Chapter 19: Moving

The ancients had no large-scale mechanical equipment and could build houses with only manpower. Therefore, Minamoto Kiyomoto believed that since the ancients could do it, he could also use traditional methods—without spending money—to build his own wooden house in the mountains.

In the bright and clean library, the wooden table was piled with books, all about how to build a wooden house.

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s pencil sketched, drawing a rough draft of the wooden house.

It was not a simple splicing of wooden boards. There was a floor, an entrance, windows, a skylight, and even when taking a bath, one must be able to enjoy the scenery outside the window.

In addition to these, factors such as the foundation, the slope of the mountain, soil erosion, and the weather also had to be considered.

It took more time than Minamoto Kiyomoto had imagined, and it took a whole morning to sort it out.

After lunch, he refused Asana and the others’ proposal to go shopping in Shibuya. He took the list and went to buy the necessary tools.

With Polaris, there was no need to buy a chainsaw, a lawnmower, etc. When he encountered tree roots, he could act as an excavator.

Having learned the technique of mortise and tenon joinery, he could also save the money for nails.

But glass, rainproof cloth, rope, these things still needed to be bought ready-made.

He was going there to live. Although he had to save money, it was not primitive survival, relying entirely on his own hands.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was quite interested in building his own house with his own hands. He also bought ducks, chickens, and various vegetable seeds.

He planned to be completely self-sufficient and use all his money for cultivation.

Not only did he have to pay off all his debts, but he also had to buy all the curses that Kamibayashi Miko knew, and then go to the shop at the Onmyo Bureau to browse and buy some strange and interesting things he liked.

The thought of such a future filled his life with hope, and a sense of happiness welled up.

For the entire afternoon, he went back and forth between various shops and the Hakusan Shrine barrier, moving various materials.

Shirako was unexpectedly not dissatisfied, but only warned him that since he was moving in, he must cultivate seriously and not let his thoughts wander.

This should be a warning to him not to have any ideas about Kamibayashi Miko.

Minamoto Kiyomoto began to build his own home at a location one thousand meters away from Hakusan Shrine.

He changed into the high school sportswear sent from his hometown and first leveled the land.

“Rolling Wood Slash!”

Black light crisscrossed. Whether it was cypress, red pine, or some other unknown tree, as long as it appeared in front of him, it was all cut down.

The trees fell with a crash, and the ground was covered with branches and fallen leaves.

After cutting down the trees, he used Polaris to shave off all the branches and processed the trunks into wooden boards of various sizes.

Polaris was extremely sharp, and with the Shinto-ryu sword style, the finished products were exactly the same as those processed by machines.

He also left mortise holes on the wooden boards for later splicing.

By the time he had stacked the processed wooden boards together, it was already dark. The moonlight was not too bright, and the night sky was full of stars.

Minamoto Kiyomoto lit the camping lamp he had bought and set up a cheap 800-yen tent in a corner of the cleared open space.

The chickens and ducks were constantly making noise in their cages.

Minamoto Kiyomoto used his sword to dig a fire pit to boil water. Before the water boiled, he poured feed and water for them.

While eating instant noodles, he looked at the open space and planned for the future.

Here would be the wooden house, and there would be the vegetable garden. The vegetable garden should be close to the kitchen door, and the chickens and ducks should be further away to prevent the smell and noise.

He also had to plant mosquito-repellent grass and lucky clover to prevent soil erosion.

Spring was the season of beginnings. He was glad to have moved in at this time and could plant many vegetables.

Should he plant rice?
If he also raised rice paddy ducks, not only could they weed, but their droppings could also replenish the nutrients in the fields. In winter, there would also be duck meat to eat, killing three birds with one stone.

The only thing to pay attention to was to drive the ducks out of the field before the rice ripened and the ears of rice drooped to a height that the ducks could eat.

But planting rice was too time-consuming.

No matter how poor he was, he still had enough to buy rice. Wait, he could have it sent from home, which would save… forgot, his family also bought rice.

He hadn’t decided whether to plant rice or not, but he had already finished his instant noodles.

Minamoto Kiyomoto filled the large iron bucket he had bought with mountain spring water, then placed it on the fire pit. This time, he was boiling water for a bath.

While the bathwater was boiling, he began to lay the foundation.

“Om, chilim, all gods assist!” His body instantly doubled in size.

“Ora! Ora! Ora!”

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”

One punch after another, he continuously pounded the ground. The earth was pressed down tightly until the ground could no longer sink.

After a round of hammering with the Vajra-Glass Curse, Minamoto Kiyomoto could already transform to twice his size.

Thinking that Mansaku had also broken through in his battle with him, he wondered if he should let Kamibayashi Miko fight him, but she probably didn’t want to become so big.

“The foundation is the most important, both for the foundation and for cultivation,” Minamoto Kiyomoto continued to punch the ground.

The ground, which could no longer be pressed down in its one-time state, sank again.

The chickens and ducks shivered in their cages, huddled together, some even stepping on their own kind.

The bonfire for boiling the bathwater was shaken by the ground, and sparks flew everywhere.

After the ground was compacted and leveled, foundation stones were placed.

Each stone was spaced eighty-five to ninety-five centimeters apart, with a total of five rows, for a total of more than forty stones.

The floor would then be laid on the foundation stones.

After all this was done, the day’s plan was completed, and the bathwater was already boiling.

“The flying snow glitters, the wind blows without stopping.” This was a minor curse, for making it snow.

When Minamoto Kiyomoto was learning the great curses and the greatest curses, he had bargained with Kamibayashi Miko for it, like the small bags attached to the side of large bottles in a supermarket.

The minor curse was aimed at the hot water. In a blink of an eye, the iron bucket emitted wisps of white mist, both hot and cold.

“It should be about right,” Minamoto Kiyomoto retracted the curse.

He took off his clothes and pants, hung them on the hilt of Polaris, which was stuck in the ground, and soaked himself in the large iron bucket.

“Hoo,” the slightly hot water brought a sense of comfort and ease, making Minamoto Kiyomoto let out a long sigh.

The chickens and ducks, he didn’t know if they were scared or asleep, were curled up in their cages without moving.

The surroundings quieted down, with only the sound of the bonfire under the large iron bucket.

It was pitch black all around. Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at the distant starry sky and suddenly felt a wave of loneliness.

He used to be alone in the dorm, but through the walls, the whole building was full of people.

Now, the whole mountain was dark and gloomy, with only him, separated, and Kamibayashi Miko a thousand meters away.

Loneliness surged like a tide.

‘I don’t have to live in a tent today. I’ll go back to the dorm. The wooden house isn’t built yet anyway.’

‘I’ll go to Kamibayashi Miko’s place for a while and exchange combat experience from the mission.’

‘What if my mother calls at night while I’m in a place like this? She might call the police.’

‘I might as well give up everything. I might die next time, just like that Mansaku.’

It wasn’t just loneliness. All kinds of emotions welled up, wanting to escape, wanting to return to a comfortable daily life.

The weakest side of his heart was exposed in this dark night.

Minamoto Kiyomoto let these emotions envelop him. The endless darkness in the places where the bonfire could not reach flowed into his body.

How long had Kamibayashi Miko lived here alone? In the dead of night, did she feel lonely? he thought.

He closed his eyes in intoxication, enjoying the loneliness, cowardice, and fear, feeling that he had become a little stronger.

A divine light appeared in the sky, and a thick, black divine breath, like rainwater falling into a manhole cover, was swallowed into his body.

Heaven and man as one.

Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t feel like he was cultivating. It was as if his divine power was growing on its own.

He was enjoying his soak when he suddenly heard a sound.

He opened his eyes. A wild boar was looking at him from the woods. The bonfire barely illuminated its nose.

“Hahaha!” Ever since he met Kamibayashi Miko, Minamoto Kiyomoto felt that this world was really interesting.

The wild boar was scared by the laughter and turned to run, but before it could run a few steps, a black lightning bolt instantly caught up with it, and in a blink of an eye, it fell to the ground, twitching.

Minamoto Kiyomoto pushed his dripping hair back, revealing his smooth forehead, thinking about whether to eat the large loin or the small loin for breakfast tomorrow.

The next morning, he cut off a hind leg, also cut a little of the large and small loins, and took a rack of ribs.

Carrying these, he walked along the path through the woods that he had cleared yesterday, towards Kamibayashi Miko’s shrine.

The morning light cast the shade of the trees on the ground. Minamoto Kiyomoto felt like a villager from the foot of the mountain sending food to the nuns on the mountain.

On the corridor of the courtyard, Kamibayashi Miko, wearing a white undergarment, opened her eyes and heard the pleasant collision of the wind chime above her head.

“What are you doing up there?” she didn’t get up and said, looking at Minamoto Kiyomoto.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was sitting on the Tang-dynasty-style wall.

He pointed at the courtyard, “It costs money to go in.”

Kamibayashi Miko closed her eyes, preparing to continue cultivating.

“Wait a minute, have Shirako come and get the meat.”

“Meat? You have money to buy meat?”

“As expected of my favorite Miss Kamibayashi, every word can deeply pierce my heart. It’s wild boar meat. This guy was peeping at me while I was taking a bath yesterday, so I had no choice but to eat it.”

Kamibayashi Miko didn’t speak. After a while, Shirako, wearing an apron and probably making breakfast, walked out from the other end of the corridor.

“Next time, use the main gate,” she reprimanded as she walked to the foot of the wall.

“We’ll see if a second wild boar peeps at me while I’m taking a bath.”

Actually, Minamoto Kiyomoto had originally planned to use the main gate, but he suddenly wanted to see if Kamibayashi Miko would change her clothes, so he changed his mind and climbed over the wall.

But it was better not to say this purpose out loud.

He glanced at the women’s clothes on the clothesline and handed the wild boar meat in his hand to Shirako.

Who knew that Shirako was too short, and her slender arms couldn’t reach even when stretched out.

“Can’t you lower it a little?!” she said angrily.

Minamoto Kiyomoto saw her delicate little face turn red, her eyes full of gunpowder. He knew that if he dared to say “short,” she would definitely jump onto the wall and have a “morning exercise” with him.

“It’s my fault,” his face was full of self-blame.

He lay on the wall, his upper body as if it were about to slide down the eaves.

“A little lower!”

“Like this?”

“Lower!”

“The pork isn’t going down, I’m about to fall.”

“Then come down!”

“No, it’s 10,000 yen.”

Kamibayashi Miko sat cross-legged on the corridor, watching the two of them in their comical posture, exchanging words, the red pork swaying back and forth.

“Can’t you just throw the meat to her?” she couldn’t help but say.

“…”

Minamoto Kiyomoto made a “I’m throwing it” gesture, and Shirako also tacitly struck a “I’m ready” pose.

“Miss Kamibayashi is still the smart one,” after throwing the pork, Minamoto Kiyomoto said, clapping his hands.

“Come down,” Kamibayashi Miko glanced at him in annoyance. “Let’s have breakfast together.”

“No charge?”

Kamibayashi Miko didn’t speak and closed her eyes.

Minamoto Kiyomoto jumped down from the wall.

“Come and help,” Shirako handed the wild boar meat to him, letting him carry it, and at the same time commanded.

“…” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at the pork that had been passed around for a long time and was now back in his hands. He felt a bit like it.

Shirako was also like it.

He followed Shirako up the corridor and to the kitchen. The kitchen used a small, portable gas stove.

“Is there no electricity here?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked as he put down the pork.

“There’s a solar generator. You can use it by connecting the wires, but it’s only for lighting, the refrigerator, and charging Miko-sama’s phone.”

The kitchen was obviously specially modified for Shirako, and the height was just right.

Watching her skillfully prepare the food, Minamoto Kiyomoto couldn’t help but say, “I wish I had a shikigami like you.”

“Earth spirits all have masters. How could it be your turn?” Shirako said with disdain.

“Not an earth spirit. I mean one who can cook and do housework. If she’s as cute as you, that would be even better.”

“…You’re one of the more discerning piglets.”

“Shirako.”

“Call me instructor!”

“Instructor, when there’s pork around, can you not call me piglet?”

“Okay, poor devil.”

“…I am a poor devil,” Minamoto Kiyomoto was speechless.

For breakfast, there was rice, grilled seaweed, pickled plums, grated daikon radish, hijiki, freshly grilled dried horse mackerel, boiled fried tofu, dried radish pickled with rice bran and salt, and hot miso soup with tofu and green onions.

The three of them sat in the spacious Japanese-style room. Kamibayashi Miko had already changed into her casual clothes.

A black spring short-sleeved sweater, gray wide-leg pants, and a gray ribbon tied in a bow at the waist. It was a very casual university student outfit.

“The cutest in the world, an angel!” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“Thank you,” Kamibayashi Miko picked up her chopsticks, put her hands together, and then picked up her bowl to eat.

“Eat!” Shirako said to Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“I’ll start eating,” Minamoto Kiyomoto put his hands together.

Outside the sliding door was the morning plum tree, with white-faced sparrows perched on it, chirping.

Minamoto Kiyomoto ate the pickled plum and began to enjoy his breakfast.

Halfway through the meal, a little butterfly flew over, dazed and as if not yet awake, looking as if it were about to fall at any moment.

She flew to Kamibayashi Miko’s crossed legs and rested her head on them to continue sleeping.

Minamoto Kiyomoto sized up her palm-sized body, then looked at the small Shirako, and asked Kamibayashi Miko:
“Is there a way for humans to stay young and never grow old?”

“There is,” Kamibayashi Miko picked up a piece of steaming fish with her chopsticks and chewed it carefully. “But it’s very difficult.”

“How difficult?”

Kamibayashi Miko’s clear eyes showed a look of contemplation.

After pondering for a moment, she explained:

“Natsume Soseki once wrote a passage, ‘Why haven’t you changed? She said, because I liked myself the most in the year I had this face, the month I wore these clothes, and the day I had this hairstyle, so I’ve always kept this appearance. Then why have I become so old? The girl told me, because you always wanted to become more beautiful and better than you were then.’—This passage is very similar to the anti-aging curse.”

“Meaning: only by believing that you are always at your most beautiful moment can you maintain this curse?”

Kamibayashi Miko nodded, “You can’t think about it at all. Once you do, this curse will never work again.”

“It really is ‘a curse is both power and restraint’,” Minamoto Kiyomoto sighed, then asked, “Have you practiced this curse?”

“No.”

“Why?” he subconsciously asked. “I don’t think anyone is more beautiful than you. You are already the most beautiful.”

Having already spoken five sentences, Kamibayashi Miko of course would not answer.

Minamoto Kiyomoto thought left and right, but still couldn’t figure it out. What was she still dissatisfied with about herself?
Could it be that occasionally, and only very occasionally, she wanted her breasts to be bigger?
But it wasn’t that the bigger the better.

Although they weren’t big now, they were just right. Minamoto Kiyomoto liked the current size very much.

But the human heart is never satisfied. Even someone as perfect as himself couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t think about becoming better once in his life.

‘I’ll ask Izayoi later in class if she has cast this curse on herself. This woman should have absolute confidence in her own beauty,’ Minamoto Kiyomoto thought as he ate.

(End of Chapter)