Because of... our stances, perhaps.

"It is because of... our standpoints, I suppose."

Meanwhile,

Sumitomo Ui looked at the figure in front of her and said softly.

"A fine insight. One could certainly put it that way."

"Nightingales and hawks... Some things are just like that, easily summed up in a couple of words."

Kazama Ruri smiled gently.

"All the struggles between the Phantom Ghouls and the Snake-toothed Eight Families are naturally the same."

"We are the shadows lurking beneath the Snake-toothed Eight Families; the confrontation between the two has stretched on for who knows how many years, never once stopping."

"This is the most venomous curse carved into our bloodline, from which no one can ever be spared."

Having said this, Kazama Ruri took a sip of the clear sake resting beside the table.

Then, he looked back at Sumitomo Ui before him.

Ever since she left the island, Sumitomo Ui's appearance had changed drastically.

Now, she wore a pale pink kimono set against a white background, tied at the waist with a pale grayish-pink wide obi that accentuated her slender and enchanting waistline.

If her elder sister Sumitomo Uion's performance attire tended to be fresh and bright,

then younger sister Sumitomo Ui's outfit appeared delicate and endearing, much like a girl next door who naturally evoked a desire to protect her.

At this moment, Sumitomo Ui sat quietly, listening to the narrative unfolding from Kazama Ruri.

Yet her gaze was not reserved; instead, it carried a hint of an elusive, probing quality.

"Everyone in the Phantom Ghouls... has always harbored a phantom dream."

"That is, to find the legendary 'Road to Yellow Springs',"

"For there lies the salvation of all half-breeds who, due to flaws in their bloodline, have been forced to transform into 'demons'."

Kazama Ruri drained his cup of sake in one go, and continued,

"It is said that upon the Road to Yellow Springs, there exists an unknown entity capable of allowing half-breeds to evolve into pure-blooded dragons. For a thousand years, driven by this legend, the Phantom Ghouls have advanced wave upon wave, leaving successors to fill the fallen's boots."

"This is also... the grand ambition of every generation of 'demons'."

...

The room was chillingly quiet. Sumitomo Ui simply listened in silence, not uttering a single word.

Kazama Ruri did not mind and continued:

"You should know that within the borders of Japan, the Snake-toothed Eight Families are the 'Main Family', overseeing all half-breeds across the country."

"As for the family of your childhood playmate—the Toyokawa family—they are actually a collateral branch of the Snake-toothed Eight Families."

"The Snake-toothed Eight Families have always kept a close guard against half-breeds with unstable bloodlines to prevent them from losing control."

"As for the Toyokawa family... they happen to be a collateral branch whose bloodline is rather unstable."

Hearing the name of Toyokawa Sakiko's family, Sumitomo Ui lowered her head in silence, lost in her own thoughts.

Kazama Ruri smiled:

"Over these past few generations, the bloodline inheritors of the Toyokawa family have possessed consistently unstable bloodlines, with two consecutive generations failing to hold out for very long."

"As for this, the current head of the Toyokawa family does not seem overly troubled, but rather that second-generation matrilocal son-in-law takes the matter very much to heart."

"Perhaps, when the time comes, you might even cross paths with your childhood friend within the Phantom Ghouls."

"Saki-chan..."

Sumitomo Ui recalled the name in the depths of her heart. How close they had been in their youth, yet now they seemed worlds apart.

"Is she... just like me?"

Sumitomo Ui asked softly.

"Not yet, but if nothing unexpected happens, it should be soon."

Kazama Ruri said calmly,

"Bloodline is both a blessing of fate and a curse cast down by the gods. Certain things born into existence may well be the shackles you can never shake off for the rest of your life."

"Besides..."

He stood up and walked over to a low lacquered wooden table. The table was impeccably clean, its lacquered surface shining brightly enough to mirror Kazama Ruri's figure.

"Judging from my previous contact with that second-generation son-in-law of the Toyokawa family, there must be some other hidden motive behind his coming to Japan."

"?"

Sumitomo Ui was somewhat bewildered. "Why do you say that?"

Her impression of the Toyokawa family in her mind came entirely from Toyokawa Sakiko; she actually knew very little about her father, Toyokawa Kiyotsugu.

"Heh." Kazama Ruri pulled a sheet of paper from the drawer of the table, covered entirely in text.

"You have been exposed to far too little of the half-breed society, and you likely understand very little of certain circumstances."

"To put it simply, Toyokawa Sakiko's father, Toyokawa Kiyotsugu, possesses extraordinary capabilities; it is hard to imagine him willingly becoming a matrilocal son-in-law."

"However, these are all secondary matters."

Kazama Ruri finished reading the contents on the paper, then tore it into fluttering confetti, scattering it casually with a swish.

Draped in silence, he asked, "You drank the 'wine' today, didn't you?"

"Yes." Sumitomo Ui nodded, not denying it.

She recalled the moment she partook in that 'wine', the towering, surging might that had felt as though it was about to burst right through her body.

In that instant, Sumitomo Ui felt as though she were no longer herself, but rather some sort of imprisoned deity.

"Ah, it is a poison, yet why is it that everyone who hears its name drinks it with such sweet willingness, even if they initially detested it to the core, only to drain the cup to the dregs in the end?"

Kazama Ruri sighed.

"And, I recall... you mentioned you have an elder sister?"

"Yes." Sumitomo Ui nodded.

"Now she is a rising idol in Japan's new-generation band, the guitarist for the unit Sumimi."

"Heh... an idol, is it."

Kazama Ruri shook his head, seemingly placing little value on this.

"A fleeting and illusory vanity of the mortal world. Had you been born a century earlier, you would have been a contemporary master in the realm of theater."

"Ah, what a pity... With the Snake-toothed Eight Families around, we can only exist within the shadows..."

He gazed at Sumitomo Ui's lowered face:

"You have already experienced the bloodline power dormant within your body... With all of that, why bother caring about such ethereal and illusory things as fame?"

"If you harbor resentment toward your elder sister... a suitable opportunity will naturally present itself in due time."

"Ah, older brothers and younger brothers... older sisters and younger sisters..."

Uncertain of what crossed his mind, Kazama Ruri let out a soft chuckle.

His tone shifted, growing somewhat more solemn:

"Tomorrow, several individuals will be arriving. Since you already know my identity, combined with your bloodline situation, you will naturally be joining us."

"Is this the Phantom Ghouls you've always spoken of?" Sumitomo Ui asked.

"Indeed," Kazama Ruri said.

"However, I have slightly concealed the details of your bloodline, claiming only that you are a half-breed I rescued from a small island monitored by the Snake-toothed Eight Families."

"Very well."

Sumitomo Ui lowered her head in obedience, asking no questions as to why.

The room fell silent for a moment before Kazama Ruri spoke again:

"Moreover, tomorrow, several special figures from within the Phantom Ghouls will also be arriving."

"Among them, there will be a person known as the 'Shogun'."

"Is he the leader of the Phantom Ghouls?" Sumitomo Ui asked, "The one who commands all the 'demons'?"

"Yes, but not entirely." Kazama Ruri put down his sake cup and placed his hands upon his knees.

"What I want to tell you is this: do not believe a single word he says."