his wrists. The knot was tight and difficult to untie. Onkei tilted his head and looked up at her. His face stiffened with alarm. His gaze was directed behind her.

“What’s——”

Wrong? Jusetsu was about to turn around, but Onkei jumped up, his hands still tied, and went in front of her. It all happened in an instant.

Someone was standing right in front of her. It was too dark to see clearly, but it had to be the man who was sitting in the chair. The chair was empty. Jusetsu was horrified. She hadn’t felt the presence of anyone standing behind her. On the contrary, even though he was standing right in front of her, no vitality could be sensed from him.

What is this thing?

“Brother!”

Keiyou ran to them. She tugged on the arm of the man standing there and pulled him away from Jusetsu and Onkei. The man moved, swaying unsteadily. They weren’t the movements of a typical human.

Suddenly, a light illuminated the room. It was a small light. Ei Sei had entered the room with the candle in his hand. Koushun was standing near the door. His gaze was fixed on the man.

“…Is that the brother who came back to life you talked about?”

Keiyou’s fingers dug into the man’s arm. Jusetsu could see his profile and back from where she was. The man’s hands were tied behind his back just like Onkei. His face was pale, not just because she was looking at him in the darkness, and his lips were similarly bloodless. His eyes were dull and aimless. However, even in profile, she could tell that he was well-featured. But strangely enough, she couldn’t consider him beautiful.

“You said the dead was resurrected…?”

Jusetsu muttered. Impossible.

However, the man did look like a human.

“Not even a sorcerer could do such a trick. …I can’t do it either.”

Keiyou turned only her upper body towards her.

“Shougetsu did it for me. He gave me my brother.”

“Who is this Shougetsu? He is no mere eunuch.”

“I don’t know. To me, it doesn’t matter if he’s a eunuch or a death god.”

“Where is he now?”

“He’s most likely somewhere in this palace. I told him to stay close by.”

Jusetsu recalled the report from Onkei.

“You get terribly distraught when Shougetsu leaves your side, don’t you?”

Keiyou averted her eyes and clung to her brother’s arm.

“…Because Shougetsu is the only one who can calm my brother down.”

“Calm him?”

“My brother needs blood.”

With a smooth gesture, Keiyou moved her arm forward and pointed to the floor. It was the line of buckets. The bucket that Jusetsu had kicked over was still lying on the floor. The candle held by Ei Sei illuminated the buckets and what spread out on the floor from the fallen over bucket. Something like reddish-black water. A fishy smell was coming from it.

――Blood.

A large amount of blood.

Goosebumps rose all over Jusetsu’s body. Where did all this blood come from?

“All the blood here is animal blood.”

Be rest assured, Keiyou said in a feeble voice, as though she had read Jusetsu’s mind.

“But my brother doesn’t like animal blood very much. I have tried all kinds of blood. Shougetsu said that if I don’t give him blood, he would turn back into dirt. Monkey and pig blood seem to be the best. …But that’s a last resort. He actually needs human blood. But that’s not an easy thing to get. But sometimes, my brother goes berserk for human blood. When that happens, Shougetsu is the only one who can stop him.”

Keiyou paled. Her shoulders were trembling.

“…That’s why his hands are tied now?”

Jusetsu asked. Keiyou nodded slightly.

“Keiyou.” Koushun called her. Keiyou startled and turned to him. That voice, which resounded so deeply in Jusetsu’s heart, seemed to be terrifying to her.

“You haven’t answered my question earlier. What do you mean by ‘something like this’?”

Koushun’s tone was dispassionate. Keiyou lowered her head and covered her face with her sleeve.

“Please forgive us, Your Majesty. My brother…killed Jo Sei.”

Keiyou replied with a trembling voice. Jo Sei. That was the palace lady who had her throat torn out.

“My brother was starving that night. Animal blood wasn’t enough, and he went berserk for human blood. Until then, me and Renjou used to give him our blood before he got too hungry.”

Keiyou rolled up her sleeves. Cotton bandages were tightly wrapped around her entire arm. Renjou seemed to be the attendant’s name. The two women looked pale and haggard because they didn’t have enough blood in their bodies.

“This time, we didn’t make it in time. Just when I was hurriedly calling for Shougetsu, Jo Sei came into the room with water at an unfortunate moment. My brother bit through her throat…it all happened in an instant. He was engrossed in sucking her blood while still biting her throat.”

Keiyou’s face was chalk-white and shivering. It wasn’t just due to the lack of blood.

“By the time Shougetsu arrived, it was too late. Jo Sei was dead. We…couldn’t leave her like that. We couldn’t have this palace be searched. I had to keep my brother a secret. So, I ordered the eunuchs to take the body far away. …I did something inexcusable to Jo Sei.”

Her voice almost faded away at her last words.

“Your Majesty,” Keiyou raised her head. “I will take all the blame. Please overlook my brother. I beg of you. He finally came back to life. If he dies again, I will——”

Keiyou’s face was desperate. Her feeble voice became tense all at once. Jusetsu, who was crouching down, stood up and observed the face of the man standing next to Keiyou. There was no expression on his face, nor emotion, nor thought.

“…Keiyou, this person is not your brother.”

As she said that, something bitter seemed to spread in her mouth.

“…Huh?”

Keiyou looked back at Jusetsu with a puzzled look on her face.

“This isn’t your brother who has come back to life. Shougetsu hadn’t resurrected him. He only ‘made’ a mud doll.”

“What are you talking about?”

“This person isn’t alive. He is hollow. I see, the vessel is in the shape of your brother. But there is no soul within. No matter how long you wait, this will not become the brother you knew.”

Keiyou’s face turned white. Jusetsu could almost hear the sound of her expression being chipped off. She mouthed the words, That’s a lie, but only a hoarse sound came from her lips.

“That can’t be true, it can’t be…”

Keiyou looked up at the man next to her. However, seeing his face without any reaction, her expression fell. Somewhere in her heart, she must have also felt the same way. The fact that this person wasn’t her brother.

“No, no, this is my brother. My one and only brother,” Keiyou shook her head several times, her voice trembling as she insisted. “My one and only, my beloved—”

Keiyou’s voice, filled with pain, were directed at her brother, but the man standing next to her only stared blankly into nothingness. Keiyou’s face contorted, and tears spilled down her cheeks as though she couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Brother.”

Keiyou reached for him with shaking hands. Her hands touched the cheeks of the empty-eyed man.

At that moment, the man’s eyes widened. His face moved for the first time. His mouth opened. He bent over quickly, as though his previous sluggishness was unreal.

“Ah…”

A surprised, breathy sound escaped Keiyou’s lips.

The man was biting her throat. His bared teeth bit into her white throat, tearing the skin and causing blood to gush out. There was the sound of flesh being torn off. Blood spurted to the ceiling. The blood fell like rain on Jusetsu’s face. It all happened in an instant.

The man was slurping up Keiyou’s blood, still biting her throat. Keiyou’s arms drooped as they lost their strength, and they swung like pendulums. Her tear-filled eyes remained open, becoming empty like her brother’s.

Jusetsu pulled a peony from her hair and transformed it into an arrow. She took a step towards the man, and without a moment’s hesitation, plunged it into his solar plexus. He, sucking up Keiyou’s blood, stopped moving.

If it was a doll, it was easy to destroy it. All you had to do was take away their yorishiro. (1) And the place where the yorishiro was embedded was fixed. It was the solar plexus.

Jusetsu withdrew her hand. It was gripping a lock of hair.

The man’s skin dried up and turned ashen. Dirt crumbled from the surface of his skin.  His arms and hands collapsed into clods of earth. His face crumbled from his mouth, and Keiyou’s body fell to the floor. The man’s body disintegrated and fell on top of Keiyou.

All that remained was dirt and clothes. They were covering Keiyou like a blanket.

For a while, no one spoke or moved. The heavy scent of blood and dirt filled the darkness. The first to make a sound was Keiyou’s attendant. Her sobbing began to resound faintly in the room.

Koushun stepped forward and kneeled down beside Keiyou. He reached out his hand and closed her wide-open eyes.

“…I knew that she wasn’t doing well after she heard the news of her brother’s death. I should have returned her to her father as soon as possible.”

His voice was tinged with bitter remorse. He stared at Keiyou’s face for a long time.

Jusetsu took out a handkerchief from her pocket and crouched down to wipe Keiyou’s blood-soaked face. After placing the lock of her brother’s hair in her hand, she stood up and left her side.

When she turned around before she left the room, Koushun was still staring at Keiyou’s face.

When she left the palace, the faces peering out from the edge of the outer corridor hurriedly pulled in. They appeared to be palace ladies and eunuchs. They must have come because they were worried about the commotion here. Jusetsu went down the steps and quickly walked on the paving stones.

“Niangniang.”

Onkei chased after her from behind. He seemed to have untied the ropes by himself. He was holding out his own handkerchief.

“For your face.”

Jusetsu touched her cheek. It had blood on it. “——I’m sorry.”

She used the handkerchief to wipe her face. As she wiped, she wondered what she had accomplished. The palace lady was dead, and so was Keiyou.

You are reading story Koukyuu no Karasu at novel35.com

Keiyou came to the Raven Consort to ask for a resurrection, but more than that, she was looking for salvation.

I didn’t do anything.

All she did was chase Keiyou away.

“Niangniang—Lady Jusetsu.” Onkei held out his hand. Jusetsu returned his handkerchief. Onkei didn’t put it away, but said, “Forgive me for my insolence,” and wiped the remaining blood from Jusetsu’s face.

“…I did something unforgiveable to you as well, Onkei.”

Onkei, who was wiping away the blood, stopped and looked at her.

“I am the one who owes you an apology. Not only was I unable to carry out your order, but I was saved by you. Please accept my apologies. I have failed you.”

He told her that when he found the attendant and tried to talk to her, he was struck from behind.

“It seemed to have been the Magpie Consort.”

Is that so, Jusetsu murmured. She turned around and looked up at the palace building. The white moon shone wetly over the magpies of the decorative tiles.

“…I must search for Jusetsu.”

“I’m sure that Attendant Ei would make the preparations, but should we search within the palace?”

“He is no longer here.”

The palace ladies and eunuchs had come to take a look at what’s going on, so Shougetsu must have noticed the commotion as well. He probably already fled.

“Where is his room?”

She asked that because she was going to use Shougetsu’s hair or personal belongings to follow him. Since she knew his name, she could use a familiar bird to follow him.

About that, Onkei answered. “Shougetsu doesn’t have a room in the eunuchs’ dormitory. Since he was a personal attendant of the Magpie Consort, I thought that he might have a room in that palace, but that wasn’t the case either. It’s unclear where he sleeps or how he has his meals.”

Jusetsu was perplexed. How did Shougetsu live?

“Apparently, no one has ever seen him sleeping or eating.”

“Then, it’s as if he’s—”

Jusetsu thought of Keiyou’s older brother—or rather, the impersonation of her brother. A mud doll with empty eyes.

Jusetsu frowned. If she couldn’t pursue him using her arts, then there was no way for her to find him. She had no choice but to wait for Ei Sei to use the eunuchs to find him.

“…For the time being, we will return to Yamei Palace.”

Jusetsu bit her lip and quickly left Jakusou Palace. She was angry at herself for being of no use.

It happened when she entered the grove of laurel trees and rhododendrons. Jusetsu’s spine stiffened and she stopped in her tracks. It wasn’t that she stopped, but rather that she froze and couldn’t move.

“Niangniang?” Onkei asked quizzically. Without time to answer him, Jusetsu looked around. The moonlight cast the shadows of the trees. Where the light passed through, it was bright, but where the branches were the densest, a darkness that was deeper than shadows was harbored there. There was something on those branches.

There were two human legs standing on a laurel tree branch. That was the only place the moonlight reached, and they seemed to grow out of the darkness. She could tell that he was a eunuch from the hem of his gray robes.

“Are you the Raven Consort?”

A voice resounded from the branches. It was as high-pitched as the chirping of a bird and as low-pitched as a dog’s growl. It was a voice that was both bright and tranquil.

Onkei covered Jusetsu’s back. “Who are you?”

The person on the tree didn’t answer the question. The branch bent. Before they knew it, he was on the ground. There was no sound at all. All they could hear was the rustling of leaves.

In front of their eyes was a young man with slender, supple limbs, a pale face, and long black hair. He looked exactly like the picture Kougyou had drawn. No, the man who Jusetsu had saw on that night was right before her.

“——Owl!”

Jusetsu shouted that the moment their eyes met. Just like on that night.

“You’re not quite right,” Shougetsu said coldly. “This isn’t me. Just as you aren’t the Raven.”

He put his hand on his chest to indicate his own body.

“It’s nothing but a vessel. A tsukaibe.”

A vessel?

At the same time as she wondered this, Jusetsu pulled a peony from her hair. Her body was moving on its own. It was like it wasn’t her own body. Her hand moved and threw the flower at Shougetsu. The flower transformed into an arrow in midair and tried to pierce him. But as soon as the arrowhead hit his chest, it melted away and was sucked into his body. There was no other way to see that.

“It’s pointless to fight with your own family. If you’re going to fight, use a toribe,” (2) Shougetsu, with a cold face, said somewhat disappointedly. “What, you didn’t even know that? Or did the Raven forget? You ate too many flowers.”

Cold sweat was pouring down Jusetsu’s back. She wanted to run away from here, but her feet were stuck to the ground and couldn’t move. Her shoulders were heaving.

“But you know to be afraid of me. Hmm.”

“I…I don’t understand a single thing you are saying…”

Jusetsu’s voice was wrung out from between pained gasps. It was the first time she had ever heard such a thin, quavering voice from herself.

“Very well. I understand that you don’t know anything. You see, I’m a haburibe of Kakurenomiya—I suppose they would call me a guizishou (executioner) here—and the Raven’s older brother.”

Kakurenomiya—the country where the gods lived, said to be on the other side of the sea. He was an executioner there?

Shougetsu, who seemed to feel as if he had explained everything, looked up above his head, his expression unchanged. Ah, he said in a somewhat sluggish tone.

“There it is. I was looking for it. I worked so hard to get to this island, and yet it disappeared on me.”

Sumaru, he seemed to say.

“Come over here.”

The sound of flapping wings was heard. There was also a “Gah” cry.

A bird perched on a nearby branch. White spots on brown feathers. It was the spotted woodpecker.

“I told you to come here. To me. You really don’t listen to anything I say.”

After being called again and again to come, the spotted woodpecker finally landed on Shougetsu’s arm.

“Sumaru was originally the Raven’s bird.”

Jusetsu opened her dry mouth and formed the words. “Who—is this ‘Raven’ you’re talking about? Is it me?”

“You’re not quite right.” It was the same line he said earlier. “The Raven is the Raven. She’s inside you. In there.”

Shougetsu pointed at Jusetsu.

“Me?” Jusetsu pressed her hand against her stomach.

“I’ve watched over her for a long time. I wasn’t allowed to get involved. We are forbidden from interfering with this island. This is our land—the taboo island where those who are exiled from Kakurenomiya go. When the Raven was exiled for her crimes, when she washed ashore on this island, I couldn’t do anything about it.”

Shougetsu’s face didn’t change in the slightest, but his voice took on a faint hint of sadness.

“The Raven and I were born from a bubble on the sea that was split into two. We were originally one and the same, a single bubble. I was given the role of executioner, and the Raven was given the role of a misakibe, guiding the souls of the dead as they drifted in on ocean currents and winds. Souls are beautiful things. They twinkle in the darkness like pale white stars. The Raven and I lived in the night.”

His story brought a strange feeling of nostalgia from deep within Jusetsu. She had never heard this story before…no, hadn’t she heard something like this recently? A folktale from Ishiha’s home village. No, that wasn’t it. It was something that she had known for an even longer time. She didn’t know. Her memories were mixed up and confused.

“But the Raven sinned. Tempted by the dead, she sent a soul back and revived them. Without knowing how serious this crime was. The Raven was a foolish and naïve girl. Foolish little sister. That was why she was so dear to me. She is my only sister. I couldn’t do anything for her. I could only watch her be exiled and feel her drift to an island far, far away. I wasn’t allowed to interfere, so I could do nothing except wait and see from Kakurenomiya.”

However, Shougetsu put force into his voice.

“I felt the Raven’s power a little while ago. It was about to rampage within you. It was so nostalgic and dear to me that I couldn’t stand it any longer. That is why I sent to this here from Kakurenomiya along with Sumaru.”

Shougetsu pointed to his body when he said “this.”

“——I did pretty well, being so patient for a thousand years, didn’t I?”

Shougetsu pulled out a feather from the woodpecker.

“I have come to end your suffering. Raven Consort—and my sister.”

The feather turned into a double-edged sword. It was a straight sword, with star-like spots on the brown blade. It was a beautiful sword that shone brilliantly in the moonlight. The moment Jusetsu realized this, Shougetsu had landed firmly on the ground. The woodpecker flapped its wings.

Onkei was the one who reacted first. He took out a dagger from his pocket, pulled it out of its scabbard, and at the same time, the hard sound of blades clashing resounded in the air.

Shougetsu took a step back. He was holding his sword and observing Onkei closely. Slowly, he back away and kept a distance.

“This form is hard to move. The waves and the moon get into the way. If only this was the night of a new moon.”

He complained, but his expression was unchanged. This “vessel” was probably not designed to form facial expressions. Jusetsu didn’t know if it was mud doll or something else, though.

The feeling of panic that had been building up in Jusetsu was gradually calming down. Perhaps it was because she was with Onkei. If she panicked, he would be in danger as well.

“You came here to kill me—is that right?”

She asked as if to confirm, and Shougetsu took a pause.

“It’s not like I want to kill you. But, in order to bury the Raven, I must destroy her vessel—you. Because the Raven is inside you.”

Shougetsu spoke carefully and in order. It seemed that he really did have the intention of informing her.

“By Raven, you mean Wulian Niangniang, don’t you.”

She couldn’t think of anyone else. Shougetsu took another pause.

“…That is the name you people gave her on your own. It’s not the name I know. The Raven and the Owl are also not our names, but I won’t tell you our real names.”

So the Raven is Wulian Niangniang, and he came to bury her.

And that meant he had to kill Jusetsu, albeit reluctantly.

Jusetsu stared at Shougetsu. She couldn’t read his face. He was a puppet, after all. However, from the way he spoke, he wasn’t someone who couldn’t be communicated with. He was conscientious enough to explain what she didn’t understand. Even though he suddenly slashed at her with a sword.

She told herself to calm down. Jusetsu had no intention of getting killed, and if she did, Onkei would probably be get dragged into it as well, so she couldn’t afford to make a bad move.

“…Is Hou Shougetsu not your name?”

Jusetsu shifted the subject a bit. She didn’t know if he noticed.

“That is the name Master gave me. He looked after me.”

“Master?”

“That’s what everyone around him called him. They called him Hou.”

“What do you mean by ‘look after you’?”

“It was difficult to cross the sea, and I used up all my power to turn into this form. Master saved me when he found me collapsed. He brought me here.”

He answered any question that was asked of him honestly. Even though he came here to kill her. What was with this sense of crookedness?

“…Do you need human blood too?”

“I don’t need it,” his expression was unchanged, but there was a hint of dislike in his voice. “Because that thing I made is a human being. It takes blood to maintain it that way.”

“It wasn’t a human. It was just a mud doll. Why did you make that thing?”

Jusetsu kept her voice down, but she couldn’t hide the anger that was seeping out of her. Shougetsu tilted his head slightly and looked at her observantly.

“Because that was what that consort wanted. I think it was well done.”

“It wasn’t well done. That thing wasn’t brought back to life, nor did it have a soul. It was just a failure to make a human being.”

“But the consort was delighted that it was her brother.”

“You mean you did that to please her?”

“I wouldn’t have gone through all that trouble if it weren’t for that. The consort was so pitiful that I made it for her as a consolation.”

Jusetsu was at a loss for words. She stared intently at Shougetsu’s face.

“…There is a pond at Jakusou Palace. Have you ever been there?”

The image of the old palace lady came to mind.

“I have. There was a demon there and I got rid of it. Such things are harmful if left alone. It’s pitiful for the demons as well.”

Jusetsu didn’t know what to say anymore.

“Is that all? No more questions to ask me?”

Shougetsu raised his lowered sword. Onkei also raised his dagger again.

“Wait—”

Shougetsu was about to take a step forward when he suddenly stopped. Something grazed his toes and pierced the ground. It was an arrow. As soon as he saw that, another arrow pierced his shoulder. The impact made Shougetsu take a step back. The sound of objects cutting through the wind made him quickly turn around and hide behind a tree. Arrows fell to the ground.

Jusetsu turned around. She saw several figures at the entrance of the forest. Koushun was standing in the middle. Ei Sei was standing before him like a shield. On either side of him, there were rokuboushi eunuchs with nocked bows and drawn swords.

Jusetsu turned to Shougetsu again. She couldn’t see him behind the tree. Him hiding meant that arrow attacks worked against him. Even though Jusetsu’s arts didn’t work. Since he was a doll, that meant that it would be bad for him if his vessel broke. Speaking of which, he said it himself. In order to bury the Raven, he had to break the vessel—

“It’s not as if I’d die if I got shot by an arrow, but if this tsukaibe’s arms or legs get broken, I’ll have to remake them again. How bothersome.”

The voice came from the top of the tree. He seemed to have climbed the tree. The eunuchs armed with bows aimed at it, but it was dark and the branches and leaves were in the way.

Koushun approached in silence. He gave Jusetsu a once-over and asked, “Are you hurt?” Jusetsu shook her head.

“Is that Shougetsu?” Koushun said as he looked up at the tree.

“Yes.”

“We were just looking for him. We came right on time.”

“I do not know if that is good or not. He is not a normal human being.”

“I’ve gotten used to ghosts already. No, he got hit by an arrow. Hmm.”

Koushun fixed his eyes on the top of the tree. “Did he say he was going to remake his limbs? Is he also a type of mud doll?”

“I don’t know if he is made of mud or not.”

“If he is a doll, then we can destroy him.”

Koushun said in a casual manner. At the same time, Ei Sei sharply released something from his hand. Something fell from the darkness of the branches. It was Shougetsu. Even though he fell to the ground, the sound of impact was strangely light.

A knife was stuck in his ankle. That must have been what Ei Sei threw. Shougetsu didn’t even pull out the knife, but crouched down and looked up at Jusetsu and the others. The arrow in his shoulder also remained there.

“The emperor, huh. I would like you to stay out of my way.”

When Shougetsu said that, Ei Sei pulled out a dagger from his bosom. Koushun raised his hand to stop him.

“If you want to hurt the Raven Consort, then I have no intention of standing idly by.”

Koushun’s voice was dispassionate and quiet. Shougetsu scrutinized his face. Koushun also looked back at him as though inspecting him.

“Even I don’t want to kill an innocent girl. If you want to hate someone, hate Koushou.”

Koushou—the first Raven Consort.

“Why?”

“She is the cause of everything. She imprisoned the Raven within her own body.”

Koushun glanced at Jusetsu, then looked at Ei Sei, who had the other eunuchs move away from the surrounding area to a position where they couldn’t hear anything.

“Koushou…” Jusetsu spoke. “Did she not restrain Wulian Niangniang under Yamei Palace? That is why the Raven Consort is said to be her warden.”

Jusetsu was taught that, and it was also written as such in the history book at Yamei Palace.

“Warden,” Shougetsu spat out and laughed mockingly. “What a crafty little girl she was. She offered up herself and the numerous women who succeeded her as vessels and put a seal on them so they couldn’t escape, but she never spoke about her own crimes. She is a criminal. A monster. I hate that woman.”

Shougetsu’s voice was cold, and even his unchanging expression showed the shadow of hatred.

“It is unforgiveable to use a living thing as a vessel. It will inevitably cause corruption. For us and for you, it is a forbidden art. Koushou had violated this taboo.”

Shougetsu looked at Jusetsu.

“You suffer on every night of the new moon, don’t you? Your soul is being nearly torn apart because the Raven within you is escaping. I can’t even imagine that pain. The Raven within you is causing you to suffer.”

Jusetsu didn’t want to recall the pain on the nights of the new moon. She was taught that the Raven Consort and Wulian Niangniang was one in body and soul. Was this what it meant? The bottom of her stomach chilled. Wulian Niangniang was within her. The word “monster” came to mind.

“I know you’re afraid of me. But it is the Raven who fears me. I am the executioner who hunts the residents of Kakurenomiya who have sinned. You are already halfway to becoming the Raven. You were given life in this world as yourself, but it is being taken from you without you realizing it. What a horrible thing Koushou had done—”

Shougetsu closed his mouth and let out a deep sigh.

“Koushou made the Raven eat flowers. She continuously fed them to her. They were a poison. They make us intoxicated. The Raven had already lost itself.”

Shougetsu spoke with pain in his voice, like it was being wringed out of him. Flowers, Jusetsu murmured. She looked down at her palm. Was he talking about the flowers she offered to Wulian Niangniang at night? Were those poison?

“But even so, I watched over her. For a long, long time, to the point where I was on the verge of losing my mind. But a little while ago, I felt the power of the Raven overflowing. It was her cry. A cry of anger and pain. It was raging within you. You must have been angry at that time too.”

Raging——. Jusetsu remembered the time when she almost lost control of her anger in front of Hyougetsu. At that time, heat swirled in her stomach and it completely overwhelmed her.

“It’s time to put the Raven out of its misery. As befitting my title of executioner, (3) I am here to bury my sister. And to do that, I must kill you.”

Before he finished speaking, Shougetsu got down on one knee and swept his sword sideways. The tip of his sword tore Jusetsu’s clothes. Onkei pulled her body back at the last minute. Shougetsu quickly stood up and slashed at Jusetsu, who had lost her balance. Onkei caught the sword with his dagger, but Shougetsu flicked it away with his long sword. Onkei fell to his knees from the momentum. Shougetsu brandished his sword at Jusetsu’s neck.

She felt a chill on her neck, probably from the wind pressure created by the blade. Just when she thought that her head was going to be cut off, Jusetsu’s arm was grabbed with great force and she was pulled backward. Falling on her side, she felt the coolness of the earth and the strong scent of the grass rubbed against her. It was strange that she could be conscious of such things at a time like this.

In addition to those things, she felt the warmth of someone’s skin. Jusetsu was being held in someone’s arms. She knew who this warmth belonged to. It was Koushun.

Koushun, who had draped himself over Jusetsu, stirred slightly. When he got up, a metallic scent grazed against her nose.

――It was blood.

A shiver ran through her and her fingertips went cold. Jusetsu jumped up.

“Koushun—”

“No, I’m fine,” Before Jusetsu could say anything, Koushun expressionlessly pressed his hand against his arm and stood up. “It’s just a graze.”

It seemed that his arm had been cut. He said it was just a graze, but blood was dripping from the cuff of his sleeve. Jusetsu pressed her chest. Her heart was beating fast. Her fingers were still cold and she was shaking.

She heard the sound of blades clashing. She looked up and saw Ei Sei deflecting Shougetsu’s blade. Ei Sei’s dagger made the sword jump up. When Shougetsu staggered slightly, Ei Sei thrust out his blade, but Shougetsu jumped back and kept his distance. With his sword in his hand, he watched Ei Sei closely.

It was then that Jusetsu heard a piercing cry. It wasn’t the woodpecker’s voice. It was a voice that was very familiar to her. A golden-colored thing flew out of the bushes near Shougetsu.

“Xingxing!”

Flapping its golden wings, Xingxing flew to Jusetsu. “Why are you here?”

Xingxing let out another cry, though it probably wasn’t in response to her question.

“Harara.”

Shougetsu called it. He sounded annoyed.

“Useless toribe, what did you come here for?”

Xingxing spread its wing wide menacingly. Toribe, Jusetsu muttered in her head. “If you’re going to fight, use a toribe.”

Jusetsu plucked a tail feather from Xingxing. It instantly transformed into a golden arrow. The arrow of the golden bird, the arrow that would fly to the next Raven Consort. Jusetsu understood that this was it.

Jusetsu threw the arrow at Shougetsu with all her strength. The arrow, shining golden in the wind, aimed at him sharply.

The arrow hit his shoulder. At that moment, his shoulder burst and shattered. It wasn’t flesh that scattered with a light bursting sound, but bird feathers. Owl feathers with brown and white stripes. Jusetsu’s hands were moving before she could think, and she released another arrow. It pierced Shougetsu’s solar plexus. This time, there was a sound like the shattering of thin glass. His chest puffed out before feathers were blown off in all directions. Not only his chest, but also his legs and arms turned into his feathers in succession. The robes, now empty, flopped to the ground. Only his head hadn’t yet turned into feathers and fell down as it was. His face was still expressionless, but his lips were moving. No sound came out, and Jusetsu didn’t know what he said.

It was most likely the Raven’s real name.

Before falling on the ground, the head also transformed into feathers. Owl feathers covered the surrounding ground. All remnants of Shougetsu disappeared without a trace.

Only the moonlight illuminated the owl feathers.

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