I'm Not a Flame-Chaser

After all, there's no need for a reason to believe in the Fox God.

So what should we do...?

Just as Lin was still pondering, he caught a glimpse of a small, timid figure coming down from the mountain, looking around nervously.

Still a child, Yae Sakura cautiously surveyed her surroundings. Using her nimble and petite body, she weaved through the corners of the village, avoiding the gaze of others, and then looked around, seemingly searching for something.

"Rope... rope..."

Yae Sakura muttered to herself as she rummaged through a pile of unwanted items belonging to the villagers, occasionally glancing back to see if anyone was paying attention to her.

"What are you doing?"

"Hmm!"

A man with an icy tone suddenly appeared in front of Yae Sakura. She hadn't even seen when he had come over. When she looked up in a panic and saw his frosty black eyes, she couldn't help but swallow hard.

"I... I was just looking around..."

"You're from the shrine, the daughter of Yae Guji, aren't you?"

"Hmm—"

Yae Sakura didn't recognize the person in front of her, and she thought that the other person probably wouldn't recognize her at first glance either. Although her long pink hair was very eye-catching, not everyone in Yae Village knew her. But now that her identity had been revealed, her heart was pounding and she clenched her hands nervously.

"Yes, yes, I came to see if the wooden carving I threw away is still there..."

"Didn't you say you were just looking around casually?"

"I..."

She was still just a child. Under the double pressure of Lin's tone and gaze, which would make even an adult feel terrified, Yae Sakura was rendered speechless by just a few words.

Is it going to be discovered before it even begins...?

"Are you looking for a rope?"

However, when that intimidatingly flat tone reappeared, a rope also came to stand before Yae Sakura.

"Ah... thank you..."

Yae Sakura took the rope blankly, then looked at the man and tentatively asked, "Aren't you going to ask me what I'm going to do with the rope?"

"..."

Lin glanced at Yae Sakura.

... What he really wanted to tell Yae Sakura was that she should just take what she wanted and leave. But his guilty tone and questions only increased the risk of him being exposed.

Lin himself would have to cover for her lie. He sighed and said, "Does Yae Guji need it?"

"Y-yes!" Yae Sakura nodded excitedly, surprised that the other person could help her cover up her lie. "Thank you!"

"... No need, go back quickly."

Lin calmly watched the girl sneak up the mountain again. He knew what Yae Sakura wanted to do, and from the history he had learned, he knew that Yae Sakura had failed.

Is this Yae Sakura's memory?

Did her most painful and regretful memories create such a space of consciousness?

Lin followed Yae Sakura back to the shrine. She hid the rope under a stone in the courtyard. It was probably the tool she used to tie Yae Rin up so she could carry it on her back, since Yae Rin herself had difficulty moving around.

"Rin, once you're better, let's go to the mountain to see the cherry blossoms, okay?"

Cold...

As Lin gazed at the two sisters' warm interaction, another pair of sisters came to mind.

It's also about bells and cherry blossoms.

"Brother Lin, where are we going..."

Lin's fingers dug into the tree trunk. After regaining his senses, he slowly exhaled, shaking those distracting thoughts out of his mind.

Then he jumped down from the tree and went to prepare some things.

For the past two days, Yae Sakura and Bella have been staying together. Yae Sakura often gathers herbs from outside to give to Bella, and Bella smiles and obediently takes the medicine and drinks it.

If it weren't for their drastically different hair colors, Lin would have truly considered them as sisters.

At the same time, Yae Sakura often talks to Bella about things outside the shrine, arousing Bella's longing. Then, she would always grit her teeth and watch Bella's expression, occasionally glancing at the stone with the rope in the courtyard.

Meanwhile, Yae Guji has been coming to "visit" Bella from time to time these past few days. He occasionally shows a smile, but it's not a warm, affectionate smile; rather, it's an enigmatic smile full of hidden meaning.

Then, on the third day, the sacrifice began.

A bustling crowd gathered around the cherry blossom tree, forming a small circle. All the villagers of Yae Village, regardless of age or gender, came to participate in this ritual to the great Fox God.

Wearing a fox mask, Yae Guji waved a white Gohei (a type of ceremonial hat), muttering words of reverence for the Fox God, and performed an extremely strange dance, creating an eerie scene under the cherry blossom trees where cherry blossoms were falling.

He quickly finished his "preparations," removed his mask, and said to Yae Sakura, who was standing respectfully to the side wearing a smaller-sized Miko maiden outfit, "Go and bring Rin here."

"Yes."

One part of the ritual is bringing offerings from the shrine, and this tradition is Yae Sakura's opportunity.

She returned to the shrine as fast as she could, rushing into the courtyard. She retrieved a rope from under a rock; she had specifically learned how to tie knots, and since she had carried Yae Rin before, she knew how...

Cold...

Yae Sakura gritted her teeth inwardly, her eyes showing an unprecedented determination.

She will not let Rin become a sacrifice.

This is her younger sister, the sister she promised to grow up with and then walk into the future together.

Rin is not an object; she is a person!

The horrific scene of the girl who was sacrificed a month ago was still vivid in Yae Sakura's mind. She trembled all over when she recalled the girl falling under Yae Guji's sword, staring at her with unseeing eyes.

Cold...

She won't let Rin become like that...

Cold...

They also made a promise to go see the cherry blossoms...

"Cold!"

Yae Sakura opened Rin's bedroom door, her tone both excited and eager. The future she envisioned—a future unbound by Yae Village and the Fox God —was about to become a reality...

Now?

Yae Sakura's expression froze.

Crimson light distorted everything before them, and...

Her feelings.

Her face.

Her memories.

"Sakura, what are you doing? Aren't you going to bring Rin over here?"

A figure slowly emerged from around the corner, came up behind Yae Sakura, and gently placed his hands on her shoulders.

The fox mask she wore radiated a bewitching light.

The Journey Begins in the Heavens: Chapter Fifty-Six - The Existence of Gods

The mask, carved in the shape of a fox, emitted a bewitching red light, and a haunting whisper echoed in my ears.

What exactly is man to God?

The cherry-haired girl with empty eyes was lost in thought.

From birth, her father told her, while she was still an infant, that she would become a qualified Miko, a great spokesperson for the Fox God.

But what does this really mean to her?

What is its place in this isolated little village?

Or is it that they bear the mission of the entire Yae Village?

Neither.

It's just a toy, a joke.

Humans are of no use to gods; if gods are truly kind and great, they do not need human sacrifices.

They are high above.

They toy with human nature.

"Go and bring the offerings over quickly, Sakura."

The devil's whispers echoed in her ears; he was God's spokesperson and Yae Sakura's future "role model."

The rope in Yae Sakura's hand fell to the ground, and she let out her final wail.

The pristine white cloth was stained a color even more vivid than blood. The gray-haired girl lay panting on the ground, her stained sky-blue eyes staring weakly at the cherry-haired girl standing blankly at the door. A smile appeared on her pale, sickly face.

"Sister... you must... become... an excellent Miko..."

The girl's Achilles tendons were cruelly severed, and her bloody flesh lay on the floor. Already struggling to walk, she had now completely lost the ability to move freely on the ground.

In the pool of blood, like a blooming yuri, like... a sacrifice offered.

"Cold..."

Yae Sakura's breathing was heavy.

Her mind went blank; she didn't know what she was thinking. Everything in front of her was occupied by the girl's crushed, flower-like figure.

"Don't let me, and don't let the villagers down." The hand on her shoulder was increasing in pressure, veins bulging. "You must become a qualified Miko, that's what Rin expects of you too."

Yae Sakura, forgetting how she carried her younger sister, whose foot was still bleeding, stood there blankly with her head down, taking one step at a time back to the cherry blossom tree in Yae Village.

She could feel everyone's expectant gaze fixed on her, as well as on her younger sister behind her.

Those were eyes filled with no malice, but pure expectation.

At the same time, it also showed that her sister was not seen as a living person.

"Come, Sakura, offer a sacrifice to the Fox God."

A heavy, cold object was placed in Yae Sakura's hand. She looked down and saw her own pupils reflected in the blade's gleam.

Ugly.

I looked up, and everyone around me was staring.

Disgust.

The girl lowered her head, too weak even to speak.

Collapse.

With her hands held by Yae Guji and raised, Yae Sakura stared blankly at her sister who was smiling at her.

Cannot.

No.

However, she didn't even have the strength to break free.

What ensnared her was not evil, but the expectations of everyone.

"Lord Fox God, we will offer the sacrifice..."

Don't want.

Tears streamed from her eyes, as vivid, tragic, and painful as blood.

"Dedicated to you."

With a single slash, the blade came down.

"Wait a moment."

Suddenly, everyone stopped moving.