Chapter 2[แก้ไข]
— Kouen City Palace Headquarters, 8th Left Wing.
Kuro Usagi had been arranged to a VIP room in the 8th left wing of the Imperial palace. Gazing at the night sky from the balcony of her room, she let out an uneasy sigh as she gazed at the moon hidden between the clouds.
"Ah… I can’t bathe in the moonlight."
Vacantly starring at the night sky, she recalled the memories of her ancestor’s distant homeland.
“Moon Rabbits” were able to develop through the absorbing of spiritual energies as they bathed in the moonlight.
Similar to the trainings for those on the road to deityhood, who would have to absorb the energies of the light from the sun and moon for a span of a thousand years to obtain the spiritual cultivation of a deity, the [Moon Rabbit] spirits would mature much faster in comparison.
The time it took for Kuro Usagi to reach her Independent[1] self today had taken over two hundred years.
Until just a few years ago, she had the appearance of a 10 year old girl.
(It had been surprising when the body suddenly expanded in size. But, the surprise is still incomparable to this.)
She ran her hand over her head with a bitter smile. She no longer had the rabbit ears which had always grown atop her head.
They were her prized rabbit ears which she brushed every day without fail and they have disappeared together with her usual sense of confidence. Moreover, the problems did not end with just their disappearance.
(The birdsong that could be heard in the past… the words of the faeries… the babbling of distant rivers, they are all silent now.)[2]
Her eyes were downcast as she strained her ears.
However, no matter how much she sharpened her hearing, she could only hear the sound of the lonely wind. Each time the night wind blew strongly, she could feel her powerlessness.
Today, she was no different from a human girl.
— The Spear of Victory and the Armor of the Sun.
It was a Game imposed by the God of War, Indra, in the Epic of Mahabharata.
Karna, the son of the Sun God, had the Gift of immortality when he donned the Armor of the Sun. However, in exchange for its mighty powers, the armor itself melded to his skin, and he was unable to remove it. The God of War, Indra, took advantage of one of Karna’s self-imposed constraints to demand Karna to hand over the armor while hiding his identity.
Though Karna refused at first, he decided to hand over the armor of immortality when he noticed the other person was Indra. However, to remove the armor of the sun, he needed the resolve to die.
Using a knife… he skinned his entire body and dedicated the armor of the sun to the God of War Indra.
(… Touched by his devotion, Indra granted him the Spear of Victory that could only be used once. This is the legend of the Armor of the Sun and the Spear of Victory.)
Since then, the spear and the armor were Gifts bestowed upon the most devoted Heralds of Indra who have the utmost sense of altruism.[3]
However, this Gift had a restriction imposed on it due to its overwhelming force.
Using both the Spear and the Armor together in battle — Like the hero Karna, there would be a penalty or more.
"I… I wonder what I should do from now on."
She had broken the rules and lost her Divine powers. With things remaining as they are, it might just be fortunate for her already.
Having lost her Divine powers, it was a miracle that she maintained her Spirit Ranking. In the worst case, she would have disappeared.
However, the Kuro Usagi of today was just a normal human girl.
She looked up at the starless night sky with unease.
Though she was surprised when her body had suddenly grown back then, she was definitely more pleasantly surprised than terrified. She was proud of herself when she had received the ability to fully use the Divine Arms that came with her Independent stage. Though her rights as the [Judge Master] gave her few opportunities to participate in Games, she was confident of her power to stand up to the worst situations.
She could not defend her home 200 years ago. As she was now—
"… Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid, I’m so stupid!!!"
Gasun!
"Kuha!?"
Regretting her conceit, she hit her head against the balcony’s rails with full force.
However, it was too much of an impact. Since she forgot her body was now no different from a normal human’s, Kuro Usagi rolled about the balcony nearly fainting in agony.
While holding her red, swollen head, Kuro Usagi rose with tears in her eyes.
"Uu… It hurts…!"
"That’s obvious. Are you an idiot?"
Hyuu, Izayoi’s face peered from beneath the balcony.
He had likely heard Kuro Usagi’s scream and jumped up from the balcony below.
Though Kuro Usagi was surprised for a moment, she was no longer surprised by Izayoi’s eccentric behavior. Still, he technically broke into Kuro Usagi’s room by doing this.
Kuro Usagi’s cheeks swelled in anger as she turned her head away from Izayoi, who had jumped up without her permission, seeming to be throwing a little tantrum.
"H, Hmph. This is Kuro Usagi’s room. Even if Kuro Usagi is being stupid, that’s not a concern for Izayoi-san."
"That’s true. But, you need to take care of your body a little more. Ojou-sama and Kasukabe are quite worried about you."
Izayoi flipped himself into the balcony[4] with a huff that sounded like an older man.
Though it is very impolite that he had entered a girl’s room without her permission, the fact that he did not kick down the door to enter is already a development. Compared to a few months ago, it was great progress.