The lord of Hokunoa Island, Yoshio, was in a gloomy chamber. It was completely silent and cold, with a single ray of light peeking through the hole in the window. He alone sat on a chair, facing the covered corpse on the table. A depressive air exuded all around him. For he had just lost his only son, the last remaining member of his family.

  It felt like it was the end of the line for him. He couldn’t see or imagine the future anymore. There was nothing but pitch-black darkness. Everything that he had done in his life was for his son’s future. But now, he couldn’t give that future anymore. So, what now?

  Perhaps there was only one way to go about next — to get justice for his son, to get revenge. That was his only purpose now, his only focus. That was all that he could think of. He’d make everyone who did it pay.

  It was then that the door behind him opened, and Katsuo entered. He slowly made his way behind Yoshio.

  Yoshio slowly turned his head towards him, looking at him from the corner of his eyes.

  “Katsuo, what’s the progress of the search?”

  There was a hint of hesitation on his face before he got to talk. “We had to make tremendous adjustments.”

  “Adjustments?”

  “We withdrew our ninjas for the time being, and I ordered the soldiers to refrain from attacking the targets if discovered.”

  Yoshio frowned before slowly standing up and pointing an icy glare at Katsuo. “What is the meaning of this? You would do that in hunting just a couple of women?”

  “There has been an unexpected development.”

  “Explain yourself. Why do you hold back in avenging my son?”

  “During the hunt, we suffered tremendous casualties, deaths. The decision to withdraw the ninjas is per Lord Seiji’s decision, for their own safety. We lost many ninjas, and we lost dozens of our soldiers. Their bodies littered the streets of our city.”

  “How?” Yoshio was feeling quite baffled, but even more frustrated and annoyed.

  “There are individuals protecting Lady Miyako, and they are incredibly dangerous. They’re the ones behind the tremendous deaths on our side.”

  Yoshio scoffed, shaking his head. “Pursuing and killing them should have been easy. But some people just have to get in our way.” He turned towards his son’s covered body. “But they don’t matter. Don’t let them stop us from getting what I need. If you need to be wary, so be it. But don’t take too long in bringing me the killer’s head.”

  Truth be told, Yoshio didn’t care about how many on their side died. What mattered was that he got what he wanted. Still, that didn’t mean he would just mindlessly send men into a death trap. For now, he’d let Katsuo handle this. Because for the time being, he was still mourning his son. He didn’t have the strength or the mind to lead.

  “I understand, my lord. Incidentally, I would like to ask what your plan is for Nishinoa overall.”

  “... We accelerate our original plan. We have the justification. We shall attack soon.”

  Yoshio had always planned to attack Nishinoa in the future once their economy had grown big enough and gotten support from more merchants that would aid them in the efforts. However, Yoshio had grown impatient. He couldn’t wait any longer.

  “How soon, if I may ask?”

  “After my son’s burial.”

  “Understood. I have set up the embalming for tomorrow. The casket also shouldn’t take long.”

  Yoshio nodded and sat back down in his seat.

  “I recommend you take a rest, my lord.”

  “I will rest tomorrow.”

  “... Very well.”

  “Don’t take too long in finishing your job, Katsuo,” he warned. This situation displeased him greatly. He held in his grievances only because Katsuo gave a compelling reason. He didn’t know many details yet, but he’d inquire about it later. For now, he should focus on his dead son. He was too tired to deal with anything else.

  “Of course, my lord.”

  With that, Katsuo left.

  Yoshio stared at his son’s covered corpse. “You will be avenged, my son.”

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  ***

  It was around midnight, or was it way past it already? Miyako couldn’t tell. But she could not fall asleep, her mind was in disarray. Her heart was chipped, something was taken away. She was in deep pain, she had never felt like this before. And she had been sobbing in solitude.

  She tried to hold the tears back, but she just couldn’t.

  Everything had fallen apart. Now she was being hunted, believed to be the one who killed the person she could never kill. Blamed for the sin she never committed. And such a thing hurt her greatly. Just thinking of Yuki’s dying moment, all the blood, was utterly agonizing. She cradled her head. The thoughts, the pain, it was drowning.

  They had something going, they were going to pursue the greatest mission one could do for everyone on the archipelago. For everyone to have hope, tangible hope. But even her hope was taken.

  She buried her face in her pillow, depressed about the terrible prospects of the future. They could have achieved something great together. Could she even do it without an ally like Yuki? She pondered hard.

  She closed her eyes.

  No… I can’t let this stop me.

  This was what the demons wanted. For her to stop. To cause her despair. She imagined this was how it was as well to the others in the past that wanted to unite the islands. If she wants to win against the demons, she must not lose courage.

  Even in despair, even in grief, even in pain, she must continue on in what she was pursuing. If she wants change, then she must be the one to bring that change. Even how hard the road may be. However, a ?tinge of doubt crept into her heart.

  What she was pursuing carried risk. And there was now an example in the form of Yuki’s death. Then what of her side? Satomi, her family, her friends. Should she put them at risk? Where death was a possibility.

  She might be being quite selfish.

  But if she stopped now, nothing would change, and Yuki would have died for nothing. Satomi was not against pursuing unity, and even Estelia was up for change. Pursuing change for the island was not a bad thing. It was good. It was for everyone.

  Despite being selfish as it may seem, she still wanted to do it. She must not falter. Faltering what the demons wanted, and she couldn’t let them have their way. And what the demons did made things utterly difficult and more dangerous for Miyako, where now she was being hunted. But not only to her, but to others as well, like Estelia and her friends. But they didn’t seem to mind, which brought a sense of relief to Miyako, to have such reliable allies.

  But then, she recalled her island. She clenched her pillow. After what happened to Yuki, his father would be furious.

  They believe I did it, so he would…

  He would certainly declare war against Nishinoa. And a war was something Miyako couldn’t let happen, not so soon. Her island was not ready for something like this. The death toll to her people, the economic damage would be fatal. There must be a way to prevent that from happening. She must stop it, or at least delay it as long as possible.

  But how do I even do that?

  She couldn’t very well change the actions of an entire nation.

  Entire nation…

  She closed her eyes tight. A thought just appeared in her mind. An entire nation was led by a single lord. And the lord was surrounded by clan lords who had agendas and ambitions of their own. Miyako at least had an idea of Hokunoa’s political landscape, and clan lords were always in conflict trying to be above the other.

  All of them were only being reeled in by the lord of the island.

  And now, what if that lord of the island disappeared? Normally the heir would take their place. But in Hokunoa’s case, there was no heir anymore, Yuki was dead. If there were no lord, then people in higher power would go and fill the void. But others would also want the same thing.

  In short, there would be disorder in this land. When that happened, without a clear leader, they would settle the problem here first. Without a leader, they couldn’t just go and attack Nishinoa. That meant Nishinoa would be safe.

  But he’s Yuki’s father…

  Yuki had just died, and now she thought of killing his father?

  I’m scum.

  It was a terrible and nasty thing to think about. If she did something like that, Yuki would hate her. Absolutely hate her.

  But he’s gone. Now I have to do what I must here.

  The dead didn’t matter in the land of the living. If she kept considering the dead, then her people in the living would be put in jeopardy.

  Therefore, she must make a hard choice.

  I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Yuki.

  She must stop the war from happening at all costs.

  But how would she do it?

  She took a deep breath. She had an idea. She would need help from a friend.

  Now that things were a bit clearer, she managed to get some shut-eye. But her sleep was short. When she woke up in the morning, she felt down that she couldn’t even open the windows. She wanted to get some fresh air, but she absolutely shouldn’t. She rubbed her fingers together, feeling nervous about what she was about to ask her friend.

  She let out a sigh. It wasn't sure that she would even agree. But Miyako absolutely needed her help. She must convince her.

  Miyako exited her room and found Satomi standing beside her door.

  “You’re up early.”

  Satomi slightly tilted her head. “It’s no different from the usual.”

  “R-Right.”

  Satomi was right, it was the usual. It would seem Miyako was not in a pretty good state of mind. She resisted the urge to sigh.

  “Is… Is Estelia up?”

  “From what I know, not yet.”

  “Oh…”

  It was then that a familiar man approached them, waving his hand at them with a smile. “The princess should wake up around mid-morning.”

  Miyako glanced at him. “You’re Hartwin, right? Good morning.”

  “Good morning. Anyway, the princess needs her beauty rest.” He chuckled. “I’m sure you know of her health.”

  “Yes…”

  “But considering we’re going somewhere ?today, she might just wake a little bit earlier than usual.”

  “You’re going somewhere?”

  “Well, someone might need to watch over you, so I think it’s only going to be them. Just need to look into something, don’t worry.”

  “I see…”

  “Well, do you wish for breakfast? I can bring you before I go.”

  It would seem that the bard had somewhere to go as well.

  “We’ll wait for Estelia.”

  “Sure, sure. Alright then, I’m gonna go. I’ll be back in an hour or two.”

  With that, he left. He was quite friendly. And the way he talked was eloquent.

  Estelia really has remarkable friends.

  They waited for an hour before they got to meet Estelia. Satomi brought Estelia into Miyako’s room. Estelia’s hair was still a bit unruly, but she was still incredibly beautiful.

  “Satomi said you want to talk to me.”

  “Y-Yes. I need your help.”

  “... I’m listening.”

  “I need your help in assassinating the lord of this island.”