At night in Choyo-machi, on the grassy riverbank where the river breeze blew, Miketsu, Nura Rihyon, and the others gathered. Because of the mission she had received during the day, Miketsu was quite interested in the rumors of Phoenix Fire she had heard before.
"Phoenix Fire? Are you interested in that kind of yokai too, Lord Owl?" Nura Rihyon said with some surprise upon hearing Miketsu's words.
"Something like that..." Gripping her tachi, Miketsu sat on the grass, using the refreshing river breeze to cool down. As the weather grew hotter, this outfit of Owl's was becoming increasingly uncomfortable to wear.
"Hmm... Regarding the Phoenix Fire, I've only heard rumors myself. It's said to be transformed from the flames of the divine beast Phoenix. Once it breaks out, it will incinerate forests for a thousand miles and burn a hundred yokai to ash. No living being can escape those flames." Nura Rihyon recalled while stroking his chin.
"I heard rumors about the Phoenix Fire when I was very young. This legend is widely circulated in the Kanto region, known by both yokai and humans alike. But since no similar incidents have occurred in Kanto for the past few centuries, many people think it's just a legend and not reality..." Speaking to this point, Nura Rihyon paused, and his expression became somewhat serious.
"But I know for certain that it's not a legend. The Phoenix Fire truly exists."
"You know? How so?" Tamamura, the tanuki on the side, asked curiously after taking a swig of sake.
"Because I once met a yokai who survived the devastation of the Phoenix Fire. It was a Kodama, a wood spirit whose main body was almost completely charred to black charcoal yet still stubbornly survived. Locally, he was known as Elder Charcoal Wood. I encountered him while training in the mountains and asked how he became that way, and he told me of his experience." As he spoke, Nura Rihyon scanned the group, seeing Yamausagi and Tamamura staring at him with curious eyes. Although Miketsu appeared calm under the cover of her bandages and hood, she was also full of curiosity.
Seeing this, Nura Rihyon cleared his throat and continued.
"According to Elder Charcoal Wood, it happened about two hundred and fifty years ago. On a midsummer night, a sudden loud noise erupted from the normally silent Mount Fuji. Then, a sheet of fire rolled down from the mountain, incinerating everything in its path and burning down vast stretches of forest. Many yokai and wild beasts perished because of it. Elder Charcoal Wood was a Kodama in the forest at the foot of Mount Fuji at the time, and he was the sole survivor of that calamity."
"Mount Fuji? Could that have been an eruption?" Tamamura said after hearing Nura Rihyon's words. Miketsu had the same thought; Nura Rihyon's description sounded very much like a volcanic eruption.
"No, it wasn't an eruption. According to Elder Charcoal Wood's description, the fire came down from the mountainside. Even though there was nothing to burn, it was massive, and there wasn't the heavy ash that always accompanies an eruption."
Listening to Nura Rihyon, Miketsu was surprised. No volcanic ash and starting from the mountainside—that indeed did not sound like an eruption.
"If it wasn't an eruption, then what was it?" the puzzled Tamamura blurted out.
"It's precisely because no one knew what it was that it was guessed to be the Phoenix Fire. After the first instance of Phoenix Fire at the foot of Mount Fuji, similar fires occurred in Kanto every few decades. The location was different each time, but they all caused vast forests to be incinerated and countless yokai to die. This situation continued for nearly a hundred years and then suddenly vanished. The Phoenix Fire never happened again. From my birth until now, I have never personally experienced the rumored Phoenix Fire. If I hadn't met Elder Charcoal Wood, I would have taken it for a legend too..." Nura Rihyon said, spreading his hands. He was still some distance away from being a hundred years old.
"Not an eruption... then this fire really is strange. Could it be that a Phoenix really passed by Mount Fuji and scattered its flames?" Hearing Nura Rihyon's words, Tamamura couldn't help but scratch his head in confusion. Whether this calamity fire was actually the Phoenix Fire remained doubtful.
"I don't know... but Elder Charcoal Wood had his own theory about it." As he spoke, Nura Rihyon's gaze became solemn.
"What was his theory?"
"He said... this fire was the wrath of a god."
Upon hearing the word 'god,' Miketsu's heart skipped a beat, and her attention sharpened. Nura Rihyon continued.
"According to Elder Charcoal Wood's memory, on the day the fire broke out on Mount Fuji, a group of strange humans went up the mountain. Among them were samurai, miko, and priests, seemingly sent by the government. No one knows why they went up, but they never came back down. When night fell, the fire erupted... so, Elder Charcoal Wood concluded that these humans did something on the mountain that angered the god, bringing down this divine punishment..."
Nura Rihyon stopped speaking once he finished. The scene fell silent for a moment, and for a long while, no one spoke.
"Well, although this story is very mysterious, it's something from your Kanto region over two hundred years ago. Even the most recent fire was a hundred years ago. It's impossible to determine the truth. It must be a different matter from the fire that happened not long ago and forced those yokai out of the deep mountains." Tamamura smacked his lips and said.
"Yeah, I think so too. After all, these things are too far in the past... that old man Charcoal Wood's words can't be fully trusted either..." Nura Rihyon nodded in agreement with Tamamura, and Miketsu thought much the same.
The Phoenix Fire rumors Nura Rihyon mentioned started over two hundred years ago and ended over a hundred years ago, far away in Kanto. The mission she took during the day happened less than a month ago and was very close to Heian-kyo. It was unlikely to be the same thing.
Just as everyone was prepared to treat what Nura Rihyon said as a complete story, Mountain Frog, who had been silent beneath Yamausagi, suddenly spoke up.
"Actually... I want to say, I've heard rumors about such fires too."
"They had them in your Totomi Province as well?" Hearing Mountain Frog, Nura Rihyon felt surprised for a moment.
"Yes, but just like in your Kanto region, it was only a rumor. Legend has it that about ninety years ago, there was a sudden mountain fire that broke out in different places every few years. Although I never saw it with my own eyes, I always heard some rumors. But in recent decades, these rumors have ceased. It seems the mountain fires stopped breaking out..." Mountain Frog said, rolling his large eyes.
"Oh oh~ Mr. Frog, you knew such a legend? Bunny didn't know at all!" Patting the horn on Mountain Frog's head, Yamausagi said loudly.
"It'd be a miracle if you did..."
Subsequently, Mountain Frog and Yamausagi began to bicker, while Miketsu sat to the side, silently pondering the issue.
The geographical and chronological distribution of this so-called Phoenix Fire rumor was indeed quite broad...
In the midst of her contemplation, Miketsu suddenly had a flash of inspiration, as if she had thought of something.
...
After bidding farewell to Nura Rihyon and the others, Miketsu left Choyo-machi, riding Konkiku quickly back to the shrine. Entering the small building in the divine realm, Miketsu did not rush to sleep but immediately summoned Tsuruha.
"A map? What kind of map do you want, Lady Uka?"
"Well... in short, the bigger the better. A national one would be even better..." Miketsu thought for a moment and then told Tsuruha.
"That... please wait a moment."
Before long, Tsuruha arrived before Miketsu with an old map in her mouth. Miketsu unrolled the yellowed map. On it was a part of Honshu with extremely distorted proportions, looking very different from the standard maps Miketsu had seen in her previous life.
Fortunately, the general orientations were correct. The names of the various provinces were also marked on the map, which was exactly what Miketsu needed.
"So... first is Kanto. As for Mount Fuji... hmm, Tsuruha, which province is Mount Fuji in?" Picking up a fine brush, Miketsu thought for a moment and asked Tsuruha.
"Mount Fuji is in Izu, Lady Uka."
"Izu..." Listening to Tsuruha's words, Miketsu lightly tapped the location of Izu on the map with her brush.
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