In the Osmanthus Forest, petals drifted silently down.
Tiny golden flowers fell from the branches. Their sweet fragrance filled the air, settling in the cracks between the rubble and on the vine-covered altar.
Mei Terumi carefully surveyed her surroundings, from the broken walls to the towering ancient trees, from the desolate ruins to the soft ground beneath her feet, blanketed in petals.
Her brows knit slightly, and her expression turned grave.
Though scouting was hardly her forte, she could still sense the deep incongruity here.
She murmured to herself, perplexed:
"Strange. Judging by how badly damaged this altar is, this Osmanthus Forest shouldn't possibly be this intact."
This place had truly seen war—had endured the kind of calamity that could bring down an entire country. How could this Osmanthus Forest have come through unscathed?
Her gaze fell on the rows of orderly, massive trees as she calmly reasoned to herself:
"Even if they grew back, they couldn't have grown so huge in such a short time... What in the world is going on?"
Just as she fell into thought, she suddenly sensed Kou walking steadily toward the Osmanthus grove and the desolate altar.
Mei Terumi reached out instinctively, her voice edged with urgency:
"Don't just act out of nowhere. There's definitely something fishy—"
Before she could finish, it was as if she suddenly realized something.
"You..."
Mei Terumi watched Kou's retreating figure, hesitated for a moment, then asked tentatively:
"Did you figure something out?"
Kou didn't answer. He kept walking, only turning his head slightly to glance back at the black cat still looking around behind them.
"Cook."
His voice was quiet, but it carried clearly to the cat's ears:
"Now that we're much closer than before, tell me, how does the osmanthus smell to you?"
"...The smell?"
Cook scratched