After the boat festival ended,
smoke began rising from the factory area. The Fire Hunters resumed
their duties immediately after the festival was over. Fire Hunters
deployed in the field would hunt even during festivals, but the ones
in the city were desperately needed for other tasks. The factories
had been closed for a week, and now that operations had resumed,
every factory in the city was in need of fuel simultaneously. The
capital's Fire Hunters ran to and fro, making deliveries. If there
wasn't enough fire fuel to go around, the Fire Hunters would leave
the city via the tunnel and go hunting in the Black Forest to bring
more back. The tunnel was cut into the cliff, and beyond it, there
was no barrier. Koushi couldn't even imagine what going beyond the
barrier would be like.
Back in the basement of Okibi Estate. Before Koushi's eyes,
lightning fuel shone with a golden glow, held in an egg-shaped
glass container supported by a trivet. He had no choice but to use
all of the lightning fuel to make weapons for Yuoshichi.
Koushi read his library notes over again. He'd returned to the
Central Archives' third floor several times over the past few days
to take better notes and bring them back to his work station. He
also took notes on his observations of the lightning fuel and
compared them. In the end, he completely filled three thick
notebooks, though not all of the content was unique. There were
times when he'd forgotten that he'd already made a transcription
of something.
Perhaps I need to reorganize the contents of that hand-bound
book... If I could read it through without decrypting it from
beginning to end, maybe I could finally make sense of lightning
fuel, Koushi thought.
Koushi had copied the drawing of the Fallen Beast out of the
encrypted book. He wasn't a skilled artist, but he'd attempted to
reproduce the drawing as faithfully as possible. Floating in the
sky, wingless, it resembled a dog or a lion with its fangs bared.
It wasn't a Fire Fiend, but something different. Special.
One other illustration had escaped Koushi's notice when he'd
first read that book, since it was on the last page before the
cover. He'd reproduced that one, too, as well as he was able. This
illustration was... different. It wasn't of a Fallen Beast, and it
was drawn in the different style, making Koushi think that it had
been copied from elsewhere. When he'd first seen it, his eyebrows
had lifted in surprise. He wasn't able to look away from it for a
long while after.
The book claimed that the image was of the Millennium
Comet.
The central part of the image was pure light, floating above a
mountain range with the dark sky above it. The light trailed off
in many directions, spiraling and whirling. Flickering Flame
was written at the bottom.
Koushi had copied the illustration, hardly daring to breathe. The
Millennium Comet didn't look like a mechanical doll. It wasn't
even humanoid. Maybe the light obscured its true shape. It was
like the luminescence from the the lightning fuel before his eyes
right now: too bright to be natural.
As Koushi stared at the gold-glowing fuel, he felt like the
answer was there,
somehow, just under the surface of it. He was so close to
understanding everything. By piecing together information from the
Central Archives and his research on lightning fuel, he was closer
than ever to knowing how the Fallen Beasts and Fire Fiends came to
be.
But Koushi was running out of time. He might not find out
everything he wanted or needed to know before the weapons had to
be done.
The door to the basement creaked open, and Yuoshichi looked
inside. "I'm sorry to interrupt you," Yuoshichi said. "Do you have
a moment?"
"Of course," Koushi said.
Yuoshichi stepped into the workroom, then shut the door behind
him.
Koushi lost his concentration almost at once; he didn't feel like
the lightning fuel held secrets anymore, only riddles.
Yuoshichi coughed low in his throat. That small sound of
disapproval reminded Koushi that he'd been coming to the workroom
late at night. Maybe he'd been using too much oil. Yes, of course:
he'd been using up resources and hadn't produced any results as
yet.
Looking at Koushi from under his bushy, animalistic eyebrows,
Yuoshichi said, "Are you coming to dinner? We're holding a banquet
for the city's Fire Hunters tonight. Your father's friends are
concerned about your well-being. Could you please visit with them
for a little while? Kira would like to see you as well, though
I've instructed her not to detain you for long."
"Of course I'll come, sir," Koushi said.
Koushi closed his notebook and put away his tools. He placed the
lightning fuel he'd been working with back in its sealed container
and removed his notebook. Then he followed Yuoshichi upstairs.
Yuoshichi's black robe trailed behind him as they climbed the
staircase.
"Have you made much progress?" Yuoshichi asked.
Koushi kept his head down for the ascent. He didn't look up when
he answered, "Some." Yuoshichi's question had been business-like,
so Koushi gave him a brief and business-like answer. "To be
honest, I'm not really sure how well things are going. Thank you
very much for the blueprint of the shrine and factory area. It was
very helpful."
"I see," Yuoshichi said, noncommittal.
"What if the Spiders attack? Is there still time?" Koushi
asked.
"The Fire Hunters are investigating that," Yuoshichi said.
They reached the top of the stairs and went through the study
back into the hallway. The banquet was being held in the estate's
grand hall, which was large, windowless, and lit up brightly with
artificial lights.
When Koushi finally looked up Yuoshichi was still standing in
front of him, illuminated by the dimmer lamps in the hallway.
Servants scurried back and forth from the kitchen to the grand
hall. In the distance, Koushi heard voices--not just of the Fire
Hunters, but of their barking dogs.
That takes me back,
Koushi thought, remembering his father and Kanata. He looked out
of one of the windows in the hallway and saw that the sun was
going down.
Yuoshichi was dressed all in black, with Hibana dressed all in
white as a sharp contrast. Kira's gown was embroidered with silk
thread; she flitted like a butterfly from place to place, greeting
guests along with her mother. Some of the Fire Hunters were
looking at Hibana with admiration in their eyes: her elegant
gestures and cultured speech charmed them.
A brilliant-bright lantern was lit in the center of the hall,
illuminating a sumptuous feast was spread on a large table.
The Fire Hunters' dogs were exploring the courtyard and garden
while their masters ate in the hall. So many dogs: Koushi tried to
figure out how many there were but he lost count.
In the grand hall, the Fire Hunters relaxed in corners, drinking
and eating and mingling with one another and their hosts.
Lubricated by alcohol, the occasion took on a festive atmosphere.
The Fire Hunters sought out old friends to trade recent stories.
One Fire Hunter sat cross-legged in a chair, head practically in
his cup, and barely moved.
Hibana and Kira worked the crowd with practiced ease, not
lingering long with any guest but circulating to make sure they
greeted them all. They listened attentively to the tales the Fire
Hunters told, and made sure that no Fire Hunter's cup or plate
went empty by giving signals to the servants.
"That's your seat," Yuoshichi said, pointing to a round table
where four Fire Hunters were already seated. Koushi recognized
them; they'd worked with his father. He followed Yuoshichi over to
the table.
"Um... hi. It's been a long time," Koushi said to the Fire
Hunters.
The Fire Hunters looked up at him, wide-eyed. Two of the men were
still bearded; they'd rushed here straight from their most recent
excursion and hadn't had any time to shave or change
clothes.
"Oh, how've you been, kid?" one of the Fire Hunters asked. He
shook his head. "Haijuu, what were you thinking, leaving your sick
wife and your kids behind like that? Your sister must've had a
rough time of it."
"Haijuu loves work," another Fire Hunter said. "He might turn up.
He's probably off somewhere doing something crazy dangerous, like
usual."
Koushi nodded. "Thank you for your concern. My sister and I are
doing well."
"Oh? I heard you got taken in at this place," a Fire Hunter said.
Koushi remembered him: a man with a huge laugh who'd come to the
house fairly often. He'd slapped Koushi on the back when his
father had disappeared, and he'd visited often to ask where he'd
gone.
Koushi put his hand behind his head and gave a noncommittal
reply. Should I laugh? Cry? I don't know what kind of face I should
make...
"Well, kid, I wish you luck. I'll go over there and get a
plate... Excuse me, I haven't had dinner yet, so I'm hungry. I'll
see you later," Yuoshichi said, patting himself gleefully on the
stomach. He walked away.
As he did, Koushi noticed that the Fire Hunters were all dressed
in their work clothes, not the fancier and less practical clothing
that was in style in the capital. Perhaps their uniforms counted
as formal clothes. They weren't carrying their sickles, but Koushi
got the sense that they were always ready for something to
happen.
"I'm sorry if my father's absence has caused you all any
trouble," Koushi said, and though he meant it, his tone was flat
and emotionless.
The four Fire Hunters sitting at the table exchanged glances,
then offered Koushi a place to sit.
"I guess you can't drink alcohol, but they've taken the trouble
to let you live at this estate, which isn't nothing," one of the
Fire Hunters said. "You're living the good life, but you haven't
gained a pound! Just like Hyorosuke." His voice had a nasally
quality that seemed to irritate his comrades.
The Fire Hunter invited Koushi to sit near him, but he didn't
really want to, and searched for the right words to use to refuse
politely.
"Koushi!" Kira ran up to him, starched blue skirt trailing behind
her. She bowed to the Fire Hunters. "Hello! May I please meet your
dogs, Mr. Fire Hunters?"
Hibana approached behind her, walking briskly toward a smiling
Kira. "Whatever shall we do with you, my daughter?" she asked.
"Koushi is clearly speaking to our esteemed guests. It is rude to
interrupt." She frowned at Kira's obvious over-excitement. When
she tilted her head, Koushi noticed that Hibana and Kira were
wearing matching pearl earrings.
"But it's important that I greet our guests, too, mother," Kira
said. "And hunting doges are important companions-in-arms. I would
be remiss if I didn't offer my greetings to them."
The Fire Hunters around the table burst out laughing. One of them
cleared his throat and said, "Really, ma'am, it's all right. It's
clear that your daughter is enamored of our dogs, and the dogs
would be happy to let her pet them."
"Why don't you become a Fire Hunter?" one of the others asked.
"You'd get a dog."
Hibana put her hand over her mouth, trying not to violate
etiquette. She managed a forced laugh, then said, "Oh, please
don't tease my poor daughter. This girl will take you seriously,
sir. My daughter is academically excellent, unlike me, but she is
quick to believe everything."
Koushi looked up at Hibana's charming smile as she batted her
eyelashes at the assembled Fire Hunters. Kira tilted her head,
making her long hair spill over one shoulder.
"Since I've received such a nice invitation to pet the dogs, I
think I shall go do that, mother. What about you, Koushi? Would
you like to come?"
Kira took Koushi's hand, and together they practically ran toward
where the dogs were. It was as if Kira was trying to pull him out
of danger, they moved so fast. Leaving the pomp and circumstance
behind, Koushi and Kira hastened to the exit of the banquet
hall.
Koushi noticed someone standing by the wall near the exit:
another Fire Hunter. He stood with his arms folded, back flat to
the wall. His skin was suntanned to a deep and burnished brown,
and in his brown uniform he nearly blended into his surroundings.
He would be easy to overlook in all the extravagance and excess of
the party. Kira didn't seem to notice him at all as she rushed
past, tugging at Koushi's hand when he paused.
Koushi exchanged glances with the Fire Hunter. The Fire Hunter
gave him a brief and enigmatic smile, only the corners of his
mouth lifting.
"Look at the all the dogs!" Kira said. "Aren't they wonderful?"
She pet each of the dogs, dozens of them, and was careful not to
leave anyone out. She approached each dog by extending her hand to
be sniffed. Fire Hunter dogs were well-trained to never bite
defenseless humans, and the dogs were especially friendly to Kira,
licking her face and sitting on her feet to hold her still for
more pets. Kira's hair was in disarray and there was drool on her
dress after she'd pet several of the dogs, but she didn't seem to
care. One of the dogs stood up on its hind legs and jumped on Kira
for a hug. Kira trilled a laugh.
"I didn't know that you liked dogs so much," Koushi said. He
stood near a tree at the edge of the garden, watching Kira frolic.
Hinako came out and joined her a short while later. It was hard to
believe that Kira was a nobleman's daughter when she behaved like
this among the dogs.
"I like all kinds of different animals," Kira said. Suddenly, her
tone became somber. "I always wanted a dog, but mom doesn't like
them."
Koushi frowned, remembering Hibana's rebuke in the banquet hall.
Was it really right to shame her daughter in public like that? He
didn't understand why Hibana went out of her way to express her
displeasure at Kira in front of honored guests.
"Shimaki, Tatsuta, Iwao, Kagura..." Kira was saying the names of the dogs whose faces she knew,
gently petting their heads. All of them were dogs that had partnered with Kanata before. Koushi offered the dogs his more
measured greetings. The dogs sniffed and gathered around Hinako,
but they didn't play with her like they did Kira. Koushi thought
that they could tell that she wasn't in the best of health, and
were being careful with her.
"But you, I've never met," Kira said, petting a new dog's head.
"Say, don't you and Hinako have a dog, since your father is a Fire
Hunter?" she called over to Koushi.
This would have been an uncomfortable question just a few weeks
ago, but Koushi and Hinako were friends now, if not quite
siblings. So she asked.
Hinako smiled at Kira happily. "We do have a dog. His name is
Kanata. He has gray fur and is very strong and brave and gentle. I
want to see him again someday." Hinako's face fell.
"I'm sure you will," Kira said. "All Fire Hunter dogs are very
smart. They are good companions to Fire Hunters, but they don't
forget their families."
The garden was brightly lit; the windows of the estate were open
and all the light spilled out. The lamps strung atop the gateposts
were also lit, revealing an old man who worked as a gardener and a
house guard feeding some of the dogs. Kira went to him and got
some food for her and Hinako to feed to the other dogs.
A dog licked Hinako's palm when she was out of food, and she
laughed at the ticklish sensation. "I've never seen this girl dog
before. She's so cute!" Hinako said.
Kira pet another dog on the back. It was thin, with a dark
blue-gray coat. The color reminded Koushi of summer stormclouds.
The dog's snout and tail were pure white, as was a triangle of
hair on the dog's chest. The legs were unusually long; Koushi
guessed that this dog would be a very fast runner.
A reliable dog for a Fire Hunter, Koushi thought.
The Fire Hunters needed their dogs. Now more than ever. Koushi
shook himself out of the scene and remembered the threat of the
Spiders. He wondered if any of the Fire Hunters here at the
banquet were investigating them, since Yuoshichi had said that
they were.
Yuoshichi was a wealthy man with many resources, but he was like
every other ordinary citizen when it came to matters of the
Guardian Gods. Asking the Fire Hunters to investigate might be
illegal or treasonous, since it was matter for the Guardian Gods
to handle, not normal people. If the Guardian Gods found out,
would Yuoshichi be in trouble? Would the Fire Hunters
investigating the Spiders be in trouble?
Koushi felt like he would have leave soon. He was itching to get
back to the basement and continue his research. "Hinako," Koushi
said, calling to Hinako from the base of the tree where he stood.
"Let's go back upstairs. You should sleep so that you feel well in
the morning." He was genuinely concerned for Hinako's health, too.
He'd had too many conflicting priorities lately.
"We're coming," Hinako and Kira answered together.
Kira, Hinako and Koushi reentered the estate and went back
upstairs.
Kira gave Hinako an encouraging little push on the staircase when
she hesitated. "Go on, Hinako. I have to stay and entertain our
guests for a little longer, but I'll come up and visit you before
I go to sleep."
Hinako nodded, then said good night to Koushi and Kira. When Kira
returned to the party, Koushi followed her. He would need to get
the keys to the basement room from Yuoshichi if he wanted to keep
working tonight.
As Koushi started drifting away from her, Kira called him back.
"Uh, Koushi... don't take this the wrong way, but you're not just
studying obsessively all the time, are you?" Her expression was
serious, laden with concern. She clasped her hands together
nervously and spoke slower than usual, as if she were
hand-selecting every word. "You seem to be short on sleep all the
time. I'm glad that Hinako is recovering so well, but I don't want
to see you get sick from overwork. Sometimes I see that happen to
my father, and... I hope he hasn't gotten you caught up in
something. I'm so worried..."
Kira's voice was lower-pitched than that of most girls, and the
concentrated focus of her concern touched Koushi deeply. She cared
for people because she could; there was no meanness or malice
anywhere in her.
"I've been learning to work in the factories," Koushi said. It
was a blatant lie, but he thought it was one he could make Kira
accept. "I'm also studying on my own. I have to prepare for the
future. Someone has to support my family, right?"
Kira was stunned speechless at this revelation.
Koushi was sorry for the lie, but he thought that this was the
most effective way to make sure Kira didn't poke around.
Kira recovered quickly, flashing him a brief smile. "I see. I'm
sorry if what I said came off as rude. Shall we go and say good
night to Hinako later?"
Koushi nodded, though he recognized that this was probably just
an excuse to speak further with him, and followed Kira back to the
banquet hall. On the way, he took off his glasses and scratched
his scalp. He was angry at himself for lying to Kira, because she
didn't deserve that. He was making weapons--no, he was making tools,
so that he could protect both Hinako and Kira. So that he could
protect everyone. He didn't want Kira or his sister getting
involved with this project. It was too dangerous.
After the party and saying good night to Hinako, Koushi tried to
sleep, but he couldn't. He got up and sought out Yuoshichi for the
key to the basement. The party was still in full swing and showed
no signs of ending soon. More food and drink spilled out of the
kitchen to satisfy the estate's guests. Some of the Fire Hunters
were leaving, each accompanied by at least one servant who led
them politely to the door.
Was my father treated this way at banquets? Koushi thought. Did he come here? What would his face look like if he was
drunk?
Koushi had never seen that.
Just before Koushi entered the
banquet hall, the door was opened from the inside.
"Are you leaving, sir?" a servant asked. He was speaking to the
unobtrusive Fire Hunter that Koushi had noticed earlier.
"Um, all right." With brisk steps, the Fire Hunter headed toward
the entrance of the estate, watching the party while keeping close
to the wall of the hallway. The servant accompanied him down the
hall. The Fire Hunter had long hair that was tied behind his back;
it swayed with his quick movements.
When the Fire Hunter noticed the servant still following him, he
turned and said, "Please, return to your duties now. You must be
so busy. You don't need to accompany the whole way."
"But, sir..." Yuoshichi had expressly told the servants to escort
all guests to the front door when they decided to leave.
The Fire Hunter held his hand out in front of him. "Please excuse
me." The Fire Hunter smiled, creating wrinkles in his deeply
tanned face. He bowed, then hurried past the confused
servant.
Maybe this is the owner of the dog that Kira didn't know,
Koushi thought, remembering how she'd greeted an unfamiliar dog.
He'd watched this exchange from the side; he was still looking for
Yuoshichi.
Then the Fire Hunter noticed him. "Boy, you were out in the
garden earlier. Do you know which dog is mine? Is he awake
yet?"
Koushi had only seen the unfamiliar dog once; he wouldn't be able
to identify it without Kira's help. But he nodded anyway. Even if
he guessed wrong, it would be unlikely that he'd be punished. And
refusing Fire Hunters anything, especially at a party held in
their honor, would be bad manners.
"Well, that's good then. He's a fickle beast, but good at his
job. It'd be a shame to have to carry him home while he was
sleeping." The Fire Hunter turned on his heel and left.
Koushi was left with his strange impressions of the man. He stood
in the entryway of the estate for awhile, looking at the Fire
Hunter's retreating back.
"Um... excuse me..." A servant called out to Koushi in a low,
quiet voice. The servant had her hands clasped together in front
of her light gray uniform, shaking a little from nerves. Koushi
didn't know the names of many of the servants at the estate, since
he'd never been formally introduced to them, so he was confused
why this servant seemed to want his attention.
"You might not remember me," the servant said. "I served you and
Lord Yuoshichi tea on your first evening with us. My lord might
scold me..." She looked down.
"Scold you? For what?"
The servant approached Koushi, paying close attention to her
surroundings. "I was with the others cleaning up your rooms when I
found this. I thought it must be something important. I've been
waiting for an opportunity to give it you, young master."
The servant slipped a piece of folded paper into Koushi's hand.
The servant closed her eyes, bowed silently, then turned her face
away, acting as if she'd never called out to Koushi at all. She
walked away, toward the kitchen.
Koushi looked down at the paper in his hand. He flipped it over
and unfolded it with a tense expression. The letter was in bad
shape--it had been shuffled around a lot--but Koushi would know
his mother's handwriting anywhere. He shoved the letter into a
pocket and re-entered the bustling grand hall. He found Yuoshichi
and asked him to unlock the basement room so that he could
continue work.
Even as Yuoshichi unlocked the basement door, Koushi felt the
letter burning a hole in his pocket. He thought he heard someone
calling out to him just as the door closed, but then the door was
shut, and so were the sounds of the outside world.
Heart pounding, alone in the rough-hewn stone basement, Koushi
unfolded his mother's letter. The handwriting was poor because of
the shakiness of her hands and her failing vision at the end of
her life. The paper seemed to have been relegated to a corner of
the floor for quite some time, since it was covered in dust and
crumpled. The disease that had killed his mother had progressed
rapidly, and soon after the mother took to her bed, she'd lost the
ability to speak. Had she written this without Koushi's knowledge
and dropped it somewhere that he would find it later? He must have
packed it with his things when he'd left the house. But he hadn't
discovered it--a servant of the Okibi Estate had. Why had the
servant passed it on with such nervousness and secrecy?
The only answers to his questions that were available were in the
letter itself. Koushi read it, and some things became clear.
Koushi, Hinako, please don't resent your father. He didn't leave
us without saying goodbye, and he will come back. Your father
wrote a letter to Morikami that said that the world would soon
end. He wouldn't leave you two alone in such danger. I am certain
that he will return someday. 'Face the fire started by lightning
and take it in your hands.' That's what he said to me. Please
forgive me for dying. Your father will return to take care of you,
Koushi and Hinako. Until then, do your utmost to stay alive.
Koushi couldn't breathe. His father... had written a letter to
Morikami? A letter to the Guardian God
Morikami? What did he intend to do next--write a letter of complaint to the capital's rulers? The very idea was
ridiculous. But then, why did he leave his home and the
capital?
"Flickering Flame..." The name popped into Koushi's mind
unbidden. The Millennium Comet: the wandering star, thought lost.
Memories of the dead sunk deep in the sea, where a Guardian God in
the shape of a whale collected and protected them. Koushi thought
he heard water rushing at him, or maybe in
him, whooshing around his skull.
But the feeling passed. There was no water here, in the basement
of Okibi Estate. What he'd experienced was an illusion, or the
power of suggestion. Koushi pressed his back against the door of
the basement workshop to ground himself in physical reality.
"The situation has changed," Koushi said to himself. "I have
to make a weapon. I have no choice. I have to protect us all from
what's to come..."
Koushi shook his head violently to clear it; it still felt
waterlogged even though he couldn't hear water rushing at him
anymore. It was just an illusion, Koushi thought. All in my head, because I haven't been sleeping well.
Everything Koushi was doing was for survival--and not just his
own. "I have to save Hinako." He looked down at his mother's
letter and muttered to himself.
Water had put an idea in his head. He placed a drop of water onto
a dish and watched it flow toward the lightning fuel. When the two
touched, the lighting fuel flared in its glass container, and the
dish shattered.
Koushi took a slow, deep breath. If he could contain the water
somehow and increase the distance between the container that held
it and the igniting fuel, he could gain finer control over the
resulting reaction.
He remembered the illustration of a Fallen Beast that he'd seen
on the third floor of the Central Archives. A beast flying through
the sky, wingless and impossible. Koushi felt like he was finally
getting some answers to his endless questions.
Carefully, Koushi folded his mother's letter over, then glued the
edges of two pages in a frequently used notebook to make a pocket
for it. He felt like his mother was calling out to him across the
distance of time, but he couldn't understand what she was saying
to him.
Koushi was irked that there was a party tonight. He needed to
talk to Yuoshichi now--five minutes ago. A cold wind blew in from
the city's factory area--cold and impossible to refuse.
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