You call this a love game?

Moreover, he looked at the map and saw that it would take four hours by bus from Kazamino City to Mitakihara, which would be very inconvenient to travel back and forth unless he planned to stay there permanently.

He now needs to focus on increasing Sakura Kyoko's favorability, and at the same time, he needs to use the church here to accumulate some divinity.

Kazamino is a conservative city with a strong religious atmosphere, which makes it easier to develop followers. However, Mitakihara prides itself on being a modern metropolis, where most of the residents are young atheists who don't really believe in the supernatural, which is actually detrimental to him.

So for now, he'll have to stay in Kazamino for a while and won't have time to go see Mami Tomoe.

-

The two, each carrying a large bag, arrived at a slightly dilapidated little church.

Because they were driven out of the main church, and all the believers left because of her father's words, they lost their source of income and the whole family could only live in the branch church here.

The chapel looked dusty and gray, with peeling paint that looked like it was covered in scabies, and the ground was cracked from years of neglect. However, there were hardly any fallen leaves in front of the door, which suggested that it was being cleaned diligently every day.

Sakura Kyoko rushed forward, taking three steps at a time, then suddenly stopped at the corner on the second floor, turning back nervously, "Father, um..."

"Don't worry." Understanding her concerns, Bai Yu shook the shopping bag. "Just say I'm your new part-time boss."

Sakura Kyoko let out a long sigh of relief, her hand still trembling slightly as she took out her keys.

The door had barely opened a crack when the cheerful voice of a little girl came from inside.

"Sister is back!"

A little girl with pigtails rushed out like a whirlwind and bumped into Sakura Kyoko's arms.

The cake box was knocked to one side, and Sakura Kyoko hurriedly steadied it. "Be careful! Look, your older sister is back!"

The little girl's eyes widened as she stared at the cake box, swallowing hard. "Is...is it a cake? Really?"

She couldn't believe it, and even thought she was hallucinating from eating too many wild strawberries.

She actually managed to see the cake!

"Happy birthday!" Sakura Kyoko handed the cake to her younger sister, hands on her hips with a smug look on her face.

"Thank you sister!"

"There is something even more powerful!"

Sakura Kyoko stepped aside, revealing a white feather box full of shopping bags behind her.

The little girl in front of the door stood there with her mouth agape, clearly shocked.

“This is… this is…”

Words cannot describe it. She never expected that her sister would bring back so many things for her after just one trip.

She could clearly see that the shopping bag contained not only vegetables, meat, and rice, but also her favorite snacks!

My older sister is the best!

Even so, she didn't immediately reach for the shopping bags, but instead looked curiously at the person behind her sister.

"Hello, my name is Sakura Momo, and you are..., brother?"

Sakura Momo introduced herself with a sweet smile on her face.

She knew perfectly well that her sister couldn't possibly have bought so much stuff on her own, especially since they had been starving just a few days ago.

So there's only one answer: these were all bought by this older brother!

"My name is Bai Yu, you can call me whatever you like. I'm Xingzi's employer now, and she works for me." Bai Yu replied with a smile.

"Did my brother buy all of these?" Sakura Momo asked innocently.

"Uh... sort of." Bai Yu glanced at Sakura Kyoko's slightly dissatisfied look at her sister and smiled, "But it will be deducted from Kyoko's salary, so this is her stuff. I just helped carry it over."

"Wow~" Sakura Momo made a sound of confusion, then went up to Shiraha and took his hand, enthusiastically pulling him into the house.

"Brother, come in quickly. You must be exhausted after walking for so long. Sit down and rest for a bit. I'll pour you a glass of water."

Sakura Kyoko, who was initially overjoyed to see her younger sister's smiling face again, was shocked to see that the other woman had instantly switched sides like a weathervane, ignoring even her as the older sister and directly starting to hit her 'boss'. It was incredibly rude of her!

Clearly, five-year-old Sakura Momo didn't understand what it meant to be a sycophant or a sucker. She simply wanted to leave a good impression on Shiraha, to let him know that she was obedient and that her older sister was just as obedient, so that he could confidently let her sister work under him.

"By the way, is your brother also a priest?" Sakura Momo asked curiously, looking at the familiar clothes on Shiraha's body.

"Yes, there is a church by the sea in the east of the city that also takes in some homeless orphans."

"Wow! Brother is so amazing! My dad is a priest too, you two might get along really well!" Sakura Momo said with stars in her eyes and a look of admiration. "I want to be a priest when I grow up! Like brother."

"Idiot, you're a girl, you can only be a nun. Only boys can be priests." Sakura Kyoko walked in, tapped her sister on the head, and said irritably.

Bai Yu explained, "Actually, they are all the same. Whether they are priests or nuns, they exist to serve the gods. There is no distinction between superiors and subordinates."

"Then I want to be a nun when I grow up!" Sakura Momo raised her hand high, stuck out her tongue at Sakura Kyoko, and said excitedly.

"Why is it so noisy?"

The cubicle door creaked open from the other side, and a haggard-looking woman poked her head out. When she saw Father Baiyu's attire, she was clearly taken aback and wiped her muddy hands on her apron.

“Who is…?”

"Mom!" Sakura Kyoko skipped over, her words coming out like firecrackers, "This is Father Shiraha. I found a job at his church! It includes room and board and a salary. I got an advance on my salary to buy all of these."

As she spoke, Sakura Kyoko showed her mother a bag filled with meat and vegetables.

Sure enough, it contained various kinds of beef and mutton, as well as pre-processed fish, a wide variety of vegetables, and even a large bag of rice, which looked quite valuable.

If her daughter hadn't been standing there unharmed, and if the other person hadn't been a priest, she would have almost thought her daughter had sold herself to get these things.

After all, she couldn't think of any job that paid enough to buy so many things at once; besides that kind of profession, the only other option was organ trafficking.

The woman awkwardly smoothed her hair, "I can't possibly... "

"Hello, Auntie." Bai Yu nodded politely. "Xingzi is very capable. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful daughter. I'm very envious of you."

The woman's eyes immediately welled up with tears. She turned away and wiped her eyes. "Thank you so much. It's so wonderful that Xingzi has met such a kind person like you."

"Maybe it's just that like attracts like. Kyoko is a good person, and I really like her personality," Bai Yu explained.

"Anyway, thank you so much..."

As she spoke, she seemed about to kneel down, but Bai Yu quickly caught her and changed the subject.

"It's almost noon, Auntie. Do you know how to cook? Everyone's getting a little hungry."

"Oh, I will. I'll go cook right away."

The woman hurriedly tied her apron tighter, grabbed her shopping bags, and rushed into the kitchen, calling out, "Xingzi, come help!"

"Coming!" Sakura Kyoko responded, then turned to Shiraha and made a face. "Father, don't wander off! If you want to look around the neighborhood, Momo can show you around."

After saying that, she skipped and hopped into the kitchen.

Suddenly, only Bai Yu and Sakura Momo were left in the living room. The little girl was tilting her head and looking him over when she suddenly leaned over mysteriously.

"Brother, do you like sister?"

"You like her..." Bai Yu was somewhat surprised. "Why do you say that?"

Sakura Momo stuck out her tongue, tugged at Shiroha's sleeve, and whispered, "Because my sister is so cute! My brother doesn't look that much older than her, does he?"

"She is indeed very cute." Bai Yu nodded in agreement. "But how does that show I like her? There are many cute people, Xiao Tao, you're cute too!"

"Huh?" Sakura Momo exclaimed in surprise, "But this is the first time we've met, and Momo is too young. We should wait until she's at least as old as her older sister!"

"Well, this is the first time I've met Kyoko, so how did you figure out I like her?"

“Hmm…” Sakura Momo fell silent. With her simple mind, this was the only thing she could think of.

My sister is very cute, so it's normal that everyone loves her and it's understandable that she has admirers.

But she couldn't figure out why she liked it; she just went by intuition and felt that this was how it should be.

After all, calling each other by name on the very first meeting seems a bit too intimate, doesn't it?

Just then, the sound of a key turning came from the entrance hall.

The door opened, and a tall, thin man appeared in the doorway.

He was wearing a black robe almost identical to Bai Yu's, except that the robe was wrinkled and even a little fuzzy from washing. He was holding a stack of yellowed papers in his hands, and he visibly stiffened when he saw the stranger who appeared in the room.

"And who is this?" The man's gaze fell on Bai Yu's priest's robes, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"Dad!" Sakura Momo cheered and rushed over to her father when he returned. "This is Brother Shiraha. He gave my sister a job and even bought us cake and meat!"

The man—Mr. Sakura—saw his expression soften slightly, but the wariness in his eyes remained.

He put down the papers in his hand, patted his daughter's head, and said, "Go to the kitchen and see how Mom's dinner is going."

Once the little girl had moved on, he turned to Shiraha and asked, "I am Sakura Kentaro, and you are...?"

"Bai Yu, the priest of the East City Church." Bai Yu politely extended his hand. "Xingzi came to our church for a job interview today, so I'm giving her a ride home."

Sakura Kentaro stared at the hand for two seconds before reluctantly shaking it, his voice dry and strained, "I see. Thank you for taking care of my daughter."

The sound of spatulas clattering came from the kitchen, accompanied by the laughter of Kyoko and her mother. Sakura Kentaro's gaze lingered on the shopping bags and cakes before he finally sighed.

"Let's talk."

Chapter 88 Sakura's Father: From today onwards, you are my brother!

The two sat down at the low table, and Sakura Kentaro poured Shiraha a cup of tea, his movements slightly stiff.

"Were you sent by headquarters? Or do you have some other purpose?"

Kentaro Sakura cut straight to the point, asking the question that had been on his mind. Clearly, he didn't believe what Shiraha had said at the beginning.

After all, his current situation doesn't allow him to have any expectations of these 'colleagues'. They were the ones who drove him away in the first place, so he can't afford to be so wary now.

Are they here to take back this branch church?

Are they not even leaving us a place to stay as a last resort?

He's someone who has made outstanding contributions to the church, so why must we kill him?

With a slightly melancholy feeling in his heart, Kentaro Sakura's gaze drifted to the cross on the door connecting the living room to the church.

Their family lives in this church. The backyard has been renovated, and they usually enter and exit through the back door. The front door is where they enter the auditorium, and they only go through that door when there is a Mass or when they need to do missionary work.

If the church is taken back, it means that the family will have nowhere to go and will be forced to live on the streets.

"But it didn't."

To Sakura Kentaro's surprise, Shiraha shook his head and replied, "As I said, I am a priest from the East City Church. I have no connection with the headquarters you mentioned, nor do I have any other purpose. I'm just here to see off my future employee."

"Really?" Sakura Kentaro was still somewhat incredulous, staring at Shiraha with his eyes wide open.

"Of course, if you don't believe me, you're welcome to come to the church where I work to have a chat. I'm sure Kyoko will welcome you too."

With a huge weight lifted from his shoulders, Kentaro Sakura let out a long sigh of relief.

He almost thought he was going to lose his last place to live.

He would truly be ashamed to face his family if they were reduced to homelessness.

"Thank you so much for thinking highly of Kyoko." Sakura Kentaro bowed deeply to Shiraha while seated, expressing his sincere gratitude. "However, if we'd like to talk, we can do it here. Is that convenient for you?"

Bai Yu waved his hand to indicate that he didn't mind. "Actually, I'm quite interested too. Xingzi told me about some of your ideas. Could you elaborate?"

These words were like a switch being flipped, and Sakura Kentaro's eyes lit up instantly. He grabbed the stack of papers he had just been holding.

"You see, my research has revealed that traditional doctrines are no longer suitable for this desperate world! We need new ones—"

For the next half hour, Bai Yu listened almost the entire time to Kentaro Sakura's impromptu speech on the 'new doctrine,' which he delivered with great enthusiasm, his mouth dry from speaking, and he would occasionally slap the table to emphasize his points.

It must be said that Kentaro Sakura's outstanding contributions were due to his exceptional oratory skills. Any reasonably rational person who listened to his speech would almost instinctively think that what he said made sense.

However, while these points may seem reasonable, they are completely useless to Bai Yu.

Weakness is the original sin; without power, one cannot truly drive social progress, and he also has little time to play these church games with him.

"...So you understand now?" Sakura Kentaro finally stopped, looking at Shiraha with anticipation.

Bai Yu took a sip of tea and said slowly, "A very interesting theory, but its implementation might be..."

"Difficult? Of course it's difficult!" Kentaro Sakura suddenly waved his arms excitedly. "But truth often lies in the hands of a minority!"

Just then, Sakura Kyoko's mother came out carrying a tray of food.

"Dinner's ready." Her voice carried a sense of relief.

Seeing this, Kentaro Sakura also temporarily stopped expressing his views. He hadn't met anyone who listened to him so patiently in a long time. The believers he had met in the past either called him a heretic or wanted to drive him away. His former 'colleagues' were the same. Even if he wanted to promote his 'new doctrines,' he had nowhere to explain them.