Chapter 03.
The duty of a Kamisato

"I didn't know you were such friends with Ms. Naganohara," Ayaka muttered slowly, glancing at her companion out of the corner of her eye once they were far enough away from the fireworks shop.

The sudden comment certainly caught Thoma off guard.

"Ah? What makes you say that, milady?" He replied with a slightly ironic tone.

"I don't know... It was just my impression, I guess," Ayaka answered tersely, turning back to the front. "There would be nothing wrong with it, really. After all, she and her family have always been very attentive and kind to us. And… I don't know her very well personally, but she seems like a nice girl."

"I guess so," Thoma answered vaguely. "Although, if you allow me to speak freely, I have a feeling you're trying to imply something else with your words, milady."

"Huh?" Ayaka exclaimed in alarm. "No, no... of course not... I'm sorry, excuse me if I was too nosy..."

The young Kamisato lowered her flushed face at that moment, embarrassed that she might have crossed a line she shouldn't have. Even though she had always viewed Thoma as a true friend, or even her second brother, sometimes it was difficult for her to discern the proper behavior with him. At what point was the line of friend and servant drawn?

However, if her concern was that she had pissed him off, that dissipated a bit when she heard him laugh rather nonchalantly.

"You don't have to apologize, milady," the blond boy clarified once he had stopped laughing. "Yoimiya is indeed a very nice and sweet person. But the exact nature of our friendship is…" He paused briefly as he stared intently ahead, a half-smile on his lips. "It's complicated…"

"Complicated?" Ayaka muttered, looking at her companion somewhat perplexed. What does it mean to have a "complicated" friendship with someone? She was curious to ask him more about it, but she didn't want to be too nosy again.

Even if she had wanted to ask something else, the opportunity passed quickly because almost immediately, something else captured the attention of both.

Just outside the city, they suddenly ran into a crowd of people gathered around a point on the road. They all seemed to be contemplating something and whispered silently among themselves. The atmosphere also felt heavy.

"What's going on there?" Ayaka muttered curiously. And before Thoma could say anything, she began to move quickly towards the people. "Maybe someone needs help!"

Her statement turned out to be accurate, in part. They both noticed what caught people's attention so much as they approached the crowd. In their distinctive purple armor, there were three Tenryou Commission soldiers surrounding a fourth person. He was a tall, stocky man with a dark beard and close-cropped hair, wearing a slightly worn greenish kimono. However, the most striking thing about his appearance was the Pyro Vision that hung from his belt...

That man looked really upset and nervous, consecutively looking at the three guards that surrounded him, while his hand was firmly grasping the handle of the sword that he was carrying fastened to his waist, ready to unsheathe at the first step.

Ayaka fell silent when she saw the whole scene. She didn't need much more information to understand what was happening...

"Don't be silly, don't resist," Tenryou soldier told him in a deep voice, holding his sword defensively in front of him. The other two held their spears with their points pointing toward the bearded man's back. "This doesn't have to get any worse than it already is. Just give up your vision for good, and you can be on your way."

"Give up my vision? Of course not!" the swordsman exclaimed furiously. "If you want it, you'll have to kill me first!"

"Don't talk nonsense," one of the soldiers behind him said firmly. "Appreciate your life more! There is no honor in sacrificing yourself for a mere whim..."

"This is not a whim!"

The soldiers kept their distance, but even so, the firmness with which they held their weapons and planted their feet on the ground left him no possible escape route. Also, they made it clear that they had no plans to back down, no matter that he had a vision and they didn't. That was how strong their conviction was to fulfill their duty.

Ayaka watched all this with deep concern. The Vision Hunt Decree was being exercised with a heavy hand in full view of everyone. A sad and discouraging spectacle of people from the same nation fighting each other as enemies. Fearful and frightened ordinary people, facing soldiers who only did what their loyalty demanded of them. And all for what? For "eternal peace and prosperity"? Was that promise really worth the price…?

"That poor man... he's desperate and scared," Ayaka whispered slowly, only for Thoma's ears, who had stood beside her in the crowd. "We should…?"

"You can't intervene, milady; you know that," Thoma warned her, sounding almost like a scolding without his consciously meaning it.

Ayaka again fell silent. Of course, she knew. As a member of the Kamisato clan and the Yashiro Commission, everything she did and said could have consequences. And situations like that were no exception...

"This is the last warning," snapped the guard with the sword. "Surrender your vision, or we'll attack."

"Then... Attack!" exclaimed the bearded man with force in his voice and courage in his eyes.

While the sound of his scream still echoed, the man quickly unsheathed his sword, creating a strong flame with the movement of the blade. The fire covered the air in front of him, even almost touching some of the onlookers, so Thoma quickly rushed to protect Ayaka with his body by inertia.

The flare distracted the three guards long enough to give the swordsman a chance to start attacking them ferociously. The blade of his weapon burned red hot, and he was even able to split the soldier's sword in front of him in two like simple butter. The other two lunged at him with their spears, but the swordsman dodged them quite nimbly, and with a single swing, he split their weapons as well.

Ayaka was quite amazed to see that demonstration. He was definitely a very skilled and fast man; no wonder he had been blessed with a vision.

For their part, the soldiers were stunned to see themselves disarmed in this way. They still tried to subdue him with their bare hands. Still, again the man slipped past them and managed to hit one of them with a kick to the face, another with the hilt of his sword to the throat, and the third simply swept his feet on the ground, making him fall backwards to the ground; all in just a few seconds.

When his three opponents seemed out of action, and he had a clear path, the man was about to flee with his weapon still covered in flames. He moved nimbly, vaulting over one of the soldiers, then headed out into the field. Some people stepped aside, with no apparent intention of stopping him. Maybe they wouldn't have been able to if they wanted to try.

Ayaka breathed a sigh of relief when it seemed to be over. And that would be the only thing she could do to show her comfort at the escape of someone fleeing the Vision Hunt Decree.

However, that feeling did not last long.

Before the swordsman got more than a few steps away from the fighting ground, everyone heard a loud buzzing sound that pierced the air in an instant. An arrow had flown in a straight line between the heads of the crowd, with such precision that it managed to pass by without touching anyone… except the person it was aimed at.

Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, the arrow hit the right shoulder of the fleeing man. He groaned loudly in pain, causing him to stagger and fall face-first to the ground. However, he tried to react immediately without looking back, standing up and moving on. That second attempt was also thwarted when a second arrow followed the first, this time penetrating right into the back of his left thigh.

He let out one more groan to the sky and then fell back to the ground chest. This time he didn't get up.

Ayaka gasped in shock, and it was a sentiment shared by several of the others present. However, while some turned away not to look, the young Kamisato simply couldn't stop staring at the fallen swordsman, groaning in pain from his two profusely bleeding wounds.

She couldn't contain herself any longer, and without thinking, she moved away from the tumult and hurried towards the wounded man, full of concern. Her actions were so quick and sudden that not even Thoma had a chance to stop her.

Once at the wounded man's side, Ayaka crouched down to get a closer look.

"Don't move, please," she whispered slowly. "They are serious injuries; please don't move, or it will make them worse..."

Ayaka moved him very carefully, helping him lie down on his side. The man turned to see her as best he could, and among all the pain he felt, his face reflected great surprise.

"You are..."

Indeed, he seemed to recognize her immediately. And, among the murmurs of the other people, it began to be noticed that he had not been the only one.

"Is it Lady Kamisato? "

"Yes, it's her!"

"It's the Heron Princess..."

"Why is she approaching that man?"

"Does she know him?"

Thoma listened attentively to all the comments with concern, wondering what he should do in this situation. Should he take Ayaka and take her away? Doing that in full view of all those people could result in more gossip. But he wasn't sure what would come out of letting all that just take its natural course...

"Make way!" suddenly snapped a commanding voice powerfully, making everything rumble like thunder.

People immediately began to move to the sides to make way for a new group of Tenryou soldiers arriving on the scene. However, these were headed by none other than General Kujou Sara.

"General," the soldiers already there exclaimed when they saw her. They immediately tried to get up so that she could not see them defeated on the ground, although it was already late.

The imposing general Tenryou, with golden eyes and dark hair, walked steadily through the crowd. Her mere presence silenced any voice or sound present. Some preferred to look down, or even better to withdraw from the site at once. In her hand, she held firmly the bow that had evidently been the one that had fired those two arrows at the fugitive.

The wounded man also recognized the woman who was approaching in his direction. He groped for his vision on his belt, noticing with horror that it was no longer there. Turning his gaze sideways, he caught a glimpse of it a few meters down on the ground. And without thinking for a second about his injuries, he tried to reach it, which clearly caused him great pain.

"Wait, don't move," Ayaka tried to warn him, hesitating whether to stop him or not, fearing that she might cause him more harm than good.

Still, the man ignored her words and continued to stretch. His fingers were close to grasping the bright reddish object when suddenly the General Kujou's heavy geta pressed against the vision, preventing him from even touching it.

Two soldiers stepped between the wounded man and General Tenryou. For her part, the latter crouched down to quickly grab the vision from the ground and move it away from its owner's hands. He, despite everything, kept reaching his hand towards it as if he really hoped to somehow get and claim it again.

Kujou Sara turned sideways towards that individual. Her face was cold and hard, and her mere gaze caused a reaction of nervousness even from the young Kamisato who was still on the ground beside the swordsman.

"Lift this man up and take him to the police station cells," the general ordered her men, and they immediately hurried to obey her.

"Wait!" Ayaka exclaimed, and quickly she moved to stand between the soldiers and the man, covering the latter protectively by spreading her arms to her sides. "This man is wounded; you can't put him in a cell in that state."

"Refusing to obey the Vision Hunt Decree is a severe crime, Lady Kamisato," Kujou Sara stated firmly from behind her men. The young woman's identity apparently did not go unnoticed by the general either. "Furthermore, he deliberately attacked three officers from the Tenryou Commission. If he had cooperated and given his vision as soon as they asked for it, he would not have been hurt, and all this fuss could have been avoided. A few days in prison will make him reconsider. So I ask you not to intervene."

Tenryou soldiers continued with the clear intention of taking the man by force. However, the presence of the young Kamisato stopped them for now. For her part, Sara's words made Ayaka doubt whether she should withdraw or not, just as she asked. And it wasn't just the Tenryou officers who looked at her expectantly to see what she would do. The gazes of all those who were still there were put on her.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Thoma managed to sneak out of the crowd to where his mistress was. His presence put the soldiers on alert a little, but the servant made sure to advance cautiously with his arms raised to make it clear that he had no ill intentions. He approached Ayaka's side and leaned into her ear to whisper slowly:

"You'd better not interfere anymore, milady. Think about how your following action might affect your clan or your brother."

Ayaka hung her head regretfully upon hearing her companion's words. Of course, she had to think about that; she always had to think about that...

Her very presence at that time and place, every action or every word she spoke during that event, in one way or another, reflected on her family, her brother, and the entire Yashiro Commission. And being the loyal servant of the Almighty Shogun that she was supposed to be, intervening in this way in the execution of the Vision Hunte Decree was, as General Kujou had just said, a severe crime...

Resigned to the weight of the situation, the Heron Princess lowered her arms and began to advance with slow steps aside and completely clear the way for the general and her men. Once she was gone, the soldiers wasted no time approaching the wounded man, grabbing his arms and yanking him to a standing position. He instantly let out a loud scream of pain into the air.

"Be careful!" General Kujou snapped angrily, making the soldiers flinch at the roar of her voice.

"Sorry, General," the men apologized, bowing their heads respectfully.

They began right after to guide the man back to the city, much more gently now. This one, however, advanced with his head down and his body loose, practically letting himself be dragged by the soldiers without any opposition.

Before following her men, Kujou Sara turned to Ayaka for a moment.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Lady Kamisato. I understand your interest and concern for the well-being of people, so don't worry. I'll personally see that this man receives proper treatment for his injuries. And believe me when I tell you that the last thing I wanted was to have to resort to such means to stop him. But the will of the Almighty Shogun must be carried out, at any cost."

Ayaka nodded, not looking at her.

"Everything is to reach Eternity, right?" the young Kamisato whispered with a serious and stoic tone, unbecoming of her but not of a faithful servant of Electro Archon and her wishes.

If Kujou Sara detected insincerity in her words, she did not show it visibly. And without saying anything, she began to advance behind her men. And in a few seconds, all the Tenryou guards had retreated.

The crowd of people likewise dissipated soon after. The only ones who remained static in their place were Ayaka and Thoma, and the latter mainly because his mistress was still standing in her place, staring at the ground with an aura of heavy sadness enveloping her.

"There was nothing else you could do," Thoma murmured to her after a while, trying to sound reassuring. "You know that as a representative of the Yashiro Commission, and especially a Kamisato, you can't openly oppose the Shogun's decree."

"I know," Ayaka answered quickly, letting her voice succinctly show the frustration that invaded her. "It's just that… Sometimes I feel that what I do is so little… What good is my position, my name, or even that people recognize and admire me if I cannot use any of those things to help people?; to really help them..."

Thoma didn't have an answer that would satisfy her questioning, and Ayaka didn't expect it anyway. It was enough for him to be there by her side and, once again, prevent her from committing something crazy by letting herself be carried away by an outburst.

She sighed deeply, once and for all letting go of all that weight pressing down on her shoulders. It would be better if they continued on their way. As Thoma rightly commented, there wasn't much else to do.

Few people were left on the site. However, as Ayaka turned back to the road, something (or rather someone) caught her attention out of the corner of her eye, long enough for her to stop and quickly turn in that direction to make sure if she had seen it correctly.

And for an instant, among the crowd that returned to the city, among all those heads, she managed to distinguish that of someone who was covered mainly by a kasa hat. But underneath it, she could see their light hair and a distinctive lock of reddish hair that waved on their right side...

"Kazuha…?" She whispered slowly, feeling her breath hitch.

She stared at it for only a second or two, and in the next blink, the figure simply disappeared into the crowd.

Excited, Ayaka rushed forward, repeatedly turning in every possible direction, hoping to notice their presence somewhere again, but to no avail.

"What's wrong, milady?" Thoma questioned her, a little confused by the abrupt change.

Ayaka heard him, but his voice seemed unfamiliar and distant at the moment. The only thing she could listen to really clearly was the beating of her own racing heart, pounding in her ears. Everything around was spinning, and for a moment, she felt dizzy. She might have passed out (and she felt as if she would), but a stronger determination kept her standing firmly on her feet. And not only that, because suddenly and without saying anything, she began to dash in the direction in which she thought she had seen that person, moving nimbly between the people.

"Lady Ayaka!" Thoma exclaimed behind her, trying to reach her, and at first not having much success because the Heron Princess's movements were sudden and fast, almost as if she were sliding on ice.

Ayaka ran and ran down the main street, feeling more and more agitated but not stopping for a moment. She looked insistently to the sides, trying to make out the face of each person she passed, earnestly hoping to find the one she was looking for among them.

It had been ten years since she had last seen him, but still, his name and face had immediately come to her mind. Was it really him? After so long? Could that be possible? Or… would it all be a product of her imagination?

She had been thinking about him earlier, and now he appeared out of nowhere? That... couldn't be a coincidence, could it?

Her run had to stop the moment her legs finally demanded of. She leaned against her knees, leaning her body forward a little and gasping for breath. She even felt tiny beads of sweat run down her face. And even in that state, she insisted on the idea, looking around her still hoping to see him...

Still expecting to see in the crowd the face of a Kazuha ten years older than the last time she saw him, looking back at her with his deep and thoughtful reddish eyes.

But she still didn't get what she wanted.

There was no trace of the person she had seen…or thought she had seen.

"Lady Ayaka!" she heard Thoma's voice snap behind her. That made her stand up again, already somewhat recovered. Turning, she saw his servant approaching her down the street, visibly dismayed. "Are you okay? Why did you run like that?"

Ayaka took a few more deep breaths before she could speak with any clarity.

"It's just... I thought I saw..."

She fell silent, not able to finish what she wanted to say. The very idea of mentioning that person's name was a bit painful after that disappointment.

"Who?" Thoma asked a little insistently.

"No one…" Ayaka sighed heavily. "I guess I just imagined it..."

Of course, Thoma didn't understand what she was talking about. Still, it was so rare to see Lady Ayaka so downcast and disillusioned. And it wasn't in his plans to make her feel any worse by insisting that she explain to him.

After a moment of thoughtful silence, the Kamisato's housekeeper spoke once more:

"We must go before it gets any later."

"Yes, I understand," Ayaka agreed, adjusting her bag. "Let's go..."

And both began to walk back the way they came, now with a total willingness not to look back.

However, unbeknownst to either of them, someone was indeed watching them from the safe hiding place of an alley near where Ayaka had stopped. As they walked away, that person approached the alley's exit and slightly raised his kasa to better focus his reddish eyes on them; or, more specifically, on the blue-haired woman.

Author's Notes:

—The Pyro Vision swordsman who appeared in this chapter is an original character, meaning he is not based on any specific character from the original game. We will likely know more about him in later chapters.