Prologue: The Province behind the Mystical Forest.

There are places in the Sengoku era that most people are not sure if it really existed. There is the disappearing mountain of Jiman which is said to be the home of a proud village of Oni, the burning underground lake of Onikoroshi which according to local myths is a lake of Sake made by the tree roots above its cavern and the legendary ruins of Tamashii city which is said to be eternally haunted by the souls of the people that died there during the Naisen period.

But of all of these mythical spots, none is as famous as the Mystical Forest of Mori that hides the secluded province of Furuya.

Many travelers have gotten lost in their travels and in some way, ended up entering this forest and exiting at the land that it hides. One thing that the travelers had in common is that none of them wanted to end up in Furuya but got there anyway, while those who truly wanted to get to Furuya always ended up at one exit point of the forest. It was like being Spirited Away. It is not uncommon for Japanese myths to always include a part where one would feel like they are being played at by the forest spirits.

The travels of the Kirin Lord Iwasawa Hiroshi has included the place even though this wasn't something that he desired to go to. Because of a faulty compass, an inaccurate map and a cloudy night that hid navigational stars, their group went on a "gut instinct" move and ended up in this secluded place where he found things that he didn't expect to discover.

One of these is a dear friend that he often described using affectionate words like a father doting on a child… yet there are some parts when his caring words sounded more like worry than anything else.