Since then, Sakurai Hoshi traveled together with Ashikamo Yeo.[1]
The tall and upright onmyoji rested a folding fan against his chin, and the way he lowered his eyes and smiled was casual yet elegant.
“You have been walking on foot all this time, Princess… I am traveling this time precisely to purge monsters, so why don’t you ride together with me in the Oborokuruma? You can also get a little rest.”
For Sakurai Hoshi, the only purpose of coming to this era was to level up, so of course the faster she could farm curse spirits, the better. After Ashikamo Yeo made the suggestion, she readily agreed.
Fujiwara Sawo was also very happy, at least the princess no longer had to keep traveling day and night without rest.
Ashikamo Yeo, who had only learned about the miko Hime from rumors all this time, only truly understood what the rumored “divine child” meant after traveling with her.
In the past, even when the Oborokuruma rushed forward, it still had to avoid giant trees and fierce rivers, but after Hime rode with him, the trees blocking the way raised their branches and leaves, the surging rivers no longer roared, and even in the pitch-black miasma forests, birds led the way.
As if she were someone watched over by the gods.
And she was worthy of such favor.
Late at night, Ashikamo Yeo and Fujiwara Sawo sat quietly by the campfire, waiting for Hime, who was bathing by the stream.
The faint sound of trickling water could be heard, and Yeo stared at the sparks bursting from the firewood, seeming to think a lot, yet also seeming not to think of anything at all.
Hime was truly a very difficult person to understand.
That did not mean her thoughts were very complicated… on the contrary, she was far too pure. In his heart, he could only read the obsession and resolve to exorcise curse spirits, and the gentleness and pity to soothe the dead.
He had already traveled with Hime for three days, and Hime had also been rushing about without sleep or rest for three days.
In these three days of getting along, even Ashikamo Yeo was shocked by her ascetic practice.
She only ate fruits brought by birds or wild beasts, only drank rainwater and stream water, and would not harm any animal. She never complained about the endless vengeful spirits, and even did not hate them; when exorcising curse spirits, she would also sigh for these pitiful creatures.
She even never rested. Every time Yeo thought she had leaned back in the Oborokuruma and fallen asleep, she would again close her eyes and point out the next place where demons needed to be cleared away.
“Has the princess always been like this?” he once could not help asking the chess player.
Although Yeo’s question was so vague, the young man understood his confusion without any difficulty.
“Always like this.”
This short and certain answer also left Ashikamo Yeo speechless.
Perhaps people were right when they said she really was a firefly, using her life to ignite light in the darkness.
Fortunately, Hime was also an incomparably considerate person. After Ashikamo Yeo stayed up and traveled with her for three days, the girl caught sight of the dark shadows under the onmyoji’s eyes and finally stopped her journey.
“Why is Fujiwara-kun traveling together with the princess?” Rarely getting a chance to rest, Ashikamo Yeo also began chatting with the young chess player.
And this simple sentence seemed to touch Fujiwara Sawo. He raised his head and looked toward the stream in the distance, seeming to sink into memory, gradually revealing a sorrowful yet moved expression.
“…Two days after being expelled from the capital, I threw myself into the water and died. The princess… when the princess was traveling at night, she found me in the river… she lifted my corpse from the water and collected my body for me…”
“…So that is how it was.”
Even the well-informed Great Onmyoji could not help but be at a loss at this karmic bond.
Ashikamo Yeo turned his head and looked toward the stream, and really had nothing to say.
…
The days traveling with Yeo and Sawo were truly very comfortable.
Not to mention the time-saving and labor-saving Oborokuruma monster, just those two noble young masters alone brought her quite a lot of fun on the journey.
Since discovering that what she had been eating all along were wild fruits from the mountains, Yeo’s carriage began to keep snacks and fragrant tea on hand, and the player’s quality of life immediately improved.
When she was bored on the carriage, Sawo would teach her how to play go. Sometimes Ashikamo Yeo would watch the game in silence, only handing her snacks; sometimes he would smile and hold her hand, helping her come up with ideas. Occasionally, they would do nothing at all, lift the carriage curtain, and sip tea quietly against the mountains, rivers, and clouds.
When they reached their destination, the noble onmyoji led her down from the Oborokuruma. After the exorcism ended, he would reach out to help her back up into the carriage.
…Yeo probably liked touching skin with her very much.
Although he had always deliberately concealed this, and Fujiwara Sawo had never discovered it… the divine child could easily sense other people’s emotions. Even though she had not meant to, she still sensed Yeo’s complicated feelings.
He wanted to touch her, yet did not want to make things difficult for her.
So Hime took the initiative to hold his hand instead, like holding on to a helpless kite drifting in the wind.
Ashikamo Yeo froze, then slowly tightened his grip.
…
“Sawo wants to pursue the ‘hand of God’ of the way of go…”
During a rare moment of leisure, Sakurai Hoshi was playing go with Sawo, while Ashikamo Yeo had temporarily gone to reply to a letter from the palace.
The girl’s slender fingers placed a stone on the board. “After knowledge is spread in later generations, more people will come into contact with go. The ‘hand of God’ you want to pursue might find its answer a thousand years later, maybe.”
“Later generations…” Fujiwara Sawo was a little surprised. “The princess can actually foresee the conditions of the human world a thousand years later?”
“Hm? Why would you think that?”
Hearing his exclamation, the girl was amused, and her lovely smile made Sawo’s face turn red with embarrassment.
Was his imagination too fantastical, and that made the princess laugh?
“The reason I say that is because I come from a thousand years later.”
However, even more unbelievable words than his guess came from the princess’s mouth.
“If Sawo finds the ‘hand of God’ a thousand years later, be sure to tell me from that time.”
The princess said that, and on her peerlessly beautiful face appeared a sincere smile, making a thousand-year promise with the dead genius go player.
…
After traveling with Hime for more than a month, all of Yeo’s tasks on this trip had been completed, and the capital kept urging him to return as well, it had reached the point where he had to head back.
At night, the chess player’s soul had already fallen into slumber, and of course the soul also needed rest.
Ashikamo Yeo held a scroll in his hands, but his eyes were on the girl stroking the kitten. After hesitating for a moment, he finally spoke.
“Would the princess be willing to enter the capital with me?”
The small cat lay in the princess’s arms, and its body had been carefully bandaged up, that was the kitten they had discovered together a few days ago. Even though it was already on the brink of death, it still struggled tenaciously to live. “Even if it hurts, it still wants to live… what a strong kitten.” Hime said that, picked it up from the pile of corpses, and brought it back, and Yeo named it Kotsune.
Hearing Yeo’s question, she turned her head to look over. The pure moonlight spilled over her body, so clean that one could not move their eyes away.
Even though Yeo had gradually grown used to her beauty, he still could not help but catch his breath, and the words he had already organized became garbled.
“…The capital has stronger and denser curses, and you can also meet more outstanding onmyoji and sorcerers. Since the princess wants to save the world, it would be better to meet more people with the same aspirations…”
“Okay.”
The Great Onmyoji was still trying hard to think of what to say, but Hime had already smiled. It was truly very… cute.
“Let’s go to Heian-kyō together, Yeo.”
…Princess, is she actually this straightforward?
Her without-hesitation attitude even made Yeo feel a trace of confusion, he had once thought she would roam forever in places of hardship. Because of some secret feeling, he even took the initiative to read the girl’s inner thoughts.
‘Heian-kyō, huh…’
‘…’
The gentle sound of her thoughts rang in his mind, and Ashikamo Yeo, who read her thoughts, was again speechless. He silently looked at the calm girl under the moonlight and gave a bitter smile.
This really was… far beyond expectations, Princess.
…
The Oborokuruma ran along, heading toward the capital.
Halfway there, Yeo had the Oborokuruma monster stop near a small city.
“Please wait a moment, Princess. I’ll be back soon.”
He said that, seeming as if he were only going into the city to take care of some small matter. But Sakurai Hoshi knew that Yeo disliked crowded places the most. Usually, even when they rested, they mostly stayed in uninhabited wilderness; only when supplies had to be bought did the great onmyoji very elegantly invite her to go with him, it seemed that as long as she was by his side, dense crowds would not be so unbearable.
Since that was the case, there must be something important for him to go into the city alone this time.
So she took out the go board and smiled at the tall young onmyoji. “Just right, I want to play a game of go with Sawo. When Yeo comes back, he can also see how much I’ve improved.”
During this period, under the guidance of the two go masters, the player’s go skills had indeed improved quite a bit, and occasionally she could even make Sawo serious for a moment.
“Play go~ play go~” The elegant young man who had originally been sitting upright and proper suddenly became excited, even his voice carrying delight. “Yeo can go slowly, and it’s fine if he comes back a bit later!”
Seeing this, Ashikamo Yeo let out a soft laugh, shook his head, and strolled away.
Sakurai Hoshi really liked playing go with Sawo.
It was not that she liked the way of go all that much, but just hearing the young man’s voice of serious joy because of something he loved made her want to smile from the heart.
For this reason, after one exorcism ended, the miko Hime, who never accepted any reward, for the first time ever asked a fallen nobleman for a thank-you gift, an old go board that he had put aside.
From then on, whenever she had free time, she would play go with Sawo whenever she could, and she would also play against Ashikamo Yeo on Sawo’s behalf.
Even if her skill was poor and she was always completely crushed, or she was only playing go as Sawo’s hands and could not experience the fun of playing against an opponent herself, she still enjoyed it.
After playing enough games, the player’s Intelligence of 17 also gradually came to understand the mysteries of go. When playing with Sawo, she could clearly feel the young man’s excitement and joy.
Sawo liked go. This love even made him remain in the mortal world to this day, wandering and unable to leave.
He longed to play against masters, and he also longed to grasp an even more wondrous way of go, that was the purest meaning in Fujiwara Sawo’s life.
When Fujiwara Sawo raised his head from the board, he was still savoring the move the princess had just made. While enjoying the way of go, he admired the girl’s spiritual sensitivity with deep admiration, and also felt deep joy, as if in this way, their hearts had come closer to each other.
“Princess, your move just now…”
The young chess player happily wanted to praise her, but when he looked up, he saw the girl’s gentle smiling eyes.
Wisteria petals fell into the carriage, and that was exactly the color of her eyes.
“…Sawo? Why aren’t you speaking? It’s your turn now.”
“Ah, okay, yes… seven columns, four rows!”
“Hm… Sawo’s move is so strange. Is there some special intention behind it?”
“Th-this…”
The chess player rarely showed such a flustered and helpless expression. He shyly covered his flushed face with a folding fan, and was just unsure how to respond to the princess when another folding fan gently lifted the carriage curtain.
“Ah, welcome back, Yeo.”
The princess smiled behind him, and Sawo froze for a moment, only then turning back while suppressing an inexplicable sense of loss.
The handsome man in a eboshi and kariginu entered the Oborokuruma holding a box, a flawless smile on his face. He slightly bent over and removed the wisteria petals from the princess’s hair, then placed the box into her hands.
“I’m back, Princess. Sorry to have kept you waiting.”
The onmyoji said warmly, his gaze lowered toward her, very gentle.
“We are about to enter Kyoto… although the princess’s beauty is comparable to the stars and the moon, I cannot tolerate others speaking ill of the princess. If there is anything improper about these things, please teach me, Princess.”
Fujiwara Sawo realized something from his words and hurriedly turned to look.
The princess opened the box in her hands, and inside was a beautifully wrapped kimono.