He opened the door dejectedly, finding Zebu and a large crowd of villagers behind her.
"You finally came out. We've been waiting here for two days," Zebu said, deeply worried.
It wasn't just Zebu. Looking across the crowd, he saw concern written on every villager's face.
Xiu Yuan was a little stunned. He hadn't expected piecing together those scattered, shattered memories alone to take two days.
"Sasayuri, I've learned what happened. None of this was your fault."
After Xiu Yuan left Kitsune Saiguu's birthday party, Zebu stayed until the celebration was over. Still vaguely uneasy, she decided to come and check on him.
Only after asking the villagers did she learn the full course of events.
She also knew Xiu Yuan had been inside the wooden house all this time. She hadn't knocked because she was afraid of disturbing his state of mind.
Instead, she waited for him to settle down and open the door himself. That seemed the safer approach.
After this incident, the villagers remembered how they had treated Xiu Yuan before. They all felt guilty, so they waited here too, hoping to thank him in person.
"How many were killed or injured...?" Xiu Yuan's first concern was still the villagers.
At his words, Zebu froze briefly. Looking at his haggard face, she felt, for the first time, as though Xiu Yuan were a stranger.
The Xiu Yuan she knew hadn't been like this.
Previously, to protect Yashiori Island without delaying the Founding Celebration, he had faced the Great Serpent and hundreds upon hundreds of invaders alone.
He had even lost an arm for it.
This time, sensing something was wrong, he had flown thousands of miles without hesitation to save Watatsumi Island.
Though things hadn't gone perfectly, he had at least saved the vast majority.
Even so,