I'm having fun in Tokyo

The beautiful woman in the hunting robe smiled slightly at Maki Hojo, but Maki Hojo avoided her gaze and glared at Ran Kondo.

"Lan, you actually lied to me?"

Kondo Ran quickly shrank her head.

"Don't blame her, Maki, I'm the one who told her to say that."

The woman in the hunting robe shook her head helplessly and beckoned Kondo Ran to hide behind her.

"Otherwise, you wouldn't have come, right?"

Maki Hojo snorted coldly and did not reply.

Morikawa Yu felt awe-inspiring.

He didn't have time to think about what was going on in front of him; his eyes were fixed on the woman in hunting clothes.

She is the owner of this shrine? Kondo Kiyoshi's grandmother?

How can he be so young?

Kondo Kiyoto is already twenty, so she must be at least fifty or sixty years old, right?

"Oh, my apologies, I haven't introduced myself yet."

Suddenly, the woman in the hunting robe looked at Morikawa Yu and smiled.

"My name is Kondo Ryoko. I am the chief priest here, and also the head priest of this shrine."

"My daughter seems to have caused you a lot of trouble, please allow me to apologize."

"It's alright, I'm not injured after all."

Morikawa Yu shook his head, took a step back without making a sound, and was on guard.

When Kondo Ran missed just now, he actually used the power of the wind to dodge it.

This so-called deity is clearly not simple.

He didn't know if she had noticed anything.

"Just because there was no injury doesn't mean the incident didn't happen, does it?"

She clapped her hands, and suddenly a female voice rang out outside the Kagura Palace.

"My Lord, please give your orders."

"When this guest is leaving later, take him to the worship hall and let him choose an item he likes."

"As long as it's not an offering to the gods, he can take it."

Morikawa Yu looked at her in surprise, not expecting her to say that.

"Hmph, trying to win people over again."

Maki Hojo turned her head away and gave a low, cold snort.

Although she spoke very softly, Morikawa Yu still heard her.

He didn't know what her relationship with Kondo Ryoko was, and suddenly felt that this apology was a bit strange.

Hojo Maki noticed Morikawa Yu's expression and looked even more depressed.

"I was just complaining, I didn't mean to stop you from buying it. I'll go pick some out for you in a bit."

Morikawa Yu nodded.

Kondo Ryoko watched the interaction between the two with a faint smile on her face.

The atmosphere suddenly became strange.

Morikawa Yu never expected things to become so complicated today.

He had originally planned to come to the shrine with Hojo Maki so that she would know he didn't have any demons.

But the shrine's head priest was already there waiting for Hojo Maki, and it seemed he had something to say to her.

If Hojo Maki hadn't stopped walking away, he would have been ready to run away with her.

"Aunt Liangzi, I don't want to argue with you."

Finally, Maki Hojo realized that remaining silent would only be a waste of time.

She looked up at Kondo Ryoko.

I came to your shrine today because I have something to discuss.

"It's because of this guest, isn't it? I don't know his name yet."

Kondo Ryoko looked at Morikawa Haha.

“He is my student.”

"I think I remember now, you mentioned him before."

"You really like him, coming all the way here for him."

"No, he's just my student, Aunt Liangzi, please don't talk nonsense."

"But he's a very good young man, isn't he?"

Kondo Ryoko sighed, took a few steps closer to the two, and looked back at Kondo Ran.

Give me the gohei.

Kondo Ran nodded quickly and obediently handed the gohei (a type of coin) in her hand to Kondo Ryoko.

She looked at Maki Hojo, then at Yu Morikawa.

"I've already heard from Lan why you're here, so let me take a look at this guest."

"I just hope that after I've finished helping you, you can talk to me."

Maki Hojo nodded silently.

The next moment, Morikawa Yu was suddenly stunned.

He saw that Kondo Ryoko suddenly radiated the same light as Kondo Ran.

However, her radiance was far more dazzling than that of Ran Kondo, intense and blinding.

He should have been surprised, but his gaze involuntarily drifted toward Kondo Ran.

I'm sorry, I misunderstood you just now.

So you really are just a piece of junk.

It was definitely my mistake to have expectations of you.

Kondo Ran was completely unaware that in Morikawa Yu's eyes, she had become nothing more than a mascot.

She stood to one side, watching Kondo Ryoko together with Kondo Kiyoshi.

After a long silence, Kondo Ryoko put away the gohei and shook her head slightly.

"I thought it was because Lan's cultivation was insufficient that she couldn't detect the monster's tracks."

"Now it seems there really are no monsters bothering this guest."

"Maki, you can rest assured now."

"Huh? No monsters? How could that be!?"

"A warning has been issued by Tsurumaru!"

"This is the first time I've seen it behave strangely!"

"Tsurumaru's warning?"

Kondo Ryoko frowned, then smiled.

"Maki, are you so sure it's not a warning that it encountered a swordsman, but rather that it discovered a monster?"

"Because there are simply no sword masters appearing..."

Maki Hojo frowned, then suddenly her expression turned strange.

She slowly turned her gaze to Morikawa Yu, then looked at Kondo Ryoko, as if she had thought of something, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"Aunt Ryoko, you're saying Morikawa is the swordsman Tsurumaru encountered?"

"How could that be? He's just my student."

"My student became a swordsman without my knowledge?"

"If he really is a swordsman, how am I supposed to teach him? It's questionable whether he'll even respect me as his teacher in the future!"

"No way, Aunt Ryoko, you must be kidding me, right?"

She looked at Kondo Ryoko as if pleading for help, which made Morikawa Hana frown.

Hey, teacher, is it because of this that you can't accept that I'm a swordsman?

"Teacher, you didn't know this would happen all along, but you just didn't want to believe it, did you?"

No wonder you didn't seem nervous at all the way here, teacher.

Morikawa Yu tugged at Hojo Maki's sleeve.

Chapter 12 Resentment

"Where can I have it?"

Maki Hojo instinctively retorted, but she didn't seem very confident.

Recalling her behavior just now, Morikawa Yu instantly realized that her guess was correct.

She had long been certain that Tsurumaru's sword cry wasn't caused by a demon, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, so she came to find Kondo Ran.

Come to think of it, she didn't know that Kondo Ryoko was here.

If there really are monsters, how could someone as useless as Kondo Ran possibly deal with them?

"Teacher, if you're just embarrassed to admit it, then you don't have to."

"Am I the kind of person who would do strange things just because a teacher isn't as good as me?"

Morikawa Yu patted Hojo Maki on the shoulder, trying to comfort her.

She glanced at Morikawa Yu, shook her head, and looked worried.

"..."

Ah, why do you have that expression, Maki-sensei?

It feels so hurtful.

Morikawa Yu wanted to say something, but all she felt was frustration.

He and Maki Hojo looked at each other and fell silent.

Kondo Ryoko raised her hand to cover her mouth, her eyes narrowing into slits as she smiled.

"Alright, let's not dwell on these things anymore, Maki."

"Although I don't know the reason, he is indeed far stronger than you now."

"Also, I actually noticed a few minor issues with this guest just now."

"Don't you want to know?"

"what is the problem?"

Maki Hojo asked the question instinctively.

"resentment!"

Kondo Ryoko pointed to Morikawa Hayao's chest from afar.

A grayish-white thread emerged from his chest.

It is so delicate that it is impossible to notice without careful observation.

"A barely perceptible aura of resentment emanated from him."

"If I'm not mistaken, this resentment has been there for a long time, but it gradually dissipated until it was almost completely gone after its owner found some satisfaction."