Female Swordsman Training Dojo

"Are you talking about me?" The figure slowly raised her head, looked at the approaching Shiranui Ran, and revealed a bright smile. "I am Tsuchimikado Haru."

"what?!"

"what?!"

Ignoring the exclamations of Miss Fox and Tsuchimikado Haru, who had barely escaped the crushing snow peak, the woman, who also called herself Tsuchimikado Haru, affectionately stroked Tsuchimikado Haru's hair. Then she continued slowly, "If you can't accept it all at once, you can call me Haruhi Kage. After all, from the perspective of the soul, I am Haru's shadow."

She smiled as she looked at the relieved Shiranui Ran.

Chapter 274

With a casual remark, Tsuchimikado Haru casually added the second half of her sentence: "Age-wise, I'm still a month shy of turning fourteen~"

"..."

"..."

Fourteen?

However, if what she said is true, then she possessed Tsuchimikado Haru when she was one month old.

Tsuchimikado Haru took a deep breath and decided to stop pursuing the true identity of the evil spirit who called herself Kasuga Kage. Since even exorcism techniques couldn't exorcise her, she simply didn't have the strength to continue the investigation.

In fact, her goal was never to exorcise the evil spirits possessing her; she simply wanted to reclaim her own magical power.

So she said sincerely, "Since you are my shadow, can you return my magic power to me?"

“Sure.” Haruhi Kage replied with a smile, seemingly without any temper, but Tsuchimikado Haru had a bad feeling.

The next moment, the premonition came true.

Kasuga Kage chuckled and pinched Tsuchimikado Haru's cheek: "As long as you can take it back, you can take as much as you want~"

She has a clever, almost magical, solution!

She had absolutely no idea what this thing in front of her was!

"Can't do it?"

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that then."

"You can't blame me for this, after all, I don't know how to transfer the magic back either." Haruhi Kage took advantage of the situation and pulled on Tsuchimikado Haru's wonderfully soft face until Shiranui Ran reached out and pressed her down.

Before she could speak, Kasuga Kage quietly interjected, "Oh, the fox spirit who kills? No wonder..."

"You—" Shiranui Ran's pupils constricted, and she suddenly ripped the mask off with a burst of force.

The violent killing intent was immediately unleashed, and the crimson fog instantly spread and exploded, creating a crimson hell where one could not see their own hand in front of their face.

However, before any further changes could occur, Kasuga Kage had already embraced Tsuchimikado Haru. Her solid body once again became ethereal, flowing into Tsuchimikado Haru's body. Only half of her face vaguely appeared beside Tsuchimikado Haru's face as she whispered with a light smile, "Haru, if you want magic power, try using your most prized possession technique to subdue me~ Of course, before that, you'll have to be able to use the spell first~"

The seductive laughter, full of provocation, dissipated into the air. Shiranui Ran put her mask back on, concealing her unsightly expression.

Regardless of Kasuga Kage's true identity, one thing is certain: the only way to separate her from Tsuchimikado Haru is to kill Tsuchimikado Haru.

“It seems you still need to go see Taira no Seishun.” Shiranui Ran adjusted her mask. “At least he can see your problem at a glance.”

Tsuchimikado Haru nodded, then shook his head: "I'm going to go to the master's academy to learn swordsmanship as promised!"

The girl spoke firmly, as the bright moon rising outside the window shimmered slightly, drawing her pure gaze away.

The author says:

Author's note: Still going, still going—

Chapter 252: The Visit

The next morning... well, not really that early, since after two morning exercises, the sun was already high in the sky, and the clock had been turned up to 9:30.

Washing up took quite a bit of time, mainly because there were quite a few disciples hiding in the bathroom... In short, Harunobu finally arrived at the living room of the Nikhun Dormitory around 10 o'clock and met Shiranui Ran and Tsuchimikado Haru.

What's a bit strange is that Tsuchimikado Haru is sitting perfectly fine in her chair, enjoying a cup of tea and sweets. But Shiranui Ran is hanging upside down in mid-air, completely motionless.

Qingxin chuckled upon seeing him: "Oh my, isn't this Lord Fire Demon? How come your hobbies have become so strange after just one day?"

Seeing Harunobu grinning from ear to ear, Shiranui Ran nearly bit her teeth to pieces. If he didn't want to unseal his transformation here, he really thought his barrier could stop her!

No, she can escape even without transforming! She was just careless!

After a moment of amusement, seeing that Miss Fox's eyes were gradually filled with murderous intent, Qingxin obediently snapped his fingers, causing the [Barrier], which had already reached level three, to release Miss Fox from her immobilization.

"Where did you find this barrier master? He's so cunning." Even though she was immobilized for more than half an hour, Shiranui Ran still landed lightly, much to the disappointment of Harunobu, who wanted to see the fox lady's face hit the ground.

After all, that way, they might be able to smash Miss Fox's mask and see what she actually looks like. Although they could have forcibly removed her mask earlier, that would have been sexual harassment, completely different from her accidentally revealing herself.

Oh well, he's not interested in people who already have a lord anyway.

Qingxin sat down in his seat, picked up his teacup and took a sip: "You guys came so quickly, didn't you notice the possessed being?"

Otherwise, it's hard to imagine that the girl from the Tsuchimikado family, who was a diligent student of magic, would come to learn swordsmanship after gaining magical power.

Haruto Tsuchimikado and Ran Shiranui, who sat down next to her, exchanged a glance: "No, we did find her, but we were unable to eliminate her."

"Even you can't do that?" Harunobu was quite surprised. Among the spellcasters he had encountered, apart from the shrine maiden who remained unfathomable, Shiranui Ran was the strongest. She was even at a level that far surpassed other spellcasters! That's right, Harunobu meant that she was far superior to the Toshogu Shrine Master.

The head priest of Toshogu Shrine is the abbot of Senso-ji Temple, a centuries-old temple. In a world where magic and monsters truly exist, someone with weak abilities might fall into the water, get off a horse, suffer a stroke, or go insane the day after they take the stage.

Even with Tsuchimikado Haru possessing such solid theoretical knowledge that even Shiranui Ran highly approves of him, he still couldn't defeat a mere possessing evil spirit? What level of monster is this? Could it be a legendary demon king?

Shiranui Ran and Tsuchimikado Haru then briefly explained what had happened before, and then noticed that Harunobu's expression was a bit strange, so they couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Did you find anything?"

Haru Tsuchimikado looked at Harunobu with shining eyes, her heart filled with anticipation.

What could Harunobu say? He couldn't very well say that he suspected the evil spirit wanted to form a band with Tsuchimikado Haru for life. Although that "Haruhi Kage" probably just meant that he was Tsuchimikado Haru's shadow, just like his "Hiharu Dormitory" didn't have any other meaning.

But that would make it even harder to explain, so Harunobu could only say with a serious face, "It's just a bit strange about the target of this evil spirit. And instead of asking me, a samurai, for a solution, why don't you ask the shrine maiden?"

"Hmm..." Shiranui Ran frowned slightly. She didn't really want to take Tsuchimikado Haru to see the shrine maiden, but it seemed to be the only option now. Moreover, judging from the last few times, that person seemed to have really behaved themselves, and didn't even play pranks much anymore.

"That's settled then." Shiranui Ran sighed. "I'll take her there now, you go ahead with your work."

“No, I was just about to pick up the goods too, so let’s go together.” Harunobu stood up and took the two swords from Hirako, who had been sitting next to him. “You should still remember the materials for Vortigern.”

"Huh? The shrine maiden actually made it for you?" Shiranui Ran said incredulously, shaking her head. "Then let's go together—hey, what are you doing?"

Harunobu released Hirayukiko, licked his lips that still retained the sweet, soft taste, and smiled broadly. But he immediately rolled his eyes at Shiranui Ran: "Do you have to interfere with me kissing my wife? Lord Fire Demon."

Shiranui Ran was furious. Although she didn't know why she was angry, she couldn't help but retort, "Can't you... can't you be more mindful of the occasion?"

"This is my home." Harunobu retorted habitually, then grabbed the slightly shy Hirako and kissed her forehead.

Chapter 275

"You, as a guest, should learn to excuse yourself when the host is conducting business!"

Shiranui Ran took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Don't get angry, don't get entangled with this pervert.

Phew...that's right.

He is free to do whatever he wants.

Having successfully calmed herself down, Shiranui Ran looked at Hirahara Harunobu, who was hugging Hosho Amu again, with the same disdain one she would give a bedbug, and shook her foot in annoyance.

Beside her, Tsuchimikado Haru blinked her bright eyes, her gaze sweeping over the surroundings of the house. As a member of the Shiranui clan, she possessed basic observational skills, easily spotting several... more than a dozen disciples hiding in various places, further solidifying her preconceived notions about Harunobu.

Harunobu knew this would happen, but it didn't matter to him.

Tsuchimikado Haru's talent lies entirely in magic, without any learning efficiency bonus. Even as an SR, her learning speed in pure swordsmanship is about the same as an N-rank card. Furthermore, Diligence Points are awarded based on the disciple's progress; in other words, the Diligence Points she can give Harunobu are roughly equivalent to the number of N-rank cards Harunobu could randomly acquire to fill the roster.

This doesn't mean that the value of SR has decreased; it just means that the focus has changed.

Just like production buildings and troop production buildings in strategy games, they're not on the same track.

Furthermore, the disciples of Aozorakan are all nearing their limits now, and their speed of learning points through diligent study is naturally slower than that of a complete beginner. In this respect, Tsuchimikado Haru is still slightly better.

However, after saying all that, Qingxin didn't plan to add any more strategies—he'd rather use that energy to try and get the wild SSR, Yuan Xueying.

Having completed her daily routine of giving a good morning kiss, Harunobu picked up the kitten and let her lie in her arms: "Let's go, you two—you must have driven here, right?"

The author says:

Author's Note: Thank you all for your enthusiastic support! I'm back! Once I've accumulated more chapters, I'll see if I can release another batch to thank everyone~ By the way, the picture of Tachibana Nako was removed, so I replaced it with a less revealing one yesterday and posted it in the comments section. If you missed it, please check it out. Finally, please vote!

Chapter 253: 100,000 Witches

It's a pity that Shiranui Ran and Tsuchimikado Haru didn't drive.

However, it didn't affect them too much, and Harunobu and his group still arrived at the Ame-no-Mikoto Shrine quickly and met the shrine maiden.

"Good morning... um, should I say good afternoon?" Harunobu sat down familiarly opposite the shrine maiden and lifted a plate of daifuku from above the paper doll's head. One of the paper dolls seemed not to have reacted yet, still clutching the plate, and was lifted into the air along with it, its legs shaking nervously, before Harunobu carefully pulled it down.

The reunited paper figures departed joyfully. The shrine maiden put down her teacup and looked at Tsuchimikado Haru: "Is this girl also your wife?"

“No, she’s just an outer disciple.” Haruno gave each of Hirako, Amu, and Koneko a piece of daifuku, and then stuffed one into his own mouth. “She’s possessed by an evil spirit. Ran tried to exorcise the evil spirit but failed, so she wanted to ask you if you could do anything.”

The shrine maiden, with "Curiosity" above her head, beckoned to Tsuchimikado Haru: "Come here, let me see."

Haru Tsuchimikado walked over and cautiously but expectantly extended his hand.

"The Tsuchimikado family?" the shrine maiden murmured to herself, taking Tsuchimikado Haru's hand before closing her eyes. Her expression remained as calm and composed as ever; apart from the gradually brightening pink light, everything was serene.

However, Harunobu clearly saw a series of changes from the top of her head, from [curiosity] to […], then to [surprise], and finally to [joy].

Then, the shrine maiden opened her eyes and released Tsuchimikado Haru's hand.

Tsuchimikado Haru couldn't help but ask, "My lady, is there any hope for me?"

The priestess nodded: "Of course you can. Although I don't recommend that you banish your half, if you insist on doing so, I can help you."

Tsuchimikado Haru was overjoyed: "Really?"

Qingxin poured cold water on the situation from the side: "Don't get too excited, she doesn't offer free services."

The shrine maiden glanced at him and held out her hand: "Settle the tea fee, pastry fee, towel fee, and chat fee."

Harunobu turned his head, hugged Hirako, and whistled.

The peculiar scene brought a smile to Tsuchimikado Haru's face; she hadn't expected the renowned Dragon Slayer to have such an adorable side. As for her fees, having been a ninja for so long, she had saved up quite a bit of money.

So, she confidently asked, "May I ask, Your Highness, how much incense money do you require?"

The shrine maiden, calm and collected, spoke slowly like a fairy untouched by worldly concerns: "Cherish, 100,000 yen."

How many?

Haru Tsuchimikado was stunned. 100,000 yen! Even if she were the most talented Onmyoji in the Tsuchimikado family, let alone a useless stone, she couldn't possibly come up with that much money all at once just to exorcise an evil spirit.

Of course, she was willing; no amount of money could compare to regaining her magical powers. But she didn't have that much money!

"Sister Lan..."

Tsuchimikado Haru looked pleadingly at Shiranui Ran, who could indeed produce 100,000 yen, but that was public funds within Shiranui, and its use required approval from Misuru-hime. After all, it was such a large sum of money.

"Taihara Harunobu, aren't you going to help your disciple pay?" The shrine maiden looked calmly at Harunobu, who was sitting up straight with Taira Yukiko and Hosho Amu on his left and right arms respectively.

"I can't come up with that much money all at once, unless I sell the Aozora Pavilion or the Bracer Guild." But that's impossible, of course. The Tsuchimikado girl, and one with exceptional magical talent, will eventually return home to become a spellcaster. Harunobu wouldn't go to such lengths just for a few words of thanks.

He is a good person, not a saint, nor a fool.

Haru Tsuchimikado naturally understood Harunobu's implied meaning, and bit her lip weakly. Compared to despair, the feeling of seeing a glimmer of hope only to fall back into despair was far more unbearable.

This caused Haru Tsuchimikado, who thought he had grown accustomed to despair and would no longer grieve over it, to feel the same unbearable heartache he had experienced in the early years.

One hundred thousand yen—at her current salary, even if she started saving every penny now, she wouldn't be able to save enough until she was thirty. And by then, it was uncertain whether the shrine maiden would still be alive, or whether the price for exorcising evil spirits would still be the same.

Just as Tsuchimikado Haru's eyes dimmed and her mood plummeted to its lowest point, Harunobu's voice rang out again: "I say, priestess, if there's no cure, there must be a way to treat the symptoms, right? Anyway, this girl only wants to regain her magic power. Whether Kasuga Kage is here or not doesn't matter, right?"

Harunobu didn't want to say anything, but the "hehe" above the shrine maiden's head was just too tempting, and he couldn't hold back.

The shrine maiden quickly rolled her eyes at Harunobu, then looked at Tsuchimikado Haru, who had raised her head again and was looking at her expectantly. Her pitiful yet hopeful expression made her...

Chapter 276

Touched by this, he went on to say, "If that's the case, I do have a way, but you're not ready yet."

Before anyone could ask further questions, the shrine maiden explained the details: "Simply put, I can temporarily separate her from you, and then you can try to persuade her to return her magic to you. By the way, compared to your Tsuchimikado family's purification techniques, my spell, while not as powerful, can temporarily and completely separate the two of you, so you can harm her without worrying about harming yourself."