"Whew."
Kujou Sara let out a long breath and walked on toward Hanamizaka, the calls of street vendors rising and falling on either side of her.
The truth was, she hadn't been entirely honest with the Traveler and Paimon just now.
She had worked a full month with her nerves stretched tight, and today happened to be her day off.
So she intended to relax properly.
Her destination was the main branch of the Yae Publishing House on Hanamizaka, where she meant to buy Fang Qiu's latest work.
If even the Shogun Almighty admired his writing, there was no reason for her not to make time to read and appreciate it herself.
Besides that, though, she had heard a rumor going around town lately.
People were saying that the reason Fang Qiu's stories ended so tragically was that Thoma had told him to write them that way.
Supposedly Thoma had said as much himself, but she remained skeptical.
Turning it over in her mind, her gaze settled on a small Dango Milk stall, and when she looked at the man running it, Kujou Sara paused.
Hm?
She remembered him. That stall owner was the inventor of Dango Milk himself.
Ever since he had won the Shogun Almighty's favor and his business had shot skyward, he had opened a great many branches, yet he had never forgotten where he started. He still ran his own little stall and still kept developing new flavors.
All this time, though, she had been buried in official duties, trying to turn around the public's impression of the Tenryou Commission, and had never found a spare moment to buy a cup and taste it.
Today she was off duty.
Time to unwind a little.
So she stepped up, bought a cup of Dango Milk, and carried on toward Hanamizaka, sipping as she went.
She had to admit it.
A drink praised by the Shogun Almighty herself lived up to its name.
The taste really was good.
The milk was sweet and smooth, and the dango steeped in it were soft and chewy and delicious.
Not bad at all.
She arrived at last in front of the main Yae Publishing House store, where the line still snaked out the door.
Novel lovers chattered among themselves, the noise of it filling the street.
Looking at that long line outside the main store, Kujou Sara frowned.
There were far too many people.
Just as she was about to walk to the back of the queue, she noticed a suspicious figure.
The man's face was covered, his features impossible to make out. He had already bought his book, and now he held it while glancing nervously around him.
Then he tucked the book inside his clothes and hurried off at a brisk pace toward the city gates.
"Hm?"
Watching him skulk along as though terrified of being seen, Kujou Sara frowned.
She might have let it go, but the moment she saw him deliberately avoiding the eyes of the patrolling Tenryou Commission soldiers, she decided to follow.
She trailed him out of the city, all the way to the front of the Naganohara Fireworks shop.
Watching the man still creeping along, Kujou Sara's frown deepened. Her instincts had been right after all.
There was something wrong with him.
Just as she was weighing her next move, a loud, boisterous voice rang out.
"Kujou Tengu, what are you sneaking around here for?"
At the sound of it Kujou Sara stiffened. She turned to look and found Arataki Itto with his bug-catching gear slung over his back, a small pale-purple Onikabuto clutched in one hand.
He stood in the middle of the road, staring at her in open confusion.
A chill ran through her and she whipped back around toward the spot where her quarry had been.
The man was long gone.
Kujou Sara moved to give chase, only for Arataki Itto to block her way.
"Hahaha, Kujou Tengu, perfect timing! Since you're scared of losing to me at sumo, let's settle it with an Onikabuto match instead!"
Arataki Itto brandished the beetle in his hand for her to admire and declared with total confidence, "My White Iron Star is undefeatable."
"Move," Kujou Sara said flatly.
"What? You scared? Hahahaha, it's fine to be scared, just admit defeat and I'll let bygones be bygones."
Arataki Itto roared with laughter.
Insufferably cocky.
Kujou Sara glanced at the spot where the furtive man had been standing, saw that he had vanished without a trace, and her expression darkened in an instant.
She drove a kick into Arataki Itto. He was still laughing happily, caught completely off guard, and the kick sent him sprawling flat on the ground.
"Kujou Tengu, what do you think you're—"
Arataki Itto cursed and tried to scramble up, but her foot came down on him and pinned him back down, and she trussed him hand and foot with the prisoner's rope she carried.
"Arataki Itto, you are under arrest on suspicion of obstructing official duties," Kujou Sara said, looking down at him, her voice low.
"Official duties? What official duties?"
Arataki Itto looked utterly lost.
"Enough talk."
Kujou Sara hauled on the rope and dragged Arataki Itto along to the place where the man had disappeared.
Sure enough, he had fled without leaving a shadow behind.
She was still puzzling over why a man buying one of Fang Qiu's books would act so furtive when she spotted something on the ground a short distance away: a badge.
She frowned, stepped forward and picked it up.
Hm?
When she made out the design stamped on the badge in her hand, Kujou Sara's frown deepened.
That pattern, if she remembered rightly, was the crest of a branch family under the Hiiragi Clan of the Kanjou Commission.
So the man just now belonged to the Kanjou Commission?
But if he was Kanjou Commission, why sneak around like that over a single book?
Never mind.
Since he was Kanjou Commission, it was better to drop the inquiry than to spark friction between the two commissions.
On top of which, the man had already run beyond sight, and tracking him down now would be next to impossible.
She put the crest away safely, then marched the struggling, hollering Arataki Itto off in the direction of the Tenryou Commission.
Outside the fireworks shop, Naganohara Yoimiya had laid out snacks and tea. She set the book aside, picked up the letter Fang Qiu had given her, and was just about to open it when Arataki Itto appeared.
Except that as she started to rise with the letter in hand, ready to run over, she noticed that Arataki Itto was bound with rope and that Kujou Sara was walking right behind him.
Seeing that.
Naganohara Yoimiya thought it over and decided she would just pass the letter to one of Arataki Itto's underlings later.
So she sat back down.
And Kujou Sara escorted the squirming, bellowing Arataki Itto onward toward the Tenryou Commission.
As they passed the Yae Publishing House, they happened to run straight into Kuki Shinobu and several of Arataki Itto's underlings.
They had only just finished buying their books when they saw their boss come marching up, trussed like a prize catch by Kujou Sara.
They rushed over at once, ready to argue the matter out with her.
But before any of them could get a word out, one cold look from Kujou Sara froze them where they stood.
Having cowed Arataki Itto's crew, Kujou Sara turned to Kuki Shinobu and said, "Your boss obstructed me in the execution of my duties. He is under arrest."
"Understood."
Kuki Shinobu nodded, glanced back at Arataki Itto, who was still yelling for a duel with Kujou Sara, and sighed. "Boss, try to keep the rest of your crimes to a minimum before I come bail you out."
"Anything else? If not, I'm taking him away," Kujou Sara said.
As she spoke, her eyes drifted to the standing sign outside the Yae Publishing House.
It was an advertisement for Fang Qiu's new book.
anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day.
It seemed she would have to haul Arataki Itto back to the Tenryou Commission first and come back for it afterward.
"Miss Kujou, I saw you standing in line outside the Yae Publishing House earlier. Was that for Fang Qiu's book?" Kuki Shinobu asked, having caught the direction of her gaze.
"Something like that," Kujou Sara answered evenly.
Hearing that, Kuki Shinobu produced a copy of anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day and held it out to her. "As it happens, we accidentally bought one extra. If it suits you, why not take it off our hands? Cover price is fine."
Kujou Sara studied Kuki Shinobu for a long moment, then looked at the line stretching out in front of the Yae Publishing House, and bought the book from her after all.
Book in hand, Kujou Sara and the Tenryou Commission soldiers led Arataki Itto away.
Once they were far enough off, Genta and the others spoke up. "Shinobu, did you sell your own copy to Kujou Sara at cover price so that the Kujou Tengu would go easy on the boss and let him out early, out of gratitude for the book?"
"Of course not. Kujou Sara isn't that sort of person," Kuki Shinobu said, shaking her head.
"Then why?"
Her answer left the group puzzled.
"We're simply on decent terms, that's all. I gave it to her as a favor," Kuki Shinobu said with a small smile.
"But Shinobu, if you gave your book to Kujou, what about you?"
"I can read the boss's copy. He won't be out until this afternoon anyway."
…
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