“Oh, thank goodness. I’m so happy…,” Oshiro whispered in relief.
Bittersweet thoughts in her heart, Yae savored the warmth of Oshiro’s body. I like Oshiro. I only ever wanted to like her. She felt more ashamed than ever of the jealousy she felt toward her.
“…I’m glad you’re safe, but what on earth possessed you to come to Miya Province now?” Oshiro asked, suddenly lifting her face and glaring critically at Yae. “Can you believe this? These men abandoned you, and now just because some elder or something caught deformation, they’re saying you used your powers as a medium to curse the whole village! They said they needed to find your dead body and seal it. It made me so angry…!”
“Whoa, Lady Oshiro, that’s enough!” Yae interrupted quickly to get Oshiro to stop talking. Oh, I see. The people of Miya Province made this out to be my fault after all! She had more or less figured that would be the case, but Oshiro would harm her own position if Yae allowed her to voice that aloud here. She had always felt strong jealousy toward Oshiro, but above that, she had always liked her for her cheerful demeanor and willingness to speak frankly.
Yae may have been a former medium, but she couldn’t imagine that offering her to Hotaru would do anything to lessen the symptoms of deformation. The plan was probably just a sign of how desperate they were.
Would they be using me as a tool if I weren’t Natureless? The thought was a little depressing. Wild-Natured men were attracted to Gentle-Natured women. If Yae had been Gentle-Natured like the others, the men might have felt a little more conflicted in treating her as a sacrifice. The knowledge that their behavior was rooted in instinct rather than meaningless prejudice made it all the more unbearable.
Hoodori and Akanagi looked at Yae and the women with bitter expressions. It was then that the white tiger returned from going to look at Hotaru. Without turning back into his human form, he nuzzled Yae’s legs and then spoke in a troubled tone.
“The situation down there is bad. A charm on the ropes is preventing his divine power from escaping, but it can’t hold. There will be trouble if he breaks free. His divine power is terribly impure, and it won’t be long before the water in this area is tainted,” Sui explained.
“That’s weird. Deformation isn’t an illness that corrupts divine power,” Yae said in confusion, petting his white head. Arai bit Yae’s sleeve as if demanding she pet his head as well. She ruffled the fur on both their heads. It seemed they both appreciated pets while in their tiger forms.
I haven’t cursed Miya Province, and I don’t have the power to do that in the first place. I can declare with confidence that I have nothing to do with it, but I can also tell that the elder’s deformation is not normal. Yae pondered the situation as she petted Arai and Sui. Then one of the women tugged lightly at her clothes.
“Hey, Yae, can’t you calm him? You were always the medium for the ceremonies back home,” she said.
“Cut that out,” Oshiro chided immediately in a strict tone. “What are we going to do if you all are deceived by their nonsense, too?”
…This is why I like her, Yae thought, looking at Oshiro with envy and affection. Oshiro embodied all of Yae’s ideals. She was never afraid of making others hate her and clearly stated her opinion on things she didn’t agree with.
“Yes, I think Yae might be able to soothe him to some extent. She could at least get him to stop flailing about,” the white tiger answered casually. Everyone fell speechless for a moment.
“But Yae has no reason to help Miya Province. She only came here to speak to the elders,” the golden tiger responded, sounding just as disinterested.
“Wait, who are these tigers? They look a little like Lord Kuroashi… They’re not from Kaki Province, right? Are they elebeasts from somewhere else?” Oshiro asked, looking down at Arai and Sui in surprise. Yae dodged the question with a forced smile.
“Hey, are you really able to calm him?” Akanagi asked quickly, interrupting Oshiro, who looked as if she had more to say.
“U-uh, well, I don’t actually know…” Yae faltered. There was no way to know if she truly could. The tiger brothers, on the other hand, were looking up at her with the trusting eyes of a pet dog as if to say You calmed us, didn’t you? You can do this.
“Please,” Akanagi said, his rude attitude gone as he grabbed Yae’s hand with a serious expression. His hands were startlingly hot. “I’ll do anything. Once this is over, you can chop off my head or sever all my limbs. I’ll accept any condition. Please.”
“You don’t have to do it, Yae. You don’t have any responsibility for this,” Oshiro argued in opposition to Akanagi’s entreaty.
It was Oshiro’s words that made up her mind. She was truly worried about Yae. That was what made Yae want to do it if she could, despite what Oshiro was saying. Yae’s position was in limbo between provinces after being cut off from both, but Oshiro had married into Miya Province. Yae couldn’t stand the thought of Oshiro’s life here being threatened.
And… And what else? I’m not doing it out of a desire to be liked. I don’t know how to put it, but it’s not that. Yae peered into her heart. She wanted to do it even though she had people defending her and saying that she didn’t. What should she call this feeling?
She had no idea that it would feel this refreshing to accept the goodwill of others at face value without trying to read into hidden meanings and motives.
“…I-I’m going to try,” Yae muttered. Arai and Sui looked up at her with excitement in their eyes as if to say You’re going to kill him? and You’re going to curse him? respectively. She patted their heads to say No, I’m going to calm him.
Yae told herself to think of this as a ceremony for the time being. Calming Hotaru was the goal, so it wasn’t a treatment, but a ceremony. Operating with that loose idea in her mind, Yae held Arai’s black sword aloft as she crossed the bridge built over the river. Hotaru was on the other side. There were three red ropes remaining to tie him down, and if they broke, an extremely dangerous and impure shade would be unleashed on the world.
Arai and Sui walked at a steady pace to either side of her in their tiger forms.
“Uukara mikara enishimishi.”