Chapter 26 I've Always... Loved You

"Has the Pillar General come to you?"

"...Hm?"

Ei's first reaction was blank, and confused.

She stared at the half-finished doll in front of her. Somehow, Ei suddenly had a strange feeling, as if something had gone wrong...

Something very fatal had gone wrong. She shook her head slightly, trying to dispel this strange misconception, but somehow, Ei felt an inexplicable palpitation.

This was something she had never experienced before.

Seino Sara stood at the steps of Tenshukaku. Seeing that the Raiden Shogun hadn't answered for a long time, she, burning with anxiety, explained further:

"At dawn today, the Yashiro Commissioner entered the master's room, but found it empty..."

She took a slight breath, pausing, "The Pillar's mansion has mobilized all soldiers, searched the entire street, but couldn't find the Pillar General... The only place I could think of was here. Has the Pillar General come to see you?"

Has the Pillar General come to see you...

Ei listened to Seino Sara's words, but it was as if she was hearing some foreign language. He came to find me?

No.

Perhaps he did, but she didn't know.

Ei's sense of palpitation was getting worse. She vaguely sensed that the situation was developing in an unpredictable direction. She suddenly had that sense of powerlessness again, just like 500 years ago when her sister died in her arms. Precious things slipping away in her embrace, and she was powerless to do anything.

She couldn't do anything.

Ei hated this feeling of powerlessness.

No.

She gripped her sleeve tightly, as if trying to prevent something from slipping away, but she couldn't stop it. That thing was intangible.

Seino Sara waited, gazing hopefully and expectantly into the depths of Tenshukaku, hoping to hear the answer she wanted.

But there was none.

After a while, only this came from the depths of Tenshukaku:

"...He didn't come. He's not here."

Didn't come.

Not here.

Sara was stunned. She lowered her head, her mind almost blank, biting her lip.

Not here.

Tenshukaku was still quiet and ancient, looking no different from usual.

But the wind began to stir slowly, the desolate winter wind howling through all the towers. The fallen leaves in the courtyard rustled in the wind. The sky slowly darkened, the clouds began to lower. Some emotion rolled in the depths of Tenshukaku. What was a clear and bright morning just now had become gloomy.

"Go find him."

The Raiden Shogun's voice came from Tenshukaku, as heavy as the sky.

"Mobilize all the Shogunate troops in the city, and also use the Yashiro Commission"

"....Go find him."

The voice was as heavy as dark clouds pressing down on the city.

Seino Sara could even hear the sound of gritting teeth.

---

"Still haven't found him?"

Seino Sara frowned. She felt as if her heart had stopped. Ever since she came out of Tenshukaku, she had been in this dazed state, but she had to stay calm, had to stay clear-headed. Now that the master had disappeared, she was the only one left in the Pillar's mansion who could take charge.

Almost all the soldiers of the Pillar's mansion had been mobilized, and the Shogunate troops had also started to move, checking every household in every street. In just half an hour, Inazuma City was almost turned upside down.

Compared to the army, the Yashiro Commission was more efficient. They managed all aspects of civilian life in Inazuma, and their ability to gather information was top-notch.

But still, they couldn't find him.

Seino Raimei seemed to have evaporated.

Sara couldn't imagine how the master had left.

He was already injured and ill. Although he could barely get out of bed, his movements were very slow. In these days, hundreds of soldiers were guarding around the Pillar's mansion, how could he possibly leave!

And so quietly?

Her heart was burning with anxiety. She had checked dozens of households along the way, inquired about all the passersby who had passed by the Pillar's mansion last night, and the conclusion was always the same:

No.

The Pillar General had never come out.

No one had seen the Pillar General.

Sara had thought of several places where Seino might go: the Grand Narukami Shrine, the Sacred Sakura Tree, Tenshukaku... but he wasn't at any of these places.

"Search, continue searching, dig three feet into the ground if you have to find him!" 

She shouted at the soldiers. Usually, when dealing with situations, Seino Sara was known for her swift and decisive action, and her calmness in the face of danger. She could always maintain the most calm and objective attitude.

But as soon as it involved the master, involved Seino Raimei, she turned back into that panicked little girl.

That little tengu whose forest had been destroyed.

"Huff..."

Don't panic, don't panic.

She slowly calmed down. Seino Sara, you can't panic... She needed to go and inquire again with the eyewitnesses.

The person who first discovered the Pillar General's disappearance.

...

The fox lady sat on the edge of the roof, her feet naturally hanging down.

She stared at the snow-capped mountains in the distance, lost in thought.

It wasn't until Seino Sara walked up to her that Yae Miko noticed.

Her fox ears perked up first, her pupils dilating slightly, turning her head back expectantly. When she saw Seino Sara's face, those ears drooped again. Yae turned her face away, continuing to look at the snow-capped mountains.

"You won't be able to find him. If he wants to hide, no one can find him," Yae Miko said seemingly carelessly. The fox lady was still lazy, and looked languid. It seemed her mood hadn't changed much.

"Is that so..." Seino Sara sat down next to the fox, her head slightly lowered. She paused, "We will definitely find him."

Snow was falling, but the dark clouds in the direction of Tenshukaku were getting heavier. The entire sky seemed to be pressing down.

"He lied to me."

Suddenly, Yae Miko said.

"Lied to you?"

"The old thing is about to die."

Yae Miko said softly, her pale pink eyes fixed only on that pure white snow-capped mountain. When she spoke these words, her tone was very light, as light as a thin snowflake:

"He told me we would meet again next year, but he was lying to me. He's actually about to die soon."

Seino Sara listened quietly.

"A person like him, proud as an old wolf, would never die in front of you. He'd sneak out quietly, slip into a valley where no one can find him, kick up his heels, and he'd be dead."

Yae Miko spoke carelessly about Seino's death. As she spoke, she even chuckled lightly, as if she thought her metaphor was very apt.

Silence.

The fox lady hugged her knees, resting her feet on the tiles, looking at the snow, and said absent-mindedly: "But he had sworn an oath. So I believed him."

"The last time this old guy swore an oath was to Ei, saying he would protect her forever or something, quite cheesy, but he did it. He kept his promise. He protected Ei for a lifetime."

Yae Miko laughed as if mocking herself:

"But why, why did he keep the one he made to Ei, but not the one to me?"

"...I just, I just, my request wasn't even high," the fox lady's voice lowered, her ears drooping,

"I didn't ask for a hundred years, five hundred years, or eternity like Ei did. I only wanted one year, I only wanted the last year. I wasn't being excessive, I wasn't being greedy."

"But why? Sara, you tell me, why am I not good enough? I only wanted him to live on, I only wanted to watch the fireworks with him one last time."

Seino Sara didn't say anything. She continued to listen quietly. She was a very good listener.

"He's gone too far, he's gone really too far!"

Yae Miko slowly buried her face in her knees, her shoulders trembling lightly:

"I don't want this."

"There are still so many things I want to do, so many things I haven't done yet. I still want to steal and eat the goldfish he catches, I still want to stroll through the flower street, and there's the temple fair, eating candied haws, there are so many things I want to do. I told him not to smoke, I told him to live long, to eat more. I compiled three sets of longevity secrets, and I was going to compile more in the future... I even knitted a scarf for him."

"But why, tell me, why doesn't he listen? Why does he have to leave? He clearly said we'd meet again next year..."

"He clearly said so."

The fox lady raised her face, her reddened eyes faintly visible. Her voice was already choked with emotion: "I don't want this, I don't want... I don't want it to be like this."

"I don't want to say goodbye. I also want to be honest, I also want to frankly praise him that the fox udon he made was delicious. I don't want this, I don't want the last bowl of tofu, I don't want to say goodbye like this.

I also want to give him gifts earlier, not wait until he's about to die, his body almost frozen, and then I wrap the scarf around his stiff neck... I don't want it to be like this."

"I also want to be more straightforward, I also want to tell him earlier, to tell him earlier—"

She clutched her collar, her face wet, a slight salty taste at the corners of her mouth. Two clear tears slid down her cheeks. Her shoulders trembled as she bent over.

"Seino Raimei, I've always... loved you."

The fox lady said softly.

Sara didn't know what to say. It was the first time she had seen the Yashiro Commissioner like this. But there was nothing she could do, nothing meaningful she could say.

The only thing she could do was gently pat Miko's back. Sara moved closer to Miko and embraced her.

"The Pillar General will definitely come back. He will definitely meet you again. Because he swore an oath to you."

Sara said softly,

"This man always keeps his word."

-----

The sky gradually darkened.

"There might be one more place," 

Kamisato Ayaka suddenly said.

"One more place?" Her brother, Kamisato Ayato, was stunned for a moment. He turned his head, looking at Ayaka with an inquiring gaze.

"Mm..." Ayaka was silent for a moment, seeming to be struggling internally.

If the entire Inazuma couldn't find the Pillar General, there was only one possibility.

The Pillar General was no longer in Inazuma.

The matter that young man had asked for help with last night, by rights, shouldn't be disclosed.

It was a secret action, she couldn't even tell her brother.

Moreover.

The Yashiro Commission people had carefully checked the passengers, and after boarding, they had searched the cabin three times, confirming that there was only that young man as a passenger.

There was no way the Pillar General could have left on last night's ship.

This wasn't a clue at all.

That's why she was hesitating about whether to tell her brother.

But now, they had to try anything. Even a non-clue had to be tried.

Even if it would violate the Shogunate's rules, Kamisato Ayaka couldn't care about that now.

Ayato listened quietly to his sister's account. After a moment, he put his hand on his chin,

"You're saying that last night, a young man with the Pillar General's token arranged a secret ship from you and left overnight...?"

"That's right."

The sky was getting darker, the sun was starting to set. The winter afternoon was cold and clear. Ayato looked at this gloomy sky, feeling increasingly anxious.

The sun was setting—

It was nearing dusk.

[Remaining Lifespan: Four Hours]

Seino Raimei coughed once. He lay on his back on the bed. The ship was very bumpy, it seemed the sea was rough. He was sleeping uneasily.

Just now, a young man from the Yashiro Commission came to check the room again. Seino had fooled him with his youthful appearance. For the next period of time, they wouldn't come to disturb him.

The moment of approaching death was coming.

There wasn't much pain, and his body wasn't particularly numb. He just liked to cough, and couldn't sleep peacefully.

But he was dying.

The system had burned his remaining twelve days of life, which would allow him to die more comfortably, more dignified.

On the brink of death, he was actually quite spirited.

What do people think of when they're about to die? A flashback? Past experiences, past memories, past regrets?

People always think of all sorts of things before they die.

But Seino Raimei didn't think of anything.

That's good. Moreover, he had something even crazier to do next.

He still had to wait for the ship to sail a bit further, to reach uninhabited waters.

He needed to be further away from Inazuma.

[The way you chose to die is interesting. It's the most interesting one among the several deaths I've witnessed]

The Human Principles System spoke in his ear.

"Cough..." Seino coughed once. He carefully wiped Musou Shinsetsu, revealing a smile:

"I've lived a life that could be called grand and exciting. I can't stand boredom, so of course, I have to die in an interesting way too."