This was a kind of moral entrustment.
Even a fool changed by the world, upon seeing another fool like herself, would not really want that foolishness changed. Better to leave it as it was, so that when the first fool looked upon that burning flame, she might feel a little better.
Only a little better. Rather than fools, people like this were better described as lunatics.
Beneath different appearances lay equally mad souls. Rational people each had their own reason, but madmen were, in some ways, the people who understood one another best.
Wei Yenwu entrusted Ch'en to her, and Hoshino accepted naturally enough. Watching the shrine maiden stride out of the Tenshukaku, Lady Fumizuki felt no stirring passion at all—only deep confusion.
Husband and wife always complemented each other. Now, she was responsible for reason, while Wei Yenwu was responsible for passion.
"Phew—"
Old Wei suddenly went limp. He had been sitting ramrod straight, but now he sprawled lazily like a salted fish with no dreams.
"My lady, you were right. I really do feel suddenly younger."
"Why didn't I, a few decades earlier..."
"What do you mean?"
Lady Fumizuki cut her husband off. The past could not be changed. If Wei Yenwu had encountered a guardian deity who could be called invincible, then with his methods, the commotion he could have caused would have been several times greater than it was now. Things as they were were quite good enough.
"You have to leave some room for other people, don't you?"
Lady Fumizuki sounded as though she were teasing him, yet her tone also seemed serious, carrying an inscrutable air.
Hoshino had only just stepped outside after accepting Old Wei's request when the more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Had she been dragged aboard a