It was currently 3 days after I had completed Togo-san’s request to cull a few monsters in the Oni Mountain Dungeon. We were in the middle of July. The rainy season was over but the heat and humidity was steadily getting worse.
My dad had flipped my problem on its head. If we couldn’t go to a shrine, we could just get them to come to us. On the same day he suggested it, we put it into action. We applied for an onsite purification ritual service from a famous shrine in Kyoto.
We got the express course, so it wound up to be quite pricey. Since this was all about me, I offered to pay for the course myself, but my parents refused and paid for it themselves. I felt a bit guilty about it, but ultimately, I decided to rely on my parents here.
“Hello, it’s nice to meet you”
“““Welcome. We are in your hands”””
Fast forward to today, 2 days after we called. It was a weekday evening. An old Shinto priest came to visit our family of 3. After we greeted him, we explained a few things. He was somewhat taken aback, but he quickly agreed to perform the purification ritual here in what served as our drawing room. It looked much like what you’d expect a drawing room in the sticks would look like.
I sat in a seiza position—which I wasn’t accustomed to by the way—between my parents. The old priest held a wooden rod with pieces of paper shaped in a zigzag pattern…if I wasn’t mistaken, this was called an Onusa. Anyway, the priest waved that around and recited a chant.
I didn’t really know how to put it, but…well, I wasn’t really the type to believe in all this spiritual stuff, but ever since the world Returned to the Age of Myths, my views on things were changing. This was just the kind of world we lived in now. So, surely, there was a benevolent power or something that…
“Ack”
“““Mm???”””
Did the priest let out a strange noise just now?
The old priest, who had been smiling up until now like some good-natured old man, suddenly had a serious look on his face. Then, without commenting on anything, he resumed waving the Onusa and chanted.
Although I felt the sudden change in his demeanor to be a bit odd, I decided to think of it as just him taking his job seriously.
As an adventurer whose life was in danger danger twice by now, I had a seriously bad feeling about this, but surely, SURELY, it was just my imagination running wild.
Anyway, after about an hour, the purification ritual was over. The old priest made it known when he suddenly said:
“…I’ve done what I can”
I didn’t really get it, but I kind of felt my shoulders getting lighter. Maybe that was because of the ritual.
“Thank you very much. Please accept our meager offering.”
My dad said so as he held out the white envelope he prepared beforehand. Inside that enveloped was the payment for the ritual. However…
“No, I can’t accept it.”
“Huh?”
“As a priest, I can’t accept that.”
“Even though you’ve performed a purification ritual for us?”
“Indeed.”
“But on the shrine’s website, it said—”
“I’m going to take that site down later”
“Huh…?”
While smiling, the old man began wrapping the onusa with something that looked like bandages.
Wait, is that how the onusa is supposed to be stored after a purification ritual? I can’t really remember to be sure, but…
“The purification ritual is over, so I will take my leave here. From the bottom of my heart, I pray that you all find happiness in life. Good bye.”
“R-right…”
Without any further words, the old priest exited through our front door and hopped on his car with a speed I wouldn’t imagine from someone of his advanced age. It was like he was running away or something.
“…the ritual worked, right?”
“…maybe?”
Our family of 3 dazedly saw the old priest off. All we could conclude at the moment was that the purification ritual was completed.
When I tried to view the shrine’s website to get clarification on what just happened, I saw that it was updated to state that they were no longer offering onsite purification rituals. The services offered in the shrine itself remained the same though…
I couldn’t help but have some doubts on the ritual.
* * *
Anyway, I now had a purification ritual done on me. Which should mean that it was now ok for me to go on a date!
“Ahm. I’m in your hands, Layla.”
“—Yes. I as well, master.”
Wearing the clothes a store employee had coordinated for me, I gathered all my courage and took Layla’s hand.
Layla also looked different from usual.
Her hair was in a twin tail, tied by blue ribbons that had gold-colored laces. On her neck was a silver necklace that wasn’t too flashy.
On top of a blue, one-piece dress, she wore a white cardigan that was for summer use. Hanging from her shoulder was a mini bag. Moreover, black lace-up sandals adorned her white legs.
“Don’t I look too old for this? I don’t know if this suits me…”
Arching her eyebrows upward together, she looked embarrassed as she smiled and tried to hide what hair she could with both her hands.
“You look great. Great and cute.”
Meanwhile, my vocabulary decided to up and desert me at that moment.
The idea to style Layla’s long silver hair into a twin tail was from Yukine. And I could not praise her enough for that. I would even award her with the Kyotaro Cross if such an award was ever real.
Ordinarily, Layla had a calm while also mysterious vibe about her…or to put it harshly, she felt even less human than Yukine—who was a Yuki-onna, an actual monster. So, seeing Layla like this, acting like a girl of an age her appearance would suggest, why, that was enough to melt my heart.
It was…gap moe. Aye, that cornerstone of human wisdom…!
Dad, Mom, thank you for giving birth to me. I give my thanks to the world and to the universe too.
While I let my consciousness soar to the far beyond, I also sent out feelings of gratefulness.
“It’ll be a bother if we continue to stand here, so let’s move somewhere for now, Master.”
“Ah, y, yeah”
We were currently near the restrooms of a large shopping center. It was a spot that, if we were truly unlucky, we could easily be flagged as suspicious people.
After all, I traveled alone to this shopping center that was about 5 train stations away from home, sought out a place hidden from view, summoned Layla, handed over my Item Bag to her, and asked her to change in the women’s comfort room. I did feel guilty on making her change in the comfort room, but I just couldn’t think up of any alternative.
…all I could really offer in return was executing my perfect, flawless, date plan…!
“…all things considered, I’m so glad nobody found out that I was a Guardian Spirit.”
“Yeah? Well, I was sitting in a bench near the comfort rooms, so I believe I was close enough to you that it was legally allowed, no?”
I was confident that this much distance between a master and their Guardian Spirits and familiars was allowed. I just couldn’t remember if it was 20 or 30 meters.
“That’s not what…actually, never mind. As long as you’re fine, it’s all that matters. Although, do forgive me for I will not share my recent memory with you.”
“Okay…?”
“Setting that aside, let’s hurry and go, Master!”
“Right!!”
Layla embraced my arm and walked briskly forward. Her soft chest making contact with my upper arm made me so excited. At the same time, seeing how much she was looked forward to this date, I felt ecstatic.
Gah! This must be that, right!? The sinful part of being such a popular guy!
“Fuhehe…B-but Layla, there’s no need for us to be in a hurry”
“Ahm, Master…I don’t think it’s advisable for you to put on that kind of expression in the public”
“Huh? What kind of expression?”
“I suppose one can describe that as the face of a suspicious person…or maybe that of a degenerate?”
“…”
That description brought to mind the faces of a certain four-eyed tentacle believer, a certain muscle-obsessed gorilla, a certain director of a so-called Plump Plump land, and a certain self-proclaimed holy knight of yuri.
Is she saying I have the same face as those guys? For a regular human like me, that’s awful!
“Sorry…I’ll be more mindful…”
“Please do. Thank you.”
My mood which was soaring high just a moment ago suddenly plummeted.
Ugh, someone just end me now…
Giving it some further thought though, maybe Layla was so worried about loitering near the comfort rooms was because, as a Guardian Spirit, she was a part of me. If people made that connection between us, it would certainly damage my reputation.
To be completely honest though, even after it had been repeated to me countless of times now, it still didn’t feel real that she was a part of me. That being said, from another person’s perspective—
“Don’t let that get you down, Master.”
*boing*
“The world can believe otherwise, but I know you’re not a bad person, Master.”
*pyon*
“So, come on now, won’t you raise your head? Please?”
*boing**boing*
“I’m, I’m fine now. Truly.”
“I’m glad to hear so.”
I felt such a blissful sensation against my arm. It was the softness of her large boobs that could be felt even through her clothes. How could such an individual be born out of me? There was just no way.
Seeing Layla smile so sweetly, I smiled back. Captivated by her head-turning beauty, I cherished the thought of walking arm in arm with her as she smiled like that.
Alright! Time for that date retake!
* * *
While I called it the perfect, ultimate date plan, what it entailed was vastly different from the previous plan I had. I mean, we were going to a different place, so there was just no way the contents of the plan would have remained the same, right?
And so, this time, we were going to an aquarium, an arcade, and then a cafe. It was simple, but for things like this, keeping things lean and to the point was important. A hunk actor on TV said so himself!! That person had been exposed for adultery and got canceled the next day, but that was besides the point.
At any rate, we went to an aquarium. It was surprisingly fun. We went through cycles of us just walking, looking around, and me going ‘what’s that?’, so we managed to enjoy lots of lighthearted conversations while killing some time.
And under the contrast between the aquarium’s dim lighting and the lamps illuminating the fish tanks, her beauty was transcendental. So much so that I felt my chest ache.
Is this…love…?
“…Master, should you really be looking only at my face right now?”
With a giggle, Layla peered at me. And with her blue and golden eyes looking straight at mine, I couldn’t help but gulp down.
“Ah, well, ahm”
“Fufu. You know, even if it’s untrue, it might be a better to say to your date something like: ‘I can’t take my eyes off of you’.”
“Ah, oh, yeah…”
“Ah, Master, take a look at that fish tank. It says it’s going to be feeding time. Why don’t we get closer and watch it?”
“S-sure”
Despite her teasing, I decided to oblige and walked toward the center of the aquarium.
I, I can’t say it. I just can’t say I was so captivated by her that I couldn’t care less about fishes, penguins, and whatever else. Damn it, why…
After that romantic albeit slightly frustrating tour, we exited the aquarium. The next plan was to head toward a nearby food truck, buy a crepe, sit down on a nearby bench, and eat the crepe together.
…after buying it though, I soon realized that splitting it in half wasn’t really advisable. Taking turns on taking a bite was doable though, so it was still all good!
“Mhm…Master”
“Huh, what is it?”
“Stay still for a moment”
After saying so, Layla extended her hand toward my lips. As though paying no mind to my surprised reaction, she swiped her white, soft finger to the corner of my lips.
“There was some cream. Do try to eat more calmly. No one’s going to take your food away from you, you know”
With a smile, she licked the cream off the finger she used.
While I had been on the receiving end of that kind of thing from her and on the regular to boot, this right here was making my chest hurt more than those times.
She then started wiping her own mouth with a handkerchief. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her as I took a bite of the remaining crepe. I choked. This moment would probably be another bitter but enduring memory.
Layla had been taking the lead for quite some time now, and after our snack, she continued doing so as we headed to an arcade. I had this image in my head that such places were rather boorish, but when I researched it online, I found out that that wasn’t the case, at least not recently. And so, I added it to today’s date plan.
Still, I was a bit surprised to see families and even old people inside. There was no trace of the place I imagined: a place where delinquents would smoke as they laughed loudly with their buddies.
Regardless though, as could perhaps be expected, Layla stood out.
“Woah, look at that beauty…huh, is there someone next to her?”
“Wow. Is that a model from abroad? …mhm?? That thing next to her, is that, wait, is that really a ghost…?”
“Hey, one of us should talk to her…huh? There’s something beside her, I think? But there’s no…wha, there is. Is that a faceless man?”
Is my presence so thin that a strong light is enough to make me appear faceless? Dammit!!
That reminded me of a certain memory, one I would be hard-pressed to describe as pleasant. Back when I went to a studio photographer so I could have a photo to commemorate my entry to junior high school, whether it was the fault of their flash or maybe even their camera, my face on the photo somehow looked so featureless.
Like, what the hell? Is my very essence that of a background character, just another member of the mob?
“Master. Which game should we play first? I’m unfortunately not well-versed in these kinds of things…”
Seeing Layla looking a touch troubled, I fired myself back up.
Right. This date is also to let her enjoy the outside again. I have to get my act together!
“A-alright, leave it to me. Let’s see…how about we try that gun shooting game?”
“Sure! I’ll be in your care, Master”
After saying so, she and I played lots of games. Surprisingly though, she wasn’t so good at using the machines. While it was a bit strange to say ‘thanks to that’, it was indeed because of that that I was able to show her a good side of me.
Don’t underestimate an Awakened One’s reflexes and their Magic-Eye-enhanced dynamic vision! What’s that, I’m brute-forcing it with my skill set? Fuhahaha, I don’t know what you’re talking about.
We passed the time like that. And before we knew it, it was already 2 in the afternoon. We had eaten nothing but that crepe up until then, so we decided to head to a cafe, just like planned.
Honestly, we could have gone to one of the nearby, stylish restaurants, but I was still somewhat uneasy about the result of that purification ritual. So, if the goal was to have a meal in a relaxed state of mind, then a restaurant near my home would end up being preferable.
And so, we rode a train and headed to the cafe that Togo-san had often invited me to. It should go without saying that I made sure Layla didn’t get molested on the train, however unlikely it might have been.
I mean, Layla was a silver-haired beauty with big boobs, so the probability of there being a molester whenever she rides a train is always high. I was highly informed about it (thanks to my lewd doujinshis)…!
In any case, thanks to a vigilance that was on par when I was within the average dungeon, we made it to the cafe without incident. And upon entering…
“Oh, welcome………”
The cafe’s proprietor, upon hearing the door chime, turned toward us and smiled. However, for whatever reason, he then stood there silently and stared at us.
What, what is it?
“A-ahm…”
“Right. You’re Okawa Kyotaro, aren’t you? If I recall correctly, a regular of ours have brought you here several times now, right? Are you training to conceal your presence? You’re awfully talented at it, I must say. For a moment there, I thought there was only the young miss there.”
“…no, I’m not training; I’m here for a regular date.”
“……….hahahaha”
The old man tried to gloss it over with a laugh.
At any rate, with his unnecessarily dandy face and voice, he guided us to our seats and left us the menu.
Damn it, guys who could do that baritone voice are just so dandy, I can even forgive him for that rudeness. But well, those kinds of comments are fine, I guess; I’m used to them.
“Hmm, what would you like, Layla?”
“Let me see…I’d have a napolitan”
“Then, I’d have that as well. Excuse me, Mr. Manager”
“Be right there.”
We ordered so and proceeded to eat…but then, as I watched her, it dawned on me that there could be some ‘beauty’ even in actions as simple as hers.
The only sound to be heard was that from my own plate as I twirled my fork on the pasta. The pile I made was pointlessly large, whereas hers was just the right size for a mouthful, not to mention that it was elegantly arranged.
To me, this was just further evidence that there was no way Layla was a part of me. That being said, my life would be full of anxiety and uneasiness were she not there, so maybe one could say she was part of my life.
“This one is on the house.”
“Huh?”
Right when we have finished eating our napolitan, the manager set down a large glass between Layla and I.
It was a larger-than-ordinary glass of melon soda. It even had pink straws that formed a heart. It was an item that I swore could only be found in anime and such.
“Consider it as an apology for my earlier rudeness”
“N-no, it’s fine. I didn’t mind it.”
“My, if not that, then consider this as the store’s effort to gain a new regular.”
With a gentle wink, he then carried away our now-empty plates in his hand. As I watched him walk away, I couldn’t help but think that he was just like Togo-san, in that he thought I had an extremely childish palate.
Well, I did like sweet food, but carbonated drinks weren’t my cup of tea, so to speak. I was rather troubled on what to do…
“Master. You don’t have to force yourself; I can drink it by myself.”
“…no, it’s fine. It’s the least I can do for their kindness”
I didn’t think it would have been cool of me to say ‘I can’t stand carbonated drinks’. But more than that, this was a chance to share a drink with Layla using heart-shaped straws. I wanted to do it, just only a little though!
And so, after a short inhale, I drank through the straw. Almost simultaneously, Layla drank from the other entwined straw. Our faces were closer than I expected. Her beautiful, flowing silver hair glittered upon catching the sunlight that entered through the window. And her eyes of mismatched colors, embellished by her long eyelashes, looked completely like jewels.
Upon maybe noticing my gaze, she smiled. The sharp taste I was expecting to come from the carbonated drink never seemed to have arrived.
* * *
POV: Togo Miyokichi (Saionji Yasuo)
Although I was wearing a polo shirt and some jeans as opposed to being in a suit, I was working as usual today, despite it being a day off for me. It truly was tough being so short-staffed.
I was currently walking in a park as I sorted my thoughts on the information I inconspicuously gathered in a certain residential area earlier.
But even this early on, there was no doubt in my mind that the Society of the Sage was involved in handling the illegal website for the sale of the Gate-hiding Magic Tool, as well as coaxing people to undergo dangerous Awakening training programs.
After all, I heard earlier from a subordinate of mine about an Awakened One arrested by the ‘regular’ police and the boasting of the said Awakened One did about those subjects, all caught in video as evidence. Unfortunately, that evidence along with others weren’t of much use in court. Or maybe it was more accurate to say that the other party was too powerful for us to succeed using the normal methods.
They were powerful in terms of military might, political influence, wealth, and even sheer numbers. In every respect, this new faith had grown so much in such a short time. It didn’t take a genius to guess that they made use of the Superpowers of Awakened Ones in some way to help their organization grow. Still though, this much of a growth was strange.
Like maybe they had someone with unmatched charisma, intellect, and knowledge among their ranks. It likely wasn’t Koyama the founder but someone else. It likely wasn’t the others top brass of their organization either; those people were excellent as Awakened Ones, but other than that, each of them were rather blockheaded. So then, who could that someone be? I had no clue.
It was so frustrating…we came this far, only to get stuck. It wasn’t like this was the only thing on our plates too. We were busy with other cases even under normal circumstances.
“Mhm?”
When I sighed mentally, my work phone buzzed.
The caller was the ‘well-informed store manager’ whose services I often made use of. As I wondered what he could have been calling me for, I made my way into the shade of a tree and scanned my surroundings. After a while, I picked up the call.
“Hello, Togo speaking. …what did you say? Kyotaro-kun is in a date with a young, foreigner woman?”
Not expecting that to be what the call was for, my eyes were wide open.
“…yes, I agree. It’s nearly impossible for Kyotaro to have a friendly chat with a girl near his age. A beauty at that.”
I was confident of that. He just wasn’t popular.
Aside from his talents as an Awakened One and his wealth as an adventurer, he didn’t have much if any qualities that a member of the opposite sex might find attractive.
When it came to talking to members of the opposite sex, he would be so conscious of averting his gaze from their chests and feet that he would stare too intensely into the other party’s eyes instead, making them uncomfortable anyway. He would also be too worried about his choice of words that he would stammer, ending in the other party not understanding what he was saying. Furthermore, all he could likely muster was a response of ‘i-is that so’ with a blank face, so never mind being able to bring up any topics that might be of interest to the both of them. And if the other party were to bring up a topic they were familiar with, he would rattle on, expressing his opinions as though they were all valid arguments, which in turn would all but guarantee that the other party would distance themselves from him.
So, for him to be on a date with a foreigner-looking woman around his age, it would take for the world to truly be flipped upside-down.
“This must be a honey trap…I can’t believe we had let them make this brazen of a move. What a failure on our part”
I could only think that I should have been more on guard. I had thought that given Kyotaro-kun’s character, he would be wary of any obvious honey traps and even run away from it. That backfired on me severely.
I underestimated his lust…!
“So, what does our subject look like? …long and silver hair, heterochromia of blue and gold color, Caucasian…mhm?”
I recalled Kyotaro-kun’s data as an Awakened One that he submitted to his municipal hall. I didn’t have in-depth knowledge on things like Superpowers, but I did know a bit about them. To an acceptable degree, I would like to think.
“Is the girl in question called Layla? If so, then everything is alright. Yes. She is the product of a Superpower called Guardian Spirit.”
Even through the phone, I could tell the store manager was confused. Though I didn’t say anything out loud, I felt the same.
A Guardian Spirit was a part of an Awakened One’s soul that separated from said Awakened One. In a manner of speaking, a Guardian Spirit was an Awakened One’s other self. So to date one…
“Yes…then, please proceed like that. Ok. Well then, if you’ll excuse me.”
As I ended a call and began to lean on the tree, I sighed out loud.
“I don’t understand the kids these days…”
I seriously, gravely underestimated his lust…
* * *
POV: Okawa Kyotaro
“Achoo!”
“Are you feeling fine, Master?”
She asked me so as she handed over tissue paper. I took it, blew my nose, rolled up the tissue paper and then packed it into a pocket.
“Thanks for that. But don’t worry about it; I don’t think this is a cold. More likely, somebody is just out there gossiping…”
Most likely, they were gossiping about that enigmatic man who was accompanying such a beauty.
At present, we were riding in a bus expressly so that we could take a detour on our way back home. All things considered, today’s date went well, if I might say so myself. We encountered no monster that spilled out due to a dungeon overflow and we also didn’t encounter any weirdos on our way home.
Without a doubt in my mind, this was thanks to the purification ritual the other day. The old priest’s behavior made me anxious, but what did that matter when I got my desired effect, I guess? I might even go to his shrine at some later date to make monetary offerings.
And if the purification ritual did succeed, that meant I no longer had to worry about getting caught up in another dungeon overflow! Never again would I have to fight absolute monsters like Minotaurs and dragons!
This was the start of my carefree life, enjoying school as I peacefully and uneventfully earned money in the dungeons! Farewell, adventure and dangers! And hello to a lifetime of peace!!
I wrapped my arm around Layla’s shoulder and looked up at the ceiling, basking in the happiness.
Taroppe-sensei(author)’s Q&A corner
Thank you for reading!
Also, please consider leaving some of your thoughts, a review, and bookmark the title over at the narou site (https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7336ie/)
Your support is appreciated and I hope you continue doing so.
Q: Can Guardian Spirits eat?
A: They more or less can. That said, unlike humans who digest food and use the nutrients, Guardian Spirits break down the food within their bodies and convert it into magic power. The problem is that the conversion rate of food into magic power is poor, and the process for it was slow as well.
Q: Isn’t the description of their date a bit lacking?
A: this is the limit of an author who is so removed from the word date. I can only ask your understanding on this matter.
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