Are you okay?

"Kashimo, how... much farther... do we have to go?!"

Rinko's voice came from behind him, filled with unmistakable protest and breathless panting. Her legs had gone weak from walking, and every step felt like treading on cotton.

Kashimo stopped and glanced back.

The girl stood where she was, her hands braced on her knees, her little face covered in sweat. Her sweat-soaked hair clung to her forehead. She looked as though she had just been fished out of the water, gazing pitifully at him.

Kashimo rubbed his chin and gave it some serious thought.

"Ah... another four hundred li or so."

"..."

Rinko froze for two seconds.

Then she plopped down on the ground, stretched both legs straight out, and refused to budge.

"I'm not going."

Her voice was muffled.

"If you really can't walk anymore, I can carry you there."

Kashimo gave her a sidelong look, his tone carrying a hint of lazy teasing.

Rinko looked up and asked between breaths.

"But wouldn't carrying me make you even slower?"

Kashimo didn't answer.

He simply crouched down with his back to her.

"Get on," he said, then paused. "Before I change my mind."

Rinko stared blankly at him.

Then she pushed herself up off the ground, shuffled over, and carefully climbed onto his back.

Kashimo stood, bounced her once to settle her weight, lifted her legs a little higher, and set off.

The mountain breeze swept past their ears, carrying the scent of vegetation.

"Hold on tight."

Kashimo suddenly said it out of nowhere.

Before Rinko could work out what he meant, she felt a violent jolt beneath her. An enormous burst of cursed energy erupted from under Kashimo's feet, and pale blue lightning crackled around him, making her body go numb along with his.

"Huh?! What are you-"

She never finished.

The scenery before her suddenly warped into blurred patches of color, and the wind pouring into her ears became a piercing howl. She instinctively shut her eyes, feeling as though an enormous invisible hand had seized her and was dragging her forward through the air.

"Aaaaaaaaah-!"

The wind shredded her scream and flung it behind them.

Rinko clung desperately to Kashimo's neck, feeling as though her soul was frantically chasing after her and couldn't possibly catch up.

Two hours later.

Three kilometers outside Edo Castle, Kashimo finally slowed down and stopped beneath an old pagoda tree.

"We're here," he said, sounding as relaxed as if he'd merely taken a stroll.

Rinko gave no response from his back.

Kashimo turned his head to look. Her face was as white as paper, her lips had lost all color, and her eyes stared straight ahead, as though she hadn't yet realized they were back on the ground.

"...Hey?"

He gave his shoulders a gentle shake.

Rinko swayed with him, but her stare remained blank.

Kashimo fell silent for two seconds.

"...Scared senseless?"

Rinko didn't answer. She slowly released her arms from around his neck, her legs buckled, and she dropped straight to the ground. Then she began dry-heaving.

"Urgh-"

Kashimo stood beside her, watching and scratching his head.

"...Uh, are you okay?"

Rinko lifted her pale face and looked at him as though he were insane.

Okay?

What part of her was okay?

Her soul was still three thousand li behind them, trying to catch up.

"Anyway, once you're feeling better, let's have a look around outside the city and see if there are any sorcerers."

As though nothing had happened, Kashimo casually tossed the Ruyi Staff to Rinko.

Rinko was still sitting on the ground, her face still pale, but at least she had come back to her senses. She instinctively caught the staff, hugged it to her chest, and looked blankly up at him.

Then she swallowed.

Gulp.

He'd run way too fast!

Her heart was still pounding, her legs were still weak, and her soul was probably still drifting along somewhere behind them. How could this man act as though nothing had happened and suggest having "a look around"?

Kashimo looked down at her and waited two seconds.

"Let's go," he said. "Rest any longer and it'll be dark."

Rinko took a deep breath and slowly got to her feet, leaning on the Ruyi Staff. Its smooth warmth beneath her hands helped steady her nerves a little.

"...Okay."

The area outside the city was livelier than Kashimo had expected.

All kinds of stalls lined both sides of the main road, selling snacks and sundries or putting on acrobatic performances, with vendors' calls rising one after another. Peddlers carrying shoulder poles threaded through the crowds, and people stopped now and then to haggle. Farther away were women leading children by the hand, groups of young people, and even a few well-dressed figures who looked like court nobles, heading into the city with their attendants.

Samurai maintaining order stood in groups of three or five at the intersections, their swords gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

Kashimo glanced around, then drew his gaze back.

Not a single sorcerer's presence...

He turned to look at Rinko. The girl hugged the Ruyi Staff, resting after every couple of steps. The staff was too long for her to carry comfortably, and she had to keep hitching it higher.

Forget it.

Kashimo changed direction and headed toward the city gate.

"Huh?" Rinko blinked. "Weren't we going to look around outside? Why are we heading into the city?"

"To have some fun."

Kashimo walked ahead, clearing a path for her and casually pushing aside a peddler who nearly bumped into him.

"What? Fun?" Rinko hugged the staff and jogged after him. "Aren't we looking for sorcerers?"

"We are." Kashimo didn't look back. "But there aren't any around here right now. We don't get to come here often, so I'll take you out for some fun first."

Rinko opened her mouth to say something, then swallowed it back.

"...All right."

Hugging the staff that stood a good deal taller than she did, she followed Kashimo with quick little steps, getting jostled from side to side by the crowd.

Not long after the two left, two figures emerged from the bustling stream of people.

"Sir, that sugar painting-yes, the rabbit one. I'll take two."

The woman who spoke wore a red robe with a black sash around her waist. Her jet-black hair was tied in a high ponytail that swayed gently behind her as she raised her hand. She was strikingly beautiful, with a bold, spirited air about her features that made it clear she was no ordinary young lady.

The vendor looked up, his expression shifting slightly, and hurriedly bowed.

"P-Princess!"

"No need, no need." Tokugawa Fenghua waved a hand, her eyes and brows alight with smiles. "Two sugar paintings. Charge them to the Shogunate."

The vendor answered, "Yes," with a pained expression, but he dared not slow down. He deftly wrapped up two rabbit-shaped sugar paintings and handed them over.

Fenghua took them, then turned and offered one to the woman who had remained silent beside her.

"Here, Yingliang. Yours."

Tokugawa Yingliang accepted the sugar painting with a slight nod. She was much quieter than her elder sister, dressed in an understated pale blue-green kimono, her long hair falling loose over her shoulders. Her features were gentle yet distant. Even the way she accepted the sugar painting was detached, as though it were merely a matter of routine.

Both were daughters of the Tokugawa family.

Both were also jujutsu sorcerers.

"The Three Great Families from Kyoto will be coming to this festival too, won't they?"

After accepting the sugar painting, Tokugawa Yingliang kept her gaze on the bustling crowd in the distance. Her voice was very soft, as though she were talking to herself, or seeking confirmation.

Fenghua had already stuffed the rabbit sugar painting into her mouth and bitten off a piece. At the question, she answered indistinctly.

"Ah, right."

She chewed a couple of times and swallowed the sugar before growing serious. "The head of the Gojo Clan is coming. As for the other two-"

She shrugged.

"The Zenin Clan has shut its doors lately. They say they're going into seclusion to train, though who knows what they're training. The Kamo Clan..." She paused, a subtle note entering her voice. "I heard their clan head's illness has gotten worse. He can't come."

Yingliang said nothing, only nodding gently.

The rabbit sugar painting remained untouched in her hand.