I won't be a loser.

Looking at Sanye with a somewhat strange expression, Xianren was a little confused. Was there anything wrong with him going to Qingpu's house for dinner?

"Any questions?"

"No."

He walked in front of Sanye, raised his left hand, and tapped Sanye's forehead with a finger. Sanye couldn't help but cover her forehead and look at the wise man in front of her sullenly.

When the sage snapped his fingers, he didn't use much force, so the girl in front of him didn't actually feel any pain. She was just a little dissatisfied with being flicked on the forehead.

"Isn't it time for Yotsuba to enter middle school?"

"What's wrong? Are you planning to let her go to school in Tokyo?"

"no?"

When he turned his head to look at Sanye, he saw Sanye's disdainful look.

"For example, Yotsuba used to live in Itomori, and now she's suddenly living in Tokyo. It's impossible for her to adapt so quickly, right?"

"If I stay in Itomori, I'll have to adapt to Itomori life for the rest of my life."

"Too."

But just as she subconsciously agreed to this, Sanye suddenly reacted, frowned, and moved closer to Xianren.

"What about grandma and mom?"

"Grandma has lived in Itomori her entire life, so she's probably no longer used to life outside of itomori. Mom, for example, might move to Hida someday. There's no need for her to be confined to Itomori. And for Miyamizu Shrine, even if it were abandoned one day, that wouldn't be something I couldn't accept, right?"

Miyamizu Mitsuha, who grew up in Itomori, was not very interested in inheriting the Miyamizu family shrine, but when she heard what Kento said, she still felt a surge of anger and dissatisfaction, raised her foot, and stepped on Kento's foot.

Hit it hard!

He couldn't help but frown, but didn't cry out in pain. He looked at Sanye with a cold expression.

"Do you really disagree with my words?"

"Isn't that natural?! Even if I don't particularly enjoy the job of a shrine maiden, Miyamizu Shrine has been inherited by the Miyamizu family since a long time ago. How can I give it up so easily? You, asshole, will definitely be hated by the gods!"

"Then are you willing to inherit the shrine and stay in Itomori for the rest of your life?"

"..."

"Everything changes. Like these inherited things, they will disappear sooner or later. There's no need to become chains that bind us. At worst, we can hire someone else to take care of them."

Staring at her brother, Mitsuha wanted to refute, but she felt that she might not be able to win the argument, especially since she knew that she had no interest in inheriting Miyamizu Shrine, so she gave up on refutation.

"Hurry up and put on your clothes. It's time to go to Setsuna's place. If you go early, you can help prepare the food."

After flicking Mitsuha's forehead again, Xianren chuckled and left the apartment. Mitsuha, who was left behind, bit her lips and watched her brother leave dejectedly.

In the evening, Qingpu Mai returned home. When she saw Xianren sitting in the living room, she couldn't help but feel surprised. Then she sighed with Xianren, talked about the restaurant's recent business situation, and discussed things like cooperation with Xianren.

"After the collaboration, we have a lot more customers and the place is full every day. If we continue like this, we will be able to open a third store soon."

"Is this the third store already?"

"But it's still a little short. I feel like it would be about right if there were five stores."

The two people were chatting about business matters. Sanye, who was sitting in the living room, didn't understand what they were saying. When she looked at Qingpu Setsuna, she found that the other person had a serious expression on his face, as if he understood what they were talking about. She was a little concerned for a moment.

"After this moment...will I start working at his company?"

"I don't know. I used to have this idea, but now maybe it would be better to do something else."

After a moment of silence, Qingpu Setsuna raised his head, looked at Mitsuha and gave his answer.

"Eh? Not going?"

"..."

In the past, Qingpu Shunna thought that there was nothing wrong with him joining the wise man's company and helping him manage it. However, seeing the wise man's business flourishing recently, Qingpu Shunna felt that even if he joined the wise man's company, it would not have much significance.

What's more, that person is the wife of the wise man, the so-called president's wife.

Even if she entered the company, she would just be shorter than that woman. This was something that Qingpu Setsuna could not accept. She wanted to go her own way and then help Xianren in her own way.

It is not easy to tell Sanye directly about things like these, so Qingura Shuna chose to remain silent.

"Dinner is ready."

After calling out to the two people who were chatting on the sofa, the four of them sat down at the dining table together and started having dinner. It had been a long time since they had such a day.

Savoring the craftsmanship of the moment, I feel nostalgic. The craftsmanship has improved a bit compared to before.

At night, Mitsuha was sent back to the apartment by Kento, and then Kento returned to Kiyoura's house. Seeing Kiyoura Mai sitting in the living room resting, he sat down beside her again.

"Many times, things that happen always make people feel full of regrets."

"..."

Qingpu Mai looked at the wise man beside her, her eyes seemed a little complicated, as if she wanted to say something, but she sighed and retracted her gaze.

"Are you going to let Setsuna bear your child?"

"If she's willing, I'm willing too."

"Who will you entrust the child to raise, and who will be the child's nominal parents?"

"...Setsuna and I will not waver on this matter."

"Hmm~"

Raising her head, Qingpu Wu did not ask any more questions and returned to her bedroom silently. Xianren, who was sitting in the living room, was thinking about what Qingpu Wu had asked him. He stretched out his hand, gently rubbed his eyebrows, and sighed from time to time.

"Like the Happy End route, doesn't it exist?"

Thinking back to the dreams I had in the past, I now have no idea whether they were things that happened in other timelines or just my wishful dreams.

Wow.

The bathroom door was opened and Kiyoura Setsuna, wearing pajamas, walked out of the bathroom.

"I'm fine, Xianren."

"Well, I'll go right away."

His old clothes were still at Qingpu's house, so he didn't need to worry about not having any replacements. Xianren went into the bathroom, rinsed himself, and soaked in the bathtub. In his mind, he imagined himself and Qingpu Setsuna having a child and becoming a family...

- - - -

The new book has been reviewed

Ogiwara-kun's Original Wish

You can collect it first

Chiba New Story: 479. Is it a bit twisted?

He walked out of the bathroom and came to the door of Setsuna's room. He gently pushed open the door and saw the girl sitting on the edge of the bed, who seemed to have been waiting for his arrival.

He closed the door gently and walked slowly to her. He met the girl's penetrating eyes. It seemed as if their bodies and minds were merging. He stretched out his hand and gently stroked her delicate and soft cheek. Her eyes had become deeper. Xianren pursed his lips and sighed softly.

"no?"

"It's not that I can't, I just feel a little emotional."

Sitting beside her, Xianren's eyes were shining with memories.

"the time passes so fast."

"For Xianren, is it happier to be with her?"

"When I'm with you, that's the happiest time for me. When I'm with her, that's the happiest time for me."

The cunning answer made Qingpu Setsuna fall into silence. She looked into Xianren's eyes and found her own reflection in his eyes. She bit her lips tightly, put her hands on Xianren's shoulders, and gently pushed him down beside her...

At night, Xianren came out of the room and saw Qingpu Mai sitting alone in the living room drinking.

"Sleep?"

"Ah."

"rest early."

Qingpu Mai returned to her bedroom and closed the door, while Xianren went to the bathroom and returned to the living room. He looked at the wine glass on the table, walked over, poured half a glass, took a sip, and then returned to Setsuna's room.

"Do you have any favorite songs?"

"It's Koji Tamaki's. I like his 'Don't Go' and 'Blue-Eyed Alice'."

The wise man sat in the bar, took a sip of wine, and looked at the strange woman sitting next to him. He didn't know why the other party suddenly spoke to him, but he still gave an answer.

"Tamaki Koji, you have really unique taste."

"There should be quite a lot of people who like his work. He's not really a weird person, right?"

Xianren was a little puzzled by her evaluation. When people are lonely, they should listen to Koji Tamaki's songs, right?

With the curtains drawn, a ray of sunlight filtered through the window and fell on his face. In the slightly dim room, his eyes, burned by the sunlight, stared at the record playing. For Xianren, this was roughly the same feeling he had when listening to Koji Tamaki's songs.

"Try rock music! It's so relaxing! It's a million times more relaxing than a bubble bath."

"Your part-time job?"

"Huh? No, I'm the bassist in a rock band."

The other party immediately denied it and revealed his identity. The expression of "what are you talking about" on his face made Xianren chuckle and he did not continue to discuss this topic with the other party.

He gently swayed the wine glass in front of him, took a sip of the wine, and felt as if he was already drunk.

He stood up and stopped drinking.

After paying the bill, Xianren left the bar. Standing on the busy street, he slowly walked towards his home. After entering the living room, he looked at the empty living room and sat down. In the dark living room, he slowly raised his head and stared at the ceiling. Before he could sigh for long, there was a "click" sound and the whole living room became bright.

Feng Xiaochun stood at the door of the bedroom, wearing a thin nightgown, looking at the wise man sitting on the sofa.

"Welcome back."

"Well... I still want to stay in the dark for a while longer."

Click.

The lights were turned off, and Feng Xiaochun, wearing a light and graceful white nightgown, slowly came to the side of Xianren and sat down beside him.

"Feeling lonely again?"

“I’m not lonely, I just want to be lonely. When I feel lonely, it means I have no ties and I feel very free.”

"That's just the sage's feeling, right?"

"Listen to Koji Tamaki's songs?"

"Have it?"

He walked into the living room, turned on the lights, and checked the records at home, but couldn't find any by Koji Tamaki for a long time... Then Kento remembered that he seemed to listen to more music on the Internet.

"Oh... no, but here's a song by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Let's listen to it."

He picked up another song, which Xianren liked very much, so he put it on the record player and started playing.

I turned off the lights again and sat down. Melodious and lonely music began to float in the living room.

opus

Just listening to the song quietly, the sage couldn't help but want to close his eyes and immerse himself in this dreamlike loneliness, like sleeping on a lighthouse at the seaside at night, listening to the sound of the surging waves, his body and mind becoming isolated from the world.

Feng Xiaochun, who was standing by, gently leaned against Xianren, resting her head on his shoulder, making the night seem less lonely...

Two months later, looking at the wise man who appeared in front of her and the book he placed in front of her, Mari Fukaoka looked a little surprised. She didn't expect that the wise man had published a new book at this time.

"A fallen sea serpent?"

Looking at the line of words on the manuscript, Mari Fukaoka softly read out the name, her expression looking a little strange, and it felt like the style of Kento's early years.

I picked it up and took a look, and it turned out to be of similar style.

The only difference is that the protagonist has changed from a teenager to a young man to a middle-aged fisherman living by the sea, a story about a fisherman who raises a highly poisonous sea snake.

The content of the story was filled with a feeling of sadness and loneliness, which made Mari Fukaoka look up at the wise man in front of her, and she began to think seriously and worry about his mental state.

"Are you okay?"

"Hmm? I'm...okay, nothing's wrong."

"Every time I see the works you create, I worry about your mental state."