Jeda goes to Onigafuchi Swamp and opens communications with Ryūn-Ōku. Ryūn-Ōku responds and begins synchronization. The swamp and Jeda are enveloped in light, and Jeda appears in an empty space. Ryūn-Ōku is a autonomous information aggregate. Strictly speaking, “she” is not an organism, but a sentient transfer device, a “Control Gate” that the Ryūn people developed. She was made to regulate that one thing, but Jeda has modified her so that she also manages the movements of those of Jeda’s brethren who have “assimilated” into the area centered around Onigafuchi Village. Ryūn-Ōku has also developed feelings and a personality from her interactions with Jeda.
Ryūn-Ōku greets Jeda, whom she hasn’t seen for 20 years. Jeda went to the continent to see the elders and her acquaintances, but she got caught up in some trouble there. Jeda pulls out her sword, which is damaged, and asks Ryūn-Ōku to repair it. Ryūn-Ōku accepts the sword and says it will take ten rotation periods to repair it. But as long as Jeda is in the village, Ryūn-Ōku’s “eyes,” ears,” and “mouth” can reach her, so Ryūn-Ōku will let her know if there’s an emergency. Ryūn-Ōku asks her how her mission on the continent went. Jeda replies that she and the other Jedas checked the locations of the “Mixed-bloods,” and took utmost preventive measures at the dangerous zones. This should help prevent unexpected Mixed-blood rampages from happening.
Jeda also got caught up in a lot of battles, and although they were able to dispose of the Mixed-bloods, Jeda thinks it was sheer luck that she managed to come back alive. Ryūn-Ōku asks if any of the Mixed bloods this time had “demonized,” and Jeda replies that they all did, and they were at the point that there was no saving them. When a rampant Mixed-blood “demonizes,” they change and take the form of a monster. Mixed-bloods in this state lose all sense of reason, destroying and killing everything in sight. Ryūn-Ōku sees Jeda’s memories of the carnage. Many Purebloods banded together, but almost half of them were killed.
The world that Jeda’s parents and the other Ryūn people came from went to ruin long ago. Jeda doesn’t know if it was because of war, a natural disaster, or an epidemic, because she was born and raised in this world. In any case, the surviving Ryūn decided to escape to this world by crossing dimensions. Organisms are ultimately made up of various kinds of information. So, theoretically, it should be possible to change that information into charged particles, transfer them to a different world, and reconstruct the information at the destination. Based on that theory, the Ryūn did research and established “phase transference.” To save the Ryūn people, the researchers developed “Control Gates”; devices which made use of “phase transference.”
When these gates were finished, the Ryūn evacuees were gradually sent to the new world in another dimension. But according to Ryūn-Ōku’s records, the the destruction of the Ryūn world progressed much faster than they had anticipated, and the degree of urgency of the immigration plan rose explosively. The Ryūn flooded into the Control Gates.
But there was a flaw in “phase transference.” The result was that the mind and body were split apart on the way to the other dimension. But this danger was only made clear after the majority of the Ryūn had already transferred, and it was too late to do anything about it. As a result, most of the people lost their bodies in the process of passing through the Control Gate. However, because of the natural structure of the minds and bodies of the Ryūn people, they were able to temporarily preserve their minds even after they lost their bodies. Therefore, they became what this world calls “ghosts.”
But eventually, they needed a body; they chose humans, the organisms with the highest facility to accumulate knowledge. The Ryūn people possessed human embryos, because their personalities have not yet been formed. As the human grows, its personality and the Ryūn’s personality gradually merge and become a single personality. This is called “assimilation.” As a side effect, the Ryūn loses the majority of its memories from before the possession. Even so, they were able to preserve their personalities, so most of them chose this route. Also, the human race advanced greatly thanks to the fragmentary Ryūn memories that the “assimilated” humans possessed.
All went well, until a serious epidemic broke out. It was possibly a result of the Ryūn having brought the aftershock of the “phase transference” to this world. This illness caused human birth rates and child survival rates to plummet, so the “ghosts” who had chosen those embryos and children were unable to complete “assimilation” and died one after another. The “ghosts” who had not yet chosen a host decided to try to increase their own chances of survival by possessing adolescents instead. But, because the host already had their own fully formed personality, the two personalities ended up fighting over the same body, and even the winner was left greatly damaged. As a result, the damaged personality would break down and start behaving abnormally.
The Jedas called their brethren who carried this problem factor “Mixed-bloods.” When a Mixed-blood reaches terminal symptoms, they “demonize,” that is, their body undergoes a sudden change, and they obtain a menacing exterior and abilities, becoming a literal “demon.” Normal humans didn’t stand a chance against them. But saviors appeared: Ryūn who had been fortunate enough to come to this world with their bodies intact. Feeling responsible for the tragedies their brethren were causing, these Ryūn took it upon themselves to fight the Mixed-bloods, calling themselves “Purebloods.”
Among these, the “Jeda” lineage, who were particularly strong in battle, took on the role of guardians, watching over the movements of the Mixed-bloods and their descendants. Thanks to the actions of the Purebloods, the Mixed-bloods are now almost extinct. The Purebloods are long-lived, but not immortal, and they have extremely low birth rates. Therefore, they’re almost extinct as well. Jeda is one of the only Ryūn who was born and raised in this world. Jeda wonders if she will be the last Ryūn, and what her death will be like.
Jeda asks Ryūn-Ōku if she has acquired any information on the Pureblood that Jeda fought here twenty years ago. Ryūn-Ōku hasn’t, however. Due to this Pureblood’s influence, the Mixed-bloods with the factor in this area all “demonized” and attacked the villagers with which they had been co-existing. Jeda and Ryūn-Ōku were puzzled, because a Pureblood had never attacked humans before. Purebloods can “demonize” too, but it’s very rare, because they arrived with their minds and bodies fully intact, and are therefore mentally stable. But Purebloods are much more powerful than Mixed-bloods. Ryūn-Ōku tells Jeda that she’ll continue to investigate, and suggests that Jeda rest for a while in this village, because she’s pushing herself too hard. Jeda tells her that she’ll take a bath, and leaves.
Jeda goes to a pool with a waterfall to bathe. She takes off her clothes and “materializes” her body. Normally, Purebloods stay “de-materialized” outside of battle, to avoid human eyes. But if she doesn’t materialize, she can’t enjoy the feel of the water and wind. She gets into the water. She has a flashback to a conversation she had with the elders before she left the continent. The elders wanted the Ryūn to stop getting involved with Mixed-bloods and let them sort out their own problems. Jeda thought this was irresponsible, and that the humans couldn’t possibly handle the Mixed-bloods on their own. But the elders said that the Purebloods are reaching their limits, and that they can no longer handle the Mixed-bloods either. Jeda ran off. She felt like she didn’t belong with the Ryūn or the humans. The flashback ends.
Jeda looks at her reflection and thinks that if only she didn’t have horns, she might be able to live normally with humans. She hears something, and eventually identifies it as a beast chasing after a human. She gets out and runs towards them—a young man and a bear. She fights the bear, and kills it, but they both fall into the pool. Jeda climbs out and the youth runs toward her, asking if she’s okay. He seems embarrassed, and Jeda realizes that she’s still naked. She throws him into the pool.
