User blog:Pollux83/Beyond Light and Darkness, Chapter 27

Chapter Overview

27 The land of cherry blossoms



Pink cherry blossoms. Pink cherry blossoms everywhere. It was a wonderful sight. Too bad that Lara and the children could not see that. We had been traveling continuously for 2 weeks and now stopped in a bigger city to buy supplies and do some trading. We wanted to stay 2 days. So Kai and I were able to explore the city in peace.



On the market, we discovered several of these Mamono, which we had seen earlier in Niskara. Something with Danuki or so. Who comes up with such unpronounceable names? Kai could talk to them well now. He learned the writing and language pretty fast. From one of the dealers Kai heard something interesting.



Kai and I were walking down the main street. "Kai, what did she say? Where should we turn?" "Right after the sushi shop." "Which sushi shop? Here are 3." "The green one." "There is no green one here. Only 2 red and one blue." "Maybe she meant another shop?" "You know what. We just ask someone else."



10 minutes later we found what we were looking for. "Kai, are we right here?" "Imperial Post Office. We are right here." "Well finally. Let's go inside." We went in. A small bell rang.



Inside we were greeted by a woman with 2 horns. She wore a kimono and stood behind the cash register. "Welcome strangers. What can I do for you?" "You speak our language?" I was so happy. "Yes. That's a requirement. Many strangers do not speak Zipangi or they speak it very badly. That's why we learn the language of the West." "You're lucky Mareus." "Do not grin like that."



I turned back to the woman. "So we can send letters from here?" "Yes. You can also send a package, but it must not be too heavy." "A letter will do. Will you deliver to Niskara?" She thought for a moment. "It could be. Please wait here. I will briefly look in our documents." She went to the backroom. Kai and I could see that she had 2 wings and a tail. She was not, or?



After a few minutes she returned with a paper. "I have good news. We also deliver letters to Niskara. But only to the capital." "That's our goal anyway," said Kai. "All the better. However, Niskara is very far away and has a medium danger level. It costs extra." "Medium danger level?" I was curious. "Yes. Here is a note. The country itself is safe to enter, but the surrounding areas are dangerous." "That's true." "Then you're from this region?" "We are," answered Kai.



<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">"I have a question. Are you a succubus?" I was as direct as ever. Shy hid her face with her arm and averted her eyes. "Pardon? Did I say something wrong?" "You do not ask such questions directly. You are foreign. Of course you can not know that." "Sorry. We really did not know that." "It is not bad. Just a little strange for me. Here in Zipangu we do not ask strangers any personal questions. Some consider it as rude." "Then I apologize again." "Me too." "I accept your apology." She bowed slightly to us.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">"To answer your question. Yes, I am a succubus." "May I ask you a personal question?" "Yes you can." "Succubi are not very common in Zipangu. Where are you from?" "I am from this city. I was born here. My family has lived here for 9 generations." "And where did your great-great-great-... come from, how do you count that at all? Are you the 9th generation or the oldest living relatives?" "You ask a lot of questions." Behind her hand, she began to giggle. "Forgive my friend. He can not help but ask questions. Fdswfeegfsefvseffhh." Kai said something in Zipangi. "Sdsfgsj wfbesfb osbhwegkugwe." "Ojgdfnj bdashjawzjrewq dbwahfflislfwnegwehwfewefl." "You know well that I do not understand a word." Both started to giggle.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">"So you want to know where my ancestor came from. She came from one of the demon realms far in the west. She was here with a small army that attacked Zipangu." "You were attacked by other Mamono?" "Mamono? Oh yes. Your word for Yokai. In this case Oni would be more suitable. Zipangu has always denied the influence of the demon lord. Like the humans, this Oni tried to take Zipangu, but they were beaten back. My ancestor, however, had separated early from the army." "She has deserted?" Now Kai was curious. "Possible. This detail has not been handed down. She settled down afterwards."

<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">"An interesting story. What are the relationships with the Demon Realms today?" I could not stop asking questions. "There is peace and we have not been attacked for a long time. We also deliver letters to some of the demon realms." "For real? It reminds me that I wanted to ask how you wanted to bring the letters to Niskara?" "This task is done by specially trained harpies. But we can not guarantee that a letter arrives safely at such a distant destination. But we will do our best." "Understand. Can we come back tomorrow to deliver a letter? " "Of course. We are open every day." Kai and I said goodbye and went out.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">That had been a really interesting conversation. Who would have thought that the demon lord attacked Zipangu? You never stop learning.

The sun was at its zenith. It was time to eat something. We looked for a snack and tried something with rice. In wise foresight I had taken a fork with me. That made eating the food much easier.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">After lunch we visited the library. The building was a bit away from the city center and had a small park. A few people had made themselves comfortable there and read a book.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">We went in. Inside we were greeted by a friendly man. "Hello gentlemen. What can I do for you?" "We would like to read some books." "Of course. This is your first time here, I suppose." "Yes." "Then I'll explain the rules of this library to you first. As long as you stay in this library, you are allowed to read every document you are interested in. We ask you to put the document back in its place afterwards or alternatively to hand it over to one of the counters. It is guests not allowed to take documents. Likewise, you are not allowed to enter the closed areas. Furthermore, is not allowed to bring animals or eat and drink within the library. Have you understood all that?" We answered with yes. "Good, then please sign on this list." We signed. There was also bureaucracy here. "Then I wish you a restful stay in our library." We thanked him and went inside.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">The library was really big. There were certainly twice as many books here as in Niskara or Tegras. Unfortunately, most of the books were written in this strange script. Nonetheless, we searched the library. With the amount of books there was certainly something interesting to read in my language.

While Kai found an interesting book after some time and was already reading it, I was still searching. I kept opening a book and scanned it quickly, but found nothing that really interested me. I therefore continued to search shelf by shelf.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">I walked down the hallways. No one else was visible except me. Except for one exception. I was a little surprised when I spotted a black harpy. I went to her. "Hello." "Ahhhhh!" To my surprise, she was terribly frightened and ran with full force against one of the shelves. The impact was so strong that several books fell out and the harpy went unconscious to the ground. I was speechless for a few seconds in the face of the spectacle.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">"Hey, wake up." It did not help. She had completely stepped away and I did not want to give her a shock in the panic. She could run into a shelf again. "Hello, is there anyone who can help me? Here is an unconscious harpy and I'm not sure what to do now. Hello, anyone?" I know you should be quiet in a library, but that was an emergency.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">Luckily one of the librarians had heard me and came to the rescue. "What happened here?" "That's not my fault, honestly. I just said hello and after that she ran into the shelf in panic." If you say it out loud, it sounds even stupider. "That's how it was. Please do not worry, she's fine. She should have recovered soon." "All right. Does that happen more often?" "Usually she hides behind the shelves when a human comes. She must have just been sunk into a book and did not notice you." I looked at the harpy. "Yes. That's the way it must have been." Oops. I should stop sneaking.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">"Her name is Kohana, by the way. She comes to visit us in the library. You must forgive, but she is easily startled." "I noticed that as well. What kind of harpy is she? I have never seen one with such black feathers." "She is a Crow Tengu." I had to think briefly what stood in the book. "But do not they usually stay away from human settlements?" "Yes, usually. But Kohana here loves to study the books of the library." "Oh, that's why she sat there with the many books. I'd rather go before she wakes up again. Otherwise she will only be frightened once more." "Do this. In the meantime, she has become accustomed to us librarians, but she usually gets scared of strangers. I'll take care of her until she wakes up and tell her you took care of her." I said goodbye and searched the library.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">After a while I even found some interesting books about magic and the history of Zipangu. I sat down at Kai in the reading room. We spent a few hours there. During this, I could feel Kohanas aura from time to time near me. She wanted to talk to me, but she was too shy. I wondered if I should go to her to apologize, but that might just have made her panic again.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">In the evening we went back to the others. All in all, it had been a very interesting day for me. I had looked at the city, read books, and met an easily startled harpy who still made me smile. I wanted to say goodbye to her, but I had frightened her enough for one day. Maybe another time.

Dearest Lara, Kai and I arrived safely in Zipangu. The country is gorgeous. Currently the cherry trees are blooming. Everything is pink here. I wish you and the kids could see that. So I sent you some dried petals.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">Meanwhile, our expedition is making progress. We travel the country and examine the temples and shrines. The people here actually worship Mamono. And what's even crazier, they live with them. At first glance, Zipangu is actually a paradise. But there are problems here as well. So far nobody has tried to steal Kai's wallet. But that's only a matter of time.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">Yesterday I even met 2 interesting Mamono. A succubus and a harpy. I know that sounds weird, but they were very different from the Mamono in the West. The harpy even was afraid of me. A man who scares a monster. This only exists in Zipangu. In the meantime, I have become more or less friendly with the people of the Order. The soldiers are still too stiff for traders, but it gets better.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">Not a day goes by that I do not think about you. I miss you and hope you all are well. Tell the children that I love them and give them a kiss from me. Are you doing this for me? For us the journey continues tomorrow. I'm curious what discoveries this country still offers for us. Wish me luck. I love you.