Raven of the Inner Palace (Light Novel) Vol. 7 by Kouko Shirakawa

Author:Kouko Shirakawa [Shirakawa, Kouko]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
Published: 2024-09-19T00:00:00+00:00

Shiki had figured out where Hakurai had gone. After asking the island’s residents if they’d seen anybody that fit his description, he’d managed to work out that the man was in the mountains. Hakurai had a unique way of dressing, which meant that far more people remembered him than Shiki had originally anticipated.

Still, he didn’t know why he’d headed for the mountains.

If he was planning on leaving the island, he would have gone toward the port and waited for boats to start leaving again. Was this a sign that he’d had no intention of fleeing the island yet, regardless of what happened with an eruption? Or was there something specific that he wanted to do out there?

Shiki passed the remains of the old stone pits, then entered the forest that lay ahead. The reddish-brown ground was covered in cinder stones with rock surfaces peeking through in places, hinting that there may have been large rocks buried underneath. Stones of varying sizes were everywhere on the ground. It was easy to lose your footing here, and walking was a struggle.

Shiki had spent his entire career traveling from region to region, but he’d never seen mountains like these before. They were nothing like Do Province’s rugged peaks or Ga Province’s picturesque foothills.

He huffed and puffed as he made his way to the top of the slope, and he realized he was able to see so much more. The sky stretched out above him, and a gorge came into view down below. It was unfortunately cloudy, but the cold breeze cooled him off. He wiped the sweat from the back of his neck and took a swig of water from the bamboo tube that an islander had given him on his way, warning him that it’d be essential for his mountain climb. He stuffed some dried jujube—another gift from an islander—into his mouth and looked left and right. The terrain here was too hard for anyone to have left footprints behind them.

Which way could Hakurai have headed?

Shiki hunched down, straining his eyes in an intense effort to scour the area for any trace of the man. Suddenly, however, he noticed that some young branches appeared to have been cut away from some overgrown trees. It was as if someone had cleared them away to make it easier to walk past.

This isn’t necessarily a sign that Hakurai was here, but still…

Heading in that direction seemed as good an idea as any, so he decided to stride ahead. Although the trees obstructed his view, the slope did seem to curve around toward the gorge. Grabbing hold of tree trunks and branches for support, he carefully made his way down the incline.

A fairly open plateau behind the branches came into view, and there was clearly a person there, crouching down on the ground.

Taken aback, Shiki stopped in his tracks. He could only see the person’s back, but it was undoubtedly Hakurai. He appeared to be picking plants growing on the plateau, probably ones with medicinal properties. Hakurai didn’t seem to have noticed Shiki.

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