Sea of the Wind, Shore of the Maze, Prologue

to the Kingdom of Tai. You shouldn't ask me what the Tenchoku is though,  because this is something only kirin and rulers know about."
    "Okay."
    "When it comes time, a path of beautiful clouds will appear from Mt. Hou straight to the Kingdom of  Tai, and you will ride the clouds all the way down to Tai Kingdom."
    "And then?"
    "And then?" Youka looked at Taiki and saw only Taiki's anxious face.
    "And then what happens? Am I going to live in Tai Kingdom forever?"
    "Of course."
    "Then will I never see you again?" Taiki looked like he was about to cry. "What about Sanshi? And  Teiei? And the rest of the nyosen?"
    "Well," Youka sighed. She hugged Taiki, who was sitting on the bedding. "Yes... I suppose we may  never have another chance to meet. However, Sanshi will always stay by your side, forever and ever."
    "Do I have to choose a ruler?"
    "Choosing a ruler is your most important duty!"
    Seeing Taiki hugging her tightly with his little hands, Youka gently stroked his back.
    "You must become an exceptional kirin and choose a great ruler! We will all care about you from far  away at Mt. Hou."
    Mt. Hou was a place to bring up kirin, so once a kirin leaves Mt. Hou, on principle, they cannot come  back. After all, the nyosen of Mt. Hou need to concentrate on taking care of the newly born kirin. But Taiki  didn't need to know these things right now.
    "Our only hope is that you can become a spectacular kirin and fulfill your duties without any  problems."
    Taiki nodded.
    --Although, it was very forced.
    Finally, relative to the calendar, summer was getting closer and closer.
    Relative to the calendar because there were no so-called seasons on Mt. Hou.
    After a page was turned, it would be the summer solstice. On that day, the Reikon Gate on the  southwestern side of the Yellow Sea would open.
    "Taiki, I'll brush your hair into a topknot," said Teiei to Taiki. Because she saw that as Taiki was  gathering stones from the river, he would constantly be pulling his hair out of the water.
    "Okay," said Taiki as he sat down on the crag next to the river. Teiei unfastened the thin rope that was  at her waist and began to tie a topknot. Taiki's neatly trimmed head of steel-colored hair had already grown  down to his back, but then putting it up into a topknot made it feel like it was still too short.
    "Can I trim my bangs?"
    "If you must trim them, we will do it for you. However, if you end up regretting it, we won't  sympathize."
    "This length should already be long enough, shouldn't it?"
    Hearing Taiki say this with such apprehension, Teiki couldn't help but laugh.
    "When you transform into a kirin, your hair won't be this long. It will become a length that is just right.  It looks like your hair is still growing, so that means that it's not yet long enough."
    "If only I could transform now and see if it's long enough or not."
    "That's not necessary. We are all very experienced! Your topknot is finished."
    Teiei squinted and watched as Taiki jumped back into the water with a plop.
    "Have you heard the story of Sairin?"
    "Sairin? Nope."
    "A long time ago, there was a kirin who liked to look pretty, called Sairin."
    "That's a woman because she has Rin in her name, right?"
    "Right. Sairin was always very envious of the nyosen's hairstyle, so she would always complain that  she wanted the nyosen to brush her hair into a topknot."
    "And then she got a topknot with a hairpin, like you?"
    Teiei nodded as she was sewing clothes. "Right. We combed her hair with pomade and tied it up into a  tight topknot, and then we inserted all sorts of hairpins. Unexpectedly, when evening came and she  transformed in order to get back to the palace, her mane was still bound in a topknot and there was no way  for her to straighten her neck, so it became crooked."
    Taiki giggled.
    "That must have hurt."
    "Right. So you have to be careful. If you transform with your hair in a topknot, it will hurt a lot."
    "All right!"
    Taiki and Teiei both laughed. Following that, Teiei lowered her head to look at the clothes beside her  hand.
    Ever since that incident with that Goson from Ba Province, Taiki always had at least two or three  nyosen by his side. Because when the nyokai encounters urgent situations, the only thought that goes  through her mind is to protect Taiki, sometimes she will injure herself needlessly and cause injury to Taiki.
    Just like on that day, after Sanshi had cleaned her body once, she had still not been able to