I'm having fun in Tokyo

For the Ikeda family in Tottori City and the prefectural police, their arrival was indeed somewhat unexpected.

“It’s alright.” Morikawa Yu said in a deep voice, “You must have received the news half an hour ago, which was a bit rushed for you.”

"Thank you for your leniency, Your Highness." The head of the Ikeda family still bowed. "I will have the county police interrogate him and reprimand him. If he is a journalist or someone like that, I will have my men find the newspaper or media outlet he belongs to, warn them, and suspend the review of their business licenses."

"Of course, most mainstream media outlets wouldn't dare publish this kind of news. Even if this person is a reporter, they're probably not a reporter from a reputable media outlet."

"I will have my men interrogate him thoroughly and delete the photos and videos. Your Highness need not worry about it."

"Okay." Morikawa Yu nodded: "It's up to you."

He stopped looking there and went into the car, where he sat down. Mitsuko and Hisui also got in.

Since it was an official visit, Mitsuko was wearing a Shinto hunting robe, while Hisuki was wearing a scarlet long-sleeved kimono. Both of these clothes were very elaborate and thick, making it inconvenient to sit or stand. Morikawa Yu carefully helped them adjust their clothes and waited for them to sit down.

Soon, Shinkaku and Asaka also got into the car.

Both of them were petite, and they didn't take up much space after squeezing in, so Otamaru also got on the car and sat down in the seat opposite Morikawa Yu.

"Ah, finally I'm feeling the treatment of the upper class." Daimamaru looked at the luxurious interior of the extended limousine and clicked his tongue in admiration.

Morikawa Yu: "What's wrong? Is your shrine maiden bossing you around all the time? Making you do all the hard labor?"

Daiyu Maru rolled her eyes at him: "That's not it. It's mainly because my lord doesn't like modern things. He finds them inconvenient. When he travels, he just teleports or flies. He also uses the Imperial Vermilion Seal to communicate with us."

"She doesn't really like luxury goods or expensive things; she prefers simplicity in everything. So Wei Meng and I can only go along with her and live a very simple life."

"Don't you like modern things? Are you old-fashioned?" Morikawa Yu thought for a moment: "How old is your prince?"

He remembered Ryoko saying that the shrine maiden was a bit younger than her, but he didn't know how much younger the shrine maiden was than Ryoko. The shrine maiden looked like a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl, with delicate and adorable features, and it was really impossible to tell her exact age.

Of course, even if Totoro is outdated and has been expelled from the world of anime, it's a consensus within the community not to talk about age in front of 17 or 18-year-old women.

He wouldn't ask the priestess about such things.

However, he was still somewhat interested in asking the shrine maiden how old her shikigami was, even though she was behind his back.

Ootamaru thought for a moment: "I don't remember her age. It seems that the previous lord brought her to the Shrine more than fifty years ago. At that time, she was not even ten years old... She should be over sixty now, right?"

"Sixty, tsk tsk..." Morikawa Yu shook his head and sighed.

Even in his sixties, he has the youthful body of a fourteen or fifteen-year-old; the ability of the deity to maintain eternal youth is truly enviable.

Of course, now that Ryoko has taken the shrinking drug, she has completely turned into a little loli.

In terms of physical age alone, Ryoko is younger than Hime-no-Miya.

Moreover, long-lived monsters possess the power to maintain their youth and have an almost endless lifespan.

Putting everything else aside, Ootamaru, that heartless fellow, has lived for thousands of years, seeing off generation after generation of shrine maidens. The shikigami of the shrine have always been her and that dream demon, Miyu.

"Anyway, it's around sixty, I can't remember exactly." Otamaru said, then suddenly looked at Morikawa Yu with suspicion.

"Wait...why are you asking this? You're not thinking of pursuing my prince, are you? You already have so many wives, and you still want to be unfaithful? Can your body really handle it?"

Morikawa Yu saw the drinks prepared in the car and was about to try them when he heard Daitamamaru's words. He almost choked: "What nonsense are you talking about? I was just asking how old she is, how did it become that I'm going to pursue her?"

"Besides, I'm in good health, so you don't need to worry about me."

"Tch, whether you're healthy or not, I haven't tried it myself, so how would I know if what you're saying is true or false?"

Ootamaru stretched, revealing the curves of her waist beneath her kimono.

Morikawa Yu's face stiffened.

Damn, that was a terrible comment.

But looking at Ootamaru's expression, she seemed to think she was just stating the facts and didn't think she was making a vulgar joke at all.

"I'm sorry, I know my husband and I have done it many times," Fei Yue said calmly.

“My husband is in good health and can last a long time each time. He can even do it all night without any problem. But you can’t try this kind of thing. After all, he is my husband. You and he are just friends. Don’t do anything that crosses the line.”

“Hizuki, you…” Morikawa Yu stared blankly at Hizuki.

He thought that Ootamaru's remarks were bad enough, but he didn't expect that Hishitsuki would explain to Ootamaru so seriously.

Mitsuko chuckled softly and hugged his arm: "Alright, darling, Hiizuki is just someone who takes things seriously easily, so don't take it too seriously."

Daitamaru also realized what Hisukatsuki had said and tried to change the subject: "Ah, Your Highnesses, I suddenly remembered that even if Morikawa wants to be unfaithful, you don't need to worry."

"Because of the tradition of my family's shrine, every generation of shrine master must be a princess of the royal family. Therefore, the title before the title of each generation of shrine masters in my family is Princess. In addition, all the shrine masters in my family must remain virgins. Even if Morikawa wants to pursue my shrine master, my shrine master will not agree."

"Does your lord's title 'Hime' mean 'Hime-kun'?" Morikawa Yu paused for a moment.

He remembered that in Japanese, "姬君" originally meant princess, and "姬" was also an abbreviation of "姬君". However, later the meaning of "姬" spread as a term of endearment, and all sorts of random things were dared to be called "姬", which seemed rather strange.

Of course, this is in China.

Japan has not been affected by this kind of semantic pollution.

"姬" and "姬君" still refer to princesses and noble girls, and the exclusive title for princesses is "内亲王".

Mitsuko: "Alright, Ootamaru, you don't need to explain anymore. We didn't care. Let's go now and head to the local shrine in Tottori City."

"Yes." Morikawa Yu also nodded.

It is indeed more important to visit the local shrine first.

Chapter 500 I hope everyone is OK

The meaning of "Hime-miko" originally meant "princess shrine maiden," so just remember that for now.

"Understood, Princess Mitsuko." Otamaru sat up again: "I just wanted to explain, after all, it concerns the innocence of me, Morikawa, and my lord. Since Princess Mitsuko doesn't mind, that's good."

After saying that, she looked out of the car door: "Um, Head of the Ikeda family, right? Let's get ready to leave."

Outside the car door, the head of the Ikeda family nodded cautiously.

Because he hadn't received orders to leave, he hadn't dared to close the door, and then he overheard Morikawa Yu and Daitamaru chatting, and the more they talked, the stranger their conversation became.

He dared not listen, and wanted to speak but dared not, for fear of spoiling Morikawa Yu's conversation. So he simply waited carefully for the order to depart, ready to close the door and let the convoy leave at any time.

However, through the conversation between Morikawa Yu and Daitamaru, he did glean something: Morikawa Yu was in excellent health. As expected of a great swordsman who succeeded to the position of God Lord and received the God Lord's inheritance, he could actually last all night.

He quietly memorized this secret that most people would never have the chance to hear, then bowed deeply and said, "Then I will have the caravan depart, Your Highness Morikawa."

"The convoy will go directly to Lord Karasu no Shrine. I will wait for Your Highness's orders in the accompanying convoy ahead."

"If Your Highness needs anything during your journey, please do not hesitate to tell me."

Morikawa Yu nodded: "Okay, I understand. You can send the convoy off now."

"Yes!" The head of the Ikeda family carefully closed the door, took two steps back, walked to the attendants beside him, and said in a deep voice, "Get in the car, prepare to leave, go directly to Karasu-no-Shrine."

His entourage immediately followed him to the car in front, while some went to the accompanying vehicles behind.

The middle-aged man who had just spoken, named Prefectural Police Officer, stepped forward and bowed to the head of the Ikeda family, asking, "Master, what should we do with that guy who looked like a reporter?"

The head of the Ikeda family glanced at him: "Does this even need asking?"

"You stay here and let the county police interrogate that reporter thoroughly to find out who let him in, so that it's not someone from elsewhere deliberately causing trouble for us."

Kyoto Shrines are the head shrines of the Kansai region to which local shrines are attached. The head of the Kyoto Shrine is also the object of loyalty to the heads of various local shrines and the heads of local families. In the past, they were equivalent to the de facto rulers of these "lords" who controlled the local areas.

Now that the three princes have come to Tottori City, it is no different from the shogun's previous tours of local territories, and of course it will attract the ill-intentioned gazes of people from other places.

After all, the one who has come to this place is the supreme god they serve.

If they make His Highness feel that they have been neglected or that something went wrong, they will be punished, or at least leave a negative impression on His Highness.

If disputes or frictions arise between different regions in the future, the divine arbitration may be biased towards the other party.

He had to be cautious.

"Understood." The middle-aged man nodded immediately: "I'll have Sakai find a few veteran detectives to investigate thoroughly, get to the bottom of things, and hire a few skilled detectives to look for clues."

He picked up his phone, made a call, and turned to walk towards the airport terminal.

Two people immediately came out of the terminal and waited for him. They went with him into the terminal to find the reporter who had already been subdued.

The head of the Ikeda family watched him go inside, and then heard a knocking sound coming from behind him on the car window.

The head of the Ikeda family immediately turned around, bowed, and smiled respectfully at Morikawa Yu, who was sitting in the car, before quickly walking to the accompanying vehicle in front and getting in.

Soon, the convoy set off, exiting Tottori Airport and heading towards Karasu Shrine in Ōyama-cho via the airport expressway.

Sitting in his car, the head of the Ikeda family finally breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the smoothly moving Maybach limousine reflected in the rearview mirror and the scenery rushing past the windows of the cars next to him.

More than two weeks ago, worrying news came from the Izumo region.

The shrine maiden of Izumo Taisha, the highest priestess of the Izumo region, seems to have lost her mind. Following this, local priests in various parts of the Izumo region also began to behave abnormally to varying degrees.

This worries them somewhat, because they are located on the border between the Kansai and Izumo regions, and they would be affected if there were major changes in Izumo.

Fortunately, the priestess of Ise Grand Shrine, Princess Hime, rushed from the Ise region to the Izumo region to investigate the cause of the incident.

Not long after, more bad news came from the Izumo region.

Izumo City, the center of the Izumo region, disappeared from the mortal world. The great yokai of the Izumo region, Shinori, went missing. The changes in Izumo intensified, a yokai energy tide occurred, and the yokai were affected, causing a riot.

The sudden change had such a profound impact that it could not be concealed, and rumors spread like wildfire online.

It wasn't until the Kyoto Grand Shrine ordered local shrine priests to report on the changes in their respective areas, and then sent officials and battle priestesses from Kyoto to investigate the Izumo Incident, that the panic caused by the incident subsided considerably.

The three princes also returned to Kyoto from Tokyo, and then rushed here from Kyoto to find the Matsue Shrine Maiden whom Princess Hime had rescued from the Matsue region of Izumo.

I hope the three princes get what they want, and I also hope that people from other places won't cause trouble.

Otherwise it will be really troublesome.

......

More than an hour later, the convoy of vehicles arrived smoothly at the foot of the mountain in Oyama-cho, Tottori City.

Morikawa Yu got out of the car and listened to Fujiwara Shiori's report with Mitsuko. Then, they followed the head of the Ikeda family and others who were leading the way, and headed up the mountain.

The mountain in Tottori City is called "Ōyama" (Great Mountain). It is a sacred mountain in the Tottori region and holds a very high status. It is known as one of the four famous mountains in Japan, along with Mount Fuji, Mount Tateyama, and Mount Ontake.

Reaching the mountainside, looking west, one can see Yonago City, which borders the Izumo region. Further west of Yonago City lies Higashi-Izumo City in the Izumo region.

However, the mountainside was shrouded in mist, obscuring the view of the distant scenery.

The shrine located at the top of the mountain is called Karasu Shrine. It has been the largest shrine in Tottori area for a thousand years and is very popular. It is said that if worshippers sincerely pray at the shrine at the top of the mountain, they will see the "Ōyama Hōkibō Ōtengu" flying through the mountains on their way down, bringing them good luck.

No one knew the name of this "Mountain Heavenly Dog," nor could they see its appearance; all they could hear was its unrestrained laughter, neither male nor female.

Its appearances are very brief; often, as soon as it is spotted, it flaps its wings and flies into the clouds by the mountainside, disappearing without a trace.

However, seeing it itself means being blessed and having good fortune, so no one would deliberately seek trouble by chasing after the "Great Mountain Tengu" lest they anger it, have their blessings taken away, and be cursed.

Fujiwara Shiori walked beside Morikawa Yu and said softly, "...In short, that's what the rumors are. The 'Great Mountain Tengu' is indeed the shrine maiden Karasuha who guards the Tottori region. However, the 'Great Mountain Tengu' that appears in the mountains is not Karasuha herself, but the Tengu priestess who serves her."

Chapter 501 Raven Feather God Lord

"Lady Karasuha was once the leader of the Great Tengu and a demon god of the Tengu clan. So after she relinquished her demon god status and became the shrine maiden of the Tottori region, many Tengu chose to follow and serve her, becoming her priests and shrine maidens."

"The 'mountain tengu' that worshippers see are the figures of these tengu shrine maidens when they go out to resolve local troubles, but sometimes they do use their divine power to bless worshippers who come down the mountain."

“Normally, they disguise themselves as human shrine maidens, and they also hire human girls to act as shrine maidens, so they are not discovered. Even when they are discovered, worshippers will think that it is the manifestation of the ‘Great Mountain Tengu’ and take it as a symbol of receiving blessings and good fortune.”

Morikawa Yu listened to Fujiwara Shiori's introduction and nodded gently.

He walked along the mountain path, looking at the lush trees beside it.

Because of the need to welcome him and Mitsuko, the Ikeda family had the Tottori Prefectural Police close off Mount Hōki a day early, prohibiting people from climbing the mountain to visit the Karasuha Shrine starting last night.

So they didn't see anyone along the way, only some small mountain animals that appeared beside the path and then disappeared.

When he reached the top of the mountain, he finally saw a figure.

At the end of the mountain path, two rows of blue torii gates stand, and below them stand a dozen or so beautiful young women dressed in white and black shrine maiden outfits.

These girls all appeared to be sixteen or seventeen years old. Although their appearances varied, each of them wore a hiltless samurai sword next to the belt around their waist, with a blue or black fan attached to the scabbard.

What is most striking is that each of these girls dressed as shrine maidens has a pair of long, black wings on their backs. Even when folded, they are extremely eye-catching and impossible to look away from.

Moreover, the shrine maiden masks they wore on their waists were not traditional tanuki or white fox masks, but rather tengu masks with black edges and red faces.

Morikawa Yu thought of the tengu shrine maiden that Fujiwara Shiori had just introduced.

These yokai, from Japanese folklore, resemble humans in appearance but possess wings and immense strength. Some are even skilled in swordsmanship, making them among the most formidable of the yokai.

These girls dressed as shrine maidens are undoubtedly the tengu that Fujiwara Shiori just mentioned.