The System Sent Me to Breed an All-Female Amazon Tribe

Chapter 464: Kyūdo

Sakura paused, tilting her head slightly as if listening to some distant whisper only she could hear. "I do wonder why both sides haven’t been reporting in, though. It has been several days since their departure, and normally I would have received at least a telepathic message."

"Maybe they’re just enjoying themselves so much, then," Violette added, her dark violet eyes fixated on the entrance where an Amazon servant had just appeared with another tray that groaned under the weight of freshly roasted meats.

The horned woman’s lips parted slightly, and a thin line of saliva glistened at the corner of her mouth as the aromas reached her, rich, savory, and irresistible. "Perhaps they have found common ground in ways none of us anticipated, and their silence is simply the silence of contented students and satisfied teachers."

The Amazon servant, a young woman with toned arms and a confident stride, set the tray upon the table with practiced precision, revealing an assortment of roasted fowl, herb-crusted boar ribs, and several cuts of meat that even Tamar did not immediately recognize.

Violette, Sakura, and Titania immediately pounced upon the trays with what could only be described as feral grace, their movements simultaneously predatory and elegant.

The sounds of satisfied chewing and occasional appreciative moans filled the chamber, creating a symphony of contentment that seemed to warm the very air around them.

Tamar watched the display with awe and amusement, her silver eyes darting between the three women as they demolished the tray with alarming speed.

She had grown up surrounded by strong women, warriors and hunters who could consume their weight in food after a successful hunt, but there was something almost supernatural about the way these three devoured their meal.

[...Where are the food entering?!] [Tamar]

***

The afternoon sun had shifted noticeably by the time the tray was stripped clean, the golden light now painting long shadows across the chamber floor.

The servants had come and gone twice more, each time replenishing the platters with fresh offerings that disappeared just as quickly.

Finally, when the last morsel had been consumed and the three women sat back with expressions of blissful satisfaction, the conversation turned to other matters.

"Archery...?" Sakura raised a brow in thought, her amber eyes focusing on Tamar with renewed interest as the princess had finally gathered the courage to ask her another question.

The Beast Queen’s tail curled around her leg as she considered the topic, her fox ears perking forward with curiosity. "Are you interested in that?"

"Interested?" Elara made an adorably smug smile that Sakura felt she could kill for, a expression of such unbridled maternal pride that it seemed to radiate light from within her. "Tamar is one of the best archers the Amazons have ever had! And I mean in history, as well. She has surpassed every record we have. And her accuracy at distances would make even our most seasoned hunters weep with envy. She is not merely skilled, she is gifted in a way that comes only once in a thousand years, sometimes once in several millennia."

"E-Eh?! Are you just saying that, Elara-chan?!" Sakura widened her eyes, her mind racing back through the vast catalog of her memories, recalling the Amazons she had witnessed during the last Celestial War.

Those women had been celestial level archers, warriors whose arrows could strike down flying beasts from impossible distances, whose aim was guided by something beyond mere muscle memory and practice.

The thought that Tamar, this young, earnest princess sitting before her, could be ranked among, or potentially above, such legendary figures was almost too much to process.

"Stop using every opportunity you obtain to cling to me!" Elara protested as Sakura had once again merged herself to Elara’s arm, her body pressing against the Amazon queen’s side with shameless affection. "And I do not bluff! I never have and I never will, especially not about matters concerning my daughter’s abilities. Lotus, the oldest member of the Amazon tribe, also confirms this. She has witnessed the rise and fall of countless warriors over her long life, and she has stated that Tamar’s talent is wholly unmatched in living memory."

"That is not normal news, then," Sakura wondered for a bit, her brow furrowing as she processed the implications of what she had just heard.

Her tail had stopped swishing, and her ears were fixed forward with intense focus. "To possess such skill is one thing, but to have it confirmed by Lotus herself, that is something else entirely. Very well, what about Shishi-no-su’s archery do you want to know about?"

"Ah, basically all I can know about it!" Tamar chirped from being directly addressed once again, her entire demeanor shifting from polite observer to eager student in an instant.

Her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as she leaned forward, her hands clasped together in front of her chest as if she were about to receive the most precious gift imaginable.

"I realize many culture and kingdom have their style of archery that makes it... more than just archery. It is an art form, or a philosophy, a way of connecting with the world that transcends mere combat. And, maybe impertinent, I would very much like to learn all forms of it. Not just to be a better warrior, but to understand the different ways peoples have found to express themselves through a bow and arrow."

"Now, that’s an ambitious desire there," Sakura chuckled, her fox ears twitching as she laughed, the sound warm and genuine. "To seek mastery across multiple traditions is no small undertaking, and it speaks well of your character that you approach it with such humility and curiosity. There are quite a lot of styles of archery over there in my homeland, each one developed in different regions and refined over centuries of practice. But the most popular is Kyūdo, a form that has become synonymous with Shishi-no-su’s cultural identity."

Sakura’s expression grew thoughtful, her gaze turning inward as she drew upon memories. "Kurosawa Ren made it even more popular by making it something more than just Kyūdo and causing the youngsters to be enticed. He introduced a certain philosophy to the practice."

Sakura went on to explain how Kyūdo works, her voice taking on the cadence of a patient teacher as she described the precision movements, the careful breathing, the meditative focus that transformed archery from a physical skill into a spiritual practice.

She spoke of how it was not even necessarily for combat reasons, but rather for connection with the world, with the self, and with something greater than either.

"The draw is not merely a physical action," Sakura explained, her hands moving to demonstrate, "but a moment of total presence. The archer and the target are to become one, separated only by the brief flight of the arrow. It is said that a true master of Kyūdo can feel the breath of the universe in that single instant, and that the arrow does not strike the target so much as the target invites the arrow to arrive."

Tamar listened with rapt attention, her silver eyes never leaving Sakura’s face, her mind absorbing every word as if it were sacred scripture.

The afternoon light continued its slow descent, casting longer and longer shadows across the chamber, but none of the women paid it any mind.