Chapter 7

After some time the carriage comes to a halt.The wheels screech and the horses stop clapping their hoofs onto the ground. After some time the one entrance door opens.

Another girl with short, black, disheveled hair stands just outside. She is wearing some sort of white shirt with a simple black jacket. She is wearing shorts and thick white boots. Judging from her face she is a bit older than I am. There are multiple thin scars on the left side of her face.

“C’mon, we’re there.” Without saying anything else she turns around. Aki and Aomade quickly leave the carriage. Taya Hanebana smiles at me and gestures me to leave as well.

As I step outside my eyes are overwhelmed by the amount of information I see. I am right in the middle of some sort of giant city. The city seems rather traditional and basically looks just like my village… If you change its size and pure extent hundredfold, that is. There were multiple buildings in farther distance, yet still within the boundaries of this city which the others called Tojiume, standing and towering above all else. Most importantly; there is one giant temple, standing very tall. The only building standing even atop it is a single tower in the middle of the city.

Across the city there are six giant trees, circling around the proud capital.Each one of those trees is probably wider and thicker than my entire village was.
The night sky was truly black. It seems as though I have slept for quite a while as the sun, which was just settling, is nowhere to be seen. Yet, despite that, I could see clearly. Around the entire city were red lanterns, glowing brightly from the inside. They light up the city even in the deepest darkness and give this night, normally dominated by the absence of light, the color it needs to truly blossom.

In front of me stands another building. It is another giant temple, though not quite as giant as the other one. Its red roofs paired with the red lanterns give off a kind of eerie expression at this late hour.

“This is the Academy where we reside.” Taya Hanebana steps out of the carriage and closes its door. “You too will sleep here. At least for today. You are free to go right after, if that is what you desire.”

I remember the information Taya Hanebana gave me regarding this academy back there in the carriage:

“The academy we belong to - the so-called Academy For Blessed Individuals, AFBI for short - specializes in training Blessed for the fight against Yokai and just the overall protection of the country. To be honest with you, it's more like training people so that they can end up joining the military or do something else with their abilities. Thus, we also specialize in certain tasks which the military normally would focus on. Only through real experience can one really grow. This task today - the search for survivors in the area of your village and all that - was also given to us by the military.”

Summing it up, the building in front of me is an academy which ultimately focuses on training Blessed to protect the country, use their blessings in a correct way and ultimately make them the soldiers of the capital.

Well, that doesn’t sound that fun, but it is probably the only thing I can think of doing right now. If I really have been blessed by Lady Death herself - which I am pretty sure of - then this place is probably the easiest way to learn how to use it properly. Through those tasks it also gives me some kind of actual meaning and things to do… After all, I am hardly following some sort of goal at the moment. I’d like to stop Lady Death from doing her whole Poem thingy, but I doubt that will be feasible without any sort of training. They also probably know a lot more about Lady Death than I do. So, if I want information, I should also ask them.

“Yeah, I think I’ll stay here for a bit… Joining and living here seems to be the right option for me… At least for the foreseeable future.”

Taya Hanebana throws a thumbs up at me.

“Perfect. C’mon, let’s go inside. We gotta talk to the headmaster and explain your current situation, then you should get a room and rest.”

She walks to the tall wooden entrance door, which Aomade has held open for the two of us. He was waiting. His teacher thanked him:

“Thanks, Aomade Also, please move the horses back to their home as well. They are probably tired and don’t want to stand here all night.”

Aomade sighs, then he nods and leaves to take care of the horses. Together with Taya Hanebana I enter the building.