Such a romantic comedy was truly interesting; it was one of her few sources of happiness at the time.
"Why did you suddenly come to me to ask about the Asase Shrine maiden? How did you learn her secret?"
"...Well, Lumine received a mission to explore Seirai Island. During her exploration, she found Asase Shrine and also found a talking cat there. Through its narration, I learned about Asase Hibiki, Konbumaru, and Hyakume Oni."
Miss Delezie briefly explained the situation to Yae Miko. After listening to Miss Delezie's description, Yae Miko nodded.
She wasn't surprised that Neko could speak. Yokai that grew to a certain level could all speak human language. Inazuma used to have many such yokai, but now they were all gone.
She wondered how that cat had cultivated itself to survive for so long. Was it because of Asase Hibiki that it grew without realizing it?
"And then? From the looks of it, you two should already know about Asase Hibiki. Why did you specifically come to me? I always feel like you didn't just come to ask me questions, but to tell me something."
"We did come to tell you something. To clarify what happened five hundred years ago, Shenhe and I entered the sacred sakura tree's interior and learned about the situation back then."
At this point, Miss Delezie was silent for a long time, then with some difficulty, she recounted what she had seen: Konbumaru crawling out of the abyss, appearing before an aged Asase Hibiki, and finally, Asase Hibiki killing Konbumaru, who had completely transformed into a monster.
After listening to Miss Delezie's account, Yae Miko lowered her head in silence. She hadn't known about this matter, unaware that Konbumaru, who had died in the calamity that year, had actually come back to life and that such things had happened.
Konbumaru, who had climbed out of the abyss driven by obsession, finally met his beloved, only for it to end this way, which was truly regrettable.
This couldn't be blamed on Asase Hibiki. At that time, Konbumaru had already turned into a monster. Even if he still retained a shred of rationality, how long could he have held on after being corroded by the abyss for so many years?
"At that time, after shooting through Konbumaru's eye, Asase Hibiki cried. It wasn't exactly crying, but tears flowed, and she did nothing else. At that moment, did she recognize that the monster before her was Konbumaru?"
Miss Delezie felt this was highly probable. Otherwise, how could Asase Hibiki have shed tears? Was it because she had killed a monster? Don't be ridiculous.
"Perhaps. She might have recognized Konbumaru, and she might have been very happy. But Konbumaru had already been corroded into a monster, and he was in great pain at that time. To prevent her beloved from suffering further, she... could only do that."
As a shrine maiden, she couldn't allow Konbumaru to remain in Inazuma. Even if he could suppress himself now, what about the future? If he lost control, he would kill many innocent people.
As his beloved, she couldn't let Konbumaru continue to suffer.
So Asase Hibiki used the bow she had received from Konbumaru, and with the archery skills Konbumaru had taught her, she accurately hit his eye, ending his life, ending his... pain.
Yae Miko felt a little melancholic. She remembered the couple at the Grand Narukami Shrine back then, who should have been happy but met such a tragic end.
"Regarding Asase Shrine... I hope that in the future, when the warding stones of Seirai Island are re-sealed and it becomes land suitable for human habitation again, the Grand Narukami Shrine can send new shrine maidens to manage the shrine there. I also hope that the name 'Asase Shrine' can be preserved."
Not only for Neko, but also for the departed Asase Hibiki. Yae Miko wouldn't refuse such a small favor, would she?
"...Alright, I agree."
Affected by the story, Yae Miko didn't think too much and readily agreed to Miss Delezie's request.
Having achieved her goal, Miss Delezie took Shenhe and left Yae Miko's shrine, arriving at the seashore where Asase Hibiki and Konbumaru used to meet, standing there quietly, admiring the ebb and flow of the tide.
"Aren't you going to tell her?" Shenhe said, "Aren't you going to mention that Asase Hibiki was actually the one who unsealed Seirai Island's warding stones?"
"There's no need. While she did make a mistake by doing that, the Hyakume Oni she protected wasn't a bad person either. She was right her whole life, can't we let her make one mistake?"
Miss Delezie finally understood why the name Hyakume Oni sounded so familiar to her. The messages in the conches she found on the Golden Apple Archipelago had mentioned Akaho Hyakume Oni.
Akaho Hyakume Oni was a pirate leader. Although he and his subordinates had a good relationship with the local residents on Seirai Island at the time, they were still pirates, and the Shogunate would not stand idly by.
Akaho Hyakume Oni was no match for the Shogunate army. To protect Akaho Hyakume Oni, Asase Hibiki unsealed the warding stone, saving him through this extreme method.
This was the truth of what happened back then, but it was no longer important, at least Miss Delezie considered it unimportant. There was no need to delve too deeply; the problem of Seirai Island could be solved once Lumine sealed the warding stones.
At that time, the Shogunate could discuss relocating people to Seirai Island. Hadn't a group of disaster victims fled to Narukami Island before?
Currently, the Shogunate hadn't found a way to resettle them. Since they had no land on Narukami Island, why not let them go to Seirai Island to reclaim land?
If they were promised tax exemptions for a certain number of years if they reclaimed land there, those disaster victims would surely be very willing to work there.
It was believed that once the disaster victims arrived on Seirai Island, Seirai Island would once again become lively.
At that time, Asase Shrine would become lively again, Neko would be very happy, and Asase Hibiki... would also be relieved.
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