Kouyoi: "Teacher, I've waited for you for so long!"**
Following Luo Li's gaze, Asase Hibiki saw a cluster of simple wooden buildings spread across the mountain slope. A branch shrine sat nestled halfway up the hillside, and behind it, mist drifted lazily from a small waterfall hidden deep within the trees.
"W-where is this…?"
The little shrine maiden looked around nervously. Even though she knew Mt. Yougou should be safe, her imagination refused to relax.
Luo Li patted her head reassuringly.
"The residence of the Yougou Tengu."
How ironic—this timid little girl would one day grow into the great shrine maiden capable of breaking Seirai Island's seal and defying the Shogunate. Yet now, she clung to him like a frightened sparrow.
Luo Li gently took Hibiki's hand and led her toward the tengu's territory.
The path into the compound was marked with talismans and warding seals—meant to repel any who wandered in by accident. Hibiki's eyes darted left and right, taking in every detail with innocent curiosity.
So this was the home of the mysterious tengu…
Just as they stepped through the boundary—
A streak of black light slashed across the sky.
The next heartbeat, a figure materialized before them.
"Unauthorized entry into tengu grounds. Leave immediately."
Her cold, ringing voice carried the clarity of a mountain bird's cry.
Hibiki instinctively gripped Luo Li's hand tighter and peeked around him.
A young tengu girl stood before them—slender, poised, with jet-black wings folded behind her back. A red-nosed tengu mask hung at her temple. She carried both sword and bow, and clogs lifted her tall frame. Her expression was severe, aloof, almost divine.
And then—
Her frosty façade melted like snow under sunlight.
With a sharp flutter of wings, she appeared before Luo Li in the blink of an eye, eyes shining with unrestrained delight.
"Teacher?!"
Luo Li smiled softly.
"It's been a while, Kouyoi."
"It really is you! Teacher, it's been so long! Why did you suddenly decide to visit today?"
In the eyes of strangers she was an icy, untouchable tengu warrior—
But before Luo Li, she was all warmth and affection.
From childhood, she had trained under him—archery, swordsmanship, the arts of wind and spirit. Over the years, her admiration for this flawless teacher grew into something deeper, something she guarded close to her heart.
"I'm overseeing the shrine while Saiguu is away," Luo Li explained. "Since I came up the mountain, I thought I'd visit the great tengu—and see how my dear disciple has grown."
"Only… by the way?"
Kouyoi's wings drooped slightly.
Ever since their parting, she had longed—truly longed—for the day he returned. But he acted as if he had forgotten her entirely.
If the tengu clan hadn't chosen isolation, she would've run to Inazuma City the moment she turned of age.
Luo Li flicked her small, pointed nose.
"I'm kidding. Are you sulking?"
"…No."
Her joy returned immediately, washing away the brief pout.
Without hesitation, she wrapped herself around his arm.
"Come, Mother will be thrilled to see you!"
As Hibiki followed in a daze, the cool goddess-like tengu she saw moments ago had utterly vanished—now replaced by a cheerful girl clinging to her beloved teacher.
Upon entering the settlement, however, Luo Li frowned.
Many houses stood empty.
Only a few tengu walked the paths, their numbers far thinner than before.
When they saw Kouyoi clinging to a young man in dark blue robes—
they froze in astonishment.
"So even the tengu bloodline is thinning," Luo Li murmured internally.
Not just them—
the oni, the bake-danuki, even the Hakushin foxes were fading.
The age of great yokai roaming the land was long gone.
Only on moonless nights, during the rare Hyakki Yagyō, could one still imagine the grandeur of past eras.
Soon, the three of them reached the branch shrine where the great tengu resided.
Unexpectedly, a human boy knelt silently before the entrance—motionless, unresponsive, as if carved from stone.
Luo Li cast him a passing glance, then placed Hibiki into Kouyoi's care before stepping inside.
"Teacher, you must spend time with me later!"
"I will."
Satisfied, Kouyoi watched him enter, then turned to the smaller girl—who looked four or five years younger than herself.
"What's your name?"
Feeling the absence of her protector in this den of youkai, Hibiki shrank slightly.
"M-my name is… just call me Hibiki."
"Hibiki, hmm?"
Kouyoi tilted her head and smiled warmly.
"Come with me. I'll show you a nice place. In return, tell me everything you know about Teacher."
"Eh? W-wait—!"
Too late.
Hibiki was whisked away like a leaf in the wind.
I'm doomed… I barely know anything about Lord Luo Li. How am I supposed to answer her!?
Inside the branch shrine—
Luo Li was greeted by the leader of the tengu clan, the great tengu Lingzenbo.
As if expecting him, she had already prepared a steaming pot of tea.
"Right on time," she said with a soft smile. "Seems my clairvoyance still hasn't dulled. Though I'm not sure if my tea-making has improved over the years."
With a graceful sweep of her black wings, she poured him a cup.
Very few in Inazuma were honored with such treatment.
Luo Li took his seat casually and asked at once:
"That boy outside—where have I seen him before?"
"A mere human wishing to study under us."
Luo Li understood immediately.
Since the end of the Archon War, some humans had been fortunate enough to receive Visions—gifts from the gods granting supernatural power.
But such chosen individuals were exceedingly rare.
Thus, countless mortals sought alternative paths.
In Inazuma, they came to learn from the tengu.
In Liyue, they ascended to Jueyun Karst, hoping for a trace of adepti fate.
Even though success was unlikely, the desire for strength drew them onward.
A Vision was unpredictable—
but training required only determination.
Lingzenbo sighed.
"He has knelt there for three days. Judging by his resolve, he will not leave until he is accepted."
"Good perseverance. What's his name?"
"Uisugi Harunosuke."
"…?"
Luo Li paused.
Well then—wasn't that interesting?
No wonder the boy looked familiar—
He was the younger version of Harunosuke, future member of the Three Commissions' famed Masked Trio of Inazuma performers.
With Hibiki and Harunosuke here, all they needed now was Mikoshi Nagamasa—
and the trio would be complete.
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