"An old acquaintance?"
A trace of confusion appeared on Ei's face. To her, "an old acquaintance" was not a particularly pleasant term, because it always brought ancient, beautiful memories flooding into her mind, which then fermented into sorrow.
Ei's memory was actually quite good. Aside from her four closest friends and family, she still remembered many of the humans who had served her, such as Gushan, the tea master who had followed her for his entire life. Though blind, he had brewed excellent tea.
Sadly, the battle five hundred years ago had left Ei with nothing. Apart from the little fox who served as a hand warmer and offered her some comfort, she had no friends or family left in the world.
That upheaval had also led Ei to misunderstand eternity. After creating Scaramouche and the Raiden Shogun, she had confined herself within the Plane of Euthymia for five hundred years, until she met Yucheng.
Yucheng said, "Well, not necessarily. Perhaps it isn't a human, but a youkai."
Yucheng told Ei what had happened earlier and added his own conjectures.
When Ei learned that the incomplete soul hidden within the Puppet Core might be Mikoshi Chiyo's legitimate son, a complicated expression appeared on her face, and she remained silent for a long time.
Yucheng knew it was not because of Mikoshi Doukei, but because she had remembered his mother, her dear friend-Mikoshi Chiyo.
Of Ei's three friends, the one whose fate she found hardest to come to terms with was this Oni girl, who looked delicate and frail yet was incomparably brave and skilled in battle.
Sasayuri had died on the battlefield during the War of the Eastern Invasion. For a warrior, that was not such a bad ending. Kitsune Saiguu, meanwhile, had willingly risked herself to purify the filth