At the top of Himeji Castle hung a bell.
The bell normally never rang. Whenever it did, everyone inside Himeji Castle could hear it, no matter where they were or what they were doing.
Many of the monsters who had lived in Himeji Castle since the beginning found themselves recalling that the bell had rung only three times in all those centuries.
The newly arrived lesser monsters knew nothing of that legend, so an old monster nearly thirteen hundred years old began telling them about those difficult yet passionate years.
The first time the bell rang, Himeji Castle was under attack. Back then, Himeji Castle had been nothing more than an ordinary castle, and Osakabehime an ordinary princess.
But that history was so ancient that even many of the great monsters knew little about it. It could only be treated as hearsay.
The second and third times had both marked the opening of a Demon-God Conference.
The first conference had been a vote on whether monsters and gods should coexist.
In Himeji Castle's early days, the great monsters and the gods had been hostile toward one another. Without the White Egret Princess holding firm under the pressure, Himeji Castle would never have become what it was today.
That was because Osakabehime, the White Egret Princess, was herself half monster and half god.
It was precisely for that reason that monsters and gods had been able to live together in harmony.
The second conference had been a vote on whether Himeji Castle should remain here.
As a mobile fortress, Himeji Castle had practically circled Japan several times over the long years.
Only in the end had they chosen to put down roots in Misaki City, allowing everyone to recover from their exhaustion and settle into peaceful lives.
They had never expected