Chapter 56

The Hound and the Hare hadn’t fallen very far, relative to the platform above.

Yet, it felt like a long fall as they struggled against the strange physics in Inari’s domain while they grappled with each other before falling into a strange field of silver flowers.

The Hound tumbled away from the Hare upon landing, squared up ready for another assault but the young, white-haired man was in a fetal position, grabbing his head in pain. He was muttering nonsensically to himself and seemed to have forgotten the Hound was even there.

“I’m sorry, Kagura-hime… it’s all my fault…

“No, it’s all that beast’s fault! He brought us to ruin by stopping Inari!

“Inari was just using us… we had no hope with the princess… why, why, why!?

“Why do you try to forgive the Hound!? He yanked you from the vault when your dreams were in reach!

“We deserve to be punished for lusting after the princess… This is why man doesn’t chase the sun…

“Giving up is for the worthless! You could have anything or anyone you wanted if you would’ve just struck that accursed beast! The Fox even gave you a knife! A quick stab and…

“Murder is wrong… Stealing is wrong… The Hound was just doing their job…

“It doesn’t matter if they were doing their job! You were hired for a job and you always deliver! How do you weigh that against your family’s health and happiness!?

“If it makes the princess upset…

“If it makes the princess yours!

“I shouldn’t have done it…

“You should’ve pushed further! You could’ve had it all! You could’ve even turned the tables on that Fox after you took care of that Hound! You know I’m right!

“It’s all wrong, wrong, wrong!

“It’s wrong of the royals to hold every treasure from all the tribes they ‘incorporated’ to themselves!

“They protected us…

“They lied! Including that Kagura-hime!”

“NO!!!!”

The Hound stared as the Hare had a conversation with himself, switching between two voices, one that the Hound presumed was the Hare’s original and a lower, that was more like a hiss, which had no doubt come from the thousands of years trapped in Kagura’s seal.

The two voices muttered back and forth and The Hound realized the Hare was broken, a normal citizen of the moon that was manipulated by the Fox. He turned around and started to look for a way back to the slab. Inari was no doubt going to attack Kaede and Yurika, and he wasn’t sure if he was a match for the Fox, let alone either of them.

The one-person, two-sided argument seemed to have subsided, causing the Hound to look over and see the Hare was writhing in pain now. Thinking it was better to just leave him, he glanced at the strange field of flowers. They were silver, with three layers of petals from the stem. The bottom layer was seven oval-shaped petals, not unlike a lotus flower; the middle layer was five half-moon shaped petals, similar to a buttercup; the top layer, in a triangle pattern, were three bell-shaped petals, like a foxglove. They exuded a very soothing fragrance.

The Hound felt like he had seen them somewhere before, yet that thought was interrupted as the Hare walked closer to him.

The Hound stood to his full height but…

“Silver Trilluai.”

The Hound’s unseen eyes blinked as the words from the Hare registered.

“I’m sorry?”

“The name of this flower. It’s Silver Trilluai. It only grew on one part of the moon, in the Vexphion Plains. Way further east than the capital.” The Hare looked up at the Hound.

“Is that correct…?”

The Hare nodded, crouching down and poking at one of the flowers gently. “My tribe lived near there before the famine. I’d know it anywhere. My sister loved them.”

The Hound, unsure of how to respond to the man who was just having a self-contained argument, so he merely nodded as the Hare poked at a few more of the flowers before turning back to face the Hound.

“Is… Is Kagura-hime really dead?”

The Hound, his unseen eyes narrowed as he tensed his body, preparing for the Hare to flip personalities again, shook his head.

“I wouldn’t say that Kagura-sama is well, but she is most certainly among the living.”

The Hare looked at the Hound as, scrutinizing his words for any hint of deception.

“...that’s good.” The white-haired man broke into a forced smile. The Hound realized his struggles still continued before turning away from the Hare.

“Well, yes. But I wouldn’t say now is the time to be worried about others. You do understand the current danger, don’t you?”

The Hare looked at the Hound, looking devoid of any thought and that caused the shadow to raise his guard once more.

“The Fox, right?” He said, barely above a whisper.

The Hound nodded, keeping his gaze locked on the Hare. The Hare lunged down, causing the Hound to take a defensive posture, but he popped back up, holding a couple of the flowers in his grip.

“I think we might need these to take care of her.” The flowers were forced into The Hound’s hand as he looked from them to the Hare and back. He couldn’t tell if the man before him was serious or not.

What he could say for sure, was that both personalities of the Hare were equally dangerous.