Reading Comprehension Expert

"I'm a dra... mm."

Ch'en was clearly getting a little irritable. After thinking it over carefully, she felt that Hoshiguma was right.

Early that morning, the Guard Department had suddenly received orders to seal away all investigations concerning the shrine maiden. Even Yae Sakura herself had become a special consultant to the Guard Department without Ch'en's knowledge. It really pissed Ch'en off.

"By the way, when did Lungmen get a mountain?"

Hoshiguma was reading the newspaper too. She saw that Yae Shrine had put up its own sign in place of the original Shimada Family entrance and erected a mountain in Lungmen.

She sensed the sudden silence in the air and looked up to find a dragon and a cat staring at her.

"What?"

"Hoshiguma, you've studied basic construction estimates before, right? That mountain is only two hundred meters tall, nowhere near as high as Central Ring Building. Buy a plot of land, pile up some dirt, rocks, and greenery, and build an artificial mountain. It's like buying land and building your own villa—the cost might even be lower."

"Understand now?"

Hoshiguma shook her head. "No idea. I rent a place by myself. I've never bought land and built a villa."

Hoshiguma looked at Ch'en and found that Old Ch'en was nodding too, agreeing with what Swire had said. From what she knew, Swire was simply telling the truth.

Hoshiguma should have expected this.

In this harmonious superintendent's office, she, Hoshiguma, was the only dirt-poor one.

That harmonious atmosphere lasted far too briefly. Before long, the office sank into an endless and meaningless argument.

Hoshiguma lowered her head and continued reading the paper.

"Looks like the shrine maiden finally threw away the standard-issue police sword. And this account of her journey to victory—why does it sound like Pontiff Sulyvahn usurping power... It's only been three or four days at most, hasn't it?"

She looked at the photo of the renovated shrine. There was a torii gate, a two-head-tall fox-eared humanoid statue, and even a castle keep.

A wave of familiarity washed over her.

"I should go pray for blessings there someday. This place feels strangely familiar."

"You're not allowed to go!"

Hoshiguma had merely been talking to herself when a hurried roar suddenly came from ahead. She raised her head in confusion, only to see Old Ch'en turn away in embarrassed fury.

"What a domineering dragon... Don't be scared, Hoshiguma. I'll go pray with you."

Swire fanned the flames.

Hoshiguma had no desire to get involved in their conflict. She retreated to one side and began eating breakfast. Thanks to all this commotion, even her fresh meat soup buns had gone somewhat cold, and the broth inside was nearly turning to jelly. They were no longer as delicious as when they had just come out of the steamer.

She chewed them one bite at a time.

The noisy tent was not soundproof. At a time like this, they had to maintain a superintendent's dignity, so their arguing was quieter than usual, creating the illusion that they were flirting. Hoshiguma really wanted to press their heads together with one hand each, but she knew the consequences. She could not do that.

"So, according to your guess, was that move a provocation aimed at me?"

"I didn't say that..."

Swire had gone out to eat. Ch'en ate the char siu rice Hoshiguma had brought her while analyzing every piece of news about the shrine maiden on the market. Her tireless manner carried the spirit of the Major Crimes Unit from back then, except she treated everything as evidence of guilt, which was truly worrying.

Ch'en analyzed calmly, "Look at the move she made. It was obviously deeply calculated. Flood Dragon Cutter is said to be a sword stained with dragon blood in ancient times, while my Chi Xiao is known as a dragon-slaying blade. Maybe she's a fan of fatalism and symmetry. It's a very reasonable and correct move..."

"It all fits. It all fits..."

Hoshiguma could not understand. How did it all fit?

"From our first encounter, to her kicking me over, to this news about taking the sword, I've been thinking about her reasons. Why did she do all that?"

"Do you know now?" Hoshiguma asked. Ch'en's voice suddenly became very low, as though she were brewing some repressed emotion.

"She's probably one of Talulah's followers."

Hoshiguma had not expected Ch'en to voluntarily say that name. But when it came to "follower," she was completely lost again.

"What did you figure out?"

Ch'en pondered. "Though I really don't want to admit it, based on the reports of her past deeds, that woman truly has the qualities of a leader. Don't Higashi people have that kind of tradition? When they think their opponent is too weak to fight, they personally teach them instead."

"What does any of that have to do with anything... What you described isn't even a Higashi tradition... Have you been reading too much shonen manga?"

"But you should remember what she said."

Hoshiguma thought about it. When the shrine maiden had stepped on Old Ch'en's back, she seemed to have said something. Hoshiguma had heard every word clearly.

[Feel pain. Hate me. When you possess swordsmanship equal to mine...]

No, wrong quote.

[I have had the honor of experiencing the sharp blades of you and your best friend. Looking at it now, the gap between the two of you is truly far too great. One could even say that you cannot even see her back—you can only see her taillights.]

"Still don't understand?"

Seeing Hoshiguma's slow-witted expression, Ch'en suddenly felt deeply grieved.

"All of this, every last bit of it, is part of the plan."

Ch'en pointed at the shrine maiden's face in the newspaper. "This shrine maiden has fooled our entire Lungmen Guard Department, from top to bottom."

"..."

Hoshiguma still did not quite understand.

But she knew that whenever Talulah was involved, Old Ch'en tended to overcomplicate things.

With that line of thought, everyone acted for a reason, every action was the optimal result of countless calculations, and everyone was a precise machine. She never realized that some people always acted according to their hearts and never needed a reason.

Such people were usually free-spirited, easygoing greatsword masters.

Hoshiguma understood that well.

"As your colleague, I don't want to watch you go astray. Let me analyze this from a Higashi person's perspective."

Ch'en looked at Hoshiguma, waiting for her brilliant insight.

"The shrine maiden evaluated your swordsmanship while also evaluating [that woman]. It isn't hard to analyze from the context. Right after mentioning you, she immediately mentioned her. The two were actually equivalent in that context. She did not distinguish between you and [that woman]."

"Mhm, mhm, mhm."

"In other words, in the shrine maiden's eyes, both of your swordsmanship is pretty lousy."

"Huh?"

Ch'en had never expected that layer of meaning. But on careful thought, it did seem more reasonable than her own analysis.

She continued listening attentively.

"Higashi people value fate quite a bit. Once a pebble is thrown into the sky, it is destined to fall to the ground. A drop of water under the sun is bound to evaporate. Two people who hate each other are naturally destined to fight. Maybe she met Talulah and became interested in this fated confrontation that was bound to happen."

"Encouraging and teaching you might simply be to make the duel less embarrassing."

"Oh..."

After hearing that, Ch'en sank into thought.

She really had been blinded by anger and other negative emotions. Now that she considered it carefully, she suddenly felt enlightened.

"There's one more thing."

Hoshiguma suddenly raised an index finger. "Don't think of that woman as too invincible. Whenever anyone connected to her appears, you instinctively assume they're her subordinate. In my view, that's a sign of fear."

Boom!

Ch'en was not merely enlightened. The massive stone blocking her mind had suddenly been washed away.

She understood.