"Beautiful scenery is hell!" Fujiwara Reya said cryptically.
Kasahara Fumi thought he was talking nonsense again, perhaps trying to amuse her. Yet she instinctively took it seriously, attempting to view the scenery as hell. In the lush green, silent, nonchalant landscape before her, beauty was clearly swaying, what did it have to do with hell?
"Do you believe in demons?" Fujiwara Reya asked.
"Demons with horns?"
"Exactly."
"If evil were to be likened to demons, then of course I could believe in them."
"But what if there were physical demons in reality?"
"In any case, what we’re talking about is hypothetical. If we delve into it like this, specific examples would be needed. Just like a bridge requires piers for support." Kasahara Fumi said with the earnestness of a science student, "The deeper you go into hypothetical things, the weaker they get, and the conclusions beco boundless."
"I feel a black lily is a specific example." Fujiwara Reya said.
"You probably aren’t cut out to be a law enforcer!" Kasahara Fumi said matter-of-factly.
"Really?"
"To put it simply, law is the managent of human affairs. In our world, yin is yin, yang is yang, I am I, and he is he. The saying goes, ’I am I, he is he, the autumn sun sets in the west.’" Kasahara Fumi paused for a mont, then looked at her fingertips as if inspecting nail polish.
The nail polish was a slightly pale pink, applied perfectly. Fujiwara Reya thought this must be his sister’s nail polish, otherwise, he would abstain for a month.
After a while of thinking, Kasahara Fumi continued, "But you do not belong to this world. You belong to: either above or below."
"Above or below?" Fujiwara Reya asked out of pure curiosity.
"Above is above, and below is below. When it’s ti to rise, aim for the top of the highest tower; when it’s ti to fall, find the deepest well and reach the bottom." Kasahara Fumi stared at her nails for a mont, then put her hands in her pockets. "I am he, he is I. The spring night seems endless, only with is there ."
As she said these words, her expression was extrely solemn.
But Fujiwara Reya knew she was suppressing laughter.
From her suddenly lively eyes and slightly trembling shoulders, it was clear she had learned to say things that sounded very reasonable to amuse people.
"You’ve beco wicked!" he laughed and scolded.
"Hmph!"
Kasahara Fumi’s expression was quite aloof.
She sat there beside him, her neck twisted like a slender, solitary bird, gazing nonchalantly at Fujiwara Reya.
"Let’s go, head back to find Mrs. Tanemura first." Fujiwara Reya stood up and walked back towards the tea room, "Let’s deal with the Huang Songyu matter first, then have the two chairn initiate and resu the sumr festival. We’ve spent so much money, we can’t let it go to waste..."
"The public still needs to be appeased."
"That’s the job of your Section Nine."
"Just a reminder, Mr. Fujiwara, you are also an agent of Section Nine."
"Oh, almost forgot. So, Captain, how should we cover up the timing this ti?"
"Shoot a movie."
"So cliché, so uncreative!"
"You co up with one?"
"...Shooting a movie is great, I love shooting movies the most."
In the quiet garden lined with many low trees, the two chatted, walking side by side down the sun-drenched corridor. Through the open window, one could see the alcove and treasure shelves in a corner of the tea room. It seed a Buddha-offering tea ceremony was often held here, as the floor was covered with a vibrant crimson carpet. Mrs. Tanemura was kneeling inside the tea room, visible through the window.
"Wait." Fujiwara Reya suddenly stopped.
Kasahara Fumi understood his intention, bent over slightly, and looked inside through the window.
A woman in a kimono walked out from the inner room, sitting upright facing Mrs. Tanemura. The two sat across from each other motionlessly for a long ti.
"It’s that maid." Fujiwara Reya said in a low voice.
Kasahara Fumi stared intently, pressing her chest tight against the window railing, "This maid is a bit odd, I noticed earlier that she doesn’t have the kind of reverence in her gaze that a servant should have for their master."
"I find her familiar, like I’ve seen this maid sowhere before."
"You think every pretty woman looks familiar, right?"
"...I’m talking about sothing serious!"
Kasahara Fumi put a finger to her lips, "Shh!"
Hmm.
The sister didn’t want to hear the brother-in-law’s explanation.
At this mont, Mrs. Tanemura suddenly got up and entered the inner room, and returned after a long while with a tea bowl. The breeze fluttered the sleeves of her black mourning attire, creating a beautiful, sorrowful image. After bringing the tea bowl back, she prepared a bowl of tea according to the tea ceremony, then returned to her original position, kneeling again.
The maid’s lips moved slightly, as if saying sothing, and Mrs. Tanemura bowed deeply.
The stretch of silence felt peculiarly long, unnervingly tense...but what happened next was even more unbelievable. Mrs. Tanemura, maintaining her graceful sitting posture, unexpectedly reached out and untied her waistband.
"Ssss—"
Fujiwara Reya’s keen hearing even detected the sound of the silk cord being drawn from the inside of the waistband.
Imdiately after, Mrs. Tanemura loosened her collar, revealing her fair chest. She bent over, supporting one hand to place into the deep black tea bowl.
This scene left Fujiwara Reya and Kasahara Fumi stupefied.
At this mont, in both of their minds, they simultaneously envisioned milk mixing into the bubbling green tea inside the black tea bowl, the murky tea water creating white froth...
The maid lifted the tea bowl and drank the strange tea in one gulp.
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