I have an unlimited number of shikigami

“That brat is a liar, don’t trust him. Is this the first time you’ve met him, my foolish wife?”

"I am the wife, and you, Himeko, are also the wife, but you are not proper!"

"I see. Although I am a wife, not everyone is like me. Most wives in society are like the wives of bureau chiefs or fish shop owners. Compared to them, I am the most successful wife. As a woman, to still have my son-in-law drooling over me at my age, is there anything more successful than that?"

"It's better to be an ordinary wife."

"Hmm, that's true. The ordinariness is what makes it remarkable. The lens of human life and art is all about the ordinary! Those who despise the ordinary are simply unwilling to admit defeat; those who fear the ordinary are just immature. Because haiku, Noh, and waka are all filled with the aesthetics of the ordinary."

"Speaking of haiku, the ones you wrote back then were really cheesy!"

"...As if you're not jealous."

This conversation, so formal and casual, felt like floating four or five inches off the ground; the incongruity between Tokyo's high-society intellectuals and the atmosphere of a rural festival was immediately apparent. The villagers around them instinctively kept their distance, afraid of offending these two elegant women.

Some people are born different from others, and people everywhere in the world understand this.

Fujiwara Izaya glanced at the two ladies' graceful backs, feeling quite pleased with himself.

After spending a considerable amount of time with them, he figured out how they interacted. They were childhood rivals, but also allies with aligned interests. In their interactions, Mrs. Kasahara, two years older, usually took the lead. Mrs. Hoshimi also had her own opinions, and when disagreements arose, Mrs. Kasahara would bully Mrs. Hoshimi to force her to comply. Mrs. Hoshimi, in turn, would appear rather submissive, her pitiful and docile demeanor quite endearing. Sometimes, Fujiwara Rin would stand with Mrs. Hoshimi to resist the oppression of the "Great Demon King" Kasahara. But the result was often that he and Mrs. Hoshimi were both oppressed, becoming the "Great Demon King's" ideal targets for amusement.

Well……

That's not a good idea!

We need to find a way to tame this noble woman and turn her into a gentle and considerate mother-in-law to her son-in-law.

After climbing to the top of the mountain gate, the two ladies turned around and looked down the steps.

Tea trees lined both sides of the stone steps leading up the mountain. The setting sun cast its last rays upon the tea leaves by the fence, condensing their lingering glow. Clusters of small white flowers resembled countless tiny shadows of the same shape. The flowers, basking in the sunlight, appeared even more elegant.

Fujiwara Izaya whistled as he climbed the stone steps. Dressed in a black haori, his handsome and extraordinary appearance drew everyone's attention from the moment he began his ascent.

In terms of appearance, he is a refined gentleman like a legendary poet, but he walks with a leisurely yet firm pace like a middle school student, which makes people feel his innate affability.

“My little brother is so handsome!” Mrs. Kasahara said happily. Mrs. Hoshimi chimed in, “In my thirty-plus years of life, I have never seen a young man as charming as him.”

Therefore, the topic of discussion between the two ladies naturally turned to Fujiwara Izaya.

"Hey, Himeko, I have a question. Don't you think this child is sometimes overly optimistic?"

"No, I think it's just right." Mrs. Kasahara held a small cloth bag in both hands, craning her neck to look down the steps, just like a young woman waiting for her husband to return.

“Even his farts smell good,” Mrs. Hoshimi said sarcastically.

"Miko smelled it?"

"Ugh, how annoying, the fragrance I was referring to was only for you."

"Hmph, you're just jealous that he's good to me." Mrs. Kasahara raised an eyebrow proudly, her radiant face as dazzling as a leafy foliage bathed in sunlight.

Mrs. Hoshimi rubbed her forehead and sighed wearily, "You and he are really two of a kind when it comes to narcissism."

“What narcissism? That sounds awful. This is called pride, okay?” Mrs. Kasahara’s eyes sparkled, as if a gentle affection was welling up inside them. “In my opinion, pride must be something light, bright, clearly visible, and radiant. For example, Fujiwara’s younger brother’s smiling face is exactly the kind of pride that I admire and am fascinated by.”

"Sorry to keep you waiting, ladies." Fujiwara Rinya stepped out from under the tea tree fence and greeted them with a smile. Because of the heat, he had opened the front of his shirt, revealing a hint of his sexy collarbone.

"Ah~~" Mrs. Kasahara let out a groan as sweet as a foreign bird, "I can't breathe."

Her gaze met his innocent, youthful smile. She covered her cheeks, which were burning from the setting sun, with her hands, looking as if she were lost in some kind of emotion.

Mrs. Hoshimi shook her head and sighed.

"How annoying! Why do you laugh like that? It makes my heart pound!" Mrs. Kasahara said coquettishly.

Fujiwara Izaya looked at Mrs. Hoshimi and asked in confusion, "What's wrong with her?"

"You're swooning over a crush." ​​Mrs. Hoshimi rolled her eyes at her best friend.

"Fujiwara-kun has brought back the innocent, girlish feeling of wanting to fall in love in my youth." Mrs. Kasahara lowered her eyes, her expression as shy as could be.

"I didn't do anything!" Fujiwara Izaya smiled comfortably, as if it were a habit.

"Hmm, he's very handsome..." Mrs. Hoshimi observed his smiling face intently and commented, "A face full of youthful energy, his whole body seems to be pouring out and singing to the sun and nature, overflowing with something that can be described as the tenacity of true life. No wonder that lonely old woman Himeko is infatuated with him."

"Miko~" Mrs. Kasahara said coquettishly, shaking her best friend's arm.

"what's up?"

"Why don't you join in their infatuation?"

"..."

The sun had already half-hidden, and the evening glow in the sky, crimson and fiery, burned across the mountains.

Just then, Kawashima Miki called.

"I'll go answer the phone." Fujiwara Ryaya turned his back and walked to the side. As soon as he pressed the receiver, Kawashima Miki's angry voice came through.

"Where are you--"

My wife is angry, and she's the kind of person who's very difficult to appease.

“I’m in Nanyindou,” Fujiwara Rinya said in a low voice, trying to ingratiate himself. “I’ll be back in Tokyo soon, just wait a little longer.”

"I'm asking where you are right now—"

"Uh, it's up in the mountains."

"What?"

"Offering sacrifices."

"and then?"

“And then,” Fujiwara Izaya hesitated for a moment, “then we watched the fireworks.”

With whom?

Kawashima Miki's voice suddenly rose several pitches.

In the background of the phone call, the sound of a car engine accelerating could be heard, making it sound like she was driving over to catch her husband cheating.

“With the two chairpersons…” Fujiwara Izaya quickly explained, “You’ve seen the news, haven’t you? Such a big incident happened at the Nan-Yin-Dou Summer Festival, so tonight’s fireworks festival will definitely need extra security. I’m just doing my job!”

"Only two chairpersons?" Kawashima Miki clearly didn't believe him.

"Really?"

"No other vixens?"

"And the chairman's daughter too."

"What about the other women?"

"And then there's my aunt, and that's it. Believe me."

"Really?"

"I'm 100% sure!" Fujiwara Izaya said with an air of certainty, then switched to a grumbling tone, "Ugh, country festivals are so boring, I don't want to stay here at all. If it weren't for work, I would fly back to Tokyo tonight and go to the Sumida River Fireworks Festival with my wife."

The Sumida River Fireworks Festival is being held in the next few days. Judging from his wife's tone, Fujiwara Izaya guessed that she must have seen the promotional posters and felt lonely, so she was throwing a tantrum at him.

"Do you really want to watch the fireworks with me?" Kawashima Miki's voice suddenly became somewhat ethereal.

“Absolutely true!” Fujiwara Izaya said into the phone. “I wish my wife could fly over to be with me right now. How about this, you contact Dark Raven and have him find a female tengu to carry you over, okay?”

"I can't be bothered to watch it with you." Kawashima Miki was as arrogant as ever. "There are too many people and it's too chaotic. It's much more comfortable to stay at home and enjoy the air conditioning."

"I want to be with my wife."

"So cheesy."

"It's just because you're too beautiful."

"I'm so fed up with you."

"Should I go back to Tokyo now?"

"No, you should focus on your work."

"My wife is so thoughtful."

"Dudu—"

Kawashima Miki hung up without hesitation, as if she was busy with something important.

Fortunately, she didn't insist on coming... Fujiwara Izaya breathed a sigh of relief and put his phone back in his pocket.

After he returned to the mountain gate, Mrs. Kasahara asked with a smile, "Did your lover call?"

"Look, they're here." Fujiwara Izaya pointed excitedly down the steps, where two girls appeared listlessly as they descended the stone steps, which were bathed in sunlight filtering through the leaves.

Evenings in summer are still quite hot due to heat dissipation from the ground.

If it weren't for the promise of watching fireworks together that night, Asuka Kasahara would have run home halfway to enjoy the air conditioning. As for Rinko Hoshimi, she was covered in sweat from the heat, and even though she'd always been a good girl, she reluctantly dragged her wooden clogs up the stairs.

Once everyone was present, we entered the temple together, walked through the open-access area, and arrived at the back mountain.

Compared to the hustle and bustle outside, this place was eerily silent, with only the treetops swaying above the tombstones. The setting sun finally sank below the mountains, and the sound of burning piles of withered leaves could be heard from somewhere. The sunset, shrouded in a melancholy haze of smoke, gradually dimmed and blurred.

The monks of the temple had all gathered here, standing motionless like memorial statues. The new abbot of the temple was a middle-aged man with bronze-colored muscles in his limbs that showed no obvious signs of relaxation, giving him the impression of a rugged rock.

Speaking of the new abbot, he paid less attention to the two chairmen and more to Fujiwara Izaya. In his eyes, this young man was the only one among the men who possessed a stronger aura than himself, a feeling that hurt his pride as a newly appointed abbot. So he inquired about Fujiwara Izaya's name from the monks around him, and upon learning who the young man was, he immediately changed his expression and came to greet him.

"Chairman Fujiwara, it's such an honor to meet you..."

Fujiwara Rin didn't say anything, just stared straight at him.

He laughed, a laugh tinged with obsequiousness towards those in power, a heartfelt desire to please. This kind of person was completely different from Abbot Qingye. He might not consider how to organize a grand summer festival for this rural town that would leave the people of Nanyindou with lasting memories, but he was definitely a loyal dog of those in power.

Fujiwara Rin didn't judge whether this kind of person was good or bad.

Only a loyal dog can protect the interests of the Yin-Yang Bureau, and he is also one of the beneficiaries. As a yokai, he cannot be hypocritical. He just felt a little sentimental, realizing that it is difficult to have the best of both worlds—if he were to face a conflict between the positions of humans and yokai in the future, he hoped he would not betray the education he had received since childhood.

During the memorial service, Mrs. Kasahara led her people to stand in front of the two newly built tombstones, while the monks who were repairing the ancient tombstones stood at a distance behind them.

"Xiangxiang, offer incense to the two monks."

"Okay." Kasahara Asuka's expression was quite bored.

"Here, take this." Fujiwara Izaya handed the lit incense to his junior, who took it, shook it, and then inserted it 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 little, lifted the hem of her mourning dress slightly, and knelt down.

"What are you doing?" she asked, looking puzzled.