Miroku rose slowly from her bed, walked to her desk, and lit a single candle.
The flickering flame chased away the encroaching shadows of the room, illuminating her weary face.
"That dream just now... was it a new prophecy?" Dressed only in a thin silk gown, Miroku sat at her desk, supporting her forehead with slender fingers. The candlelight cast a soft glow over her graceful figure, yet it could not dispel the gloom etched between her brows.
In those violet eyes lay a deep-seated unease for the future.
As a scion of the Priestess lineage, Miroku had inherited the power of her ancestors from a young age—and predicting the future was her most vital, yet burdensome, ability.
In the Land of Demons, a nation without a Daimyo, the Priestess held supreme status. She was not only the object of the people's worship but the nominal ruler of the state. Because her prophecies almost always came true, her word was law.
In recent years, Miroku had felt the sealed demon, Moryo, becoming increasingly restless. A dark premonition had taken root in her heart. She was already preparing herself; if the seal ever threatened to break, she would sacrifice her own life to bind the demon once more.
Only then could she buy enough time for her daughter, Shion, to grow and come into her own power.
Thinking of this, Miroku tilted her head slightly, her gaze softening as it fell upon little Shion, who was fast asleep on the bed.
A Priestess's visions were usually tied to her own fate. In that dream, Miroku had seen herself and her daughter together. More importantly, the darkness that had swallowed the shinobi world felt entirely different from the aura of Moryo she had seen in previous visions.
It was, in a sense, good news. It suggested that in this potential future, the demon Moryo had not broken free, and she might actually live to see her daughter grow up.
The power of the Priestess was a generational hand-off. As the daughter grew, the mother's power would gradually fade and transfer. Miroku had long prepared for the worst-case scenario.
But now, she had seen a completely different path.
"But what kind of darkness could be so vast that it plunges the entire world into its depths?" Miroku frowned deeply, trying to reconcile the horrifying images of the dream with anything she knew. It far surpassed the localized terror of Moryo.
"And that shadow... did he save the world?" She closed her eyes, forcing herself to recall every detail.
The endless night had been torn asunder by a single beam of dawn, bringing light and hope to the lands. Within that radiance, a lone figure stood tall, silhouetted against the heavens.
What did it mean?
Miroku strained to find a defining characteristic of the figure who brought the light.
Suddenly, a vision of a falling star streaking through the dark flashed before her mind's eye, landing right in front of her.
Miroku's eyes snapped open.
"A star?" She stood up hurriedly and began rummaging through the scrolls on her shelf.
She quickly pulled out a map of the shinobi world and located the Land of Bears, which shared a border with the Land of Demons. There, marked clearly on the map of the Land of Bears, was a star icon.
"The Star..." Miroku traced the icon with her finger, lost in thought.
Though the Land of Demons had no hidden village or ninjas of its own, it maintained stable relations with its neighbors. It shared a quarter of its border with the Land of Bears, and the common folk of both nations frequently crossed for trade. Miroku was well aware of the legends surrounding their neighbor.
Legend had it that two hundred years ago, a meteorite—a 'star'—had fallen within the Land of Bears. A ninja had used it to master a unique ninjutsu and founded the Hidden Star Village, declaring himself the First Hoshikage.
The Star Village was the closest ninja settlement to the Land of Demons.
"Is it there?" Miroku couldn't be certain; the dream had been too blurred.
Moreover, she knew the Land of Bears had undergone a violent upheaval last year. Rumors claimed the Star Village had staged a coup, slaughtering the Daimyo and the nobility, leaving the country in chaos.
Of course, that information came from the Land of Demons' own aristocrats.
Though the Priestess was the nominal ruler, the Land of Demons still had its own class structure. The nobles supported Miroku, but they were quite content with the arrangement. Since the Priestess rarely involved herself in actual governance, the true power rested in the hands of the nobility.
To many of those nobles, the Priestess was merely a tool—a living seal to keep the demon Moryo at bay.
"Mama~" A soft, sleepy mumble came from the bed, breaking Miroku's train of thought.
Little Shion had woken up. Finding her mother missing from her side, she sat up and rubbed her bleary eyes, searching for her.
"Shion, be a good girl. Go back to sleep." Miroku hurried to the bedside, scooping her daughter into her arms and humming a gentle lullaby while patting her back.
Under the soothing song, Shion quickly drifted back into a peaceful slumber.
The following morning, Miroku donned her formal priestess robes and sat behind the bamboo blinds of the shrine.
Beside her, little Shion mimicked her mother's posture, sitting in a formal seiza with adorable seriousness.
Miroku summoned the head priest who had served her lineage for generations.
"Lady Miroku!" Priest Ashi, a man in his thirties, entered. His clan did more than just manage the shrine; they were the personal bodyguards of the Priestess and oversaw her daily life.
"Priest Ashi, what do you know of the current situation in the Land of Bears and the Star Village?" Miroku's voice drifted from behind the blinds.
"The Land of Bears?" Ashi was taken aback. The Priestess rarely showed interest in worldly affairs, let alone the internal politics of a neighboring country.
He had been raised in the shrine and had served since Miroku's mother was alive. In over twenty years, he could count on one hand the number of times a Priestess had asked about foreign lands.
The last time was at the height of the Third Great Ninja War, when the Sand and Stone were at each other's throats. Miroku had worried the fires of war would reach their borders or weaken Moryo's seal.
But why now?
"Lady Miroku, the Bear rebellion happened half a year ago. It is said the Daimyo and the nobility were wiped out. However, word is that the Land of Bears has recently resumed production. Trade with surrounding nations has actually become more frequent. Apparently, they have implemented several new policies."
Ashi's information, gathered as a priest, was limited. However, it clashed sharply with what Miroku had heard from the visiting nobles who came to the shrine to offer prayers.
In the mouths of the aristocrats, the Land of Bears had become a living hell. They claimed the Star ninjas were slaughtering everyone, commoners included, and that entire cities had been washed in blood. They said the Stone and Sand had called for a total blockade of the nation.
Faced with two completely different stories, Miroku made her decision.
"Priest Ashi, send an envoy to the Land of Bears under the guise of a diplomatic mission. I need to know the truth of what is happening there."