"Everyone! Are you all right?" Han pulled the wooden door open and asked anxiously.
The moment the door opened, Han no longer needed an answer. Foul energy, a mixture of demonic and ghostly auras, filled the entire room, as though it were submerged in filthy water. Evil spirits transformed into demons slowly took shape amid the murk. Led by the old monk, several young monks maintained a small, faltering barrier, barely keeping everyone inside it. Lan fought desperately outside the barrier. As the only monster capable of fighting, she held nothing back against the creatures, even if her only reason was to protect her child. By the time Han entered, the barrier was on the verge of shattering, and Lan was wounded all over, sustained almost entirely by her fierce determination to protect her daughter.
"Lady Miko, save us!"
Seeing Han rush in, the young nobles trembling inside the barrier scrambled toward her. Only the girl remained still, as though she believed Han would surely save her-or perhaps she simply cared about nothing at all, including her own life...
Han had no time to wonder why neither she nor the spellcaster had noticed the fierce battle inside the room. Faced with the crisis, she had no choice but to use Spiritual Power Barrier once more. The barrier created a space of spiritual power within a certain radius of her body, thoroughly purifying every demon and ghost within it. This powerful skill consumed far too much energy. Even Han, whose reserves of spiritual power far exceeded those of ordinary people, struggled to use it twice in such a short time.
Fortunately, this was a cramped room, unlike the open grounds where she had just fought alongside the spellcaster, so she did not need to extend the barrier very far.
After temporarily purifying all the monsters and foul energy in the room, Han gritted her teeth and forced herself to keep going. She approached the girl. "Could you let me see what you have against your chest?" From the moment she entered, she had noticed that the foul energy seemed to originate near the girl's chest. Though she did not know exactly what the object was, it should pose no great problem as long as she purified it quickly. There was only one Demon Jewel Four Souls, after all. In truth, if she did not resolve this soon, she might have no strength left to face the next wave of attacks.
"This..." The girl hesitated, her pearly teeth involuntarily catching her cherry-blossom lips.
"I leave everything in your hands!" Tomoko knew how to distinguish what mattered most in a crisis. At this point, she could only place her complete trust in this miko. She removed the magatama hanging around her neck and solemnly handed it to Han.
"Please rest assured." Han accepted it with a grave expression. Just as I thought... a tainted treasure... Foul energy poured endlessly from the jade...
Pure spiritual power settled over the beautiful, timeworn magatama, drawing out all the dark gray foul energy deep within it. Coiling black threads surfaced across the emerald jade, only to be swiftly purified by her spiritual power.
Han poured her spiritual power into the magatama without reserve. Between her snow-white palms, the emerald pendant released a dazzling light. As though she were inside the jade itself, Han dimly entered a mysterious world... The magatama's own immense power replenished her depleted spiritual power, which in turn acted upon the jewel, thoroughly purifying the source of the foul energy in its deepest recesses.
At a shrine a thousand miles away.
"Ah!" An old man dressed in priestly attire-a tall black eboshi cap, a black robe patterned with interlocking arabesques, and gathered trousers bearing eight-wisteria roundels-cried out in pain as the altar violently hurled him away. The altar rapidly cracked apart, while the old priest lay where he had fallen, vomiting blood without end.
"Lord Priest!" An attendant beside him cried out and hurried forward to help the gravely wounded priest up.
"I'm fine." The old priest's face was vicious as he forcefully wiped the blood from his mouth, seething inwardly.
"Then..." the attendant began cautiously, "Lady Uchijima's instructions..."
"Hmph." The old priest snorted. "Get out! Tell her the Imperial Princess has a powerful expert at her side. But she won't be so lucky next time." The corners of his deeply wrinkled mouth curled upward, his gloomy face full of malice.
"Yes." The attendant answered, trembling.
Tomoko stared in shock at the magatama that had blackened before her eyes and then been purified, unable to believe what she had seen.
Before she left, the high priest of the Ise Grand Shrine had privately bestowed it upon her. Although removing the sacred jade from the shrine where it belonged was disrespectful to the deity, protecting the Imperial Princess, a descendant of Amaterasu, would fulfill the magatama's true purpose. That was what the high priest had said. She had accepted it gratefully, touched by his desire to protect her. Never had she imagined...
Those people truly used everything at their disposal to kill me. They even defiled the sacred jade. As a member of the imperial family, Tomoko could not forgive that. Her eyes turned icy. She believed her father certainly knew nothing of this. As the Emperor of Japan and Amaterasu's most exalted descendant, he defended Amaterasu's dignity more fiercely than anyone. It must have been that woman's orders... If everything had gone as planned and the evil spirits had killed me, I would have been branded unclean, and Mother would surely have faced condemnation too. After all, I would have been the criminal who stole the sacred jade...
For the first time, Tomoko's mind was this clear. She bore not merely her own fate, but the fate carried by her family name. On this journey to study, which was little different from exile, every retainer who still followed her had bound their fortunes and lives completely to hers.
I will become the Crown Princess! The true heir to the throne!
The girl lowered her head, her eyes filled with a firm, unwavering conviction that no one could see-a resolve to succeed at all costs!
"It's done." The magatama lay quietly in the miko's hand as she held it out to her. Its earlier dazzling radiance had faded, leaving only the gentle, pure luster of jade.
"Thank you." The girl accepted it and offered her sincere thanks. When she looked at the miko, her gaze met those clear eyes.
The miko smiled and shook her head. Her smile was calm and peaceful, yet held the warmth of jade. Something stirred in Tomoko's heart, and she suddenly made another decision.
After eliminating the remaining monsters outside, Miya returned to the room as well. Everyone stayed together, quietly awaiting dawn.
Having seen so many ghosts and monsters in a single night, they were all deeply shaken. Even when they relaxed for a moment, sleep would not come easily.
After the chaotic night, everything finally settled. The young monks brought everyone hot tea.
By the window, the girl and the miko sat on opposite sides of a small table. Before they realized it, everyone else had withdrawn from the room.
"Lady Miko, please." The girl gestured with one hand.
The miko nodded slightly. Unlike most people in the girl's presence, she showed no awed trepidation, merely lifting her teacup politely.
Through the curling steam, Han studied the face of the girl opposite her properly for the first time.
She had a smooth, broad forehead, a delicate nose with a slightly high bridge, and cherry-blossom lips. Her eyes, in particular, held a firmness and strength equal to any man's. Though her features were feminine and lovely, she possessed a striking, bold beauty uncommon in other women. Yet her commanding presence made one overlook her beauty as a woman.
"The water is very clear. The tea is only slightly bitter, but its lingering sweetness is unexpectedly rich," Han said. She was no expert in tasting tea.
The girl smiled faintly, utterly unconcerned with the miko's appraisal of the tea. "And compared with the tea, what about me? What do you think of me, Lady Miko?"
The miko looked up in surprise, her clear eyes like a pool of spring water.
The sky gradually brightened.
"Are you still unwilling to return with me, Han?" By now, the two could address each other by name.
"Yes. I'm very sorry." Han lowered her head in apology, then raised it to meet the girl's gaze. "That isn't what I wish for."
The girl gave a self-mocking smile and gently shook her head. "Mm. I thought as much."
Their eyes met in silent understanding.
"Please take this." The girl spoke calmly as she removed the magatama she had only recently hung around her neck again.
Han shook her head. By now, she could more or less identify the jade's true nature-and the girl's identity.
"If you can, please give me one of the prayer beads around your neck." The girl no longer looked at the miko opposite her, gazing instead at the faint light of morning outside the window as she smiled. "Just one will do."
Without hesitation, Han removed the prayer beads from her neck, took one bead from the strand, and solemnly placed it in the girl's hand. This was all she could give: a humble token of her affection, bearing both Kikyo's blessing and her own.
The girl untied the emerald magatama from its cord, threaded the dark prayer bead onto it instead, and reverently put it on.
Then she placed the magatama in the miko's still-outstretched palm. "At least keep it safe for me for now. You're the only person I can trust."
The ox carriage coming to collect her would arrive after dawn. She could not bring the magatama back to the Imperial Palace; that would invite needless accusations. Given the high priest's possible betrayal, the magatama was direct evidence and could no longer be found on her person. In fact, pretending nothing had happened would be best, since she had no evidence proving the high priest's disloyalty to the imperial family.
Although everyone present yesterday had seen the magatama, no one had actually connected it with the sacred jade enshrined there. Moreover, apart from the other spellcaster and the mother and daughter, the monks and young nobles present were all her supporters. Yet even they could not be trusted completely in the matter of the sacred jade. For now, Han was the most suitable person to whom she could entrust it.
Only then did Han solemnly nod. After a night of heartfelt conversation, more than one person had changed.
With complete concentration, Tomoko threaded the magatama onto the prayer beads and placed them back around Han's neck. She carefully concealed it beneath the miko's top and smoothed the wrinkles in her clothing. Only after finishing all this did she rise, looking relieved.
"If we meet again, you'll probably have to call me Crown Princess. Or perhaps..."
The golden light of sunrise bathed Hinomori Tomoko's face, and the rest of her words faded unspoken. Standing tall and graceful, the noble girl gave her friend a radiant smile.
In her, one could faintly glimpse the magnificent bearing of the future Emperor Sakuramachi.
Yasakani no Magatama acquired √
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