Yukikaze's words still echoed in Hikaru's chest. The great army of Kasumi no Kami was attempting to cross Mikazuki Pass——. That night, Hikaru could not sleep. She sat upon her futon, hugging her knees, staring up at the dark ceiling. Kagetora's wounds were not yet fully closed. Even if she tried to stop him from marching, that man would never listen. She did not have the words to stop him. But——there had to be something she could do. A map unfolded in her mind. Records of Sengoku-period battles she had devoured during her history major. Ambush tactics at mountain passes. Methods of dividing a great army using narrow terrain. And what she had learned in modern chemistry class——when sulfur and charcoal were mixed in specific ratios, they would undergo rapid combustion approaching an explosion. （I can do this. I might be able to do this.） Hikaru stood up. ＊ The main castle hall was already stirring before dawn. From down the corridor came the overlapping sounds of armor and footsteps. When Hikaru reached the entrance to the hall, one of the retainers stepped forward saying she could not enter the inner chambers. Hikaru did not stop. With the same face as last night, the same eyes, she looked straight ahead. "[serious]Please tell Lord Kagetora. I have a strategy" The retainer's expression darkened. Then a voice came from deeper in the corridor. "[cold]Let her through" Low, brief words. The retainer quickly opened a path. Hikaru stepped into the great hall. Kagetora was kneeling on the floor, spreading out a map. The bandages on his back showed faintly beneath his kimono. Sitting to his left was Doshima Hanbei, the chief elder——a fifty-five-year-old man with a stubbled white beard and a rugged face, a senior retainer who had supported the Inaba clan since Kagetora's father's time. When his eyes fell upon Hikaru, there came a faint sound of breath through his nose. The air carried the sense of *what is a woman doing here*, written plainly on his face. Hikaru paid it no mind. She knelt on the floor and drew a folded paper from her sleeve. It was a hand-drawn diagram she had written by lamplight the night before. "[serious]Three layers of ambush using the terrain of Mikazuki Pass, and a trap mechanism using gunpowder" "[sarcastic]……Gunpowder?" Clear contempt mixed into Hanbei's voice. Hikaru continued without hesitation. "[serious]A mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and carbon. Does this castle have sulfur in its stores? If there is inventory for the blacksmith's use" "[serious]……We do" Kagetora's voice answered quietly. Hikaru ran her finger across the diagram as she continued. The entrance to the pass——the point where the road narrows. The height of the cliff. The direction of the wind. When the vanguard of the Kasumi no Kami army attempts to pass through in dense formation, detonate the gunpowder trap, and the front unit will fall into disorder. In that moment, the first ambush strikes from the side. The enemy attempting to retreat collides with those behind, creating chaos——then the second ambush. The remaining enemy, thinking they see an escape route and moving toward it, encounters the third ambush——. Hanbei began to interject partway through, then stopped. Because Hikaru had stated the exact height of the cliff at the pass. The width of the road, the location of the marshland, the time of morning when the wind blows from the east——all of it was correct. The way Hanbei looked at Hikaru changed, just slightly. Kagetora listened in silence until the end. When Hikaru finished speaking, there was a long silence. Kagetora's gray eyes remained fixed on the map, unmoving. Hikaru became aware of her own breathing. She did not know what he thought, whether he would accept it——but she did not retreat. She could not retreat. "[serious]I will adopt this entire strategy" His voice was short and clear. Hanbei began to say "My lord," but seeing Kagetora's profile, he closed his mouth. Kagetora rose to his feet, turning his gaze toward Hikaru just once. "[cold]Do not get hurt" That was all. But those words——warmed slowly, deeply, in the depths of Hikaru's chest. ＊ The night before the march, moonlight fell upon the castle's rear garden. Hikaru waited there. The stone pavement was cold. The early summer night breeze stirred her sleeves. Somewhere, insects sang. The presence came first. There was no sound. Thin silver hair floated hazily in the moonlight. Left eye blue, right eye pale purple——eyes of different colors in each socket looked upon Hikaru. Yukikaze took form from the darkness. The cloth wrapped around the scar on his left arm was seeping at the edges. His complexion was not good. Yet he stood. For a time, there were no words between them. Hikaru, facing forward, slowly opened her mouth. "[gentle]I think your feelings are real" Yukikaze stood quietly. "[serious]So I will be honest. I want to be by Kagetora's side" Yukikaze said nothing. In the moonlight, his face moved slightly. As if enduring something, yet still trying to accept it——a complex, quiet expression. Pain and the will to swallow it slowly crossed paths. Then Yukikaze stepped forward. He gently took Hikaru's hand in both of his. It was warm. That warmth was quiet, brief, and because of that, it carved itself deeply into Hikaru's chest. "[sad]……Be happy" With only those words, Yukikaze dissolved into the night's darkness. Without sound. Like mist fading away. Hikaru watched in that direction for a long time. A single tear traced down her cheek. She had rejected genuine feeling with her own hand. She believed it was right. But it did not hurt any less. The warmth of Yukikaze's hand still remained. Hikaru wiped away her tears and turned on her heel. Bearing the weight of the path she had chosen with her entire body, she returned to the castle. ＊ The next morning, Kagetora's army marched toward Mikazuki Pass. Hikaru waited at Inaba Castle. That was all she could do. Looking down toward the castle town from the window, she repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists. Tae sat silently beside her. She said nothing. She was simply there. For Hikaru, today, that was enough. Past midday, a sound came from far away. A low boom that seemed to shake the air. Then, after a pause——another boom. Hikaru's hands froze on her lap. After that, silence. A silence so complete it was frightening. Tae gently grasped Hikaru's sleeve. The two of them watched out the window. The report of victory arrived late in the afternoon. The sound of a retainer's footsteps running down the corridor. When the distant voice crying "Victory!" reached them, tears suddenly spilled from Hikaru's eyes. She was surprised at herself. She had not thought tears would come. But she could not stop them. The lines drawn on that map, the numbers of that pass——the fact that they had truly protected people spread through her entire body all at once. Tae said softly "Lady Hikaru" and gently squeezed her hand. ＊ Kagetora returned at dusk. He was drenched in blood. The left shoulder and sleeve of his kimono were stained a deep red. Yet he walked on his own feet. Retainers flanked him on both sides as he made his way toward the main hall. Hikaru stood in the corridor. Kagetora entered the corridor. Retainers surrounded him. In the noisy atmosphere, Kagetora's gaze——captured Hikaru directly. Hikaru's feet moved forward one step. Kagetora stopped. The retainers naturally, slightly, increased their distance. A quiet space formed between them. Kagetora's mouth slowly opened. "[serious]I do not ask you to choose" His voice was low. It was not a command. It was a quality of voice she had never heard from him before. "[serious]Only——stay here" Hikaru's throat tightened. Words would not come. Tears traced her cheeks. This man, for the first time, had asked for Hikaru's will. Not as a command, not as pity——only asking her to be here. Those words alone reached deeper into Hikaru's chest than any words she had received before. Hikaru nodded. Not with words, but with her entire body. She showed her will to be here with her whole self. Kagetora's face——softened, just barely. Near the sword scar on his left cheek, the tension at the corner of his eye eased slightly. Not the cold face of a warlord, but simply the face of one man. Hikaru saw that change and felt something in the depths of her chest slowly, surely settle into place. ＊ In the shadow of the corridor, Omoto watched. Her jet-black hair swayed quietly upon her kimono. Deep black eyes gazed from afar, steadily, at the space between Kagetora and Hikaru. There was no jealousy in that expression. No anger. It was the face of someone who had finally set down six years of exhaustion, and yet what she could not release. Omoto slowly, once, bowed her head slightly. Hikaru may not have seen it. But it was there, certainly. A wordless, quiet acknowledgment. The moment when the principal wife, who had fought alone for six years in the loneliness of a political marriage, recognized——for the first time——the concubine who moved by emotion. ＊ That evening, Kagetora led Hikaru to the castle's observation platform. The stone steps leading to the highest point were steep, and Hikaru's pace lagged slightly. Kagetora did not turn around, but slowed his walk. That alone was enough. The moment they emerged onto the platform, the lights of Tategawa castle town spread before them. The Hayase River, catching the evening sun, flowed slowly in a light that mixed orange and gold. Lamps were beginning to light in the fishermen's huts along the riverbank. The distant sound of voices drifted from the main street. The early summer wind blew quietly between them. Hikaru placed her hand on the railing and looked toward the river. The Hayase River——she remembered the night she had washed ashore in that river. Searching desperately for the bank in the cold water. Not understanding what this era was, understanding nothing at all. Three kilometers north of that river, there is a shrine called the "Shrine of the Divine Spiriting Away." If she returned there, she might be able to go back to her original time. She still did not know. Perhaps she would never know——. Hikaru looked once more in the direction of the river. Then she turned her gaze back to Kagetora's profile. At that moment, Kagetora's hand covered hers. It was a large hand. A warrior's hand, marked with many scars. It held Hikaru's hand gently, enveloping it. Hikaru might not be able to return. She might never go back to her original time. Her friends, convenience stores, smartphones——all of it was far, far away. But. （This is my place.） For the first time, she thought it without hesitation. Hikaru quietly squeezed Kagetora's hand in return. The evening sun dissolved into the Hayase River. The lights of the castle town increased one by one. The wind blew, stirring Hikaru's short black bob slightly. Kagetora said nothing. Hikaru said nothing either. The two of them simply stood together, looking down upon this castle, this river, this era——. In that silence, Hikaru felt for the first time that she was standing here by her own will. Not swept along. Choosing to be here. The official notice was posted throughout the castle the next morning. A brief announcement: Kimura Hikaru was to be received as a concubine of Inaba Kagetora. From Omoto's chambers, not a sound emerged all that day. But when Hikaru passed her in the corridor, Omoto looked at her——and for just an instant, something soft flickered within her rigid expression. "[cold]……It is only natural" With only those words, she passed by. Hikaru smiled a little. The days in this castle would continue. The war was not over. The Kasumi no Kami clan had lost only its vanguard; it still possessed strength to move. How the Takasago clan would receive this victory remained unknown. But for now——. Hikaru turned once to look back toward the observation