Chapter 12: Wind Control Curse

In the hidden realm of Hakusan Shrine, Shirako sat on the red torii gate, swinging her slender legs, her delicate little face’s eyes staring blankly into the distance.

A light flowed before her, and two figures appeared.

“Miko-sama!” she jumped down cheerfully and threw herself into the arms of the figure in the miko outfit.

“I’m back,” Kamibayashi Miko gently patted Shirako’s shoulder and revealed a soft smile.

Minamoto Kiyomoto stared at her profile.

Kamibayashi Miko couldn’t have feelings for people, but her own personality was not cold. It was just that as a Divine Miko, in order to gain powerful strength, she had to do so.

She was also not like him, who sought strength for himself. She did it for the responsibility of a Divine Miko, to protect life from the hands of demonic beasts.

“Put away your disgusting gaze, piglet!” Shirako glared at Minamoto Kiyomoto from Kamibayashi Miko’s arms.

Kamibayashi Miko also noticed Minamoto Kiyomoto’s gaze and gently pushed Shirako away.

“Why didn’t she participate in the battle?” Minamoto Kiyomoto pointed at Shirako, pretending that he had been staring at them because he was curious about this.

“Shirako, like the water dragon of Chidorigafuchi, belongs to the category of earth spirits,” Kamibayashi Miko replied.

As she spoke, she passed through the tall red torii gate, came to the purification trough, and washed her hands and mouth.

Her movements were gentle and beautiful, like a wisp of white mist on a distant green mountain.

After Minamoto Kiyomoto finished washing his hands and mouth, the three of them stepped on the green shade and climbed the mountain along the path towards the worship hall.

Kamibayashi Miko continued:
“Earth spirits can be used as shikigami and also have combat power, but once injured, it will directly cause changes in the environment. If they are killed, the environment can only be slowly restored by humans.”

“Where is Shirako an earth spirit from?” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at Shirako and asked curiously.

Shirako tugged at the sleeve of Kamibayashi Miko’s miko outfit, like a younger sister following her older sister. Apart from the fierce look in her eyes as she glared at Minamoto Kiyomoto, there was no trace of her usual self.

“Hakusan Shrine,” Kamibayashi Miko said.

“I see,” Minamoto Kiyomoto nodded. “Then she can’t die.”

“If you can’t speak properly, then don’t speak. Also, how did you come back alive? I had already chosen a grave for you in the shrine,” Shirako’s childish face was tense as she stared coldly at Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“I can’t speak properly, but I can go through life and death with Miss Kamibayashi; you, who can speak properly, can only stay at home.”

“Miko-sama, can I kill him?” Shirako’s bell turned into a short sword, her hand resting on the hilt, she said without emotion.

“Not now,” Kamibayashi Miko replied.

“Yes.”

“What do you mean, ‘not now’?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked.

Kamibayashi Miko didn’t answer, walked around the worship hall, and entered the house. The little butterflies emerged from her hair, returned to their ten-centimeter size, and danced gracefully.

◇

Minamoto Kiyomoto sat under the wind chime on the corridor, his back against a pillar, his left elbow resting on his left knee, and in his right hand was the tea poured for him by the little butterfly.

He hadn’t had a sip of water since morning.

When Kamibayashi Miko reappeared at the corner of the corridor, the “Divine Miko’s Damask” on her body was gone, and her long, dark, glossy black hair was tied into a bundle with a metal hair clasp.

Shirako followed behind her.

“Miss Kamibayashi,” Minamoto Kiyomoto put down his teacup, “I want to learn a curse that can make me fly.”

“Get up,” before Kamibayashi Miko could speak, Shirako suddenly reprimanded.

“Why?” Minamoto Kiyomoto sat there without moving.

“This is the seat Miko-sama usually sits in. A piglet has no right to sit here.”

“Miss Kamibayashi,” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at Kamibayashi Miko, “we are really fated. Look, we even sit in the same place.”

If one were to choose a spot on the corridor, ninety out of a hundred people would probably choose the spot under the wind chime—where Minamoto Kiyomoto was sitting now.

“Miko-sama,” Shirako’s delicate little hand rested on the hilt of her sword.

“Not now,” Kamibayashi Miko said. “The next yokai that appears may not be as strong as Konohanasakuya-hime, but it will definitely be much stronger than the small yokai this time.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto was not quite sure if her ‘not now’ was directed at Shirako, or at both him and Shirako.

And also, the small yokai, did it refer to the four-hundred-meter giant cherry blossom python, or the three-meter cherry blossom deer he had killed?
“What should I do then?” Compared to the first two questions, this was what he was most concerned about.

“Weak cultivators, in a subjugation, basically act in groups and are responsible for some less dangerous tasks, such as saving people, forming barrier teams, or inputting divine power into earth spirits to reduce disasters like earthquakes.”

“It doesn’t sound as dangerous as this time,” Minamoto Kiyomoto was a little confused. “Why do you say that Konohanasakuya-hime is the safest battle?”

Kamibayashi Miko glanced at him sitting there and said:
“I am fighting Konohanasakuya-hime, and you are saving people on Chidorigafuchi. Do you think it’s dangerous?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s mind conjured up the mountain-like figure of Konohanasakuya-hime.

In a battle of that level, the shockwave from a casual strike could probably destroy a Chidorigafuchi, let alone him, who was saving people on Chidorigafuchi.

“Then what should I learn? To run away?” he asked again.

“The team leaders who lead the newcomers in the official side, besides being responsible for guiding and protecting them, what else do you think they are responsible for?”

“…We are not official, and we are classmates. What’s the harm in you turning a blind eye? What’s more, you only have a teammate if I’m alive, and you can only continue to participate in subjugations if you have a teammate.”

Kamibayashi Miko nodded.

“You agree?”

“I agree, but be careful yourself. In a battle, anyone who sees someone running away has the right to execute them directly.”

“…”

Kamibayashi Miko had already spoken her five sentences. Minamoto Kiyomoto picked up Polaris, which was leaning against the corridor pillar, and began to cultivate in the courtyard.

Shirako brought a cushion from the house and placed it under the wind chime. Kamibayashi Miko sat on it.

Not only did she take Minamoto Kiyomoto’s seat, but she also seemed to dislike that he had sat there.

However, he himself no longer cared about these things. In the courtyard, the sound of the sword cutting through the air whistled, and his Shinto-ryu sword style became more and more proficient.

By the time Minamoto Kiyomoto stuck the long, night-black sword into the ground, ten minutes had just passed.

“For curses, you have the Eight Divine Thunders; for sword style, you have Shinto-ryu; for defense, you have the protective water curse. What you lack now is a movement technique,” Kamibayashi Miko said.

“Didn’t you just say that running away is not allowed?” Minamoto Kiyomoto wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“I am teaching you a movement technique. What you wanted to learn just now was to run away.”

“The way of expression is different, but it’s actually the same thing,” after subconsciously retorting, he said, “Let’s not chat idly, hurry up and teach me.”

“The one who has been chatting idly has always been you,” Shirako said.

“Yes, yes, that’s right,” the little butterfly was holding a cherry this time.

Minamoto Kiyomoto had always been a believer in ‘all beings are equal, I am supreme.’ How could he lower himself to argue with a shikigami? He forgave these two ignorant fellows.

“Come on, Miss Kamibayashi, I’m ready,” he said to Kamibayashi Miko.

Kamibayashi Miko’s pink, cherry-blossom-like lips parted slightly, and she began to explain a curse called the “Wind Control Curse.”

This was a curse that could make people fly. In other words, her ‘not now’ at the beginning was directed at Shirako.

“…The Wind Control Curse is roughly divided into three realms. The first is fast, the second is slow, and the third is to do as one pleases. If you want to survive, you must at least reach ‘fast’.”

“I roughly understand ‘do as one pleases.’ What does ‘fast’ mean? And what about ‘slow’?”

“‘Fast’ is to be able to move in the air like lightning; ‘slow’ is to move slowly in the air, as if strolling casually.”

“The first realm is to be like lightning?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked in surprise.

“For you, that’s an exaggeration,” Kamibayashi Miko replied with a smile. Although there was no mockery in her tone, it was clear that was what she meant.

“Being cute is good. Even if you speak maliciously, people won’t hate you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto sighed.

After her five sentences, Kamibayashi Miko closed her eyes and began to cultivate her divine power.

Minamoto Kiyomoto did not immediately cultivate the Wind Control Curse, but instead, by the pond that had been blasted out by the Great Thunder, he thought about the incantation.

So far, although he had only learned three curses, the habit he had developed since childhood made him subconsciously look for patterns in the curses.

“What are you doing?” ten minutes later, Kamibayashi Miko opened her eyes and saw Minamoto Kiyomoto not cultivating, but walking around the pond like a compass.

“Miko-sama, Miko-sama, he’s slacking off!” the little butterfly held a grudge.

Shirako showed a cold smile of someone watching a show.

“I’m thinking about the details of wind control, simulating it in my mind, and also trying to find if there are any patterns in the release of curses.”

“Patterns?” Kamibayashi Miko asked back.

“Mathematical formulas, the learning of various languages, the three laws of genetics, the way the nervous system works, and so on. Even business, politics, music, I’ve always believed that all things have patterns.”

Kamibayashi Miko gestured for Minamoto Kiyomoto to continue.

“If you figure out the correct patterns, you can get good grades in your studies, make money in business, rise through the ranks in politics, and learn new languages with ease. Since these ordinary things have patterns, then there should also be patterns in curses.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto suddenly remembered something.

“That’s right!” he clapped his hands. “Battle also has patterns! Attacking, retreating, drawing the sword, sheathing the sword, not to mention my own patterns, if I can grasp the enemy’s patterns, then wouldn’t I be invincible?”

At the end, Minamoto Kiyomoto turned to look at Kamibayashi Miko, as if seeking her approval.

Looking at those spirited eyes, Kamibayashi Miko recalled when she had started to have such thoughts.

She slapped out a palm, and with a splash, she knocked Minamoto Kiyomoto into the pond.

Just as Minamoto Kiyomoto’s head emerged from the water, before he could question her, he heard her say:
“The pattern of my moves will not change. Let’s see you defeat me.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto was taken aback for a moment, then slapped himself—a light tap on the cheek. He had almost gone astray.

He had summarized patterns when learning Spanish and felt that it was very simple because he had already learned French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Chinese.

Now, the Eight Divine Thunders and the water curse were not yet fully mastered, and he still needed to chant to release them. He only knew the incantation for the Wind Control Curse, and he was already thinking about summarizing patterns?

And battle.

How many times had he participated?

Once.

“When a predecessor creates a new curse, it is on the basis of a large number of curses. Even so, it takes a thousand days to think about it and ten thousand days to perfect it—and that’s just one curse. You’re already thinking about summarizing the patterns of battle?” Kamibayashi Miko used a lecturing tone for the first time.

“I was wrong,” Minamoto Kiyomoto submerged his head in the water.

Looking at the bubbling water surface, Kamibayashi Miko remembered what her father had said to her at the beginning of her cultivation.

‘The path of cultivation is to open up the future with one’s capacity. The goal must be to reach the highest realm, otherwise, a miss by a hair’s breadth will lead to a thousand miles of error.’

She had nodded at that time, but she didn’t understand the meaning of this sentence.

If her father saw Minamoto Kiyomoto, he would definitely laugh happily and show a gratified smile.

Minamoto Kiyomoto had the mentality and capacity to become a strong person—mentality was actually also part of capacity. What she needed to do was to push him down, make him down-to-earth, and do every single thing he should be doing now.

To discern the patterns of the rise and fall of things, only at her level would one be qualified to think about it. Minamoto Kiyomoto was still very, very far away.

Holding his breath until it was a little painful, to make himself remember this lesson, Minamoto Kiyomoto silently recited the Wind Control incantation at the bottom of the pond.

“Breath of heaven and earth, tread the sea and rush to the clouds!”

Black divine power surged out like a wave of air, and he jumped out of the water like a cannonball.

“Wait, wait, wait!” The first time, Minamoto Kiyomoto only thought of flying out of the water at once, but he didn’t know how to land, and he fell straight to the ground.

His posture was like kowtowing to the one person and two shikigami on the corridor.

“Did you find the pattern?” a voice with a smile came from above his head.

“Miss Kamibayashi, I’ve already kowtowed to you, don’t make fun of—”

“Hehe,” Shirako’s cold laughter.

Minamoto Kiyomoto realized something was wrong, but before he could raise his head, Shirako’s schoolgirl-like foot stepped on his head.

“…”

Kamibayashi Miko looked at her shikigami.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” Shirako showed a ferocious smile of finally being satisfied.

“Oh!” The little butterfly held a cherry between her tender knees and clapped her hands hard.

Minamoto Kiyomoto made a note: if you don’t cultivate properly and daydream all day, you will be stepped on by a young girl.

What a great humiliation!
That afternoon, in the courtyard of Hakusan Shrine, Minamoto Kiyomoto practiced the Wind Control Curse with all his might.

Although the pond put him at risk of being kicked by Kamibayashi Miko, it also allowed him to suffer fewer injuries during practice. Indeed, everything has its pros and cons.

‘What are the pros and cons of the Wind Control Curse? Stop, stop, Minamoto Kiyomoto, focus on practicing!’

“Breath of heaven and earth, tread the sea and rush to the clouds!”

“Splash!”

“Wow, what a big splash!” the little butterfly cheered.

The setting sun sank below the horizon. In the western sky, there were a few scratch-like red clouds, like the sun’s final struggle.

“That’s it for today. I have a party tonight,” Minamoto Kiyomoto rubbed his shoulders, feeling pain all over his body.

“I have something to inform you,” Kamibayashi Miko said.

“What is it?”

“The Eight Divine Thunders, the protective water curse, and Shinto-ryu are to compensate you. From the Wind Control Curse onwards, there will be a tuition fee. The Wind Control Curse I’m teaching you belongs to the greatest curses, one for ten million yen.”

“…Is it because I said you speak maliciously?”

“Yes,” Kamibayashi Miko nodded frankly.

“I’ve praised you so many times, how come you didn’t hear?!”

“Praising me is with ulterior motives, cursing me is sincere. Ten million yen is already the internal price. You can go to the curse shop at the Onmyo Bureau to check the market price yourself.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto couldn’t refute.

Not to mention curses, just Polaris.

In the market, a short sword started at 100,000 or 200,000 yen. A slightly better long sword was hundreds of thousands or millions of yen, and these were ordinary weapons that couldn’t use divine power.

The things Kamibayashi Miko sold him, in other places, the price was not the problem, the problem was whether you could buy them.

“The weapon is one million, the Wind Control Curse is ten million, two hundred thousand has been repaid, the outstanding debt is 10.98 million,” Shirako thoughtfully helped him calculate the bill.

“…I won’t be invincible in the end and still owe a huge debt, will I?” Minamoto Kiyomoto was as confident as ever.

“Just you, a piglet, and you want to be invincible? A turtle in a pond is more suitable for you.”

“Miko-sama, Miko-sama, make him pay back the money, I want to buy grapes!”

“I’ll buy them for you when he pays it back.”

“Mm~, Miko-sama is the best!”

It was hard to say about being invincible, but on the point of owing a huge debt, it seemed the three of them had reached a consensus.

(End of Chapter)