Today’s finally the day when Yui is supposed to dance and summons the Dragon God to possess her so that she can seal the Dragon Pulse.

When she came out, she looks a bit weak and frail. Can’t say I blame her. She had been fasting for three days in a row, after all.

She smiles at me reassuringly when she notices me looking at me worriedly.

‘I’m fine, Akira-kun. A bit hungry, yes, but still fine.’

‘Well, let’s get this over with so that you could eat.’

‘Yes.’

‘Unfortunately, we can’t start the ritual yet.’ Zaimoto-san tells me. ‘She has to take a bath first to cleanse her body.’

Yui is suddenly conscious of her body odor and starts to sniff herself.

‘Oh my, that reminds me. I don’t stink, do I?’ she asks frantically.

‘What’s the worry? You’re taking a bath either way.’

‘Well, I guess you’re right.’

‘Come on. I’ll help heating up your bath.’ I offer.

‘By the way, why are you wearing a priest’s uniform?’ she asks me while we’re heading to the bath.

‘I can’t exactly help with things here while wearing the Academy’s uniform, now can I?’

She sighs regretfully.

‘If only we could use electronic devices here, I could take a picture of you.’

‘Hey, you think you have it tough? I also wanted to video your dance, you know?’

‘Oh, now you sound just like my father! He always tried to film me whenever I was practising the dance!’

‘Did he now? Maybe he could let me see some of them if I asked.’

‘Don’t you dare! I had a lot of embarrassing moments back then!’

‘All the more to see them then.’

While we’re joking around and having fun, we’ve already reached the bathroom.

‘Well, go on then. I’ll be outside.’ I tell her.

She nods and did exactly that.

The bath’s heater is an old-fashioned one where it relies on firewood to heat up the water. To speed up the process, there’s a short pipe made of bamboo provided.

I’ve never done this before, so I’m extra careful about the amount of firewood I throw into the boiler at one time. I also make sure to ask Yui about the temperature of the water every once in a while.

‘How’s the water, Your Majesty?’ I ask Yui while adding two firewood into the boiler.

I hear her giggle softly. ‘The water is just right, manservant. Just make sure that it stays that way.’

‘Yes, my queen.’

She didn’t stay in the bath for long, and got out of it after being inside for around ten minutes. I wait patiently as she’s drying her body and getting changed. She came out wearing the same outfit as Hiraoka-san and Hamada-san, which means she replaced her short skirt with a much longer one. Even though the outfit’s almost the same, she looks absolutely stunning in it. Maybe it’s the because the usual side ponytail of hers is gone.

‘You look gorgeous.’ I say to her.

She blushes at that.

‘Akira-kun, you’re not supposed to flirt with a shrine maiden who’s about to perform an important ritual dance!’ she chides me.

‘Sorry, I said it out loud on a whim.’ I apologize insincerely. ‘And look, we’re wearing matching outfits.’

She blushes some more.

‘That’s it! We’re not talking until I’m done with the dance!’

‘Whatever you say.’

Zaimoto-san and the others are waiting for us at the entrance to the shrine. The Assistant Head Priest is holding two Mikosuzus, which are short sticks with multiple bells on them used by shrine maidens on rituals and ceremonies. He hands them over to Yui so that she can use them when she’s dancing later.

These past few days, the leak has become so severe that even I can see the leakage. It’s like seeing some colorless miasma coming out from the ground. The spirits sightings had also been more serious. It’s not only the spirits of people who committed suicide in the forest. Some long dead spirits have also started to appear. Spirits that are aggressive and won’t hesitate to hurt those among the living. There are so many of them Zaimoto-san had to close down the mountain path from hikers in case they got hurt or worse. Hopefully, the mountain and the forest will be safer once the Dragon Pulse has been calmed.

Once we’re at the site, Yui immediately heads for the middle of the stone formation and squats down. Both her eyes are closed, as if she’s making a silent prayer, which she probably is considering the deity that she’s about to summon. When she does opens her eyes, she begins dancing.

I don’t really watch dances in general. Sure, I would stop and watch for a few seconds if any street dancers were performing, but I never got excited about it, especially not traditional dances which is more ceremonial and formal rather than expressive and focuses on having fun. As for Yui’s dance, it’s just so…wow.

The dance involves a lot of spinning and hand movements. She rarely moves from her spot, and will return to the starting spot a few moves later. Each and every movements of hers are graceful to watch. All the said movements are precise yet fluid. You could tell that she has spent countless hours to practise it. Just watching it for a few seconds is enough for me to be mesmerized by it. Honestly, words alone are not enough to describe it. Heck, it would be insulting if I dare to express such beautiful dance with mere words.

‘Beautiful, isn’t it?’ Zaimoto-san whispers at my ear. ‘The dance is at least two hundred years old, but we didn’t change a single step of it over the centuries due to its sheer beauty. I may sound condescending, but you are truly lucky to be able to witness it in such close proximity.’

He’s absolutely right. I would have done literally anything just to watch this dance. The experience is plain priceless.

Eventually, Yui stops dancing and closes her eyes. She’s standing completely still, the two Mikosuzus being held diagonally in front of her chest. I assume that the dance is complete, and she’s now waiting for the Dragon God to enter her body.

Suddenly, she stands up and opens her eyes. Instead of the usual black color, it’s now green. However, they’re not emerald-pretty like Sakuya’s. Those eyes of hers are glowing in an extremely eerie way. If you ever see eyes like those in the middle of the night, run away as fast as you can unless you’re tired of living.

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I was waiting in anticipation for what’s going to happen next when disaster struck. One moment, Yui was all alone. At the next, a ball of lightning landed right next to her. The lightning ball disperses and shows two person inside, Jordan and Shimazaki.

My body moved before I could think. I was holding Gáe Bulg in my hands, and my ring was in my finger. I was about to charge in when I rammed into an invisible barrier. Worse still, I rammed into it headfirst. The impact was quite strong and I see stars as a result. While I’m in the midst of recovering, a lightning bolt strikes the barrier and makes it crack.

Meanwhile, Shimazaki draws his rapier and draws a circle with it. A portal appears as a result, and he sends it flying towards Yui who’s still possessed by the Dragon God. She disappeared without making a single sound.

I got so enraged I couldn’t think rationally.

‘SHIMAZAKI~!!!’

I raise my right hand. Immediately, lots of fish skeletons appear out of nowhere and swim towards Jordan and Shimazaki. Jordan manages to turn three of them into dust with a single swing of his mallet. Shimazaki pierces one with his rapier before it could bite him, but got his right hand chomped off by another before he could pull his rapier out.

He cries out in pain. Instead of panicking, he holds the remaining of his right arm with his left hand and uses ice magic to freeze the wound before he bleeds out too much. He’s about to pick up his right arm that’s still holding the rapier when I instructed one of my skeletons to pick it up first and swims back to me. Shimazaki had to give up since his partner Jordan was too busy fighting off the rest of my skeleton army to help.

When Jordan finally has enough space to breath, he notices the situation Shimazaki is in. Instead of trying to get back the arm and the rapier, he raises his mallet and make a ball of lightning that’s big enough for the two of them to be inside appears. The ball flies upwards and disappears into the sky in a matter of seconds.

After they’re gone, I fell on my knees in anguish. I had to keep on telling myself that Yui will be fine or I’ll definitely break down and cry. It took me quite a while to remember that my fish skeletons are still swimming around aimlessly before I dismiss them. I also put back my spear and my ring.

Zaimoto-san kneels down next to me. ‘Are you hurt, Kagenashi-kun? Maybe I should have warned you before I put up the barrier.’

I shake my head. ‘I’m fine, Zaimoto-san. And I need to thank you too. I would have been struck by that lightning bolt if it wasn’t for your barrier.’

I slowly get up. Zaimoto-san does the same.

‘So what now, Zaimoto-san?’ I ask.

‘For starters, I have to report this to the Head Priest. Would you like to do the same to your principal?’

‘Yes, please.’

Zaimoto-san quickly writes a letter addressed to Head Priest Kiryuu, while I write two letters, one for Principal Morifuji and one for my girlfriends to inform them of the bad news. All my girlfriends minus Kaoru arrive at the site within thirty minutes courtesy of Mashiro’s wind.

‘Are you hurt anywhere, Akira-kun?’ Sakuya asks in a concerned expression.

‘I’m fine. I’m more worried about Yui.’ I reply in a hollow tone.

‘She’ll be fine. I mean, they just kidnapped her, right?’ Saya assures me.

‘…I guess.’

I’m not really convinced, but I don’t want to jinx anything, so I just kept quiet.

Ichika looks at the ground where Shimazaki’s severed arm and rapier still lie.

‘These belongs to Shimazaki, correct?’ she asks.

‘Yup.’

Ichika brings out a long piece of cloth and wraps the two items together with it. She’s probably bringing it back to the Academy. Not that I really care. Not in the mood I’m in right now.

‘I still can’t believe that Shimazaki-kun is with the enemy.’ Saya says in a depressed tone. ‘To make things worse, he even helped to kidnap Yui.’

‘He probably has a good reason for all this. Not that I’m going to forgive him easily.’ I say to her.

‘What exactly will you do to him once you find him, Akira-kun? Please tell the truth and be specific.’ Sakuya suddenly demands.

‘Senpai, I’m not going to kill him, if that’s what you’re worried. He didn’t commit that heavy a crime. Sure, I might punch him in the face a few times, but that’s all.’

‘That’s nice to hear. Please make sure you’ll keep your promise.’

‘Don’t worry. I will.’

While we’re still talking, Head Priest Kiryuu, his wife, and a bunch of other priests arrive while riding on huge pieces of papers. I take a deep breath and head towards Yui’s parents.

‘I’m so sorry for allowing your daughter to be taken away after having the nerve to boast that I’ll protect her.’ I say while lowering down my head.

‘There’s no need for you to feel guilty, Akira-kun. I’m sure you tried your best.’ Head Priest Kiryuu says.

‘That’s right. If Yui’s here, she definitely wouldn’t want to see you like this.’ Mrs Kiryuu adds.

If anything, their kindness makes me feel even more guilty. They’re actually comforting the useless guy who just stood and watched while their daughter was taken away right in front of his eyes.

The two of them suddenly notice Saya.

‘Why hello there, Saya-chan. It’s been a while.’ Mrs Kiryuu says to her.

‘Hello, Yui’s mum and dad. Long time no see.’ Saya greets back without being energetic.

‘So, I take it that you’re also one of Akira-kun’s…’

She probably didn’t finish the sentence since there are outsiders around.

‘...Yes.’ Saya says a bit bashfully.

‘I see. You’re one lucky boy, Akira-kun.’ Mrs Kiryuu says while smiling at me.

‘Yes, I’m very lucky to be able to meet all of them.’

The girls blush when they heard me said that, even Assaf-sensei.

‘Well, we’ll be staying here for a while to calm down the spirits that appear at night. Now that we lost the Dragon God that can solve the problem, it’s all we could do. We’re counting on you to look for Yui.’ High Priest Kiryuu says to us.

‘Yes, sir and madam. I know I have next to zero credibility after this incident, but please have faith in us.’

‘Of course. We’re counting on you.’

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, we said goodbye to them and go back to the Academy via Mashiro’s wind. On our way back, we discuss our next move.

‘Our most important objective is to find out where they brought Yui-chan to, and why.’ Sakuya begins.

‘Um, can we also find out why Shimazaki-kun is helping them?’ Saya inquires.

‘Of course we can. Can we count on you, Madoka-chan?’

‘Yes. Unfortunately, I’ll still need some time, even with everyone from the Information Squad joining in the search.’

‘I can help by telling you each and every hideout that they have.’ Assaf-sensei offers. ‘Although you might know about all of them already.’

‘It’s fine, sensei. There may have been one or two that escaped our radar. Every help counts during times like this.’

‘Madoka, do you know anything about the incident that happened around ten years ago which led to the result of them not allowed to have more than one hundred shrine maidens at any given time?’ I ask her.

‘I was always curious about it, but I never investigated about it since I felt that it was something I shouldn’t get involved in. I could find something about it if you want.’

‘Please do.’

‘I don’t mind. But, what’s with the sudden interest?’

‘I have a feeling that these two incidents are somehow related.’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘For starters, Zaimoto-san, the Assistant Head Priest and everyone at the shrine were way too calm when and after the kidnapping happened. It’s like they saw it coming. Also, when Zaimoto-san put up the barrier in front of me to protect me from Jordan’s lightning bolt, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that he did it to prevent me from rescuing Yui rather than to protect me.’

‘Maybe you’re reading too much into it, Akira-kun.’ Sakuya tells me.

‘Maybe. I sure hope you’re right and I had been wrong.’

And it’s not just the priests. Even the Dragon God didn’t looked surprised at all when two men appeared from the sky and kidnapped its host. This better not turn out to be some huge conspiracy theory that involves a God. I didn’t bother to tell the girls about this theory of mine since it sounds kind of insane. Besides, they have enough things to worry about as it is.

Madoka went to search for her schoolmates from the Information Department the moment we got back to the Academy.

‘What are you girls going to do for now?’ I ask the rest of the girls. ‘I, for one, am not in the mood for lectures.’

‘It’s fine, you can rest for today. I’ll just make up some excuses for your absence.’ Assaf-sensei tells me.

‘Thank you, sensei. I’ll be taking up your offer.’

‘Just promise us that you’ll stop blaming yourself on what had happened.’

‘Of course. I can’t keep on moping, after all.’

And so, we go our separate ways for now. Ichika has to head to the Research Department first to deposit Shimazaki’s arm and rapier. I head back to my room so that I could rest. Everyone else is going to their respective classrooms to continue on their lessons, or teaching them in Assaf-sensei’s case.

Kuromi is still working, so I’m all alone when I open the door to my room. Even though I’ve been gone for three days, it’s still sparkling clean. The Goddess who’s also my maid did a good job in cleaning it.

I go inside my bathroom to turn on the tap so that my bathtub can be filled with hot water. While waiting, I changed out of the priest’s uniform to my casual clothes and watches some television. However, my mind’s not in it and I keep on switching channels no matter how interesting the program was. I’m glad the bath was ready before I broke the television or the remote for switching the channel too frequently.

After taking a bath, I wipe my body and wear the same clothes as before and go to sleep until the girls are done with the things they were doing. I figure that if I kept on staying awake, I’ll just remember the incident this morning.