"A Special Bond" Memory Scrolls

* TW/JP Servers: March 25th - April 14th 2020
* GL Server: April 1st - April 21st 2020

This was the memory scroll event accompanying the release of the SSR shikigami Enmusubi no Kami.

## Rewards

When each part of the scroll is fixed, rewards will be distributed across server depending on participation. The participation value depends on the shards being given, and the more given the higher the value. Each portion of the scroll has a separate ranking for participation, and the ranking spans the entire server. Data is refreshed once every minute.

Personal Contribution Ranking Rewards

2

3

3

3

## Shikigami Story

* Scroll I
* Scroll II
* Scroll III
* Scroll IV
* Scroll V
* Scroll VI

### Music

During my time as a goddess over the last few centuries, I’ve seen quite a number of strange weddings. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of fox weddings? But if you see it start to rain while the sun is shining in the forest, you better start running. To set eyes upon the fox’s bride is an ill omen indeed.

I was crossing the forest at the border of the Demon Domain that day when I saw a procession even more eerie than that of a fox wedding. The demons lifting the palanquin, as well as those clearing the way in front, were dressed in sarugako theater costumes. They were walking very slowly, humming sarugako music that I’d never heard before. The faint sound of crying could be heard, muffled by the music. I listened carefully. It was from the human girl inside the palanquin. Her thread of fate was not pointing anywhere. Clearly, this marriage was against her will.

I immediately headed to a nearby village for information. As expected, there was a popular superstition in this area. Areas near Demon Doman have been troubled by demon raids over the years. People believe that they can be protected if they offer a young girl to the lord of the Demon City of Baekje every year. There have been many rogues, onmyoji and swordsmen who have tried to rescue the girls. But none has returned. And their stories were adopted into children’s songs, passed on for generations.

But breaking up couples means ruining my work. And as the saying goes, punishment awaits those who stop people from obtaining their rightful earnings. So I decided to disguise myself as an onmyoji and find out the truth. If I run into any trouble, at least I have my divine power to help me get away.

### Dance

I concealed my scent and began my search in the empty City of Baekje. After a long search, I managed to find where the girls who had been offered were kept. None of them were hurt. But all of them had been forced to wear a mask and practice sarugako dances day and night.

Under their blank masks, I saw faces with the most frightened expressions. I was explaining how I would get them out of this place when a demon general ambushed me from behind. Just as I was about to be struck, one of the girls cast a spell, hitting the demon, and giving me the time I needed to subdue him.

“You know Onmyoji Spells?”

“I know a few.”

The girl had a firm look in her eyes. She helped me evacuate the other children.

When we approached the exit, we were surrounded by demon generals. I prepared myself to face off against the sharp-toothed, blood-sucking demons, when a marionette slowly appeared before us. It was being controlled by someone else with spiritual power. As it approached, it left deep marks in the wooden floor. When they saw the marionette, the demons began to scatter. It raised its hand, and the ground was drenched in blood. Hundreds of demons were torn apart by its strings. Parts of their bodies dropped at our feet. The girls were terrified.

“Apologies, guests from afar.”

The mouth of the marionette opened and closed, slowly conveying its master’s words.

I’ve seen demons who went mad and hurt themselves. But this is the first time I’ve seen someone welcoming a ‘thief’ into their house.

I suppressed my urge to ask questions and started to bargain.

“My Lord, I received a handsome commission to rescue these girls. I’m sorry if this brings you any trouble. You see, Kuro, my only family is severely ill, and I needed the money. If you like sarugako music, I’ll be sure to send you a few pieces of music later by way of apology.”

“I can’t believe there’s truly a human who takes more and actually does something with it. Why, this makes me find humans even more fascinating.”

I spent some time trying to figure out if what he said was a joke or not.

“Are you saying that no warriors have ever come to rescue them?”

“Never. And I’ve been waiting for a long time.”

There was no hint of agitation in the marionette’s frivolous tone. In fact, his voice sounded disappointed and lazy. “Perhaps that was a lie from the humans’ leader, hoping to appease the public. Or maybe those warriors never wanted to take their chances. All they wanted was to get the money.”

“Whatever the reason, I’m becoming more and more interested in humans!”

“Is that why you force them to offer you young girls?”

“No. I was protecting those girls. The humans fear the power of demons and monsters. They wish to offer up members of their kind for the assurance it brings them. If I did not take them in myself, they would probably be offered to the river god and thrown into the river… I’m the kindest demon in the Demon Domain.”

I sensed a kind of sick joy in the marionette’s excited voice. So I tried to use his own way of thinking to guide my reply. My few hundred years of experience made me aware that this demon must be extremely dangerous.

“Looks like you see the humans as your close friends. And it might be true that some of the girls might not be accepted by their people when they return home. But I wonder if you could give them the choice, and let them decide whether they want to go with me.”

“Sure. But it does make me sad that, despite the fact that we’ve been living together for such a long time, those humans still never dare to greet me.”

He sounded hurt. But his poor acting prevented any sympathy I could feel for him. All I wanted to do was to get the girls out of there as soon as possible.

The marionette escorted us out of the City of Baekje. As we got farther away, I heard his whisper with my divine power,

“Am I going to have to be lonely for a while? The only things that amuse me are humans and killing my own kind... Right, I guess I will use the music that those girls wrote as the requiem for my next prey.”

### Narukami

My name is Chigusa. I was born on the day when the asters bloom in the fields. Where I come from, the aster is the most famous flower of all. It’s also known as the flower of fifteen nights. And it was this flower that I was named after.

During the season when the asters are in bloom, many famous people from the capital would come to admire the flowers. The people in my hometown could calculate the days precisely, making sure that the flowers would be blooming exactly when the lords came to visit.

There’s a reason they’re called the flower of fifteen nights - they bloom no longer than fifteen days. After that, they will wither quietly in the stillness of night.

My life has been like those flowers. Everything was planned out for me since the day I was born.

One day, my grandma fell ill. When I helped her take medications, she patted my head gently.

“Chigusa, you’re such a clever girl. If only you had been a boy. You would have brought such glory to the family.”

I didn’t understand what trouble my gender would cause me until I was nine, when my little brother was born. Grandma’s withered body seemed to become infused with new life. Her eyes sparkled when she saw my little brother.

With his life scheduled out for him by his parents, my little brother was not happy at all. He liked to design clothes, but grandma thought this was not a hobby that befitted a boy at all. She believed he was responsible for bringing prosperity to the family, and that he must live up to the pressure piled upon him and study things that would increase the family’s prestige.

I lived my life in an apathetic haze. The mentor in my school never focused on the female students. In his words, when we became adults, it was our duty to find a man to marry. And at that point we should stop studying, while male students could continue to improve, with the chance to go and study in the capital. I watched the asters bloom and wither year after year, wondering if my life was worth living. Until one day, I acquired a book on Onmyoji Spells from a shop. As my fingers touched the pages, my eyes skimming over the lines, it was like I had discovered a new me. Someone who was interested in everything.

Over the next five years, I studied nearly a hundred books on Onmyoji Spells. I even wrote a book on the spells I invented. I submitted my book to the Onmyoji Guild, trying to earn myself a chance to study in the capital.

But the cruelty of the real world stood in my way. No woman could enter as an onmyoji candidate in the competition. I was forced to submit my book under an alias - Monsieur Aster.

I ranked top in the competition. But no one believed my identity. After all, there was no way that the great Monsieur Aster could possibly be a mere teenage girl. In the end, a child from a noble family was awarded the winning honors in my place. My dream had come to an end.

All of a sudden, my passion was snuffed out. When I was told I had been selected as the offering to Baekje, I didn’t feel sad or frightened. I didn’t know why the gods had allowed me to be born, only to place these worldly shackles upon me. I didn’t know why I had been given the ability to smile and laugh, when I had then been robbed of the right to do so. I quietly walked onto the bridge. I turned around and looked at my heartbroken family for the last time.

Of all the things I was leaving behind, it pained me the most to part with them.

Perhaps the asters this year will have withered in a few days.

### Flowering Spirit

While I was sending the girls I had rescued home one by one, I noticed that one of them - a girl named Chigusa - had not smiled once. And I thought I had seen the spell she used before.

“Chigusa, have you read the books by Monsieur Aster? You handled that spell quite well earlier.”

“If I told you... that I’m Monsieur Aster, would you believe me?”

I was surprised to find out that she had such talent at such a young age.

“I would. Why wouldn’t I? The same thought occurred to me the moment you cast the spell.”

She seemed to be surprised by my answer. Her numb expression gave way to a look of shock.

“Thank you for believing me.”

I didn’t understand why she was thanking me all of a sudden. But her look made me worry about her. So I decided to watch her a little longer.

Chigusa was born to an ordinary family. Not rich, but they had enough to eat.

When she arrived home, her family held her in their arms and cried. Her grandma held her hands firmly and said, “Chigusa, now you must go find someone to marry before you’re too old. I will only feel assured once you have a family of your own. The Ishiharas are equal in status to our family. I think their hard-working son is quite suitable for you.”

I used my divine power to look at Chigusa’s thread of fate. It was not pointing to anyone.

Chigusa hesitated a moment. She didn’t seem to be about to turn down the proposal. I didn’t want her to suffer from this predicament anymore, so I stepped in.

“Pardon me for saying this. But a marriage requires both people to be willing. A forced marriage cannot lead to happiness. I think such large decisions in Chigusa’s life as marriage should be made by her and her alone.”

Clearly, her grandma was not happy with what I had said. She vented her anger on her grandson, who was trying to sneak out.

“It’s for Chigusa’s sake. I’ve lived long enough to know how important a man is. And you’re just a little girl. Shunsuke! Are you sneaking out to learn threads and needles again? That’s what girls do! It will bring shame to our family if you keep up such nonsense!”

Shunsuke heard his grandma yelling and rushed out, leaving his cloth behind. Chigusa and I caught up with him and found him hiding in a field of asters. He wiped away the tears in his eyes when he saw us approaching.

“It’s so embarrassing for you to see me crying, Sis. Father said a man shouldn’t cry so easily.”

I sighed. Both Chigusa and Shunsuke had dreams of their own, but were held back by the world they lived in.

“Men can cry. Everyone, man or woman, has the right to unburden their sadness. Plus, learning to work with thread and needles is not something to be ashamed of. Tailor or onmyoji, it’s only a matter of your choice of life. Your gender shouldn’t be what’s stopping you.”

“Also...” I turned to Chigusa, who was standing among the flowers. “I can’t see where your thread of fate is headed. Perhaps, right now… you’re not bonded with anyone in particular, but to the profession of an onmyoji.”

A breeze swept by and pulled Chigusa back from her thoughts. She looked at me. Sweat dripped down from her face. But I could see the light of hope in her eyes. I put my hands on my hips, as if ready to do something big.

“Hey, do you want to see what it’s like in the capital?”

### Senju

Chigusa told me what she had been through. She said she even disguised herself as a man to take part in the competition so she could go to the capital.

I didn’t think her dream was impossible at all. She just hadn’t found the right way yet. We wrote a letter to the great onmyoji Seimei in the capital together. Chigusa enclosed the spells she had invented in the letter. And I used my divine power to send the letter directly into Seimei’s courtyard. After a short moment of waiting, she received a reply from Seimei. Seimei said he was impressed by her talent and invited her to go to the capital to study under his wing.

Chigusa and I prepared to persuade her family. To our surprise, we found out that her mother and brother had already persuaded her other family members. Before we left, Chigusa’s mother took her hand. Her hands were full of calluses that were painful to the touch, but were warm nevertheless.

“Chigusa, my girl, I used to like painting when I was young. But I had to help out in the pastry shop when I was thirteen so we could afford your uncle’s tuition. Then I got married, and was trapped in one small house after another. But I hope that my daughter can realize her dream. Go and see the wider world with your own eyes.”

Shunsuke took out a neatly made bag and handed it to Chigusa. He scratches his head, embarrassed.

“Sister, I’ve been treated better than you ever since I was born. This is the money I’ve saved over the years. It’s not much, I know. I’ll keep on learning to use the needle and thread! You go be a great onmyoji. And when you do become one, I want you to wear the most beautiful kariginu ever made, designed by me!”

Her grandma and father bid farewell to her in their own awkward ways.

The world might not be fair. You may encounter prejudice on your way. But you should never let those shackles hold you back. You should chase your dream bravely, and I believe that your true path will open up before you. After all, seeds stay in the ground for months before they sprout and boom. Waiting in the dark is indeed torturous. But the moment you bloom, you will no longer fear withering away.

When we arrived at the capital, the Onmyoji Guild was in the midst of a lantern celebration. Countless young onmyoji with dreams of their own were sending their wishes up with lanterns. I closed my eyes and tried to see the threads of their fate with my divine power.

They came from all places and had different backgrounds. But they all hoped for a better tomorrow. They all had the same goal.

“To protect the capital. To protect the place where onmyoji dreams are realized.”

### Onmyo

After saving money for decades, the Bond Shrine was finally complete! I had to build the shrine in the outskirts, since I couldn’t afford land in the capital. I had a special visitor today, who arrived with Master Seimei. I greeted them warmly.

“Chigusa, it’s been such a long time!”

“Are you now a maiden of the shrine?”

She looked at my shrine, looking perplexed.

“What? Something wrong with the shrine?”

“I’m just curious. You like making money. But now you’re willing to stay in the shrine. It’s doesn’t look that prosperous to me.”

I laughed. Looking at her new outfit, I thought of something.

“Is that’s Shunsuke’s work? Well, I think he needs to work on his taste.”

After five years apart, I saw for the first time that Chigusa had discarded her numb and lifeless expression. She now smiles with confidence. The thread of fate on her wrist seems to be pointing somewhere. She looks renewed. I heard from Seimei that over the last couple of years, she has subdued the Rampaging Yamausagi, defeated the Winged Tsukinohime, provided help to Seimei and his entourage when the Shadow of the False God loomed over the capital, and survived the war with Sealand. She has fought bravely in every part of the capital, and will be recorded forever in the city’s history. The existence of Chigusa and many other onmyoji like her is why I believe that the capital will stand no matter how many disasters befall it. Silently, I said to myself,

“I will forever protect your bond with the onmyoji.”