"The Four Souls Jewel?"
Kikyo's brows furrowed slightly.
Of course she was no stranger to that name.
In the Shrine's archives, in those yellowed ancient texts, in her master's repeated teachings, the Four Souls Jewel had always been a forbidden topic.
Legend said it was a sacred jewel with supreme power, capable of granting any wish its holder desired.
Legend said it had once sparked a bloody storm that swept across the entire world, with countless humans and demons slaughtering one another for it, bleeding and dying.
Legend said it later vanished without warning, and no one knew where it had gone.
No one knew why it had disappeared.
"Why ask about that all of a sudden?"
Kikyo looked into Chiyo's eyes, a trace of probing in her voice.
Chiyo picked up his cup, took a sip, and let his gaze fall on the cherry blossom tree in the courtyard.
"Because I created it."
Kikyo's hand went rigid.
The cup slipped from her fingers and fell onto the wooden floor with a dull thud, spilling wine that soaked into the bamboo mat.
She only stared at Chiyo, her pupils contracting slightly.
"You created it?"
"Mm."
"More than ten years ago."
Kikyo opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but her mind had gone completely blank.
The Four Souls Jewel.
That jewel that had driven countless people mad.
That jewel that had made countless demons and humans slaughter one another.
It had been created by the person before her eyes?
"Why?"
"Why would you create something like that?"
Chiyo was silent for a moment.
He did not answer right away. Instead, he set his cup beside him, rested both hands on his knees, and faced the courtyard.
"I created the Four Souls Jewel."
"I wanted to see what choices humans and