"Think about it, Holy Maiden—girls are naturally burdened with the responsibility of childbearing.
In order to provide sufficient nutrition for the fetus in their womb, girls' bodies naturally store more fat. Isn't that more nutritious than males?"
"Twisted logic, Knight Doma. You should study medicine when you have free time in the future."
Shaking her head, Mitsuba ended the topic and prepared to leave.
"Almost time. Dawn will break soon, I should return... oh my?"
Just as she stood up, her peripheral vision caught sight of a house suddenly bursting into flames in a nearby alley.
"It seems someone over there needs help?"
"..."
In that forgotten place, a pair of siblings were dying.
They were born at the very bottom of the entertainment district, this den of man-eaters. Their mother was a prostitute suffering from an occupational disease; their father was an unknown traveler.
Among this pair of siblings, the sister was simply called "Ume," and the brother was called "Gyutaro."
Gyutaro was of course not the brother's real name—or rather, he never had a name of his own.
The term "gyu" was originally used to refer to those in the entertainment district who specialized in soliciting customers for geisha, while "taro" was a common term used by poor families to refer to the eldest son.
And this unique combination of names happened to perfectly reflect Gyutaro's entire life.
Due to his mother suffering from syphilis, Gyutaro was born with ugly scars on his face. From childhood to adulthood, he was unwelcome by anyone, including his own mother.
And after his mother died of illness, as the eldest son, in order to take care of his sister, he began working as a debt collector in the entertainment district, relying on his talent for fighting to make a living.
Calling it making a living was actually just barely scraping by.
Even this meager amount of money was only given to him by those madams because he dared to go all out when collecting debts, always guaranteeing that the owed money would be recovered.
Otherwise, at his age of just over ten years, with his skinny and ugly appearance, anyone who looked at him more than once would find him inauspicious.
Of course, facing this contempt and insult, Gyutaro himself didn't care. Because for him, as long as his beautiful little sister Ume could live well, that was enough.
Yes, although born from the same mother, Ume was very fortunate to not be affected by syphilis at all.
Not only that, Ume was born with astonishing beauty. At merely thirteen years old, she was already stunningly gorgeous.
The vast difference between the siblings did not make Gyutaro jealous of his sister.
On the contrary, born ugly, he instead viewed his naturally beautiful sister as his only "treasure."
When they were young, he had once saved baby Ume from their mother's hands, who because of poverty had wanted to kill her.
And after their mother died of illness, it was also he who worked hard to raise Ume, raising her alone...
For Gyutaro, this sister of his was everything.
As long as he could make Ume live well, he would do anything.
Though he said this, Gyutaro actually didn't ask for much.
He didn't even dare to wish for wealth and glory. As long as his sister could have enough to eat and wear, could live in a cleaner place, and have new clothes to wear, that was enough.
But regrettably, even this ordinary little wish came to an end tonight.
This evening, Gyutaro went out to collect debts as usual, leaving his sister Ume alone at home.
The madam from the neighboring courtesan house who had been paid took this opportunity to quickly run and notify that samurai who had been waiting for a long time, bringing him to the siblings' home.
What this samurai and the madam intended to do naturally need not be said.
Ume's beauty was universally acknowledged. There had always been many in the entertainment district who coveted her looks. In the past, it was only because of Gyutaro, her fierce-tempered older brother, that no one dared to come harass her.
But Gyutaro couldn't always be around.
Tonight, this samurai took the opportunity to come.
Of course, this samurai didn't come to propose marriage to Ume.
Marry her?
Hahahaha!
A dirty woman born in the entertainment district, you think you're worthy of me marrying you?
Just having a bit of looks, you should feel honored that I'm willing to play with you, yet you don't know your place and want me to marry you?
Dream on!
This sounded cruel, sounded hurtful, but that was the fact.
This samurai merely coveted Ume's looks, with absolutely no intention of taking responsibility.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have deliberately chosen this time when Gyutaro was absent to come quietly.
Though young, Ume—having grown up in the entertainment district—quickly sensed the samurai's intentions.
At first, she tried her best to stall for time, attempting to delay until her brother returned, until this samurai—after drinking two cups of sake—began wantonly insulting her brother...
In a fit of rage, she used the hairpin in her hair to blind one of the samurai's eyes.
But immediately, the enraged samurai and the madam keeping watch outside tied her up in the room together. The two quickly left after setting the house on fire.
By the time Gyutaro discovered the fire and rushed home to rescue Ume, she had already been roasted alive by the flames into charcoal, with only her last breath remaining.
But this wasn't the end.
The samurai and madam, worried about being retaliated against by Gyutaro, hadn't actually truly left.
The two had been quietly hiding in the street corner. When Gyutaro rescued Ume from the burning house and knelt on the ground weeping bitterly, the samurai finally rushed forward and, taking advantage of his unpreparedness, viciously slashed a blade at his neck.
"Mr. Samurai, what I've said should be correct, right?"
Fine snow drifted in the night sky. In the dark alley, Mitsuba held a pitch-black mandala flower in her hand.
She sat with legs crossed, smilingly looking at the one-eyed samurai opposite her who was being forced to kneel on the ground under her influence.
And nearby, Doma crouched down, curiously using his index finger to poke the Gyutaro siblings lying in a pool of blood, then turned back and said:
"Hey~ Holy Maiden, these two children seem like they're about to die~"
"No need to worry, Knight Doma. Within my domain, if I don't want them to die, they can't die.
Even if they truly die, I can make them live again."