Chapter 75

"It's over," Renko breathed. The other three looked at her, surprised. "I just heard from my father," Renko continued, turning her sinuous neck to catch each of them with the gaze of a single eye. "He and Mother and Sensei have spoken to the mother of the Umi-bozu, and they have made peace. There is to be no more fighting among us, and the Umi-bozu will now help the sailors. It all sounds like a combination of accident and mistake. The Umi-bozu wanted to stop the steamships, and everyone else was simply in the way, but Father says they have agreed on what to do about that, too."

"That is wonderful," Azuki cried. She looked over the largest group of stranded sailors, the one Tsuruko and she had collected, to check on their safety. She they had helped them, and that gave her a feeling of satisfaction unlike anything she'd known before.