Chapter 78: The Corrupt Dynasty

“Please enjoy the world of the dynasty picture scroll!”

“Rapid-fire No. 5 fireworks, Starmine!”

“‘The Tale of Genji’ will live forever! The Minamoto clan will live forever!”

The voice of the fireworks display host, through modern equipment, reached the clouds.

Kamibayashi Miko’s charming eyelashes trembled like butterfly wings, and she came back to her senses.

She looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto. This guy was still gently and wantonly sucking, and a tingling sensation was spreading from the tip of her tongue throughout her body.

Kamibayashi Miko’s watery eyes gradually turned cold.

The next moment, a hole suddenly appeared in the cloud boat, and Minamoto Kiyomoto fell.

“What’s going on?” Minamoto Kiyomoto subconsciously used his divine power, but there was no reaction. He looked down and saw that the thin belt transformed from the “Divine Miko’s Silk” was tied to his body, emitting a golden light.

He looked at the distant boat, at the dreamlike figure standing on the boat, and sighed with satisfaction, closing his eyes in endless aftertaste.

His ears were full of the sound of the wind, and he was immersed in the world of the past.

When he was about to hit a red Japanese-style bridge, the thin belt suddenly stopped, and then loosened. Minamoto Kiyomoto fell from a height of one meter.

He didn’t fall on the wall, but scraped against the railing and rolled onto the small platform by the wall.

He bumped into people, two young women in yukatas, who looked like they had just started high school.

Actually, he didn’t bump into anyone. Minamoto Kiyomoto reacted and scraped past the two of them. As a result, he himself almost really fell to the bottom of the bridge. Fortunately, he grabbed the edge of the small platform.

“Ah!” The young women’s screams pierced his ears.

Before Minamoto Kiyomoto could speak, his face felt cold.

He opened his eyes and saw the young women in yellow and blue yukatas, trembling and hugging each other, looking down at him in horror.

Minamoto Kiyomoto glanced at the ground of the small platform. Besides the two young women’s geta-clad feet, there was also a cup of shaved ice.

“That, do you still want it? According to the three-second rule, you can still eat it,” Minamoto Kiyomoto raised his head slightly, indicating the shaved ice on his face.

“N-no, thank you!” the young woman in the yellow yukata awkwardly raised her hand at him.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at the other one, “What about you?”

“…Are you a fool? Or a pervert?” the blue-clad young woman calmed down and cursed fiercely.

“If I have to choose, I’ll be a pervert,” Minamoto Kiyomoto recalled what he had just done. As he spoke, he suddenly realized the coolness on his face and reached out to wipe off the shaved ice.

He was just in a good mood and wanted to jump into the river for a swim. How could he really want two high school girls to eat the shaved ice on his face?

Not to mention what he had done to Kamibayashi Miko before, he absolutely could not do it in the future!

“Are you alright?” the young woman in the yellow yukata, after recovering from her fright, looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto, who was hanging there with one hand.

“I’m fine, thank you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto climbed up. “I’m sorry for knocking over your shaved ice.”

He fumbled in his pocket. When he came out, he was only thinking about boating in the sky and didn’t bring any money at all.

“N-no need!” the young woman in the yellow yukata, seeing his intention, quickly said, “You were also pushed off the bridge by someone.”

“That’s not necessarily true!” the young woman in the blue yukata said aggressively. “Maybe he was peeking at our collars and was so engrossed that he fell.”

“Eh?!” The young woman in the yellow yukata covered her collar in horror.

Minamoto Kiyomoto: “…”

“I’m really sorry for knocking your food to the ground!” he apologized again, then climbed back onto the bridge.

“Brother Kiyomoto?” Just as he was climbing the bridge, a sweet voice came from the end of the bridge.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked and saw Minamoto Kiyomi.

Beside her stood Minamoto Kiyone, Fujiwara Shino, and a few other young women who looked like they were from various noble families.

They were all wearing beautiful yukatas, holding either goldfish, shaved ice, or fans.

“Minamoto Kiyomi!” Minamoto Kiyomoto jumped onto the bridge. “You came at the right time. I knocked over these two little girls’ things. Help me compensate them!”

As he spoke, he walked towards the crowd. The black divine power stirred, and in a blink of an eye, he disappeared into the night sky full of fireworks.

For the two young women whose shaved ice had been knocked over, he had disappeared into the bustling crowd, like the fireworks reflected on the surface of the Uji River, like a scene from a dream.

“Oh, alright!” Minamoto Kiyomi quickly replied.

After Minamoto Kiyomoto disappeared, she looked at the two young women, “Are you still students? Which school are you from?”

◇

The “Divine Miko’s Silk” flew back and gently wrapped around her waist, outlining the slenderness and grace of her waist.

Kamibayashi Miko stood on the clouds, looking down at the fireworks blooming in the night sky. Her heart was also beating with the fireworks, and her body was still hot.

But the fireworks were instantly swallowed by the dark night.

Just like manpower, in the face of a yokai, it was just a leaf fluttering in the autumn wind.

The night wind blew, and a trace of coolness crept into her heart.

Kamibayashi Miko planned to take Minamoto Kiyomoto to see the real life of ordinary people under the ravages of yokai after the Summer Festival.

Minamoto Kiyomoto broke through the sea of clouds and landed on the cloud boat.

Kamibayashi Miko turned to look at him.

Her slightly angry face was so beautiful that one couldn’t help but want to hug her.

“There won’t be a next time,” Kamibayashi Miko said in a cold voice.

“The people are not afraid of death, why threaten them with death?” Minamoto Kiyomoto raised his head and chest, as if he were facing death with equanimity.

Kamibayashi Miko’s eyes turned golden.

“Wait!” Minamoto Kiyomoto quickly shouted to stop. “I was wrong.”

As soon as Kamibayashi Miko’s eyes darkened, he said again, “I will take responsibility to the end. It’s best to go back to Tokyo right now and get the marriage registration form from the ward office.”

“You think I won’t kill you?” Kamibayashi Miko’s tone was icy.

“Yes,” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked straight into her eyes, a smile on his lips.

Kamibayashi Miko was looked at by him and could only snort, then said, “If I don’t kill you, there are plenty of ways to make you wish you were dead.”

“Lock me up in Hakusan Shrine?” Minamoto Kiyomoto said. “I couldn’t ask for more.”

Kamibayashi Miko looked at him for two seconds and said, “Whether it’s the deep affection of writing a love letter or the shamelessness of pestering me now, it’s all in vain.”

Her tone softened, but it had an unquestionable firmness.

“From April to August,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said, “in four months, I got your first kiss. Is it still far from getting all of you?”

Kamibayashi Miko turned away, not intending to continue the conversation.

The fireworks burned out, and the sky was so dark it was scary.

Looking down, under the sky, the Uji River fireworks display, which had been attended by 200,000 people, was also beginning to disperse.

Minamoto Kiyomoto continued:

“It doesn’t matter if it’s far. Even if it takes a lifetime to get close to you a second time, I’m willing.

“But, I still hope to get you before I turn 20, and then we’ll be together until we’re 80.

“When we’re both dead, my useless bones will be buried with your spirit bones.”

“Miss Kamibayashi,” Minamoto Kiyomoto gazed at Kamibayashi Miko’s back. “There really is nothing eternal in this world. The sun will also be extinguished, but for two people to be together for sixty years and be buried together after death, this is not eternal at all. It is something that really exists in the world.”

Wrapped in the golden divine power, the small boat left the cliff of the sea of clouds and sailed in the direction it came from.

Minamoto Kiyomoto did not feel any frustration. Instead, he lay leisurely on the bow of the boat, his hands behind his head, humming a song.

Tonight, he had unexpectedly kissed Kamibayashi Miko, which was enough to make him feel that it was great to be alive today.

Unfortunately, this life was not bitter enough to be worthy of the beauty of this kiss.

It was not good to be too bitter either. If he was bitter, it was not just his own business. His mother in Shikoku would be even more bitter.

He didn’t know when he could take Kamibayashi Miko back to see his mother, as a girlfriend.

In the future, if the two of them did something wrong, would they be punished by kneeling together?

“What kind of person do you think I am?” Unknowingly, ten minutes had already passed. Kamibayashi Miko spoke.

“A world-famous miko, pure, a protector of the weak, with a compassionate and gentle heart, who persists in what she has to do, hmm—and has a noble sense of mission, willing to dedicate her strength to those mortals, and has a sense of responsibility.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto said one after another. The more he said, the more he felt that all the complimentary words could be used on her.

As for her tongue being delicious, he thought about it and didn’t dare to say it.

“Since you know, you should understand that everything you do is in vain, isn’t it?”

“I can’t hear you—” Minamoto Kiyomoto said loudly. “I’ve already gone to the boundless distance, and I’m pursuing the ultimate meaning of life!”

After saying this, he continued to sing loudly and happily, not talking to Kamibayashi Miko.

In terms of stubbornness, the two were evenly matched.

The flowing clouds flew past. The two of them returned to Kyoto and landed in the Shin’en of Heian Shrine.

Before they parted, Minamoto Kiyomoto turned his side profile to her, “Miss Kamibayashi.”

“What are you doing?” Kamibayashi Miko looked at him with confusion.

“If you don’t kiss me, I won’t go back.”

Kamibayashi Miko’s slender waist twisted, and she kicked him into the pond, clean and neat.

“Ptooey, ptooey!” Minamoto Kiyomoto spat out the water lily leaves in his mouth. “If you don’t want to kiss, then don’t. Why did you have to kick me? I was planning not to brush my teeth for ten years!”

“You’re really crazy tonight,” Kamibayashi Miko said.

“Crazy, I also feel that I’m really crazy about you. I suspect that this is some kind of insidious curse, specially designed to confuse people’s minds. Miss Kamibayashi, do you know this kind of curse? I do know one—love!”

Minamoto Kiyomoto was saying things in the pond that made one’s skin crawl. Kamibayashi Miko was so disgusted that she walked away.

She returned to her residence by the Seihou Pond, planning to cultivate for a while, but she unconsciously caressed her lips.

Vaguely, it seemed that the sweet touch of the stirring was still there.

Every crazy word Minamoto Kiyomoto had said tonight, she thought she hadn’t heard at that time, but now she remembered them one by one.

She couldn’t enter a state of cultivation at all. She even felt that the golden divine power had dimmed and was no longer as bright as usual.

Kamibayashi Miko simply left the quiet room and went to the living room to watch Shirako and the little butterfly play chess.

But she was only looking with her eyes. Her heart was still in the fireworks of Uji.

She rubbed her eyebrows helplessly and closed her eyes gently.

“Lady Miko, are you tired?” the little butterfly asked in a child-like, innocent voice.

“Shh!” Shirako covered her mouth.

Kamibayashi Miko heard the little butterfly’s voice, but when she opened her eyes, she only opened her eyes. Her gaze was fixed on the void, and her mind was on other things.

Shirako looked at her master. She felt that her dazed look was so heartbreaking, but also so beautiful. It was so beautiful that although she knew she was pitiful now, she still wanted her to stay like this forever.

By the Soryu Pond, around the Tang-style building, the divine breath was colorful.

Minamoto Kiyomoto had never cultivated so seriously before.

He never expected miracles. Whether they happened or not, he firmly believed that life was something that he had to fight for bit by bit.

Since he wanted to pursue Kamibayashi Miko, he naturally had to be strong enough, so strong that she could feel at ease and let go of her duties as a Divine Miko, not rely on love to make her suffer the pain of having to make a difficult choice!
Unfortunately, he had almost died when he merged with the remains of the red and black evil dragon.

Otherwise, if he turned a living “prefecture-level” yokai into a beast’s body, with endless divine breath, plus his curses, he would really be invincible.

The next day, the two of them did not go to the old bookstore. They took Shirako and the little butterfly to the Shin’en-en Garden in the palace to watch people pray for rain.

The nobles could enter and leave the Shin’en-en Garden at will, so there were many people watching the rain prayer.

The female officials in the palace also stood on the side halls, corridors, and rainbow bridges to watch.

“Turn clear and white, change yin and yang!”

“The dragon gods gather, and the rain floods!”

All kinds of curses and divine powers burst out with brilliant light in the Dragon King Temple.

Minamoto Kiyomoto even saw someone reciting a memorial, asking the Dragon King of the East Sea to make it rain—it was not successful.

“Do we have any rain-praying curses?” he asked Kamibayashi Miko.

“You want to learn?”

“Is there really one?”

“Isn’t it normal for a miko to pray for rain?”

“That’s true, but I’ll forget about learning it. I plan to cultivate my divine power hard and strive to be able to truly share the responsibility of a Divine Miko for you as soon as possible.”

Kamibayashi Miko was noncommittal, but she remembered another thing, “You go back and write a letter of guarantee, guaranteeing that what happened last night will not happen again.”

“…Ah?” Minamoto Kiyomoto was stunned. He didn’t expect that he would have to write a letter of guarantee.

At this time, someone succeeded in praying for rain, and a torrential rain suddenly fell from the sky.

Just as Minamoto Kiyomoto was marveling at how the state mechanism, once it started to operate, could change the world and there was almost nothing it couldn’t do, the rain suddenly stopped.

There was a burst of noise, and the female officials giggled.

The person who had succeeded in praying for rain was proud and was about to go to the ‘Qianlin Pavilion,’ which was also in the Shin’en-en Garden, to receive a reward. For a moment, he was stunned.

“That person is so funny!” A burst of cheerful laughter from women approached.

Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t pay attention at first, but when he heard Minamoto Kiyomi’s voice, he looked over.

In his eyes, the every move and laughter of these women had a contrived taste, as if they were laughing for the sake of laughing.

However, their faces were all delicate, and they were wearing gorgeous kimonos. Although they were far from being as stunningly beautiful as Himemiya Izayoi, they were like small daisies in a field.

The nearby noble men, on the other hand, were like male birds listening to the chirping of female birds. Their eyes, which were looking at these noble young ladies, were shining with a fiery light.

“Kiyomi,” Minamoto Kiyomoto greeted.

“Brother Kiyomoto!” Minamoto Kiyomi replied.

The noble young ladies around her all looked over, then gathered together and said something, and all giggled.

“Come here for a moment,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“Alright~” Minamoto Kiyomi, wearing a dignified kimono, walked over in a lively manner.

“What’s the matter, Brother Kiyomoto?” she asked sweetly.

“Last night, did you compensate those two people?”

“Hmm~” Minamoto Kiyomi nodded obediently. “I asked for their school, and then had Kyoto University contact them. The two of them will receive an early admission notice in a few days—if it’s fast, today.”

“…”

“Isn’t it good?” Minamoto Kiyomi tilted her head. “They’re both students. It’s not good to give them money, so I thought of this.”

“It’s fine,” Minamoto Kiyomoto was also embarrassed to say that he had just knocked over someone’s shaved ice. “By the way, after the Summer Festival, I’ll go to Uji. If you have time then, can you show me around?”

“Alright, alright! Everyone wants you to go!”

“Does everyone really want me to go?”

“Hehe,” Minamoto Kiyomi scratched her head in embarrassment, then patted her chest and guaranteed, “But Kiyomi will definitely welcome you, Brother Kiyomoto!”

“Is that so? Thank you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a smile.

“Among the nobles, can cousins get married?” Kamibayashi Miko suddenly said.

“What?” Minamoto Kiyomi was stunned for a moment, then nodded, “Hmm~, they can.”

“Kiyomi, you go and play with your friends. I’ll find you then,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said. “Miss Kamibayashi is jealous.”

“Alright~” Minamoto Kiyomi walked back, looking back and forth between Minamoto Kiyomoto and Kamibayashi Miko with curiosity.

After she left, Minamoto Kiyomoto said to Kamibayashi Miko:

“The nobles of Kansai are really corrupt and willful. They just give away university admission spots. But with a ruler like the ‘Lord of Kyoto,’ it’s not surprising that these people are like this.”

“What are you talking about?” Himemiya Izayoi came over from the opposite side of the bridge with a smile.

“The corruption of the Kansai court,” seeing her, Minamoto Kiyomoto also smiled.

“Corruption?” Himemiya Izayoi asked.

“Yes, from what I’ve seen—Ichijo Shinya, although he’s my relative, he took me to the flower street during his official duties; and Minamoto Kiyomi, she just let people into Kyoto University; by the way, the most serious one is that Sanada Hajime, who spent one million yen to buy a book for a maiko, which made me unable to buy it.”

“It’s corrupt, but it’s hard to deal with such a big or small matter. Do you have any good ideas?”

“It’s better to get to the root of the problem than to treat the symptoms. All of this is because the ‘Lord of Kyoto’ has set a wrong example,” Minamoto Kiyomoto pointed at the people praying for rain at the Dragon King Temple.

“Meaning—” Himemiya Izayoi lowered her voice, “overthrow her?”

“As expected of my best friend,” Minamoto Kiyomoto applauded.

After a while, a female official came.

“Lord Kiyomoto, His Majesty has heard that you also know how to pray for rain and has asked you to go up and try,” the female official said.

“Pray for rain? Me?” Minamoto Kiyomoto pointed at himself.

Then, he looked at Himemiya Izayoi, “You said it?”

“I didn’t,” Himemiya Izayoi was also confused. “I just said that you’ve read all kinds of books, know everything, and there’s nothing you’re not good at.”

“…I am such a person, but isn’t it too arrogant to say it out loud?”

“Lord Kiyomoto,” the female official urged, “His Majesty is waiting.”

“…” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at the two miko with the eyes of someone going to the battlefield.

Kamibayashi Miko smiled happily. Himemiya Izayoi waved the handkerchief in her hand with a worried face.

“You,” Minamoto Kiyomoto went down the rainbow bridge and pointed at the pretentious Himemiya Izayoi, “damn it!”

“Hahaha!” Himemiya Izayoi couldn’t help it either and laughed so hard that she fell on Kamibayashi Miko’s shoulder.

As Minamoto Kiyomoto approached the Dragon King Temple, the noble young ladies and female officials all looked over.

Although he didn’t care about the outside world’s gaze, he couldn’t lose face—Minamoto Kiyomoto strengthened his determination to overthrow the “Lord of Kyoto’s” tyrannical rule.

Because it was His Majesty’s order, he didn’t have to wait in line. He could start praying for rain as soon as he arrived at the Dragon King Temple.

How could Minamoto Kiyomoto know any rain-praying curses? The body of the red and black giant dragon could gather dark clouds, but it couldn’t make it rain.

He had no choice but to recite the memorial that the cultivator in front of him had used to ask the Dragon King of the East Sea to make it rain, word for word.

“Your Majesty: Your benevolent grace is vast, extinguishing the fire sun in the long sky; the dharma rain flows grandly, bestowing golden waves on the great earth. Raise the clouds and rain, and sprinkle them all over the human world. The heavens send down sweet rain, and the earth gushes with spirit springs. The grass and trees are lush and prosperous, and the fields are abundant…”

The Dragon King of the East Sea was very considerate and actually sprinkled a few drops.

The young ladies and female officials were very disappointed. The men were watching the show. When Minamoto Kiyomoto came back, he was beaming with joy.

“How was it?!” he asked the two miko.

“It’s not going to rain by chance, is it?” Himemiya Izayoi looked at the sky.

“Impossible! I prayed for this!” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with certainty.

“Alright, alright, let’s say you prayed for it. But,” Himemiya Izayoi looked at him with a grin, “if you only have two or three drops at the Summer Festival, it won’t satisfy me. You’ll be in for it.”

“…The three of us, you’ve received the most noble education, and you’re also the most lewd, Izayoi,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with certainty.

Happy Double Ninth Festival to everyone~

(End of Chapter)