Yukiya and the Prince begin their journey back. They follow the thread, climbing and crawling through the tunnel. As they make their way back, the bone falls out of Yukiya’s garment and the Prince takes an interest in it.
Yukiya explains his deal with King Saku to the Prince while he examines the bone. Our protagonist thinks these are Yatagarasu bones, or maybe monkey bones, but the Prince seems hesitant to proffer his opinion.
Nazukihiko explains himself. He knew the meeting would fail without him present and sent a letter in advance to King Saku, stating that he would be late and asking the other king to pacify the Underground. As they continue on their path, they realize that the tunnel path has suddenly split into two and the thread they were following has been cut.
Turns out that they unwittingly crossed the Yamauchi boundary. And now the boundary is preventing them from reentering because it thinks they are outsiders.
While they ponder what to do, the monkeys catch up to them. The Prince tells Yukiya to find a way back to Yamauchi, expressing his confidence in the young boy, while he holds them off. Yukiya manages to figure out King Saku’s hint: the scent of cassia and sandalwood.
They follow the smell and make a narrow escape, leaving the monkeys behind. Outside the tunnel, Yukiya hands the bone fragment to King Saku who seems very calm and unsurprised.
King Saku tells Yukiya that the bones do not belong to any animal that lives in Yamauchi or to the Yatagarasu. Or even to the monkeys.
They belong to humans.
At this point, I was on the figurative edge of my seat. I always thought that the Yatagarasu saw themselves as magical humans; humans with the ability to take raven form. They have human features, talk like humans, eat like humans and so on. So I just thought that they saw themselves as humans with special abilities.
I had no idea that Yatagarasu did not know what humans are.
Indeed, our protagonist promptly asks: “What is a human? Some animal from the outside world?”
Ouch.
The Prince begins explaining.
“Yamauchi is a little world wrapped in a thin boundary…And the world outside is ruled by humans.”
The mood is sombre and we are taken to a scene where Yukiya studies the Prince’s books which are filled with writings and drawings of human inventions. Motorcycles, planes, and skyscrapers—things the Prince himself must have sketched during his foray into the outside world.
While talking to the team, Nazukihiko elaborates on the situation. He believes that the monkeys have been dwelling in the gap between Yamauchi and the outside world and feasting on humans there. He reasons that a passage in the boundary must have opened up and the monkeys then discovered the Yatagarasu.
While all the evidence points to the passage being in the north, King Saku thinks the passage is actually in the Center. He connects the string of disappearances in the Center to the appearance of the sagecap drug and the monkey attacks.
I have to say, I am impressed.
Turns out the water peddler, Jihei, is the catalyst of all this.
He procured women for the monkeys in exchange for human bones. The human bones were then sold to the Yatagarasu and compounded to make Sagecap—the drug responsible for the addictions in the Center.
He acted as a facilitator, guiding the monkeys to the North where they could hunt freely without raising too much suspicion. He drugged the sake supplied at the party in Sugou so the Yatagarasu who drank could not resist the monkeys or escape to raise the alarm.
He is a villain. But worst of all, he is a coward.
At the Prince’s orders, his likeness is pasted all around the kingdom. Jihei catches sight of the posters and goes into hiding. The episode ends with a person hanging dead from a building (presumably Jihei) but not before we get a soft scene between Nazukihiko and Yukiya.
“Yamauchi is on the road to collapse,” Nazukihiko says and I wonder…
Will the Yatagarasu have to integrate into human society?
Surely that’s a question for next season.
My thoughts so far
We are slowly getting to the climax of the story. The loose ends are slowly being weaved together to form one large majestic tapestry. I think the next episode will draw the curtain on Koume’s involvement in this whole issue.
As regards a second season, I haven’t checked if any announcement has been made. I tried getting the novels but I couldn’t find an English translation. I hope the story will be continued. It has received very good reviews and ratings so far.
I still want to see more of the Prince’s abilities. Yes, he has been shown to be proficient with a sword. But I want to see more of this kin’u instinct I keep hearing of.
I want to see his raven form. Is it golden?
Let us know!
What did you think of this episode?
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