“Unfortunately, sometimes a warrior is vastly outmatched. A knight from a puny micronation has nothing on me.” Sairi sheathed her sword. To her, it was all over. “But that’s nothing to be ashamed of. You’re still growing. You might surpass me one day. I think you could get there, after you stare death in the face for the fiftieth time, maybe?” Slowly, but with confidence, Sairi made her way toward her destination. There was no one left to stop her. She seemed sure of it. “I cannot surpass you in the future… It has to be now…” Sasara groaned. Her voice stopped Sairi in her tracks. “I am not finished yet…” Sasara staggered to her feet. There was no strength in her; she looked like a wraith. “There’s no point in pushing yourself. I’m not here to kill anyone.’ “I was stationed here because I am expected to win… And I respect Lady Ouka’s keen judgment…” Sasara steadily made her way toward Ryouta. “I hope you don’t mind, Ryouta Fuyukura…but I need your blood.” “Huh…? I don’t mind, sure…” The Sacred Blooded gained special power when they drank the blood of a loved one. “Maybe, just maybe, this will make me stronger… Ahm.” Sasara gently sunk her teeth into Ryouta’s arm, then ripped into his flesh in a brisk motion. There was zero time to be careful about her technique. She needed her results, even if it was rough. All their efforts would be for nothing if she didn’t do this. Ryouta’s blood would go to waste! “Rgh…” Ryouta gritted his teeth against the pain. It wasn’t like he was going to become superhuman, so this was the only road to victory left to them. But there’s no way that Sasara likes me… “I’m ready.” The air around them had clearly changed. It felt like a big storm had just passed through the corridor. “Your blood was delicious, Ryouta Fuyukura. So much so, I would like to make you my minion and drink it every day.” Sasara stood, her steps different than they had been moments before. Her eyes had taken on a new hue of jewellike red and blue swirls. It did not take a seasoned veteran to sense how things had changed. It was so drastic that one could almost mistake Sasara for someone else entirely. “Oh, I see, that’s why you two are guarding this place as a set. Love holds great power, doesn’t it? That was all just a warm-up.” Sairi unsheathed her sword again. “You may die if you don’t take this seriously,” Sasara warned. “Yes, of course. I’m not an amateur, you know.” They both leaped at each other. Ryouta, who could scarcely move, couldn’t tell what was going on in the battle anymore. All he could hear were the sound of swords clashing with the intent to kill. Ahh… Maybe that three times stuff wasn’t a joke… Had she used this power in their first battle, he probably would have been killed before he even realized he was dead. At this point, it was difficult to tell if what he was seeing was even real swordsmanship. But why was it so effective…? Does “love” have a broader definition than I thought…? Or wait, does Sasara…love…m—? Nah, that can’t be. He crushed that line of thought. This wasn’t the time for it. What he did know was that Sasara had crossed a line and gone into a fury, and Sairi was matching her. Neither of them spoke. At this level, they couldn’t afford to. Even Sairi had stopped chatting. There was no time for her to open her mouth. Their blades clashed with such impeccable timing that it was impossible for anyone or anything to come between them. If either of them was off by the slightest movement, then one of them would die. If an outsider got between them, the outsider would die. But Ryouta could not remain on the sidelines. He had to fight. He was an Imperial guard. “I’m still a member of this Guard…the sixteenth…” He somehow managed to stand. If nothing else, he was confident that he better than any of them at not knowing when to give up. So long as he was still alive, he would continue to resist. But that was enough to make him a distraction in their midst. Sasara’s concentration wavered ever so slightly. The relief that Ryouta had enough energy to stand slowed the time it took for her to send her power into her fingers. She wasn’t able to avoid the massive beast making contact with her. “Ah—!” Her sword went flying. The match was over. “Just don’t die, okay?” Sairi thrust toward her armor. She had relaxed enough to speak out loud, and that was why she didn’t pierce Sasara’s armor. But it was enough to end their battle. Sasara was slammed into the wall with such force that it shuddered the earth. And this time, her energy was completely spent. Her armor was covered in cracks like spiderwebs. “S-so this is as far as I go… I am so sorry, Lady Ouka…” “You were doing pretty well. But it’s like this. Love is a difficult thing. It brings you to life, but it can also destroy you.” Sairi smiled wryly, recalling the past. “It’s just like back then.” She then turned to continue on her path. “Wait, please… Wait…” Ryouta struggled to catch up to her, but it was all he could do to keep moving himself forward, using his sword as a crutch. On top of that, the blood he’d lost to Sasara had weakened him even further. But he couldn’t stop. It was his fault that Sasara lost. It was his fault that she was now far more wounded than him. It was his fault if they couldn’t keep Shiren safe. Sairi watched him, evaluating him. She no longer needed to rush. “I’m happy to wait, but you can’t really do anything, can you? I can tell you’re standing on your mental will alone. Oh, and you’ve been protecting Shiren with that willpower this whole time, haven’t you? Thanks, Ryouta.” “Oh, so you knew…” “When I saw you go through all that trouble to stand up, I could guess who you were. I’ve been checking in on your situation. Only a little bit, you understand.” Sairi shifted her eyes ever so slightly in Ryouta’s direction, as though showing him the minimal amount of respect. “That’s a good expression on you. You have the resolve needed to protect someone.” “But resolve isn’t enough…” “You’re right. Heart is all you have. And there are limits to where that can get you,” Sairi admonished him. “What if your opponent comes at you with their whole heart, too? There’s nothing you can do, right?” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “This is what I had to do in order to see her.” She was done looking back at Ryouta. The door to Ominaeshi’s room was not locked. That was because everyone knew such a thing would be essentially pointless. The door slowly opened. “Hello. I know you didn’t invite me, but I’m here. I did send a letter, at least.” Sairi looked at everyone in the room. When her gaze met with Shiren’s, the girl looked a bit frightened. “What about Ryouta and Sasara?! What happened to them?!” “They’re fine. They’re alive. I did hurt them, though. One of them is still crawling after me.” Shiren spotted Ryouta struggling toward them. “Ryouta! Are you okay?!” “I-I’m not really, no… But I’m pretty used to it by now, so…” The problem was that at this rate, nothing would be resolved. The enemy in question was still very much in top shape. “Nice to see you again, Ominaeshi.” “To think we would cross paths again. I was hoping I had seen the last of you, but…this time, I shall send you into the great depths of hell.” “There’s no need for empty bluffs. No offense, Ominaeshi, but you’re just a normal Sacred Blooded. No match for me at all. And that’s why you used a weapon back then, too, isn’t it?” Ominaeshi absently clicked her tongue. Her expression said that Sairi had brought up a memory she didn’t want to think about. “And so you will drop me into the depths of hell instead? I suppose it would be nice to be able to follow Ouen. I would not have to worry about you getting in my way in the afterlife.” “Sorry, but I’m not here to reminisce. There’s no turning back the clock on all that, is there? You can blame me for it, or you can blame yourself for it—but it won’t save anyone. Not even poor Ouen,” Sairi said, her tone light. “Sairi Fuyukura… Weren’t you the one to kill Father…?” Ouka could not hide her bewilderment, either. How could the suspect in her father’s murder be so calm and collected? However, she was doing better than Shiren, who could not speak at all. Shiren couldn’t draw her bleary eyes away from Sairi. “I had no idea the current emperor would also be out of the loop. As they say, you must fool your allies first to fool your enemy. If you really don’t know, then in a way, this is perfect.” “What are you talking about? I am not following at all…” “Can I tell them, Ominaeshi?” Sairi asked, her eyes earnest. “Hmph! And what are you hoping to accomplish, deferring to me like that?” “You made the right choice. I still think so. I don’t know what you think of me, but I never hated you. Because I know if our positions were reversed, I would have done the same thing. And things would have turned out the exact same way. I know it caused Shiren a lot of pain as a result, but it was the best choice if you consider the whole of the Sacred Blooded.” “What, what?! What happened?!” Ouka shouted with tears in her voice. Of course she wanted to know the reason her father had been killed. But she had naturally separated herself from the matter, knowing it was territory she must not venture into. She had done her best all her life to make sure she never crossed that line. “I shall tell you everything, Ouka,” Ominaeshi said. “In fact, you should punish me for not telling you sooner. It was all because I was too soft…” She slowly stood from her coffin. “When I managed to gain positive proof that Sairi was a spy for the Virginal Father, I went into her room. Ouen was there, too. I knew I had to settle the matter as quickly as possible. If I took my time, there was a chance that Ouen might be killed.” Ominaeshi gestured to Sairi with her hand. Her fingers formed the shape of a gun. “And so I turned the gun toward Sairi. I could no longer allow her to live, I told her. I asked if she knew the reason why. She was prepared for this, and she nodded.” Sairi nodded, replicating her actions from the past. “It would be too cruel to make Ouen do it. If anyone was to, it had to be me, I thought. And I fired the gun.” There was a pause. Silence settled over the room. It was almost as though Ominaeshi was still praying that time would stop. “In the next moment, Ouen leaped in front of Sairi. He took the shot for her. And right after that, he took his last breath.” Ominaeshi gritted her teeth in regret. “What follows is all conjecture, but I believe Sairi did not want Ouen’s sacrifice to be in vain, so she immediately escaped. We had positive proof that she was a part of the Virginal Father, so we pinned the crime of Ouen’s assassination on her. In order to hold the country together, all other truths were unnecessary.” No one could interrupt her. And so her revelations continued. “What do you think would happen if we made it public that a man—our emperor—threw himself into the line of fire in order to save a woman he knew was a part of the Virginal Father? The Sacred Blooded would no longer know what to believe. And the rest, as they say, is history.” “So the one who killed Father wasn’t Sairi…” Ouka fell to her knees. It was Ominaeshi who shot the previous emperor. Or, no—was the one responsible Ouen himself? “Ominaeshi isn’t the criminal here. She had no reason to kill Ouen. And I know what his last words to her were.” Sairi repeated what the emperor had said in his dying moments like it was yesterday. “‘I’m sorry, Ominaeshi. I leave the Empire in your hands.’” Ominaeshi gave a small nod. “That’s why you immediately announced that Ouka would be named emperor and took the position of empress dowager yourself to work on settling the situation. You hid yourself underground so that all the power would consolidate under Ouka’s control. Isn’t that right?” Sairi was calm. There was no warmth in her expression—as only one who had survived great hardship could manage. “But I didn’t come here to talk about the past. I wrote it clearly in my letter.” Sairi turned to look at Shiren. “I’m here to take Ouen’s and my daughter, Shiren, back to Japan,” she said briefly, as though there was nothing else she needed to say. “Why…why do I have to go to Japan? I’m Sacred Blooded. The emperor’s blood flows through my veins—I am a perfectly respectable Sacred Blooded. I don’t want to go to Japan!” “Because you and I can’t live here together. That’s all. And I’m being frank with you. This is my selfish wish. Though, I don’t know how you feel about it, Shiren.” Sairi had clearly laid out her own desires. There’s that word again, Shiren thought. Selfish. All her blood relations always talked about what they wanted. But maybe, it was retribution. She was fully aware of how she had pushed through her own selfish desire to stay with Ryouta. “After leaving you on your own all this time, the least I can do for you is to create an environment where we can live together. And that’s why I took over the Virginal Father. There is no one in Japan to come after you.” “Still, this is all so sudden…” “I’m so sorry for leaving you alone. Come to Japan with me, Shiren. It’s a lot safer there for you than it is living in the Empire, at least.” “It’s not really dangerous here, though—” “There are still people out there who hate you, solely because you’re Sairi Fuyukura’s daughter. Even if things have been peaceful for you so far, we don’t know how long that peace will last. It doesn’t mean there aren’t people out there who might try to destroy you later. In fact, I’m sure they will.” Shiren fell silent, unable to agree or disagree with Sairi. Her mother hadn’t been the one to kill her father and was here now looking at her lovingly and with clear eyes. Shiren knew there was no malice behind them. Though it was true that Shiren had suffered a lot with no way to contact her mother, she knew there was nothing her mother could have done, considering the circumstances. If she had acted carelessly, she could have been accused of counterspying. It was so trivial. A spy in enemy territory, falling in love and then bearing a little girl… What a picturesque love story. And it was almost too much for parent and child to be reunited like this now. The main character of this story was trying to rouse Shiren. “I know I’ve caused you so much pain up till now. I don’t think I could ever make that up to you. But we can live out our future together… We can eat lots of good food together. We can do so many fun things together!” To both Ryouta and Ouka, it seemed like Sairi had suddenly become a much weaker person. She wasn’t a warrior for the Virginal Father. She was a pitiful mother who only had eyes for her daughter. “Shiren, please… You’re the only one I have…” Shiren looked hard at Ryouta over Sairi’s shoulder. She then turned to look hard at Ouka. And at last, she remembered what Ominaeshi said to them. “You will be destroyed if you try to take him from each other.” The two of them would never be happy. A real-life example—Ominaeshi and Sairi—was right here. If she stayed here in the Empire, either she or Ouka would be miserable. But if she were to leave for Japan… If that were enough to solve everything… “There’s nothing to be afraid of in Japan anymore. If there were, I would protect you. I know it took some time, but you don’t have to suffer anymore. I…I need you!” To Sairi, taking back Shiren was a pretext, not her real reason. Her real goal was only to tell Shiren how much she needed her. Shiren knew that. She knew right away what her mother was thinking. If she said no here, then she knew Sairi would stand down. She would return to Japan, acting like this whole incident had never happened. Sairi didn’t believe that her daughter had forgiven her. She knew that Shiren had her own life. If anything, she was clinging to a sliver of hope. And if that hope was to shatter, she planned to give up on it all. And she would live on in Japan alone. Shiren bit her lip. The taste of blood was somehow different from when she drank Ryouta’s. She had always been alone. She had been in pain for such a long time. Until she met Ryouta, at least. That was why she didn’t want to leave anyone to struggle through life by themselves. And Sairi’s face looked so much like her own back then. It almost hurt. Shiren had always thought that she had been left behind to fend for herself, but Sairi had gone through the same. And not only that, but Shiren was also the only one who could save her. “I’ll go to Japan, Mom,” Shiren said in a quiet voice. Neither Ouka nor Ryouta had imagined this would happen. But before either of them could act, Shiren spoke again. “Take care of Ryouta for me, Big Sis.” “What…?” “You should be my big sis’s minion, Ryouta. That way, no one has to be sad.” “Hold on a second, Shiren! Are you fully awake here?” “Let’s go, Mom. I don’t think we should stay too long.” Shiren took Sairi’s hand. “Y-yes…” Sairi, in turn, tugged on her daughter’s hand. They passed by Ryouta. “I’m sorry, Ryouta.” “Sorry…? You can’t mean that!” “Our minion-master contract ends here. All that’s left for you to do is live well as Big Sis’s minion. I know you two will be happy together.” When Ryouta turned around, all he saw was Shiren’s back. “Wait.” It couldn’t end like this. He couldn’t, he wouldn’t let it end like this. He reached out and grabbed her arm. “You’re kidding, right? Come back…” “Doing this will bring the greatest amount of happiness to the most people.” “What the hell are you talking about…? You know you can’t quantify happiness with a number, right?” “It’s fine! I’ve made my decision! Your ex-master has made up her mind, so you, ex-minion, shut up!” “I can’t do that! You don’t look happy at all! How can your minion just sit here and watch this all happen?!” A minion must act on behalf of their master, no matter what. Even if his master was telling him not to. “I couldn’t make you my minion!” Shiren cried. “That’s the final result! To tell the truth, it was strange that we were still living together! Once I was able to take care of myself, you had no more obligation to stay with me! It was unfair of me to keep you there so long after it was over!” She continued, still hiding her face from him, “And…my sister was your first love, wasn’t she?” “Y-yeah, but… Oh—” Ryouta’s and Ouka’s eyes met. Ouka looked like she wasn’t sure what kind of expression she should make. Her lips parted briefly. “Oh… Ry…,” she said hoarsely. “Ryouta, is that true…?” “Y-yeah… it is…” “That makes me happy… But now wasn’t the right time to ask, was it?” Ryouta hadn’t wanted it brought up in this situation, either. Once it was, he couldn’t recover. “And that’s why you should be her minion! It’s fate! After all this time, you still aren’t my minion—it’s a sign!” Ryouta fell to his knees as his strength gave out—although his spirit had broken first. He had been unable to say, No, I love you! If he had, it would have been because he was caught up in the moment, and it would be no match for Shiren’s sincerity. Ouka came to stand next to Ryouta. “Shiren… Let me ask you one more time. Are you sure you’re okay with this?” “I wouldn’t go back on my word. I’m the emperor’s daughter, too. I stand behind my decision. And I thought we already made a promise in this very castle.” Sasara and Alfoncina had been witness to their agreement. Once Shiren let go of Ryouta, he would be Ouka’s minion. “…All right. And in exchange, there will be no regretting this decision or hating me, okay? You chose this path on your own!” Slowly, Shiren turned to look back at Ouka and the others. Streams of tears stained her face. “Then you have to be happy, Big Sis.” “I know. I promise.” A hint of tears colored Ouka’s voice. “Let’s go, Mom. I’m done.” “Okay. It does seem like staying would be cruel.” Ryouta could no longer call out to her. This was a decision that Shiren had made specifically by her own will. And disrespecting that would be disrespectful to her choices. After casting a glance toward Shiren and Sairi, now specks in the distance, Ouka said, “Ryouta Asagiri, I will officially make you, an Imperial guard, into a minion belonging to me, the emperor. Any objections?” “…No. I don’t have a master anymore, after all. But…” He hated that his eyes were welling with tears, but he couldn’t hide his emotion. “Could you wait to drink my blood? I’m not doing so great…” “You’re right. We can wait until things calm down.” Ouka abruptly sighed. She then reached out and placed both of her hands on Ryouta’s exhausted face. “Ryouta, I’ve always wanted to make you my minion. Even back in elementary school.” Ryouta’s mind was sent further into chaos at the sudden confession. “What about me impressed you so much?” “These things don’t need reasons. That’s what I thought, and that’s all.” “Ahh… Maybe you’re right.” “So to be honest, I’m relieved that Shiren’s gone now. Now I can make you my minion. I mean, we both like each other, right? We can spend all our time together and not have to worry about anything else. I’ll use my powers as emperor to their fullest to enjoy everything: fireworks, the pool, festivals, Christmas, skiing trips, the first shrine visit of the year, hot spring tours, all of it. I’ll arrest everyone who gets in the way. Oh, I’m so, so happy just thinking about it.” “Then why…?” He couldn’t believe what she said. “Then why are you crying, Ouka…?” It was like the last string holding her emotions together had been cut—tears began spilling down her face. Nothing about how she looked said she was happy. “Shiren’s gone; of course I’m sad! I could never have both things I want!” Tears poured from her eyes with such vigor that it surprised even Ouka herself. “I was going to take you from her… And I thought I wouldn’t care if she was sad, so long as I was happy, but…I didn’t realize it’d be so painful… There’s no joy in this at all!”
Chapter 97
21 min read