Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

However, this was completely beyond Novia's comprehension; he simply put his change into the donation box to signify that he had completed his worship.

Through the hole, Ritsuka watched as the faint sunlight illuminated Novia's earnest profile, making him appear as if in a dream.

"...Um, Novia, are you here in Tokyo for tourism?"

"Correct."

Novia nodded in response to the girl's confusion.

"That's it..."

Ritsuka sighed inwardly. She had thought that her extensive knowledge of the various steps of the shrine visit would amaze this person, but she didn't expect him to be completely clueless. However, the girl did not give up on the trip because of this, and continued to do it despite the tediousness.

The final step was the same as Novia's: putting the change into the donation box. The girl then solemnly clasped her hands together, her mind blank, not knowing what she needed to pray for. When she bent down to look at Novia again, she said somewhat embarrassedly.

"Would you like to... sit there for a while?"

She pointed to a corner of the shrine and asked Novia, "There's a small tea pavilion there, big enough for two people to fit in."

It was only then that Novia came to her senses and realized that the shrine was not completely isolated by walls. It was just that due to years of neglect, weeds and dense foliage had blocked the light from the sky, making the surrounding area dark and difficult to spot at first.

"can."

Novia walked over and sat down without hesitation, and perhaps because of his decisiveness, the girl naturally sat down next to him.

The two sat side by side in a dark teahouse, so close they could almost touch each other's hands.

Fujimaru Ritsuka felt as if her heart was steaming, and this feeling was so strange that it completely overwhelmed her. The girl herself couldn't understand this feeling at all.

Novia does care about Fujimaru Ritsuka, after all, she is the 'last Master of mankind', someone with the potential to be a savior.

"Oh right, didn't you bring that pigeon with you?"

"Hmm... It's strange, it was limping when it left, but it flew away while I was worshipping."

"That's really strange. He was limping, so he shouldn't be able to fly."

"Indeed, it can only be attributed to...luck?"

"Yes, that's really good luck; they didn't fall into the sea."

Fujimaru Ritsuka felt that Novia wasn't interested in her and wasn't nervous when she spoke, which calmed the girl down and made her naturally blurt out her thoughts.

"Huh? What does this mean?"

Novia turned to look at Fujimaru Ritsuka beside her, somewhat puzzled.

Is there any connection between a pigeon taking flight and it falling into the sea?

"Oh, I'm so sorry..."

The thought that slipped out left Ritsuka herself utterly confused, but she felt she couldn't say that it was something she had just imagined.

This probably doesn't give people a good impression.

So she told a little white lie, feeling embarrassed:

"This is a local legend; it says that if a pigeon like this lands in the sea, something very bad will happen to it..."

"I see."

Although Novia didn't care whether the legend was true or false, he felt that there was something inexplicably subtle about it.

After that, neither of them spoke again, but the atmosphere between the man and woman wasn't an awkward silence. At least Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't feel awkward; in fact, she found the silence quite comfortable.

Wow! Look over there!

Fujimaru Ritsuka suddenly looked up and pointed to a certain place in the sky.

Novia looked up at the sky; it was already close to dusk, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that night would come soon.

Even so, some faint stars can be seen at such times.

"That must be Orion."

Novia didn't rely on her own abilities; she simply deduced it from her memories. After all, if she were to use the abilities of the Sun UO, she could probably borrow them by making all the constellations appear at the same time.

"Yeah."

Ritsuka looked up at Novia's blue eyes gazing at the starry sky, and a whimsical thought popped into her mind: how romantic it would be if their entire field of vision was filled with the sky.

So she immediately took off her coat, walked out of the tea pavilion, and spread it out on the ground covered with fallen leaves.

"How about we lie down here and take a look?"

"are not you cold?"

"Fortunately."

After giving a brief answer to Novia's question, the girl lay back next to the open coat.

"Logically, this should be left to the boys."

Novia walked up to Ritsuka and looked down at her.

"It's alright, after all, I was the one who invited you—"

"Please forgive my abruptness upon first meeting you."

Although that's what Fujimaru Ritsuka said, no matter how you look at it, if they really just stay like that for a while, they'll probably catch a cold when they get back.

In an instant, Novia took off her coat and pounced on the ground, then wrapped Fujimaru Ritsuka in her own coat, while she herself lay down on her coat that was lying on the ground.

"That... okay then."

Seeing that she was already wrapped up, Ritsuka could only accept it.

Since things have already come to this, there's no need to say anything more.

"It used to be so rare to be able to see stars in Tokyo."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. I've always lived around Hanazono Shrine in Shinjuku Ward, and I can hardly see any stars at night, just countless neon lights. I can only see a lot of stars when my family takes me on trips, like in Hokkaido, where the stars seem to have been scattered all over the sky."

"Speaking of which, when I was in the Middle East, there were often many stars at night."

"Really? You're from the Middle East? I remember there's some kind of sect there, do you perhaps follow one of them?"

To be honest, Ritsuka felt that although she had only met Novia for the first time, Novia seemed to know her very well.

"No, I only worked there for two years, so some things left a deep impression on me."

"It seems pretty chaotic over there. I've heard that murder is quite common there..."

"Yes."

Novia, however, made no attempt to conceal it.

“Haha…” Ritsuka laughed awkwardly twice, then continued, “Although I don’t know much about constellations, I still really like stars.”

"I like both stars and constellations."

"Oh, I see. That's Rigel in Orion, right?"

"Is that Hercules?"

The girl's questions were quite enthusiastic, but Novia answered them based on her own memories.

The sound of leaves rustling in the wind, the occasional chirping of unknown insects, and the faint, insignificant noises of visitors drifting from afar.

Fujimaru Ritsuka felt that even her sense of time had become blurry, and she felt an unparalleled sense of ease throughout her body.

After a long while, the girl subconsciously checked her phone and realized that it was past 10 p.m.

She clearly promised her parents she would be home before nine o'clock...

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I have to go back now."

Although she had a very pleasant time with Novia, Ritsuka didn't want her parents to worry. She had promised to be back by nine o'clock and should keep that promise. Even though her parents didn't call, they just sent her a text message saying that the key was under the flower bed by the door and that she should come back early.

"Okay, sure." Novia didn't try to stop her. "It makes me feel warm to be with you, Fujimaru, and to chat like this."

"Eh......."

The girl, who was getting up to leave, suddenly stopped and let out a small gasp of surprise.

This is because what Novia said sounded like something someone had said about something that had a significant impact on the girl's life.

That was in March, before Fujimaru Ritsuka became a high school student, before her new life began.

Next door to the Fujimaru family lived an elderly woman who had lived alone for a long time and had no contact with the Fujimaru family.

In the last week before the old man was about to enjoy his remaining years, Fujimaru spent several hours with him each day for some small reasons.

This was an old man who had lived through war. Although he remarried after the war, his wife and children eventually separated from him. He had lived alone for twenty years, so it would not be surprising if he harbored resentment. However, this old man had no complaints and remained peaceful until the end of his life.

Sitting on the veranda watching the cherry blossoms, the old man couldn't help but sigh softly, "My life is really good."

At this point, Fujimaru liked the old man's character, and therefore felt both doubt and anger towards the old man's lament.

The girl asked somewhat angrily: "...You were all alone in the end, and you didn't get anything in return at all..."

"Of course, there have been sad and painful things. But when I look back, the first things that come to mind are still some trivial matters."

The old man spoke without words, saying that a peaceful life like this is truly precious.

"And my life isn't all alone. Because I can still chat with you like this, Fujimaru."

A few days later, the old man passed away.

Although Fujimaru Ritsuka did not shed tears, she learned what a 'good' thing is for humans.

After all, there are predecessors who lived wonderful lives even without receiving any reward. In order not to bring shame upon these people, we must also strive to live our lives well.

These are the girl's thoughts.

Basically, everyone's life is not easy. The time spent so far, the hardships along the way, are ultimately beyond redemption.

For elderly people who die alone, there are no 'glorious praises' or 'success' to offset their hard work and achievements; all they have left in the last days of their lives is a few days to talk with the neighborhood children.

But in Fujimaru Ritsuka's eyes, the old man's profile, after these few days, looked so happy and beautiful. He seemed like someone with no more worries, someone whose life was complete. This doesn't mean that such a life is necessarily beautiful.

Rather, it is the human heart that, regardless of what kind of life one lives, can face that life head-on in this way—that is the truly beautiful thing.

Ritsuka understood this.

Back to the present, facing Novia's thoughts, Fujimaru Ritsuka took a breath and couldn't help but softly say:

"What? Novia, why do you sound like an old man?"

"Maybe I am indeed very old, but my appearance has not changed."

"So, Novia, you're a demon—"

"somebody is coming."

Just as the two were talking, they heard footsteps on fallen leaves on the path of the dilapidated shrine.

"They must be shrine guards..."

"Well, let me go out and talk to him. After all, this is within his job scope. I just need to explain it to him properly."

Novia could use her magical abilities to make the guards 'ignore' her and Fujimaru Ritsuka, but she didn't intend to show this ability to Ritsuka, who hadn't yet become involved in the mystery, and she was quite confident in her eloquence.

However, just as Novia was about to leave, Fujimaru Ritsuka suddenly grabbed his hand, and with her other hand scooped up two coats spread on the ground, rushing straight into the dense bushes. Since Novia didn't forcefully resist the girl's pull, she smoothly led him away...

But that force is really too much, isn't it? Would a normal human being really able to exert that much force?

Although she hadn't taken any precautions, Novia was still surprised by Ritsuka's strength.

"Who's there?" The noise naturally attracted the attention of the guards who were there for training. "Halt!"

However, by the time the guards spoke up and arrived, the two had already disappeared into the crowd.

The orange-haired girl held Novia's hand tightly as they raced through the overgrown, barely passable road. At the end of the bushes lay the stalls that had already been packed up. It was already ten o'clock, and most of the vendors had left, but the crowds near Tenmangu Shrine were still endless.

The two walked through the vendors and back onto the street, at which point Fujimaru Ritsuka finally let go of Novia's hand.

"Sorry, uh, I took your hand without your permission, Novia."

Upon hearing this, Novia burst into laughter, his loud laughter echoing down the road.

"Let's call it even, since I just touched your hand before, so we're even."

"Yes, but I still need to apologize."

"What are they apologizing for this time?"