"What... is this?"
Looking at the abstract pattern on the stone divine tablet—a design composed of birds, rice sprouts, and a cluster of cryptic symbols—a surge of questions rose in Miketsu's heart.
What did these symbols mean? Why were they on her divine tablet? What was their significance? Miketsu couldn't find the answers; she only felt an odd sense of familiarity with the pattern.
Upon closer inspection of the divine tablet in her hands, Miketsu noticed something peculiar: the strange patterns carved on the back were extremely old and weathered, appearing as though they were part of the original stone itself. In contrast, her divine name written on the front seemed relatively new.
What a strange phenomenon.
"Tsuruha, have you ever seen this pattern?" Miketsu showed the back of the divine tablet to Tsuruha. She didn't bother asking about the origin of the stone tablet itself, as she knew this was Tsuruha's first time inside this honden as well.
"This pattern... it looks quite ancient and primitive. I'm sorry, Lady Uka, but I don't know what it represents. However, since there are rice sprouts on it, it must be a symbol related to you," Tsuruha said after a moment of thought, shaking her head.
"Related to me?" As she gazed at the tablet, more confusion filled Miketsu's mind. Did this primitive symbol have something to do with her? Judging by its appearance, it looked like some sort of totem. Was it connected to the early days of Inari worship?
Miketsu shook her head, deciding not to dwell on matters she couldn't yet solve. She turned her attention to the other item on the wooden altar: a long, curved strip of wood.
And what was this?
Miketsu picked up the wooden strip and examined it closely, trying to identify what it was. Both ends were curved with slightly upturned tips, and the middle section was narrow with a handgrip wrapped in cloth. It was covered in cracks from age. After a full inspection, she finally had an idea of what she was holding.
It was a bow—a stringless, completely slack bow! The goshintai stored within the honden of her shrine were actually her own divine tablet and a bow!
Miketsu gripped the middle of the Decaying Bow and held it upright with an outstretched arm. It felt as though it was the perfect size for her.
"Tsuruha, in the past, did I ever use a bow and arrow in battle?" Miketsu asked tentatively, glancing at her messenger.
"Well... in the past, Lady Uka was a deity who possessed great spiritual power but disliked fighting. Unlike you are now, you weren't skilled in direct combat back then. You usually used your power to bless the Inari foxes and commanded us to fight for you. In my memory, you never used a bow," Tsuruha replied, recalling what she knew.
"So... I didn't?" Miketsu murmured to herself, looking at the broken, stringless bow in her hand.
Miketsu closed her eyes and, just as she did with the Three Realms Blade, tried to establish a connection with the bow to see if it held anything extraordinary.
Sure enough, as she focused her mind, a resonance formed between her and the bow. She could feel it trembling slightly, and her spiritual power began to stir because of it. But just as she was about to press forward with everything she had, something went wrong.
With a sharp crack, a large fissure split open on the wooden bow. It looked as though the entire frame might snap in two at any moment, which startled Miketsu into stopping immediately.
The bow had likely been left for so long that it had rotted from within, causing it to crack under the strain of the energy.
"Sigh... it seems I have yet another reason to visit the Fujiwara clan..." Miketsu sighed as she looked at the wooden bow.
...
The moon set and the sun rose; the night in Heian-kyo faded as daylight arrived once more.
When the morning air enveloped Inari Mountain, Miketsu woke up with a yawn. Following her usual routine, she dressed and ate, then changed into her onmyoji's kariginu. After packing her tachi and the Decaying Bow, she set off for Heian-kyo on her little donkey, riding straight toward the Greater Imperial Palace along a path she now knew well.
During her journey, Miketsu noticed subtle changes in her surroundings. From the moment she passed through Rajomon, the frequency of spiritual vision sweeps was significantly higher than before. Onmyoji in carriages and squads of patrolling samurai were a common sight on the streets. The security in Heian-kyo had been noticeably bolstered.
What happened? Wasn't the Tengu crisis already resolved? Why hadn't the security level been lowered? Did Seimei not inform the Onmyoryo about the situation at Sugo Ungo?
Looking at the capital today, Miketsu felt a sense of confusion. She could feel that the environment itself had become strange—an anomaly that existed not just in human society, but in nature as well.
While riding the donkey, Miketsu reached out to sense the imperceptible changes in the air.
"The spiritual power in the air... has become denser?" Miketsu frowned. When she reached the gate of the Greater Imperial Palace and dismounted to lead Ami to the stables, she touched her hand to the ground.
"The spiritual power within the earth... has diminished..."
Her superhuman perception as a deity allowed her to feel these subtle shifts in the natural environment. Such a change was highly unusual, and Miketsu had a good guess as to what was causing it.
This was likely the result of the Onmyoryo activating the Four Symbols Corresponding Grand Array. According to Seimei, the essence of the array was to draw spiritual power from the leylines for the onmyoji to use. Such an impact was expected, but... was it really wise to use the earth's spiritual power so directly?
Standing up, Miketsu entered the Onmyoryo and moved through the crowds of onmyo-sei who were even busier than usual. This time, she didn't go to the Archives Bureau to read or the Subjugation Bureau to pick up missions. Instead, she went directly to a bureau she had never visited before: the Spirit Tool Bureau. This institution managed and forged various magical tools and artifacts, and it was the place where the Fujiwara clan's influence was strongest within the Onmyoryo.
Miketsu reached the outskirts of the Spirit Tool Bureau and didn't rush inside. Instead, she took a tiny paper crane from her pocket and commanded it to fly into the building. A moment later, a young boy emerged and approached her, greeting her respectfully.
"Are you Lord Asakura Hao?"
"I am."
"Then please, follow me."
Miketsu followed the boy deep into the Spirit Tool Bureau. After passing through many turns and corridors, she arrived at a study filled with various tools and objects. An elderly man was standing there, waiting for her respectfully.
It was Fujiwara no Kanehira, the former head of the Spirit Tool Bureau, one of the creators of Miketsu's Three Realms Blade, and the top craftsman of the Fujiwara clan.
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