She Was a Ray of Light

The next day.

Hoshiguma came roaring over on her motorcycle again to deliver breakfast. She arrived at the shrine with great fanfare, carrying not only breakfast but also a face full of apology, leaving Ch'en baffled and utterly unable to figure out what had happened.

"Sorry, Old Chen."

"?"

She had set up a tent outside the shrine's gate. It felt like the days when she had kept watch at the docks, and she did not find it particularly miserable, but Hoshiguma's sudden apology gave her quite a fright.

Could it be... that in just one night, the Lungmen Guard Department had been raided?

No, no, no. She believed in Hoshiguma's fighting spirit. If that had happened, she would not have come to see her with her clothes still intact.

So what exactly was the reason?

Hoshiguma did not explain. Instead, she handed over a newspaper, standing asleep in the tent outside the gate with a peaceful expression. A cartoon snot bubble had been drawn on her face, making her look like an elementary school student dozing off while being punished by having to stand still. It was downright comical.

The headline was sensational too.

<Extra: A senior Lungmen police superintendent secretly went to a shrine in the middle of the night to work as a security guard. The reason behind it was actually...>

Exclusive interview: Ms. Swire, who wished to remain anonymous.

"Gah—"

Ch'en accidentally tore the newspaper in half. The scraps rode the mountain breeze and danced through the sky like ash-gray spirits whirling in revelry.

"Fat-faced cat!"

"I filed sick leave for you. Swire probably noticed something. She acted as though nothing had happened, then secretly came to the shrine at night to take that photo. She paid off the newspaper overnight to get that story onto this morning's front page."

"This isn't your fault."

Ch'en gritted her teeth. "Once I deal with this rab... fox, it won't be too late to settle accounts with her."

For a moment, Hoshiguma did not know what to say. Before coming to Lungmen, she had been from Higashi and had studied the whole shonen and shojo manga routine closely. To her, Swire's deliberate signature was a textbook case of tsundere behavior. Not only was it not troublesome, it was rather cute.

Maybe that was because she was not involved.

Hoshiguma felt that telling someone not to get angry at a time like this would be rather presumptuous. Even though she did not mean it that way, she obediently kept her mouth shut.

Talk less, do more.

A sound came from the stone steps above. They stopped complaining and looked up. The shrine maiden in crimson cherry-blossom colors descended gracefully from above, her furisode swaying, a sheathed tachi hanging at her waist. The blade was ornate and intricate, clearly precious at a glance, yet all its sharpness was hidden within the scabbard. Even Ch'en could not sense it.

Ch'en stared fixedly at that sword.

Two possibilities surfaced in her mind. Either this sword was complete garbage, without the slightest edge to it; or its wielder was exceptionally skilled at concealing her presence, suppressing every trace of sharpness as she lay dormant, waiting for her most brilliant bloom and her cleanest, swiftest slash.

She could not help feeling that the latter was more likely.

Hoshino rested her hand on the hilt. Her sharp aura shot into the heavens, making the shrine gate tremble as fallen leaves drifted down onto the steps.

"So you finally decided to show yourself?"

Ch'en gently pushed Hoshiguma aside, then sat down and began removing Chi Xiao's seal. Her Originium Arts were utterly terrible, so she could only use a physical seal: layer upon layer of plastic tape. When she had heard that eighty percent of Hoshino's strength came from Chi Xiao, she had sealed it away in a fit of pique.

As for why she was removing the seal now...

Hoshino had brought out the legendary dragon-slaying sword. Was Ch'en Huijie not allowed to use Chi Xiao?

"What is going on here?"

Hoshiguma did not quite understand the crux of the matter. As the shrine maiden prepared to draw her sword, her eyes remained locked on Hoshiguma's, as though they were communicating silently. Hoshiguma was equally bewildered, with no idea what was happening.

Was the shrine maiden trying to convey something?

An oni's eyesight was excellent. They could stare at the sun and spot an ant a hundred meters away. Hoshiguma raised her head toward the mountaintop and saw Rope emerge from the house, yawning. In an instant, she understood the shrine maiden's intentions.

"How can someone be this kind...?"

Muttering to herself, she pulled an evaluation form from her clothes and eagerly awaited Rope's next performance.

Rope had dragged her bed beside the window and slept through the night breeze. Perhaps because of her state of mind, she felt an unprecedented sense of security, as though she had returned to her mother's embrace. For the first time ever, she slept until sunrise, waking up with a lazy yawn.

She lazily glanced at the Tenshukaku, then looked down the mountain.

Her drowsiness vanished at once.

Cold sweat crawled down Rope's spine. Before her eyes, that stern woman from the Lungmen Guard Department began peeling away the seal layer by layer, seemingly preparing to draw her sword and fight the shrine maiden fiercely.

This was the mountain. With no one to worry about, they could cut loose and attack each other without restraint.

Why wasn't Sister Yae Sakura getting out of the way?

Not only did she not move aside, her right hand rested on her sword hilt as sharpness slowly gathered around her. She seemed to gladly accept Ch'en's challenge.

It looked like an evenly matched duel: a master swordswoman against a shrine maiden with exquisite swordsmanship, the murderous dragon-slaying blade Chi Xiao against the ancient Flood Dragon Cutter. Even the most extreme obsessive-compulsive person would catch a sense of "comfort" from such a perfectly balanced battle.

She should not have been so worried.

But Rope happened to know some inside information. The legendary Flood Dragon Cutter in Hoshino's hand was actually just a wooden sword painted with silver lacquer.

"It should probably be fine. She is... the shrine maiden, after all."

Rope muttered under her breath.

But as Chi Xiao's seal came off and its crimson blade slid smoothly free, waves of heat flowed up the steps. Rope's mouth instantly went dry as she looked below, as though she were facing the proud sun head-on.

"Mm—"

For one brief moment, the darkness in her heart gained the upper hand again, but her legs moved before she had time to think.

Her slight figure appeared in front of Hoshino.

She was completely dazed. Large beads of sweat slid down her forehead, and her face had gone pale. She looked like a frightened little rabbit, but Rope had stepped forward in the end.

Hoshino blinked.

The effect was surprisingly good. Rope had stepped forward, Hoshiguma had given her a pass, and she immediately clicked to complete the mission. Her waist suddenly grew heavy as a familiar yet unfamiliar weight appeared hanging at her side out of nowhere.

She walked over and gently stroked Rope's head, her fingers passing through her soft hair.

"How does it feel, truly living in the sunlight?"

"..."

Rope did not answer. She stared at Hoshino's waist. She was one hundred percent certain that until she had rushed down, that sword had not existed. Hoshino seemed to notice her gaze and lowered her head to gently stroke the pink-and-white fur on the hilt.

"This is a weapon only good children can see. Hurry down and find Hoshiguma. I need to teach this woman a lesson."

"You are an opponent recognized by Chi Xiao. Do not disappoint it."

Rope hurried down the steps, her footsteps unsteady. When she looked back, that figure stood before the rising sun, her furisode billowing as though she shone with a light that could never be obscured.

"Cool, right?"

Hoshiguma caught Rope before she could collapse. "I think it's pretty cool, anyway. It has that shonen manga feeling. Though that weapon appearing out of nowhere was not very scientific. Maybe only good children really can see it. Also, there's one more thing..."

"Rope, would you be willing to become an auxiliary officer with the Lungmen Guard Department?"