I was imprisoned for fifty-three years.

  Sanzo told me this number.

  When he sneaked in through a small tunnel he'd dug from outside the cell, I was lying on the ground drawing with a sharp little pebble.

  Though no one ever brought me food, making me feel somewhat weak, this wasn't enough to starve me to death.

  Darkness wasn't particularly frightening to me either. This cell was dim, damp, and cold... so centipedes, insects, snakes, and similar creatures often appeared.

  I'd catch them, use them as toys to pass time, then eat them.

  During this long imprisonment, I wasn't completely without progress. It was as if that night, my body finally realized that without evolving, I'd die miserably sooner or later.

  Though I didn't need or want to eat people, I could still accumulate strength by supplementing other energy.

  Just that compared to normal human food, the occasional small animals provided too little energy. That's why I needed so much time.

  Even if Sanzo hadn't come, I estimated in another decade or so, I could probably muster the strength to snap the chains, tear open the iron bars, and leave.

  Honestly, he appeared quite miserably and nearly got killed by me.

  The reason was that several days earlier, I'd heard unusual sounds from the ground near the stone wall.

  I thought it was some animal that could dig through stone. I even looked forward to it tunneling to me—bringing the whole family would be even better.

  So when he dug a hole and timidly squeezed through amid falling rocks and dust, he saw me holding up a sharp stone, just a finger's distance from his forehead.

  He turned pale with fright, nearly fainting on the spot.

  I grabbed his collar, asking in a strange, slurred voice, "Human?"

  Unable to pass out directly, he looked dejected, gazing at me with considerable awe. "Are you... Granny Chihaya?"

  I fell silent, looking at my unchanged body.

  By age, he wasn't wrong to call me that, so I didn't object.

  "Who... are you? Who... sent you?"

  "It's, it's this humble one's grandmother," he said trembling. "Her name is Ohagi."

  Ohagi... I felt dazed. This name had faded in my memory, along with her face becoming blurred.

  So she'd survived after all, even had grandchildren. She must have lived a decent life.

  How wonderful.

  Didn't expect her to come rescue me.

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  After I followed Sanzo out through the tunnel he'd dug, night had just fallen.

  From outside, I discovered this was a cell built into the mountainside, extremely secluded.

  Finding this place was truly difficult.

  Sanzo said after Ohagi married her husband, she'd been trying various ways to find my whereabouts.

  Thirty years ago, she finally found this place.

  Back then, guards still stood at the entrance, but fortunately they didn't patrol the surroundings.

  So they could only start secretly digging a tunnel from behind. Sanzo's father took over this task from Ohagi. A few years ago, it became Sanzo's turn to dig.

  He rambled on about these things. I couldn't help reaching out to stroke this small young man's head.

  Thank you. I was truly grateful they hadn't forgotten me.

  On the way down from the mountain, Sanzo seemed very afraid.

  When I asked why, he said that once night fell, man-eating demons appeared, so he normally didn't dare move around at night.

  Demons. This word was quite accurate. Monsters that ate people—weren't they exactly the evil demons of legend?

  Seemed the Young Master was also living well, even successfully starting his demon-creation plan.

  Wonder how many demons were hidden in this world now.

  Even if I wanted to do something, I was powerless.

  That failed effort decades ago taught me how vast the power gap between the Young Master and me was.

  By now, I had absolutely no confidence I could face him.

  But though Sanzo was afraid, he wasn't too tense.

  He said being able to grow up safely, with his family never attacked by demons, was also thanks to Ohagi.

  Wisteria trees grew around their home. Whenever they went out, they also carried wisteria sachets.

  I see. So the demons the Young Master created also hated wisteria like him.

  Because I could only travel at night, we spent five days and nights reaching our destination.

  From a distance, I saw Ohagi.

  She wore coarse cloth clothing. Her back was already hunched. Her full head of white hair was neatly combed. Her skin no longer had its former fair smoothness.

  Night had fallen. She was preparing to close the doors and windows and go inside to sleep.

  But Sanzo called out "Grandma" from afar. She slowly turned around.

  Those eyes with cloudy spots fell on me. I suddenly stood still, seriously looking at that face that seemed changed yet somehow completely unchanged.

  Ohagi slowly walked over, tremblingly taking my hand. Tears fell on the back of my hand.

  "Thought... before I closed my eyes, I wouldn't see you again," she said.

  Back then when I told her to find onmyoji, Ohagi was very clever.

  She didn't rashly appear herself. Instead, she took the Young Master's personal belongings and told the city commoners who'd lost relatives that this was evidence left by the murderer, quietly inciting them to protest.

  The city's onmyoji investigated all the way, finally tracing it to the Tachibana household.

  Though I ended up unlucky, Ohagi wasn't exposed—a blessing in misfortune.

  The Young Master didn't know she was close to me, so he didn't single her out for revenge.

  Because I was locked up as the scapegoat, so many deaths couldn't keep appearing in the city.

  The Young Master left the capital and returned to Tachibana territory. Over a decade later, he mysteriously disappeared.

  From that time on, legends of man-eating demons spread everywhere.

  Ohagi cautiously passed through the most suspicious period, then left the estate with the money I'd given her and married an honest, reliable man.

  She never forgot me. After quietly learning I hadn't died but was imprisoned, she started investigating where I was locked up.

  The world has changed now, Ohagi said. Very chaotic everywhere.

  This era wasn't as stable as before. Nobles fought each other. War and killing everywhere. No one listened to the great nobles in the city anymore.

  The city wasn't safe either. That's why Ohagi moved her family to this place.

  Her husband, son, and daughter-in-law had all passed away. She lived with her grandson.

  Having nowhere to go, I stayed at her house, ate long-missed hot meals, and received new clothes after bathing.

  Ohagi slowly dried my hair with cloth, saying with a smile, "I made these according to your old measurements. They really fit."

  I couldn't help smiling too.

  During the day when I couldn't go out, I stayed home talking with Ohagi, doing handicrafts together, cheering on Sanzo who farmed outside.

  At night I'd wander the mountains, catching a few rabbits or pheasants to bring back and improve our meals.

  After taking in sufficient nutrition, I noticed my strength increased. My body became more agile. Catching prey was effortless for me.

  After living so peacefully for two years, Ohagi passed away.

  ~~~~??~~~~~~~~??~~~~

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