Sea of the Wind, Shore of the Maze, Chapter 7

that are able to help protect the kirin are his shirei. It is common knowledge that a  kirin possesses a countless number of shirei. If a kirin does not have any shirei, that means that he has no  way of protecting himself.
    "And it's not just that. I cannot transform either."
    After hearing this, Gyousou and Risai were even more shocked.
    "I should have a lot of shirei and depend on those shirei to protect myself, but I don't have even one.
    If we have to run away, I should be able to run away by changing into kirin form, but I don't know how to  transform."
    Telling other people about how useless he was made him feel ashamed. Taiki couldn't help but shrink  down his body a little bit.
    "That's why the nyosen are so extremely worried about me. They've thought up all sorts of methods  to try to cure me, and even specifically asked the Taiho of Kei Kingdom to come help me.."
    When he thought about how worthless he was, and how that made everyone around him worry about  him and concentrate their care upon him, Taiki had no choice but to feel sad.
    Gyousou gently patted Taiki's head with his big hand.
    Taiki looked up and saw only a warm expression gazing in his direction. Though it was still the  Gyousou who sometimes frightened people, he occasionally had a kinder side to him.
    "We were not planning on using any shirei, so please don't worry."
    "At least...I still have a nyokai."
    Gyousou smiled. "That is reassuring."
    Gyousou's hand, which was bigger by far than Keiki's hand, stroked Taiki's head.
    "Yes..."
    "What kind of bait are we going to use?" asked Taiki to Risai as she was setting a trap.
    "A gem. Sugu are especially fond of agate."
    Risai took out a piece of agate about the same size as a chicken's egg for Taiki to look at.
    "Wow... It's so big... The sugu will really eat it?"
    Risai smiled. "It's just like a cat and the silvervine."

    "I see..."
    Risai put the piece of agate in Taiki's hand, turned to Gyousou and said, "I'm going to lay out some  bait to lure them over here."
    Risai jumped onto her tenba.
    "Lure?"
    "The shattered pieces of agate. Sir Gyousou, I leave the Kou in your care."
    "I understand."
    After taking a giant leap, Hien flew outward. At this time, the eastern sky had slowly grown whiter.
    The middle of the night was the most suitable for hunting, because very few youju wandered around  in when the sun was high in the sky. Currently, there was still a stretch of time before it was light out. This  wasn't the best opportunity to hunt, but taking into consideration Taiki's safety, Gyousou and Risai chose this  period of time.
    After Gyousou tied a rope onto a stake that had been driven into the ground, he lightly patted his  hands, stood up, and walked towards Keito who was laying on the rocks by the fire.
    "Kou, would you like to rest?"
    "Yes."
    Gyousou leaned on Keito and motioned for Taiki to come beside him, whereupon Taiki obediently  walked over and sat next to him.
    "Do you think we'll be able to catch one?"
    "We'll have to see how lucky we are."
    "Did you catch Keito here?"
    Gyousou nodded. "In all the Ankou Days that I passed through, I think it was my sixth attempt that I  caught him."
    "It must be pretty hard then?"
    "To be honest, it's a lot of trouble just to set all those traps."
    Since he didn't know how the complex apparatus formed by the chains and ropes would be operated,  Taiki sunk into his fertile imagination almost immediately.
    "Are you scared of me?"
    Faced with such a sudden question, Taiki lifted his head and looked surprisingly at Gyousou.
    "No..."
    "Sometimes I feel that when you look at me, it seems as if you want to get far away from me. Or is it  perhaps you smell something horrible on me, and you're afraid that it's contagious?"
    "It's not like that!"
    "Or are kirin afraid to look at me?" Gyousou revealed a sliver of a bitter smile. "Kirin are very  compassionate creatures. It looks like I have been spared compassion, hasn't it?"

    "Not at all..."
    "I am a warrior. I cannot be compassionate. That is unavoidable... Kou, if you recognize anything in  which I am lacking, I hope that you can tell me, because I would like to know in what area I have not done  well."
    Gyousou's tone was still and his voice was so light that it felt like it dissolved into the night. Taiki  was at a loss.
    "...I think perhaps Sir Gyousou has misunderstood."
    Gyousou looked inquiringly at Taiki.
    "Or perhaps, it is the color of your eyes... It reminds me of blood,