Chapter 162: The Banquet

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People came and went on the deck of the giant ship. Bird-like shikigami flew in the sky or stood on the masts.

The white deer from Nara and the green oxen from Kobe disliked each other. Their masters walked ahead and greeted each other, while they butted heads behind them, occasionally pushing each other with their bodies.

Someone’s python shikigami was coiled on the bow of the ship, looking like a small mountain.

“It looks like a pile of shit!” a practitioner laughed loudly.

“You’re full of shit!” the python shikigami’s master, a female practitioner, immediately started arguing.

The Kyushu Shinto Lord, other Kasen, nobles, and samurai were gathered together, exchanging pleasantries.

The monks from Koyasan, like a band, were chanting Buddhist scriptures in a corner of the deck.

A parrot shikigami stood on Amatsumara’s shoulder. The Amatsumara clan members who were controlling the ship reported the ship’s situation through it.

Amatsumara also gave orders to his clansmen through it.

The island-like demon hunting ship cut through the water and sailed towards the depths of the sea.

After chatting on the deck for a while, Minamoto Kiyomoto led the women into the cabin.

Itomi Yuki followed behind them, looking at the scene that was like a fantasy world, feeling that her eyes were not enough.

After entering the cabin, the sounds of people, the wind, and the waves outside all disappeared.

The sacred wood was not only highly defensive, but it could also block sound and divine power.

Practitioners staying in their own rooms didn’t have to worry about being eavesdropped on.

The cabin before them was the largest on the giant ship. It was built like a great hall. Countless human-shaped shikigami were serving dishes and preparing for a banquet.

“You two sit in the middle?” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at the four seats at the head of the table and asked Kamibayashi Miko and Himegami Izayoi.

“Of course it’s you,” Himegami Izayoi said with a laugh.

“I’m just a small Lord of Tsukushi-no-Kimi. My strength is only at the Kasen level. I’m not qualified.”

Himegami Izayoi put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him towards the head seat, saying:
“You are both the Lord of Tsukushi-no-Kimi of Kansai, the next Lord of Kyoto, and the son-in-law of the Kanto Ogosho, the next Ogosho. The Senso Miko of Hokkaido also likes you. If you are not qualified, who is?”

At the end, she pressed Minamoto Kiyomoto into the middle seat.

“…It hurts,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“Where does it hurt?” Himegami Izayoi asked.

“My shoulder.”

Himegami Izayoi “complimented” him with her mouth, but her hands were like iron hooks, about to pierce his collarbone.

“I’m telling you, since you’re sitting in a high position, you have to endure the pain.”

“Your positions are also very high, even higher than mine. Do you feel any pain?”

“Can men and women be the same?”

“What’s the difference?”

“Men should suffer more.”

“I’m a student of Professor Ueno Chizuko. I’ve read ‘Feminism.’ Don’t try to fool me,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said seriously.

“Go to hell,” Himegami Izayoi scolded with a laugh, flicked her sleeve, and sat down on his left.

Kamibayashi Miko sat on Minamoto Kiyomoto’s right.

There were four seats at the head of the table, arranged for Minamoto Kiyomoto, and the Divine Medium representing Kanto, the Ise Miko representing Kansai, and the Kyushu Shinto Lord.

Although the Hokkaido Miko was powerful, she spent most of the year hiding in the snow mountains, had little power, and could not represent Hokkaido, so she could only sit below.

But what kind of person was Rikka?
She went straight up and sat down beside Kamibayashi Miko.

Besides the Izumo Miko and the Suitengu Miko, no one else gave her a second look. These people were either too high in status to care about the disputes below, or they didn’t care about power.

The Suitengu Miko sat in the seat below Kamibayashi Miko, and the Izumo Miko sat at the head of Himegami Izayoi’s table.

Itomi Sayaka thought for a moment and sat on Kamibayashi Miko’s side. Itomi Yuki and Hanyu Chika sat next to her.

Yagyu Michiko had originally sat on Itomi Sayaka’s side, but after being glanced at by Himegami Izayoi with a smile, she obediently sat on her side, holding her pipa.

For some reason, she was very afraid of Himegami Izayoi.

“Sitting like this, even if the Kyushu Shinto Lord is an assassin, he won’t be able to touch the corner of my clothes!” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at both sides and said with a laugh.

“Instead, if I want to kill you, I just have to move my hand,” Himegami Izayoi drew the folding fan from her waist.

“Why would you want to kill me? Are you going to fight me for the succession of the Lord of Kyoto?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked her with a smile.

“Yes,” Himegami Izayoi also laughed.

A joke that only the two of them understood.

“Are you going to Kyoto?” Kamibayashi Miko asked Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“Not going to Kyoto, are you staying in Tokyo?” Himegami Izayoi said to her from across Minamoto Kiyomoto, confrontationally.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was caught between the two of them.

At this time, he absolutely could not choose one over the other.

“I don’t want to be the Lord of Kyoto, nor do I want to become the Ogosho. I just want to take you and live in seclusion on Shodoshima Island,” Minamoto Kiyomoto sighed.

Although it was to “escape,” this was also his true inner thought.

“I will not leave Hakusan Shrine.”

“Move it!” Minamoto Kiyomoto picked up his wine cup. “From today on, I will start training to move mountains and fill the sea. Hakusan, Mount Asama, Mount Fuji, as long as you like, I will move them all to the Seto Inland Sea.”

“Don’t forget my snow mountain,” the Hokkaido Miko added.

“I’m the most convenient. I don’t need any mountains,” Itomi Sayaka, who was sitting below, said.

Minamoto Kiyomoto said to the parrot in the hall, “Let’s begin.”

“As you command,” Amatsumara’s voice came from the parrot’s mouth.

Himegami Izayoi opened her folding fan, covered the corners of her mouth, and smiled without speaking.

“Dang! Dang!” The bell rang long.

The practitioners who were chatting and sparring on the deck entered the cabin one after another.

The Kyushu Shinto Lord was the first to enter. Seeing that the front seats were all taken, he couldn’t help but be stunned for a moment.

Amatsumara looked at the head of the table. The seat originally arranged for the Kyushu Shinto Lord was occupied by the Hokkaido Miko. He was also surprised.

It was impossible to ask the Hokkaido Miko to come down again.

If he did that, it would not be an insult to the Hokkaido Miko, but a look down on the entire Hokkaido.

He was busy thinking of adding another seat, but he was stopped by the Kyushu Shinto Lord.

“I’ll just sit here,” the Kyushu Shinto Lord said with a smile and sat down below Yagyu Michiko.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was surrounded by women. How could he be so tactless?
Before the battle in Shikoku in July, he might still have had the pride of a Shinto Lord, but in the past six months, he had almost been stripped of his divine position several times, and his spirit was not what it used to be.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was the next “Lord of Kyoto.” Sitting below his woman was not a shameful thing.

The Kyushu Shinto Lord didn’t care where he sat, and Amatsumara cared even less.

If it weren’t for some concerns, he would have wished for Minamoto Kiyomoto to sit at the head of the table alone, and for everyone else to kneel and eat.

He had personally seen the future Minamoto Kiyomoto.

What “Coral Demon Moth,” what Izanami, they were not his one-move enemies at all.

After the Kyushu Shinto Lord, the nobles and samurai of Kyoto; the Kasen and shrine maidens of Kanto, entered the hall in order.

Finally, Amamiya Noa, Amamiya Mari, and Asamiya Sakura, who had fought side by side in Hakone, entered the hall with the crowd.

Looking at the Shinto Lords, Kasen, and shrine maidens in the hall, and then at Minamoto Kiyomoto sitting at the head of the table with composure, they were in a daze for a moment.

They still remembered that on the Romancecar in April, the ignorant Minamoto Kiyomoto had even asked them about the practitioner world.

Now, time had just entered December, and that young man had already become the most dazzling person in Japan.

After obtaining the laurel crown, his spells were even more unparalleled.

They were looking up at those god-like great figures when they suddenly saw Minamoto Kiyomoto pick up his wine cup and smile at them.

The three of them couldn’t help but be stunned for a moment, and then an excited expression appeared on their faces.

Minamoto Kiyomoto actually remembered them and even greeted them!

Not only them, but also Koyasan’s Manjaku-shonin, Minamoto Nagatoku, and the Ichijo clan. Minamoto Kiyomoto greeted them all.

On the giant ship, the crowd was mixed, and it was impossible to distinguish between friend and foe. The only thing he could do now was to win over and unite his own people.

After Amamiya Noa and the others came in, Amatsumara came to Minamoto Kiyomoto’s side.

“My lord, almost everyone is here,” he reported.

“Let’s begin,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

Amatsumara clapped his hands, and the shikigami holding the plates and wine pots all disappeared. The crowd also quieted down.

Everyone looked at the head of the table.

The Divine Medium, with a calm expression, was as pure and beautiful as a fairy;
The Ise Miko, with a smiling face, was stunning and beautiful;
The Hokkaido Miko, with no expression, her skin whiter than snow;
And the handsome young man sitting in the middle, wearing a laurel crown and a black robe, was imposing.

Everyone forgot to breathe, captivated by the style of the four of them.

Those who were not interested in appearance, or who cared more about power, were thinking about Amatsumara’s and the Kyushu Shinto Lord’s attitude towards Minamoto Kiyomoto, and guessing the weight of the prophecy.

“I won’t waste any more words. Everyone, please drink to your heart’s content. Don’t be restrained,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a laugh.

Everyone smiled and agreed.

After drinking a cup of wine, the Kyushu Shinto Lord suddenly sighed, “I never thought that I would have a day to hunt down a county-level yokai.”

“Thanks to Lord Tsukushi-no-Kimi, he seriously injured the Coral Demon Moth with one strike!” Minamoto Nagatoku said loudly, wishing that everyone knew how powerful the future Minamoto Kiyomoto was.

“Everyone,” the Fujiwara clan leader stood up with his wine cup. “Let’s toast to Lord Tsukushi-no-Kimi!”

Fujiwara Shino looked at her father with a complicated expression and stood up with the crowd.

“I still have to rely on everyone!” Minamoto Kiyomoto also stood up with his wine.

“To Lord Tsukushi-no-Kimi!” everyone shouted in unison.

“The Coral Demon Moth, I will definitely kill it with all of you!” Minamoto Kiyomoto raised his head and drank the wine in one gulp.

Kamibayashi Miko and Himegami Izayoi looked at him, and a smile appeared on their lips. The Minamoto Kiyomoto who had shouted “I will definitely win!” and “Miss Kamibayashi!” had also grown up.

After the toast, everyone ate and drank freely, drinking to their heart’s content. The hall was filled with happy chatter.

Amatsumara boasted about his experience on Yomijima Island, using his divine power to outline the scene at that time.

The people in the hall were sometimes shocked by the “Coral Demon Moth,” and sometimes amazed by the divine might of the future Minamoto Kiyomoto—Amatsumara didn’t dare to say he was dead.

He told the short story over and over again, and everyone listened with relish, constantly flattering Minamoto Kiyomoto. The flattery was comparable to the water of the Pacific Ocean.

This was a demon hunting trip, and there were no geishas on the ship. The talented practitioners volunteered to dance gracefully in the great hall, which drew cheers from the crowd, and the atmosphere became even more heated.

Itomi Sayaka left her seat and came to the Izumo Miko’s side to talk to her about the members of Group Nine.

“Rabbit and the others, I’ll have to trouble you,” amidst the sound of the instruments, Itomi Sayaka said in a low voice.

“It’s nothing,” the Izumo Miko showed a gentle smile.

“Will you be suspected?” Itomi Sayaka said with worry.

Before the Yomijima Island incident, the Shinto sect had never suspected their own people, because the government would not give them a chance to repent.

“As long as I haven’t left the Shinto sect, it doesn’t matter if I’m suspected. Sanae Sara won’t directly kill my subordinates,” the Izumo Miko was not too worried.

Itomi Sayaka nodded.

Without conclusive evidence, killing people from other groups would only split the Shinto sect itself.

She suddenly thought again that Sanae Sara had asked the Izumo Miko to be an undercover agent. Perhaps she was already suspicious of her and had deliberately transferred her from the Shinto sect’s ship.

Among the people present, there might be people from the Shinto sect who were watching the two of them.

The more she thought about it, the more complicated things became. There were a thousand loose ends. Among the people in this great hall, it was impossible to tell which one was on her side and which one had come with hostility.

Itomi Sayaka was very glad that she was no longer a group leader and didn’t have to make decisions. She just had to follow Minamoto Kiyomoto’s arrangements.

What she needed to do was to protect her sister and to take down Minamoto Kiyomoto himself.

‘Hmm—, in that case, am I also here with hostility?’ she looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto at the head of the table. He had a… he had no expression—the Hokkaido Miko was feeding him.

Itomi Yuki looked at the banquet and found it very novel.

“Is this Yuki’s first time at a practitioner’s banquet?” Hanyu Chika asked her with a smile, treating her as her own sister.

“Mhm,” Itomi Yuki nodded.

Hanyu Chika had been to her house a few times. Itomi Yuki knew her and knew that she had a younger brother.

“Sister Chika, what about your brother? Is he still in the Shinto sect?” she asked.

Itomi Sayaka and Minamoto Kiyomoto had not told her about this matter.

“He was killed by Minamoto Kiyomoto,” Hanyu Chika said.

Itomi Yuki let out an “ah,” covered her mouth, and said as if she were guilty and embarrassed, “…I’m sorry.”

“Are you apologizing to me on his behalf?” Hanyu Chika asked with a smile.

Her smile was ambiguous, and her tone was teasing. Itomi Yuki’s small, snow-white face immediately turned red.

Minamoto Kiyomoto, while listening to the argument between Himegami Izayoi and the Hokkaido Miko, sized up the practitioners in the hall one by one.

Not counting himself, there were a total of twenty Kasen and shrine maidens.

The combat power above the Kasen level included the Divine Medium, the Ise Miko, the Hokkaido Miko, and the Kyushu Shinto Lord.

The remaining people were mostly practitioners with more than thirty subjugations, but they could only join in the fun.

Some with less than thirty subjugations were just here to watch the fun and do some chores.

As for someone like Itomi Yuki, she was just here for the fun of it. Even if she threw a spell, she would be in the way. Fortunately, she was the only one.

The banquet was in its second half. Himegami Izayoi leaned against Minamoto Kiyomoto casually, showing a charming and dazed drunken state.

Minamoto Kiyomoto let her lean on his shoulder and looked at her with a smile.

“Are you drunk?” he asked in a low voice.

Himegami Izayoi’s face was flushed, and she smiled without speaking.

The Hokkaido Miko said to the faintly drinking Kamibayashi Miko, “If you don’t lean, then let me go over.”

“Lean, why not lean,” Minamoto Kiyomoto answered for Kamibayashi Miko. “Miss Kamibayashi is also drunk.”

Although he said this, he did not move to put his arm around her shoulder. He just quietly held her hand and squeezed it hard.

Kamibayashi Miko pulled her hand back and glanced at him. That calm and impatient look, she looked particularly beautiful when she did it.

“Let me go over?” the Hokkaido Miko said to her.

Kamibayashi Miko ignored her.

“Susu, she won’t let me,” Rikka complained to Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“Don’t call me Susu!”

“Qingqing?”

“Kiyomoto-kun!”

Himegami Izayoi leaned on Minamoto Kiyomoto, her eyes hazy with drunkenness. She listened to the laughter and chatter in the great hall and smiled as she watched the three of them argue.