Sea of the Wind, Shore of the Maze, Prologue

depressed. However, in reality, Taiki no longer had the  time to be sad.
    From the day after the solstice on, nyosen could be seen everywhere, along the all the paths to Hoto  Palace. The grand incense ceremony was performed at Hoto Palace, and the nyosen were all also wearing  bright and colorful attire. Both the furnishings in the palace and Taiki's clothes were much more magnificent  than during ordinary times.
    --The festival season had arrived upon Mt. Hou.
    - - - - -
    Taiki was sitting on a rock near the Shashinboku. When walking inside of the maze, the winds always  carried with them the scent of flowers, but at the top of the rocks, the wind held only the smell of the sea.
    Taiki had always considered this to be incredible.
    It seemed as if something was approaching from the southwest.
    Taiki thought of the views of the Yellow Sea that he saw when he was riding on the transformed  Keiki's back.
    Mt. Hou was a mountain that consisted of mounds of strange crags. Green rocks were assembled into a  complex landscape that extended all the way down to the foot of the mountain. And though the maze that  was formed by these rocks also looked very complicated, there was only one route that reached Hoto Palace.
    Starting from a long, long time ago, countless shousen had walked through that path and had already left a  deep mark that was clearly visible from up high.
    Since there was only one route, there was also only one entrance into Mt. Hou, and the path through  the entrance was linked in three directions.
    A road stretched across the Yellow Sea. Like the path to Hoto Palace, this road had passed through a  good many years, and there was a trace left by the treading of countless people. There were tracks thru the  rocks and ruts carved into the steep slopes, all made by people's feet. People had thrown stones into the  swamps and streams, and even erected stone tablets in the desert. Across the wider fissures in the great  crags, people had built bridges with withered wood; trees had been removed by passers-by, so that  eventually there formed a narrow pathway through the dense forests.
    These sorts of trails extended through the Yellow Sea in all directions to the four gates.
    Of these gates, the Reikon Gate in the southwest had already opened and closed.
    Where were the people now, who had entered the gate on the day of the summer solstice?
    Youma and youju gathered in the Yellow Sea, so the journey through it was, without doubt, full of  difficulty and danger. The people who enter the gate on the same day form a group similar to a caravan, and  work together to traverse this dangerous passage. It is also said that there exists even a profession that  specializes in protecting them, like a travel escort service.
    "My heart is beating really quickly..." mumbled Taiki, as he hugged his knees and rested his chin on  top of them.
    Sanshi, who was sitting beside him, heard this, and just said quietly, "Don't be nervous."
    "Okay..."
    This matched up completely to his premonition.
    When he was playing or learning a few easier divination lessons from the nyosen, if he so much as  looked out into the southwest, he would suddenly feel as if he couldn't breathe. And when he recalled that  the Reikon Gate was in the southwest, he would feel a chill and his heart would beat faster.
    This was not a good premonition. He always felt something scary was making its way to him.
    "Can I really do it?"
    "Of course you can." Sanshi said only this short sentence. Thus, the sound of the wind seemed even  clearer as it remained by Taiki's ear.
    "Do you think there's a real ruler here?"
    "I don't know."
    "There probably isn't, I think."
    "Do you wish there not to be?"
    "Yeah..."
    Sanshi looked at her stiff-bodied master hugging his knees.
    If there really was an actual ruler here, was Taiki afraid that he would then have to leave Mt. Hou, or  that he would not be able to pass this test? Regardless of why, Sanshi very clearly felt Taiki's anxiety after  the summer solstice had passed. This pained Sanshi's heart even when she was just by his side.
    If the people climbing up Mt. Hou were not those that think themselves the ruler, then they were those  that were supporting those with the abilities to be the ruler. Thus, the real ruler was not necessarily amongst  them.
    Or perhaps, Taiki was afraid to find his ruler.
    After kirin go through the process of choosing their ruler, they carry the fate of the kingdom upon