Sea of the Wind, Shore of the Maze, Prologue by Kaze no Umi Meikyuu no Kishi Book 1 Page A

kirin are allowed to not bow down in respect."
    "Wow..."
    "And then the kirin will vow never to abandon the ruler, never to disobey his royal command, and  pledge his loyalty to the ruler."
    "Okay."
    "After the ruler vocally agrees, the kirin will press his forehead, or I should say his horn, against the  feet of the ruler. Thereupon, that person formally becomes the ruler. The person you choose will be called  Taiou, which is what the ruler of Tai Kingdom is called. And from then on, you will be called Tai Taiho."
    "This is so complicated!"
    Seeing Taiki's sour face, Youka laughed.
    "Is it? After you choose a ruler, you will ascended to a place even higher than Mt. Hou. There sits the  shrine of Seioubo, where you will take the Taiou."
    "How do I take him up there? Even Sanshi can't go up there."
    Youka laughed even more happily.
    "At that time, a road will naturally appear. You will go up and enter the shrine to receive the Tenchoku.
    Afterwards, you will go down to the Kingdom of Tai. You shouldn't ask me what the Tenchoku is though,  because this is something only kirin and rulers know about."
    "Okay."
    "When it comes time, a path of beautiful clouds will appear from Mt. Hou straight to the Kingdom of  Tai, and you will ride the clouds all the way down to Tai Kingdom."
    "And then?"
    "And then?" Youka looked at Taiki and saw only Taiki's anxious face.
    "And then what happens? Am I going to live in Tai Kingdom forever?"
    "Of course."
    "Then will I never see you again?" Taiki looked like he was about to cry. "What about Sanshi? And  Teiei? And the rest of the nyosen?"
    "Well," Youka sighed. She hugged Taiki, who was sitting on the bedding. "Yes... I suppose we may  never have another chance to meet. However, Sanshi will always stay by your side, forever and ever."
    "Do I have to choose a ruler?"
    "Choosing a ruler is your most important duty!"
    Seeing Taiki hugging her tightly with his little hands, Youka gently stroked his back.
    "You must become an exceptional kirin and choose a great ruler! We will all care about you from far  away at Mt. Hou."
    Mt. Hou was a place to bring up kirin, so once a kirin leaves Mt. Hou, on principle, they cannot come  back. After all, the nyosen of Mt. Hou need to concentrate on taking care of the newly born kirin. But Taiki  didn't need to know these things right now.
    "Our only hope is that you can become a spectacular kirin and fulfill your duties without any  problems."
    Taiki nodded.
    --Although, it was very forced.
    Finally, relative to the calendar, summer was getting closer and closer.
    Relative to the calendar because there were no so-called seasons on Mt. Hou.
    After a page was turned, it would be the summer solstice. On that day, the Reikon Gate on the  southwestern side of the Yellow Sea would open.
    "Taiki, I'll brush your hair into a topknot," said Teiei to Taiki. Because she saw that as Taiki was  gathering stones from the river, he would constantly be pulling his hair out of the water.
    "Okay," said Taiki as he sat down on the crag next to the river. Teiei unfastened the thin rope that was  at her waist and began to tie a topknot. Taiki's neatly trimmed head of steel-colored hair had already grown  down to his back, but then putting it up into a topknot made it feel like it was still too short.
    "Can I trim my bangs?"
    "If you must trim them, we will do it for you. However, if you end up regretting it, we won't  sympathize."
    "This length should already be long enough, shouldn't it?"
    Hearing Taiki say this with such apprehension, Teiki couldn't help but laugh.
    "When you transform into a kirin, your hair won't be this long. It will become a length that is just right.  It looks like your hair is still growing, so that means that it's not yet long enough."
    "If only I could transform now and see if it's long enough or not."
    "That's not necessary. We are all very experienced! Your topknot is finished."
    Teiei squinted and watched as Taiki jumped back into the