Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

"What did you say, Ushiwakamaru! How could you do this!"

Tiamat approached Ushiwakamaru directly, startling her so much that she blinked.

"Is this not allowed... Ouch... Don't look at Niu Ruo like that, like you're looking at an unfilial son..."

"Of course not! How come all you good kids do such cool things so naturally! Everyone's so smart, yet you act like complete idiots—"

"Wait, wait a minute, Mother Tiamat, it's not appropriate to say that..."

While comforting the dejected Ushiwakamaru, Lushena also corrected Tiamat. After a while, Ushiwakamaru waved his cooking tongs and took his leave.

The three people seemed to be in high spirits except for Erise, who felt like she was out of place again.

The dim world seen from Kanda Shrine always evoked a strange homesickness in Erise's heart. At only fourteen years old, she felt a deep sense of 'homesickness'. She even felt that she might have become a second-generation Chitose, a homesick girl exuding a strong aura of a living Ren... She would look even more like one if she changed her clothes to a black sailor uniform from Shinjuku.

The endless, damp, black ruins stretched between the dark blue sky and the earth, extending indefinitely. Small, withered leaves fluttered past the winding black stains. This scene always made Utsumi Erise feel somewhat melancholy and dazed.

She noticed that the straw shimenawa (sacred ropes) adorning the eaves and torii gates of the shrine were newer than the gohei (ceremonial coins) hanging above, which made her wonder if some accident had happened in the past... It was quite incredible that a shrine could be rebuilt in Tokyo, the underworld.

Would you like some tea?

The chief priest of Kanda Shrine peeked out from the inner room.

Before Eri could answer, she brought out a complete tea set, which was obviously very valuable. The black background with gold thread and various bright flowers was probably a Chinese-style design. The silver plate contained cookies, chocolates, and small scones.

Koji poured black tea into his and Eri's cups. As one steaming cup after another was added, Eri felt as if some kind of ritual was being performed, and couldn't help but feel a little nervous, falling silent again.

These tea sets seem strangely familiar...

Eri's entire focus was on the Chinese-style tea set.

The ancient tea set, engraved with patterns, made the girl desperately try to recall where she had seen it before.

But why is that? Why do I feel like I've seen this before?

"Hey! Relax!"

Koji chuckled, "It makes it sound like I'm going to interrogate you."

"...That's not what I thought."

In fact, Eri Se really thought so. She inexplicably felt a lot of pressure when she was with this little girl, and for some reason, her mother Nami stopped talking like that after she came here.

Just as Eri's gaze lingered, she noticed something interesting.

"Is this... gray food?"

Upon hearing her question, the girl dressed as a shrine maiden looked up, smiled, and touched her face with her thin hand.

"Oh, you don't know what this is?"

It was a small object that looked like a rock and was placed next to the tea set, which made people mistake it for a piece of bread.

"This is a symbol of the Thousand-Pulse Stone that seals the Hirasaka of the Underworld, not some bread."

"……Eh?!"

These words seemed to pierce Eri's heart instantly.

In the Kojiki, Izanagi went to the underworld because he wanted to see his deceased wife, Izanami. However, he accidentally saw Izanami's 'ugly' appearance and immediately ran away. Izanami, filled with shame and anger, chased after him. In the end, Izanagi blocked the Hirasaka of the underworld with the Thousand-Pulse Stone, preventing Izanami from coming out, which led to the couple's separation.

However, this was not what surprised Erise, because the practice of using symbols to represent mythological things is common in many shrines and is not surprising.

What surprised her was the name of the goddess of the underworld, 'Izanami'.

Erise couldn't possibly be unaware of the name, but if the priest hadn't reminded her of 'Yomi Hirasaka,' she felt she truly wouldn't have remembered it. And Izanami… Nami… it couldn't be such a coincidence, could it? Besides, the goddess of the underworld doesn't seem like she could be an insect! Amaterasu would cry! Coincidence, absolutely a coincidence…

That's what she thought, but as Eri analyzed the 'abnormality' in herself, she felt more and more that she was somewhat similar to Yomi Hirasaka.

The evil spirits surrounding you are the resentful souls of the dead, aren't they the same as the dead going to the underworld?

The evil spirits are no longer tolerated by the world and can no longer return to this world. Isn't this precisely the function of the Thousand-Guiding Stone that seals the Yellow Springs?

Then, they yearn for their own bodies in an attempt to return to the world...

Is it possible?

Eri suddenly began to have some doubts about her human identity as someone who has 'no fathers but no mothers'.

Is he actually a manifestation of the anti-God?

The Great God of Dao Fan, who guards the seal between the human world and the Yellow Springs, is the only barrier to prevent the Yellow Springs from corrupting the mortal world. Simply put, he is the god who created the Thousand-Stone, responsible for cutting off the path from the Yellow Springs to the human world.

After thinking about it this way, Eri felt that many things could be answered.

Hela, the Norse goddess of death, once said, "Only things that are buried can become eternal truths. Day will shatter night—just as men become feminine and women become masculine. The Throne of Heroes is already distorted, and the Holy Grail is already filled with black mud that deceives all beings. The sun will soon set in the west, and the time to recreate day has come."

Then the servant who called himself Ensambi said the same thing.

She said that Eri's ability to control 'evil spirits' is of the same nature as her Nsangbi's power, which is 'death' itself.

With both things combined, Eri felt that the reason these Shinigami had found her was to break the seal on the 'Thousand-Pulse Stone' so that the Underworld could invade the mortal realm... As for why the Thousand-Pulse Stone, unique to Japan, would affect other Shinigami, she thought it was probably due to some accident.

If that were the case, Eri felt a lot of pressure.

Because there is more than one deity in the underworld, and more than one type of underworld in mythology, and because there is no mythology in the world that has never discussed death and religion, it could even be said that there are as many types of underworlds as there are mythologies. Therefore, the possible objects of this concept are countless.

Satan, the chief of the fallen angels who rules Hell; Hela, the goddess who governs Helheim, the kingdom of the dead in Norse mythology; Ereshkigal, the queen of the underworld in Mesopotamia; Hades from Greek mythology; Tartarus, the primordial Naraka who devoured the Titans; Naraka, the Hindu god from which the word Naraka originates; and Yama, the king of the underworld who later evolved into Yama, the king of the underworld…

Thinking of Erise Enma reminds me of my two good-for-nothing dogs, who are practically a group that uses the name of the Grim Reaper to swindle people.

"Speaking of which, Eri, your hair is black. Have you dyed it?"

Eri raised an eyebrow and said indifferently, "That's not true. I've always had black hair and have never dyed it."

"Wow! It looks so good in black too!"

"Ah."

"I can't believe it! I wish I could have hair that beautiful someday!"

Even though Miyaji Ashu was praising her, Eri couldn't help but feel a little sad. Even though the girl in front of her had grown mentally, her body was still trapped in the past. Eri knew without a doubt that it must be a lingering effect left over from the destruction of Tokyo ten years ago.

What kind of girl would she be if she grew up normally?

Eri ate cookies and drank tea, imagining the girl she was meeting for the first time.

Will she have long hair? Or short hair? Will she be the kind of girl who is fair-skinned, slender, and delicate like glass? Or will she be enthusiastic, healthy, and happy?

"Oh, by the way, Eri, what's your relationship with that handsome older brother named Novia?"

Gong Si's slightly teasing voice was mixed with a curiosity that he couldn't hide, like a cat.

"puff--"

These words instantly caused Eri Se, who was imagining things, to lose her composure and almost spit out a mouthful of tea.

What nonsense are you spouting? What relationship do you have with him? It's utterly absurd.

Although the little girl's attitude was always unpredictable, for some reason, only at this moment did Erise feel that her words truly came from the heart. If the priest was trying to get close to them or use them to hold the Kanda Festival, Erise was still looking for an opportunity to beat her up. But these words were unexpected.

"He and I have absolutely no relationship, and there will never be any relationship."

Eri thought this was an incredibly frank reply, but what she got in return was a "I knew it" look from Komiya.

So you don't deny that the older brother is handsome?

As soon as Miyaji finished speaking, Eri felt her cheeks getting hotter and hotter. Although Tokyo was submerged by the sea, so the temperature wasn't too hot even though it was May, it felt like the height of summer to her at that moment, and even wearing Akihabara clothes couldn't cool her down.

……Why is this so?

Eri suddenly realized.

She had only been with Novia for about a month.

Moreover, she was undoubtedly the worst at getting along with others. Nevertheless, she still had the illusion that they had been together for a long time, which seemed utterly absurd even to herself after losing the Demon King.

If there is even the slightest mistake, it might generate an incredible amount of goodwill, right?

Even now, despite constant resistance, this situation remains unchanged.

No, that won't do, absolutely not, absolutely not! Since they're all gone anyway, we can just say it directly!

"I do have someone I like, who is probably, maybe, and unsurprisingly."

"Ok, I know."

The priest squinted and gently picked up the pastry with his thin fingers.

"That's it—"

"not him."

"……Eh?"

Then came Miyaji's frank laughter, "Since we've come this far, there's no need to deny it—"

“I said, it wasn’t him.”

Eri Sei leaned forward, speaking earnestly to the girl who, though meeting her for the first time, seemed to have known her for a long time. "Although I've never met him directly, I was able to come here thanks to him. He accompanied me all over Shinjuku because of my stubbornness, and we even went to Akihabara together. We won the Holy Grail Tournament and earned Chitose's approval. The school, Arisu, the Servant—it's all like that."

Eri's enthusiastic words made Miyaji blink.

This "he" doesn't seem to refer to Novia, the older brother who was talking to the general inside the house... That's quite surprising.

However, she still answered Eri Se sincerely: "From what you've said, Eri Se, you and he seem to have a really good relationship."

“He taught me many things…and things I’ve always cared about.”

"Things you care about?"

"That's... a secret..."

Eri said embarrassedly.

Miyaji A-xiu wasn't particularly surprised by her expression.

"Actually, I think he always becomes close with all sorts of people very quickly."

The girl's tone might sound like she was throwing a tantrum.

The Demon King is very good at making friends, while she is obviously not good at it. Even among the Night Watchers, she only has a handful of people with whom she has a certain level of friendship. But when she was troubled by this, the Demon King's smile that was attached to her appeared in her mind.

Therefore, Eri thought to herself, since the Demon King laughed, then let it be; that's enough.

Eri Sei also knows how painful loneliness is, so she also feels angry in her chest, wanting to ask the Demon King why he made her all alone again.

Miyaji A-Shu chuckled softly at Eri Se's reaction.

"What, what's wrong?"

"No, I just find it a little funny."

The priest covered his mouth and said this.

"It seems that you, Eri, are always thinking about the man you just mentioned."

"...because he is a demon king who traffics children."

Wow! This is awesome!

Miyaji stared intently at them, scanning Erise up and down as she sat there restless, and smiled gently.

"But Eri, don't try to have your cake and eat it too, okay? He and Novia, big brother..."

"No, no way! Absolutely not! There can only be one!"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Palace Attendant A-Xiu nodded.

Then, she said this in a very nostalgic tone.

"After all, you are Utsumi Erise."

……

Earlier, inside the Shinmei Shrine, Novia looked with interest at Taira no Masakado, who had invited him to speak.

got windy.

The shimenawa (sacred rope) and the gohei (imperial coin) swayed in the wind, and the trees of the sacred fence rustled.

“My Master, in fact, she should have died in the destruction of Tokyo ten years ago, but…”

Taira no Masakado let out a low, hoarse cough and calmly continued speaking.

"She couldn't finish walking the path of Yomotsu Hirasaka, which led to her becoming a living dead lost in the mortal world. But she was ultimately the last 'person' in Tokyo. Therefore, the remaining urban AI of Tokyo shut down Tokyo and let the sea flood Tokyo, so that she could continue to live on."