I'm having fun in Tokyo

But noticing that Chi-chan's gaze had become strange over the living room table, she immediately pushed Morikawa Yu away: "Husband, once Ryoko's 'funeral' is over, you will no longer accept the divine power inheritance from the divine master, right?"

Morikawa Yu nodded: "Yes."

He was a little reluctant to part with the face wash he had just used, but he still noticed Chi-chan's gaze and took his sister and Hii-tsuki's hands as they walked toward the large sofa.

Hiizuki and Mitsuko didn't seem to care much about him becoming the acting god.

I guess it was just a casual question.

Just then, Ms. Maki and Ms. Emi came down from upstairs.

Her expression froze upon hearing Morikawa Yu's words: "Ryoko's funeral?"

"Has Aunt Ryoko really passed away and disappeared?"

Today, she only heard Himezuki and Mitsuko mention Ryoko's matter briefly, and didn't know the specifics of what had happened.

"No." Morikawa Yu shook his head.

He briefly told Ms. Maki what had happened at the shrine, including how Ryoko was drugged and turned into a little girl by him and Hitsuki, how Ryoko gave him the position of shrine master in the afternoon, and how he held a regular meeting with the heads of the family and told them everything.

Regarding the funeral, he made it clear that the funeral was something he did to cover up for Ryoko, not that Ryoko had actually had an accident.

Ms. Maki nodded and breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good."

Morikawa Yu also nodded.

He understood what Maki-sensei was worried about.

Liangzi is her elder who has taken good care of her. She is someone she both respects and fears, but also admires and yearns for.

Hearing that Ryoko was going to have a funeral, she was naturally worried and afraid that something might really happen to Ryoko.

"Don't worry, Maki-sensei, Ryoko is fine."

He added a word of comfort, saying, "In comparison, it is I who am in danger."

He briefly recounted the appearance of the Ise Grand Shrine envoy, Miyu, during the meeting, and sighed, "The shrine maiden of Ise is always plotting against me."

"Without the help of Scarlet Moon and the Great Fox, I would have a hard time protecting myself."

Hearing him say that, Ms. Maki became worried about him, her beautiful eyes filled with concern.

The same applies to drawing.

But she knew absolutely nothing about this, so she could only bite her lip and look at Hisui with Maki-sensei.

Feiyue thought for a moment and said, "So, my husband, you want to become stronger?"

"Correct."

Morikawa Yu nodded.

He wanted to become stronger, and he wanted to seize the time to become exceptionally strong before the meeting even started.

Only by becoming stronger can he disregard the shrine maiden's schemes, avoid hindering Hiizuki and Mitsuko, pass the system's sublimation trial, upgrade, become an immortal being, and gain a longer lifespan.

Feiyue's wolf ears perked up: "Since you want to become stronger, husband, let's go catch pheasants."

"Once we catch the pheasant, I will extract her demonic essence with that stinky fox, purify it, and transplant it into you, my husband, turning you into a powerful, immortal half-demon."

Pheasant?

Morikawa Yu blinked.

The great yokai from the Age of Gods who had a love-hate relationship with the priestesses of each generation?

He shook his head.

Becoming stronger is one thing, but directly going to cause trouble for a great yokai from the Age of Gods is still a bit too much of a stretch.

In comparison, the system's skin dungeon missions are much better.

He still prefers to enter the system's instance worlds, such as "Dragon Raja," "Arknights," and "Sekiro," to do quests and level up, which is more convenient, faster, and safer.

"Husband, don't you want to go?" Fei Yue frowned.

Morikawa Yu nodded, then shook her head: "There's still some time before the meeting, so there's no need to arrest her yet."

"I have my own way of becoming stronger. It's not too late for us to catch him when I'm stronger."

He changed the subject: "The shrine and the Kondo family will be holding a 'funeral' for Ryoko tomorrow or the day after, and many people will be attending."

"Do you want to go?"

"funeral?"

"Yes." Morikawa Yu added, "Also, Ryoko will be there too."

Ms. Maki was immediately taken aback: "Is Aunt Ryoko also going to her own funeral?"

“Yes, saying that he wanted to say goodbye to his past with his own hands or something.” Morikawa Yu shook his head and looked at Maki-sensei, suddenly realizing something interesting.

Ms. Maki still calls Ryoko "Auntie," but she doesn't know that Ryoko looks much younger than she does now.

She is twenty years old now, while Ryoko looks no more than six or seven.

I wonder what it will feel like for her to stand next to Ryoko when they meet.

As he was thinking this, he noticed that Ms. Maki was pouting.

"Morikawa, are you thinking about something very rude? What are you thinking about?"

Morikawa Yu immediately shook her head.

Ms. Maki wanted to ask more questions, but he changed the subject and brought up other things.

A dozen minutes later, Mitsuko came out of the kitchen, carrying a plate in one hand and taking off her apron with the other. Several tails wrapped around the apron and she threw it aside.

"Honey, dinner's ready!"

Come and try my lovingly made omelet rice!

"Just omelet rice?"

Morikawa Yu walked to the dining table, picked up his chopsticks, and looked at the omelet rice that Mitsuko had placed in front of him with a pretentious critical eye: "Big fox, didn't you say that you used to cook for Tamamo yourself and take care of her diet?"

Mizuko rolled her eyes at him: "Darling, are you saying you don't want to eat because you don't like me?"

"of course not."

Morikawa Yu shook his head.

He picked up the spoon, scooped up a mouthful, and his eyes lit up.

It was delicious, incredibly delicious, so delicious that he suspected Mitsuko had added something strange.

“Then my answer is also…” Mitsuko stood beside him, leaned down and hugged him, affectionately wrapping her arms around his neck, her ear close to his cheek: “Of course it’s not just omelet rice, darling!”

"We'll serve the omelet rice first, to see how you react!"

At this moment, Asaka came out of the kitchen, carrying dishes with Nishino.

Xin Jue immediately joined in, and Mrs. He Mei and Qian Jiang also started to help, bringing out all the food.

The food, which was in no way inferior to Madam Hemei's usual culinary skills, was fragrant and plentiful, filling the entire dining table and capturing all his attention.

Morikawa Yu swallowed hard.

Hiizuki, Maki-sensei, and Emi all came over.

"Let's eat!" he waved his chopsticks.

Forget it, we'll deal with tomorrow's problems tomorrow.

The most important thing now is to enjoy this family dinner.

......

Ryoko's "funeral" was held two days later.

The funeral venue was very simple, completely different from her "pre-death" exalted status.

Aside from the large number of attendees, most of whom were from the upper echelons of Tokyo, the process was no different from that of ordinary people. The ceremony was extremely simple, with the cenotaph being lowered into the tomb and then a moment of silence being observed.

But Ryoko liked it very much.

When Morikawa Yu stood in front of her tombstone, pretending to grieve.

She nestled in the imperial curtain in his arms, her feelings a mix of emotions, yet she still managed a comforting smile: "This is my funeral... So this is what it feels like to see someone else hold a funeral for me."

Morikawa Yu was helpless after hearing this.

With a serious expression, he turned to look at the cemetery.

The cemetery was filled with a dense crowd. The heads of the family who had attended the shrine's regular meeting the day before yesterday were standing behind him, and further back were the other members of the Kondo family.

Kondo Masao, Kondo Ran, Kondo Kiyoshi, Kondo Kaori, and Kondo Goro, whom he had met and who had instructed him in swordsmanship, as well as many other members of the Kondo family, all stood silently.

Outside the cemetery, there was a police unit from the Metropolitan Police Department responsible for maintaining order, and the atmosphere inside the cemetery was solemn.

This was the "funeral" of a high-ranking deity.

Apart from him, the current head priest, no one else was qualified to participate, including members of the Kondo family, members of the Kasumigaka families, or anyone outside the direct line of each family.

Feiyue and the others did not participate either.

It wasn't because the shrine hadn't invited them, but because Ryoko herself stopped them just as they were about to leave, telling them not to go and join the fun.

Although she herself was to attend her own funeral, she would only allow Morikawa Yu to officiate at the funeral.

If Feiyue and the others had come along, and they all knew the truth about the funeral, it wouldn't have been her saying goodbye to her past life, but rather them watching her suffer together.

Finally, Morikawa Yu looked around, then turned back to look at the tombstone and the black-and-white photograph on it.

In the photo, Ryoko is smiling gently, just as he did when he first met her.

He couldn't help but recall their first meeting...

"The way you're looking at me with such reminiscence makes it seem like I'm really gone, Morikawa." Within the golden space of the Goshuincho, Ryoko's tone was utterly helpless.

Morikawa Yu's mood, which had been somewhat heavy, finally became heavy again after hearing her words.

He shrugged: "Yeah, I don't know who told me to be serious and not laugh."

Liangzi's face flushed slightly.

She couldn't help but shake her head, standing in the golden space, looking outside, and at the same time looking at herself in the black and white photo, at that gentle, smiling woman.

She sighed.

"Actually, I really hate myself for smiling like this."

"As the chief deity, I hold a rather special position. I cannot get too close to anyone, nor can I use my power indiscriminately, otherwise it will frighten people and cause them to resent me. So in the end, I can only try to use gentle and discreet methods, and I usually use this smile to cover myself up."

"I originally thought that it would only take a while to get better."

"But before I could figure out when to let go of my pretense, I found that everyone had distanced themselves from me, were afraid of me, feared me, and were wary of me, leaving me at a loss."

"Even if I try to show my gentle side to make up for it, no one will believe me."

"In the end, I could only give up my extravagant hopes and return to my original state, only thinking about being a suitable god, and waiting to leave this position and be liberated."

"...I never imagined that I would have a day like this, a day to start all over again."

Morikawa Yu nodded in his heart.

Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he glanced at Kondo Masao and Kondo Ran and said, "Ryoko, you want me to be the head priest, but I won't be like you, sitting high in the position of head priest and becoming estranged from my family."

After Ryoko ascended to the position of Shinto priest, she lived in the main hall of the shrine and became estranged from her family.

This was due to both her connections and her family's fears.

Ryoko nodded gently: "Of course, it was my initial choice that led to that result."

"The path you've chosen is completely different from mine, it's definitely not the same as mine."

"Higetsu and the others are also powerful divine demons, and they are different from my family. They will definitely be very different in the future."

"Yes." Morikawa Yu nodded.

"Alright, alright," Ryoko chuckled. "The moment of silence is about to end."

"Let's go."

"From now on, it will be our new life."

Morikawa Yuya nodded: "Yes, a new life."