Tamamo Hotaru was leading the way ahead, looking rather downcast, when she suddenly heard the sound of footsteps hurrying from behind.
She turned around and saw Princess Haruna coming after them, accompanied by her guards and the young boy from earlier.
"I-I'm so sorry. I was completely hopeless back there. But I've thought it through now. This country needs me. The people here need me. I absolutely cannot be the first one to give up!"
Tamamo Hotaru was surprised, but also genuinely pleased.
"I'm so glad you see it that way."
Looking at Tamamo Hotaru, who was truly happy for her, Haruna felt a mix of shame and comfort in her heart.
Then she turned to Akagi Shinji and spoke earnestly. "Mr. Akagi... would it be possible to hire you to rescue the villagers who were taken away by those monsters?"
In just a short while, Haruna seemed to have matured and grown tremendously.
Her tone was sincere now — no more grand boasts or empty promises.
Shinji glanced at her. "I can do it, but only after I finish the previous commission. Also, I can't guarantee we'll actually find those monsters. If we can't..."
"I understand. Just the fact that you're willing to agree to such an unreasonable request is more than enough. As for payment... I will do my best to meet whatever you ask for."
Shinji didn't refuse outright. "How much money do you have with you right now?"
Haruna was taken aback for a moment, then immediately ordered her guards to bring out all the money they carried.
After counting it all, she looked embarrassed.
"O-only 850 taels. We spent almost everything to travel disguised as part of a merchant caravan earlier."
That was only part of the reason.
The bigger reason was that she had almost no savings at all before returning to her homeland.
After all, she had been sent to another country as a political hostage by the previous ruler of the Land of Vegetables.
"This was left to me by my mother... it should be worth quite a bit."
As if suddenly remembering something, Haruna quickly took off the pendant she wore around her neck.
Shinji looked at her several times — he had never met a princess this poor before.
But he let it go. He had intended to go after those Cursed Spirits anyway; saving people along the way was no trouble to him.
"Keep the pendant. I'll take these 850 taels as payment. Whether we succeed or fail, it won't be returned. Can you accept that?"
Haruna knew very well he was doing this out of kindness. She was deeply moved.
"Thank you, Mr. Akagi. You really are such a good person..."
"Stop! That's enough! Say that one more time and I'm leaving right now. You can go save them yourself."
With that, Shinji grabbed the money, turned around with a dark expression, and walked away.
Haruna stood there looking wronged, unsure what she had done to upset him.
She had been too wrapped up in her own thoughts earlier when Tamamo Hotaru had called him a good person, so she hadn't heard his reaction then.
If she had, she certainly wouldn't have made such a silly mistake.
Fortunately, her good sister Tamamo Hotaru was there to explain.
After being told about the strange "customs" from Shinji's homeland, Haruna finally understood where she had gone wrong.
Who on earth would rather admit to being a villain than accept being called a good person?
She still couldn't quite understand it, but she dared not bring up the subject again.
The deeper they traveled into the country, the more tragic the scene became.
Even the Five Great Nations had suffered heavy losses during this disaster caused by Cursed Spirits.
One could only imagine what a small country like the Land of Vegetables — with barely any military strength — would face when struck by such a calamity.
If those Cursed Spirits hadn't left for some unknown reason, there probably wouldn't be anyone left alive in the country by now.
After about an hour or so, they finally arrived at the property Tamamo Hotaru had bought and prepared long ago.
But there was nothing left.
It was nothing but scorched earth; everything had been burned to the ground.
Tamamo Hotaru stood frozen on the spot.
She had a bad feeling before arriving, but seeing the reality was still a devastating shock.
Everything she had stored here to rebuild her clan's fortune was gone — turned to ash in a single fire.
Even Shinji frowned deeply, clearly annoyed.
He knew it wasn't anyone's fault, but still... to have angered the Hidden Cloud Village and wasted so much time and effort traveling all this way, only to end up with nothing...
It was incredibly frustrating.
Tamamo Hotaru bit her lip and began searching desperately through the charred ruins with Kagetsu.
Eventually, they dug up only a few unrecognizable remnants — proof at least that they were in the right place.
But even after Kagetsu's white fur was completely covered in black soot, they found no trace of the jade tokens she had hidden here.
"I... I'm so sorry."
Tamamo Hotaru opened her mouth, wanting to explain, but all she could say was an apology.
Shinji sighed inwardly, said nothing, and nodded reluctantly.
While Tamamo Hotaru stood there numb and helpless, Kagetsu suddenly barked at her twice, then lowered its head slightly, revealing the crescent moon mark on its forehead.
"Hmm? Kagetsu, what are you doing? Oh! I understand now!"
Realization dawned, and she cried out in joy, turning her sorrow into hope. "Kagetsu comes from the royal bloodline of Moonlight Foxes. When the moon is out, it can use a secret art to sense the location of the Fox Spirit Tokens! We just have to wait until night — I know I can find them then!"
It sounded completely made up, but since Shinji wasn't willing to leave empty-handed, he decided to trust her one last time.
They saw that it was getting late, so they simply found a nearby spot to rest and wait.
Slowly, the sky darkened, the sun set, and the moon rose high.
"Ready, Kagetsu?"
Kagetsu jumped down from Tamamo Hotaru's arms, shifted into its true form, and let out a long howl toward the full moon above.
Immediately, the crescent mark on its forehead drew down a beam of pure white moonlight, then reflected it outward in a certain direction.
"..."
"Is... is that it?"
Tamamo Hotaru nodded uncertainly. "Yeah."
"So where are the items?"
"In... that direction."
"That direction? How far away?"
"I... don't know."
"You don't KNOW??"
Tamamo Hotaru looked embarrassed and wanted to just disappear.
Normally, if the distance was short, the moonlight merging with the mark on Kagetsu's forehead would reflect straight down and shine directly onto the location of the tokens.
But the beam just now had only pointed vaguely in a direction and faded away — meaning it was too far away to reach.
"Because they were too far away... the moonlight from the secret art vanished before it could reach them."
"In other words... someone probably took the jade tokens and moved them?"
"Y-yes... that must be it."
"Is it too late to just smash your head in right now?"
"..."
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