Sayo's words made Chiba Yo pause.
"You know Mr. Gyomei Himejima too?" Chiba Yo asked.
Thinking of her previous actions, Chiba Yo guessed that she might have been saved by Gyoumei from a demon's grasp.
"Can... can we talk somewhere else?" Sayo asked Chiba Yo nervously.
From what Chiba Yo had just said, she was almost certain that the Mr. Gyomei he was talking about was Gyomei Himejima, who had taken her in before.
Sayo was one of the two children who survived in that Temple, hiding beside Gyoumei and being protected by him all night, but because of the terrifying experience of that night, she mistakenly identified Gyoumei as the murderer.
...
"That person is a monster... everyone was killed by that person..."
In the small Temple, four-year-old Sayo huddled in the corner, trembling.
The blood-stained Temple filled with corpses made her cover her eyes with her hands, not daring to move them, unaware that the demon had already turned to ash under the sunlight.
The monster she referred to was the demon that killed the children in the Temple, yet the people who arrived mistakenly believed that Gyoumei had done all of this, as at that time, besides her, Gyoumei was the only one left in the Temple, and his hands were covered in blood.
Gyoumei was taken away by the people, and Sayo, exhausted from the night's fright, fell into a deep sleep after saying those words.
Although she woke up after some time, her mind was not quite normal for several days due to the shock she experienced that day.
During this time, she was taken in by a kind elderly couple who took her away from there.
After her mental state improved, she learned that Gyoumei was imprisoned and sentenced to death because of her identification, but by then, the time for Gyoumei's execution had passed, which meant Gyoumei had likely already died.
The young girl suffered another heavy blow; Gyoumei had taken them in when they were homeless and cared for them meticulously. In that Temple, they felt an unprecedented warmth and happiness, and almost all the children genuinely revered and loved him, and Sayo was no exception.
However, she could now be said to have become the murderer of her benefactor; even if it wasn't her intention, this incident indeed happened because of her, and before this incident, Gyoumei had fought desperately to protect her, battling the demon all night long.
After receiving this news, her mental state worsened again; every night she would have nightmares, dreaming of what happened that night, of her tragically deceased companions, of Gyoumei fighting the demon, and also dreaming of Gyoumei looking at her with eyes full of disappointment, then walking to the execution ground to be put to death, and dreaming of her dead companions all blaming her.
During that time, she was in a daze all day, yet the elderly couple did not abandon her because of her mental state; they treated her like their own daughter and granddaughter, and even took her to see a doctor.
This made her feel even more guilty and distressed, living in constant anxiety.
Her suffering was only alleviated when she received the news that Gyoumei had not been executed but had disappeared from prison; although she still felt incredibly guilty and pained, she began to live a normal life and somewhat nervously hoped that one day she could apologize to Gyoumei.
After the elderly couple passed away, she used all the money they left her to bury them properly, and then, at only ten years old, she returned to her hometown alone.
On one hand, she hoped to meet Gyoumei and apologize to him, and on the other hand, she also hoped to help others and atone for her past.
Knowing the true existence of demons, she used the skills she learned from the elderly couple to sew wisteria sachets and give them to people, hoping to protect them from demon attacks.
Every time she gave out a wisteria sachet, she felt a little better; she dared not accept money, as that would not bring salvation at all.
Half a year after returning here, she finally mustered the courage to visit that Temple once, but she didn't dare to go inside, only kneeling outside for a long time.
Subsequently, every six months, she would kneel for a period in front of the Temple on the mountain, both to atone for her sins and to try her luck to see if she could meet Gyoumei, and also to pray to the gods and Buddhas to bless Gyoumei with a peaceful life.
Until today, she finally heard news of Gyoumei, and her emotions were extremely complex.
Surprise, fear, nervousness, guilt, pain...
She didn't know what the final outcome would be, but hearing Chiba Yo say that Gyoumei had become completely disappointed in children and suspicious because of that incident, she knew that if she couldn't explain things clearly to Gyoumei, she would never find salvation in her life, she would spend her entire life in regret, never able to sleep peacefully, and nightmares would constantly accompany her.
Although she was determined to find Gyoumei and confess everything to him, Sayo also had some selfish reasons; she didn't want her neighbors to know about this matter. She had found warmth here again, and she was afraid of losing it again. At nearly thirteen years old, she had already personally faced loss twice.
"Okay, tell me where you want to talk."
Chiba Yo agreed, thinking that Sayo must have been saved by Gyoumei before and now wanted to express her gratitude to him.
Chiba Yo thought this was a good thing; perhaps receiving more such thanks would slowly help Gyoumei overcome his prejudice against children.
"Thank you... please come with me..."
Sayo wiped away her tears and said to Chiba Yo, then poured the wisteria sachets from her bag onto her small stall and walked towards a small alley.
Chiba Yo followed her. Zenitsu did not follow; although he liked cute girls, he knew his limits. Seeing Sayo's reaction, he knew that what the two of them were going to talk about must be something important, and he shouldn't disturb them.
So he simply stayed there to watch Sayo's stall, but now everything on the stall had been bought by Chiba Yo, leaving only the wisteria sachets Sayo had just poured out of her cloth bag.
On the other side, Chiba Yo followed Sayo all the way to the end of the alley, and then followed her into a small house. Although the house was quite simple, it was very clean.
On the table were some needles and thread tools, as well as an unfinished wisteria sachet.
After asking Chiba Yo to sit down, Sayo's emotions still hadn't calmed down. She asked with a trembling voice, "Mr. Gyomei Himejima... is he doing well now?"
Chiba Yo nodded at her words and replied, "You should know about the existence of demons, right? Mr. Gyomei Himejima is still fighting demons and protecting people from their harm."
"Is that so...?" Sayo lowered her head, her hands fidgeting nervously. After hearing this news, she felt even more afraid to face Gyoumei.
After a while, she finally mustered the courage to ask Chiba Yo, "May I please meet Mr. Gyomei Himejima? I... I want to... apologize to him..."