On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor Four Hundred And Nine

Four Hundred And Nine

As Motoko continued to eat daintily and at pace, her eyes narrowed with pleasure, I looked at Natsumi, who was also starting to eat happily. She giggled, raising an eyebrow. “I’m a healthy eater too, but I can’t match Motoko. We rarely get the chance to indulge though. Of course, protein from at and fish is essential for building stronger muscles, so our diets have always been heavier than is traditionally proper for daughters of nobility.” She lectured between bites of her boar at, wiping her lips elegantly with a cloth as the greasy fats clung to her mouth.

“That is correct. A healthy, strong body is the foundation of everything. Other families said there was no use to our skills in the modern world, not for the wives and mothers we were raised to be…” Motoko said, her expression downcast, before, just after she finished another slab of boar, her smile changed, lighting up her face. “It seems that our noble fathers and brothers hardly know everything though. I believe having stamina and flexibility on the bed is much to your taste, no?” She was pink with embarrassnt under the glowing light of the great fla behind us, and Kana laughed, surprised.

“That’s not sothing I suspected you to be thinking, Motoko-cha… err, Motoko.” Kana kept up her new resolution of being closer to the girls she struggled with. “Maybe it’s true that repressed girls are the wildest.” She paused. “Is… was Akio here really satisfied?”

Motoko’s blush deepened, but even so, her hands were still ferrying food to her mouth. All around us the majority of the Tengu were indulging as well, though I did notice a few were abstaining, only eating a little. Ready for what cos next, I’d imagine?

“I cannot speak for him, but he seed rather pleased.” She confided. “As for , Natsumi and I discussed it. It was … heart-warming? Fun? No, words simply do not do it justice. My mother long said I should not learn any bedroom skills, for it would be best if I acclimatised to my husband’s taste, served at his pleasure. She never said that we would find it a pleasure too.”

“It was a bit scary at first. We are always taught by our families and our teachers that it is our duty to serve our husband, and that any indulgence outside of that is sinful, wrong and would sha our ancestors, parents, house…” Natsumi agreed. “Serving… it isn’t that.”

“No.” Motoko agreed, elegantly gesturing with her fork, which she handled as deftly as she would chopsticks. “It is not that we serve Akio, it is that we serve each other. He seeks our bodies and heart, and we seek his. Mutual joy. And very pleasurable too. My heart races, and not from exertion…”

“Damn, do we have to talk about this where I can hear?” Yasaka-san grimaced. I turned to look at Haru-san, worried such talk might be bringing back bad mories of her traumatic torture and death, but she rely shrugged, a slight smile on her face.

“It’s fine, Akio-san. I… I won’t say I never rember it, or certain things don’t make uncomfortable…” she looked up, thinking. “…but I’m stronger now. ntally too. Besides…” she pointed at the happy Motoko and Natsumi. “…your relations are nothing like his. They’re smiling. I’d be more worried if they ended up as traditional noble brides. It sounds… very lonely.”

“Yes, that’s it.” Natsumi agreed. “It would be lonely. Giving up Tsumura Arts, never being allowed to train again... having to give up my friendship with Motoko. I’m sure that whatever husband I had wouldn’t mistreat . Hori house isn’t important, but we are still of the Three-Hundred. But… the life of the nobility is too restrained.”

“Yes, we must fit the mould, and everything outside the mould must be sacrificed. Now, there is good within the nobility. I can still see it; I am not so selfish as to ignore that.” Motoko chewed and swallowed, and I wondered where she put it all. As if to answer that, she let out a satisfied sigh. “This at is good, but a little heavy. I shall have to exercise after we finish. Besides, that will allow the maximum benefit to my muscles and bones. Although, I cannot be certain that holds true here in the Boundary… but, back to loneliness…” she looked at Kana, her brown eyes solemn. “…I much prefer a world for the nobility where those of us who follow different paths can have those accommodated. And where we can love freely. I still laugh at myself. I thought I was so bold, so courageous, and when I visited Nishimorioka, I was determined Akio was the way towards a brighter future for . I did not worry about loneliness then…”

“I thought so too. Motoko was so brave, so shining. But… back then all I was to her was a bodyguard, I thought. It was that trip, Hinata, Eri, Aiko and the others, they helped beco more than just that, realise how I really felt, the rules that bound in place stripped away, they helped beco Motoko’s true friend as well.”

“Sisters, I believe Shaeula calls it.” Haru-san interjected. “I think she’s a little mistaken, sisters don’t share their n usually, but I know what she ans. It’s a family, who won’t betray you. Though I still see so interesting personality clashes between you all…” she laughed softly. “No, there’ll be friction, troubles and tears, but… the more I watch from the outside, the more I know it’s all rather sweet. I’m dead, so why do I have to care for convention? There are many people who would snatch happiness from others, trample on dignity and love for their own amusent, so anyone or anything that increases the happiness of others must surely be a good thing.”

“Yes, Hinata. At the ti, I thought myself bolder than her. She seed disinclined to cast her lot in with Akio. I was wrong of course, even then, she liked him. Love at first sight, she boasts. Whereas we just looked for our own gain. Oh, my throat is dry…”

“Here.” Daiyu handed her a pitcher of mater, and Motoko gulped from it gratefully. Daiyu had only eaten a little, and was listening to the conversation, grasping much of it with her modest Japanese, though so nuance was lost, but Haru-san was translating when she wasn’t speaking.

“My thanks. You…” Motoko said to Daiyu. “… are quite the interesting girl. You are what Natsumi and I could have been, were we free from the mould of the nobility. Training rigorously, reaching the peak of the Tsumura Arts…”

“I would never deny the hard work I have put in. I have always sought peaks above peaks, and what lies beyond even that.” Daiyu replied. “I am proud, and I love Cultivation, just as you love your Arts. If you were Cultivators, I dare say you would follow the Dao of swords, or perhaps spears or bows… but it is not all there is. Yes, a lonely life…” she agreed. “…I did not realise I even was lonely. Aloof, proud, isolated, arrogant, like a black lotus standing all alone… No, I now understand why Sects exist. For while the strong are often the lonely, the strongest have sothing beyond themselves to fight for.”

Daiyu made herself understood, filling in the more complicated words she hadn’t learned yet, and Motoko nodded. Around us many Tengu had stopped their feasting, though Motoko was still going, as was Arangbō, who had devoured vastly more at than anyone else, his eyes on mocking. Oh co on, I’ve not a bottomless appetite…

“Yes, it was vanity, us wishing to rely protect the Tsumura Arts and pass them on. Vanity without purpose. But now…” she paused. “When we returned to Hanafubuki, away from Akio, our resolve wavered. It was easy to get swept up in the mont, to pledge ourselves to a man we barely knew for our futures, but… what did we know of n, of serving, of love, only what we were told, which made such a thing seem frightening, a harsh duty.”

“That’s right, Motoko.” Natsumi agreed. “When it ca ti to tell my parents… I got scared. So we hesitated and delayed…”

“And then Hinata beat us to you.” Motoko said. “And she, instead of mocking our timidity, understood us, tried to help us co to our own realisation of what we wanted, what we needed. And we realised how wretched we were. Only thinking of ourselves. A one-sided relationship is worthless. Much as our resolve and our will was. Now we are different.”

“That’s right.” Natsumi agreed. “Now we know why we want to preserve our Arts. It’s to teach to Akio, to any other girl who wants to learn, and to teach our children with Akio, and their children too.”

“To perfect the Arts, not keeping them stale. We will take instruction from master Ulfuric, from Shaeula’s brothers and sisters, from Akio…” she looked at Daiyu then. “…also from you.” She held out a hand gracefully, while her other hand moved the loaded fork, though her rapid eating was slowing down. “I think you are like us, and I feel close to you because of that. We can hardly know of your grief, losing your family, ho and more… but here you can forge a new one. After all…” she smiled once she had taken another delicate bite which sohow devoured a fair chunk of at. “… you are definitely of the warrior faction. Just like his sister, Aiko. We should help and support each other.”

“I would appreciate that.” Daiyu took her hand after an embarrassed pause. “I am no master of weapons, my Dao will likely follow a different way, but I shall be happy to share what I have learned. I too want disciples and wish to teach my children… our children.” She corrected. “I respect dedication to an ideal, and honing the body will never betray you.”

“True.” Bell, who had been listening, spoke up. “The training for Way-Wardens is hard, but worthwhile. I must say…” she looked at with a smile, and I was again struck with just how beautiful elves were, just like in the stories. “… hearing about what such a life is like has curious to experience it myself. But that is for another ti. When I have increased my favourability points with you.” She winked at . She must have heard that saying from Shaeula or Shiro… why do they all learn the wrong things?

“So…” Motoko let fall her fork, patting her belly. “We got a little off what we were talking about. I apologise, Kana, but it is all relevant.” She rubbed her stomach. “I am rather full. I simply must exercise…”

“Is that it?” Arangbō bood suddenly, looking over at us. “Are you done? You…” he glowered at . “… barely even tried.”

“It’s alcohol next, right?” I said, and he looked surprised. “I have to leave room for that.” I grinned. “Besides, honestly, I don’t think I could have beaten you…” I have an idea that might have worked with Body Enhancent, but there’s no real need. “… and even if I could, what’s the benefit? These challenges are to help select for an important task. I need to allow others their shot, right?”

anwhile, as I said that, Motoko was addressing Kana once more. “…we rambled, but what matters is that it was pleasurable, and satisfying. Fortunately, our parents allowed us to proceed before our marriage, sothing unthinkable, but then, our marriage is certain, is it not?”

“Most definitely. I’m never letting any of you go now. That counts for you too, Kana, Daiyu.” I said, ignoring Arangbō, which caused him to growl, annoyed.

Kana sighed. “Seriously, you could have cut down on my pointless suffering by saying sothing sweet like that weeks ago, rather than forcing us to drag it out of you. But… I’m happy. I can hardly believe it myself. The famous Izumi Kana, who has rejected more boys and n than anyone else for miles around, has been conquered. And I find I don’t mind at all. And I admit, I’m curious. I know more about what happens on the bed between n and won than these two ever did…”

Motoko flushed and Natsumi giggled at that, and Kana continued. “…but that’s all theoretical. Everyone seems to enjoy it a lot, nobody hates it…”

Daiyu was blushing now as well, perhaps rembering our first ti, which went beyond the normal.

“… so I dare say I’ll like it too. But…” Kana waved her finger at . “… I’m greedy. I want to savour all the stages of a relationship. Besides…” she grinned then, her expression terribly cute and impish. “…It’s just and Hinata left now. At least for now, until the Diviner Matsumuro-san returns. I want to build your anticipation, until you can’t bear to wait to get under my clothes.” She puffed out her decent chest and crossed her legs, drawing my eyes to her.

“Can we please stop?” Yasaka-san complained. “Besides, it looks like we’re getting unwelco attention. The eating is done.”

“Yes, it is done.” Tarōbō agreed, banging down his staff. The raucous, festive atmosphere had charged the jewel on his staff, which was now shining nearly as brightly as the great fla in the temple. “But sharing food with joy is important. As to eat is to take the life of a boar, to eat in gloom and sombre silence offers no praise for the life the food lived. But just as at is food for the body, alcohol is food for the spirit.” Tengu were bringing out colossal stone and wood gourds of sake.

“A strong, massive body is power!” Arangbō bood, before looking at Motoko, who was still slender, despite being a little muscular. Her body’s still got the softness of a woman, but the feel of her skin is a little firr. I appreciate the contrast with so of the others… “You are small, woman, but you eat well. Not as well as , but… won with healthy appetites are good. Unlike so I know…”

“I thank you. Yes, a strong body requires ample nutrients.” She stood, stretching. “But I am afraid I rather overate. It was not particularly noble, but…” she smiled at .

“Yes, if you enjoy it, I’m happy to see it. Besides, we can always exercise together to keep your weight down.”

“On the bed again…” Kana giggled.

“Do pardon .” Motoko began to stretch, working her muscles. “If I do not, I will be unfit for battle, should one arise. It does not do to beco sluggish after overindulging.” Natsumi joined her, despite eating a lot less, though more than I did. Watching that, Arangbō nodded.

“Great Tarōbō, I am the clear victor. Though this is not the challenge I wish to triumph in.”

“Yes. You shall be a champion. You also.” He pointed his staff at several Tengu and nad them. “As for you…” he looked at Motoko. “… your na, hearty eater.”

“I am Tsumura Motoko.”

“Then, Motoko. You too have earned the right to enter the rift and try to stem the corruption. I would say if you have the courage, but I can see such would be insulting to a warrior as you clearly are.”

“I appreciate your kind words.” Motoko nodded. “Where Akio travels, I too wish to be by his side. And I thank you for recognising as a warrior. Won are often told they cannot be such.”

“That is a human conceit. The Tengu do not hold to such. So of our fiercest warriors, most powerful Onmyōji are female. So…” he looked at then. “Three of your party is qualified. But I wonder, do you know what you will face? Risking your lives and worse, to cleanse our sacred fla, when there is no reward in it for you…”

“There’s a reward. Several.” I insisted. “The corruption might harm those I have under my protection…” Haru-san shifted at that. “And as I hope to win friendly relations with mount Atago, a bit of give and take can’t hurt.”

“Do you not think that arrogant, expecting us proud caretakers of the mountain and the fla to abandon our isolation, our defence, simply because you offered aid?” Tarōbō asked , eyes narrowing.

“Not really. If you still want to reject us, that’s your prerogative. If you were sothing evil that we couldn’t coexist with, that hard and killed just by your presence…” such as the Myconids… “…then we’d have to take action. But you’re not. You’ve lived peacefully in the shadows of Kyoto for centuries. If you’re not interested, we’ll find another source of what we need. It’ll be a pain, but that’s life. But I hope you’ll see what we can offer and consider the rits fairly.”

“If you can be trusted…” Fengbo declared sourly.

“Of course. Which is why we’re building trust. And we don’t just take, we also offer things in return.” I tapped the massive gourd of sake that had been set beside our table. “Trade, protection, more…”

“We are grateful to be allowed to partake in these ceremonies.” Haru-san said professionally. “While we ca in peace and were attacked unprovoked…” Haanōbō’s wings twitched at that, and it looked down, face still hidden behind purple hair. “…we understand that your wariness and alertness are at a peak due to these troubling circumstances. But while isolation is a choice, cooperation has many benefits, as Akio-san has pointed out. But that doesn’t matter. You wish the fla cleaned, we wish it, for our own reasons. In common cause alliances are ford.”

“It shall be us, the Four Directions, who triumph. Your flas burn hot, but I was rely caught off-guard.” Shungbō said, his temper as fiery as his flas. “Now, let us see who can prevail in further trials.” He nodded at Arangbō. “Your appetite is as hearty as ever. But we hunger for victory. We are no re lapdogs of the kami, no, mount Atago is ours, and it is our problem to solve!”

“Enough.” Tarōbō slamd his staff against the ground several tis. “I appreciate your eagerness, but… the fla cos first. Though I believe you have not shown your true power yet, my Four Directions.” Even the unmasked Haanōbō stood straighter at his praise. “But for now… we feed the spirit, for just as the fla consus fuel, so too does the body and spirit. Revel in the fact we yet live, and the fla still burns, for it shall never go out while us Tengu still endure. Corruption shall be expunged, and we will continue atop mount Atago as we always have!” With a flourish, he waved his staff, leaving trails of light in the air behind it, fading away slowly like afterimages. The Tengu crowd roared, so more fireworks exploded, and soon everyone was raucously drinking…

I guess I might as well. Winning would be easy enough, but… where’s the fun in not getting drunk?

********

“You are challenging this ti, Yasaka-san?” I asked, rather tipsy, and as the old man ssily quaffed a wooden mug of strong sake, he scowled.

“Challenging? You aren’t taking into so dangerous place that even powerful Tengu fear. I’m here for the, oh yes, the easy experience points. I haven’t forgotten what you said, and if I did, I could ask the Book.” He tapped his head with his free hand.

“True. I’m actually loathe to take you down there, Motoko.” I said. “I have my suspicions about just what these rifts are…” my Eye burned orange, and I could see a mixture of earth, fla, darkness and spatial elent leaking out slowly from the cracks in the mountain, and while my Eye wasn’t anywhere near powerful enough to penetrate such, I could see similar tears within the surface of the mountain under the temple and the fla, and the faint haze of the Lost Fla Of Naraka. “… and I suspect that it leads into a dungeon, an area of space bigger on the inside.”

“I see.” Motoko, who was running through so spear forms with Natsumi, working off her big feast, nodded. “I do greatly desire to go, but I know you are thinking of my safety, so I shall heed your advice. Though it pains . We have many levels to gain, you said. We are not leveraging the benefits our parents allowed us by breaking tradition.”

Natsumi laughed out loud at that, and Kana, who knew what she ant from our earlier conversation during the eating contest, flushed. “I get that you want to be careful after what happened in Kyoto. That’s good.” Kana nodded. “I want you to treat us all with care. But… is it really too dangerous?”

“That depends.” I looked at Chen Na. “If she can earn the right to enter, I’m confident I can at least get you all to safety unhard, so then it might be possible.”

“No concern for ? Not worried I might et my end again in there?” Haru-san said. She was a little drunk as well, quite amazing for an Onryo.

“You’re stronger than you think you are.” I praised her, and she looked down, embarrassed. “Your wellbeing matters to as much as the others.”

“You should save that for your girlfriends and fiancées, Akio-san, else they’ll get jealous… If Eri-chan was here...” She fanned her free hand into an axe shape and made chopping gestures.

“You may not be my girlfriend, but you’re definitely a precious friend. A Vassal too, so your wellbeing is my responsibility. But even if it wasn’t, as a friend and colleague, I’d look out for you.” I promised. For a long mont Haru-san rely looked at , sipping her sake, before sighing.

“I see. You have a way with words, Akio-kun. I guess I’d best not let you down. I’ll believe in your words. That I’m strong, I an.”

“Akio-kun huh?” Kana laughed. “Slip of the tongue, or?”

“Considering Akio-kun and I are about the sa age, sotis he seems younger.” She sniffed. “And no, you can’t ask my actual age, Kana-san.”

“Technically, aren’t you less than a year old?” Kana laughed, and Haru-san tilted her head adorably.

“I’d not considered that. I like it!”

“If that’s the case, I’m not letting a toddler drink…” I joked, and she cried out in mock-outrage.

“No, you can’t take my booze, Akio-kun! I’m a working adult, alcohol is one of the things that makes work bearable!”

As we joked and bantered, suddenly a colossal mug was thumped down on the table beside us, and we turned to see Arangbō there, his long-nosed mask pointed down at us. Yeah, he sure is a big bastard.

“You may not have much appetite for at, but your other appetites seem fine.” He nodded at my half-full mug and the girls.

“Yeah, if there was a challenge round for how many won he has, Akio will be number one.” Kana paused, face red. “There isn’t, is there?”

“The fla of lust is a powerful one, but we Tengu are private creatures. Not like the denizens of the Hyakki Yagyō.” Arangbō chuckled loudly. “Such a contest would be a troubleso one. Besides, our won are as hot-tempered as the fla. They would not take kindly to being used as pawns in gas of seduction.”

“No way we would either.” Kana insisted. “So, what is next?”

“Wait and see.” Arangbō said. He then glanced at . “Faltering already? If you cannot drink so little without being drunk, you have no hope of defeating , even with my belly full of at.” I could tell he was grinning behind his mask.

Little? I’ve drunk enough to give an ordinary person alcohol poisoning on the Material. But thanks for the advice… I was suppressing Ether Healing so I could enjoy myself, but with a sigh I allowed my learned immunity to alcohol to kick in and sobered up, quaffing another mouthful. At least the flavour is fantastic. But without the buzz of getting drunk, drinking does lose a great deal of appeal.

Seeing suddenly return to sobriety, Arangbō laughed, emptying his mug, snatching another from a passing Tengu. There were already many lying sprawled on the ground, wings fluttering weakly, defeated. “So, you are displaying so of the fight you showed Haanōbō and Shungbō I see. But I am not as easily bested as they!” he quaffed a significant amount of booze, a feat in his mask. When he was done he belched loudly, before speaking again.

“You wondered what the rifts are?” he said, and I was suddenly alert. Daiyu and the others were listening too, even prince Shōtoku, who had contented himself to eating and drinking a moderate amount, as if to cause no offense.

“They are cursed pits.” He said, shaking his head. “Dark, full of flas as impure as our sacred fla is pure. And the endless tide of the burning damned. There have been many tis we have faced such before in the past, the mountain is a sacred site, and power accumulates, dense ether. Such have always been effortlessly destroyed by the mighty Tengu.” He beat his chest happily. “Yet these… these are different. Deeper, darker, deadlier. The first Tengu to enter, they did not co back. Then we sent stronger warriors, but only a few returned, telling tales of burning spirits of our dead kin, animals, monsters, more… and now they spill out freely, numbers increasing each ti.”

“So that is why you are holding these challenges?” Daiyu asked, listening, and he nodded.

“That’s right, little one. You are small. You should not compete, this task is too deadly for a tiny creature such as you.” Arangbō answered. I could recognise the slight changes in Daiyu’s expression that indicated she was extrely offended, so I reached out and gripped her hand, giving it a squeeze.

“Daiyu’s actually surprisingly strong. Never judge by appearances, otherwise you might get caught out.” I warned him. “So, how does eating and drinking weed out the strong? The other challenges, I get.”

“They are tradition. If a warrior fears the battle ahead, they can simply bow out. Besides…” he turned, looking at the lord of the Tengu of the mountain. “Our Great Tarōbō is gathering power. Emotion is prayer, and prayer is strength, fuel for the flas of victory. We can afford to lose no more.” His gaze was piercing. “Fungbō and Shungbō may wish you away from this place, but… for victory, you have earned your place.”

I could see that a massive pit, similar to the firepits from before had been dug as we emptied mug after mug of strong sake. “I see. That’s a sensible opinion.”

“Do not mistake . Should Great Tarōbō decide you should be removed, I will throw you all out myself.” He warned. “But I am a great warrior, Arangbō of the Spring East, and I will not sha myself or Great Tarōbō by tasting defeat…” he raised his mug to . “So drink, let the flas of your spirit be nourished…”

All right then, don’t mind if I do. Raising my own mug, I took a big swig. Yes, it’s pleasant, but lacks impact…

********

“You fought well, but I am simply too mighty.” Arangbō burped, and beside Kana fanned her face, complaining quietly about the sll. Empty mugs were scattered all around us, Yasaka-san looking cheery as he sat in a blissful haze of drunkenness. The rest of my group hadn’t indulged too heavily, other than Haru-san, and she was still just tipsy.

“There’s not much point in drinking just for the sake of it.” I said mildly. “But you Tengu certainly like booze. Just like the Night Parade.”

“We have no wish to be compared to those scoundrels.” Arangbō snorted sourly. “But it is true. Fuel for the spirit.” He finished off the dregs in his mug noisily.

“In that case, we are already trading alcohol with the Parade, a lot of interesting and exotic kinds. I am sure we could co to so arrangent too. I bet if you Tengu could walk the mortal world again you’d love all the bars in Shinjuku. As much exotic booze as you could wish for…”

“And we have a champion.” Tarōbō’s staff banged down. All around us were scattered fallen, drunk Tengu. “Arangbō, once more you show your fiery appetites.”

“A man should be sizeable in both muscle and hungers.” He boasted, before clapping on the shoulder. “But when one shares sake with another, they beco closer. Beware though, the next trial is a terrible one.”

“Yes. Your performance was also satisfactory. But…” Tarōbō waved his staff. “I gained little joy from you. A sha. Your words are true. Drinking for rote triumph is worthless. So…” several more Tengu were given the right to battle the rifts. “Now, I must ask our visitor a favour.” He looked at , his eyes full of energy, shining like rainbows from the aether he held. “Shungbō, Akio… fill this pit with lingering fla. For the next challenge is… only those who can pass through the flas and be fit to fight are worthy.”

I see. Quite a nasty challenge. “I shall do this.” Daiyu said, surprising , her black eyes gleaming as she looked at Arangbō, who had insulted her. As he chuckled, her gaze only hardened.

“Are you sure?” I asked, weighing up her abilities. “It’ll be hard for you…”

“Trust . I have a way. I am no fool, to try and ta a tiger without the proper bait and tools.” She said, and I nodded. Daiyu’s strong and brave, and she has no illusions of her own strengths, she can view herself objectively. If she says she can do it, I’ll support her.

“I see. This is my ti to shine as well!” Kana piped up, and I looked at her, puzzled.

“What? You don’t think I can do it? I saw the look in your eyes when Daiyu volunteered. It was all I can totally trust her! But you don’t trust ?”

As Bell giggled, enjoying the spectacle, Haru-san made Chen Na step forwards as well. Three volunteers from our group… “No, of course I trust you. I know you wouldn’t do anything to make worry, right?”

“No, you can totally worry a bit.” Kana winked. “I’m your girlfriend, if you don’t worry, I’d feel you didn’t care enough. But… Kṣitigarbha’s Favour… I think I can make this work. No, like Daiyu, I know I can.”

“All right then.” I patted her head, Daiyu’s too. “Just… be careful, all right?”

“I’ve seen how deadly your Foehn is. Daiyu has too, right? But it’s your fire. There’s no way we’ll be hurt by that, don’t you think?” As Daiyu agreed with Kana, I frowned.

“I wish that was the case. Don’t take it lightly, or else you’ll get burned.” Stepping forward, joining the arrogant, red-robed Shungbō by the large pit which was so fifty tres across, dwarfing the previous firepits, I held in a worried sigh, not wishing to belittle the girls or damage their confidence. If only Foehn was so accommodating. Oh well, worst case, I have Ether Healing…