Chapter 185: Soaring into the Blue Sky Today

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Minamoto Kiyomoto led them, like the sun, all over the island—except for the places where the sun couldn’t shine, they went to all the places they could.

And, their appearance was as eye-catching as the sun.

A gorgeous and elegant kimono beauty, an exquisite and beautiful doll-like young lady, a cute and proud junior high school girl, a beautiful and otherworldly black-haired fairy, and Minamoto Kiyomoto, who had grown up watching.

On the third day of their return home, that is, December 27th, Ayako asked Minamoto Kiyomoto to visit the Shikoku Shinto Lord.

“Thank her properly, and by the way, ask her how to be a Shinto Lord,” the innkeeper’s mother said.

“As you command,” the Honshu Shinto Lord nodded in agreement…

Then he came to the living room and deployed his troops.

“My mom asked me to go to the shrine on Mount Hoshigajo to visit the priest. Who wants to go with me?”

“I’m not going,” the Lord of Kyoto was the first to refuse. Playing role-playing games with Minamoto Kiyomoto and teasing her lover was fine, but visiting—and even thanking—her subordinates was something she would not do.

The Hokkaido Miko glanced at her and then stood up.

The Lord of Kyoto glanced at the Divine Medium on her left, meaning for her to go and supervise the spy from Hokkaido.

“I’ll go with you,” the Divine Medium stood up.

She was wearing a beautiful white sweatshirt today, which she had bought on the day of her date with Minamoto Kiyomoto. It wasn’t a couple’s outfit, but if the two of them stood together, it would have a certain meaning.

Shirako said nothing, buried her head, and played “Fortnite” with Noi and Uehara Moe.

“Don’t use a gun! Don’t use a gun! This is a rookie!” she shouted. “Build a house around him. We’ll beat him to death with a pickaxe!”

So scary.
Is “Fortnite” such a bloody and violent game?

Minamoto Kiyomoto, Kamibayashi Miko, and the Hokkaido Miko had just left the living room and were changing their shoes at the entrance when they heard Uehara Moe’s happy laughter.

It seemed that that person had been beaten to death.

“The storm is coming, Moe. Drop the shield potion you picked up,” Noi calmly ordered.

Then came Shirako’s arrogant voice:

“This idiot! He still wants to shoot me with a shotgun! When I, Colonel Shirako, was fighting on the battlefield and establishing my merits, his ancestors were still playing with mud with a wooden stick!”

Minamoto Kiyomoto and Kamibayashi Miko exchanged a glance.

“She’s been on the battlefield?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked.

“No,” Kamibayashi Miko replied.

“There are many people who show off in games and then get carried away, bragging and talking tough,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a laugh.

“Just like you in Izumo, when you dueled with the Shinto sect and said you would eliminate them within a year after winning?” Kamibayashi Miko asked.

“Uh.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto was like a player who was cornered by Shirako and the others, and even though he had a gun in his hand, he was beaten to death by the three of them with a pickaxe.

Kamibayashi Miko laughed.

Minamoto Kiyomoto glared at her, and then he also laughed.

Pushing open the inn door, it was another fine day. Looking into the distance, the bright blue sky, everything around was dazzling to the point of being a little blinding.

The sacred ground where the Shikoku Shinto Lord was located was on Mount Hoshigajo.

Mount Hoshigajo was more than 800 meters high, and climbing it was a physical task.

When she had climbed about two-thirds of the way, Kamibayashi Miko, this liberal arts girl, couldn’t help but pant, and every step she took became heavy.

Rikka, who was also slender, was very leisurely and calm.

“Shall I carry you?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked Kamibayashi Miko tentatively.

“Why… why not rest for a while?” she asked, catching her breath.

“Let everyone stop and wait for you? Can you not be so willful?”

Kamibayashi Miko gave Minamoto Kiyomoto a white look, her eyes showing a thoughtful look, and then she nodded.

Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t expect her to really agree.

At the thought of finally being able to touch Kamibayashi Miko’s just-right breasts, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but twitch—he was just such a superficial pervert.

He squatted down slightly in front of her.

Kamibayashi Miko of course saw Minamoto Kiyomoto’s uncontrollable smile.

The corners of her mouth also twitched. She smiled and stepped forward, riding on his shoulders.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was stunned for a moment. This way of carrying her, he couldn’t touch her breasts… it was even worse.

“Alright, get up,” she patted his head. The touch of his hair was very warm.

“Ah, Lady Miko’s legs~” Minamoto Kiyomoto came back to his senses, his hands on Kamibayashi Miko’s calves, his voice full of intoxication and obsession.

“You’re full of lewd thoughts!” Kamibayashi Miko knocked him on the head.

“Which twenty-year-old young man isn’t lewd?”

Rikka sized up the two of them, thought for a moment, and said, “I’ll tell Izayoi what you’re doing when we get back.”

“…”

“Did I allow you to touch them?” Kamibayashi Miko gently pinched Minamoto Kiyomoto’s ear.

“Sorry, this is my subconscious habit when I’m thinking,” Minamoto Kiyomoto no longer slid his hands up and down.

Lady Miko’s calves were indescribably beautiful, a unique treasure in the world—Minamoto Kiyomoto turned into a loyal fan of the Divine Medium, feeling that the Divine Medium was simply the incarnation of a god.

‘That’s right, I am a god…’

“Sit tight, let’s go!”

‘Let me finish!’

Kamibayashi Miko sat on Minamoto Kiyomoto’s shoulders, her field of vision much wider than before.

She could see the terraced fields, the stationary huge white windmills, and the sparkling sea in the distance.

She had flown at an altitude of ten thousand meters and had also dived into the sunless deep sea, but those scenes did not bring her any emotion.

When she used her divine power, she was the Divine Medium, not Kamibayashi Miko.

And now, as an ordinary person, seeing a scenery that was slightly different from what ordinary people could see, her mood was inexplicably cheerful, and she couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

“Sing a song,” she patted Minamoto Kiyomoto’s head again.

“The flowers are colorful, the clouds are flowing~”

“Unforgettable memories, evoking thousands of thoughts~”

“Leave the memories to yesterday’s windowsill~”

“Soar into the blue sky today~”

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s distant and clear singing echoed on the mountain road of Mount Hoshigajo.

“On the day of my high school graduation, I sang this song. A group of seagulls flew over the school building. I remembered it for a long time and felt that something good would definitely happen in college. Sure enough, not long after the third year of college started, I met you.”

At the top of the mountain, to enter the sacred ground, one had to pass a flight of steps lit with lanterns.

The sea of clouds was very low. Walking on the steps, it was like walking on the heavenly steps leading to the heavenly palace.

Unlike the barren mountains and wild ridges of Hakusan Shrine, the sacred ground of the Shikoku Shinto Lord had magnificent palaces and was bustling with people.

Without needing to explain their purpose, someone had already informed the Shikoku Shinto Lord of the arrival of the three of them.

The Shikoku Shinto Lord quickly walked out of the inner hall.

With sixty-year-old white hair and a thirty- or forty-year-old face, she was still beautiful.

“Honshu Shinto Lord…”

“Just call me Kiyomoto,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a smile.

A gentle smile also appeared on the Shikoku Shinto Lord’s serious face.

After greeting, the four of them found a quiet room.

“Thank you for taking care of my mother during this time,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with gratitude.

“You’re welcome. It was Her Majesty’s order,” the Shikoku Shinto Lord said with a smile. “Are you planning to stay in Shikoku for the New Year?”

“Yes. I usually don’t have time. I can only spend more time with my mother during the New Year.”

After chatting for a while, Minamoto Kiyomoto asked for advice on what to pay attention to as a Shinto Lord.

The Shikoku Shinto Lord pondered for a while and replied, “Some minor details, even if I don’t say it, with your talent, Kiyomoto-kun, you can understand. I’ll give you a sentence.”

“Please speak,” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s expression was sincere.

“To change the world, you must first completely change yourself. To change yourself, you need to be clear about your identity and position.”

“My identity is a Shinto Lord. What is my position?”

The Shikoku Shinto Lord smiled, “That depends on what kind of Shinto Lord you want to be!”

On the way down the mountain, Minamoto Kiyomoto pondered this sentence.

Holding the lives of the practitioners of Honshu in his hands was not what he wanted. He had no interest in the position that ten thousand people envied.

At the beginning of his training, he just wanted to see how far he could go on the path of life.

If he had the spare energy, he would also do his best for the peace and beauty of the world.

After falling in love with Kamibayashi Miko, his goal changed again. He wanted to make the world no longer need the Divine Medium.

Was that enough?

It was simple to not need one Divine Medium, but it was difficult to not need many ordinary practitioners.

Now that he thought about it, when he took the Romancecar from Shinjuku Station to Hakone, what was the difference between that and a train transporting soldiers to the battlefield?
One carriage after another of living people were pulled over, and one carriage after another of corpses were sent back.

What this world didn’t need shouldn’t be the Divine Medium, but yokai—this was the awareness that a Shinto Lord should have.

Without yokai, practitioners who possessed power that surpassed society would naturally not be needed.

“Miko.”

“Hmm.”

“I’m going to give you up.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m going to free every practitioner from this endless long journey!”

“…Hmm?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto took a deep breath and was about to say what kind of Shinto Lord he wanted to be.

“My chance has come?”

“…What chance?” he looked at the Hokkaido Miko who had interrupted him.

The Hokkaido Miko tilted her head and looked at him with confusion, “Aren’t you giving up on Miko?”

“Yes, he’s giving up on me,” Kamibayashi Miko said faintly.

“That’s not what I meant by giving up!”

“I’ll remember what you said today. On Mount Hoshigajo on Shodoshima Island, Minamoto Kiyomoto said he was giving up on Kamibayashi Miko.”

“Let me explain!”

After going down the mountain and returning to the seaside, the two of them finally heard Minamoto Kiyomoto clearly explain what ‘giving up on the Divine Medium’ meant.

“No matter what you plan to do,” the wind started to blow, and Kamibayashi Miko’s hair flew. “Only by making yourself stronger and staying alive will you have a hope of success.”

“Just like when the wind blows, the sturdy chinquapin tree sways slowly, while the water grass by the pond trembles?”

Kamibayashi Miko turned her head to look at him. Her flying hair added a messy beauty to her.

“What you’re talking about is the meaning of becoming stronger. What I mean is to stay alive.”

“Only by becoming stronger can you stay alive.”

“Hmm, but becoming stronger doesn’t mean taking risks.”

“…I understand your meaning, Lady Miko.”

As the two of them were talking, Rikka suddenly sighed.

The Hokkaido Miko, who was usually indifferent to everything, actually sighed. For a moment, even the Honshu Shinto Lord and the Divine Medium couldn’t help but look at her.

“What’s wrong?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked.

“Why am I not tired?” the仙藻Miko asked with confusion.

“Tired?” Minamoto Kiyomoto was even more confused.

“If I were tired, I could let you touch my legs.”

The wind started to blow, really started to blow. Minamoto Kiyomoto’s thoughts were blown like wildly dancing water grass, trembling.

The Hokkaido Miko looked at Kamibayashi Miko again and looked at her with suspicion, “Are you pretending to be tired?”

“…” Kamibayashi Miko had nothing to say.

“You’re not talking?” Minamoto Kiyomoto became energetic. “You’re not really pretending to be tired, are you? You still say I’m full of lewd thoughts. You’re about the same! You want me to carry you, you want me to touch you?”

Kamibayashi Miko twisted her slender waist, and her long and slender right leg kicked towards him.

Minamoto Kiyomoto easily dodged.

“Miss Kamibayashi, times are different now. I’m no longer the bullied boy I used to be. I’m twenty years old!”

He laughed and jumped onto the breakwater, walking on it like a cat.

Kamibayashi Miko looked at his back and only felt that he was even more childish than when she first met him, when he said he believed in aliens.

A gentle smile appeared on her face.

“Are you pretending?” the Hokkaido Miko’s snow-like clean voice came from her ear.

Kamibayashi Miko’s smile froze.

The next living room of the Minamoto family, a debate unfolded around ‘whether an ordinary person would get tired climbing an 800-meter mountain.’

The Hokkaido Miko emphasized that she was not tired.

Shirako said she was not human—if a human said this, it might be scolding, but coming from the mouth of Shirako, who was not human herself… it might still be scolding.

In the debate, Himegami Izayoi asked the judge, Ayako, not to forget one point: the defendant, Kamibayashi Miko, lived on a mountain that was not too high or too low, and went up and down every day.

“Is that so?” Ayako asked the witness, Minamoto Kiyomoto, for confirmation.

“Yes,” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied.

The judge, Ayako, looked at the defendant, “Miko, do you have anything else to say?”

“I have no reason to do so. And before he carried me, I clearly suggested that we just need to rest,” Kamibayashi Miko replied.

“Is that so?” Ayako asked Minamoto Kiyomoto again.

Before Minamoto Kiyomoto could answer, Himegami Izayoi said again, “She’s a scheming bad woman. In April, when the weather was still cold, she kicked Kiyomoto into a dirty pond.”

Ayako slowly looked at Kamibayashi Miko, a smile on her face that showed no emotion.

What followed was not a debate, but a war.

At night.

‘Do you think I should go and comfort her?’

‘You shouldn’t. A man going up to a girl’s room in the middle of the night is definitely not a good thing.’

‘Mother Tamahime, you’re talking out of anger again. Are you also angry about what happened during the day? I’ll go and apologize right now!’

Minamoto Kiyomoto secretly slipped into Kamibayashi Miko’s room.

Tamahime laughed in anger.

The window was open. Kamibayashi Miko sat on the windowsill. The night wind blew in. She looked at the vast and magnificent night sky above the sea.

“Don’t be angry about what happened during the day. My mother didn’t mean any harm,” Minamoto Kiyomoto walked over and stood beside her.

“I’m not angry,” she said quietly, not taking her eyes off the sky, as if she knew he was coming. “I should be the one to apologize to you.”

“Apologize to me?”

“I know I shouldn’t have this kind of thought, but sometimes I can’t help but think—” after a slight pause, Kamibayashi Miko chose a euphemistic way of saying, “It would be great if your mother were like my mother.”

“Ah, that’s not good.”

If it were Tamahime, if his own mother were in his body, Minamoto Kiyomoto would choose to commit suicide.

“So I apologize to you, but you should be able to understand. People are fragile, and they can’t control their own thoughts.”

“I understand. I sometimes have sinful thoughts too.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Ah? Let’s not.”

‘Humph, humph,’ Tamahime meant that she knew everything.

The two of them did not speak and quietly looked at the magnificent and deep Milky Way.

The night wind was cold. Kamibayashi Miko made a fist with her right hand and gently blew on it.

Minamoto Kiyomoto withdrew his gaze from the sea in the night and turned his gaze to her.

He took a step forward, picked her up, sat on the windowsill himself, and let her snuggle in his arms.

Kamibayashi Miko’s clear eyes, like the starry sky in winter, stared at him blankly.

The two of them looked at each other. Minamoto Kiyomoto saw a warmth in her eyes.

His heart warmed, and he couldn’t help but kiss her.

A sweet taste, and also as if there was no taste at all. It was just purely comfortable, and he wanted it to be like this forever.

“Kiyomoto.”

“Hmm.”

“I’m going to give you up.”

“Hmm?!”

“Actually, I don’t like to fight for these things. I just want to be with you,” she said softly. “Let Izayoi be the first wife… she has done a lot for you.”

“Let me confirm: you’re giving up, not giving up on me, right?”

“Now you know the anxiety of hearing your loved one say this?” she gently rubbed her cheek against his, as if gently punishing a naughty baby.

The starry sky, which had long since disappeared in the city, was turning in the sky. Everything seemed real and unreal.

“Miko, I like you the most, most, most.”