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

great!"
    "That's right, I shouldn't only speak of me. What about you? Your body is all right?"
    "Yes, I'm very good. I just feel really tired, and also I'm still afraid of seeing blood. Just those things.  Actually, I could have come to see you earlier, but the nyosen wouldn't let me go out."
    "I really am very embarrassed..."
    Taiki snuck a look at Risai's ashamed face and lowered head. "Madam Risai, this was not your fault.  If you must, blame the fact that I am a kirin."
    "No..." Risai shook her head but could not speak.

    She had taken the Yellow Sea too lightly. She would never have thought the youma that lived in the  Yellow Sea would be too vicious even for her. She relied on her incomplete skills, and, full of confidence,  she wanted to go and defeat a youma. She really had too low an opinion of her opponent.
    --In addition, she was with another who was a general like her, and even if a little bit, she felt  competitive with Gyousou. In fact, at the time she had anticipated that the cave would be dangerous, but she  did not want others to mistakenly think that she did things hesitantly or that she had no courage.
    "I'm really very sorry."
    "Ah... I said before that this had nothing to do with you, Madam Risai. Who would have known that  a toutetsu would be hiding in a place like that? Also, you even used yourself as a shield and urged me to get  out of there quickly. And if this hadn't happened, I would not have understood how to tame shirei."
    Risai looked at the child in front of her, who thought up all sorts of things so as she would not feel  guilty. "You are too kind..."
    "Everything I said was the truth."
    Seeing the stern and serious expression on Taiki's face, Risai couldn't help but laugh a little. "I still  need to thank you for the Sensui that you brought over. Thanks to your help, I can descend the mountain  smoothly when the autumn solstice comes."
    Taiki was a little taken aback. "Descend the mountain..."
    --Why was this so strange to him? It was a very ordinary thing.
    It wasn't as if Risai was like the nyosen and lived on Mt. Hou. The autumn solstice was the next  Ankou Day, and when the time came, the Reison Gate on the southeastern side of the Yellow Sea would  open.
    He calculated that there was only probably half a month's time remaining that Risai would be staying  on Mt. Hou.
    Then...
    Taiki left Risai's tent, and was giving perfunctory responses to the people who were greeting him,  when he suddenly stopped.
    (Then...)
    "What is wrong?"
    A pair of hands rested on Taiki's shoulders, and after he came back to his senses, he discovered that it  was Gyousou. As if he were unconscious, he had followed the path that he regularly walked and ended up in  the area of Gyousou's tent without thinking.
    "Oh, it's you, Sir Gyousou."
    --It's a good thing Gyousou's still here.
    When he realized that Risai and Gyousou would be going down the mountain soon, Taiki felt ill at  ease.
    Perceiving that he had been staring into space, Taiki felt a little embarrassed and half-heartedly  laughed a bit. However, when he saw that Gyousou was wearing his black armor, he wrinkled his brow. This  was the attire he had on his body when Taiki had seen him for the first time on Mt. Hou, as well as the time  Gyousou had gone hunting for sugu.
    "Are you doing all right?"

    "Yeah..."
    "What is the matter? You have a very serious expression on your face."
    Taiki immediately sighed and haltingly said, "I was just thinking that...right now, there isn't even a  month's time before the autumn solstice..."
    Gyousou nodded in agreement. "It is already time to climb down the mountain. Those friends of mine  who are unexperienced in martial skill have said many times that they would like me to decide on a time to  descend the mountain."
    "Is that so?" Taiki looked at Gyousou's face once again with fresh eyes. "Why are you wearing  armor?"
    "Ah, this..." Without finishing what he was saying, Gyousou knelt down in submission in front of  Taiki. "You've come at just the right time. I was planning on going down the mountain in a short while."
    "Huh?" Taiki stared blankly at Gyousou. The words that Gyousou had said to Taiki struck him hard.
    His face suddenly lost all color.
    "I was just about to go and bid Madam Risai farewell."
    "...You're going down the mountain in a short while?"
    Gyousou casually laughed a little. "Yes. I intend to search for sugu again on the road back. Many  people have said that they