"Miss Yuna, you're awake!"
By the time Hoshiguma Yuna woke up, it was already daytime the next day.
Fujimaru Ritsuka had fallen asleep sprawled out not far away. Mama Bear looked somewhat weak as she tended to Sakumura's daughter—the shrine maiden named Sakumura Kanna.
"—Miss Yuna!"
The moment he heard that Hoshiguma Yuna was awake, Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had been sleeping groggily, snapped awake and hurried over.
"Master, that guy, that guy was—"
Hoshiguma Yuna grabbed Fujimaru Ritsuka's hand, her eyes wide.
"Kurokawa Hideo, right? But who is he?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka had heard Hoshiguma Yuna's furious shout before she passed out the night before. After that cry, Hoshiguma Yuna and Mama Bear had fallen from the sky and crashed into the ground before them, already unconscious.
"I..."
Hoshiguma Yuna froze.
It was not that she could not speak of what had happened then herself, but—
"Let me explain."
Mama Bear walked over, sorrow and gentleness on her face as she lightly stroked Hoshiguma Yuna's cheek.
"...Thank you, Mama."
With Sakumura Kanna's support, Hoshiguma Yuna struggled to her feet and left the room, leaving only Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mama Bear behind.
"Master, we are demons." Mama Bear's expression was calm, her hands resting on her knees, but there was a chill in her voice.
"But do you know... why we became demons?"
Mama Bear did not look at Fujimaru Ritsuka. Her gaze was fixed on her own hands.
During the battle the night before, her body had nearly been pierced through by those two bone spears. She was still in a weakened state.
"...According to the legends, the Day-Hiding Demon and the Great Brown Bear Demon had occupied Black River Mountain since the beginning."
Fujimaru Ritsuka honestly shared what he knew.
"So that was how humans recorded it. Even if Sakumura,