They were sitting on a patch of grass deep in the forest that morning, the sounds of chirping birds filling the air.
At first there was a strange silence, then Takae asked it outright, "Why did you call us out here, Lloyd?"
The facial expressions of the others suggested the same thought.
He took a deep breath and said, "We've been in this town for two days, and I've been thinking about what you told me—"
"—about going to the Matsuhito Mountains to find the sanctuary of the Ashura Samurai."
"Did you change your mind about coming with us?" Yuriko asked.
"No, it's not that," he replied while fidgeting with his fingers. "It's just that summer ended a while ago, and winter is on its way."
He looked up at Miyuki and asked, "You said that it was a snow-capped mountain, right?"
"Yes," she replied, confused, "but what does that have to do with anything?"
He hesitated for a moment before saying, "I don't think scaling the mountain is a good idea."
"Trust me, I've been through it," he continued while looking down, "and climbing a snow-capped mountain while winter is getting closer is not a good idea."
"We have to get up there," Izumi said as he looked at him. "The sooner, the better."
Lloyd took a deep breath before raising his head and saying, "I agree, but what if by some miracle we do make it to the top and find nothing? What then?"
This reply stunned them for a moment, and they remained silent.
"There's no way," Miyuki said with a voice that was uncharacteristically emotional for her. "My father would never have thrown us for a loop like that."
"But what if it was a hint, a code, something indirect for you to figure out?" Lloyd said with his gaze turned away from her.
"What brought on this idea?" Takae asked.
"Ever since I was younger, I learned all that I could about the Ashura Samurai," he replied in a calm tone. "It is said that they are considered powerful mostly because the location of the Seiiki is unknown to anyone outside their sphere, even to this day."
"That includes other groups of humans like the Nova Knights too."
"Where are you going with this?" Izumi asked.
"For a corps that has existed for such a long time, I don't think their hidden sanctuary would be atop a mountain," he replied.
"Why do you think that?" Yuriko asked.
"I have two main reasons why I think that," he replied. "One, it's hard to even scale a mountain like that, let alone form a base there that can last for generations."
"And two, even if it was there," he continued, "the djinn would have already tracked their movements back and found it a long time ago."
"So are you saying we should give up on finding it completely?" Miyuki said after her long silence. "If it's a code, shouldn't we at least go up there and try to find out what it means?"
"She's right," Takae added. "Giving up just isn't an option."
"I'm not saying that we should give up completely," he replied. "Instead, I have another idea."
"It's a big part of why I called you out here," he said after hesitating. "It has to do with that group of shrine maidens we passed the other day."
"What about them?" Yuriko asked, confused.
"I didn't really care much about them at first, but then something caught my attention," he replied. "It came from that shrine priestess lady."
"I sensed a faint fluctuation in her source energy," he continued. "The kind you wouldn't expect from a normal person."
"Are you saying that she's ascended just like us?" Izumi asked with a stunned look.
"I think it's possible," he replied apprehensively, "though I'm not completely sure."
"Wait, how come we didn't sense anything?" Takae asked.
"It has to do with my Rebel Eyes," he replied. "I can sense fluctuations in source energy much better thanks to the advanced form of the Higher Sense that comes with them, to the point that I can notice the slightest change."
"Maybe she just ascended unconsciously and is unaware of it," Miyuki said.
"From what I sensed, it gave off an ominous feeling," Lloyd replied. "As if she was already aware of it and was trying to keep it under wraps."
"For the past two days, as we've been walking around, my suspicions about them have only been growing," he continued. "From how unnaturally involved they are in every single aspect of people's lives here."
"From contracts to marriages to inheritance, to their relationship with the merchants and the Doshin. No religion this centralized can be so precise that it borders on absolute control."
"What are you saying?" Izumi asked, even though he was already aware of what he meant.
Then came the answer he was expecting.
"I'm saying that there's something going on in this town, but I can't say what for sure."
"Where do we come into all of this?" Takae asked.
The pause that followed her question felt unnaturally long.
"It might sound crazy," he said, his voice filled with nervous doubt, "but I think that instead of risking our lives on something that isn't guaranteed, we should draw the Corps out to us."
"How are we going to do that?" Yuriko asked while stretching her legs.
"If the sanctuary is within the vicinity of the mountain, then this town falls within their domain," he replied. "They're sure to react if a massive uproar happens in the town."
"Are you saying we should go around causing a scene and hope they'll notice us and appear?" Takae asked.
"If we do that, we'll just end up on their bad side," Miyuki added.
"We don't have to cause a scene out of nowhere," he replied. "All we have to do is weed out the noise that's already hiding here and hope it'll be loud enough to lure them out."
"And that noise is the conspiracy lurking inside this town, isn't it?" Izumi said.
"If we expose whatever is happening here in secret, then the outrage should be enough for them to appear," he continued. "Is that what you're saying?"
"In a nutshell, yes," Lloyd answered.
"That's crazy," Miyuki shot back. "How exactly are we supposed to accomplish something as big as that when we're just the five of us?"
"Not to mention all the things that could go wrong," Takae added.
"I'm sorry, but I think this is our best bet for finding them," he replied.
"Not to mention the lives we could save if whatever is lurking here turns out to be dangerous to the people of the town," he continued. "It's two birds with one stone."
"Except in this case the birds could strike back if we miss," Izumi said.
Silence took over once again as everyone was left alone with their thoughts.
"It's a very risky plan," Miyuki said, breaking the silence, "but it could be worth a try if we end up saving more people."
"I'm willing to give it a try."
Lloyd turned to Izumi. He looked skeptical at first, but eventually he said, "I think it's worth a try too."
"What do we have to lose at this point anyway?" Yuriko added.
They all turned to Takae, who was still deep in thought.
"If we agree to this," she said, looking up at Lloyd, "then do you have some kind of plan, or do your thoughts end with speculation?"
"I do have a plan," he replied. "It's a bit out there, but I think it might just work."