The smell of burnt wood pierced Sayo's nostrils. Even opening her eyelids felt unbearably heavy. Her entire body ached. A sensation of her lungs burning. Yet something else troubled her more. Smoke. Flames. And—— From the present day to the Warring States period. That realization shot through her brain like lightning. Sayo opened her eyes. What filled her vision was red and black. A village engulfed in flames. Wooden houses collapsed one after another, black smoke rising from their remains. From a distance, desperate screams echoed. The neighing of horses. The voices of warriors. Footsteps. (Why...?) Sayo tried to push herself up. Her hand pressed against scorched earth. It hurt. The sharp pain running across the back of her left hand asserted reality with vivid clarity. That pain was strangely visceral, insisting without question that this was no dream. She was twenty-two years old. Just hours ago, she had been in the library of a Tokyo university. Writing a report on Japanese history. On the political systems of the Warring States period. Pacification and unification. Oda Nobunaga. Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Tokugawa Ieyasu. (And now...here?) The clothes she wore were different. Sayo stared at her own body. Thin arms. Cotton sleeves. A kimono. A deep indigo kimono with pale cherry-blossom-colored sleeves. The sash was plain, without a trace of gold or silver ornament. The hair tied at the back of her head was not from the modern era either. Long, straight chestnut-brown hair bound with a simple cord. When she touched it with her fingers, it was quite long. Reaching near her waist. (Is this...really...) Sayo tried to stand. Her legs wavered. The surrounding landscape slowly rotated. Charred buildings. Burnt ground. And people. Many corpses lay scattered among the ashes. Carelessly. Like objects. Her throat was parched. There was pain. Had the flames burned it? Or had she inhaled smoke? "Ah, you've awakened." A voice came. Sayo turned around. There stood a woman in her thirties. Her kimono was finer than Sayo's, and her sash bore what appeared to be a family crest. Strangely, this woman was not engulfed in fire. Rather, she seemed the only figure maintaining order in this hell. The woman's gaze was cold. Appraising. "You came to. Good. I thought this girl would be fine." The woman leaned forward. Sayo instinctively pulled back. "From the village burned in battle, just one decent girl happened to survive. She has no family, and her body seems sturdy enough." It took Sayo several seconds to understand what those words meant. (This person...picked me up for some purpose?) The modern Sayo had majored in Japanese history at university. She had not been blessed with family, had few friends, and had made a habit of retreating into the library. The past within books seemed far more true than the living present. So she had studied the Warring States period as if it were someone else's affair. But now she stood in that very past. "What is your name?" "...Sayo, ma'am." Sayo answered. It was her name from the modern era. The only gentle trace her parents had left her. "I see. Sayo then. Remember it well. From now on, you will live by the name Sayo." The woman brought a horse. A fine palanquin was tied behind it. "We go to Lord Oda's castle. You must not make a sound until we arrive. Ask no questions. Simply follow in silence." The woman was already mounted on the horse. She extended her hand to Sayo. That hand too was cold. (Oda...Nobunaga?) Sayo was led into the palanquin. --- The swaying was violent. Inside the palanquin, Sayo hugged her knees. Through the window, she could see the landscape outside. Neither the buildings nor the people belonged to the modern era. Along the roadside were starving commoners. Eyes sunken, bodies nothing but bone and skin. Children and the elderly alike lay prostrate on the ground without distinction. Sayo could not tell whether they were corpses or living humans. Traces of plunder were everywhere. Burnt houses. Broken fences. Scattered cargo. And above all, countless disregarded corpses. They existed as naturally as part of the landscape. (This era is...so...) The knowledge learned in modern classrooms had reduced the tragedies of the Warring States to a single page in a textbook. "Battle deaths: ○○ persons" was how it was recorded in numbers. But what she saw now was the reality behind those numbers. An armed soldier ran past her field of vision. A young man wearing a helmet with an unfamiliar crest. He did nothing upon seeing the palanquin. Rather, he changed course to avoid it. The woman's presence must have indicated some authority. "In this place, a woman's life is a consumable." The woman's voice echoed inside the palanquin. "If you hold the position of concubine, food, clothing, and safety are guaranteed. But if you lose the lord's favor——it is over in an instant. Banishment, assassination, or erasure. That is all the value you possess." Sayo turned those words over in her mind. Concubine. The lord's mistress. (What about me...?) "Currently, Lord Oda has no legitimate wife. A marriage arrangement fell through a year ago. Therefore, you, who will become his sole female companion, hold considerable value. But only for now." The woman spoke. "If you do not bear a child, your value will fade rapidly. Youth, novelty——both fade with time. Remember this well." Sayo felt a freezing sensation at the cruelty of those words. Yet at the same time, she understood they were true. Even by modern Japanese history standards, the position of women in the Warring States period was extremely fragile. Tools for political marriage. Proof of alliance between houses. Machines for bearing children. (Then how do I...survive here?) On Sayo's left hand, there was a small burn scar. It was a trauma from her childhood in the modern era. A wound from violence by her parents. No one had helped her. No one had said anything. That loneliness would only deepen in this era. (But...I cannot die.) Sayo recalled her lonely student life in the modern era. She had no friends. Her relationship with family was always distant. Only library books had been her companions. She had escaped into history. (In this era...how do I survive?) Then Sayo realized something. Modern knowledge. Japanese history learned at university. Basic knowledge of sanitation. Medical knowledge of medicinal herbs. Reading, writing, arithmetic. In this era, these were rare abilities. (The ability to read and write alone already makes me unusual......) She recalled the woman's words. "A village girl who can read and write"——a disguise. In other words, Sayo's literacy was already known. That was what made her a "usable concubine." (Then I must use that......) Sayo began to devise a strategy in her mind. Sanitation. Cleanliness. Knowledge of medicinal herbs. How much value these would have among the women of this era was unknown. But at least it was worth trying. The palanquin swayed. A large sway. Had it struck something, or crossed a step? "We have arrived. Takagamine Castle." The woman's voice rang out. Sayo peered through the gap in the palanquin. There stood a castle. Stone walls, illuminated by the setting sun, gleamed red. A three-tiered keep rose into the sky. The lights of the castle town began to twinkle gradually. Lights within the castle were lit one after another. (Is this...my new world?) Her heart raced. No——fear and tension dominated her entire being. --- In a small six-mat room called the "Eastern Chamber," Sayo was shown. In contrast to the main keep where the lord resided, the women's quarters were austere. Yet they were not unclean. Rather, they were carefully swept. "What is your name?" One of the attendants asked in a perfunctory manner. Her gaze held no curiosity, no welcome. Only obligatory confirmation. "I am called Sayo." When Sayo answered, the attendants exchanged glances. In that momentary exchange of eyes, much information was packed. (Another new concubine. This one will disappear soon enough too.) Such an atmosphere drifted through the room. One attendant briefly told her, "Lord Oda will summon you tomorrow," and left. Left alone, Sayo observed every corner of the room. A six-mat space. Wooden construction. The floor had been wiped with a cloth. Yet dust had accumulated in the corners. The sliding doors were quite dirty. The light was poor, and from the window, part of the castle town was visible. The voice of night watchmen echoed distantly. "Could I borrow water and cloth?" Sayo found herself calling out to the attendants. Her modern sense of hygiene had unconsciously opened her mouth. The attendants looked puzzled. "For what?" "I wish to...wipe the room." The attendants exchanged glances. Their reaction was, as expected, one of incomprehension. But when water and cloth were provided, Sayo rose and began wiping every corner of the room. Dust fell away steadily. She wiped the sliding doors carefully. The attendants watched this sight intently. (What manner of person...is this girl?) Feeling their gaze, Sayo worked silently. Over time, the room gradually became cleaner. Through this process, the attendants' wariness eased slightly. --- Late into the night, alone, Sayo hugged her knees in the faint light of the lamp. "I must survive here." She repeated those words to herself many times. Her lonely student life in the modern era. No friends, no family. Only library books as her heart's companion. There had been no expectations, no hope. But here was different. Here, life itself was at stake. Failure meant death. Outside the window, the moon had risen. A white moon gently illuminated the castle town. The distant voice of night watchmen. The sensation of cold stone beneath her. And only the sound of her own breath in the silence. "Modern knowledge is...my only weapon." Sayo confirmed this. Sanitation. Knowledge of medicinal herbs. Reading and writing. How much value these would have among the women of this era remained unknown. But it was worth trying. "From tomorrow...the real battle begins." Sayo steeled her resolve. Then she noticed something. In the corner of the room lay a small pouch of medicinal herbs. Someone must have placed it while Sayo was cleaning. Inside were dried herbs. Sayo picked up the pouch. (Who...?) Among the attendants, someone had shown kindness to this new concubine. That small act kindled a faint hope in Sayo's heart. Not everything was an enemy. Not everything was cruel. Sayo took a deep breath. The cold night wind of the Warring States blew through the window gap. Its chill brought her back to reality. Whether she had been chosen for this era or simply transferred here by chance, she could not know. But she had decided to live. Sayo gazed up at the moon, still clutching the pouch of herbs to her chest. In her eyes burned a quiet, cold resolve. Tomorrow, she would meet Oda Nobuhiro——a man of this era. A wielder of power. A cold-hearted Warring States warrior. What lay hidden in the depths of his eyes, Sayo did not yet know. But she sensed something. That this man too had lost something. That he too dwelt in deep loneliness, just as she did. If that were true. Then perhaps Sayo could understand that loneliness. That possibility alone became, in this moment, the force that kept her alive.