...
Hah.
It hurt.
When Kiyo Seigan opened his eyes, the first things he saw were wisps of violet hair and a pair of brilliant golden eyes, feline in shape.
The oni girl named Mikoshi Chiyo lay beside him. Her tasseled hair spread across the tatami, and faint candlelight played over her delicate, pale face.
"...Hello," Kiyo said.
Mikoshi Chiyo leaned closer. Her nose twitched softly as though testing his scent. Then she tilted her head, apparently inspecting his injuries.
"Hel... lo."
After Kiyo purged some of the filth within her, Mikoshi Chiyo had regained the ability to speak a few simple, everyday words.
Her behavior, however, remained much like that of an animal.
Once she had carefully examined his injuries, she buried her head against his chest, closed her eyes, and fell asleep again.
Her wounds were even worse than his.
She had remained beside him all this time, waiting for him to awaken like a little cat keeping watch. Only after Kiyo opened his eyes and the cat greeted him with "hello" did she finally curl up against him and sink into a deep sleep.
"Where are we...?"
He struggled upright and narrowed his eyes.
Cough...
He coughed again and felt his lungs convulse. His body was still terribly weak. He called for Lia in his mind, but the Salt Ruler gave no answer.
This was bad.
Rain was still falling outside.
They were in a well-hidden cave.
A white curtain of rain poured from the rock above and completely veiled its entrance. Looking out from within, Kiyo saw the descending dusk and the whispering forest alike blurred beyond that translucent screen.
The entire world seemed indistinct. Only the tiny splashes blooming between the rocks stood out sharply in his eyes.
"...You're awake?"
Kiyo turned around.
The speaker was a young, inexperienced soldier, little more than a boy. He wore ill-fitting samurai garb, with a standard-issue blade at his waist.
"Hello," Kiyo said. "Were you the one who helped me?"
"Captain Teppei of Herring I!"
The young man gave him a friendly smile. Whenever he grinned so openly, he had an honest, guileless air. He introduced himself with complete seriousness.
"My dream is to become a soldier of the Pillar Army!"
The Pillar Army...?
Kiyo had heard that it was disbanded a century ago.
There was no longer any Pillar Army in Inazuma.
This fellow was certainly strange. How did he intend to join an army that had ceased to exist?
Was he an idiot?
Teppei noticed the confusion in his eyes and scratched his head.
"My great-grandfather served in the Pillar Army. Here's a secret—he once served under the great Pillar General himself! On Yashiori Island! He was an amazing hero who gave his life protecting the people!"
As he spoke of his ancestor, pride filled the young soldier's smile. He straightened his back and continued with obvious familiarity.
"My grandfather served in the Pillar Army too," Teppei said cheerfully. "That's why I want to join it. It's my dream."
"But the Pillar Army has already been disbanded," Kiyo said softly. "And the Pillar General is gone."
"Ah... I know." The young soldier scratched his head again. "A lot of people laugh at me. They say I'm being unrealistic."
"But I think... the Pillar Army will return someday. When it does, I'll be able to enlist."
Teppei's expression was utterly serious, the firelight reflected in his eyes.
"I don't really understand it, but Inazuma doesn't feel like the place it used to be. It shouldn't be like this. The Shogunate soldiers are strange, and so are the Commissions."
"It shouldn't be like this," he repeated.
Kiyo stared at him for a moment.
"Why did you help me?" he finally asked. "Surely you realized that someone was hunting me. Weren't you afraid of being dragged into this?"
It had not been difficult to guess. Kiyo was covered in blood and carrying a sword, while the forest outside blazed with torches and rang with hoofbeats.
"Of course I knew." Teppei nodded as though the answer were self-evident. "But I'm a soldier. When a soldier sees one of the people lying injured on the ground, he has a duty to help."
"You should know..." Kiyo paused and looked directly into his eyes, deciding to tell him the truth. "I'm being hunted by a Fatui Harbinger."
"Then I had even more reason to help you." Teppei met his gaze with an expression of equal certainty. "A citizen of Inazuma being hunted on Inazuman soil by soldiers from another nation? That's outrageous!"
"Besides, soldiers of the Pillar Army hate those people more than anyone. We're supposed to drive every last one of them out! My grandfather told me that. He heard it from my great-grandfather, and my great-grandfather said His Grace the Pillar General taught it to them himself."
Teppei straightened his chest again.
"I'm a proper soldier of the Pillar Army. I don't want to disappoint them."
...He truly was a hopelessly unrealistic, hot-blooded idiot.
Kiyo smiled helplessly.
Generation after generation of idiots.
"Don't laugh at me. I know it sounds childish," Teppei muttered when he saw the smile on Kiyo's lips. "But I really am proud of it..."
"No, I'm not laughing at you." Kiyo patted him on the shoulder and broke into a delighted grin. "I just think your grandfather was right. Those Fatui really are the worst. Every last one of them should get the hell out."
Kiyo did not dislike idiots like this.
The rain continued to patter outside.
Grrrrr—
At that poorly timed sound, Teppei looked somewhat embarrassed.
"Hungry?" Kiyo raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah." He nodded honestly. "I haven't eaten all day."
"Then I'll make you something."
—
They had very little food with them.
Kiyo searched his small traveling pouch and found only two or three pieces of fish tofu.
That presented a problem.
Teppei, Kiyo, and Mikoshi Chiyo all needed to recover their strength. They needed a proper meal.
But the Salty God was still out cold, so there was no salt to be had either.
Even this gifted little cook could not conjure a meal from nothing.
Just then, a noise came from outside the cave. An agile ball of fur shot through the curtain of rain, rolled three times across the ground, and finally sprang upright to reveal a round little face.
It was Ioroi.
A large, plump bass hung from his mouth.
The little tanuki planted his paws proudly upon his hips, fish still clenched between his teeth. Every inch of his face proclaimed, Behold my greatness.
Now they had ingredients.
The little tanuki might be timid and foolish, but when it came to finding food... perhaps only Paimon could rival him.
Kiyo built a fire, scaled and cleaned the bass, and laid it directly over the flames. He dropped the pieces of Kiyono Tofu into water and made a simple clear tofu soup. With a few wild greens added, a fresh fragrance soon filled the cave.
Teppei stared fixedly at the fragrant soup and swallowed.
"...That smells amazing."
"Of course it does." Kiyo took great pride in his cooking. "I am the rightful heir to Kiyono's Tofu Shop."
"Kiyono's Tofu Shop?" Teppei's eyes widened in disbelief. "You mean that Kiyono's Tofu Shop? It's open again?"
"It is." Kiyo nodded. "When we get back, you're welcome to visit."
"I'll go every day."
Teppei spoke with complete sincerity.
Outside, bleak rain still fell while Fatui hoofbeats rang through half the forest. Yet inside the cave, the two of them spoke of food and the days to come. Firelight played across their faces, and its warm breath reached them amid the dancing sparks.
It truly was the strangest experience in the world.
"Actually, I do know," Teppei said.
He took a bite of grilled fish and narrowed his eyes at its crisp surface.
"An ordinary person like me isn't qualified to join the Pillar Army. I don't even have a Vision. They'd never take me."
"Is that so?"
Kiyo fed a piece of tofu to Mikoshi Chiyo. The oni girl had yet to awaken.
"Probably."
Teppei ate a piece of tofu too. Its delicate, clean flavor slipped down his throat, warming his entire body.
"It's delicious. Really delicious."
"But I'm already satisfied. I got to eat Kiyono Tofu! Even on his deathbed, my grandfather still longed to taste the tofu made by the Pillar General. But he never got his wish, because the shop had already closed."
"Now I've tasted Kiyono Tofu. Maybe that means I fulfilled his dream for him?"
This fellow...
Kiyo lowered his head slightly and confirmed his judgment once again.
He was an idiot through and through.
...
They finished the fish and divided the last pieces of tofu between them. Dawn was drawing near.
Dim traces of morning light drooped over the distant mountains. The rain had yet to stop, still weaving slantwise through the leaden sky.
Mikoshi Chiyo remained unconscious. The Salt Ruler still gave no answer, and Kiyo's cough was growing worse.
The Fatui found them just as the sun began to rise.
It was only a small search party.
There were ten of them in all, but every soldier carried a Delusion—an elemental organ that granted powers resembling those of a Vision.
Ordinary people could never hope to match them.
And Teppei was an ordinary person. An ordinary soldier without any particular talent.
His hand trembled around his sword. His shoulders quivered as he stared at the Fatui and the terrifying power radiating from them. He swallowed hard.
"You!" Teppei forced the words out. "My grandfather said you people are the worst. You... You should get out of Inazuma!"
The squad captain could not suppress the derisive smile beneath his mask. The other soldiers burst into laughter with him.
"But..." the captain said with feigned confusion, "was it not your own Commission lords who invited us here?"
"That's right," the soldiers below him chimed in, laughing. "Maybe you're the ones who should get out."
"Hand over the man behind you, then be on your way."
Teppei's lips went dry. He could not find his voice. He lowered his eyes, tightened his grip around the hilt of his tachi, and clenched his teeth.
Then he looked back at Kiyo.
"Go. You have to make it out of here!"
Kiyo watched him without expression.
Teppei gave him another simple, honest smile. His eyes seemed to shine.
"You have to make it out of this forest and keep that shop open. Your Kiyono Tofu... really is delicious. I never tasted the tofu made by the Pillar General himself, but I think this must be what it tasted like."
"If the shop stays open, lots of old people will get to taste it. More old soldiers too. The Pillar General's tofu can't be allowed to die out."
"And what about you?" Kiyo asked.
"I'll stay here." Teppei pressed his lips together, fine beads of sweat gathering upon his face. "I'll hold them back."
"Why would you go this far?" Kiyo asked. "We only met today."
"Because you are one of Inazuma's people, I intend to become a soldier of the Pillar Army, and they are invaders who have set foot upon Inazuman soil."
Teppei clenched his teeth.
"That is the only reason I need."
That was the only reason he needed.
"Hah! The Pillar Army?" Another burst of laughter erupted from the Fatui. "That old relic was disbanded ages ago, and the old man croaked right along with it. What army? Don't make us laugh."
They had followed their Harbinger to Inazuma half a year ago. All they had seen were Shogunate nobles who clung uselessly to office, fawning Commission officials, and a backward nation sealed behind closed borders.
This country was beyond saving.
Everyone knew that the Pillar Army had long since been disbanded.
"...I'm still here," came a trembling voice.
"You?" They laughed. "An ordinary man?"
"An ordinary man." Teppei stared unflinchingly at the Fatui and drew his sword. "Nothing more than a mortal."
"Captain of Herring I." A low roar rose from deep within his throat. "Mishima Teppei. My dream is to become a soldier of the Pillar Army!"
"My great-grandfather was Mishima Saimin."
He clenched his teeth.
"He was a second-class naval soldier under the great Pillar General! Four hundred years ago, he served under the great Pillar General Kiyono in the campaign against the rebels of Watatsumi Island. Under orders, he escorted the civilians of Yashiori Island for three days and three nights. Three hundred and twenty-one people reached safety. Not a single civilian was harmed. The only one who never returned was my great-grandfather himself!"
"I take the deepest pride in that."
"My grandfather served in the Pillar Army too... That is why I want to join it. More than anyone."
"The Pillar Army has one rule: never run, and never abandon the people to save yourself. So I cannot leave."
"My great-grandfather upheld that oath until his dying breath. He saved three hundred and twenty-one people. I am weak. I cannot save so many. But if I can escort even one person—one citizen—to safety, that will be enough for me..."
"Even if I am only a mortal no god has ever noticed. Even if the Pillar General is gone. Even if this is the reality before me—"
He let his sword trail behind him and advanced upon the Fatui.
"I refuse to surrender my dream."
"The Pillar General's tofu will endure, and so will the soldiers of the Pillar Army! My grandfather's dream and my great-grandfather's dream will both come true!"
The battered blade cut through the cold rain and swept straight toward the Fatui captain's neck.
But a Delusion flared.
Teppei's blade stopped. It could advance no farther.
"Glory to the Shogun and her everlasting reign!"
This was a chasm no mortal could cross.
In the end, no god had ever looked upon him.
Teppei trembled. As though exhausting every last trace of strength within him, he roared the oath that had gone unspoken for a century—
"Glory to the Pillar and his centuries of Fudoshin!"
Glory to the Shogun and her everlasting reign.
Glory to the Pillar and his centuries of Fudoshin.
The Delusion's light slowly died.
The captain's head slipped from his shoulders and fell helplessly to the ground. A narrow line of blood appeared across his severed neck, threaded through by a slash of lightning.
Every Fatui soldier stared in shock toward the source of that wound.
The dark-blue-eyed young man stood with a lightning-wreathed blade in his hand. He raised his eyes and regarded them calmly.
Cough.
Kiyo Seigan coughed softly, his lungs filled with bitter cold. Forcing himself to draw his sword had made his entire body feel as though it were being torn apart. His wounds had split open again.
He might lose consciousness at any moment.
Even so...
The majesty he now displayed, his expression and his inviolate, blazing presence, made terror rise in anyone who looked upon him. It was the imperious gaze of one accustomed to command, brilliant and searing as descending thunder.
"I hate you people."
"Take your master and get the hell out."
Kiyo spoke calmly.
"You are not welcome in Inazuma."
His voice was quiet, yet to the Fatui it sounded like the loudest thunder in all the world.
There was no one alive who did not fear thunder.
It was the most primal terror buried within the human heart.
Glory to the Pillar and his centuries of Fudoshin.
"Get the hell out."