First off, thank you very much for purchasing and reading this book.
This story takes place in Kojiki times, the age of the gods. It begins as the straight-laced and serious amatsukami Yasaka receives orders from Amaterasu-Oomikami to go conquer Suwa, and exterminate the evil god that has spread its coils around the province.
In order to protect her people from the heavenly gods coming to "pacify" the land, Moreya had to do whatever she could to set the stage so that said gods would feel happy to accept her terms.
By being the one to approach the heavenly gods, drag them into a one-on-one duel and then lose, she would put them in a dominant position while making them feel sympathy for her. She was very inelegant about it, but in the end, Yasaka's virtue was a cut above.
This book was almost surprisingly hard to finish. I ended up with more pages than usual, while the level of detail in the drawings also went up. However, if that extra effort made you enjoy it just a bit more, I'll say it's worth it.
When I started working on the plot, I was unsure at first whether Suwako (Moreya) or Kanako (Yasaka) should be in the main role, but in the end, I decided that Moreya's viewpoint – busy being invaded – wouldn't give me enough room for the romantic tension between them, so the lead went to the simple but honest Yasaka. However, that still left me with a need to explain why Moreya would be the one to pick a fight first.
