Chapter 141: An Autumn Day When the Leaves Begin to Fall

---

“For these last ten minutes, I want to talk to everyone about what a doctor is.”

The professor, with his hair dyed black, old but still full of spirit, said to the students of the medical department.

“I wonder if everyone has seen the news from Shimane Prefecture?” he said. “A cancer patient with no money was driven out of the hospital and died at the hospital entrance—what does everyone think about this?”

“Shingo, you tell me,” the professor’s gaze turned to a male student sitting in the third row.

“It’s too heartless!” Shingo said loudly. “These people are treating the hospital as a purely for-profit institution!”

“A for-profit institution has its benefits, right?” a student named Nozaki said. “If it becomes a for-profit institution, in order to make money, they have to improve their medical skills and provide better services to patients.”

“It’s understandable for a general enterprise to do this, but when running a hospital, besides profit, isn’t the most important thing humanitarianism?” another student spoke up.

“Whether it’s a hospital or a doctor, regardless of any life, I think that as long as he can live, he should be allowed to live.”

“That’s too idealistic, not realistic at all!”

“Isn’t that a doctor’s mission?”

“Mission? Think about it carefully. Can you do it? Can you be a little more realistic?”

“Just because you can’t do it, you can just watch someone die?!”

“That’s a cancer patient. Where is death not death?”

“You bastard! You’re as cold as a scalpel!”

“Isn’t it good to be as cold as a scalpel? Only in this way can the surgery be more precise!”

“The scalpel is cold, but the heart of the doctor holding it is warm!”

“Haha!” the professor laughed heartily. “It seems everyone has their own ideas. Very good, this is very good. What I’m most worried about is a society full of kind people or people who only follow the rules.”

“Professor, what do you think? In the face of a cancer patient who is destined to die.”

“And a patient who has no money for hospitalization,” a student added.

“What should be done—” the professor also showed a troubled expression. “Minamoto-kun, what do you think? What should be done?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto had also thought about this question.

He said, “No one can avoid death. As a doctor, it’s impossible to save every patient, for example, this cancer patient. So sometimes, helping a patient come to terms with and face death is also a doctor’s duty.”

“This is a doctor’s way of killing,” the professor nodded.

“Killing? That sounds so scary,” a few girls in the class said with fear.

“Minamoto-kun means that we should let the cancer patient who can’t be saved accept death. Then should he be driven out of the hospital?” the student who had been arguing just now asked.

“Just listen to the hospital director. As a doctor, no matter how much you insist, it’s useless, right?” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied.

“What if you were the hospital director?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto thought for a moment and said, “If something like this really happened, I probably wouldn’t let the person out.”

“Reason?” the student who insisted that the hospital should be for-profit questioned.

“If I kicked someone out, my mother would kill me. No, after all, I’m her own son. She would probably just make me kneel.”

“Kneel… kneel?”

“Hahahaha!” A burst of laughter erupted in the classroom.

“Minamoto Kiyomoto, you’re so spineless!”

“You’re twenty years old and you’re still being made to kneel by your own mother! Hahaha!”

“What do you guys know?” Minamoto Kiyomoto said dismissively. “People who can’t afford to see a doctor, why don’t they go to the bank and rob other people’s money? Why can society operate stably? Isn’t it because someone is in charge?”

Amidst the sound of the bell signaling the end of class, he announced loudly:

“Do as you please. No one can withstand the test! To be happy, you must put the shackles of reason on everyone’s neck!”

From then on, Minamoto Kiyomoto’s classmates all thought he should become a politician.

But they themselves didn’t want to live in a society managed by a guy like Minamoto Kiyomoto at all.

Who could stand having a chain around their neck? They weren’t dogs.

Even if they were dogs, they probably wouldn’t want to be leashed, right?
Unfortunately, there are countless people in this world who are worse than dogs, but no one is really a dog, so they don’t know if dogs are willing to be leashed, neutered, and kept at home.

They can only obey the strong, that is, human aesthetics.

Although they didn’t reach a conclusion, the professor seemed to be satisfied and said:

“Classmates, to become a real doctor, it’s not enough to just remember the content of medical books. You also have to study philosophy, ethics, and the ‘Physicians’ Law’. Okay, class dismissed!”

Minamoto Kiyomoto capped his pen, closed his book, and walked out of the classroom.

In November, the corridor always had a chilly air. Because it was the corridor of the medical department, it made people subconsciously think of basements and corpses.

Minamoto Kiyomoto, in a white coat, walking in the cold corridor, gave off a gloomy beauty.

There were more girls in the health and comprehensive sciences department of the medical faculty. For them, watching Minamoto Kiyomoto walk was probably the only comfort of coming to class in winter.

Leaving the building, there was a forest in front of him. In the forest was the “Sanshiro Pond.”

‘The fruit of the chinquapin tree by the pond is already ripe. Why hasn’t my love with Miko borne fruit yet? Sigh!’ Minamoto Kiyomoto thought as he walked towards the “Yasuda Auditorium.”

The sunlight shone on his white coat, refracting a dazzling light.

In this way, Minamoto Kiyomoto transformed from a highly skilled, gloomy doctor into a sunny and cheerful star doctor.

Everything suited him.

As he was about to reach the literature department, he looked towards the main gate of Todai. The soft autumn sunlight shone on the ginkgo avenue, a tree of golden yellow.

The ginkgo trees looked tall and noble, making the autumn season also seem calm and decent.

The huge clock on the “Yasuda Auditorium” already pointed to 12:15. It had been five minutes since class ended, but the two of them still hadn’t come.

The dazzling afternoon sun fell, making the surroundings seem to glow.

Minamoto Kiyomoto stood near the “Yasuda Auditorium,” in a spot that looked like a crenellation on a city wall, basking in the sun and daydreaming.

Yesterday, after leaving the Shishin-den, the three of them didn’t linger and returned directly to Tokyo.

Shirako was still guarding the entrance to the secret realm, sitting on the crossbeam of the torii gate, her legs dangling.

Returning to the shrine, Minamoto Kiyomoto looked around the living room and asked Shirako, “Where’s Noi?”

“Playing games in her room.”

A little while later, the princess with fluttering blond hair and a tall figure came out, holding a game console, her slender fingers constantly manipulating it.

She was wearing a light blue slip dress with a thin, translucent white jacket over it.

“Give me money. I want to go buy games.”

“…”

“Also, give me more divine power. I’m cold and don’t want to wear thick clothes,” she didn’t even look up.

“…Miss Noi, we are not master and servant. There is no hierarchical relationship. You don’t have to listen to me, and I have no obligation to pay you a salary.”

“Huh?” Noi finally looked up from her game console, her face a rebellious teenage girl’s expression of “what are you talking about, just give me the money.”

“I understand,” Minamoto Kiyomoto gave up. “Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll go with you. I’m not at ease with you going out alone.”

“Just remember,” Noi said nonchalantly.

At this moment, as if her shoulder was itchy, she reached out and scratched it. The strap slipped from her shoulder, revealing half of her breast.

Fortunately, the strap caught the red flower on the cliff in time and didn’t fall completely into the cliff.

She was as unconcerned as if a one-yen coin had fallen. With a casual shrug of her shoulder, she put the strap back on.

“Tomorrow, remember,” the blond girl said as she played her game and left the living room.

And at this time, another blond girl, Shirako, was still telling Kamibayashi Miko about what had happened after she left, with Little Butterfly excitedly adding details.

So he had to take leave again this afternoon.

Before taking Noi to buy games, he had to go and see the “Ogosho” to discuss the matter of the “Honshu Shinto Lord.”

The “Ogosho” would not easily agree to him.

What kind of request would he make?

Hand over all the spells in the Laurel Crown? If it was to make him marry Kamibayashi Miko, that would be great.

“Stop smiling foolishly.”

“I’m not smiling foolishly,” Minamoto Kiyomoto came back to his senses. In front of him stood two beautiful female university students holding books.

Himegami Izayoi was in a black hoodie and black jeans, cool and beautiful, like a beautiful black rose.

Kamibayashi Miko was wearing a white hooded jacket, the collar open, with a high-necked sweater inside. She was fashionable and well-behaved, with a bit of a pure female university student’s vibe.

“You’re not smiling on your face,” Himegami Izayoi said, “but what’s the relationship between the two of us? We know each other inside out. How could I not know if you’re smiling in your heart?”

“What are you smiling about?” Kamibayashi Miko asked Minamoto Kiyomoto in a quiet voice.

“I was thinking about what kind of request the Ogosho would make. Maybe it’s to make me marry you. Plus, the Lord of Kyoto said she would give me and Koyako a marriage. In that case, I think I can retire to the mountains.”

“No wonder you’re smiling. Even I’m about to smile,” Himegami Izayoi actually laughed.

Kamibayashi Miko also laughed. She said, “You’re quite good at thinking.”

“Who knows! Just because a dream is far away, does that mean you can’t even think about it!”

The three of them walked on the campus covered in golden ginkgo leaves. Occasionally, a gust of wind would blow, and the fallen leaves would swirl around their feet like little dogs.

I don’t know which restaurant was playing Yamashita Tatsuro’s “Christmas Eve.”

“The rain will turn to snow after midnight~”

Isn’t it still early for Christmas? How much do these shopkeepers want to make money?
◇

“Wow, so this is Tokyo!” a group of high school students, whose accents made it clear they were from Kansai, were on a school trip.

The girls were wearing dark brown long-sleeved sailor uniforms and pleated skirts, with neckerchiefs.

The boys were in black stand-up collar uniforms.

“Are you out?”

“Ah—” a brown-haired girl wailed. “Why do we have to visit the National Diet Building in Tokyo for our school trip? I want to go to Okinawa!”

“What can you do in Okinawa in winter? Don’t be sad. Here, a crepe I just bought,” her friend’s class had finished their tour first and was waiting for her at the entrance with food.

“Thanks, I was just craving something sweet,” the brown-haired girl took the crepe.

“It’s not that boring, right?” her friend said. “Kanto and Kansai are completely different. It’s a completely open modern culture. You can learn a lot.”

“One is an imperial system, the other is… eh? What’s the system in Kanto?”

“A presidential system similar to a monarchy. To put it bluntly, it’s still a monarchy. The Ogosho is hereditary—did you not listen in history class?”

“I live in the present!” the brown-haired girl tilted her head up, puffing out a chest that had nothing to puff out.

Her friend, who was also holding a crepe, couldn’t help but sigh and facepalm.

“Ah!” the brown-haired girl screamed.

“What’s wrong?!” her friend quickly looked up.

In front of the two of them was a man who was about to walk into the National Diet Building.

“Ah~~” the brown-haired girl let out a low wail, her face almost pressed against the man’s chest. “My crepe, I didn’t even have a bite.”

“Huh? It’s you?” her friend recognized the man.

“Ah, it’s you?!” the brown-haired girl covered her mouth, also recognizing him. “Aren’t you the guy who fell from the bridge and knocked over our shaved ice?!”

Her friend quickly tugged at her sailor uniform.

The brown-haired girl finally remembered that she had gotten crepe on someone else’s clothes. An apologetic expression appeared on her face, and she became embarrassed.

“Um… I’m sorry!” she bowed deeply.

“You two—” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked down at the crepe on his clothes and asked tentatively, “don’t you like the University of Kyoto and want to switch schools?”

“No, no!” the brown-haired girl waved her hands vigorously, shaking her head like a rattle. “I’m very satisfied, really satisfied. No, that’s not what I meant to say. Anyway, I’m really sorry!”

“What’s wrong?” Kamibayashi Miko asked.

She saw the cream and strawberries on Minamoto Kiyomoto’s clothes and handed him a handkerchief.

“Watch where you’re going,” she scolded.

“I’m sorry!” the brown-haired girl bowed again, the collar of her sailor uniform completely flipped over.

“She’s not talking about you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a laugh.

He had a good impression of these two high school girls.

Whenever he saw them, he would think of the fireworks festival in Kitauji and his first kiss with Kamibayashi Miko.

After simply cleaning his clothes, Minamoto Kiyomoto, Kamibayashi Miko, and Himegami Izayoi walked into the National Diet Building.

After going in, the two shrine maidens waited for him in another room, drinking tea. Minamoto Kiyomoto went to see the “Ogosho” alone.

Unlike Kansai, Kanto was not a court, but a government; not officials, but civil servants; they didn’t wear official robes, but suits.

The “Ogosho” was the same. He was in a well-tailored black suit, his silver-white hair as solemn as if it had been dyed one by one.

“Kiyomoto-kun,” the “Ogosho” said with a kind smile, facing Minamoto Kiyomoto.

The two of them were in an office, sitting in the sofa area.

The office was very ordinary, with walls full of books, a desk, a few phones on the desk, a pen holder, and a photo frame.

Unfinished documents lay on the desk, and a common Mitsubishi red pen was clipped to the documents.

While the secretary was serving tea, Minamoto Kiyomoto took the opportunity to look around the office, his gaze lingering on the photo frame for a couple of extra moments.

“Want to take a look?” the “Ogosho” asked with a smile, his gaze turning to the photo frame.

“No need,” Minamoto Kiyomoto took a sip of his tea.

“Are you living with Miko now?”

“Mhm. Thanks to her care.”

“Miko is also at an age where she can take care of people,” the “Ogosho” sighed, his hand lightly patting his crossed leg.

“What’s this?” he suddenly noticed the stain on Minamoto Kiyomoto’s chest and asked casually.

“I got it while eating,” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied. “Lord Ogosho—”

“Just call me uncle,” the “Ogosho” said with a smile, his fingers intertwined.

“…Uncle, you should have heard. I’m here this time for the matter of the ‘Honshu Shinto Lord’.”

“Of course I know that, but, Kiyomoto-kun—” the “Ogosho” pondered, taking a sip of his tea. “Becoming the Honshu Shinto Lord is not just about getting my and the Lord of Kyoto’s approval.”

“Isn’t it?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked, puzzled.

“The Honshu Shinto Lord holds the power to command the troops of Honshu,” the “Ogosho” put down his teacup. “With such great power, one naturally has to bear more responsibility.”

He looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto with eyes that showed no emotion and said:

“My opinion is not important. You must get the recognition of the practitioners of Kanto to sit in this position.”

“I understand,” Minamoto Kiyomoto nodded.

Going around in such a big circle, it’s just to make a request.

“Ogo… Uncle, please tell me, how can I get the recognition of the practitioners of Kanto?”

“Kiyomoto-kun, have you heard of the ‘Coral Demon Moth’?”

“I have. It’s said to be the most recent ‘prefecture-level’ yokai. It almost destroyed all of Miyagi Prefecture, and it’s still alive.”

“That’s right. Do you know who was the one who finally forced it back?”

“I’m not sure about that.”

“The previous generation’s Divine Medium,” the “Ogosho’s” tone was calm.

“According to the Onmyoryo’s observations,” the “Ogosho” continued, “after more than a dozen years, the ‘Coral Demon Moth’ has healed its originally almost unhealable injuries and will soon return to the land of Kanto.”

“You mean, you want me to destroy it?”

“Destroy it and prove that you have the strength to protect Kanto. If you can do it, my appointment is not important at all. Everyone will voluntarily obey your orders.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto was very confident in himself.

Give him time, and he wouldn’t even put a ‘prefecture-level’ yokai in his eyes.

But confidence was not arrogance. He knew very well that at this moment, let alone him, even with Kamibayashi Miko and Himegami Izayoi, he was no match for a ‘prefecture-level’ yokai.

Destroying the “Coral Demon Moth” and becoming the Honshu Shinto Lord was important, but how could it compare to the two of them?

Just as Minamoto Kiyomoto was about to make a decisive decision and give up, the “Ogosho” said:

“I will inform Miko of this matter and have her help you.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked up.

He stared at the “Ogosho.”

“She is your daughter,” he said, enunciating each word.

“It is precisely because she is my daughter that I am letting her go. When necessary, I will also personally go to the field. Which of the practitioners who died in battle was not someone’s daughter or son, someone’s father or mother? Kiyomoto-kun, we are not the Shinto sect.”

Although they were in the most prosperous part of Tokyo, there was no noise here. It was so quiet that one would suspect that the outside world had disappeared.

“…I understand,” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s tone returned to calm.

“Besides Miko, I will ask other practitioners for help,” the “Ogosho” said. “For the sake of Kanto, Kiyomoto-kun, please do your best.”