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yatagarasuarchive · 2 days ago

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And we start the Chihaya Chapter!

And what better way to start than with Sumio?! This must be a New Year's blessing! Sumio and Yukiya's relationship is always so heartwarming... Sumio missed his little baby brother.

I love his little banter with Masuho-no-Susuki and we get more lore about the time of the previous True Golden Raven (thank you, Sumio).

That flashback conversation with Wakamiya left me like ???? Yukiya is dominating the conversation the whole time??? He really grew up a lot... It's so different from how he used to be.

Anyway, this time around we have new characters like...

...Yui! I love her! She's just a little girl. It breaks my heart to know what happened to her. Btw being called Yui and such, I kinda picture her like Yui from Sakuna of Rice and Ruin, but blind.

Really cool to make her a goze. I read Goze Hotaru some months ago, so I'm still very much fascinated about gozes. It's a really good manga, so check it out if you want (although I must warn you that it got axed by its sales, so the ending feels tasteless).

Going back to the Yatagarasu Series, Abe-sensei writes really great men with internalized mysoginy. And I 100% mean this as a compliment. It's very realistic actually. Idk how to explain, but yeah, good job.

“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.

Ichiryuu is still absolutely traumatized by what happened 2 years ago lol. He never forgets.

“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.”

I also noticed that Shigemaru and Ichiryuu became really close, being roommates and all. I'm so glad for them. They should all be friends. Also, Ichiryuu is an excellent senpai.

In any case, I hope all of this points towards Akeru and Chihaya's reconciliation. We'll see what next part will bring us.

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.

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 #as usual sorry for the rant

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