All Shinobu Kocho's letter had offered was a single sentence: "Don't worry."
How was he supposed to stop worrying?
The girl was practically at her breaking point... How could he not worry?
The letter had also told Tetsu no Sosuke not to dig any deeper and to leave it to Shinobu Kocho to handle herself.
"That's exactly what worries me. I don't think she can handle it, so her older sister and brother-in-law need to keep an eye on her." Tetsu no Sosuke held the letter up and read it twice more, but something still felt wrong.
A cough sounded beside him. Only then did he snap out of it and notice the two people standing there. He had no idea when they had arrived.
"Ah? Sorry... I got distracted." Tetsu no Sosuke put the letter away. "When did you two get here?"
"A little while ago." The woman smiled, unbothered by his distraction. The man beside her, however, looked displeased, his irritation with Tetsu no Sosuke plain on his face.
Tetsu no Sosuke cleared his throat. "Something came up..."
"Do you need help?" Tamayo asked.
"Family matters, family matters..." Tetsu no Sosuke broke into a sweat. It wasn't something he could ask them to help with, nor was there any need to. "Did you two need something from me?"
"We just came to say hello. We've been here two days and haven't had a chance to greet you properly."
Tamayo smiled as she spoke.
Tetsu no Sosuke smiled back. "No worries. We've all been busy."
Tamayo and Yushiro had arrived at the mine two days earlier.
Before that, things with the Serpent Pillar and the Love Pillar—their relationship and the Serpent Pillar's attitude toward the two newcomers—had gone much as Tetsu no Sosuke expected.
As for their relationship... it