Chapter 120: Shōko Saio
Nagoya.
After Japan's defeat, the country reorganized its economic and cultural development around the three great metropolitan regions, with Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya as their respective cores.
Tokyo formed the Capital Area.
Osaka formed the Kinki Area.
Nagoya formed the Chukyo Area.
Together, they were known as Tomeihan.
Economically, Nagoya could not compare with Tokyo.
In terms of historical depth, it could not compare with ancient capitals like Kyoto or Osaka.
Even so, for Nagoya to stand as one of Japan's three major metropolitan centers, it naturally had its own weight. This region was one of the important birthplaces of Japanese culture, and nearby stood one of the most sacred places in the country.
Ise Grand Shrine.
Known as the Ancestor of Shrines, it enshrined the Yata no Kagami, one of the Three Sacred Treasures.
Ise Grand Shrine was divided into two great sanctuaries: the Inner Shrine and the Outer Shrine.
The official name of the Inner Shrine was Kōtai Jingū. It enshrined Amaterasu Ōmikami, the ancestral deity of the Imperial family, Japan's supreme deity, and the symbol of the eight million gods. Its main hall stood at the heart of the Inner Shrine, built in the ancient Shinmei-zukuri style. Rectangular in plan, with an entrance along the long side, dug-in pillars, gable-end pillars, a gabled roof, and a straight roofline, it preserved an architectural form older than most of the country's recorded history.
The Outer Shrine, officially Toyouke Daijingū, enshrined Toyouke Ōmikami, the deity who provided meals for Amaterasu Ōmikami and governed food, clothing, and shelter. Its main hall followed the same architectural tradition, though on a slightly smaller scale.
Every year, countless visitors came to Ise Grand Shrine.
But during certain important rites and imperial ceremonies, the shrine closed its doors to the public.
After all, in essence, Ise Grand Shrine was the exclusive shrine of the Imperial family.
And beyond the Inner and Outer Shrines, there existed another place connected to Ise.
The Ise Saigū.
Also known as the Saio Palace.
It was not built within Ise Grand Shrine itself, but roughly ten kilometers away.
According to the Nihon Shoki, during the reign of Emperor Sujin, his daughter Toyosuki-iri-hime became the legendary first Saigū. Later, during the reign of Emperor Suinin, her niece Yamatohime-no-mikoto inherited that role. She searched for a new place to enshrine Amaterasu Ōmikami, passing through Uda, Ōmi, and Mino before finally arriving at Ise.
There, she received an oracle.
Following Amaterasu Ōmikami's will, she established the predecessor of Ise Grand Shrine and built a palace along the Isuzu River where the Saigū could purify herself.
That was the origin of the Ise Saigū.
It was also the beginning of the Saio system.
The Saio were unmarried imperial princesses who served as shrine maidens on behalf of the Imperial family, offering worship to Amaterasu Ōmikami. In name, their status stood even above the High Priestess.
But time was merciless.
The Ise Saigū had long since become ruins, and the Saio system had supposedly been abolished a thousand years ago.
At this moment, a guest arrived before those ruins, where a sign marked No Entry hung before the abandoned grounds.
It was Ouchiyama Megumi, High Priestess of Ise Grand Shrine.
To ordinary people, this place was only a ruin with considerable historical and cultural value.
But the generations of High Priestesses and Grand Priests of Ise Grand Shrine knew the truth.
The Ise Saigū had never disappeared.
The Saio had never been severed.
The ruin before the world was only a disguise.
A cover.
And behind that cover lay the true foundation of Ise Grand Shrine.
"Release."
Ouchiyama Megumi drew a divine talisman from her robes and tossed it into the air.
The talisman was covered in traces of divine power. As it floated before her, her fingers formed a sequence of secret seals.
A brilliant light bloomed.
The surrounding space rippled like water, then slowly opened into a gateway wide enough for several people to pass through side by side.
Seeing the path to the Ise Saigū open, Ouchiyama Megumi stepped in without hesitation.
After a burst of blinding light, the world before her changed.
Rows of exquisite palaces appeared in her sight, elegant and ancient, each one carrying the restrained holiness of long-preserved divine culture. Sacred air filled the space, quiet and pure.
Ise Grand Shrine was larger in scale.
But if one compared their essence, the difference was clear.
One was a shrine where ordinary people worshiped the gods.
The other was a palace where a divine presence truly resided.
Standing here, even Ouchiyama Megumi felt the instinctive urge to bow her head.
Within the palace grounds, shrine maidens moved quietly through their duties, offering prayers and maintaining rites. More surprising was the divine power flowing from each of them.
They could not compare to Ouchiyama Megumi herself, but every one of them possessed enough strength to rival an ordinary Professional Level Onmyoji.
If a National Level Onmyoji were here, however, it would not be the shrine maidens who stirred the greatest shock in their heart.
It would be this space itself.
The Ise Saigū had been separated from the real world.
Its laws and order had been rewoven.
In that sense, it greatly resembled the Spirit of a Great Yokai.
Yet unlike a Spirit, this place contained no gloom, resentment, or malice. It was filled with harmony and holiness, with divine order flowing through every corner.
This was a Kami no Kuni.
A divine kingdom.
The counterpart to a Great Yokai's Spirit.
A realm woven by a deity.
In an era where gods were in decline, most divine beings had vanished one after another, while the few survivors clung to existence like Tsuchizawa had. For a powerful deity capable of maintaining a Kami no Kuni to still remain in this world was far rarer than the existence of a Great Yokai.
"High Priestess, you have arrived."
A shrine maiden greeted Ouchiyama Megumi respectfully.
"Koarashi," Ouchiyama Megumi said, "I have matters to report to Her Highness. Please ask whether Her Highness is free."
Koarashi smiled.
"The Imperial Princess gave instructions in advance. If the High Priestess came, I was to bring you in directly."
With that, Koarashi turned and led Ouchiyama Megumi toward the inner palace.
They passed through one auxiliary palace after another, walking along a cobblestone path until they arrived before the courtyard of the main hall.
Click.
The heavy door opened.
Immediately, a thick stench of blood rushed toward Ouchiyama Megumi.
"This is...?"
Before she could wonder how such a heavy smell of blood had appeared inside the Ise Saigū, the scene in the courtyard shocked her into silence.
In the wide courtyard of the main hall lay an enormous corpse.
Its head had been severed.
Black blood poured from the stump of its neck, carrying a foul, metallic odor. The body was wholly inhuman, its main form resembling a massive spider. Its severed head, lying on the ground nearby, had the shape of a bull's head.
Ouchiyama Megumi's eyes narrowed.
"A Gyūki..."
Her voice lowered.
"A Great Yokai-level Gyūki?"
A bull's head.
A spider's body.
Its appearance was unmistakable.
This was the Gyūki ranked one hundred and eighteenth in the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.
"A rude fellow," Koarashi said with open disdain. "It actually tried to sow discord between the Imperial Princess and that person."
She glanced at the corpse coldly.
"Although the Imperial Princess does indeed hold some resentment over that person 'abandoning' her back then, that matter is not something a Great Yokai like this has the right to meddle in."
The next instant, a cold voice exploded in their ears.
"Loose tongue."
Koarashi's face paled.
Realizing she had spoken out of turn and offended the Imperial Princess, she immediately knelt.
"Please forgive me, Imperial Princess."
Brilliant colored light gathered in the courtyard.
A beautiful figure appeared before Koarashi and Ouchiyama Megumi.
"Imperial Princess."
Ouchiyama Megumi bowed respectfully.
The woman before them was as holy as a true goddess.
She had a fair oval face and skin so delicate it seemed almost translucent. Her shrine maiden robes were white and gold, gorgeous yet solemn, granting her an aura of sanctity that made her seem untouchable.
Most striking of all was her face.
She looked seventy percent similar to Ryōyū.
But if Ryōyū was a luxurious princess, proud and dazzling, then the woman before them was a dignified saint, holy and distant.
Their appearances were similar.
Their temperaments were entirely different.
"Dispose of the Gyūki's corpse," the Imperial Princess said. "Then withdraw."
Her voice was cold and sacred.
"Yes. Thank you for your mercy, Imperial Princess."
Koarashi inwardly sighed in relief.
The Imperial Princess would not punish her for her careless words.
She quickly used divine power to cleanse the corpse and erase the stench of blood. Once the courtyard was clean again, she withdrew respectfully and closed the heavy door behind her.
Only Ouchiyama Megumi and the Imperial Princess remained.
"Imperial Princess," Ouchiyama Megumi said, lowering her head, "over the past few days, the Omnyo Agency, the Onmyo Alliance, and the Onmyō Academy have been spreading many half-true and half-false rumors throughout the Onmyōdō world."
Her tone was reverent.
"It seems they do not intend to publicize that person's affairs immediately."
To Ouchiyama Megumi, such reverence came naturally.
The young-looking woman before her was the Saio of the Ise Saigū.
She was also the final Saio in history.
Imperial Princess Shōko.
Granddaughter of Emperor Daigo.
A famous talented woman of the Heian Period, known for waka poetry and the seven-stringed zither.
Strictly speaking, she was also Ouchiyama Megumi's ancestor.
After all, before marrying, Ouchiyama Megumi herself had also been a member of the Imperial family. If counted by seniority, even Haruka Shizumiya would have to call her Aunt.
It was precisely because Imperial Princess Shōko still existed that Ise Grand Shrine had always remained at the pinnacle of all shrines.
"That is not strange," Shōko said.
She stood beside the courtyard flowers, trimming their branches with long, jade-like fingers.
"The Onmyōdō world is unstable now. Since he has no intention of directly exposing his identity, the Omnyo Agency and the others will naturally go along with it."
Her voice remained calm as she analyzed the situation.
"Moreover, for certain people in Onmyōdō, his appearance is a kind of confidence."
Ouchiyama Megumi's eyes shifted.
"The confidence to confront Yamata no Orochi."
Shōko gave no answer, which was answer enough.
"Let this matter rest for now," Shōko said. "Since you came today, I have something to entrust to you."
"Please speak, Imperial Princess."
"I will be going to Kyoto for a while."
Ouchiyama Megumi froze.
"Kyoto?"
The Imperial Princess had not left the Ise Saigū for a thousand years.
Why would she suddenly leave now?
"The relationship between me and him can no longer return to what it once was."
Shōko's pruning hand paused slightly.
"But that golden-haired fox entrenched in the Imperial family was not wrong."
Her gaze turned cold.
"Since the real him has appeared, the fake in Kyoto should disappear."
The wind shifted through the courtyard.
"Conveniently, that Gyūki who trespassed into the Saigū also gave me some information I care about."
Shōko looked toward Kyoto.
"And it is time I met my good aunt."
Aunt?
Imperial Princess Shōko's aunt?
Ouchiyama Megumi's mind immediately recalled a ghost who had once appeared at Ise Grand Shrine.
Emperor Daigo's daughter.
Imperial Princess Angū Ryōyū.
.....
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