A Different Kind of Regard

As night fell.

Night shrouded the Mino Plain, and all of Inabayama Castle passed from the bustle of day into the relative quiet of night. Every household slept in the tranquil darkness, rising at sunrise and resting at sunset—the most common rhythm of this era.

Only a few homes still showed candlelight, for neither candles nor lamp oil were affordable to ordinary commoners.

In ancient times, with productivity so underdeveloped, lighting was truly a luxury. Even in China, many stories had been passed down about poor scholars unable to afford lamp oil and devising all sorts of ways to study, such as "boring through a wall to steal light" and "reading by fireflies and snow."

If that was the case in China, there was even less need to mention this island nation.

Yet Tokichiro's longhouse was extravagantly lit by candlelight tonight. In the main hall, illuminated by the flames, Saito Dosan raised the short blade in his hand with a nostalgic expression. Even his fingers trembled slightly as he gently felt the blade and examined the character "Hide" engraved upon it.

"It's this... it's this..."

He murmured distractedly. Though more than a decade had passed since they had parted, and he was no longer the leader of the Choyasha Clan but a famous and influential lord who had seized Mino through cunning, there was no way he could mistake this short blade.

Because this was a fragment of the Choyasha Blade he had once wielded, part of the treasured sword said to have been left behind by the Primordial Samurai who slew demons.

If he had already been extremely certain before, then Saito Dosan had now completed the final confirmation—he abruptly turned to look at the black-haired girl who looked exactly like Yoshitatsu. She was the other daughter from whom he had been separated for so many years!

It truly was...

It truly was wonderful! He had not known whether they would ever meet again in this lifetime, yet this surprise had come so suddenly that he had been utterly unprepared and caught off guard!

Even the man renowned for breaking his word and being ruthless, known as the Viper of Mino, found his heart in disarray at this moment.

The imposing man with a smooth forehead and a face full of beard took a deep breath. He tried hard to calm himself, forcing a kind, benevolent smile of a loving old father onto his face as he asked the somewhat bewildered black-haired girl:

"Miyoshino... no, your mother... she... is she well?"

"..."

The black-haired girl froze at his words, and her expression immediately darkened.

She opened her mouth, but in the end, she merely lowered her long eyelashes, unable to say anything.

What surfaced in her mind was the unforgettable scene from her childhood: the red-eyed man holding a monk's staff suddenly barging into her home... Back then, young Hidechiyo had understood nothing before she and her mother had both fallen into a pool of blood.

After the red-eyed man left following his success, her mother, with only one breath left, used the power of the short blade and all her Yokai Power to revive her. She told her that no matter what, she had to live on and live strongly. Then she passed away.

After that, young Hidechiyo bore both her mother's blessing and her promise to her mother, living alone with strength. She lost much, including the ability to speak, but she alone still remembered the name her mother had left her. Whenever anyone asked her name, she would show them the character "Hide" on the short blade her mother had left behind.

That had remained the case until this very day.

"..."

"..."

In the silence, the air gradually became heavy. Sometimes, silence itself was also an answer.

"I see. I understand..."

Seeing the girl's sorrowful expression, Saito Dosan seemed to age many years in an instant. He understood something, and after a moment of silence, he let out a long sigh. Though the girl had said nothing, how could someone as shrewd as him fail to understand what had happened?

That woman was no longer in this world...

Strangely, he did not feel much surprise in his heart—only the understanding that it was only natural. In this war-torn age, where life was cheap, whether human, yokai, or demon, countless died every day. Moreover, they had been separated for more than a decade without any news. He had long accepted that possibility.

Yet he could not suppress the sorrow welling up inside him. He turned back and absentmindedly caressed the short blade in his hand, as though he had fallen into a strange state of remembrance. Her voice, her face, her every smile—all stood vividly before his eyes, as if everything had happened only yesterday.

How strange. More than ten years had clearly passed...

He stared at it blankly. After a long while, his eyes gradually brightened, seeming to glisten faintly.

I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead...

Standing some distance away, Tokichiro trembled with fear. He had no time to marvel at the Viper of Mino having a tender side, nor to marvel that this man who seemed to possess a heart of iron and stone could show such humanity. His first thought was that his scalp was about to explode—he had seen something he should not have seen!

He nervously glanced around and found Miss Axiu looking down in sorrowful silence, while Brother Gu Mo watched with a calm expression, completely unsurprised by what was unfolding. One look was enough to tell that he had seen the world. As expected of someone from the great Celestial Empire...

But none of that mattered now. The only piece of information Tokichiro had managed to pick out was—he seemed to be the only "outsider" in this room...

It was over, it was over. He reflexively lowered his head and stared fixedly at the floor, not daring to look up again. His heart was full of bitterness.

He hoped he could muddle through this. He hoped Lord Dosan would not care about such a detail. He hoped the man would not later realize how humiliating it was to have teary eyes before an outsider like him, then get someone to drag him out of the house in the middle of the night and chop off his head...

While Tokichiro prayed to every god and Buddha he could think of, Saito Dosan slowly came back to his senses. His thoughts returned to reality, but memories of the past still flitted chaotically before his eyes, disrupting his ability to think.

Joy and grief intermingled, impossible to restrain. He was delighted to see his other daughter again, yet he was also unable to escape the sorrow of losing the woman he loved.

Trying to compose himself, the man looked at his daughter. Remembering that she could no longer speak made his heart ache even more with guilt. Even though he had not really done anything wrong, when he compared her life over these past years with that of his other daughter, and then saw how much the black-haired girl before him had clearly suffered...

Saito Dosan suddenly felt as though that guilt was crushing the breath from his lungs.

"These past years, you've truly suffered..."

His voice became somewhat hoarse, yet it remained powerful, as though he was not merely comforting her but making a promise backed by his will. "Axiu, my daughter! From today onward, you will never have to live as you did before... Just as I promised your mother that I would take care of Yoshitatsu, I will certainly take care of you as well!"

Tokichiro, who had kept his head lowered and dared not look up, could not help feeling envious when he heard that. He knew it would turn out this way, though it was only what he had expected.

The black-haired girl, however, raised her head in astonishment.

"That's right, we'll return at once. I'll make sure everyone knows this wonderful news. Yes, all of Mino must know..."

Saito Dosan muttered to himself, then sniffed. He immediately caught himself and continued laughing loudly and boldly as though to cover it up. With a wave of his hand, he enthusiastically beckoned to the others, though his gaze remained fixed solely upon Axiu—

"Ha ha ha ha, today is truly a fine day. Come, Axiu. Let's go home first, and we can talk there! Right, right, you must be hungry too. I'll have someone prepare something right away..."

He suddenly remembered that Tokichiro seemed to have entered the city only around dusk. They might have traveled all day and probably had not eaten much, so he immediately took it to heart.

At that moment, Saito Dosan did not resemble the Viper of Mino renowned for his ruthlessness. He was more like an elderly man who had finally awaited the return of his children... The immense guilt and sense of debt weighing on him made him desperately wish to make something up to this daughter from whom he had been separated for years. Whatever it was, as long as he could do it, he would.

Yet Hidechiyo seemed at a loss over what to do in response to Saito Dosan's behavior. She looked around blankly and instinctively.

—With a faint plea for help in her gaze.

She understood that he truly was her father; everything matched up... But this was simply too sudden. She had not been mentally prepared at all and had no way to accept such a sudden turn of events immediately, whether it was the enthusiasm he was displaying right now or the arrangements he was proposing.

—Let all of Mino... know?

—And go home... How could she possibly regard that Tenshu as her home so quickly?!

Thus, even though Saito Dosan spoke with such excitement and eager anticipation, her heart was filled with instinctive resistance and rejection.

"Ahem, Lord Dosan, please hear me out first..."

At this moment, Gu Mo finally stepped forward to smooth things over. He coughed softly, raised a clenched fist to his chin, and only continued at ease after both their attention had shifted to him.

"It's like this. I understand how you feel, but have you considered that this is all a little sudden? Axiu knew nothing about this before. Even if she now knows you are her father, you are still a complete stranger to her, someone she only met today. Perhaps you should give her some time to adjust..."

Being unable to accept it immediately was perfectly normal. He did not want to see the girl placed in such a difficult position either.

It was enough that they knew about this now. As long as no regrets remained in the future, there was no need to force her to accept it at once. They still had plenty of time... Besides, even if Axiu could not accept it right away, could Saito Dosan possibly deny the matter?

Impossible. So—there was not really much difference in the outcome.

However.

"...Who are you?"

Saito Dosan stared expressionlessly at this young brat. After glaring at him for quite some time, he suddenly asked that question without the slightest politeness, his brows furrowed and eyes wide.

For no apparent reason, he found this fellow utterly irritating. How dare he call his precious daughter so intimately? Was Axiu a name he could just use?!

Having recovered his long-lost beloved daughter, intense joy and crushing guilt had intertwined within Saito Dosan. Combined with his desire to compensate her, it made him want to make up to Hidechiyo twice as much while heightening his vigilance and resistance toward losing her again. And this young man before him seemed to be the detestable fellow who would take Axiu away...

—Thus, in a single instant, Gu Mo became utterly unpleasant in his eyes. No matter how he looked at him, he found him disagreeable.

"..."

"..."

So he had not remembered at all. The corners of Gu Mo's mouth twitched slightly, but he maintained his cracked smile. "My name is Gu Mo. I'm Axiu's..."

"Enough, enough. Don't say any more... I remember now!" Saito Dosan impatiently waved his hand and rudely interrupted him. This brat was truly annoying, calling her Axiu every other word! He took a deep breath and glanced once more at the girl beside him, who seemed unsure of what to do.

Still, irritating as he was, if Axiu liked him, then Saito Dosan could not act too arbitrarily or overbearingly...

He only wanted to fulfill his responsibility and be a good father. If he had just recognized Axiu as his daughter but ignored her wishes and acted entirely according to his own preferences, he would only make her sad. That would completely go against his original intentions.

He shot Gu Mo a fierce glare, leaving the latter baffled, then Saito Dosan once more showed Hidechiyo a gentle and kindly smile.

"Very well, it was your father who failed to think things through... There is no rush, no rush. We'll follow your wishes first, Axiu. When you are ready to accept it, we can discuss it again... But how about we return to the Tenshu first? I cannot let you live in a place like this."

He seemed to be carefully seeking the girl's opinion while also sweeping his gaze around the room. This longhouse could only be called clean; it had nothing else.

He himself had lived through hard times before, so he naturally did not think there was anything wrong with it. But that only meant he did not mind suffering himself—he absolutely could not accept letting the precious daughter he treasured remain in such a place.

Hidechiyo still hesitated somewhat, but that was simply her nature. She was easy to reason with even when facing strangers, let alone her father, whom she had only just acknowledged. Since he was willing to take a step back first and make it clear that everything could be discussed if she disliked it, she could not stubbornly insist on her own way either.

Having successfully persuaded his daughter, Saito Dosan beamed immediately and hurried ahead to lead the way. At the same time, as he passed someone, he did not forget to shoot him another vicious glare.

"You all... come along too. Keep up!"

The viper tossed out those words as though highly unwilling, then walked out without looking back. At once, he began chatting cheerfully beside the black-haired girl, as though he desperately wanted to seize every moment to make up for the affection and mistakes he had lost.

"..."

"..."

"Whew... I survived."

Tokichiro, who had remained motionless inside the longhouse, finally wiped the sweat from his forehead. His face was somewhat pale and his legs slightly weak, but his eyes showed relief. It seemed Lord Dosan had no intention of holding him accountable for seeing him lose composure.

Yet after the fear came excitement. Unable to conceal his agitation, he looked at the young man beside him with envy in his eyes. "Brother Gu Mo, you're really fortunate. With Miss Axiu's connection, Lord Dosan will certainly regard you differently. You'll definitely rise to great heights from here on out. When that happens... don't forget this old uncle!"

"Emmmm... regard me differently?"

Gu Mo frowned. It did seem that way. That old man seemed perfectly normal toward everyone else, but whenever he looked at Gu Mo, it was as though he were glaring at him.