"Constrained, huh… But I don't feel that way."
Shiki's words made the white-haired girl pause slightly. Indeed, the other party treated her the same way she treated others, without any sense of constraint.
"Moreover, if one's status makes others feel constrained, then why not just hide one's identity?"
As she spoke, a mask appeared in Shiki's hand. It was a common fox mask, so common that you could buy one at any stall.
"Put on a mask and change your clothes, then no one will recognize you."
Ayaka's heart stirred, but her expression quickly dimmed again: "But… there's simply no time for that. The festival is about to end."
The Kamisato Clan certainly had a residence in Inazuma City, but going there and back, plus changing clothes, the festival would already be over by the time she finished.
"Well, there's always enough time. She seems to like you very much, so let me help you."
As Shiki spoke, she gently stroked Ayaka's cheek. Then, a magical scene unfolded: her deep blue skirt armor began to change, and from her legs up, a yukata with a White Heron pattern slowly appeared on her body.
Ayaka looked at the yukata on her body with a complex expression. This was somewhat like the legendary Tanuki magic, but the intelligence reports never mentioned her having such an ability!
However, this was not some transformation technique, but the decomposition and reconstruction of the most basic particles of matter, ultimately transforming into this yukata.
"Miss Ryougi, are you truly Shiki?"
"Of course, I am Shiki! Now, go and experience the festival that belongs to you."
Shiki's tone was gentle, and then her entire being, starting from her legs, turned into golden particles of light, dissipating and drifting into the distance. When her hand, still caressing Ayaka, also vanished, a girl wearing a White Heron yukata and a mask suddenly appeared in the lively crowd of the festival.
Strangely, no one around found it odd, as if she had always been there.
The girl reached out her hand, wanting to hold onto something. The slight warmth of the other party's palm still lingered on her cheek, but besides air, what else could she grasp?
"Ryougi…"
Ayaka was slightly lost in thought. To teleport someone silently into a crowd without attracting attention, even a god couldn't do that, could they?
"Who exactly are you…"
Thoma once told her that Shiki's personality was straightforward and decisive. Although female, she had a somewhat tomboyish nature.
However, the Shiki she had just conversed with was completely feminine, as gentle as her mother in her memories.
Moreover, the other party had displayed abilities never mentioned in any intelligence. If it weren't for her looking exactly like the pictures in magazines, she would never have thought they were the same person.
Whoosh~ Bang!
Splendid fireworks bloomed in the night sky, pulling Ayaka's thoughts back. Since she had come to the festival, she should truly experience it.
It was both to fulfill her own wish and not to let Shiki's efforts for her go to waste.
Thus, a masked girl with an outstanding figure appeared at the festival. People only found her voice somewhat familiar, but they didn't connect her to the Shiratsuyu Princess.
The next day, Shiki awoke dimly in bed. She had a hazy dream, very real, but she couldn't recall anything.
"Hmm…"
Glancing to the side, Ioroi was sprawled out in his nest, sleeping. From the looks of it, he must have returned quite late yesterday, otherwise he would be clamoring for food by now.
Tejima-san had left early this morning, and she didn't know what he was doing.
However, before leaving, he had left breakfast for the day, so she wouldn't go hungry.
Carrying her sword, Shiki sat down in the backyard and quietly watched the sky, waiting for the birds to fly by.
Days passed, and in a blink of an eye, half a year had gone by.
During this time, Kazuha and Fujiwara visited a few times, just chatting before leaving. But what Shiki didn't know was that a girl regularly visited Konda Village every Saturday.
Each time, she would quietly watch the girl practicing Tsubame Gaeshi in the backyard from a distance, then leave on her own.
Shiki slowly sheathed her Kujikanesada. In front of her lay a sea bird that had been cut down. There was no gradual progression; it was a sudden flash of inspiration. When she came to her senses, she had already cut down the sea swallow.
She couldn't describe what that feeling was like, but she could perform the swordsmanship she had just used.
Setting up a straw mat, Shiki unsheathed Kujikanesada, then held it with both hands beside her face, the tip of the blade pointing towards the straw mat. After exhaling lightly, she took a high horse stance with her left foot forward and right foot back.
Immediately after, her right foot stepped forward, and Kujikanesada, held beside her face, swung down simultaneously.
With a flash of her body, Shiki directly passed over the straw mat. Then, a strange scene occurred: although it looked like only one slash was made, the straw mat was cut into four sections.
"Indeed, this move… it's called Tsubame Gaeshi, isn't it?"
She wasn't sure if it was the so-called dimensional folding phenomenon, but in that instant, there were indeed three slashes from different directions.
Regardless, Tsubame Gaeshi was unavoidable. This wasn't some causality weapon, but a complete sealing off of all escape routes; there was no other way but to take the hit head-on.
And the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception made Tsubame Gaeshi unstoppable; it was truly a case of "touch it and die."
February was the coldest time of the year, but the slight joy in her heart made her feel no cold at all.
"I've been holed up at home for half a year; it's time to go out and walk around."
In the past six months, Shiki hasn't left the house at all; every day, she just swings Kujikanesada at the seagulls in the sky. It's estimated that among the seabird flocks, a legend has emerged about a great fool who wants to slay birds.
Ioroi, meanwhile, has been playing with the tanuki in the Chinju Forest, just as he did five hundred years ago, except this time his residence has become Konda Village.
The Aizen Arc of *Fading* has concluded, and all readers are eagerly awaiting the subsequent Thousand-Year Blood War, but unfortunately, Shiki has not yet started writing.
That Fox wrote letters urging updates more than once, but after Shiki received the letter and saw the sender was Yae Miko, she didn't even look at it, turning around and throwing it straight into the furnace.
If it were serious business, the Fox wouldn't use a letter to inform her; she would send Inagi Hotomi to Konda Village.
Of course, she hadn't forgotten the miserable merchants on Ritou. About four or five months ago, she made a trip to the Kanjou Commission, and in the middle of the night, she cut off a strand of Hiiragi Shinsuke's hair and hung it on the main gate.
The next day, when Hiiragi Shinsuke woke up, he was naturally terrified. If someone could silently cut off his hair, they could silently sever his head.
But in his fury, he was helpless, unable to find out who was responsible no matter how hard he investigated.
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