Upon closer inspection, a parade of beautiful women had come streaming out of the palanquins behind her. One was so elegant as to be taken for a celestial maiden, one boasted stunning good looks, one had skin as fair as a snow fairy, and one was as small and adorable as a kitten. Although the ladies were dressed in rather plain robes, their gorgeous features and graceful bearing made it clear that they were all high-ranking nobles.
The freckled Maiden standing at the front of the pack smiled and offered the locals an explanation. “Allow me to introduce you. This is my best and dearest friend, Lady Reirin, the Kou Maiden. This is Lady Seika, the Kin Maiden; this is Lady Kasui, the Gen Maiden; and this is Lady Houshun, the Ran Maiden.”
“A-all five Maidens in one place?!”
“What brings them here?!”
A stir swept through the crowd, but she brushed that aside and glanced at the palanquin all the way in the back, its windows pulled firmly shut.
“As for that particular palanquin…” For whatever reason, she trailed off with a helpless shrug. “It contains an exceedingly precious treasure, which I shall introduce to you all in due time,” she went on more evasively. “In any case, this is an unofficial visit, so please don’t go to any trouble to accommodate us.”
The locals started asking questions, their consternation evident.
“Er, but what business do the five Maidens have here?”
“Are you ladies ’bout to serve us some more congee?”
The Maiden dressed in vermillion flapped her hands back and forth, surprised. “Oh, no! Today we are here to bestow you with a song, not congee. The task would be too much to handle alone, so I enlisted the help of the other Maidens.”
“A song?”
The crowd traded puzzled looks. This was unexpected. Since when did a Congee Conferment Rite include a song?
Gotta admit, I’m intrigued, thought Leanne.
If this had happened before the Maiden served them congee—before she had blown up the sheet of ice—they probably would have met this offer with hostility, screaming, “Screw that! Give us food instead!” or “Singing won’t stop the floods!” But now that their most pressing concerns had been addressed, the thought of these high-class Maidens performing for their community held a certain appeal.
“Since ancient times, it has been said that on the Day of Ultimate Yin, the balance of yin and yang will be disrupted, souls will depart their bodies, and calamities will occur,” the freckled Maiden at the center of the circle explained, her speech elegant and her voice resonant. “Originally, the term ‘Repose of Souls’ alluded to calming displaced souls and returning them to their proper vessels. Its connotations were later expanded to include pacifying the spirits of the dead, and it has thus become a Day of Ultimate Yin tradition to sing a requiem both to honor the dead and to ward off evil.”
A few of her turns of phrase were difficult to understand, but the point appeared to be that the girls were going to sing a requiem just for them. Leanne’s heart leapt with excitement. With such beautiful noblewomen singing it, even a gloomy song like a requiem was bound to be pleasing to the ear. Would they sing in a chorus? Would they dance along to the music? She could hardly wait to watch.
“On that note…we were hoping to teach you all a requiem.”
The enthusiastic crowd—Leanne included—went slack-jawed with surprise.
A long silence fell.
A few beats later, the crowd began to buzz.
“Huh?! We’re going to be singing it?!”
“Correct. It’s always best to take matters into one’s own hands. Moreover, as you are all still alive and well, you belong among the performers of a requiem, not the audience.” The Maiden refused to budge, meeting their clamoring with a sweet smile. What’s more, she turned to the row of Maidens and said, “Now then, let’s have a word from each of your instructors.”
The first to come forth was the lady with the stunning good looks. “Greetings. I am the Kin Maiden, Kin Seika. The arts are all about ambition. I do not plan to coddle you simply because you have no prior singing experience. Only one day remains until the Day of Ultimate Yin, so expect me to be a strict teacher. I shall brook no whining.”
“Uh…”
The locals’ eyes darted about nervously.
Next, the maturest of the bunch, a Maiden with a steely yet gorgeous visage, stepped out in front of the group. “I am the Gen Maiden, Gen Kasui. The song we picked for the occasion has a straightforward melody and simple lyrics, so it ought to be easy to memorize. Rest assured, anyone could master it with a six-hour practice session.”
“Six hours?!”
Leanne and her neighbors slowly backed away, daunted by her matter-of-fact yet intimidating air.
Hiding the lower half of her face with her sleeves, the girl as adorable as a little critter added, “I am the Ran Maiden, Ran Houshun. Er, for the record, there are twenty-four hours in a day, and it is currently the first hour of the sheep. The eclipse will happen tomorrow at noon, so that leaves us almost twenty-three hours to get ready. We have plenty of time.”
Despite the sweet, encouraging “Don’t worry!” she tacked on at the end, this implied that they would have to practice the song all night long if they couldn’t memorize it in six hours.
“I am the Kou Maiden, ‘Kou Reirin,’” said the Maiden as gorgeous and ethereal as a celestial maiden, a faraway look in her eyes. “Please don’t hesitate to inform me if you find their teaching styles too intense. All I ask is that you value your own lives.”
She sounded almost like a military officer herself.
Last of all, the freckled Maiden’s face crinkled into a smile. “Hee hee. You say the silliest things, Lady Kei…Reirin.” She then retook charge of the proceedings, clapping her hands together. “Well then, let’s do this with a bang!”