In the aftermath of Yu Meiren’s defeat, there was a lot of damage to be undone. Though there were no casualties among the civilians, Meiren’s careless disregard for collateral damage had left the surrounding lands ravaged by toxins spreading through the wilderness, Qin Zhao’s sudden departure left Jiaguo’s army without one of its best generals, and the demonic frenzy threatened to undermine the work Yoshika had put towards uniting Yamato against her father.

More importantly, her friends had been hurt in the battle.

Melati’s only remaining body lay curled up on a cot with Ruiling and Sukarto on either side of her. Sukarto himself had sustained only physical injuries, and Yoshika had been able to heal him easily enough, but Melati...

“How is she doing?”

Long Ruiling looked up at Yoshika, her brows furrowed in concern. One of Melati’s hands held hers in a vice grip.

“I’m not sure. I’ve never seen her react like this to her drones dying. Even when she lost her queen body before, she just bounced right back.”

Mel convulsed, her wings buzzing momentarily before she returned to a disturbing stillness. Her voice was small as she spoke.

“Never lost so many Melatis at once. Drones didn’t hurt. Melati didn’t hurt. I hurt.”

Yoshika knelt down and delicately took one of Melati’s hands in hers.

“Your drones don’t have their own souls, but they do have little bits of your soul tying them together. Individually, it’s practically nothing—not even enough to whet a demon’s appetite—but the more drones you have, the thinner you have to spread yourself.”

Ruiling winced.

“That’s why she has trouble controlling them when her hive gets too big, isn’t it?”

“Right. She’s gotten better at it—in part because she’s been learning to expand her soul, but also because the smaller drones are relatively harmless if she lets them act semi-autonomously. Individually, the pieces of her soul lost with a drone are harmless—souls are resilient, and superficial damage like that is easy to regenerate.”

“But she lost the entire hive. I don’t understand, though—shouldn’t losing a queen be just as painful, if not worse? That’s her entire soul, regenerated from scratch.”

Yoshika looked down at her hands and shuddered. She now understood Melati’s method of reincarnation much more intimately than she’d ever wanted to.

“Yes, it is.”

Melati buzzed miserably.

“I don’t usually remember that part...”

She smiled sadly and patted Melati’s hand comfortingly.

“I’m sorry I can’t do more for you. The pain will fade eventually, but until then there’s nothing that can blunt it. This is all my fault...”

Ruiling shook her head.

“Nonsense! We knew the dangers, and we chose to help knowing how outmatched we were. If we could tip the odds even a little in your favor, then it was worth it.”

“But is that really how you feel, or is it just a result of my influence?”

“You’re talking about what Yang Qiu was saying, about your blessing?”

Yoshika nodded.

“I knew my domain touched the souls of those around me, but I didn’t realize how. I should have looked closer, and now I have so much apologizing to do. I’m visiting Yang Qiu next.”

Ruiling frowned.

“This might sound strange, but don’t overestimate yourself. Perhaps your power helps nudge people in the right direction, but it doesn’t make anyone do anything. You made the choice easier, but we made the choice.”

“But the demons—”

“Would have massacred the civilians if they hadn’t already been practicing self-control and discipline, or if they didn’t believe in the path to redemption you’ve offered them. Even without your influence, they made every effort to control their frenzy.”

Yoshika sighed. Ruiling had a point. Her connections to people had always been mutual. She could sense the thoughts and emotions of those whose souls she’d touched, but only if they wanted her to. It was strongest when they directly reached out to her, such as when her friends worked together to repair her soul, while most of the time it was nothing more than a vague impression.

The influence of her domain probably worked on the same principle. It would have a stronger effect on those who wanted it most—like the demons struggling against their darker impulses.

“Thank you, Ruiling. You’ve given me a lot to think about. I still owe Yang Qiu a visit, though.”

“Of course. We’ll be here if you need us.”

Yoshika left Melati with a soothing pulse of Wood Essence to at least distract from the pain, then left to find Yang Qiu, who was still buried up to her neck in the same tent. Minami Yuuko was keeping her company—ostensibly as a guard, but she was just sitting nearby and chatting.

“Good to see you two getting along. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

The two looked up at Yoshika as she entered the tent, and Yuuko shrugged.

“Nothing that can’t wait. I still can’t believe you actually killed that demon. Wasn’t she one of the ones who arrived from the divine realm during the descent?”

Yoshika nodded.

“She showed up with Longyan right in front of us, if you can believe it. She sensed our connection to Jianmo and came after us.”

“Wow, and you survived?”

She looked down and clenched her hands.

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“Not all of us. Master Yumi stepped in to buy time for our escape, but not before she killed Miyata, Tokuda, and Ozaki.”

Yuuko winced.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t really know those guys, but that must have been awful.”

“I barely knew them myself, but I still can’t help but feel responsible.”

Yang Qiu sniffed.

“Well, now they’ve been avenged. Along with my sect. So thanks for that. Yu Meiren’s death has made the world a better place.”

Yoshika looked down at her head sticking out of the ground like a cabbage. It hadn’t really been appropriate before, but she had to ask.

“How did you end up like that, anyway?”

Yang Qiu chuckled.

“The wasp girl did it. Apparently she really took a liking to the basic quagmire spell you taught her in Arcane Arts class, and made some supercharged version of it that can instantly bury someone alive.”

“That’s kind of terrifying.”

“Hah! But effective.”

Yoshika scratched her cheek.

“Would you like me to let you out?”

“Hell no. I could get out of this myself if I wanted to, but choosing not to struggle against restraints is easier than trying to force myself to stay still. It’ll do until you either give us back your blessing or take my core again.”

“I’m so sorry, Yang Qiu. I didn’t know that my blessing—”

Yang Qiu shook her head and scoffed.

“I’m gonna stop you right there. Don’t you dare apologize for helping us when nobody else would have. Yu Meiren was right about one thing—we became demons because we’re weak-minded. By definition, we’re not the sort of people who can redeem ourselves through force of will. Your blessing gives us a fighting chance.”

“But it was broken so easily. And despite that, you and the others still had the presence of mind to prevent any casualties.”

“Yeah, which means your bullshit is working—so don’t stop now.”

Yoshika sighed. Yang Qiu’s position was characteristically selfish—as far as she was concerned, the blessing was purely beneficial to her, and that was all that mattered.

“That’s fine for you, but what about everyone else in Jiaguo? I’ve been influencing them without even realizing it.”

Yuuko leaned back, propping herself up on her arms and cocking her head.

“So?”

Yoshika blinked.

“Um, what?”

“Who cares that your domain influences people? All kami do that, and I bet Goryeo’s queen does too—not to mention Qin’s sects and their precious emperor. Hell, even without a domain, powerful people are always influencing the people beneath them.”

“But then I’m no better than Meiren.”

Yuuko laughed.

“No. I had to come to terms with the fact that the things I did under Meiren’s curse of paranoia are my own fault. But that means that the same goes for you. Under her curse, I assumed the worst and refused to listen to the people who cared about me—with your blessing, maybe I’d have been more open-minded. Either way, nobody made me do anything.”

“I’m not sure everyone will see it your way.”

Yang Qiu groaned and rolled her eyes.

“Get the fuck over yourself. Nobody cares about this but you. Your blessing has demonstrably saved hundreds of lives in just the last day. Expand that across your entire demesne since the founding of Jiaguo and just try to imagine how much good it’s done. And it’s not like Jiaguo’s people are in perfect harmony or anything.”

That was true. The city council’s constant bickering was a testament to that. The more Yoshika thought about it, she didn’t think she could stop her blessing if she wanted to—not without completely severing the connections she had with her people. It was part of who she was—as natural as breathing.

The dramatic effect it had on the demons worried her, but they were a special case. They were particularly vulnerable, had inadvertently dedicated themselves to focusing on the tenets of her blessing, and then Yu Meiren had stripped them of it all at once.

“I do have one other concern. You and the other demons have grown dependent on my blessing, and now that you know about it, I worry that it will get worse. If you rely on that crutch, it leaves you too vulnerable to having it removed.”

“Yeah, it does. But something you need to accept about demons is that we are damaged. I’m glad you see us as people, but the reality is that we need that crutch to start us on the path of rehabilitation. I’ll work with Lady Tennin to adjust our training to account for it now that we know.”

“I see. Well until then, I don’t think I can justify continuing to field your unit. The risk is too great.”

Yang Qiu sighed.

“I figured. That’s disappointing, but I guess we’ll just have to—”

She was interrupted by Ito Yuuki popping his head into the tent. The young soldier wilted under their attention, but cleared his throat.

“Er, sorry for interrupting, but there’s a representative of the Kasuga refugees that wants to speak to Miss Yang.”

Yang Qiu grimaced.

“Are you stupid? You shouldn’t be letting mortals anywhere near this place. Tell them to fuck off.”

Yoshika shook her head.

“No, don’t. No harm will come to them while I’m here.”

“Tsk. Maybe I just don’t want to hear it?”

“I think you should.”

“Ugh, fine!”

Ito nodded curtly and fled the tent, returning a few moments later with a wealthy-looking older man with streaks of gray in his hair and beard. He blinked in surprise at Yoshika, then bowed.

“I didn’t expect to see you here, Lady High Arbiter. I am Mayor Morita Kyou, Lord Kasuga’s appointed representative of his city’s people. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Yoshika raised an eyebrow. She expected people to know her as Hayakawa Kaede, but it was unusual to be recognized in her combined form. She returned the bow politely.

“I am Yoshika, High Arbiter of Jiaguo. If I may ask, how did you recognize me?”

“We all saw your battle, my lady. As mayor, I’m more involved in politics than most, and there are only so many people from Jiaguo who could have faced that oni. Besides, your appearance is rather...strikingly unique.”

“Fair enough. What business do you have with General Yang?”

The mayor turned to Yang Qiu, looking down at her head poking out of the dirt and scratching his head before shrugging and dropping to his knees in front of her.

“Lady Yang Qiu, on behalf of the people of Kasuga, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

He prostrated himself, his forehead touching the dirt in front of her—the best he could do to bow to someone buried like that. Yang Qiu’s eyes widened, and she looked back and forth in a panic.

“Wh-what?! I didn’t do anything! Please don’t bow to me.”

Morita raised his head just enough to meet her eyes.

“You and your fellow oni saved our city from annihilation. We owe you everything, though I’m afraid that in the aftermath of the fire we have nothing to offer in return. In spite of that, I’ve come to make a request.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“You know that demons aren’t exactly known for giving out favors, right?”

“I do. We wouldn’t have asked normally, but I was inspired by this recent incident, and after discussing it with the other elders, they have agreed.”

“Inspired by the way we suddenly went insane in the middle of the camp?”

He shook his head.

“No. We all understood that you were under some sort of magical compulsion—how else would oni be able to work together so well with humans? That your kind would fly into a frenzy with that compulsion removed was no surprise.”

Yang Qiu stared at him flatly.

“Wow. Thanks asshole.”

“I mean no offense! We realized how wrong we were when your people did everything you could to protect us despite your frenzy. I personally witnessed one of your people bite into his own arm and allow himself to be dragged away rather than attack my granddaughter.”

“Okay. Glad we could clear the extremely low bar of not murdering you the second we had a chance. Are you ever going to get to the actual point?”

Morita looked uncertainly towards Yoshika, who sighed and shook her head.

“Don’t worry, she’s just like that. Go ahead and ask your favor.”

“Ahem, yes, well. Lady Yang, with his castle destroyed and his city in shambles, our lord is far more likely to relocate rather than rebuild. Our city is finished, but if you’ll accept—and if your lady allows it—we beg of you to become our guardian and help us rebuild.”

Yang Qiu stared at him in open disbelief.

“What?”