This happened three years ago.
Kousho heard that Gou Garan, who had just become a General, had been put into jail for taking bribes. He remembered mocking him in his mind and thinking that he was a foolish man for falling into a stupid trap.
But he couldn’t remember what made him go to prison to see that fool.
There was a man sitting upright with his back straight in a small stone prison at the end of a dimly lit corridor. He had long, shiny black hair which he had inherited from his mother and piercing black eyes. His well-trained body was so muscular that even Kousho admired him as a man.
“Disgraceful.”
He called out to Garan through the bars of the cell and Garan looked up and stared at him.
Garan looked puzzled.
“Why is he here? What is he thinking? You got put into here because you’re dumb enough to let what you think show on your face.”
Kousho folded his arms and laughed at Garan. He had known Garan since they were children. Garan has a strong sense of justice and was well-versed in martial arts, but he was unaccommodating and stubborn.
“You fell into a trap and were put in a place like this as soon as you succeeded your father as General. You might be executed at this rate.”
He wanted to see Garan cry since he was always calm.
Garan opened his mouth slightly when Kousho made fun of him again.
“… You said I fell into a trap, so you believe in my innocence, Kousho-sama. Thank you for coming all the way here to tell me that I am innocent.”
Garan bowed and Kousho widened his eyes in shock.
“I didn’t come here for that! You’ll really be executed at this rate. Why don’t you ask me to help you?”
Kousho grasped the bars. Garan closed his eyes.
“This happened because I couldn’t unify the army as a General. Whatever the truth may be, I cannot help but wonder if I had caused my fellow soldiers so much pain that this happened…”
His voice dropped a little. A soldier suddenly accused Garan of taking bribes a few days ago. Garan had trusted that soldier and consulted with him on various matters.
It was normal for him to be shocked by that man’s betrayal.
“I am responsible for the current situation because I failed to control my subordinates as their leader. I did not take any bribes, but I must take responsibility for not being able to control my subordinates.”
Kousho knew that this guy was a real idiot. He should be put to death, Kousho muttered in his mind.
Kousho suddenly recalled a memory from their childhood just when he was about to turn his back on Garan. He had teased and tormented Garan a lot when they were children, but Garan always followed him with a serious expression and never said he hated it.
And when Kousho’s mother died from poison, Garan said this to Kousho when Kousho told him he wanted to be alone.
“You can’t be alone now. My mother also passed away last year. I cried a lot then. You cannot cry in public because you are the Crown Prince, but you must be in a lot of pain. I cannot see or hear anything, so it is alright for you to cry now.”
It was funny to see Garan, who was still a boy, sit straight with his eyes closed and hands over his ears. A smile came to his mouth but at the same time, the tears that he was holding back began to well up in his eyes.
For the first time in his life, he thought Garan was an idiot, but a kind one.
He looked at Garan in his cell again and a feeling sprung up from deep within him.
“――― I’m extremely angry right now.”
Kousho said in a low voice and Garan bowed his head again.
“I am sorry for being such an inadequate General that even you are angry at me…”
“I’m not angry at you! I’m angry at the real culprit. He’s taking advantage of your boorish, serious, and stupid nature. He’s probably disappointed at how easily you fell into his trap. If he thinks he can fool people, this easily then I’ll prove him wrong!”
Why did he say that? He was surprised at himself and even Garan was surprised.
It was embarrassing to stare at Garan straight in the eye, so he turned away.
“I’m going to find the culprit since I won’t have anyone to make fun of if you’re gone… You’re my friend. I won’t allow anyone to hurt my friend. I will protect you.”
He couldn’t see the look on Garan’s face since his back was turned towards him. Then, he took a giant step out of the prison, driven by a strong desire to not let Garan die.
“You’ve been released.”
Kousho yelled at Garan, who was sitting upright like he had in prison yesterday.
Garan looked up and widened his eyes in surprise.
“The evidence of you being innocent came to me right as soon as I started investigating. The army guys started their own investigation since they believed you wouldn’t do something like taking bribes and that helped me settle this quickly. Most importantly, the signature that was used to prove that you had taken bribes was in a different handwriting than yours.”
Kousho opened the cell door, but Garan was still sitting there with a look of disbelief on his face.
“Did you really do all that for me, Kousho-sama? You have bullied me ever since we were children… I mean, you treated me like a toy… You teased me constantly, so I thought you hated me.”
Garan was confused and his thoughts were chaotic.
“I hate you but you’re a useful person, so I helped you. You’ll have to live with me teasing you for the rest of your life. That is your role as my friend.”
Kousho joked. He was embarrassed.
Garan was trying to compose himself or perhaps he was just shutting his eyes for a moment, but then he bowed his head.
“I swear I will be loyal to you for the rest of my life. If anyone turns their blade towards you, I will cut them down with my spear. ――― Thank you very much.”
His voice trembled slightly towards the end of his sentence but Kousho pretended not to notice.
“That guy hasn’t changed at all in the last three years.”
Kousho sat in his room and took out his sword which he had stored in a chest.
This was the first sword that Garan had held when he left prison and he had used this to cut his long black hair.
“I will change into a general to serve you.”
Both the officials and the soldiers who serve in the palace have long hair because they need to do their hair on formal occasions. Those with hair too short to do up would sometimes be scorned since this was a symbol of a low-ranking official.
Garan knew this but still cut his hair short to punish himself for being tricked and getting thrown in jail.
This was the sword with which he had cut his hair with at that time. It was a gift from his father when he became a general and he asked Kousho to accept it as a symbol of his loyalty.
A man who was stupid, serious, honest, and therefore trustworthy. That was Garan.
They both thought of each other as close friends. Garan was someone who he could trust to have his back in a fight. And yet… he muttered.
“Why did Garan fall in love with Riri?”
He couldn’t give Riri up even for Garan.
She was ‘special’.
“Riri…”
His heart ached when he thought about her. There was probably only one woman in the world who could make him feel like this. Riri didn’t know he was the Crown Prince when they were children, but she protected him from rebels. He could still vividly recall that day.
Even after they met again at the inner palace, her behaviour has often been unpredictable and she made him nervous, but he knew that she was following her own convictions and wanted to support her. There were times when he believed that he was glorifying his first love, but when he reconnected with her and worked with her again, he found himself becoming more and more attracted to her.
He would have done everything in his power to chase his love rival out of the palace if that person wasn’t Garan.
He knew he was being immature, but that was how much he cared for Riri.
He had a lot of worries. He worried about Garan, Riri and the Chancellor’s injustice, but he had to focus on the Elegant Incense Gathering. He suddenly heard a voice from outside the sliding door as he put his sword away in the chest.
“Kousho-sama, the meal is ready.”
It was a court lady. He took a deep breath, switched his mood, and sat up.
“Is it that time already?”
It was a waste to eat at a time like this, but he knew that he should eat while he could since he didn’t know what could happen.
“Today’s meal has been prepared by the Beautiful Flower Palace. Consort Hisui has something she would like to discuss with you.”
“Consort Hisui? That’s rare.”
Everyone thought of Hisui when it came to the most beautiful, smartest, and best-behaved lady in the Beautiful Flower Palace.
She was that perfect. The most suitable person to be Empress was probably Hisui. But Kousho believed differently. He wanted Riri to be his wife.
But he didn’t know how to make her his wife.
He could make her his wife by using his authority, but he wanted Riri to fall in love with him.
He left the room, followed the court lady, and stepped into the hall of the Beautiful Flower Palace.
Hisui was sitting in the hall alone. It was strange since a meal had been prepared for him.
The Four Consorts along with a few other consorts and the court ladies were supposed to take care of him when he had meals at the Beautiful Flower Palace.
And yet Hisui was the only one here. The court lady went outside and closed the sliding door as if she knew what was going on.
“What do you want?”
Hisui tried to look indifferent, but he saw that she was pale.
“My deepest apologies. I wanted to talk to you alone.”
Hisui looked up and tears were welling up in her eyes.
“About the Elegant Incense Gathering?”
That was the only thing he could think of. Hisui was originally in charge of the banquet, but she had given up her position to Ranran to get Riri out of jail. Ranran was preparing the banquet, but this time, the consorts in Hisui’s faction weren’t listening to Ranran’s orders.
When Hisui was in charge, the consorts were at odds with each other, but the preparations were still progressing.
But Ranran was less capable than Hisui at allocating work to the consorts even though she wanted to be in charge of the banquet and the preparations have gone awry. Hisui took a deep breath.
“More pressing matters have arisen.”
Hisui looked unusual. He frowned and Hisui put a hand on her chest.
“Riri has… Consort Riri has disappeared. She is not in the Fragrant Princess Palace or in the Beautiful Flower Palace!”
Blood rushed from his face, and he felt as if he was suffocating for the first time in his life.
How long has it been since the sun had risen?
Riri hid in the shrubs that grew on Densou Temple and stared at the Jizo statue without sleeping a wink.
She should be sleepy, but she wasn’t sleepy at all.
She was waiting for Mokuren to come here but no one visited the temple even during the day.
Silence, the sound of insects and the scent of the tree filled the air.
Doubt swirled in her mind, and she wondered if Mokuren would really come.
(It’s alright. He’ll definitely come. I must meet him and prove that the evidence is fake. I’m sure I can change things if I can do that.)
Nobles and the Emperor exist for the people. She wanted the world to be like that.
And she wanted a world where even women can become perfumers.
She had no choice but to do what she was doing now to make her wish come true.
Riri smelled a certain fragrance as the sun was beginning to set.
She held her breath and focused her attention on her nose.
A man wearing a black hood slowly entered the grounds as she remained still.
The man walked towards the Jizo statue while looking around.
(This fragrance… it’s him!)
It was a nostalgic, yet painful scent. It was the fragrance that she had concocted for Mokuren.
She took a deep breath and stood up, then inhaled.
“Mokuren… I can finally meet you.”
She said and the hooded man turned to her. He stood there frozen in surprise and then slowly took off his hood. The gentle-looking man was wearing glasses.
She wanted to see him, but she couldn’t. She had been worried about how to talk to him for a long time.
But she had made up her mind.
“I want us to talk.”
Mokuren’s eyes widened in surprise but then a smile appeared on his face.
“I didn’t expect to see you outside the palace. Did you get kicked out of the palace for being too much of a tomboy?”
He seemed to be joking but his eyes weren’t smiling.
“I came out on my own. You should know why I did this.”
She smiled a little and Mokuren turned serious.”
“It’ll be troublesome if someone sees you. Let’s go.”
Mokuren turned his back towards her. It took a lot of courage for her to take the first step.
Even so, running away wasn’t an option. She took a deep breath and followed after him.
Mokuren brought her to a small building in the downtown area where she used to live.
She followed Mokuren and stepped into a building.
“Welcome back, Sensei.”
The young woman inside the building smiled. The room was filled with the scent of therapeutic incenses.
“I’m back. Did any patients come today?”
“It was unusually quiet today.”
“I see, then you can go home now.”
“Okay.”
The woman glanced at Riri but left with her things without asking anything.
“Riri, come this way.”
Mokuren beckoned. They entered a tatami room at the back and sat down on a desk across from each other.
“This is a medical clinic. Is it yours?”
“Yeah. I only accept patients who can be treated with incenses, but we still get busy.”
Mokuren was the head of the Ministry of Incenses. He was peerless when it came to making incenses and was especially skilled at making incenses for medical use.
She was in disbelief when she heard that Mokuren was the head of the Dark Perfumers who use poisonous incenses.
“Have some tea, Riri.”
He smiled as he offered her a cup of tea, just like he used to, but that didn’t mean she could let her guard down.
“… Thanks.”
Mokuren looked somewhat surprised.
She would not have dared to drink tea offered by her enemy, Mokuren, a few months ago.
But it was different now, she had made up her mind.
The tea smelled good. Mokuren might have poisoned the tea with an odourless poison since he used poisonous incenses, but she drank the tea without hesitation.
Mokuren tensed when he saw this.
“You’re a bit different today. You said you left the Beautiful Flower Palace, but you look like you’ve prepared yourself for the worse.”
She set the teacup on the table and straightened her posture.
“Yes. I really wanted to ask you something, so I came to see you even though I knew my life would be in danger… You fabricated the evidence that was used against the Chancellor, didn’t you?”
She asked directly. She didn’t think she could ask Mokuren this in a roundabout way.
She believed that it would be easier to identify the scent of sweat that emitted when people’s emotions changed if she asked him directly.
Mokuren’s scent had changed slightly to the scent that he emitted when he was nervous.
He put on a calm expression and sipped his tea.
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb. I could smell your scent lingering from the evidence that was used against the Chancellor. You probably fabricated this evidence to throw the court in chaos. Admit it, Mokuren.”
She leaned forward and Mokuren chuckled.
“I don’t know anything, and even if I did, I won’t admit it.”
“Tell me the truth, if you do then…”
It took her a lot of courage to say this out loud. She could see Kousho’s face in her mind. She wanted to help him with his dream. She didn’t want to see Hisui cry. She wanted everyone who lived downtown to be happy. Those thoughts were giving her the courage to say her next words.
“If you admit it, then I won’t return to the palace and will join the Dark Perfumers.”
Mokuren was caught off guard. He widened his eyes and gulped.
“I can only make fragrances at the Beautiful Flower Palace, but I believe I can be of great help to the Dark Perfumers. You know about my super olfaction. We can do anything with incenses with my olfaction and your skills.”
She had been thinking about this even before she left the palace.
She had to resolve herself if she was going to convince Mokuren, so she took a deep breath and continued.
“You know about the Heart Calming Incense, don’t you? It’s very effective against heart diseases. Koran’s Emperor desperately wants this incense. We can make incenses that can cure all kinds of illnesses just like the Heart Calming Incense.”
Stay calm, she chanted in her mind. She spoke while observing Mokuren.
“Everyone gets sick. The Dark Perfumers want a place where they belong. We can make incenses that heal illnesses, increase our assets, and build our own nation. It would be much easier and more realistic than spending time on revenge. I will drop everything and follow you. So please. Admit that the evidence was falsified and leave Shinzui.”
She folded her hands as if she was praying. Mokuren looked surprised and tilted his head a little.
“Then your dream of concocting the treasured incense to clear your father’s name won’t come true. That was your purpose for entering the inner palace, was it not?”
It made her heart ache to hear him say that.
“I don’t care if my dream doesn’t come true.”
She declared and Mokuren widened his eyes in surprise again.
“I began to wonder if my only desire is to clear my father’s name after I entered the inner palace and met a lot of people.”
She calmly put her feelings into words.
“I want to help Kousho-sama create the nation of his dreams. The friend I made in the inner palace is trying her best to get everyone in the Beautiful Flower Palace to get along. I want to help her as well. The people will suffer if the palace gets more chaotic. I don’t want my friends downtown to suffer.”
She had made up her mind, so the words came out easily.
“I want to help others achieve their dreams as well instead of just chasing after my own dreams. Even if ――― I have to leave the inner palace to do so.”
She firmly stared at Mokuren and he looked at her questioningly while sighing.
“You’ll never see Kousho-sama or General Garan again.”
Those words pierced her heart. The pain was unbearable, but she endured it.
“I know. I came here even while knowing that.”
Mokuren was about to say something when he heard how determined she was, but immediately closed his mouth.
He remained silent for a while then spoke.
“Let me think about it.”
She nodded.
Kousho walked quickly through the Fragrant Princess Palace. It was quiet inside the palace and there was no one in sight.
He knew that Riri wasn’t here, but he still had to see for himself.
Hisui had visited the Fragrant Princess Palace because she needed to discuss something with Riri, but the maid told her that Riri wasn’t feeling well and was resting. Hisui became worried and wanted to see how Riri was doing, but the maid’s behaviour was strange.
She had a bad feeling when she saw this. Hisui was in charge of the Beautiful Flower Palace, so she was allowed to enter all the palaces without permission. When she entered the Fragrant Princess Palace to search for Riri, she didn’t find her and when she asked the maid about this, she didn’t answer, so Hisui rushed to inform Kousho.
“Riri! Riri.”
He knew he sounded as if he was panicking but he didn’t care.
He heard a rattling sound and turned around to see Ryouka, the maid, standing at the end of the corridor.
“Where did Riri go?”
Ryouka trembled as she stood still.
“I… do not know.”
Even her voice was trembling, and she looked more regretful than frightened.
“I heard you tried to cover up the fact that Riri isn’t here, so you must know where she went.”
Kousho asked sharply and Ryouka shook her head.
“A consort will be executed if people know that she has left the inner palace. Riri’s head will be chopped off and she will die.”
Ryouka trembled when he deliberately said this in a disgusting way.
“Few people know that Riri is gone right now. We can cover this up for a few days, and we can pretend that nothing has happened if I can bring her back in time. Don’t you want to help her?”
Truthfully, he was against Ryouka serving Riri because she was connected to Mokuren.
But Riri said she believed in Ryouka.
“Riri regretted that the court was in chaos because she dropped a piece of paper. She also said she could smell Mokuren’s scent from that piece of paper… She must have heard where he is from you and went to see him in person.”
Kousho had no proof, but he was confident this was what had happened. Ryouka gasped and looked down.
“I…”
Ryouka stopped speaking as soon as she said a word. Her gaze wavered as if she was at a loss about what to do.
Kousho grabbed her shoulders.
“You promised Riri that you wouldn’t tell anyone, didn’t you? But she won’t be able to escape the death penalty if people find out that she’s left the palace. ―――Please. Tell me where she went… I’m worried about her.”
Ryouka’s eyes widened in shock because the Crown Prince had bowed to her.
“I am but a servant Kousho-sama… you do not need to bow to me…”
He wouldn’t normally bow down to another person no matter what, but he could do anything for Riri.
He looked up and stared into Ryouka’s eyes.
“Riri is important to me. I want to bring her back. Please tell me where she is.”
Ryouka closed her eyes once at Kousho’s desperate plea.
“… Riri-sama has gone to Densou Temple. I leave letters about how Riri-sama is doing there every month since Mokuren-sama asked me to do so….”
Kousho nodded as Ryouka’s sentence drifted off.
“Thanks.”
He said before rushing away.
Riri abruptly woke up in the room where she had talked with Mokuren.
She had fallen asleep, and the morning sun was already peeking in through the door.
“It’s because I didn’t sleep a wink since I was watching the temple all night yesterday…”
She was surprised that she had been able to sleep under these circumstances even if she was tired.
But her mind was clear now that she had slept.
“I’m thirsty…”
She looked around and didn’t see any tea, then she remembered something.
“When Mokuren left the room, he said that there was a kitchen at the end of the corridor and that I could eat whatever I wanted from there if I got hungry. I wonder if he has any drinks.”
She quietly stood up and approached the door.
She thought there might be a guard at the door, but there wasn’t anyone there when she opened the door.
She walked down the corridor and looked around to see if she could find the kitchen, but suddenly stopped.
“Hmm? This is…”
The sliding door on the right was open. Inside was a large tatami room which looked as if it was used to make incenses.
Tools used to make incenses were neatly lined up on the shelves on the wall. Her eyes fixated on a shelf.
“Could this mortar be…?”
She stepped into the room and approached the shelf without thinking.
She looked at the mortar and found that it was familiar.
“This is the same mortar that I had bought when I first started making incenses.”
The mortar seemed well-used, but it had been polished and cared for.
Her own mortar was kept in her incense making room at the Fragrant Princess Palace. This mortar was a memento and Mokuren had told her that he had thrown it away. So, she nearly burst into tears of happiness when she saw that he had kept it.
“He is still the same Mokuren. He wouldn’t become obsessed with revenge. So, why won’t he stop?”
She had her doubts for a long time. Mokuren was a kind person who took good care of things. He extended a helping hand to those who are suffering and understood other’s pain. He would rather look forward than seek revenge.
But he keeps stubbornly insisting on revenge.
“Maybe there’s something going on here that I don’t understand…”
She muttered when she suddenly noticed a certain scent.
“Huh? There are two scents. One belongs to Mokuren and the other…”
She believed she had smelled this scent before. She thought of something else while she was trying to remember where she had smelled it.
“It’s a different scent from the woman who was at the medical clinic yesterday, so maybe this is a Dark Perfumer. Mokuren might get into a sticky situation if this person sees me…”
She wondered what to do, but there was only one way in and out. Mokuren and the other person would come in through there, so they would run into each other if she ran away. She looked around and saw a large closet at the back.
It was a long box-like container, larger than her own body. She quickly put her hand on the closet, opened the door, and stepped inside. There were papers and scrolls inside and it was stuffy.
Still, she managed to close the door and hide.
She remained still and then she felt someone enter the room. She couldn’t see outside since the door was completely closed, but she could still faintly smell the scents from the gaps between the door.
There were two scents. One of them belonged to Mokuren and the other belonged to…
(This scent… is Rarai-sama’s scent…!)
He was Garan’s cousin, a soldier with a skinny body. He looked kind but he was the spearhead of a faction who trapped Garan in the past and persecuted the Chancellor. She listened carefully since she couldn’t believe this.
“… I will be able to lead Shinzui to ruin soon.”
The man’s voice was muffled. It may or may not have been Rarai’s voice, but it was definitely Rarai’s scent.
“My plan worked perfectly. I managed to steal the piece of evidence from Riri. She seems to believe that she had dropped the piece of paper and is feeling quite down about it. It’s a nice feeling.”
She was astonished to hear him laugh.
(He stole it? Does that mean that I didn’t drop it.)
She tried to recall what had happened back then. She had indeed kept the piece of paper deep in her pocket and handled it carefully.
So, she believed that she couldn’t have dropped it.
(Oh yeah, I helped Rarai-sama when he was stumbling. Maybe he took it then?)
She thought and everything made sense.
She heard another voice from outside while she was frozen on the spot.
“I was able to manipulate Ranran to go against Hisui. She’s a simple and ambitious woman, so she did what I wanted her to. The inner palace is actually a really interesting place.”
The man seemed like he couldn’t stop laughing. Riri felt anger well up within her as she listened to him.
(All the trouble in the Beautiful Flower Palace and the court is because of him!? Unforgivable…!)
She remembered Hisui’s tears. She was suffering because she was arguing with Ranran.
Kousho was in a difficult situation because of all the conflict. She finally understood who was behind all of this.
“What’s wrong, Mokuren? You don’t look happy.”
“… Nothing. I am.”
Mokuren said uninterestedly.
“Listen, Mokuren. We are the Dark Perfumers. I have hidden this from the world. I’ve been secretly sowing the seeds, and we finally have the opportunity to take revenge on the Emperor.”
Rarai said that he could make incenses. If he was a Dark Perufmer then acting behind the scenes would have come easily to him.
“The long-awaited Elegant Incense Gathering will be held soon. They can’t cancel it now, so Kousho and the others will have no choice but to hold it. My final goal is to deliver a coup de grace at the banquet on the last day.”
Riri widened her eyes in shock when she heard this.
(What is he planning on doing at the Elegant Incense Gathering?)
Rarai was in charge of the security for the dance.
Kousho and Garan were wary of him because he was condemning the Chancellor, but he hasn’t committed any crime and they couldn’t leave him out of guard duty since he was a member of a powerful family who have produced Generals for generations.
He could set a trap during the gathering. Riri shivered when she thought about this.
“Mokuren, you’re the current head of the Dark Perfumers. You bear the fate of dethroning the Emperor as the Nine-Tailed Fox. Do not forget your destiny. ――― You can’t run away now.”
Rarai said harshly.
“I know. I haven’t changed my mind.”
Riri heard Mokuren’s firm voice and felt someone move.
“Then, that’s good. I’ll return to the palace now.”
She heard the door open and footsteps in the distance. She wanted to see a glimpse of him, but she knew that she couldn’t let him find her. Mokuren also seemed to have left the room and the scents of the two faded away.
She opened the door after she had confirmed that no one was in the room.
“They’re going to do something at the Elegant Incense Gathering. I have to do something… hmm?”
Her foot caught on a piece of paper, and she flew out of the closet. She quickly picked up the piece of paper.
“Oh no. I have to put this back.”
She looked at the paper and widened her eyes in shock.
“This…”
Her heart pounded loudly because she had found something unbelievable.
Kousho came to Densou Temple, and Garan was next to him.
The soldiers he had brought with him were those who Garan believed were tight-lipped.
“It’s very isolated.”
Garan looked around. He seemed calm but Kousho could tell that he was anxious.
“Search the temple. Go talk to the people around here. Someone might have seen something.”
Kousho ordered the soldiers and everyone, including Garan, scattered around the area.
He watched them for a second before looking around the temple grounds for clues.
“Mokuren comes here to retrieve Ryouka’s letters. She hides those letters under the foot of the Jizo. Riri came looking for Mokuren, but Mokuren might have run away if he noticed her. She must have been waiting for him somewhere he wouldn’t be able to see her.”
The temple was eerie even in the daytime.
The thought of Riri waiting here scared in the dark for Mokuren made his heart ache.
“A good place to keep an eye on that Jizo is…”
He looked around while thinking, then he saw some nearby shrubs.
“She could keep an eye on the Jizo from there and it would be difficult for anyone to see her.”
He rushed towards the shrubs. He looked around and suddenly noticed something shiny.
“This is…”
It was a red coral hairpin that had fallen to the ground. It looked familiar.
Riri treasured this hairpin since her mother had given it to her. He knew that she had been hiding here because of this.
“Kousho-sama.”
He turned around to see Garan running up to him.
“Yesterday evening, a child who came here to play saw a young woman and a man wearing a black hood. He also saw the man take off that hood and apparently the man was wearing glasses.”
Mokuren’s face flashed through his mind when he heard the word ‘glasses’.
“Where did they go?”
“I do not know, but the child’s cousin who was with him said the man with the glasses looked like the medical clinic’s doctor. That cousin lives in the next town over and happened to be visiting yesterday.”
Mokuren was skilled at mixing incenses for medicinal use. Kousho’s expression tightened when he remembered this.
“Find out where that clinic is.”
“As you wish.”
He smiled. Garan was more dependable than anyone at times like this.
“We’re leaving.”
Garan nodded and instructed the scattered soldiers to gather together.
“I’ll be right there, Riri. Be safe.”
He muttered before leaving with his soldiers in tow.