"Kaede Village?"
Satsuki had some impression of the name. During the time she had spent in Demon-Hunting Village, she had occasionally heard returning demon slayers mention this village.
Kikyo stepped down from the carriage. "May I ask—is there a place here called the Bone-Eater's Well?"
The hunter nodded repeatedly. As he helped lead the way, he raised his arm and pointed toward a forest near the far end of the village. "Yes, Shrine Maiden-sama. The Bone-Eater's Well is over there. But normally, no one goes near it."
"Is that well really as miraculous as the rumors say?"
Kikyo also turned her head toward the direction of the Bone-Eater's Well. Her spiritual perception detected nothing unusual. It seemed no different from any other ordinary woodland—no malevolent aura, no demonic energy, no miasma.
The usually silent Satsuki spoke at this moment. "Why is that well called the Bone-Eater's Well?"
Clad in black robes with black hair, Satsuki carried herself with noble composure. Her beauty was breathtaking, and within her golden eyes lay an indescribable sanctity and authority. The only flaw was the faint chill in her voice.
The hunter grew somewhat nervous, blushing as he replied, "Shrine Maiden-sama, that well is used specifically to discard yōkai corpses. And after a few days, the bones thrown into it disappear, as if the well had eaten them. That's why we named it the Bone-Eater's Well."
Hearing this, Satsuki pointed toward the remaining fragments of Mistress Centipede's corpse.
"Will you also throw this yōkai's body into that well later?"
"Yes. The village chief will send some of the young men. They'll cut up Mistress Centipede's corpse and then toss it into the well."
"Thank you."
Satsuki nodded and said nothing more.
Her Tenseigan had already carefully surveyed the entire area, including the location of the Bone-Eater's Well that the hunter had pointed out.
Although Kikyo's spiritual perception sensed nothing abnormal, Satsuki's Tenseigan could see far more than the flow of energy.
Interesting. The wood used to construct that dry well contains a temporal power similar to the Ryūmyaku of Rōran. Moreover, that power is connected to the very origin of this world.
Satsuki calculated silently within her heart. The conclusion did not surprise her.
After all, when she had first descended upon this world, she had deliberately chosen the remote regions of Musashi Province. That was because the moment she arrived upon this land, she had already sensed that this place contained what she needed.
Amid this intermittent conversation, dusk gradually fell. In the distance, beneath the dim sky, the outline of the village emerged in the twilight.
"There it is. We're almost there!"
To escape death at the jaws of a yōkai was a rare blessing for ordinary people of this era.
This farmer was fortunate—to encounter Kikyo and Satsuki and to return home to see his family again. His excitement was only natural.
Because Kikyo was still concerned about Onigumo's injuries in the carriage, she quickened her pace once more.
As they drew nearer, the so-called Kaede Village revealed itself.
There was nothing particularly special about it. It was much like most villages Satsuki had seen.
After entering the village, scattered buildings gradually appeared around them. Most were constructed with wooden planks forming their walls and roofs. To prevent the wind from blowing them away, stones were placed atop the roofs.
A small stream divided the village into two sides. One side was mainly for foot traffic and residences, while the other was reserved for farming.
The purifying arrow Kikyo had fired earlier had been extremely conspicuous. The radiance of her spiritual power had illuminated nearly half the village.
Seeing that light, the villagers had emerged from their homes, and the surrounding voices gradually grew noisy and lively.
However, perhaps due to Satsuki's imposing aura, none of the villagers dared to approach rashly. Let alone greet them, few even dared to meet their gazes.
"Oh my, isn't that Daishi? The village chief was just looking for you," a middle-aged woman said.
"The village chief was looking for me?" Daishi's spirits lifted at once. He replied loudly, "I'll settle the two shrine maidens first and then go see the chief immediately."
With Daishi's words, whispers spread throughout the village.
"Two shrine maidens have come. What fortune for Kaede Village."
"Yes, yes…"
"But the shrine maidens I've seen all dress like that young lady in white and red. Why is the other one wearing black robes?" a young man whispered to someone beside him.
"Well… perhaps shrine maidens also need spare clothes. White garments stain easily."
"I see…"
While the villagers continued their gossip, a rough voice sounded from afar.
—"No need, no need. I'm here."
Accompanied by hurried footsteps, a burly man in traditional attire came striding over with a farm tool slung over his shoulder. The expression on his face was rather amusing—anticipation mixed with a hint of anxiety.
Upon seeing Kikyo and Satsuki in person, the man's face lit up with unconcealed delight.
He stepped forward, respectfully bowing to both Satsuki and Kikyo before turning to Daishi at his side. "You're the best fighter in our village. What happened just now?"
"It was like this…"
Daishi recounted everything that had happened to the villagers.
In particular, he emphasized how extraordinary Kikyo's arrow had been—how she had resolved Mistress Centipede in a single strike.
This caused the villagers' gazes toward Kikyo to fill with deep admiration.
Kikyo, however, seemed unaccustomed to such praise. She merely offered a gentle smile and said, "It was only a small effort. But right now, I have a request. Is there a physician in the village?"
A woman dressed in white stepped forward and respectfully addressed Kikyo. "Shrine Maiden-sama, that would be me."
"I have a severely injured patient here who needs herbs. Do you have any common medicinal plants for treating external wounds and bone fractures?"
As she spoke, Kikyo listed several names of herbs.
The woman thought for a moment, then nodded. "Those are medicines we often use when accidents happen during labor. I have some in storage."
"That's wonderful." Kikyo's eyes brightened. She then turned to Satsuki and said with a trace of apology, "Lady Satsuki, I'm afraid I'll need to remain here for some time…"
"It's fine. Go tend to him first. I'll accompany the villagers to deal with that yōkai's corpse."
...
Although Onigumo's current state looked miserable, he had in fact already passed the critical stage.
The jolting along the way had caused him considerable suffering, yet this world seemed strangely tolerant toward such a scourge. The condition of this villainous bandit did not worsen further.
Some of the surrounding villagers quickly fashioned a simple stretcher, then carefully lifted this "bandit", Onigumo, onto it, preparing to transfer him to the physician's home.
"May we ask your names?"
While keeping an eye on the changes in [Karma] surrounding Kikyo and Onigumo, Satsuki replied calmly, "My name is Satsuki. This is Shrine Maiden Kikyo."
"Satsuki… I seem to have heard demon slayers mention that name before," one of the villagers murmured.
"I once lived for several months in Demon-Hunting Village at the edge of Musashi Province. It's only natural if some of you have heard of it."
Then her tone shifted. "As you all heard earlier, we killed a yōkai on our way here. If its corpse is left exposed, the lingering miasma and demonic aura will not only attract other yōkai, but also pollute this land. Organizing people to deal with the body immediately is the proper course of action."
The villagers of Kaede Village were no strangers to such matters. They understood that Satsuki was right.
Under the village chief's organization, more than a dozen young and able-bodied men quickly gathered. They carried axes, chisels, saws… and quite a few even wore purification masks distributed by demon slayers.
It was a wise precaution.
Mistress Centipede had been a centipede yōkai, and her body contained toxins. Though she had died and most of her flesh had been purified by spiritual power, there was no guarantee that the remaining fragments posed no danger.
Young laborers were the most precious resource of any village. They could not afford losses over such matters.
...
Before long, the group, led by the hunter and Satsuki, arrived at the place outside the village where Mistress Centipede had perished.
From afar, a sharp, fishy stench hung in the air. Within the Tenseigan's vision, faint dark-purple miasma drifted about, while layers of blackened marks began spreading outward from the remaining corpse fragments.
This was the sign of corruption by malevolent energy. Left unattended, this area would soon attract yōkai from all directions.
"I'll purify the surroundings first."
As she spoke, Satsuki stepped forward slowly. With a casual lift of her hand, a sphere shimmering with blue light materialized in her palm.
With a flick of her wrist, the blue sphere floated into the air above the remaining corpse fragments, then expanded into a ring of purifying light that descended.
This was the Purification spell from the world of YGGDRASIL. In this world, its effect remained equally potent.
All miasma, toxins, and residual malevolent energy were swept away beneath the light. Even the stench in the air faded considerably.
"It's done. The corruption has been cleansed. You may proceed."
Seeing this, the village chief immediately called for everyone to begin dismembering the corpse.
Mistress Centipede had been enormous. Even after most of her body had been purified by Kikyo's arrow, the remaining fragments were no small quantity.
It took them quite some time to cut the purified remains apart and load them onto a cart.
At that moment, a message from Ruri suddenly reached Satsuki's mind, reporting recent developments in Kyoto.
Satsuki merely gave a soft laugh. "Heh. It seems they can no longer tolerate the existence of the Lunar Palace. They're about to reveal some of their hidden cards."
"Host, aren't you worried? That Spiral Seal is no simple construct."
Within her mind, the system's light sphere finally emerged after a long absence.
"There's no need to rush," Satsuki replied unhurriedly. "Accelerating the completion of the Spiral Seal is part of my plan. Otherwise, why would I have made its abnormal fluctuations so obvious at the time?"
With Satsuki's abilities—whether energy control or illusion—it would not have been difficult to conceal the irregular flow of energy within the Spiral Seal.
Although the Onmyō Bureau possessed dedicated techniques to monitor its state, bypassing such surveillance would have been trivial for her.
The reason she had not done so was because she wanted to exert pressure upon the Onmyō Bureau.
From the very beginning—her visit to Kamo no Yasunori's residence, to later deliberately allowing Ashiya Dōman to traverse space into the Lunar Palace—it had all been calculated.
The probing by the Seven, as well as the internal tests from Seimei and Hagorome Gitsune within Kyoto, were merely the preliminary results she desired. Accelerating the progress of the Spiral Seal was her true objective.
"But why would you want to speed up its restoration?" the system still did not understand.
Satsuki's consciousness cast the system a look of undisguised disdain.
"It's simple. The first time I observed the Spiral Seal through the statue of Ukanomitama at Fushimi Inari Taisha, I already discerned its true function."
The system recalled the scene and ventured, "Host, I remember you said it was some kind of energy conversion device."
"An incomplete Spiral Seal can indeed function only as an energy conversion device."
Within the consciousness space, Satsuki raised her hand. A miniature map of Kyoto appeared in her palm. Eight points of light gradually emerged upon it, representing the eight nodes of the Spiral Seal.
Soon, countless channels of energy connected those nodes to the ley lines beneath the earth. These channels intertwined in every direction, eventually forming a distinct pattern within her hand.
The moment the system saw that pattern, it froze.
It had seen it before. In fact, when that pattern had first appeared, Satsuki had not yet obtained the Tenseigan.
"This pattern… could such a coincidence truly exist?"
Even the system was momentarily speechless in shock.
"This formation is identical in structure and effect to the spirit summoning scroll I once deconstructed. Do you truly believe such a coincidence is merely chance?"
Satsuki gazed calmly at the Spiral Seal within her palm. With a single squeeze, she crushed the miniature construct. Her illusory form gradually faded, leaving behind only a faint voice within the consciousness space—
"I certainly don't."
Time within the consciousness space did not flow in sync with the outside world. Moreover, Satsuki had long mastered the art of multitasking.
Thus, although she had been conversing with the system internally, not a trace of abnormality showed on her face.
Following the villagers along the muddy path near the village entrance, they moved toward their destination.
As they drew closer, Satsuki increasingly sensed a gathering temporal-spatial power brewing in the clearing ahead.
Moments later, the group emerged from the small grove into an open stretch of green woodland—
And at last, the legendary [Bone-Eater's Well] appeared before Satsuki's eyes.