I Don’t Want to Be a Heroic Spirit [108]

Why do you swing the blade?

Perhaps such questions were too profound for a child so young to answer.

The child was small, their features undeveloped, making it difficult to discern whether they were a boy or girl. Their hair, a bluish-black, faded into white at the tips.

It was probably beautiful hair—once. Now it was matted with their own blood, the crimson liquid mixing with dirt on their face and body. Blood streamed from a wound on their forehead, trickling down over their left eye, leaving them with only one eye to see the world.

They were covered in injuries, painfully obvious even at a glance.

Surely they were in great pain; the wounds alone looked excruciating.

The child struggled to stay focused as blood loss sapped their strength. The single eye that remained open had grown dim, on the verge of being overtaken by the encroaching darkness.

But they couldn't afford to pass out.

A low, guttural growl echoed nearby, and a hulking Rift Hound revealed itself.

Blood dripped from its claws—undeniable proof that it had inflicted the child's wounds.

The child clutched a short blade, a weapon left behind by a wandering samurai who had once gotten lost in this forest. By chance, the child had discovered it and taken it as their own.

This forest was their home. From the moment they could remember, they had lived here. Protecting it was their duty.

But then... these grotesque, wolf-like creatures appeared.

They came suddenly, from places unknown, at times uncertain.

At first, the child thought they were like her—a yokai born of the forest.

But the moment these creatures saw her, they began an unrelenting hunt.

Knowing the forest well, the child initially had the upper hand, using the terrain to evade and strike.

However, she underestimated them.

One of the creatures emerged from a rift and attacked her before she could react, raking its claws across her body.

She fled, but to her horror, the wound refused to heal, bleeding endlessly.

The sensation of life seeping away with her blood was torturous. Each drop carried warmth from her body, leaving her colder and closer to death.

She couldn't stop running. If she did, the creatures would devour her.

Run... run... run...

She had no idea where she was going or if there was anywhere safe to go.

All she knew was that if she wanted to live, she had to keep running.

The taste of blood clogged her throat, and the cold air slicing through her lungs felt like blades. Her legs were leaden, heavy beyond bearing.

Though she managed to lose the creatures, what lay ahead wasn't salvation—it was despair.

A cliff loomed before her, steep and sheer, with the ocean churning far below.

The fall would surely kill her. Even if it didn't, the ocean would claim her.

She was a yokai—a tengu—but her small wings, wounded by the beasts, made flight impossible.

Her trembling hand tightened around the short blade.

Behind her lay the abyss. In front of her stood the snarling monsters.

As her bloodied body teetered on the edge of collapse, her mind unexpectedly cleared.

If I'm going to die anyway...

The tengu girl gritted her teeth, steadied her resolve, and charged forward.

The lead beast snarled, lunging at her with its fangs bared.

Splurt!

The girl lost her right hand to its jaws, and a chunk of flesh was torn from her waist.

Yet, with her last ounce of strength, she switched the blade to her left hand, raising it high.

Golden eyes flared with a savage light as she drove the blade deep into the creature's eye.

She succeeded. Her desperate strike wounded the monster.

But in doing so, she also enraged it.

As consciousness slipped away, her vision filled with the sight of the knife's shattered blade and the blood that sprayed into the air.

Then... she felt the wind rush past her, her body light as a feather, falling... falling...

Until she landed on something soft.

"Whoa! That was close. Seriously, how are you even alive with injuries this bad?"

Kiichi Hōgen hovered in midair, cradling the bloodied child in her arms.

Behind her, a pair of pristine white wings flapped gently. After all, as a great tengu, it was only natural for her to possess such wings.

Glancing at the child in her arms, Kiichi noticed the small wings on their back.

"No wonder I felt a bit of kinship... This world has tengu too? But if I don't act fast, you're not going to make it. Honestly, it's impressive you've lasted this long."

As both a great tengu and a renowned onmyōji, Kiichi was well-versed in healing arts.

This wasn't the place for treatment, though, so she cast a few quick spells to stabilize the child's condition—calming their spirit, halting the bleeding, and replenishing their life force.

The child's breathing steadied, color returned to their face, and the tension in their small frame eased.

Satisfied, Kiichi let out a relieved sigh.

As Kiichi Hōgen, she might have viewed life's fragility with detachment. But her core was still "Fenhuan Yu," and she couldn't abandon a life so close at hand.

If she ever lost her fear of death or her reverence for life, she would cease to exist as a person.

With the child safe for now, Kiichi turned her attention to the cliff, where the beast that had knocked the girl over the edge still lingered.

Stronger than the others she had encountered, this creature's armored body gleamed like steel—though it was now missing an eye.

Cyclopean wolf, maybe?

Under different circumstances, she might have played with it a bit. But she had no time to spare now.

With a flick of her finger, she conjured a spark of fire, which gently arced onto the creature's snout.

In the blink of an eye, the flame expanded into a massive inferno, consuming the monster entirely.

"I might've overdone it, but hey, better safe than sorry."

With the child still nestled in her arms, Kiichi's wings flapped once, and she soared dozens of meters away.

"Time to find a good place to rest... or maybe I'll just build one."

Skilled in onmyōjutsu and elemental manipulation, particularly with fire, earth, and wind, constructing a shelter would be no trouble for her.

"Hm?"

Her gaze fell to the child in her arms.

Around their neck, a small violet orb hung like a charm.

When Kiichi caught the child, the orb hadn't been there.

It was no ordinary ornament; lightning danced faintly around it, and its surface bore a familiar pattern.

The same pattern she had seen within the divine lightning eye earlier.

Her memories stirred, and she murmured in awe.

"A Vision of the Gods... So, I've come to Teyvat, huh?"

---

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