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"Give me the letter, and I'll go to Qingshui today. Just like Bai Xue, I'll slip the letter secretly under your door. Then I'll secretly ask about your family situation, your parents, your grandparents, and see how they are doing. I'll come back tomorrow and tell you."

Aki smiled and rolled her eyes at Hachiken.

"How can you be so mean? You talk like you're a thief."

She suddenly felt a little relaxed, and the gloom of the past few days seemed to have dissipated a little.

"Hey, Yugo, can you come home with me? Let's go meet my parents together."

Chapter 117: Traveling to Izumo

Hachiken didn't know how things turned out like this.

Is this the rhythm of going to meet the parents all of a sudden?

But even though it was very abrupt, since the girl took the initiative to ask, he had no reason to refuse. They were not just meeting for the first time, but had known each other for ten years, and perhaps both of them had been waiting for a sign from the other.

Although he didn't say it explicitly, Hachiken didn't think that the ambiguous feeling was just his illusion.

Now that the decision had been made, Hachiken immediately went to find housekeeper Kenno and asked for leave from Ling.

Ling naturally agreed.

Although Hachiken usually has a lot of work to do, there are many animals on the farm that need his care. Before autumn turns to winter, sometimes people go to the forest to poach, which is Hachiken's usual responsibility.

However, there is no problem in temporarily entrusting the care of the animals to Miss Maria for two days. As for poaching, there is nothing we can do about it. It is something that cannot be prevented without careful precautions.

"How about Tsukimine Shrine?"

"Huh? What shrine?"

The words that suddenly came out of the eldest lady's mouth left Hachiken confused.

Ling also realized that she subconsciously spoke out what was in her mind.

"No, nothing. I mean it's almost New Year's Day in a little over a month, and I have to go to the shrine to Hatsumode."

Although the eldest lady and Maria were laughing a little strangely, they were probably thinking about other things, but Hachiken didn't have the special ability to read minds, so he naturally didn't know what they were thinking. He could only give up.

"But Mr. Hachiken, isn't two days too rushed? In fact, you can take more time. I'll assign other maids to take care of the animals in the farmhouse, so a week or two should be fine."

Maria suggested this. Not to mention how far the journey from Tokyo to Hokkaido is, you have to fly from Tokyo to Sapporo and take a long-distance bus to get to Shimizu Town in the countryside. Two days is barely enough just for the journey.

Since you are going to Aki's house, you should stay for a few more days. It's impossible to rush back right after meeting her.

Hachiken shook his head hastily.

Two days was enough. When he thought about the time when he went to work on Aki's farm during the summer vacation, he was treated as a wild boar by his father. At that time, her father had sprained his waist and was rushing to the hospital. He passed by her for just a moment, and the deadly gaze stared at him for most of the day.

If he went there again with this identity and stayed longer, he suspected that he might never come back to Tokyo.

Prepare the gifts, but actually there isn't much to bring. When Aki came to Tokyo, she only brought a few sets of clothes, and she originally planned not to bring any clothes when she goes back, after all, she already has everything at home.

Hachiken was indeed thoughtful. It was hard to say what would be left of a village swept by super beasts. Not to mention replacement clothes, maybe even the house was gone. But he couldn't say this directly, for fear of making Aki more worried. He could only persuade her to bring more clothes and daily necessities.

It was still a pickup truck, sturdy and durable, and drove all the way to Tokyo Airport.

Aki opened the passenger door and was about to get in the car when she suddenly stopped.

"what happened?"

"No, nothing." She looked up at the sky for a few times and got in the car. "I just seemed to hear the sound of pigeons."

The pigeons are still flying in the sky. Snow White must just be tired of the cage and wants to live freely in the sky that belongs to her.

It must be so.

The car started and drove away from the manor.

I mentioned the shrine to Hachiken before, mostly as a joke, but this morning Reiya herself received a call from the shrine, from Izumo Taisha.

It can be said that it was Kuze Kanon's unilateral proposal that Ling was allowed to register at Izumo Taisha Shrine, and Ling agreed. However, this kind of thing should at least be approved by the head of Izumo Taisha Shrine. This happened last week.

Ling also thought that even if there was a reply, she would have to wait for some time. The reply was originally scheduled for next week or the week after next. If she got a positive answer then, she would go to Izumo.

But this morning, Hisayo called. I don't know how she convinced the chief priest of Izumo Taisha Shrine, but he agreed all of a sudden and said that even the ceremony to grant him divine status has been prepared.

Ling also had an illusion that the god whom she had never met seemed more anxious than herself and Hisayo.

But speaking of it, the time for the first visit is indeed not far away.

It is already the middle of October, and the first day of the New Year is the first day of the first lunar month. It is not the lunar calendar, but the Gregorian calendar, so there is only one and a half months left.

One and a half months is neither short nor too short. For final exams in college, one can wait another month and ten days before opening a new book to review from the beginning. However, for a large-scale event like the shrine's Hatsumode, one should have made a plan and prepared for rehearsals long ago.

Hatsumode is the biggest festival of the year at the shrine, and it is also the one with the most pilgrims. Regardless of whether they believe in Shinto or not, most people will go to worship. This is no longer a matter of faith, but a traditional custom of the people to celebrate the festival.

Hisayo invited himself to go to Izumo Taisha tomorrow. The ceremony wouldn't take too long, but there would be a rehearsal for the Hatsumode afterwards, which would probably take about a week.

Today is Sunday, which means we have to take a day off from school tomorrow.

This is nothing, as long as there is a special reason, it is not strict to ask for leave in elementary school with the application of the guardian. But Lingye's reason for asking for leave is a bit strange.

Go to Izumo Taisha Shrine to be ordained as a shrine maiden?

When the homeroom teacher, Mr. Terada, heard the reason, he admitted that he accidentally spilled some of the water in the cup.

He was not sure if the other party was joking. If it was a student in the class who said this, he would definitely not believe it. Some naughty children always like to tease the teacher.

But the person who came to ask for leave was Lingye's guardian, Butler Jianye, an old man who always wore a suit and had a serious face, so much so that people would straighten their clothes when they saw him for fear of being impolite.

After confirming that it was not a joke, Mr. Terada agreed to grant him a week's vacation. But what made him hesitate was whether he should pay a visit to Lingya like ordinary people would to a shrine maiden next time he saw her.

Moreover, it is October now, and it is usually written as "Kami no Tsuki". Well, in Izumo it is called "Kami no Tsuki". According to legend, in this month, eight million gods from all over the country will go to Izumo Taisha for a meeting.

He has never visited the shrine in his life. Would worshipping the shrine maiden have the same effect?

"By the way, the final exam is only a month away, so we can't fall behind in our studies."

Teacher Terada did not forget to take care of her, but this was a bit unnecessary. Lingye's grades were always the best in the class and always ranked in the top three in the grade. Although he was not as good as the two monsters in the next class who always got full marks, his performance was very stable, so he didn't need to worry too much.

Ling also took a plane to Izumo this time. Of course, it was not a TAC team plane, but a regular flight early the next morning.

Although chartering a plane is not a bad idea given the Oshima family's financial resources, Ling doesn't think it is necessary.

Actually, she hadn't taken such a normal flight for a long time. To be more precise, she hadn't taken it since she became 'Oshima Reiya'. When she had to travel quickly, she either relied on Gaia's ability to fly or teleport, or secretly boarded Beidou's TAC team plane.

Half a year ago, Oshima Reiya and her family were attacked by the missile beast Braokeon while on a flight, causing the plane to crash. Except for her being chosen as a human body and merging with the soul of another world, in such a high-altitude disintegration, no one on the crew survived.

Although more than half a year had passed, she could still clearly recall the scene at that time. It happened in a very short moment, but that moment seemed to be infinitely prolonged.

The cabin suddenly deformed, and flames from the front of the cabin filled the entire field of vision in an instant. Everything happened in less than half a second. The sudden loss of weight and pressure caused everything to fall apart.

The feeling brought by such memories is not pleasant.

Jianye also realized this. At this time, he and Ling had already entered the terminal hall and stood in front of the French window looking at the airport runway.

"Miss, we can drive to Izumo, or take the train."

"it does not matter."

It doesn't matter, that kind of thing will never happen again, she has become someone who can protect others. If there is really a heaven in this world, mom and dad should be relieved, right?

Of course, she knew that heaven did not exist.

There is an endless sea of ​​light. The soul that returns to Gaia has no memory and no past. Fortunately, there is still a future, which is what she wants to protect.

When endless lives continue to be born and reincarnate, the newborn children will open their eyes and no longer see terrifying super beasts and aliens, but can grow up in a peaceful world.

She is here for that day to come.

The flight from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Izumo Yui Airport takes less than two hours.

The plane flew from east to west. In fact, if we do not consider the Tokyo time used by all local time, but the geographical time, the plane would follow the sun from departure to landing. I boarded the plane in the early morning, and after two hours, it was still early morning. The angle of the sun did not change much.

It makes people clearly feel that time is something that is defined by humans and does not have its own meaning.

Of course, this kind of thing is more obvious for Lingye. If she uses Gaia's power to teleport at will, she can go to any time point on Earth within a day.

Is it interesting? It seems interesting, but it's a bit boring to waste Gaia's power on such things.

Lingye took out a medal from her skirt pocket, a medal that only she could see.

[Nexus (Red Adult Form) Medal

Energy reserve: 0/230 (recovery of 0.002 per second, temporarily blocked)

Sealed, unlocking degree: 167/200 (83.5%)]

The unlocking degree has increased a little bit, and soon, she will have another partner to fight with her. Although it is just a medal, the warm light it conveys and a kind of power that breaks through the boundaries. Whether it is persistence or belief, Ling, who thinks she is just an ordinary little girl, can also muster the courage to face the super beast.

Make her feel that she is not alone and not lonely.

Chapter 118: The Lord of Thin Profits

The people of Izumo generally like to call themselves Izumo Province.

This is the earliest country in mythology and legend. It is said that Okuninushi founded the country. In the mythology that Lingye knew in her previous life, it was probably similar to the Three Emperors ruling the world and the Five Emperors establishing the order. From then on, the concept of the first country appeared in mythology. After Okuninushi surrendered the country to Amaterasu, this place became the palace of the gods of Takamagahara on earth, and it was passed down as the "country of the gods".

Izumo has a strong Shinto atmosphere, and the belief that has been passed down for thousands of years is still rooted in this city. It has probably separated from the religion itself and become a national culture.

As soon as I got off the plane, I could feel the atmosphere. The decorations and the goods in the shops all had a Shinto touch.

Lingye had originally planned to take a taxi to the shrine, but to her surprise, as soon as she arrived at the airport exit, she saw a pick-up sign with her name on it in the crowd.

It wasn't a coincidence, because the person holding the sign was not a stranger. It was Kuze's assistant priest, whose name, well, I forgot it again.

"Good morning, er, Priest. Thank you for coming to pick me up at the airport."

"That 'Eh' is so suspicious. You forgot my name, right? I'm Tsubaki."

"Ahahaha, how could that be, Priest Tsurugi, I've always remembered it." Lingye scratched her face awkwardly, her eyes looking towards the ceiling on the left.

"Forget it, it's not important. Welcome to Izumo." Priest Tsurugi took the luggage from Reiya and wanted to carry it for Butler Kenno, but was rejected by the butler. As a butler, it is not reasonable for him to let others serve him.

Zhemu didn't force it either, because the housekeeper didn't bring much luggage, just a small trolley suitcase with wheels, so it wasn't hard to carry.

"This place is called 'country'?"

"Yes, for us in Izumo, this has always been Izumo. Tokyo is like a foreign country."

Compared to when they met in Tokyo, the priest Tsurugi was much more relaxed and at ease at this time. After all, he was the host, which was completely different from the situation at that time where he was unfamiliar with the place, and he had a natural psychological advantage.

"After learning your flight number, Kuze Saeki was going to pick you up in person, but he was pulled away by the shrine master before he left, saying that he had to hold a fasting ceremony. As you know, our Izumo Taisha Shrine is very busy during the month of gods every year. After all, during this whole month, eight million gods gather at our shrine. Kuze-sama couldn't leave, so I had to come."

"Is it because you have nothing to do and are relatively free?" Ling said subconsciously without thinking.

This kid, how can he talk like that! He is also very busy.