Paper Butterfly looked at the monster before her, a flicker of fear passing through her eyes. But when she thought of the important person waiting for her return at the shrine, her heart hardened.
"Get lost! Otherwise, I won't hold back."
Paper Butterfly gripped the Kagura bell in both hands and pointed it at the monster. This Kagura bell differed slightly from the ordinary kind; protruding from its front was a sharp blade shaped like a sword.
Strictly speaking, this sword-shaped bell should have been called the "Kusanagi Bell." The sword upon it represented the Kusanagi Sword, the golden handguard-like piece in the middle represented the Yata Mirror, and the eight bells below represented the Yasakani no Magatama.
The Kusanagi Bell was also a type of Kagura bell, and both were props used by shrine maidens when performing Kagura dances. Kagura dances were... ancient Eastern Island dances performed before the gods to pray and bring them joy.
Of course, the bell itself was not important. What mattered was... this Kusanagi Bell could hold off the monster. The several times she had encountered such monsters after leaving the shrine, she had relied on this Kusanagi Bell to make it back safely.
Paper Butterfly had no family name. She only had the name given to her by the old shrine maiden who had found her. According to the old shrine maiden... when she had found her, there had been a paper butterfly placed on her body, so she named her Paper Butterfly.
As for a surname?
In ancient Eastern Island... only those of the middle and upper classes had surnames. Of course... the emperor had no surname either, but commoners like them could not possibly be mentioned in the same breath as the imperial family.
After being found by the old shrine