That afternoon, Miyo spent her time relaxing with Kiyoka in their guest room.
The annex had a kitchen of its own, so in addition to brewing tea whenever they wanted, Miyo could cook as long as she had ingredients. Of course, with a first-class chef cooking the meals in the main house, there wasn’t any real need for Miyo to prepare food of her own, either.
Kiyoka said he wanted to tell her something, so after preparing the tea set, Miyo sat down opposite him.
“Kiyoka…what did you want to talk about?”
“I got a reply from Godou.”
Kiyoka had a scrap of white paper in his hands. He opened it up, revealing dense lines of small text.
“What does it say…?”
While it must have been written like this to pack as much information in as possible, Miyo couldn’t make out the fine, minute characters, and she gave Kiyoka a troubled look.
He picked up on what she was feeling and began to explain.
“To get straight to the point, this is what he said…”
It turned out Godou was familiar with a blond-haired, blue-eyed man named Eugene. The man was an old acquaintance of his, and while Godou wasn’t deeply knowledgeable about the “shaman” Eugene had mentioned, he was familiar with the term. Godou was worried something unsavory might happen soon.
Since he couldn’t write out all the details, he expressed a desire in the note to head to the old capital and talk with them directly.
“What are we going to do about this?”
In a rare move, Kiyoka grumbled ambiguously at the end of his explanation.
Miyo could imagine why Kiyoka was upset. Godou was Kiyoka’s successor and was currently leading the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit. He couldn’t leave the capital at the drop of a hat while he and his men were still dealing with the Earth Spider situation.
But this business with the foreigner was also suspicious, so Miyo would have liked to hear any further details Godou had to share.
“We’ll wait and see for now.”
If their connection to Eugene had begun and ended with the encounter in the restaurant, they wouldn’t need to do anything about him. However, if it seemed like he was up to something, they would be forced to take action.
“It’s possible we’re being overly cautious.”
“That’s true.”
Eugene had told Miyo they would meet again, but there was a chance he was simply a playboy who chatted up any woman he found attractive. Although this young man seemed to share characteristics with an old acquaintance of Godou’s, it was far more likely he was a different man who just so happened to look similar.
All of this was weak justification for calling Godou out to the old capital. That must be what Kiyoka was getting at.
“More importantly, though…” Kiyoka put the scrap of paper away in his breast pocket and turned to Miyo. “How was the tea ceremony? Did anyone do or say anything nasty to you?!”
When had Kiyoka become such a worrywart? Actually, he might have been this way from the very start.
From the time he had given her a protective charm after hearing she was going out into town.
“There wasn’t anything of the sort. It was a very fun time. Everyone was very nice.”
“Good.”
Miyo smiled as she saw Kiyoka’s look of relief.
“Um, Kiyoka?”
“What?”
“If possible… Um, I’d like to have a look ’round town while we’re here in the old capital,” Miyo said, nervously wondering if making such a request was immodest of her. Kiyoka simply blinked, as if he hadn’t expected Miyo to ask him that.
“What, is that all?”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“Don’t get upset. I was always planning on making time for us to roam the city. Where do you want to go?”
Since they had traveled to a place that was new to her, Miyo wanted to look around the old capital. However, she didn’t know what sort of sights the city had to offer.
“Um, I’d like to spend more time around Ikukuni Shrine.”
“Sure.”
“Also…I’d like to see another famous spot…”
Kiyoka smiled as Miyo trailed off.
“Then how about I give you some recommendations?”
“Of course!”
Walking around the old capital with Kiyoka—the idea alone was enough to make Miyo’s heart leap. With her husband at her side, simply having a stroll and seeing the sights would be wonderful. Her chest swelled with happiness.
I can’t wait.
Though she still had some concerns on her mind, when she thought about the fun that was in store, she realized she could use that thought to push through.
Excitement welled up inside her.
Miyo was summoned to the Miyakouji estate early that evening, while the sun was still in the sky.
She parted with Kiyoka by the entrance of the main house so he could make a stop at the Second Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit station, and then a servant guided her to the parlor.
“Oh, there you are.”
The moment Miyo opened the sliding screen, Miyako invited her to come sit next to her.
Inside the parlor room were a few of the women who had gathered there in the morning for the tea ceremony. Tea and teacakes were spread out on the low table.
This was the polar opposite of that morning’s full-blown, authentic tea ceremony. This gathering was closer what a layperson might think of as a “tea party.”
“Sorry for calling you over out of the blue. We have something to talk to you about.”
Miyo braced herself slightly at Miyako’s words.
While there wasn’t a gravely serious atmosphere in the room, as soon as she heard they had “something to talk to her about,” she couldn’t help but worry she had done something to offend the others.
“Oh, no need to go on high alert. You’re fine.”
“So what do you want to talk about…?”
“Do you remember what we talked about this morning at the tea ceremony?”
When Miyo shook her head, Miyoka explained everything from the beginning for her.
“So the truth is, one of the children in the house…she’s not great at getting to sleep. Her name’s Izuko by the way, but…she has never been a deep sleeper, for starters. Due to her lack of rest, she’s still a tiny little thing even though she’s already ten.”
“Oh no…”
Miyo had struggled with distressed sleep last summer, so this girl’s problem felt almost like her own. Lack of proper sleep led to issues in one’s day-to-day life; it was the sort of condition that made everything start to go wrong.
“Been that way forever with little Izuko.”
“Just seeing her breaks my heart.”
One by one, the women all frowned and sighed.
“So, Miyo, I was thinking maybe… I heard people in the Usuba family have Gifts that affect the mind, and that you’re pretty savvy about this sort of stuff. If you know some way of dealing with the problem, would you mind telling us what it is?”
Miyako looked remorseful; she was clearly hesitating to ask for Miyo’s help.
She must have felt guilt for suddenly asking for a favor from a newcomer. It was only natural. Although they were relatives now, Miyo and Kiyoka had been invited as guests to the Miyakouji estate. Miyo felt bad simply imagining being in Miyako’s shoes.
That said, if Miyako was willing to do all this just for any small bit of hope, this girl Izuko must have been in a truly miserable state.
“Um… Please forgive me. I don’t have much knowledge on the subject.”
Sleep did indeed fall within the realm of the Usubas’ powers, Dream Sight chief among them. Other Usuba Gift-users had possessed the power to put people to sleep or the power to wake anyone from sleep. And of course, Miyo had the ability to read and view the dreams of others.
If Arata had been here, perhaps he could have offered some appropriate words of advice.
Everyone seemed dejected by the sight of Miyo lowering her head. But her next words brightened up the room instantly.
“But if I use my Gift…I may be able to help.”
“Huh…?!”
Miyo gave them a rough explanation of Dream Sight, making sure to only include details she was allowed to disclose. She made it as simple as possible, as she couldn’t afford to get them too interested with a detailed description of her abilities.
“So in other words, you can put Izuko to sleep with your Gift, and if there’s a problem in her dreams, then you can solve it for her, right?”
“Probably, yes.”
Miyo nodded at Miyako’s summary.
She had come a long way from last year and was now capable of using her Gift by herself. Of course, she couldn’t afford to be reckless when she was on her own. But if all she was doing was putting someone to sleep and peeking into their dreams a bit, she could probably handle it herself.
Miyo had sworn never to use her Gift again, no matter who needed it. However, now that she was faced with people whose situation she could readily improve with her Gift…she found it hard to abandon them.
I hate how weak-willed I am.
Ignoring the girl’s plight would leave Miyo with guilt she would carry forever. And if refusing to help would lead the girl to an early death or doom her to a life of suffering, that would only make Miyo’s regret all the more unbearable.
That was why she concluded it was better to ignore her past vow.
“…However, I make it a point not to use my Gift very much, so I would appreciate it if you would consider this a one-time favor.”
“Oh, is that right?”
“Yes. I cannot say I’m very skilled with my Gift. There are few people I can help. I’m trying to limit my use of it as much as possible to prevent people from asking me to use it.”
“I see…”