“That sea was called the Black Sea. Hourai is at the Empty Sea, a sea even further to the east. However, Hourai is so far away at the east that you cannot reach there even if you ride on the big one. The place is really, really far way.”
It is impossible to go to Hourai from here. Only the sages and the youma can cross the Empty Sea. Humans cannot cross, except ranka.

“Oh... really...”
The boy drooped his shoulders. Most probably the boy searched for Hourai in order to search for where his parents were. Hearing that it was located at the east of the sea, the boy searched around the coast of the Black Sea. However, youmas are menaces to humans. It is imaginable how people treat youmas that appear in towns. Of course, all is because youmas attack people, but this boy believed that his surrogate parent would be accepted if it didn’t attack people.

“... I’m sorry.”
Though Rokuta could not be blamed for anything, the apparent discouraged expression shown by the boy as he drooped his shoulders made Rokuta feel he couldn’t but apologize.

The boy held his breath repeatedly and made a faint sound of “Come.” The youma at the nearby rocky shore jumped off the rock and reached the boy’s sides. The boy put his face against the fur that was smeared with human blood.

Oh, Rokuta suddenly realized. The boy wasn’t talking to Roku in human language. Thinking back, the boy wasn’t using human language at all; he was making animal sounds for over half of the time in his conversation with Rokuta. Kirin know the ways to understanding the language of youma and beasts, so the boy’s sounds were heard as human conversation.

The youma tapped the tip of his beak to the back of the boy’s neck, and made a small sound. Rokuta couldn’t hear what it said, but he understood that it was a call, “Even so, let’s go home.” They boy lifted his head, and dispiritedly stood up.
“I need to go...”

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