Her big sword, of course, did not mean showing Judah to Ch'en.
A cross suddenly appearing in a Higashi shrine—something so steeped in Laterano religious flavor—looked utterly bizarre no matter how one saw it.
Hoshino wound her way to the backyard, drew a cold blade, and the temperature abruptly dropped. Her expression turned solemn, and Ch'en straightened her back as well. She said nothing, waiting for the shrine maiden to speak.
"How is it?"
The shrine maiden was probably very excited.
To think that the first person she found to show it off to was her. Why did that feel a little moving?
Ch'en's thoughts were a mess. When the shrine maiden handed the sword over, she instinctively reached out with both hands to receive it. That was the proper etiquette for accepting a sword, representing courtesy and solemnity. One had to be especially respectful when a teacher was evaluating a disciple.
But Hoshino stopped and shook her head at her.
"You can't receive this sword with both hands. Its blade isn't really a blade. Take a closer look."
Ch'en looked where she indicated.
It was ice, growing and twisting around itself—formless and intangible. Only after examining it carefully did Ch'en realize that the sword had no blade at all, only a hilt. The dark blue portion was merely solidified crystal, more like a fixed field of extreme cold—an indescribably wondrous force.
"This is..."
"The last time I went to the Pole to retrieve something, this was what I retrieved."
Ch'en was instructed to assume the posture for an iai slash. The sword felt so light that it was almost imperceptible. When she asked the shrine maiden about it, Hoshino nodded seriously and replied,
"Only a weightless blade can be drawn faster. The instant the thought of drawing arises in