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The Raven of the Empty Coffin: Chapter 3 "Chihaya" Part 1

Disclaimer: This is a fan-translation japanese-english of the original novel. The events of this novel follow after what's already covered by the anime. For an easier understanding, I recommend first reading the few scenes of previous books I've already translated.

Blog version

For the Index, you can find it HERE

Previously: Akeru (Part 3)

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Chapter 3: Chihaya (Part 1)

“Brother, help!”

The second I heard Yui’s1 throat-rending shriek, the basket in my hands fell. The cotton in it scattered on the ground, kicked every which way as I dashed through the fields. I saw everyone’s pale faces as I got closer—they all looked away, avoiding my gaze. Behind their backs was the shed.

The door, usually left open, was tightly closed.

“No, stop…… Brother, brother!” Her voice desperately calling for help—accompanied by ceaseless rattling.

“Let it be,” someone said as he grabbed my arm, but there was no way I was going to endure and stand aside. I shook him off and tackled the door with all my might. As it broke open, I forced my way inside.

The shed’s interior was dark.

Opposite the farming tools were bundles of straw, all piled up. There they were—a familiar man, who had just turned around towards me with a dumbfounded face, and Yui. Her back was against the straw, her skinny, exposed body standing out even in the darkness. Her hair was caught in the straw. He had immobilized her, exposing her throat. The hem of her feather robe was rolled up, baring her thin legs—the man’s hand was there, plunging towards her depths.

——My head went blank.

I don’t quite remember what happened afterwards. By the time I came back to myself, the man was already lying on the ground. Blood spilled from his head in unbelievable quantities as I hugged a sobbing Yui, staring at the man in shock. He was completely still.

“Kou, what have you done……!?” someone’s shrieking voice called to me as I raised my head sluggishly. I knew what I had just done—and the most likely consequences for my actions.

“This is bad. I’ve seen people go to the Main Residence already.”

“We have no time.”

“Kou, take Yui and run! Hurry!”

I did as I was told and leaped out of the shed with Yui on my back. In front of me were the wide cotton fields, ready for harvest, shining the purest white like fresh snow. It was through them that I ran and ran with only one goal in mind—the mountains, where nobody lived.

We had endured and endured and endured, day after day. But no more.

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Sumio found himself dazzled by the strong sunlight for a second as he left the Unbending Reed Monastery’s library. He was filled by an instant yearning for the refreshing darkness he had just left behind, his eyes hurting due to the sparkling sun, when a familiar voice called for him.

“Sumio? What brings you to a place like this?”

He turned around to find the beaming face of someone he knew. The boy was holding a bunch of books in his hands. “Oh, Yukiya! How are you?”

“Good! Thanks to everyone’s help, I’ve managed to find people I can call friends.”

Despite his current status as a Yamauchi Guard, Sumio was a commoner by birth. However, He and Wakamiya had first met when they were both young, which, among other factors, had led Sumio to become Wakamiya’s exclusive bodyguard once the Prince returned to Yamauchi. Which meant that Yukiya and Sumio had seen each other every day during Yukiya’s time working as Wakamiya’s attendant, so, despite having met not that long ago, it truly felt like quite a while to him.

“Well, trustworthy companions are welcome news. If we don’t get more people who can take care of guarding Wakamiya soon, I'm going to get an ulcer.”

Ever since Natsuka had made his support public, Rokon had loaned some of his men to him a number of times, but Sumio didn’t wholeheartedly trust Rokon either. To make matters worse, the Yamauchi Guards that had graduated in the last few years had proved to be similarly unreliable. In practice, Sumio was still Wakamiya’s one and only bodyguard.

“Once you all become part of the Guard, I should finally be able to breathe easier.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m doing everything I can to ensure so.” Yukiya gave him quite the bright smile, to which Sumio unconsciously did a double-take. In response, Yukiya tilted his head innocently. “So, what brings you here, Sumio? Research?”

“Oh, yes…… A bit.”

“——You’re on your way back, right? I’ll see you off then.” From the looks of it, Yukiya had noticed the topic wasn’t one they could discuss there. He started to walk, accompanying Sumio with the books still in hand.

“Wait, shouldn’t you be in class at this hour?”

“The instructors told us to do self-study today for their own convenience. So, as we’ll be taking tests for the following ten days, I thought I would try my luck at guessing the questions.”

A ten day period of tests preceded any long vacations at the Monastery. As Yukiya’s senior had gone through the very same experience a few years ago, Sumio couldn’t bring himself to ignore that last part. “Don’t dilly-dally. You should study properly for those.”

“No worries, I don’t need to study in the first place. I only have to listen to things once during lessons to memorize everything,” Yukiya responded nonchalantly, but Sumio found his answer just as hard to ignore in a wholly different sense.

Before he could say anything about it however, Yukiya continued in a grave tone, “The problem is my friends. To be honest, no matter how much I want to help them, I can’t even figure out what they are struggling with in the first place…… We were getting nowhere, so Akeru kicked me out of the room.”

Yukiya looked up at the sky in lament as he let out an ‘I’m useless’. Sumio, who still bore the memories of struggling through the Monastery’s exams, could only let out an empty laugh.

“By ‘Akeru’ you mean Lady Masuho no Susuki’s little brother, right? Are his grades bad as well?”

“No, no. He’s there as the Study Group’s teacher. He used to constantly pick fights with the commoners, but it seems he had a change of heart.”

According to Yukiya, Akeru had been quite meek with them at first, too self-conscious over his previous attitude and the way he had ridiculed them all, the more his passion for teaching had grown over time, the more he had opened up to them all.

“His explanations are accurate and easy to understand, so they all treat him as a god among men now. His current nickname is ‘Lord Professor’ which, you know, is halfway making fun of him, but he hasn’t realized that yet so there’s probably nothing to worry about. All in all, he’s very much like his sister, smart and trustworthy—and just as strong-willed as well.”

“I see,” Sumio forced a smile at that last part.

Masuho no Susuki was known as Yamauchi’s most beautiful princess but, in truth, she also held the top spot in pridefulness as well. She worked under Wakamiya’s wife as a lady-in-waiting, so Sumio had had many chances to meet her so far, and had clashed with her a similarly high number of times—though he had still never beaten her in a single argument.

“But anyway, what brought you here today, Sumio?” Once he checked their surroundings and confirmed there wasn’t anyone around, Yukiya’s tone changed ever so slightly. “It’s about the incident from a hundred years ago, right?”

Yukiya already knew everything about what happened with the White Raven. In fact, Wakamiya had called him to Sunrise Palace during one of Yukiya’s breaks and personally explained it all to him. They had all been worried about his reaction, given his absence at the time, but Yukiya didn’t seem fazed at all by the revelation that his Lord could, in reality, be an incomplete True Golden Raven.

“Memories going back to the times of Yamauchi’s founding, huh. Quite suspicious in a sense, for them to go back so far.” It was unmistakably a shocking revelation, yet Yukiya had seemed to be doing just fine.

“Aren’t you surprised?” Wakamiya asked him out of confusion at the time.

“I am pretty surprised!” Yukiya replied jokingly. “But, whether your memories are incomplete or not, that doesn’t change the fact that your existence is necessary for Yamauchi. I’m more concerned that you think my loyalty would be shaken by something like this.”

“You’re only saying that because I have the power to fix the tears in the barrier, right? But I don’t know anything about why they’re appearing or what using that power may bring as a result.”

“Even if that’s the case, it’s still better than doing nothing and letting those tears be, isn’t it? That would be stupid,” Yukiya said with a scoff. “No matter what that power may bring us in the future, it’s not like we have any alternative in the current circumstances. Or are we planning to metaphorically starve to death, stuck hesitating over one potential pitfall?”

“You have a point, but—”

“There’s no point in overthinking it, that’s all,” Yukiya stated firmly, before adding in what seemed to be an attempt at cheering Wakamiya up, “At the very least, we all know Your Highness loves and cares for Yamauchi more than anyone else. There’s no way that power would bring harm to our people, not when used by someone like you. Believe in yourself, it’s fine to be as brazen as usual.”

The memory of Yukiya’s smile at the time crossed his mind, and Sumio sighed inwardly. Yukiya may not have given it too much importance, but Natsuka and Wakamiya himself were quite preoccupied by these True Golden Raven memories. Most of all Natsuka, who had since dedicated much of his energy into scouring the documents left at the Imperial Court.

Unfortunately, a lack of records from that era meant they didn’t have much to show for their efforts, but they had still slowly managed to get a grasp on the circumstances behind the True Golden Raven’s disappearance at the other side of the Gate.

He vanished in the spring of the Year 28 of the Bright Tortoise.

Just like the White Raven had told them, the Forbidden Gate had been open at the time and the True Golden Raven had been constantly going in and out from the Holy Precincts found at the other side. His name was Naritsuhiko—he was Yamauchi’s ruler four generations preceding the current Acting Golden Raven.

A drought during his mid-twenties aside, there hadn’t been any calamities worth naming during his otherwise stable and peaceful rule, but then, one day, a massive earthquake shook all of Yamauchi. It was then recorded that Naritsuhiko crossed the Forbidden Gate and left for the Holy Precincts to consult Yamagami’s divine will—and never returned.

However, thanks to Natsuka’s research, they had recently discovered that one of Naritsuhiko’s trusted vassals had accompanied him on his trip to the Forbidden Gate that fateful day.

“And, no matter how I think about it, there is more to that than may appear at first glance. I mean, he went into the Forbidden Gate together with his Lord, but this man and this man alone returned safely to Yamauchi.”

“So you’re telling me that he left the True Golden Raven behind at the Holy Precincts and came back all by himself?”

“Exactly. On top of that, his professional trajectory after his return to Yamauchi was all but conventional. He ultimately became the Yellow Raven.”

At that moment, Yukiya’s eyes went so wide with shock they may well have fallen. “Wait, then that’s Land Sovereign2 Eiju we’re talking about!”

The Yellow Raven—also known as Land Sovereign, his respective honorific title3. Acquiring such a position meant to be entrusted with command over all state affairs, so it was one only given with the unanimous approval of all officials in the Imperial Court.

The Yellow Raven was the one and only person with the right to rule the country in place of their Lord, be it because the Golden Raven—either Acting or True—was still too young to do so, or because the Golden Raven’s capability for governance had been put into question for any other reason.

Not every generation necessarily had a Yellow Raven, but it was the highest position anyone could achieve at the Imperial Court. A title only given to high-ranking officials who had written their names in history.

“The very same. The Imperial Court was left in disarray after the Forbidden Gate closed and His Majesty Naritsuhiko disappeared, and that's when he became the young Crown Prince’s guardian.” With that, he single-handedly attained complete control over the Court and rose up to the position of Land Sovereign.

Land Sovereign Eiju, according to what information they had gathered on him, was originally a South-affiliated noble who, after graduating from the Unbending Reed Monastery and becoming part of the Yamauchi Guard, was promoted to one of Naritsuhiko’s trusted vassals.

On top of that, ever since Eiju’s rule, the frequency in which Southern Princesses married into the Imperial Family almost shifted into a constant. With that in consideration, it would be foolish to deny that the man was responsible for building the foundations for the South’s ironclad control on Yamauchi’s throne through marriage.

As Sumio’s explanation finished, Yukiya was left with an indescribable face. “Hearing that, it sounds like Land Sovereign Eiju intentionally chased away the True Golden Raven to gain free rein over the Imperial Court.”

“It sounds like it, but that can’t be—I think.” There was no way for anyone to tell what the truth of the matter was. It all happened too long ago. “Anyway, I came today to see if there were any records remaining of his time at the Monastery.”

“And from the looks of it, you didn’t find much, I take it?”

“It has been over a hundred years after all. The only records remaining were of his graduation.” Which was why all they had managed to learn was that he graduated as the first of his class. “As far as history goes, Land Sovereign Eiju is the last Yellow Raven we have had. He made plenty of reforms and laws, which means there are a multitude of records about his government, yet there is suspiciously little of anything predating His Majesty Naritsuhiko’s disappearance.”

“Now that you mention it, didn’t he helm a large-scale project to compile and edit history books? Do you think he could have used the chance to intentionally eliminate and falsify documents?”

“If I were to make a guess, yes.”

As a vassal, to leave the Golden Raven behind at the Holy Precincts and return alone was already a blunder so severe not even multiple lifetimes would be enough to repent. If one were to assume there was something dark lurking behind the events, Land Sovereign Eiju could have well been the type to have no qualms about performing such cover-ups.

“In any case, as long as the True Golden Raven’s memories don’t return and there’s no written records, we simply don’t have any way to know what went on in the past.”

Yukiya exchanged glances with Sumio and, with a frown on his face, stood there deep in thought. “...... Just what the hell happened in the Holy Precincts a hundred years ago?”

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After seeing Sumio off, Yukiya headed back to the room they used for the Study Group. The floor was littered with the bodies of despondent boys.

“I’m back!” Yukiya announced, struggling to find a way to step around them.

“Welcome back—” a number of spiritless voices responded, all coming from the heaps of corpses lying around that he called friends.

“What’s wrong, everyone?”

“Just a break. A break!”

“Lord Professor went to pick up something he forgot in his room. We’re resting in the meantime.”

“I can’t do this anymore…… My head is about to explode……”

“Good job, everyone, good job.”

Time had flown by—nearly four months had already passed since the Seeds first came to the Monastery. Those unable to keep up with their studies and training were starting to pop up here and there, but all the members of their group had somehow managed to hold on.

Once Yukiya finally managed to pass through the salumps of wailing trainees slumped on the ground, he moved closer to the wall. “I tried to further narrow down the test question predictions I made the other day. Once Akeru is back, have him explain them to you.”

“Ooh, thank you.”

“Thanks, but I wish I didn’t need to—”

“Please, Lord Professor, take your time coming back,” someone else pathetically pleaded. At the same time, the sliding door, which they had closed to block off the sun, unexpectedly opened.

“Guess that’s my bad for returning quickly!” A thundering merciless roar—wildly reminiscent of Kashin’s yells—came out from the backlit figure. “Come on, stand up right now! Stop dillydallying, you pathetic little shits. You have no time to rest right now!”

The boys at their feet wailed as Yukiya passed to Akeru the paper where he had written the test predictions. “Good job, teacher. I heard you forgot something?”

“I didn’t forget anything. I just didn’t think we needed to go over something so basic so I left the textbook behind. I didn’t find it necessary to bring it, foolish of me, which is how I ended up having to go all the way back for it.”

‘My bad for not knowing that much!’ ‘Sorry for being stupid!’ The corpses on the ground wallowed and writhed. Then, at that instant, the sound of the alarm bell reached them—the entire room instantly froze.

“——An ambush,” someone whispered. All the boys who were lying down stood up in a matter of seconds.

“Don’t fuck with us! We’re studying here!”

“We were taking a break, though.”

“Shige! Your Ornamented Blade, you’re forgetting it!”

They all picked up their Ornamented Blades among an incessant fuss and left the room as they kicked the desks and books in their way. They wove their feather robes anew while running as fast as they could. Once they finally reached the plaza in front of the Great Hall, they found the other trainees also rushing there from all directions of the Monastery.

“Too slow! Now line up by year, we’ll be doing a roll call!”

At Kashin’s orders, their bodies moved automatically, almost by reflex. Those who arrived first got in front of him and raised their hands as everyone else flocked behind them to form lines. Then, the very last person in each line ran to the front while counting everyone in it.

“Eight Evergreens present. Everyone is accounted for, excluding those absent on field practice.”

“Twenty one Saplings present. Everyone is accounted for.”

“Thirty nine Seeds present—one person missing.”

The moment their fellow trainee made the announcement, one could almost hear the Seeds let out a collective silent cry. It was everyone’s responsibility if someone was missing during an ambush. While the identity of the idiot remained yet unclear, there was no question he had just incurred all the Seeds’ hatred.

Kashin’s face too went red with rage. His next yell was so loud the very walls of the Great Hall shook because of it. “Now, who is it!?”

“1-1’s Chihaya.”

Something was amiss, Yukiya noticed as soon as he heard the name.

While Chihaya was catastrophically unsociable, he had incredible physical talent worth the title of genius and a serious and earnest attitude. His lack of social skills aside, he was a man above reproach and it was hard to believe he would accidentally be late for training. Kashin must have thought the same thing—just for a second, Yukiya could see his eyelids twitching. However, that proved insufficient to change his overall behavior.

“Evergreens and Saplings, you’re dismissed. Seeds, go search for 1-1’s Chihaya and bring him here right now. Don’t expect me to let any of you go until every single Seed is present here. Now go!”

Following Kashin’s orders, the Seeds scattered in all directions in order to cover the entirety of the Monastery’s grounds as they sought Chihaya everywhere. However, and despite their best efforts, the tower bell—which was supposed to ring once they finally found him—didn’t give off even the slightest sound no matter how much or how long they searched.

It was only when the Seeds had returned back to the plaza, having heard the dinner bell ring, that Chihaya finally appeared all by himself. The instant he caught sight of his fellow trainees, all beyond exhausted after ceaselessly running around the Monastery’s expansive grounds, he reacted immediately. He seemed to have realized what had happened.

The sun had sunk completely at the time, and their surroundings were getting darker by the minute. All the while, light leaked out from the dinner hall, filling the ravenous Seeds with a hopeless yearning.

“Where were you?” Kashin asked in an uncharacteristically quiet—yet all the more terrifying—voice. Chihaya, however, didn’t bother to answer. “Your fellow Seeds have been searching for you, screaming themselves hoarse for the last four hours, and they’ll have to join marching drills without even having dinner, all because of you. And yet you have no explanation to give them?”

The Seeds glared viciously at him, as if silently screaming for him to say something, yet Chihaya stubbornly kept his silence. Kashin sighed with annoyance and raised his head, returning to his usual yelling.

“Everyone, march to the swimming pond! Don’t even dare to stop until I say so!”

“I’ll take the lead.”

Everyone noisily turned around and started to run, none of them bothering to waste their breath by complaining. However, a storm raged inside them, heaping endless insults towards Chihaya. Their expressions, all similarly pitiful.

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“It’s all over. In more ways than one……”

“It’s all because Chihaya caused that freaking ruckus right before the exams.”

“If we end up dropping out, it’s all on him!”

Akeru watched his students with no words to offer them. The ten-day exam period had come to its end but, rather than relief at their freedom, the Study Group regulars were instead overcome with collective resignation about their grades.

“The worst part? Chihaya probably still managed to get good grades. It’s so fucking unfair!” Kippei spat out to Hisaya’s wholehearted agreement.

“I heard that he’s been punished with cleaning the Great Hall all by himself, but that’s not such a bad deal, is it? Compared to the harm he’s done to us.”

“Oh, on the contrary, there’s no bigger punishment,” interrupted a voice they weren’t used to. Before Akeru could even wonder who had suddenly talked, the study room’s sliding door opened with a loud noise. “Hey, Beans. What’s up with those miserable faces?”

“Sapling Ichiryuu!”

“Now what are you doing? Coming here out of nowhere. Plus, ‘no bigger punishment’?”

Shigemaru and Yukiya looked at the Sapling who had just arrived, putting on airs, with their eyes wide open. The intruder—Ichiryuu, apparently—laughed ominously. “He has until tomorrow morning to clean it, right? But, as a celebration for finishing the exams, the Evergreens are going to take everyone out to play tonight.”

“Play? What do you mean?”

“At this hour?”

Akeru checked outside the window—the sky was already turning the colors of dusk. Ichiryuu, on the other hand, seemed to be barely holding back his laughter at his juniors’ obvious and complete confusion.

“Ah, brats…… We’re going to a festival.”

“A festival, huh.” Now that was enough information for Akeru to infer the whole point of this little scene. He wasn’t the only one, either. While Shigemaru and the rest of the commoners were still looking blankly at Ichiryuu, Yukiya seemed to have realized the truth too—he had an odd expression on his face, as if barely forcing a smile.

“And it’s the very last day of a five day long summer festival. Truly worth lamenting Chihaya’s luck for missing out, trust me!”

“So,” an Evergreen came leading a whole group of people and yelled as he flared his nostrils, “it’s time for the Red Light District’s Red Lantern5 Festival!”

The Saplings and Evergreens all cheered in unison.

At first, Akeru, who had already experienced plenty of banquets at the Red Light District, couldn’t help but to feel second hand embarrassment at his fellow Seeds’ frolicking. The Red Light District proved to be certainly enchanting during festivals, however, and even Akeru, who was otherwise used to it, was soon taken by the beautiful sights.

There, luxuriously decorated buildings lined up on the mountain’s otherwise chaotically distributed slope and red, round garden lanterns hung in rows at both sides of every street and stair. There was a red lantern motif to all the shops’ ornamentation as well. To top it all off, light silks fluttered in the air here and there, all dyed in shades of beautiful vermilions and light greens.

Yet, no matter how much the first timer Seeds were willing to jump in instantly, the others didn’t give them such an easy time.

“Now, get rid of that stupid scarf!”

“I get you want to show off but wearing your feather robes is actually the key here.”

“Being recognized as a Monastery trainee gives you quite the popularity boost. They may even give you an extra or two arguing that ‘you can always pay it back later when you have the money’.”

“That said, they don’t like them smelling of sweat. Don’t you dare ruin your predecessors’ efforts to create this image of an upright, clean, gentlemanly trainee with a promising future.”

After passing their seniors’ strict checkup, they finally allowed the group to step into the Red Light District. Exhilarating melodies, evoking the dark of the night and romance, came from all directions; colorfully dressed, beautiful women gently danced to that same music on top of the stages built in each of the impressive buildings.

Some of the dancers seemed to have noticed them looking in awe as they would playfully wave their sleeves in their direction from time to time.

“I could die happy right now……”

“No dying, Shige.”

“Don’t stop, you idiots. You’re blocking the way!”

Shigemaru found himself in a dream-like state and was all too prone to stop moving in front of every stage. Every single time, Akeru and Yukiya had to somehow push the massive body in front of them and drag him away in order to advance.

“You know? It’s actually a shame Chihaya couldn’t come,” Hisaya said with a grin from ear to ear. He was greeting one of the dancers back.

“What? No, he got what he deserved,” Kippei argued back, his own excitement plain in his voice.

“But, now that I think about it, doesn’t it bother you? Where did that serious-to-a-fault Chihaya have to go that he was willing to break the rules?” Tatsuto asked, much to Akeru’s inward agreement. The fact of the matter was that they couldn’t find him no matter how much they searched the Monastery’s grounds. It was obvious he had sneaked out through some sort of unknown way.

Soon, however, others caught wind of their conversation and the topic fully shifted into frivolous theorizing.

“Maybe he had a family member in critical condition?”

“But, if that were the case, he could have just asked for permission, right?”

“Then what if it was to meet a woman?”

“That Chihaya? No way!”

“How can you say that? Those kinds of guys tend to have the dirtiest minds.”

“Hey, does a pure man even exist in this world?”

As if they had just remembered the place they found themselves in, those chatting burst with excitement.

“No way!”

“What a shame for you, Chihaya. We’ll have fun in your name as well!”

“No hard feelings!”

As it was the last day of the festival, the Red Light District was particularly packed with people. The group kept walking, going up the stairs to finally reach the plaza at the very center of the District, where a special stage had been built especially for the occasion. Dancers chosen from every brothel performed their long prepared act for the event as the singers and musicians lined up right behind them.

A huge shop stood right there, as if looking down on the plaza—Gazing Moon Hall, the seniors’ actual destination.

“Oh, it’s the young masters of the Monastery, welcome!”

“We’ve been waiting for you.”

The trainees closing off the exam period with a visit to the Red Light District was, apparently, a yearly tradition, and Gazing Moon Hall was the trainees’ current shop of choice. Which was why the shop’s staff had been waiting for them.

By some fortune, Akeru had been keeping his distance from his ogling friends—it was only thanks to that that he noticed Yukiya. He was also standing one step away from everyone else, just like Akeru, but looking in a strange direction. His eyes were fixed on the spectators surrounding the stage.

“What’s wrong?”

“...... Ah, nothing. Let's go.”

Before he even realized it himself, Akeru’s eyes searched the direction Yukiya had been looking in, soon understanding what had caught his attention. Despite the lanterns illuminating the stage blinding him, one single figure dressed in all black stood out among the colorfully dressed spectators.

“What’s that guy doing here……!?”

There was no mistaking it. There was Chihaya, the very person who was supposed to be cleaning the Great Hall at the moment, talking with someone, possibly a woman, with uncharacteristic intensity.

“Wait, Akeru!”

Yukiya tried to stop him, but Akeru ignored him. He bolted through the masses, pushing spectators aside as he closed in on the backstage with an angry shout.

“Chihaya! You damn shit, what the hell are you thinking!?”

However, just as Chihaya turned towards Akeru with a start, a hand came from behind and strongly blocked off Akeru’s mouth. “Hey, Chihaya. What a coincidence! I never expected to meet up in a place like this.”

Someone else brazenly greeted him instead—Yukiya. What the fuck was he doing? Akeru tried to get rid of his hand over his mouth, but it was to no avail. Yukiya’s grip remained firmly in place as he glared, for some reason, at Akeru instead of Chihaya, who looked clearly shocked. His gaze wandered as he stood there in silence.

“Who is there?” a beautiful bell-like voice asked. It carried surprisingly well, even among people’s chatter and the reverberating music.

Then, a figure peeked out from behind Chihaya. A woman, no—a girl, rather.

She was tiny. Her thin neck, arms and legs looked like they were about to bend and break at any moment. She wasn’t what one would call pretty, but she had a gentle look to her and a kind smile on her lips. Her round eyelids, shadowed by dark eyelashes, were softly closed, giving off the image of daffodil buds about to bloom.

Could this girl be some prostitute he frequented? Did that mean he had broken the Monastery’s rules, turning a blind eye to his position as a trainee, just to visit the Red Light District? And, on top of it all, he had the gall to ignore his completely deserved punishment to come here again? What a disappointment he had turned out to be!

Akeru had a mountain of things to say, but Yukiya’s grip on his mouth remained just as unforgiving and there was no way Akeru could be understood through it. Chihaya didn’t get a chance to answer either, not before someone else’s carefree voice interrupted the scene.

“Eh—? That’s Chihaya!”

“Wait a moment, what are you doing here!?”

Shigemaru and Ichiryuu had been the ones to speak. They had probably come back to check on them.

“Are they your friends?” the girl asked with a tilt of her head, pulling Chihaya’s sleeve.

The answer, however, didn’t come from Chihaya, but Yukiya. “Oh, yes! We are Chihaya’s peers and senior at the Monastery.”

Yukiya’s oddly kind behavior struck Akeru as suspicious at first. That is, until Yukiya turned to him and poked his own eyelid with his free hand. Suddenly, Akeru realized—the girl sticking to Chihaya hadn’t opened her eyes even once since their arrival.

She was blind.

Only the very best got to become prostitutes at the Center’s Red Light District. They were chosen for their looks during their youth, given a proper education and trained in the arts. They were, in a sense, just as talented and refined as the noble princesses of the Imperial Court. As far as Akeru knew, for the place to take on a blind girl was unheard of.

As the thought crossed his mind, Akeru also noticed the kimono she wore. It was comparatively nicer than what guests used, but all too plain and unadorned for a prostitute.

——In other words, she couldn’t be just some prostitute Chihaya liked.

Finally, Yukiya let him off. He had, it seemed, caught on to Akeru’s change of attitude. “Sorry for the commotion. He insisted that he wasn’t going to someplace like the Red Light District back at the Monastery so, well, it had been quite the surprise to find him here.”

Neither Shigemaru nor Ichiryuu chimed in beyond that, probably realizing as well that there was more to the situation than met the eye.

“Oh, I see!” the girl exclaimed in surprise before awkwardly bowing to them in greeting. “Nice to meet you, I’m Yui. Thank you for always taking care of my older brother.”

“Wait, wait, so you had a sister!?” Shigemaru looked back and forth between Chihaya and Yui, eyes wide open.

“...... Hey, by any chance, were you also visiting your sister last time?”

Chihaya didn’t bother to answer Ichiryuu's question, but Yui did. “He was. I usually live at the Ravine, so we don’t get to meet much… As I sing and play the biwa, they asked me for help with the stage during the festival. We were close by for a change, so I was selfish and asked him if we could meet. Don’t tell me… did that cause problems for you all?”

The girl gave them an uneasy look and, as if they had prearranged it all ahead of time, the boys answered in turn.

“Oh, not all.”

“Nothing like that, don’t worry.”

“Right, Akeru?” Ichiryuu’s warning was—as Akeru immediately realized—virtually a threat abusing his status as the senior.

Making use of all his self-control, Akeru replied as well, “It’s as they say.”

They all briefly introduced themselves afterwards. While Chihaya kept to his sullen silence, Akeru could actually tell it wasn’t born out of irritation. His fellow Seed was merely bracing himself and waiting for their reactions.

As Akeru pondered, wondering how Chihaya planned to get through the situation, Ichiryuu instead nonchalantly pointed towards Gazing Moon Hall.

“Guys, don’t forget we should be back. I’m sorry, Yui. Others are waiting for us, so we’ll have to take our leave now.”

“It’s fine. Sorry for keeping you all here for so long.” Yui bowed her head.

As she did so, Ichiryuu wrapped his arm around Chihaya’s neck, forcefully pulling their faces closer together. All to ensure that Yui wouldn’t get to hear his next words.

“We didn’t see anything. Good?” Ichiryuu whispered before instantly raising his voice again so Yui could hear him too. “Well then, let’s go. See you, Yui!”

Yukiya and Shigemaru also gave their farewells to Yui in a similarly amicable manner, all while they picked Akeru by the arms and didn’t let go.

As they all dragged Akeru in the direction of Gazing Moon Hall, Ichiryuu cleared his throat. “Now, what did you all see?”

“A lady on the stage.”

“She was quite the beauty.”

“Exactly. It was a dancer so beautiful that even Shigemaru and I, who came to seek you out, were taken by her.” Their wooden charade finished, the three of them simultaneously turned towards Akeru.

“Got it, Akeru? That’s all that happened out there.”

⊛　　　　　⊛　　　　　 ⊛

After Yukiya and the others took off, Chihaya finally let out a deep sigh. “...... I’m sorry, they’re an unruly bunch and you must already be tired as-is today."

“I’m fine! Actually, I’m glad I could talk with them. I didn’t know you had such fun friends!”

“They aren’t my friends.”

“You’re saying that again? You really should stop being so stubborn,” Yui chuckled as Chihaya felt his chest tightening all too horribly.

He opened his mouth to retort back, but he wasn’t given the chance to do so. Someone with a similar outfit to Yui—another musician, most likely—came over at that moment, calling for her. “It’s your turn.”

Despite his reluctance to part ways, Chihaya helped to guide Yui towards the backstage. “I’ll have vacations from tomorrow onwards.”

“I know. You’ll be working as a live-in servant, right? Don’t forget to take care of yourself,” Yui responded with a smile—but she looked lonely.

“I’ll come visit as much as I can.”

“When?”

“Well, as soon as I can take time off.”

“I’ll be waiting then.”

“Take care of yourself.”

“You too, brother. Please, don’t do anything rash out there.”

Chihaya took Yui’s biwa, which had been left closeby, and passed it to her before sending her up the stage. The musicians waiting on top gave him a grateful nod.

Before Yui had even finished walking up the stage, Chihaya turned on his heels. Of all things, he hadn’t expected Ichiryuu and the others to find out. Still, while there was no way for him to ascertain their honesty, at the very least, they had promised to overlook it all. However, he had to return before any other trainees saw him there.

In order to avoid people’s eyes, Chihaya took the back alleys.

Soon, he left the main streets and the festival’s bustle was quickly replaced by silence. From the sight of it, the shops must have been using these backstreets to put away their usual front items for the duration of the festival. There were all kinds of things, from signboards to bamboo poles used to hang lanterns, littered over the street—even broken lanterns and plates had been left there.

As difficult as it would be to walk through the mess, he could still watch his steps thanks to the light coming out from the buildings. It was accompanied by the smell of oil and ingredients—the kitchens were, most likely, facing that direction. It was doable enough, Chihaya determined as he took a few steps.

He didn’t get too far, however, before the feeling of something lurking behind overcame him. He stopped.

——Someone was watching him.

He turned around as fast as possible, in time to catch sight of a shadow panickedly withdrawing behind a building.

“What do you want?” Chihaya asked and he heard the sound of someone gasping. Soon after, someone came out of the shadows with plain resignation—Akeru, who had supposedly left with Ichiryuu and the others a moment ago. “Tailing me?”

“I’m not that cheap. I just wanted to talk to you one-to-one, without anybody else around,” Akeru awkwardly replied.

“Talk?”

“Yes, exactly. I was initiated on physiognomy as part of my education to join the Imperial Court,” Akeru said as Chihaya looked at him with suspicion, wondering what he was trying to say. The expression on Akeru’s face turned sour. “That girl and you. You aren’t related, right?”

“...... What are you trying to say?”

“I can tell that much, looking at you two. You know, no matter how different people may look, if you’re related by blood, there’s always something in common. But that girl and you don’t have anything at all…… Everything about you two is different, from head to toe. Am I wrong?”

Akeru already knew Chihaya had a sister from the time his followers researched his background and checked his census registration, but Yui and Chihaya were clearly unrelated as far as Akeru could see. It made him question the legitimacy of that same census—or so Akeru explained to Chihaya.

“——You’re lying to us, aren’t you?” Chihaya did not answer. He couldn’t tell what Akeru was thinking.

Akeru’s shapely eyebrows crumpled into a frown. “To assume a false identity and come to the Monastery—what the hell are you planning by doing that?”

“That’s got nothing to do with you.”

“Now that I’ve learned about it, it does! Tell me why! I’ll have no option but to inform the Monastery instructors otherwise! So if there’s a reason, please, tell me!” Akeru’s beautiful face twisted into a grimace. “I don’t want to become your enemy, not if I can help it.”

“After all the sneaking and snooping around? Huh, Court Raven? Are you saying that now!?”

“Why are you still going on with shit like that!? If you aren’t going to give me any answers, then I’ll have to ask her instead,” Akeru yelled, all riled up, and turned his back to Chihaya.

That second, Chihaya undid the knot on his Ornamented Blade and took hold of the weapon, scabbard and all. There was no hesitation—Chihaya swung downwards the very next moment, aiming for the back of the head right in front of him.

The scabbard dug itself into the wall of the nearest building with a loud thump.

Right before the Ornamented Blade itself had made contact with Akeru’s head however, the boy had barely managed to twist his body out of the way. He stared at Chihaya with clear disbelief. “What did you…”

Akeru was probably too dumbfounded to even think about pulling his own blade, given the state he was in. A Court Raven like him probably couldn’t even conceive the idea of a Hill Raven actually pointing his weapon at him. They truly were just the same.

Anger boiled within Chihaya. Yet, at the same time, he was terrifyingly calm—he even had the composure to pity Akeru for his inability to at the very least counterattack in such a situation. Nevertheless, Chihaya moved to face the petrified Akeru and readied his Ornamented Blade once again for attack.

“Wait!” someone’s piercing yell stopped him. “Calm down, Chihaya.”

The voice’s owner leaped out from behind Akeru—it was Yukiya. He opened his arms, standing in front of Chihaya as if to protect Akeru.

“Get out of the way.”

“No way.”

“There’ll be no mercy for anyone who harms Yui.”

“And that’s not Akeru’s intention, much like how you don’t intend to kill him either, right? Now, calm down,” Yukiya said as he made an attempt to push down Chihaya’s weapon.

Chihaya shook him off by sheer reflex, breaking Yukiya's balance. The boy let out a cry as he stumbled and, much like most Yatagarasu would do in such a situation, he reached out towards Chihaya’s sleeve and grasped it with his hand.

——The next moment, Chihaya felt a tingle as the muscles of his entire arm contracted.

He didn’t even have enough time to notice the pain. Yukiya was already twisting his wrist before he could do anything, wrestling the Ornamented Blade off his hand. At that rate, he was going to be pulled by the shoulder as well. Chihaya didn’t even think about his next step—he kicked the ground. His body floated in the air for a second, gaining the rotational momentum necessary to break off Yukiya’s hold on him.

——This fucker.

The moment he landed, Chihaya made an attempt to strike Yukiya in the face with the back of his hand as he rotated, but Yukiya kneeled to dodge it. While he was avoiding Chihaya’s attack, however, Yukiya shrewdly tried to kick his legs and trip him, but it never happened—Chihaya leaped away. He backed down two to three steps to recover his balance and posture as Yukiya too tumbled backwards and instantly straightened up.

They wordlessly studied each other for a while, waiting for each other’s next move.

By that point, all excess energy had left Yukiya’s body. His stance wasn’t anything like what Chihaya had seen him use before at the dojo, but it undoubtedly belonged to someone with plenty of experience.

After that short pause, Chihaya went on the offensive.

He went for one straight punch, which Yukiya evaded with the palm of his hand, grazing Chihaya’s fist. Realizing that Yukiya planned to take hold of his arm once again, Chihaya used the momentum of the swing to go for a roundhouse kick to the head. Before it hit, however, Yukiya bent his upper body ever so slightly to dodge.

Chihaya’s balance was therefore broken, but Yukiya didn’t take the opening in front of him. Oddly enough, he immediately backed off.

Chihaya was now certain—Yukiya was, in fact, intentionally letting him attack first and aiming for the joints. He would fluidly dodge his attacks and, at the very next moment, go after the skinniest parts of the body in order to use a joint-locking technique. It was quite the distasteful method, but no less of a problem.

——For Chihaya, who heavily relied on strength for his martial arts, someone like Yukiya was the worst kind of adversary.

To top it all off, Yukiya’s eyesight seemed to be abnormally good. He didn’t even need to turn his head to read Chihaya’s punch, eye movements sufficed. Deep in thought, Chihaya tried yet another attack but, as he had expected, Yukiya blocked off all his attempts. Chihaya’s hits never reached their target in any shape or form.

They grappled again and again with each other and, whether he liked it or not, Chihaya started to calm down.

Now that he thought about it, there had been something off with Yukiya from their first encounter at the dojo. Yukiya had never gone on the offensive himself so he had lost every single time, but, if one were to look at it in another way, Chihaya hadn’t taken even one single clean point out of him either.

While someone weaker would have never noticed that, Chihaya did. He was more than used to immediately defeating most of his opponents. It was incredibly rare for him to struggle so much with getting points. Chihaya felt a shiver down his back. It had taken him way too long to realize, but Yukiya may well be the only one among the trainees that he couldn’t guarantee a clean hit against.

As he thought so, Yukiya almost grappled him again at the joints, and Chihaya clicked his tongue as he jumped back. They glared at each other—it was a deadlock.

At that moment, a fed-up voice echoed out of nowhere. “...... Are you happy now?”

Yukiya, who hadn’t spoken a word ever since he first stole Chihaya’s Ornamented Blade, forced himself to smile as he gasped for air. “Why would I be? I only wanted to talk from the beginning.”

“Don’t you lie to me! You’ve been enjoying this.”

“There’s not much leeway for enjoyment when you’re facing the Seeds’ best martial artist,” Yukiya answered and, with a deep exhale, he smoothly returned to his battle stance.

Even Chihaya was starting to find their whole situation thoroughly ludicrous. His gaze, which had been fixed on Yukiya during their fight, drifted to the side. There, sitting on some lumber lying between two shops, he found the speaker—an exasperated-looking Ichiryuu with his cheek resting on one of his hands.

“Yukiya! If you can move like that, how about doing it during class, huh?” an indignant Shigemaru, who was sitting beside Ichiryuu, complained right after.

“Don’t bother,” Ichiryuu added with resignation in his voice. “That right now is his specialty. He’ll feign weakness at first, letting his adversary do nothing but attack, thoroughly tiring the poor soul down, and then and only then he beats the shit out of him.”

The light in Ichiryuu’s eyes had vanished entirely.

“Ichiryuu, don’t tell me…” Shigemaru gasped.

“Yeah. I was once fooled by his looks back at home and picked a fight with him…… He beat me up so badly it changed my outlook on life.”

“So that’s why you acted like that at first……” Shigemaru’s words were full of sympathy. Yukiya’s Ornamented Blade rested ever so carefully in his hands.

——Yukiya meant him no harm, Chihaya had known that much from the start.

Behind Yukiya, however, was Akeru—still pale as a sheet, the boy had used the chance to run quite far away from him. While Chihaya had indeed calmed down, he hadn’t forgiven Akeru for what he had said to him. Chihaya ruthlessly glared at him, making Akeru jump on the spot as he trembled.

“It was his mistake to word it like a threat, but Akeru isn’t that bad of a guy. Here,” Yukiya took Chihaya’s Ornamented Blade, which he had tossed away as soon as he stole it, and offered it back to him. “It has to be his sister’s influence. Despite how it may have looked like, he’s actually quite kind to women.”

“You just had to ask him to not do it, really. I’m sure Akeru wouldn’t force Yui to answer any of his questions.”

“Ah, I understand you lost your temper, but don’t you dare to go hitting others with the Ornamented Blade! It may be shaped like a sword, but it’s not a tool to hurt others.”

Now, just how long had they all been listening in on the conversation? Yet curiously enough, none of them asked him for details. Chihaya, however, just didn’t find it in him to be bothered by the secret keeping anymore.

“...... Yui doesn’t know,” he murmured.

“Huh?” A bunch of stumped faces turned towards him.

“She doesn’t know. That we aren’t related by blood.”

Recommended: Winter's Young Tiger

Next: Chihaya (Part 2)

—————————————

1: In this specific scene, Yui and Kou are written in katakana (ユイ and コウ) instead of kanji. This can be done for a variety of reasons, including a representation of a character’s illiteracy. Overall, as a narrative tool, omitting kanji is used to express ignorance. To show a character doesn’t understand a concept and it’s all sounds to them, be it because it’s their first time hearing it or some other reason.

2: Land Sovereign is originally 博陸公 (Hakurikukou), a title crafted by using the kanji for esteem (博), land (陸) and duke/lord (公). Essentially, the Esteemed Lord of the Land.

3: For much of Ancient Japan’s history, calling someone by their name tended to be considered terribly impolite. While the women favored the use of Karina (借名) or aliases, between men the preferred method to avoid such disrespect was the use of honorific titles or sonshou (尊称). Much like in the specific case of Land Sovereign, these were directly associated with the man’s political position or rank most of the time.

4: The Red Lanterns here refer to a specific type of lantern, hoozuki lanterns (ほおずき提灯). They're named after their resemblance to ground cherries, also known as Chinese red lanterns.

#yatagarasu #yatagarasu series #abe chisato #karasu wa aruji wo erabanai #the raven does not choose its master

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sayaka19fan · 18 days ago

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you’re not alone. never have been, never will be.

#akatsuki no yona #yona of the dawn #zeno #ouryuu #ouryuu zeno #chapter 266

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sayaka19fan · 18 days ago

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Cleaned version

#akatsuki no yona #yona of the dawn #akayona #yotd

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sayaka19fan · 22 days ago

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Message

Yatagarasu spreads its wings to the world.

A Japanese-style epic fantasy series about a clan of legendary birds.

This million-selling work has been published in book form, digitally, as a comic book, and as a motion picture, and is loved by people all over the world.

Happy New Year

Bungeishunju (publishing company and magazine)

Image to commemorate the New Year.

Happy New Year, everybody!!

Source: Yatagarasu Series main account (drawn by Natsuki-sensei's).

#yatagarasu #yatagarasu series #abe chisato #natsuki #karasu wa aruji wo erabanai #the raven does not choose its master

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sayaka19fan · 24 days ago

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#yatagarasu #takumo norita #the raven does not choose its master #karasu wa aruji wo erabanai #episode 12 #masuho no susuki

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sayaka19fan · 1 month ago

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artblock so i drew babygirl rq

#banana fish #banana fish art #ash lynx #aslan jade callenreese #banana fish fanart

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sayaka19fan · 1 month ago

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The Raven of the Empty Coffin: Chapter 2 "Akeru" Part 3

Blog version

For the Index, you can find it HERE

Previously: Akeru (Part 2)

⊛　　　　　⊛　　　　　 ⊛

Chapter 2: Akeru (Part 3)

“Isn’t Akeru kinda tense lately?”

It all happened during Horsemanship lessons. Shigemaru and Yukiya found themselves taking a break at a hilltop after finishing the assigned exercises, waiting for everyone else to catch up with them.

That day they were practicing what was called ‘rider-horse switching’. It was just one part of the training required to become capable of flying long distances without breaks and, as the name implied, it consisted of exchanging the roles between rider and horse in midair. At this point, they were only required to fly around the mountain once and then switch places, but Shigemaru had heard rumors that they would have to go all the way from the Center to Yamauchi’s frontier and back during their Graduation Trials.

Although, in theory, it was better to do such an exercise with someone of as similar a build as possible, Yukiya had proved to manage just fine even with Shigemaru as his partner.

“Still, it feels like you wouldn’t have any problems no matter who you partnered with.”

“Well, everyone becomes significantly bigger in bird form compared to their human form. I don’t think someone’s human build actually matters that much.”

“True, there are people way bigger and stronger than you in human form who are, in fact, struggling quite hard.”

“Oh, yes—like Akeru and his friends, right?”

While Akeru’s followers had never been particularly high achievers, even Akeru himself had started to flounder lately despite his initial brilliance. He had started to struggle to keep up as the difficulty of the practical courses ramped up—which was doubly true for Horsemanship, the one subject he had problems with from the start.

“Maybe that’s the reason,” Shigemaru said, bringing the conversation back to Akeru’s situation.

Yukiya gave him a bitter smile. “One of the reasons, most likely, but I doubt that’s all of it.”

The situation was changing even during theory, where Akeru had never before given up his position as the first of the class. “Well, you barely have a chance to study lately yet your grades are still virtually the same as his, I can’t blame Akeru for getting anxious over that.”

——Ever since the incident with Kimichika, Suikan had kept a constant eye on Yukiya.

It had been a month since then, and summer had finally arrived. Suikan, however, showed no signs whatsoever of forgiving Yukiya. He persistently called him to participate during exercise sessions and would find any reason—no matter how small—to give him all kinds of punishments and take away all his free time. Every so often, Suikan would outright lash out at him—telling Yukiya to his face that he should drop out of the Monastery.

It had gotten bad enough that, whenever they gathered, everyone in their usual group would insist that Yukiya should go ask for help from other instructors like Seiken. Yukiya, however, didn’t show a single sign of suffering through anything.

He would argue back at them—‘It’s on me for angering him’, ‘I don’t like the idea of telling on someone’, ‘If my grades dropped because of it that would be a problem, sure, but that won’t happen’. Yukiya laughed it off every time, never paying any mind to their group’s advice.

However, Yukiya was, in truth, losing sleep to finish his homework and he was forced to take tests without any preparation either. Despite that, and uncannily enough, his grades weren’t going down—they were actually improving. They were comparable to Akeru’s, even. He had risen to be the first of the class, or second at worst.

Akeru, meanwhile, was often rumored to spend all his free time on self-study. Even an outsider like Shigemaru could tell how Akeru’s expression would grow stiffer and stiffer every time he learned of Yukiya’s latest score.

“He made such a big deal of being part of the Wakamiya Faction too. I bet the coronation being postponed must be playing a huge part in it. He must not have any peace of mind—neither at the Monastery, nor at home.”

“You know, I feel kind of sorry for him.”

“No need. His grades are just his talent—or lack thereof—talking, and he only has himself to blame for acting high and mighty and humiliating himself like that. There’s not much for us to do.” While Yukiya had proved to be the type to sometimes spew venom with a smile, it was significantly more common whenever Akeru came up in conversation.

At the same time that he chatted with Yukiya, Shigemaru entertained himself by watching the other trainees fly around. The many pairs would ascend and, as if performing some sort of somersault, exchange places in a matter of seconds. Although they all lost quite a lot of height at first, the trainee who had just transformed into a bird would immediately place himself underneath and spread his wings, catching the wind. Just like that, they would both rise to their original altitude.

It was entertaining to watch such a stunt-like maneuver from afar, but actually doing it was quite terrifying. The person shifting from horse to human was forced to take a shape incapable of flight, wholly entrusting himself to his partner in midair. It wasn’t any easier for the person transforming into a horse—it felt like having a heavy rock on his back as he struggled to remain in the air instead of falling altogether.

Finishing the course with both members of a pair in bird form—hence incapable of becoming a rider and mount—meant disqualification. It truly wasn’t a maneuver you could succeed at without coordination and mutual trust between human and horse. That was exactly why Shigemaru felt it was easier to complete the exercise with someone close to you, rather than someone with a similar build.

As he thought about that, Shigemaru suddenly noticed a pair among their flying peers moving all too slowly. “Yukiya, look!”

Before Shigemaru had the time to point at it, Yukiya noticed it as well. “That looks actually dangerous. Is the rider perhaps tired? Unless they gain more altitude, at that rate—Huh?”

Yukiya didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence. At that precise moment, the rider and mount tried to exchange places and, for a second, it was as if two horses were there at the same time. That was quite the rare sight when the swap went properly.

——He had a bad feeling about this.

The ideal was for both parties to shapeshift simultaneously—that was all too awkward and clunky to fit the criteria. Sure enough, they kept on falling inexorably, even once the initial horse moved upwards and transformed back into a human. The current horse proved incapable of catching the wind with his wings on time and his body plunged against the trees.

“Someone has fallen!” the hysterical screams of those watching resounded in unison.

“This is bad! With a fall like that, he got hurt for sure!”

“Contact the infirmary!”

In a matter of seconds, a ruckus like bees protecting their hive overtook the place. The instructors flew straight towards the location of the fall. From the looks of it, the rider had managed to transform back at the very last second and so avoided major harm, but the horse hadn’t been as lucky. “But who fell?”

“Shige, that was Akeru.”

“What? Really!?”

“I’m sure. I saw the rider’s hair shine red just before they swapped.”

Shigemaru immediately felt ill at ease. For such a thing to happen right after their conversation. As they spoke, bird-shaped Yatagarasu flocked together above the place of the incident.

⊛　　　　　⊛　　　　　 ⊛

The moment he opened his eyes, he felt a dull pain throbbing through his entire body.

His mind was hazy, possibly because of the pain medicine, and his body felt as if it was burning. The sky, visible through the gaps in the infirmary's window shutters, had gotten completely dark. A doctor had checked up on him the first time he had woken up, so Akeru already knew what had happened to him.

There were scratches all over his body and he had some nasty bruises, but fortunately none of his wounds were of a life-threatening magnitude. However, as he had hit his head during the fall, the doctor had instructed him to remain in the infirmary for the day.

Akeru had a vivid memory of the moment he fell.

Of all people, his partner was Chihaya. After watching everyone during the marching drills, Akeru already knew he was the fastest flier among the Seeds, and yet Chihaya had been flying at an awfully low speed back when it all happened. Akeru had been convinced it was all Chihaya’s attempt at harassment, but Akeru couldn’t afford to waste time like that—he had to become the horse and catch up with the rest. Led by his growing panic, he started to transform before Chihaya was ready to do so, forcing him to go for a switch.

The sound of the wind raged against his ears.

And there, Chihaya. The expression on his face the moment he took human form.

——In the end, Akeru’s own transformation took too long.

A terrible blunder, one that would be a massive problem for his grades going forward. If things kept going like this, maybe Akeru wouldn’t even be able to become Wakamiya’s vassal. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go.

“Dammit……”

Where the hell did I go wrong? an overwhelmed Akeru wondered to himself.

“We have already informed everyone at the Western House.”

“I see…… Thank you for that.”

The next day, his two roommates came to visit. They had accompanied him to the Monastery and had once gone through great lengths to attend to Akeru’s every need, and yet they appeared unmistakably reluctant to come visit this time around. They both had the face of someone fulfilling the bare minimum of courtesies.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“Nothing at all.”

They both remained aloof. Akeru could feel irritation expanding deep within his chest by the second. “...... You have been avoiding me lately. You know, if you have something to tell me, just say so.”

One of them abruptly raised his head. “Then, I’ll take my chance.”

“Hey, stop!”

“I’m not stopping! We are all thinking the same thing. So, I’ve heard about all this recently,” the boy said with a horribly contorted face. “Lord Akeru, you told us that you came here out of your own volition after receiving His Highness Wakamiya’s order to do so. But, apparently, you actually only served His Highness for one single day, am I wrong?”

Akeru was left at a loss. Why was that a problem now, after so long?

“Yeah, what about that?”

“I thought you coming to the Monastery was just in preparation to become His Highness’ vassal. You were truly brilliant at first,” he explained with an embittered look, “so we were almost fooled by that, but then—what did His Highness Wakamiya see in you, when you had barely spent a day with him and hadn’t even held a bamboo sword in your life at the time, to tell you to become a Yamauchi Guard?”

“Haven’t I told you again and again? The Yamauchi Guard is corrupt and I’m here to fix that. The Wakamiya Faction needs their own vanguard, and he chose me for that.”

“But if that’s the case, Yukiya of the Northern House is already there! He’s the most fit to obstruct the Animiya Faction. He’s the Great General’s grandson and the most talented in battle tactics among all our peers.”

To top it all off, Yukiya’s achievements included serving Wakamiya as his close aide for an entire year. If he got to graduate, there was no doubt he would become one of Wakamiya’s close vassals unless something radical happened.

“Command of the country’s warriors is the specialty of the Northern House to begin with. There was no need whatsoever for someone of the West of all houses to come to the Monastery. You were originally supposed to stay close to His Highness, right? As in, assuming His Highness expects Yukiya to fulfill his duty as a vassal by becoming a warrior, shouldn’t the same apply to you but by becoming a Court Official instead? And yet, you don’t even have an inkling of why you merely lasted one day as his attendant?”

“...... What are you trying to say?”

The rank of the Western House’s second son was, fundamentally speaking, one that shone first and foremost at the Court. What was the reason to even bother sending him to the Monastery despite that fact?

——The truth was that most nobles who went to the Unbending Reed Monastery were those whose families had forsaken them. Those too incompetent to get a job at the Court even through the On’i System.

“Wasn’t it simply that His Highness Wakamiya disliked you and used it as an excuse to get rid of you?”

His roommate’s words left Akeru speechless. “We heard that you had His Highness’ trust, Lord Akeru. That’s why we went through the trouble of coming here with you instead of joining the Court as we had originally intended, but what’s the point if His Highness truly has forsaken you? You wasted our time and effort,” the boy spat out. “We shouldn’t have come to the damn Monastery in the first place.”

The other boy had so far restrained from talking altogether, unlike his fierce friend. Now, he shook his head with a sigh. “I don’t think it’s all your fault. However, the fact is that, as of now, the West-affiliated Court Ravens are increasingly disappointed in you.”

Akeru’s head failed to process it all. There was no way he could believe straight away that these two, those who had been closest to him, actually had such an image of him.

“We’re planning to voluntarily drop out.”

“What!?” Akeru rushed to ask—a hint of pleading snuck into his voice.

“Well, that’s the idea…… So, could you keep your distance from us?”

Akeru couldn’t think of a way to stop them.

Just as his roommates were about to leave the room, however, Akeru caught sight of someone at the door. To make matters even worse, it turned out to be the last person he wanted to see in the current situation.

“Ah, did I come at a bad moment?”

The boy—Yukiya of the Northern House—tilted his head with a smile on his face.

“Ah, good to know it wasn’t too bad.” After watching Akeru’s roommates leave as if they were running away, Yukiya approached him with a shady-looking smile.

“Why did you come here?”

“Is that how you greet people? And here I bothered to come deliver a present for the sick. Here, take it.” Yukiya handed him a package covered in wrapping paper. Inside, there were sugar-sprinkled kumquats.

“I don’t want them.”

“Oh, really? Now that’s a waste. Can I have them?” Yukiya didn’t even wait for Akeru’s answer. He immediately sat by the window and started to stuff his mouth with kumquats. For a while, the only sound breaking the silence of the room was his slow chewing.

Akeru had no words for Yukiya. He had this feeling—like he finally understood why Yukiya had given him the cold shoulder when Akeru first offered him his friendship as a fellow member of the Wakamiya Faction. Unlike Akeru, Yukiya had been serving by Wakamiya’s side for an entire year. He didn’t want to think about it, but if Wakamiya had truly sent him to the Monastery out of disgust, Yukiya was sure to know.

While a part of him wanted to know what Wakamiya had intended for him all along, another couldn’t even bear the idea of hearing the truth.

“...... If that’s everything, can’t you leave me alone?” he said in an admittedly dreadful tone—he was too scared of the truth coming out from Yukiya’s mouth. However, as blatant as Akeru’s jealousy turned out to be, Yukiya simply laughed it off.

“I have more to say, obviously. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come here at all,” he confirmed with a wholly impassive expression. “You see, if things keep going like this, you’ll end up leaving this place sooner or later.”

Akeru flew into a rage the moment he heard that. “It’s not that bad! My grades should still be better than yours if you put them all together!”

“Who’s talking about grades here? You truly don’t understand the position you’re in, huh?”

Yukiya’s demeanor got, all of a sudden, a lot colder. Akeru flinched. “What do you mean? The situation I’m in…”

“Think about it for a moment,” Yukiya said as he fiddled with a kumquat, “the trainees currently on the Monastery’s register are 44 Seeds, 21 Saplings and 14 Evergreens, a total of 78 students. Among those, only you and I were born with a social rank higher than fifth in our region. Furthermore, and this is including us, there are only six Court Ravens in the entire Monastery with the right to employ the On’i System. The vast majority of those are either Seeds or Saplings. Do you understand what that means?” Yukiya asked an astonished Akeru—it was as if he was testing him.

“That most trainees from the high nobility fail out before reaching their third year……?”

“Exactly.” While, at the moment, there were still Court Ravens among his peers, virtually everyone would be either from warrior clans or commoners once they became Evergreens. “There are others linked to the Four Houses, of course, but they aren’t necessarily nobility themselves. It’s obvious what will happen to you if you keep ridiculing Hill Ravens and paying your respects only to your fellow Court Ravens, isn’t it? With that attitude, you’ll just end up surrounded by enemies,” Yukiya explained with a bored expression.

“Besides, to form a West-affiliated faction to reform the Unbending Reed Monastery is, no matter how you put it, both impossible and pointless. Any issues with the Monastery’s policies are for people like the director or His Highness Wakamiya—those involved in the place’s administration—to fix. To ask a trainee to do so is just cruel and His Highness hasn’t ever expected anything like that from you.”

Akeru was appalled. “Then… there’s no reason for His Highness Wakamiya to have sent me to the Monastery, is there?”

——Were Wakamiya’s actions truly a mere attempt to get rid of him?

At the mere thought, Akeru felt all strength about to abandon his body. A moment promptly interrupted by something in his mouth—Yukiya had, all of sudden, rammed a kumquat in it.

“W-what are you doing!?”

Akeru almost choked on it, caught in a coughing fit as an unimpressed Yukiya gave him a bored look. “Oh, you see, I was just thinking about how some incredible idiots truly do exist. His Highness Wakamiya has such high hopes for you and yet you’re completely blind to it.”

“What?” Akeru raised his head, as if in search of an explanation. This time, Yukiya gave him a wry smile.

“I mean, he told you to come to the Monastery, didn’t he? So you could become his vassal in the future,” Yukiya explained as he rolled yet another kumquat on the palm of his hand. “It’s easy to tell why, looking at the guys from before. They didn’t say so per se, but the fact they spoke out like that is probably very much related to the delay of His Highness Wakamiya’s ascension to the throne. Those who only approach you seeking out family influence will change their tune over and over whenever it’s politically convenient. If you want to earn trustworthy allies, the last thing you want to rely on is status and influence. Let me tell you this much—you’re the very reason they ended up acting like that.”

Akeru stammered. He remembered how his followers—people he had genuinely thought of as allies—had blamed him and accused him of lying to them just moments ago. “...... I didn’t ever consider that.”

Embarrassed with himself, Akeru hung his head and, in answer to that, a hint of delight appeared in Yukiya’s voice.

“——Do you realize now? Think about it, what if you became His Highness’ vassal and still committed this kind of mistake?” Yukiya kept talking to the silent Akeru, admonishing him. “Remember, those you look down on as Hill Ravens are about 90% of Yamauchi’s population. Wakamiya is, in fact, very well aware of what kind of people are the majority in the country he rules over.”

The Unbending Reed Monastery was, in a sense, a reflection of Yamauchi itself. Slowly but surely, Akeru started to grasp the meaning behind Yukiya’s words. “So that’s why His Highness told me to come to the Monastery……”

To learn how to socialize with commoners ahead of time. All to stop Akeru from having an attitude unbefitting of one of the Golden Raven’s close vassals in the future.

“Wakamiya told you to come to the Monastery, but he didn’t say you had to become a Yamauchi Guard. He was trying to raise you. That’s the ultimate proof that his expectations weren’t placed on the Scion of the Western House, but on you yourself.” Then, Yukiya unexpectedly looked Akeru in the eyes. “But, what about you? What would you do if His Highness Wakamiya loses his status as Crown Prince? Would you remain by His Highness’ side if he isn’t your brother-in-law? If Lady Masuho no Susuki doesn’t ever enter the Harem?”

Akeru gulped in response to Yukiya’s harsh words. At that moment, what came rushing back to him was that first meeting with Wakamiya, before he even knew of his status, and how he had felt that day.

——The start of everything, a shared secret and a gentle smile under the sinking sun.

“I—” Akeru let out in a hoarse, shaky voice. He closed his mouth to try again with more success. His tone was a lot more firm. “I want to serve under His Highness Wakamiya himself. If he values me as me, then I believe I must respond with the same.”

“I see…… That’s a relief for me too to hear.”

This time, Yukiya had a bright smile on his face. It didn’t feel shady at all, not anymore.

For the first time since they first met, Akeru genuinely saw in Yukiya a companion, a fellow follower of Wakamiya. He felt like he had at last fully grasped why Yukiya had most likely been chosen as a close aide—that great intelligence of his. Not the kind that makes you good at studying, but a different one altogether.

“You aren’t like me, Yukiya. You have gotten this far, all with the conviction to never rely on your house’s influence.”

That must be the very reason why he had gone through such efforts to get along with Shigemaru and the rest, or so Akeru thought. However, Yukiya laughed Akeru’s sentimentalism off.

“No way! It’s true that I felt like that once, but I don’t have the luxury to say so anymore. I plan to use anything and everything that’s at my disposal.”

Akeru blinked. “But, then, what’s the point?”

“Don’t misunderstand, Akeru.” All of a sudden, Yukiya’s eyes narrowed into slits. Akeru, who had tilted his head in question, watched him. “Power and authority are troublesome things, they can easily cause your downfall when not used correctly. On the other hand, they can also be your strongest trump card. So, what I’m trying to say is,” Yukiya said with a cold smile, “you must not mistake when and how to use them.”

——Akeru felt a sudden chill down his back.

Yukiya’s smile had transformed into something entirely different. His eyes were impenetrable, like those of a snake. What emotions hid within, Akeru couldn’t tell but, in a matter of seconds, a deep terror rose within him.

“What are—” Akeru swallowed.

—you scheming? he tried to ask, but before he could finish his question, a tanned face abruptly popped out through the window on Yukiya’s side.

“Are you all done with the difficult talk?”

Akeru almost jumped up from surprise, but his entire body howled in pain at the attempt. “Shigemaru! When did you arrive?”

“We came here together with Yukiya, to be honest, but it didn’t feel right to intrude given the mood so we hid here to wait instead. Here, a present,” Shigemaru bent himself through the window and dropped a basket full of plums on the floor.

“Oh, I actually love plums. Can I have one?” Yukiya asked nonchalantly.

Akeru was left in a state of complete confusion. What had that been a moment ago?

“You had quite the impressive fall, but you seem better than I thought you would be. How are you feeling?” Shigemaru asked him.

Akeru was incapable of answering at first. Ironically enough, he had the feeling that Shigemaru had just become the first person to show proper concern for him. It was both strangely moving and a source of sudden embarrassment at his own behavior so far.

“Your concern is much appreciated. I’m doing fine, but… ‘we’?”

“Oh, yes! Actually, he has been way, way more worried about you than me.” Outside the window, Shigemaru vanished for a second. He proceeded to pick up the boy apparently sitting there by the scruff of his neck, effortlessly lifting him up to show Akeru.

A sour face appeared—‘I wasn’t that worried’ written all over it.

“Chihaya.” Akeru was so surprised he couldn’t say more.

Meanwhile, Chihaya seemed to be struggling just like him. He looked to be at a loss for quite a while, before finally letting out a mutter, “It wasn’t intentional.”

That’s all it took for Akeru to understand what was going on—to get an idea of what kind of rumors were spreading all over the Monastery at the moment. Everyone probably suspected that Chihaya had hurt Akeru intentionally. He originally served under Kimichika, whose harassment attempts towards Akeru had turned into a frequent occurrence as of late. Had he not been directly involved in the incident, Akeru would have probably believed the same.

“...... I know. It was my own fault I fell.”

He had seen Chihaya’s expression for a second there—he had been clearly frightened. It all, from his initial transformation to his fall, happened in an instant, but he had still felt how Chihaya had done everything in his power as the rider in an attempt to recover.

However, there was one thing he couldn’t understand about the incident, no matter how he thought about it...

“Hey, Chihaya. You should be able to fly a lot faster, right? Why were you going so awfully slow back then?”

Chihaya answered his question in a dispassionate tone, “You were struggling to keep your balance. I thought you would roll down from my back if I flew any faster than that.”

“——I see.” Akeru let out a big sigh. After straightening himself over the futon, he deeply bowed in Chihaya’s direction. “I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble. I’ll explain what happened to everyone else.”

“No…… There’s no need.” As scarce as Chihaya’s words were, they made Akeru’s chest feel so much lighter.

“Oooh! To see you apologize to a Hill Raven. You too have grown, huh?” Shigemaru’s amused admiration, on the other hand, gave Akeru all kinds of mixed feelings—something the former seemed to pick up on immediately.

“Look, Akeru.” Shigemaru’s expression changed ever so swiftly. “Just like you had your own reasons to come to the Monastery, we all also have ours. Nobody has the exact same circumstances, so it’s a given we all think differently.”

Akeru meekly listened as Shigemaru spoke. “I think this place is amazing, you know. Where else can people from all corners of Yamauchi gather and share their views and opinions with each other? If we weren’t here at the Monastery, neither of us would have had the chance to speak to each other normally like this, right?”

“Yes, absolutely. You’re right……”

“We’ve been given such a rare chance, so think of it this way—it’ll be for your own sake to try to get along with others,” Shigemaru said with a laugh. “Breaks aside, we gather to study together almost every day in an empty room of the second building. Want to come along? Everyone will be happy to see you.”

At that moment, Akeru’s heart was terribly touched by Shigemaru’s carefree words.

By the time Akeru returned to his own room with the doctor’s permission, one of his two followers had already vanished. He hadn’t given it much thought before, back when they had that talk, but his grades had always been much worse than Akeru’s. Most likely, he had genuinely reached his limit, incapable of keeping up with life as a trainee any longer.

Akeru fretted about it for a while but, by the time night came, he had decided to head to the second building. Once actually there, it didn’t take him long at all to find the room where the study group was held—the sliding door wasn’t only open, but the voices coming from the room were exasperatingly loud.

“I can’t do this anymore! I don’t understand it at all.”

“Get your shit together! Now that glasses dude has found out about it, we can’t just go and copy Yukiya’s homework wholesale anymore!”

“Look, I’m telling you. As long as you memorize the warfare records1, it’s just a matter of applying it all afterwards,” Akeru heard a tired Yukiya say. An onslaught of angry yells followed right after.

“Like that’s easy, you freaking bastard!”

“There’s no way we can memorize those things just like that!”

“By the way—how did you even do it to begin with?”

“I just read it normally? That was it, really.”

“See, here it comes!”

“This is why I cannot stand quick learners!”

Warfare records were a register of what movements were executed by which pieces and when during a Board Drill for later examination, and, by the sound of it, they were trying to finish their Strategy homework. Akeru took a deep breath, steeling his resolve before finally standing by the door frame.

“For warfare records, you should first pin down the Officers’ moves. Infantry movement always uses them as the starting point.” The group, who had been about to collectively throw their textbooks out and get a swing at Yukiya, turned to look at Akeru. Their mouths were wide open.

“...... Akeru?”

“What are you doing here?”

Although both Shigemaru and Yukiya smirked at the scene, neither stepped out to support him. Alongside the wall was Chihaya too, quietly taking care of his own homework all by himself, but he didn’t even bother to glance at him.

Akeru lightly licked his lips, dry out of sheer nerves, and surveyed the faces of those inside before speaking, “I was wondering if, maybe, it would be possible for me to join the study group as well. I know it may sound wrong of me to say but, well, if it’s theory I should be able to help a little. Of course, that’s if you’re all fine with it……”

By the end, he was tapering off.

Akeru knew perfectly that his attitude so far had been anything but pleasant for the people gathered there. He cast his eyes downwards in fear of their reaction when, out of the blue, one of the boys lying on the floor jumped towards him and took him by the shoulders.

“Welcome, professor.”

“Eh?”

“We may actually be able to understand what you’re saying. At least, more than with that Yukiya bastard,” he ruthlessly added.

“Mean,” Yukiya murmured. He was the only one to protest.

“We can’t figure out any of it! At this rate, we’ll end up dropping out.”

“No matter how many times we listen to Yukiya’s explanations, none of them make any sense to us. You’re our last hope.”

Akeru’s eyes were left wide open—their reaction wasn’t anything like what he had expected.

“...... You’ll forgive me?”

“Not like there’s anything to forgive.”

His fellow trainees, all commoners for the most part, traded glances. “It would be a lie to say we don’t have our own feelings about you, but desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“If you help us so we don’t drop out, we’ll consider all accounts settled.”

“So, less grumbling, more teaching! The due date for these is tomorrow and we haven’t gotten anything done yet.”

Akeru wasn’t quite sure if he should be glad at their reaction or not, but Shigemaru burst into laughter. “In short, no hard feelings!”

After that, Akeru spent the rest of the evening teaching theory to his peers. Yukiya’s explanations proved to be awful and their current situation was beyond subpar, but, thanks to Akeru’s efforts, they ended up being able to solve a lot of the questions with ease. In the end, his overjoyed, frantically crying students were imploring him to come again the next day.

“Tired?” Shigemaru asked him on the way back.

Akeru shook his head. “No, thank you for inviting me. It was fun.”

It had been the first time in his life someone thanked him like that. It was invigorating beyond belief. On top of that, there were many among the study group who were accomplished at Horsemanship and, as a show of gratitude, they had offered to help him practice the horse-rider switch during the next break. Akeru was genuinely glad he had joined them.

——There was, however, a matter much more important than his participation in the study group. One he had left for later.

“Chihaya, do you have a moment?”

Akeru called out to him just as he had left the empty room, heading towards his own. There was clear suspicion on Chihaya’s face, but he nevertheless followed him to a corner of the hallway without ever uttering a word.

“I’ve given you a lot of trouble with the latest incident. Allow me to apologize again,” Akeru bowed.

“I don’t mind,” Chihaya answered just the same way as before.

“But I do mind. You could have also ended up gravely injured if anything else had gone wrong, and now there are weird rumors going around. I’ve been thinking a lot about if there was something I could do to pay you back.”

Chihaya’s expression became slightly troubled, but Akeru kept talking without paying it any mind. “Despite your bad relationship with Kimichika, you came to the Monastery through the Minami-Tachibana’s recommendation, right?”

“..... You investigated me?”

“I’m sorry, but yes. Back when I lost against you during our first match, my followers checked your family register in the census, as well as your general background, and came to inform me. That’s when I heard that you have a little sister and her health is poor, so you couldn’t refuse the Minami-Tachibana’s assistance. When Kimichika intimidated you during your fight that one time, he meant your sister, right?”

In a matter of seconds, Chihaya’s expression went entirely blank.

“I’m fully aware it was presumptuous of me to do so. That said, let me ask you something else. Would you let me assist you with that?” Chihaya didn’t reply to his question. “You must loathe this situation, having your sister essentially be a hostage to Kimichika. This is just as a way of apology, there are no ulterior motives or anything,” Akeru emphasized. “It’s all out of pure goodwill, I mean it.”

Up until then, Akeru had only taken advantage of his own position and the power his birth had given him. He had done nothing but act arrogantly in front of people like Chihaya or Shigemaru. However, he had no plans to commit the same mistakes and misuse his power anymore. He wanted to follow Yukiya’s advice. This would be a good first at using his influence in the correct way, or so he thought.

“The Western House will support you, if you wish so, and we’ll take good proper care of your sister too. It’s not like you want to be under Kimichika either. Right, Chihaya?”

Chihaya opened his mouth after a long silence.

“That’s right,” he murmured in a self-deprecating tone. “That much is true. I’m not receiving the Minami-Tachibana’s aid because I like it that way.”

“Then!” Akeru said enthusiastically.

The look in Chihaya’s eyes, however, was as cold as ice.

“——It’s as I thought. You’re just like Kimichika.” Just like that, Chihaya turned his back on him and quickly left the place behind. Akeru had no time to stop him.

…… Did he just anger him?

Frozen in place, Akeru watched Chihaya as he vanished into the distance.

“But, why?” He couldn’t even imagine the reason behind Chihaya’s anger.

Next: Chihaya (Part 1)

—————————————

1: Warfare Records is my take on Senpu (戦譜), which is in itself a reference to Kifu (棋譜). Kifu is the word for records of abstract strategy games like Shogi or Go, which can be used to fully replicate a game. Each game has their own notation methods.

#Translation: The Raven of the Empty Coffin #yatagarasu #yatagarasu series #the raven does not choose its master #karasu wa aruji wo erabanai

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sayaka19fan · 1 month ago

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#bananafish #banana fish #ash lynx #aslan jade callenreese

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sayaka19fan · 1 month ago

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Zeno in Akatsuki No Yona: Illustrations - 20th Anniversary Edition (2023) by Kusanagi Mizuho

#akatsuki no yona #akayona #hana to yume #kusanagi mizuho #shoujo #hakusensha #art book #official

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sayaka19fan · 1 month ago

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The Raven of the Empty Coffin: Chapter 2 "Akeru" Part 2

Blog version

For the Index, you can find it HERE

Previously: Akeru (Part 1)

⊛　　　　　⊛　　　　　 ⊛

Chapter 2: Akeru (Part 2)

“What do you mean? He opposed Father's abdication!?” Natsuka was so enraged that his question came out as a roar.

The guard who brought him the news, however, didn't even blink in response. “No matter how much you ask me—the Department of Worship has just made the proclamation that they aren't going to recognize His Majesty’s abdication. People believe it to be the White Raven’s sole decision, as His Majesty the Emperor has uttered no word on the matter. He remains in seclusion as per usual.”

“The Imperial Court must be a complete chaos now,” Rokon commented blithely. There wasn’t even a hint of concern coming from him.

The White Raven—the leader of all priests in Yamauchi. The very man who had once declared his younger brother the ‘True Golden Raven’ and asked Natsuka to renounce his right to the throne. He had been Wakamiya’s main supporter throughout the years. What was he thinking now of all times?

“His Highness Wakamiya is in the city at the moment, but we have already sent another messenger for him. What’s the plan, Lord Natsuka?”

“I'm going to the Imperial Court, of course.” There was no use remaining here, worrying himself sick. Natsuka stood up and quickly put on the coat his attendants offered him. “We’ll reunite with His Highness and go meet the White Raven together. Please, inform him to prepare to see us. Don't let the rabble establish any contact with him until we are done.”

“Understood.”

“You, come with me.”

On his way to the Imperial Court, the messenger who had gone to search for Wakamiya returned. Both brothers had apparently thought of the same thing, as, according to the man’s report, Wakamiya was already on his way to the White Raven's chambers. In fact, just moments after Natsuka’s carriage arrived at the Great Gate—the Imperial Court's front entrance— he caught sight of Wakamiya and his bodyguard’s horses landing there as well.

“Nazukihiko!”

“Brother, how’s the situation?” Wakamiya leaped off the saddle with a severe look on his face.

A few court officials saw them and started to make a racket. Natsuka moved to stand in between them and Wakamiya, as if protecting his little brother. “The door to the Department of Worship is sealed off now. They were the ones who made the announcement on the White Raven’s stead. I already told them to bring him out to talk.”

“What about the Ministers? What's their reaction?”

“None so far, but there are emissaries from the Four Houses already crowding the entrance to the Department of Worship. The door will have to open, it's only a matter of time.”

Wakamiya stood there in silence for a second. Finally he sighed weakly, as if expressing his wholehearted resignation. “We don't have the time to go through any intermediaries. Let's break through to the Main Temple and head directly to the Forbidden Gate.”

“As you wish.”

Wakamiya’s exclusive bodyguard, Sumio, who had limited himself to listening to the conversation up to that point, took the lead as they advanced. Wakamiya and Natsuka went right after him, surrounded by Rokon and his subordinates for protection. Just like that, they pushed forward through the Court's hallways.

Beyond the Hall of State Ceremonies, at the innermost section of the Imperial Court, were the Acting Golden Raven's private chambers. Normally, to go in without his invitation would be unthinkable, but they didn't have the time to care about that. Not now. Their destination wasn't even their father's abode, but the Forbidden Gate which laid past it.

It was said that Lord Yamagami’s Holy Precincts(1) were near the peak of the Center Mountain, inside of which the Imperial Court had been built. The Holy Precincts supposedly served as a pathway to the Outside too, which was why the Forbidden Gate existed to act as a divide between the Precincts and the Imperial Palace. The Golden and White Ravens’ tasks were to listen to Yamagami's divine will through the Forbidden Gate, perform the requisite religious services and so govern Yamauchi.

Such was the reason to have the Golden Raven's palace as the building closest to the Forbidden Gate. On top of that, the White Raven, as the head priest, was always waiting close to the Gate to ensure its protection.

Wakamiya forced the Hall of State Ceremonies, which had been completely closed off, to open. A few of the Acting Golden Raven's secretaries and ladies-in-waiting hurried there upon hearing the ruckus, shrieking at the scene. To be fair, even considering the present circumstances, to set foot in the Emperor's abode with a full group of bodyguards was too much of a transgression. In the end, aside from Sumio and Rokon, they left behind all their guards.

Under normal circumstances, the protocol dictated that they should have first established contact through the Department of Worship and therefore requested an audience with the White Raven, but there was no time for proper procedure that day. They dashed through the Main Temple as robbers would, headed towards the Holy Precincts’ boundary.

“His Highness Wakamiya, Lord Natsuka. I can't believe it—for you two to come here like this!”

Finally, just as they had gone through most of the Imperial Palace, a Yatagarasu dressed not like a Court Official appeared. His robes were white—they marked him as a priest and subordinate of the White Raven.

“I’m sorry, but nobody besides the Golden and White Ravens and their chosen priests can go any further.”

“The True Golden Raven has the right to be here. Besides, it's an emergency and we have already sent notice to the White Raven beforehand,” Natsuka himself announced before Sumio and Rokon even had a chance to open their mouths.

Although it was certainly possible that they had arrived before the messenger did, he decided to conveniently ignore that fact. The priest seemed to be at a loss on what to do. That is, until a few of his coworkers arrived from behind and whispered something to his ear—the shock on his face was plain to see.

The priests talked between themselves for some time while repeatedly glancing at them. Then, they finally faced the group with resolve in their eyes.

“......My apologies for the impudence. The White Raven shall meet with you at the Forbidden Gate. I'll guide you there,” he said this time around, before proceeding to politely lead them through the place.

What followed after another stretch of hallways, all covered in the usual Court decorations, was an old corridor. Unlike the usual wooden floor, this was made of stone. Waterways ran along both sides of it, branching off here and there to seemingly lead the water to a variety of locations. From the looks of it, its origin laid in the direction they were walking towards. They followed along its course, as if going upstream, until they reached their destination.

The hall was massive—even needlessly so—circular, and carved out of the stone itself. The height of its ceiling too was breathtaking. And there, just opposite the entrance Natsuka and the rest had come through, stood a gigantic door—so tall that one had to look up to contemplate it. The inner side of the hall’s arched stone walls had been cut in multiple places, each gash about big enough to allow one person to pass through, and, mysteriously enough, the same water flowing towards the corridors seemed to gush out from the stone itself.

This was Natsuka’s first time getting so close to the Forbidden Gate. For a while, he just stood still, taken by the strange atmosphere of the place. However, he soon noticed a familiar face standing in the middle of the room.

“Worship Consul…” After the White Raven had fallen ill a few years ago, the Worship Consul had been acting as his representative and handled all the religious services within the Imperial Court. He was a thoughtful-looking man, already nearing old age himself. “Why are you here? Where's the White Raven?”

“I came ahead due to the White Raven's poor health. While he's preparing to come over at present, I do believe I’m sufficiently qualified to explain his opinion on the matter myself.” With those words, the Worship Consul gave them a deep bow.

Natsuka and Wakamiya glanced at each other.

“Fine, let's listen then. Why did you oppose Father's abdication?”

“Wasn't the White Raven the one who told me to give up the throne in favor of Wakamiya over ten years ago? Why tell us to wait now? I can't understand it,” Natsuka asked right after his brother.

“That’s completely understandable,” the Worship Consul said as he lowered his head once more. “However, do please forgive us. This is a decision taken after much deliberation not only from the White Raven, but all the priests as well. We wouldn't have made such a proclamation if we had an alternative.”

“Then why? Tell me the reason,” Wakamiya commanded.

In answer, the Consul looked at him with imploring eyes. “Before that, could I ask for something?”

“What?”

“Could Your Highness Wakamiya open the Forbidden Gate……?”

While Natsuka was taken aback by such an unexpected request, Wakamiya himself didn’t hesitate to obey and do as asked. The Forbidden Gate had once been closed with a key bigger than Wakamiya's head, but the lock was already undone. As far as appearances went, anyone should be capable of opening it.

At first, Wakamiya pushed it like he would any other door. It didn't move an inch. Natsuka, incapable of just watching, even lent him a hand. They both tried to push the door open together, slamming themselves against it. It was all pointless.

The Consul dropped his head in defeat. “As I guessed.”

“What do you mean? What's the actual point behind this?” Natsuka raised his voice in anger, irritated by the Consul's incomprehensible attitude. Wakamiya too looked at the man with confusion. Seeing that, the Consul started to explain with obvious resignation.

“Nineteen years ago, when His Highness Wakamiya was born, the bells by the delivery room started to ring and the Forbidden Gate unlocked on its own. Up to that point, it was all as it has been transmitted within the Department of Worship. We all thought without a doubt that you were the True Golden Raven.”

Which was exactly why, at the time, the White Raven informed the previous Acting Golden Raven of the True Golden Raven’s birth as Wakamiya, and the news was shared with all of Yamauchi. The plan was for the then Crown Prince—His Majesty the Emperor at present—to never even ascend to the throne and to have his son, Nazukihiko, go through his coronation as soon as he was of age.

That was, of course, until something unexpected happened.

“The Forbidden Gate didn't open.”

“That's—”

“According to the legends, anyone should be capable of opening the Forbidden Gate once it’s unlocked. And yet, the gate has remained sealed despite its lock coming undone. Do you remember it, by any chance?” the Consul asked gloomily. “When you were still young, Your Highness, we brought you here once. We thought that, maybe, if you yourself tried to open it, it would work. However, the Forbidden Gate didn't even budge at your attempts. That was the first time that doubt on your status as the True Golden Raven took root.”

Natsuka's mind went blank for a second.

“...... Wait a minute. Why are you speaking as if His Highness Wakamiya isn't the True Golden Raven?” Sumio asked the Worship Consul in a shrill tone. He probably couldn't remain quiet any longer, given the gravity of the situation for his master.

The Consul’s only answer was to look away, much to Natsuka's own disbelief.

“Don't tell me that's your point. Are you truly implying that Nazukihiko isn't the True Golden Raven?”

While it wasn't the first time someone had expressed their doubts due to the sealed Forbidden Gate, he had never ever imagined the priests themselves would be putting his legitimacy into question. Natsuka had felt irritation before for their lack of a proper answer to the matter, but this was different.

“Don't fuck with me,” Natsuka growled.

Ever since his little brother had been proclaimed the true Golden Raven, Natsuka had gone through turmoil after turmoil. Thoughts of all those struggles, of the many times his brother had almost died, filled him. People had admonished them, told them it was the duty of those born in the Imperial Family and the True Golden Raven. Fueled by that duty, they had both endured the Imperial Court's many schemes and gone through such great personal pain. And yet!

No matter how much Natsuka tried to calm himself down, his body wouldn't stop shaking. “Are you going to just babble now, after all this time, saying it was all a misunderstanding!? You of all people should be fully aware of how much Nazukihiko and I have suffered until now. If you're saying it was all just a mistake, then why did we brothers have to go through—”

“Brother,” Wakamiya’s sharp voice brought him to a stop. At a loss for words, Natsuka turned around to find his brother there. He had remained unmoving, calmly watching over them. “Let's first listen to what the Worship Consul has to say.”

“But!”

“Then, let's first clarify one thing. Worship Consul,” Wakamiya called to him with a steady, clean voice that resonated through the entire room, “am I not the True Golden Raven?”

Natsuka wasn’t the only one waiting for the answer with bated breath, as Sumio and Rokon joined him as well. The man, however, shook his head slowly with despair painted all over his face. “...... We don't know.”

“You don't know……?”

“At this time, it has become impossible for us to determine it. The Forbidden Gate is unlocked, yet it cannot be opened. If it were only that, we could still make do—but there are other bigger reasons to question the validity of Wakamiya's status as the True Golden Raven.”

“And which reasons are those? Tell me,” Natsuka urged him. His fury was genuine, yet the Consul was obstinate.

“I can't tell you. What if someone tried to feign being the True Golden Raven? The conditions are kept in strict secrecy so they stay out of the ears of anyone who isn't a priest. But, His Highness Wakamiya doesn't fulfill this most important of conditions.”

Wakamiya blinked, clearly perplexed. “I'm not an imposter or anything of the like. At least, I myself think so, but……”

“Nazukihiko was declared the True Golden Raven when he was barely an infant, so don't just go spouting things at random.”

“We're troubled as well! We truly don't believe that Your Highness is lying to us either. Besides, if we look at specifics, you do indeed have the powers of the True Golden Raven. And yet, why—”

Then, just when the Worship Consul was starting to clam up again, his annoyance at the situation grown too big, someone else's feeble voice interrupted the scene.

“That’s enough, Consul. I'll explain everything.”

Upon noticing them, both Sumio and Rokon shifted to the sides—there was a group of people all dressed in white by the hall's entrance, and walking in front was a tiny old man. His body was thin, withered away, and his back was crouched by age, giving him a sense of fragility. He looked as if, the very second he had to stand unsupported by someone else, he would fall over to the ground. His face was covered in wrinkles and adorned by a thick white mustache, yet his appearance couldn't be any further away from regal.

Astonished, Natsuka even forgot his anger from moments ago.

“You're—the White Raven……?”

He was so different from their last meeting that he couldn't believe it at first. Natsuka had certainly heard that his health had taken a turn for the worse a few years ago, that much was true. In fact, nearly five years had passed since the time the Worship Consul first took his place in ceremonies. In Natsuka's memories, however, the image of the White Raven was mostly that of the day he came to recommend abdication to him. He had been under the genuine impression that the man was hardy and healthy despite his old age.

With Natsuka petrified, it was Wakamiya who rushed to the White Raven’s side.

“Someone bring a bench, let the White Raven sit down.”

“No, I can’t sit down in front of His Excellency…”

“It's an order. Sit,” Wakamiya flatly rejected the notion before further asking for forgiveness. “I’m sorry, I didn't know your situation was this dire. My sincere apologies for calling you today.”

“There’s no need. It's me who has no excuses to give you, making you come all the way here,” the White Raven gave him a feeble bow before sitting on a bench brought by one of his priests. He deeply sighed. “It's no wonder Lord Natsuka would be angered, receiving this news after so long. However, we were left with no alternative.”

“Tell us, then. What's the secret requisite for a True Golden Raven?”

“That's—” the White Raven spoke with a hoarse, strained voice. “Memories.”

As simple as his words were, their meaning escaped them at first. Seeing the princes’ confusion, the White Raven gave them a clearer explanation.

“Your Highness, you lack the memories of the first True Golden Raven, correct?”

“...... What does that mean?”

“Starting from the founder of the line, a True Golden Raven is supposed to inherit the memories of all True Golden Ravens who preceded him—but you lack them. We are the ones with questions. Why do you not remember anything at all!?”

The Golden Raven was the father and mother of all Yatagarasu. No matter the time, he shall appear in front of the people, his beloved children. No matter the struggle they're facing, he shall protect his people and be the one to guide them and enlighten them. The Golden Raven was the leader of all Yatagarasu.

——To the Yatagarasu, the True Golden Raven was their perfect, infallible ruler.

Natsuka had believed the reason laid in the soul, the spirit driven to prioritize his people over anything else. Nazukihiko was different from him—he could mend the tears in Yamauchi's barriers, transform at night, and he had the ability to see a Yatagarasu's true nature and make the most out of it. Above all, his selfless heart made him use those selfsame capabilities for everyone else’s sake rather than his own.

All that time, Natsuka had lived believing that was the key difference—what separated him from his brother—but, according to the White Raven’s words, for a True Golden Raven, that was an imperfect form.

“The True Golden Raven is literally the ancestor of all Yatagarasu.” The White Raven extended a trembling hand in Wakamiya's direction. “His Excellency, the first Golden Raven, came to this land led by lord Yamagami—he was the father of the princes who founded the Four Houses and the ancestor to all Yatagarasu living in Yamauchi. The True Golden Raven is none other than his reborn self. That’s his true nature.”

If he truly were the ‘True Golden Raven’, there should have been no need whatsoever to explain any of this to Wakamiya. It was, in fact, quite the opposite. The moment his memories returned, all priests excluding the White Raven were supposed to fall under the True Golden Raven's direct command.

“The roles are different than you think,” the White Raven said, out of breath. “When the True Golden Raven is absent, the White Raven performs anything related to religious matters and the Acting Golden Raven takes care of governance. That's how the division of responsibilities is supposed to work. Our job is merely to wait for the True Golden Raven's return. We never expected to be in a position where we had to determine whether a prince was in fact the real Golden Raven or not.”

When the lock of the Forbidden Gate first opened, they acted on the belief that Wakamiya would soon recover his memories. He was just an infant incapable of speech back then, so they should come back as he grew up. Time passed and, even when Wakamiya returned from the Outside, even when he came of age, up to the present, he still showed no signs whatsoever of remembering anything.

For the White Raven, this had been a wholly unexpected development. He couldn't recognize Wakamiya’s coronation when, as the True Golden Raven, he didn't fulfill the most important condition of them all. He waited until the very last moment for Wakamiya's memories to return, but, once talks about the Acting Golden Raven's abdication came to him, he determined he couldn't keep doing so any longer and the aforementioned proclamation followed.

“Then, am I truly not the True Golden Raven?”

“We cannot say with certainty,” the Worship Consul explained in the White Raven’s stead, who was breathing painfully and with great difficulty. “There is truly no question that Your Highness is something incredibly close to the True Golden Raven. The power you possess is undoubtedly that of one. It’s clear that you aren't a simple Yatagarasu.”

Despite that, he couldn't be called a complete True Golden Raven either. Everything about him was too half-baked.

“Then—what am I?” Wakamiya murmured, bewilderment all over his face. An understandable reaction. If he hadn't asked, Natsuka himself would have pressed the priests for answers.

“There is one possibility that has occurred to us,” the White Raven looked at the Consul, who raised his head.

“His Highness, Lord Natsuka, do you know what these are?” The Consul pointed to a number of evenly spaced stone boxes, all lined up as if enveloping the center of the room. Water flowed from them. Both Natsuka and Wakamiya shook their heads, to which the Worship Consul nodded. “These are the coffins of past True Golden Ravens.”

Natsuka’s eyes widened. Truth to be told, he had thought they were shaped like coffins for a second there, but cremation was the custom for aristocrats in Yamauchi and, while he had seen a corpse in a wooden coffin before, this was the first time he ever saw one made of stone.

“They may look like stone, but these coffins are actually made of plain wood.”

“Plain wood? How can that be!?”

Even upon closer inspection, the coffins looked as if they were made of sparkling white stone. It was hard to examine them in detail due to the water gushing out from the stone’s surface but, as the Consul urged him to try to touch one of them, the sensation was unmistakably that of rock.

“After the water has flowed out of it for long enough, the plain wood of the coffin transforms into stone.”

The True Golden Ravens’ remains were never cremated, unlike the rest of the Imperial Family. It was their duty to protect Yamauchi even after death, according to the Consul, and so they were placed in these wooden vertical coffins and enshrined surrounding the Forbidden Gate.

“As for why water flows from coffins made of wood, or why that same wood doesn’t rot but instead transforms into stone, we don’t know either. There is no doubt, however, that those within these coffins are the successive True Golden Ravens. The problem is with this one,” the Worship Consul pointed at the coffin positioned at the farthest side of the room. It was truly made of plain wood. No water flowed from it and it hadn’t yet become stone either. After they had observed for a while, the Consul came closer to it. “Please, take a look.”

He put a hand on the coffin’s lid and, with a surprisingly light sound, opened it.

“Wait—” Natsuka tried to stop him by sheer reflex, but his attempt was cut short the moment he took a look inside. His mouth opened in shock.

“It’s…… empty?” Sumio, who was waiting by Wakamiya’s side, whispered in surprise. Just as he said, there was nothing within.

“This is the coffin where the previous True Golden Raven was supposed to be buried,” the White Raven said with a tone so sad, it felt as if he was about to cry. “We think this may well be the reason why Your Highness Wakamiya’s memories won’t return.”

“But, where are the remains of the previous True Golden Raven? Was it impossible to bury him properly?”

In answer to Natsuka's question, the Worship Consul vexedly caressed the empty coffin. “We don’t know. It’s not even only about the remains, it’s also unclear how the previous True Golden Raven died at all.”

From what they knew, the last True Golden Raven died about one hundred years ago. At the time, the Forbidden Gate was supposedly still open and the Golden Raven did visit the Holy Precincts and serve Yamagami himself. Back then, Yamauchi was truly peaceful. However, one time, the True Golden Raven never came back from the Holy Precincts and, as the people waited for his return, the Forbidden Gate closed by itself. Nobody was capable of opening it ever since.

——They believed that the True Golden Raven had died in the Holy Precincts.

There was a funeral and a new Acting Golden Raven ascended to the throne, but that crucial corpse was never found, not even after all these years, so only an empty coffin remained of it.

“That’s all that’s written within the records inherited by the White Raven generation after generation.”

“The reality of the matter is that, due to the missing remains, his burial was left incomplete. We suspect that the burial process of a True Golden Raven may be intrinsically related to the inheritance of memories, due to the very differing rites compared to the rest of the Imperial Family.” Yet this very important ritual was left incomplete a hundred years ago. That was the root cause of Wakamiya’s birth as an incomplete True Golden Raven, or so the priests suspected.

“Besides, the True Golden Raven is supposed to reincarnate at the times he's needed, with the most suitable form both physically and mentally to handle the disasters that will threaten Yamauchi. However, it never took more than twenty years for the True Golden Raven to return at the longest. Not until now.”

——It was already an abnormality for the True Golden Raven to not be reborn for a hundred years.

Natsuka put a hand on his frozen brother's shoulder in an attempt to cheer him up. If he didn’t do that, Natsuka felt as if he himself would end up on the ground.

“...... If that's the case, what are you going to do?” Natsuka could now understand why the White Raven wasn’t in a position to declare Wakamiya the True Golden Raven, but the situation couldn't stay like this. “If Nazukihiko doesn't take the throne, our father will be stuck as the Acting Golden Raven. The Imperial Court will be left dancing to the tune of the Four Houses and we will be unable to counter the very disaster the True Golden Raven was supposed to handle for us!”

Neither the White Raven or the Worship Consul had any answers. Wakamiya watched them in silence before, finally, murmuring something, “The White Raven isn't wrong. Even if I were to ascend to the throne like this, we don't even know for sure how much an incomplete True Golden Raven can achieve against the coming disaster.”

“But—!”

“The imperfection is, of all places, in the Golden Raven's consciousness—the part most concerned with decision-making. Right now, it's as if I possessed a very sharp sword with no knowledge on how to use it. If I were to make a mistake, it could easily lead us to an unfixable situation.”

“Nazukihiko,” Natsuka said. He had to say something—anything—to his brother, but he couldn’t find any words to offer him.

“Your memories—if only Your Highness Wakamiya's memories were to return, we will wholeheartedly welcome your coronation. But, please, forgive us.” The White Raven threw himself to the ground from his bench, as if collapsing, and grovelled over the stone floor. “As Your Highness is right now, we cannot recognize you as the True Golden Raven no matter what……!”

Afterwards, Natsuka returned to his own residence to change his clothes. As he dressed himself in the deep purple priestly garments, his mind ran at full speed to figure out what to say to the ministers. To control the ensuing chaos, they now had to give a formal explanation at the Hall of State Ceremonies—or that was the idea. In reality, Natsuka—the one who should have his act together the most—was even more shaken than Wakamiya himself.

He couldn't keep going like this. He put his hand on his forehead just as he heard someone's amused voice from behind. “So you don't plan to change stances, even when faced with a failure of a Golden Raven?”

Natsuka turned around impetuously. His eyes met Rokon's, who was leaning against the wall with a smirk.

“What did you just say……?”

——A failure of a Golden Raven, is that what he said?

Natsuka approached Rokon with heavy, loud footsteps, slamming him against the wall by the neck. He squeezed. “Don't ever say stupid things like that again!”

Rokon's back met the wall with a dull noise and Natsuka's attendants, who had been helping him change, let out small screams. Meanwhile, Rokon himself was wearing the same unchanging grin from ear to ear. “I haven't said anything stupid. It's a fact that even His Highness Wakamiya himself has recognized, or have you forgotten that?”

“Even if that's the case, I won't stand quietly if you call him so. I won't let anyone ridicule Nazukihiko, not you or any other!” The words came out of his mouth before he even realized it. That same instant, he felt the doubts within him vanish into thin air. “....... Thank you, Rokon. I’ve just made up my mind.”

Natsuka roughly let go of Rokon's neck. He kept glaring at him. “I have the pride of a Yatagarasu of the Imperial Family. As someone born in it, I must fulfill the duty given to me. I haven't even once desired the throne for myself out of self-interest—same as my brother.”

So, as long as Nazukihiko tried to selflessly fulfill his duty as a member of the Imperial Family, Natsuka would keep believing in him. “No matter what others may say, my brother is a proper Golden Raven and he’s qualified as Yamauchi's ruler. I don't know what you're planning, but if you expect me and my brother’s relationship to go awry, you better give up now.”

Rokon, who was looking at Natsuka as if studying him, suddenly smiled in a pleased manner. “I'm not planning anything. Lord Natsuka should do whatever he wishes. No matter what order you give me, I'll obey them all.”

He spoke as if soothing an obstinate, selfish child. Filled with suspicion, Natsuka looked him in the eye and, subconsciously, gulped at what he found there.

“I’ll merely stay loyal to you in my own way,” Rokon said with a laugh, his eyes like those of a beast who knew no mercy.

⊛　　　　　⊛　　　　　 ⊛

The Director finished his explanation on the situation as Suikan looked him over.

“Then,” Seiken spoke, “the coronation has indeed been indefinitely postponed……”

“That's right.”

“Has the Imperial Court given any detailed explanations?”

The Director slowly shook his head. “Not any clear one, no. We haven't been informed of why the White Raven ordered the coronation to be postponed, or why His Highness Wakamiya accepted it.” There were rumors it had been Natsuka who hid the truth of the matter, but whether they were true or not, nobody knew. “Regardless of that, this is going to be a problem.”

——It had been ten days since the priests made their proclamation.

They were in a wide drawing room found in the Unbending Reed Monastery’s instructor quarters. All of the main instructors were there, from those responsible for the Seeds to those taking care of the Evergreens. The lamps’ light wavered as their faces emerged from the darkness under them. Their expressions were all grim.

“The custom is for the position of Monastery Director to be transferred with the accession of a new Golden Raven, as you know. You may also remember that we had arranged to invite Abbot Takubou of Heaven's View Temple and to start the proceedings to hand over the position of Director to him, but that’s null now as well.”

None of them had any idea what the future had in store for them, not in the current circumstances. The Director looked at them one by one, their faces wordlessly twisted with mixed feelings, and put on a strained expression of his own. “I know you must all be ill at ease, but our duty as instructors doesn’t change because of this. As long as there are no movements in the Imperial Court, the administrative structure here won’t change in any form compared to before. Just fulfill your respective tasks.”

As the instructors voiced their agreement in unison, Seiken alone scratched his cheek. “Still, this is a problem. Rumors about the situation are already circulating among the trainees. They’re already divided by the Wakamiya and Animiya factions as-is, which is driving wedges between them, and now we can expect the situation to worsen even further.”

“Who do you think would be the most problematic?”

“Kimichika of Minami-Tachibana, I would say. There have been signs for a long time,” an instructor in charge of the Saplings answered with a sour face.

Kashin, who took care of many of the practical courses, further added to the conversation, “There is an unusual amount of high-ranking and talented boys among the Seeds this year. May he be fretting because of that?”

“True. Ever since Akeru of the Western House arrived, I feel his concerning behavior has become much more conspicuous. I often see those who identify with the Animiya faction—Kimichika acting as their leader—picking fights with Akeru.”

Hearing the Saplings’ theory instructor’s insight, Seiken sighed. “Akeru has been buying into it quite a bit as well. I let them be. Birds of a feather flock together, you know. But, after today, that may not be something we can take so lightly anymore. I must request all instructors to pay extra attention. We cannot allow a bunch of fair squabbles to turn into one-sided bullying.”

“Got it.” Voices raised in agreement from here and there at Seiken’s warning.

Once the Director confirmed that if there were any new developments at the Imperial Court, they would all be summoned again immediately, and after he insisted that they had to guide the trainees in order to avoid any conflict over politics arising, their meeting finally came to an end.

The very minute the meeting ended, Suikan, who had been making an effort to not bring attention upon himself, left the drawing room behind.

It was a slightly cloudy night. In the hallway, he could feel the humidity accompanying the tepid atmosphere. Sometimes practical courses were changed into theory when it rained, so his mood plummeted the moment he thought of the coming day.

Suikan attempted to return to his room, but then he heard a voice calling for him from behind.

“Instructor Suikan, could I have a moment?” Suikan turned to find Seiken rushing towards him, his black feather robe fluttering as he moved.

“What’s the issue?”

“I’ve overheard rumors that you’re giving certain trainees special treatment in your classes, is that true?” Suikan refused to answer, and Seiken pressed his lips together tightly. “I’ll make my question more specific, then. Did you truly punish the trainees involved in the dispute with Kimichika all over again?”

“Yes.”

“And what about the rumor that, ever since, you keep on naming Yukiya as your opponent during exercises to ruthlessly beat him on the board? I’ve also heard that you are actively trying to punish him by making him organize the library or clean up the bamboo grove, so he doesn’t even have the time to do his homework.”

Suikan had been fully aware he would be reprimanded for his actions someday, so he answered with full composure, “They changed the wording a bit, but it was obvious many trainees were copying the work of that. That’s his punishment, and prevention for the future.”

“If that’s the case, everyone who copied the homework should have been punished equally. There’s no way the attitude you have around Yukiya is that of an instructor with a trainee.”

“Well, I don’t recognize him as a trainee,” Suikan answered.

Seiken’s eyes widened with surprise. “Why?”

“You must have realized it too, even without me saying it, right? His existence only disturbs the peace of the Monastery. As far as this place is concerned, he does nothing aside from harm. He’s nothing but poison for the rest of the trainees,” Suikan declared.

“...... Even if that were the case, as long as he’s a trainee, he is one of our students, same as everyone else. No matter how you yourself may feel about him, the moment you make a show of it, there won’t be any avoiding the suspicion that you’re playing favorites with Kimichika.”

“Not like I mind if people think that,” Suikan countered immediately.

The look in Seiken’s eyes became all the more pointed. “This isn’t only your problem, Instructor Suikan. It’s an issue that affects the reputation of all the instructors in the Monastery. You should treat all trainees fairly no matter what.”

“Fine…”

He at least wanted to avoid Seiken’s anger, so Suikan lowered his head obediently. Seiken watched him for a while, as if observing and studying him, and then suddenly smiled. “You’re still very inexperienced as an instructor. Don’t lose too much spirit.”

“I greatly appreciate the concern.”

“Very well then, have a good night.” Seiken gave him his usual smile before departing.

Suikan watched his back as he walked away. Then, he let out an unconscious sigh in disappointment. With heavy steps, he returned to his room, where the very focus of the earlier conversations was waiting for him.

“I’m taking the chance to intrude here.”

The boy held up his sake in quite the tasteless move given alcohol was formally prohibited. Cups and snacks were spread all over the room. Suikan crossed his arms. “I told you that you could come in whenever you wanted, but not that I would look the other way when you drink alcohol.”

“Don’t be so stiff! So, how’d it go? The meeting.”

“There haven’t been any significant developments. I didn’t get any information beyond what you had already, but you came up in the conversation,” Suikan coldly said at last.

“Me? How so? What brought me up?”

“They said that your behavior couldn’t be overlooked. How about stopping the despotic antics?” Suikan asked, making a point out of his own bad mood. “All that championing the Animiya Faction and picking fights with the Wakamiya Faction kids—particularly that Akeru of the Western House. Stop with that idiocy right now. If things keep going like this, I won’t be able to protect you any longer.”

“Look at who’s talking. You’re treating Yukiya of the Northern House like shit and yet you’re scolding me? He’s from the Wakamiya Faction too, right?” Kimichika said, all full of himself.

“Don’t lump me together with the likes of you!” Suikan snapped back. He knew it was childish of him, but he couldn’t help it.

Kimichika must have realized just how furious he was. He snorted in exasperation. “Would you do me the favor and chill out? If we’re talking about my behavior lately, it’s not like I’m doing it just because I feel like it. It’s on purpose—mostly.”

“What?”

“My very own brother told me to.”

Just the last person he wanted to hear about. Suikan let out a pained groan. “... So it was him.”

Natsuka’s closest vassal and subordinate, Rokon. He had been Suikan’s senior by one year back when he was a trainee at the Monastery.

“This is just to rein in the Wakamiya Faction.”

“What is that thinking? Lord Natsuka himself has expressed his allegiance to Wakamiya, there is no meaning in doing any of this.”

Kimichika’s expression twisted in a way that made it clear he was mocking Suikan. “You truly don’t get my brother.”

“As if I want to! He’s a man who will tout things like ‘the path to true loyalty comes from knowing pleasure’. The less ideas I have in common with him, the better.”

That man was crazy. There was no other way to put it, even if one were to be tactful. The day Suikan became capable of understanding what he was thinking would also be the day Suikan was effectively dead as a person.

Kimichika observed him with amusement and started to play with the cup of sake, swaying it.

“My brother hasn’t given up on making Lord Natsuka the Golden Raven,” Kimichika declared cheerfully, as if he were talking about the weather and not something so alarming. “And you’re my brother’s favorite. When the time comes, there’s no doubt he intends to choose you as his tactician.”

“...... Not something I care about.”

“But, given the fact that you’re covering for me like this, you must not be unhappy about it either, right?”

This damn brat. Suikan cursed Kimichika internally, yet he made no attempt to either confirm or deny the notion. “Anyway, your current course of action won’t help you in any shape or form. I don’t give a shit about what your brother is planning, but be careful with what you do and say. Unless you want to be outwitted by the Northern House’s insolent brat, that is.”

“By that kid! I have nothing to fear against him.”

“Stop with that fearless act. No matter how much you try to clumsily imitate him, you won’t ever become your brother.”

The moment he heard that, the air of composure fell from Kimichika’s face.

“Shut up….. It’s not your problem.” Kimichika sulked like a child, but Suikan completely ignored him and, instead, insisted on his point.

“You should be proud of not resembling that. You had the fortune of being born right, so stop behaving in a way that puts it to waste,” Suikan earnestly warned him.

Yet Kimichika disregarded his words, acting like a scolded child and unwilling to listen. “Fine, fine! I get it. I’ll behave. It’s not like the end result will change whether I get involved or not.”

Suikan frowned.

“Akeru’s pretensions are starting to fall apart, from the looks of it.” Kimichika’s lips curved. “He’ll self-destruct soon enough.”

Kimichika smiled happily at his own words, sporting a face so similar yet dissimilar to Rokon’s.

Next: Akeru (Part 3)

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1: Holy Precincts is originally Shin’iki (神域), which refers to the precincts of a Shinto shrine or a place where a Shinto god dwells.

#Translation: The Raven of the Empty Coffin #yatagarasu #yatagarasu series #the raven does not choose its master #karasu wa aruji wo erabanai

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