At the persuasion of Sora and Kyōraku, Sajin Komamura finally agreed to travel with them.
This was because the condition Sora offered was free meals!
Komamura was currently in a period of spiritual pressure growth and had a great need for food. The constant hunger of not knowing where his next meal would come from was unbearable.
Sora and Kyōraku had thought that the trouble following Komamura would soon catch up to them, but by the time they left the Suzuka district, they had not seen the warewolves in pursuit.
After leaving Suzuka, the group of five headed east and soon entered the Hanakare district.
"This place is truly desolate. The reishi concentration has dropped a lot," Sora said, observing the environment.
"Yeah, it's all barren mountains. There's barely any grass," Kyōraku nodded.
"A rebellion occurred in the Hanakare district twenty years ago. The residents migrated on a large scale, which caused the number of souls to decrease significantly, and it has been deserted ever since," Jūshirō Ukitake said, recalling the records he had read.
"The number of souls affects the concentration of reishi in the environment. We'll need to relocate several groups of souls here to bring this land back to life," Yamamoto had made his decision. He would arrange for this after he returned, moving some souls over from other districts.
Souls and the environment influenced each other, much like the relationship between plants and soil.
When a soul died and its spiritual body dissipated, it would become reishi in the atmosphere. Over time, the concentration in that land would increase. A higher concentration, in turn, would affect the souls born and living in that place.
The conversation piqued Komamura's curiosity. The knowledge of his traveling 'companions' far surpassed that of ordinary Rukongai residents. Their identities were likely not simple.
However, he had no intention of prying and just listened quietly.
"The place is desolate, but there are quite a few shrines."
They found another shrine, but it was still early, so they had no intention of stopping to rest.
Just then, the group heard the sound of hurried horse hooves from behind.
Sora turned his head and saw a carriage speeding down the road.
He had seen this carriage before, in front of the abandoned shrine they had left this morning.
The guards they had seen before were not around the carriage. The driver was a handmaiden.
Even from a distance, Sora could see the panic on her face.
She didn't seem to be in control of the carriage.
"Get out of the way!" the handmaiden's voice was tinged with tears.
She pulled desperately at the reins. The agitated horse, frightened by the pull, suddenly reared up.
But the carriage was still moving at high speed. The horse's movement caused the speeding vehicle to instantly lose its balance.
The carriage was violently thrown aside.
CRASH—
It tumbled several times on the ground before crashing to a stop at the side of the road.
"I remember this family had a pregnant woman. This doesn't look good..." Kyōraku said, scratching his face.
"Let's go take a look. We might be able to help," Ukitake said, being more warm-hearted.
The tip of Komamura's nose twitched. He smelled blood.
When the group arrived at the wrecked carriage, the driving handmaiden had just scrambled to her feet.
"My lady!" she cried in panic, clawing at the broken carriage.
Komamura stepped forward and pulled away the wooden planks pressing down, revealing a pregnant woman covered in blood.
Ukitake placed his fingers on her wrist and soon shook his head.
"There's no pulse."
"She was already dead," Sora said after a look. He found a piercing wound on the woman's chest, caused by a sharp weapon.
She had died before the carriage had even crashed.
"What a pity. She was fine when we left this morning, and now it's two lives lost for the price of one!" Kyōraku sighed.
"There's still a faint spiritual pressure fluctuation in her belly," Yamamoto suddenly spoke up.
The others were slightly taken aback. Perhaps the fluctuation was too weak; only Yamamoto had sensed it.
"Is the young miss still alive?" the handmaiden pleaded. "Sirs, please save her!"
Shinigami could use their spiritual pressure to sense the state of a fetus, even determining its gender before birth.
Sora placed his hand on the swollen abdomen. Upon careful sensing, he found that the baby inside was indeed still alive.
"If we take the baby out, she might still live."
After saying this, Sora immediately took action.
He had created many Reigai recently and was already quite familiar with the structure of a spiritual body. It was not difficult for him to remove the child from the woman's womb.
A sharp 'spiritual pressure blade' formed at his fingertips. With a single cut across the swollen belly, the internal organs were exposed to the air.
He quickly succeeded in removing the baby without harming her in the slightest.
The spiritual pressure blade cut the umbilical cord, and the baby was completely separated from her mother.
She lay in Sora's hands, only slightly larger than his two palms combined.
Her eyes were closed, and she did not cry or make a sound, as if still in a dream.
"She's not crying. I heard newborns are only healthy if they cry..." Kyōraku said, curiously staring at the baby in Sora's hands.
"She was taken from a corpse, after all. There might be some developmental issues..." Sora examined her. The baby's development was incomplete. If not for the faint spiritual pressure within her body supporting her, she likely would have passed away with her mother.
"It won't be easy to keep her alive..." Sora was in a difficult position. They were still in the middle of their 'study tour,' and bringing a baby along was troublesome. But if they just left her, she most likely wouldn't survive.
"What happened to you? Does this child have any other relatives?" Yamamoto asked the handmaiden.
"We..." The handmaiden hesitated. If their identities were revealed, it would likely attract their pursuers.
"Speak. It's the only way your young miss will have a chance to live," Kyōraku said casually.
The handmaiden gritted her teeth and decided to tell them what happened. "We are of the main branch of the Miyamoto family..."
"A branch family of the Miyamoto rebelled and drove out the main family. They've been sending assassins after us ever since..."
"This morning, as we were preparing to leave that abandoned shrine, we ran into the assassins sent by the branch family..."
"In that moment of crisis, the master had me take the heavily injured mistress and flee first..."
"But... you know what happened after that..."
"The Miyamoto family..." Yamamoto thought for a moment. He had no strong impression of them; they were likely a minor noble house.
"It seems we can't send this child back," Yamamoto said. He had no interest in the internal disputes of these noble families, but the current situation with the baby was difficult.
"Please, you must not send Lady Hiyori back to the Miyamoto family! Those traitors will kill her!" the handmaiden pleaded.
"Your young miss is named Miyamoto Hiyori?" Sora's eyebrow twitched. He had heard a familiar name, though the surname was different from what he remembered.
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