"Fuyumi Ono - Juuni Kokki Novel - Sea Of The Wind, Shore Of The Maze" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ono Fuyumi)

If she could have, the nyokai would've liked to cross the Kongou Mountains at the edge of the Yellow Sea, to look
even farther east. There was no living creature that could go over the Kongou Mountains. No one knew the reason,
but this was a rule from very ancient times.
"Here, drink a little."
Youka pushed the wooden bucket to Sanshi's lips, and Sanshi drank water from the bucket.
She watched as Sanshi took a few gulps and then lifted her head. Youka took out an embroidered handkerchief from
her sleeve and moistened it. She then gently wrung it dry and used it to cover Sanshi's foot. She had been supporting
Sanshi with her hand, so she knew that Sanshi's feet were radiating heat.
"Ah, your feet are so swollen."
She wrapped Sanshi's claws with the cloth. Sanshi closed her eyes in relief, and leaned her head gently against the
bunch of spirea flowers, her weight causing the flowers to drift down in succession.
A long time ago, all the spireas here had been pulled out with their roots, not one remaining.
--That was ten years ago.
"Comfortable? From now on, don't go so far."
Sanshi didn't reply, but Youka didn't mind, because Sanshi had always been like this.
The powerful shoku that had previously descended upon Houro Palace didn't alter the shape of the land on the Five
Mountains, but the places and landscapes outside of the Five Mountains underwent a great change. The fruit of the
white tree was thusly swept away to an unknown place.
At that time, the nyokai had wept profusely, but afterwards, no one ever heard a sound from her.
Youka used the handkerchief she had moistened and carefully applied it to Sanshi's legs.
"Does it still hurt? You should go to the river and soak them in the cold water."
She poured out the water that was now warm. Sanshi wordlessly stood up and walked aside.
However, Sanshi wasn't headed toward the river. She wanted to return to the Shashinboku. Youka knew this much,
but she didn't stop her.
This was because Youka could understand Sanshi's feelings.
At first, Teiei had told her that after the fruit of the kirin hatched, Youka would be able to help take care of him.
When she was a part of the human world, she knew that the ordinary person didn't have the chance to see a kirin.
When she had finally become a nyosen, taking care of Taiki was originally going to be her first meaningful job and
also her first opportunity to come close to a kirin.
She would never have thought that the fruit would disappear like that. Youka, who had originally filled her heart with
anticipation, had been disappointed by the loss. And because Sanshi lost the one she was to nurture, the breasts on
her upper human half had shrunk to the size of a girl's, leaving only small bulges. In addition, the feet on her lower
leopard half were now extremely red and swollen due to all the long-distance running she had been doing. Similar to
Sanshi, Youka held in her heart the pain of emptiness.
The fruit had been swept away ten years ago. All the nyosen had said that Taiki would never return and that, in a
short while, the Shashinboku would bear a new fruit. This would mean that the kirin who had disappeared had already
died in an unknown place.
Though it had been like this, they still refused to give up hope. Since then, Sanshi still went back and forth through
the east to search, and in her heart, Youka constantly thought of Taiki. Youka would pray for Sanshi, prepare a few
necessities for her, and in her spare time, learn how to take care of a kirin. She could not help but want to do these
things, and thus could empathize with Sanshi's pain. And Sanshi was the same. Of all the nyosen, she was closest to
Youka.
After she watched Sanshi's tired frame leave, she picked up the water bucket.
When she turned her body, preparing to get more water, a nyosen moved the spirea flower curtain and came out of
the tunnel.
"Isn't Sanshi here?"
 Youka turned her head to look at the path that Sanshi had taken, but she could not see her outline anymore.
"She went to the Shashinboku."
"Can you quickly go get her?"
"But I have to go get water..."