"Hello, Director Fujiwara, it’s such an honor to meet you..."
Fujiwara Reya didn’t say a word and stared straight at him.
He smiled, a smile full of flattery towards the authority, a genuine desire to please. This kind of person was completely different from Abbot Kiyoka. Such a person probably wouldn’t consider how to host a grand summer festival in this rural town that would be remembered fondly by the Minami-Izu people for a long time, but he was definitely a loyal dog to those in power.
Fujiwara Reya didn’t comment on such people.
A loyal dog is needed to protect the interests of the Onmyo-ryo, and he was one of the beneficiaries, so as a supernatural being, he couldn’t have double standards. He was just somewhat wistful, realizing that it’s hard to have it all in life—should there be a conflict of interests between humans and supernatural beings in the future, he hoped not to betray the education he had received since childhood.
During the ritual, Mrs. Kasahara led her people, standing in front of the newly built two tombstones, with the Abbot Kiyoka standing further back.
"Xiangxiang, offer incense to the two mages."
"Okay." Kasahara Asuka’s expression was one of indifference.
"Come, take this." Fujiwara Reya handed the lit incense to his junior, who flicked it slightly and inserted the incense into the stone tube under her mother’s watchful eye.
"Step back a little, and kneel down." Mrs. Kasahara instructed again.
Kasahara Asuka stepped back a bit, lifted her mourning dress slightly, and knelt down.
"What are we doing?" she asked with a puzzled look.
"Bow." Mrs. Kasahara said, kneeling down beside her daughter. Mrs. Hoshimi and Fujiwara Reya did the same, as did the monk behind them.
"Why bow?" Kasahara Asuka still didn’t quite understand.
"Why, you ask... Wearing mourning clothes makes you look quite elegantly sad, so I wanted to see Xiangxiang bow." Mrs. Kasahara said in a joking tone.
Kasahara Asuka obediently put her hands on the ground and bowed towards the tombstone.
Then she looked up, immediately reaching out to grasp her mother’s wrist and pulling her close.
After the ritual was completed, nightfall descended. In the indigo night sky, the moon had risen, seemingly also waiting to admire the fireworks display that was about to start.
The group left the back mountain and embarked on the mountain road leading to the main venue.
The temperature began to cool down, summer insects chirped in the mountains, the mountain road was quite dark, Mrs. Kasahara held a lantern, freeing one hand to hold her youngest daughter. Mrs. Hoshimi did the same, only Fujiwara Reya was left alone. Upon merging onto the main mountain path, many straightforward farmers were also on their way to the festival, some carrying flutes, practicing as they walked. The unexpectedly skillful flute music, with its brisk rhythm, brought a sense of rural enjoyment.
"Finally, it’s cooler here," Mrs. Kasahara said happily.
Now, she looked like an ordinary housewife out with her family for some fun.
"That’s due to the terrain," Mrs. Hoshimi smiled, "Didn’t they teach in geography class? For every hundred meters of elevation gain, the temperature drops by 0.6°C."
At this moment, Kasahara Asuka stumbled a bit, almost falling.
"Are you alright?" In the moment of Mrs. Kasahara turning sideways, the lamplight illuminated her daughter’s upper body, and in that moment, she caught the mischievous glint in her daughter’s eyes, prompting her to say, "Wearing geta to climb a mountain is indeed dangerous, let Mr. Fujiwara carry you."
Mrs. Hoshimi and her daughter: "..."
Kasahara Asuka thought, Mom is really the top wingwoman.
"Come here." Fujiwara Reya bent down in front of her, and she immediately pounced on his back, hugging his neck tightly. Hoshimi Rinko looked back, the lamplight from the tree filtering through the greenery onto her face, turning it a greenish hue.
"Senior, senior, let’s not include senpai tonight, okay?" Kasahara Asuka teasingly and seductively whispered into Fujiwara Reya’s ear, "Let’s find a little grove, and Asuka will step on you."
"Behave." Fujiwara Reya said seriously, squeezing her butt through the mourning clothes.
Because she was being carried, the lines of her originally loose mourning clothes became tight, making the firm flesh underneath irresistible to the touch.
Returning to the main hall, in front of the simple Buddha statue, the two madams offered a symbolic prayer. Thanks to the bright lights of the hall, their necks appeared especially fair, looking more alluring in mourning clothes than ever.
After they finished praying and stepped back, Fujiwara Reya curiously approached: "What did you wish for?"
"If you say your wish, it won’t come true." Mrs. Hoshimi blushed slightly.
"No it won’t." Mrs. Kasahara instigated, "We don’t believe in Buddha, whether wishes come true or not isn’t in Shakyamuni’s domain, so go ahead and say it."
"Right!" Fujiwara Reya joined in, "If you say it out loud, I can have a word with Amaterasu, and your wish will definitely come true."
Mrs. Hoshimi tilted her head slightly: "Hmm?"
This cute, puzzled expression was just like senpai’s!
"Why won’t you communicate with the Great God for me?" Mrs. Kasahara unhappily grabbed Fujiwara Reya’s shoulder to shake, but with a "slap," Kasahara Asuka, still on senior’s back, slapped her mother’s hand away like a little lion protecting its food.
"Together, together, all your wishes will come true." Fujiwara Reya showed no favoritism.
"Hmph hmph, good for you being sensible." Mrs. Kasahara cutely nodded, "I just wished for Fujiwara younger brother to never leave the three of us, to always happily live together..."
The nearby simple villagers offering their prayers cast peculiar glances over at them.
Hoshimi Rinko distanced herself a little, with an expression of not knowing them.