"Why are you here, my Lady?"
At the Grand Narukami Shrine, Hanachirusato watched Durandal warily. Her nervous demeanor made Durandal feel that if she startled her even a little, she would turn and run away at top speed. レ(°°;;;)ヘ=3=3=3.
Durandal knew why she was so nervous. The effect of that photo punishment hadn't worn off yet. She had to admit Hanachirusato was quite shy. It was just dress-up and photos; she wasn't asked to do anything strange. Was it really necessary to act like this?
"I'm not here for you this time. I'm here for Yae Miko. There are some things I want to ask her."
"The Head Priestess? She's not at the shrine right now. It seems Yae Publishing House has some matters to attend to. Hmm, I remember her saying when she left that Yae Publishing House had urgent matters to deal with today, and she would be gone for a while."
Besides being the Head Priestess of the Grand Narukami Shrine, Yae Miko is also the chief editor of Yae Publishing House. The former is work, but the latter is a hobby. Although she's usually busy, she enjoys it.
Durandal raised an eyebrow, thinking, *Why is that fellow not here at this time? Now I have to go to Inazuma City to find her.*
"I understand. I'll go to Yae Publishing House to find her now."
With that, Durandal took Shenhe's hand and prepared to leave, but Hanachirusato stopped her.
"Please wait. Although I don't know why my Lady is looking for the Head Priestess, you can tell me. Perhaps I can help."
Even though she had just received Durandal's punishment a while ago, Hanachirusato mostly felt shy. She still really wanted to help Durandal and hoped there was something she could do.
"I want to ask if she knows a Shrine Maiden named A... Asase Hibiki."
"Asase Hibiki? Asase Hibiki... Ah, I know that person."
It wasn't that Hanachirusato knew Asase Hibiki personally, but she knew of Asase Hibiki from the memories she gained from Kuzuhara.
"That was four or five hundred years ago. At that time, Asase Hibiki did intern at the Grand Narukami Shrine for a period and befriended Lady Kuzuhara, becoming good friends."
To be able to befriend Kuzuhara, it seems Asase Hibiki was also a very remarkable Shrine Maiden.
What then? What happened afterward? Where did Asase Hibiki end up? Does Hanachirusato know these things?
"Later, after a disaster whose records are not very detailed, Asase returned to Asase Shrine."
At this moment, Inagi Hotaru came over and joined the conversation: "I read his name in one of the few well-preserved ancient texts of the shrine. She was the last Shrine Maiden of Asase Shrine. The later records are incomplete; that's all I know."
Besides this information, the Grand Narukami Shrine only knew this much about Asase Hibiki. To find out more, they would probably have to ask Yae Miko.
After all, compared to Hanachirusato, who knew a little through memory, and Inagi Hotaru, who knew some inside information through ancient texts, Yae Miko, who personally experienced it, would know more relevant details.
But she wasn't at the Grand Narukami Shrine now, probably busy with her light novel work at Yae Publishing House, unable to spare any time for a while.
Yet Durandal really wanted to understand what happened back then. What exactly happened to Asase Hibiki during that period?
Suddenly, Durandal noticed the sacred sakura tree. A thought appeared in her mind, and she quickly dismissed the idea of finding Yae Miko. She left the Grand Narukami Shrine with Shenhe and went to a certain spot at the foot of Mt. Yougou.
Here were the roots of the sacred sakura tree. Durandal led Shenhe to the roots.
"Wait, I'll take your spirit into the sacred sakura tree. Don't worry, I'll be right by your side, understand?"
"Mm, I'll hold your hand and never let go."
"Good."
Thanks to Raiden Makoto, Durandal easily brought Shenhe's consciousness back into the sacred sakura tree.
Durandal had previously used the power of the sacred sakura tree to view Raiden Ei's past, learning about Raiden Ei's experiences over the past five hundred years and her process of creating the Raiden Shogun.
This time, she re-entered the sacred sakura tree's consciousness space, hoping to find any memories of Asase Hibiki stored within the sacred sakura tree.
According to Raiden Makoto, the sacred sakura tree appeared five hundred years ago. Durandal couldn't guarantee whether the sacred sakura tree had recorded Asase Hibiki's relevant experiences.
Regardless, she was already here. Since she had come, she should observe carefully.
Through the power of the sacred sakura tree, numerous scenes appeared around Durandal and Shenhe, recording events that occurred in Inazuma across various time periods.
Shenhe found their own figures in these scenes. Those scenes depicted what they had done since arriving in Inazuma; even those events were recorded.
Although it felt somewhat novel, those memories were not the main focus of their search this time. They were looking for memories related to Asase Hibiki, and also the memories of Konbumaru, whom Asase Hibiki cared about.
Soon, Durandal and Shenhe arrived at the Grand Narukami Shrine five hundred years ago.
At this time, Kuzuhara had not yet died, and the calamity had not yet befallen Inazuma.
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