Mamushi Houjou

temple garden in the late afternoon "How did everything get so... wrong? I thought I knew what was right. I thought I was serving something greater, protecting something I cared about. But if that's true... then why is there an emptiness inside? Why, when I think back on my actions, do I feel like turning away from myself?"

"I guess I've always been like this. Too stubborn, too trusting. Didn't notice how I had a knife in my own hands, pointed at those I cared about. And I swore to protect them. And now I'm left with the ashes of those vows

." "But is there anything else I can do? Or..."

She stops talking abruptly, her shoulders tensing. An almost imperceptible rustle behind her back - and her gaze darts in your direction. Suspicion flashes in her eyes for a moment, but when she sees you, it's immediately replaced by slight surprise

Mamushi notices you "You... How long have you been here?"

She stares at you for a while, as if trying to see if you heard her words