She was chanting a song used to stop a person from moving on to the afterlife. It was seen as a chant to prevent the departure of the gods. The enchantment was used during ceremonies performed after the various harvest festivals that were conducted from fall and into winter… And she was about to find out if it worked on a person who was turning into a shade.
“Uukara mikara mitsura tsuranami maashimashi.”
…Oh, shoot. She hadn’t sung this in a while and was unsure of the lyrics.
“Orogami origami naagome nagome yohahiyo mikotoyo iyasaka iyanaga.”
Did I mess up a word? The tigers were really glaring at her.
“Abi sobi megushimegushi to saezuramu yareshiizume shizume kashikoshiyare.”
She saw people desperately trying to wrap the torn red ropes back around Hotaru’s giant body. They looked surprised when they noticed Yae. Hoodori, Akanagi, and a host of other burly men were following behind her. She could sense them even without turning around. They were probably planning to spring into action as soon as anything went wrong. She chose not to think about whether it would be the shade Hotaru had become or her they would kill.
“Remember your clan, remember your bonds.”
The setting sun had already sunk below the mountains. Thoughtful villagers had built bonfires and lifted torches to provide light. Yae was grateful for that, but the flickering flames created a creepy atmosphere, which was enhanced by the slightly chilly air. The wind could make valleys feel cool at night even in the seventh moon, but this was different.
“Be still, honored spirit. Live prosperous and long.”
Hotaru stopped thrashing and fell still. He slowly turned toward Yae.
“Hear the kingfisher’s piteous song. Be calm, be calm.”
Yae knelt before him as she recited the enchantment and put the black sword on her knees. The sword was heavy. It wasn’t a long walk from the cliff to the river, but carrying it even that short distance had made her arms feel sluggish.
“I behold your existence.”
Yae put the fingers of both hands together to form a ring and used it as a window to check Hotaru’s form. If he looked equally transformed through this view, that would mean there was no hope of curing his deformation.
“Hmm…”
Cautiously, Yae looked through the finger window and saw Hotaru’s wavering, unstable form. It was as if she was seeing his transformed figure reflected on the surface of a body of water. The illness had infected his soul, which meant he was definitely in critical condition, but…she didn’t think it was hopeless.
“This must be very difficult, great sir,” Yae muttered softly without thinking, and Hotaru dipped his head and moved his face near her. Hotaru was currently as big as a dinosaur at dozens of meters long. That naturally made his face enormous as well, and fear welled within Yae as if a giant wall was suddenly closing in on her. She hastily grabbed the sword so it wouldn’t fall from her lap and leaned back.
Giant drops of water leaked from between Hotaru’s round, swollen eyelids. Yae knew they were tears, but each one was like the spilling of a large tub. Don’t cry like that. You’ll cause a flood, Yae thought as she reached out a hand and patted the mossy tip of his nose. It was hardening into a brown tree trunk.
Can I heal him? Yae asked herself, and she was struck by the thought that she was the only person who could. That thought didn’t arise from arrogance; it came from fear and conviction.
I want to heal him. Could she really do it? What would she do if she failed? She wanted to be able to heal him. She wanted so badly to be a version of herself who could.
As if spurred on by seeing her pet Hotaru, the tiger brothers, who had been sitting calmly on either side of her, rubbed their faces into her shoulders and back, demanding that she pet them, too. Yae returned to her senses and gave them what they wanted.
“…Doctor,” a quiet voice called out. Yae turned around and noticed that a large crowd of Miya Province villagers had formed behind her. The voice came from a fluffy white wolf pup who had crawled through the legs of the others to reach her. They were an elebeast, but they appeared too young to take human form.
“Can you heal Grandpa?” the pup asked heartrendingly, and Yae began to think. This child was probably a member of the family who opposed Hotaru’s execution. The children apparently thought she was a doctor or a shaman because she had just performed what looked like an exorcism. She understood, however, that there was only a sliver of hope left for Hotaru and that his condition was too critical to make any predictions. She didn’t answer, and more fluffy wolves emerged from the legs of the crowd to surround her.
“Will you heal him, Doctor?”
“What should we give as an offering?”
“Please save Grandpa.”
The adorable furballs started to climb into her lap. Looking from their hopeful faces to the crowd of people watching her, she couldn’t possibly refuse. Yae pet the wolf pups and said, “Yes, I’ll do my best to heal him.”
The tiger brothers looked at her coldly as if unable to believe that she had let the wolf pups sway her, and the crowd behind her stirred with relief. Yae quickly regretted how weak-willed she was in yielding to the fluffy cuteness, but she also felt a faint sense of exhilaration.
It wasn’t a reckless decision made out of a desire to be liked. She just… I want to turn sad faces into smiling ones. That’s right. All I ever wanted was to see a person smile from the heart…
The day came to an end after a number of people worked together to tie back the red ropes and secure Hotaru to the ground while he was still docile. Yae was dizzy from having expended a lot of energy performing the ceremony rite, so she was allowed to cleanse herself and rest for the night. While watching her coldly, Arai and Sui remained in their tiger forms and sprawled out by her sides as if guarding her.
It was Miya Province custom to use a stack of plump futons as a bed rather than a hammock. Sleep took Yae immediately thanks to the fatigue and strain of the day.
However, an anguished howl from Hotaru awoke her in the middle of the night. The lack of rumbling from the earth meant he wasn’t thrashing around, but the pain in his roaring voice sent a chill through her. If he cried like this every day, the people of Miya Province must also have suffered many worried, sleepless nights.