-"Your Excellency?"-The head of the family looked surprised that I appeared here.
~"I'm sorry for interrupting, Lord Sanjouno. I heard that someone committed an affront against me, so I came to take a look. I hope you don't mind."
-"No, of course not. I promise to give an answer to Your Excellency for our mistakes."
Nodding my head, I looked at the young girl kneeling in the middle of the room. She was visibly distressed, even shaking from fear. She had long blond hair with matching fox ears and a tail and was dressed in a simple kimono.
Despite being only around ten, one could already see the budding beauty she would soon bloom into. As she was bowing with her face to the floor, I could only perceive her face, but this was enough to understand that this young child was part of the Sanjou family.
-"Ehem. As I said before, if Lord Sanjouno agrees, I can take this child away."-A Pallum, who was the other guest, spoke, his eyes showing undisguised attraction to the girl.
-"Well... For such serious offense, the appropriate punishment is disownment..."
~"May I know what exactly is said offense?"
-"She squandered an offering that was to be given to Your Excellency."
~"Then may I ask for her to recompensate herself for the said offering? My dear wife is seeking a qualified priestess, and I believe that daughter of a noble house is more than a good fit for such a position."
-"A Miko to Goddess Astraea? This would be an honor for our family, but is Your Excellency sure that criminal would fit the requirements?"
~"My wife is the goddess of justice who strongly believes in repentance. No matter the sin this child committed, she would try to redeem her. While I don't fully agree with that, I can indulge her sometimes, but of course, as serving priestess to my wife, she would also have to serve me. I believe this is heavy punishment in itself."
-"Indeed. Then I, as head of the Sanjou family, hereby declare Sanjouno Haruhime to be disowned from the family and shall serve His Excellency Yue and goddess Astraea for the rest of her life in repentance for her offense."
-"Yes... Father..."-Haruhime responded between sobs.
~"Come with me."~I started walking outside without looking at Haruhime, who quickly stood up and followed a few steps behind me.
When I walked into my living space, the girls who were already inside looked surprised at the silently crying young girl who I brought.
~"Kaguya, please take care of Little Haruhime."
-"Yes. May I know what happened?"
~"She will serve Astraea as a Miko in the future."
-"I see. Haruhime, right? I'm Kaguya, vice-captain of Astraea familia."
-"Miss Kaguya..."-Haruhime still had a hard time talking due to her sobbing.
-"How about you come with me?"-Kaguya took Haruhime to her bedroom as she noticed that young Renard was visibly afraid of me.
When two of them left, I sat down and decided to have some tea.
~"You won't ask?"
-"I might not understand Master's plans, but no matter what, I will always follow your arrangements."-Jingliu spoke as if this was something obvious.
Cellinia nodded, fully agreeing with that statement.
-"While I don't dare to question Lord's decision, might I know what had happened?"-Kaguya asked after returning not even two minutes later.
~"What about Haruhime?"
-"She fell asleep."
I nodded and narrated what had occurred during my short meeting with Sanjou's family head.
-"I see."-while Kaguya didn't show anything on her face, the hatred she carried for the nobles of this land was once again reignited.
~"Take care of her."
-"Thank you, Lord, for saving her."-Kaguya bowed to me.
~"Don't thank me. I have my own ideas about saving her."
-"Even if the Lord saved her only because of this child's beauty, it's still Haruhime's blessing. But I believe that there is a greater reason."
~"Haruhime is one of the protagonists of this world. The Luck she carries is similar to Ais. In the future, she will grow into a powerful adventurer, and if she is guided right, her limits will be hard to estimate."
-"That's why the Lord wants her to be a Miko."
~"Yes. I used Astraea's name there, so she will be left in your hands until Astraea decides if she is to join her familia or not."
-"I'm sure girls will love this child."
As I continued doing some small movements in the Far East, in Hold, time continued to pass in peace until one fateful day, Kevin dragged Kosma, Su, and Kalpas to my office.
~"Kevin? What can I do for you?"
-"Help me."
~"That was informative. Su, can you translate Kevin to any other language?"
-"Sadly, I'm also in the dark. He just came to me and took me here."-Su had an apologetic expression.
-"Kevin, don't waste our time!"-Kalpas, as always, had his short fuze almost lit.
Kosma ignored them and sat down on the sofa, pouring himself some of the tea prepared for guests.
~"Sigh. Kevin, I don't want to read your mind. Can you explain?"
-"I want to propose."-Kevin answered with his usual expressionlessness.
~"Propose? To Dr. Mei?"
Kevin nodded.
~"You want us to help you?"
Kevin nodded again.
~"Care to explain why you believe we can help you?"
This time, Kevin had no reaction.
~"Sigh."
-"Kevin! You bastard! Why did you drag me here for something so stupid?! Propose?! Grow balls and just do it!"-Kalpas stormed out of the room, not forgetting to test the strength of the doors by slamming them on his way out.
-"Sigh. I must agree with Kaplas on this one. How can we, whose experience in such situations is nonexistent, help you? Yue aside, Kalpas, Kosma, and I are not even in any relationships."-Su looked at his friend exasperated.
-"..."-Kosma also looked at Kevin strangely.
-"I have nowhere else to go."-Kevin explained his advanced reasoning.
~"Ugh. Indeed, Kaslana planning anything in secret from their external brain can overload their remaining brain resources."
-"I'm surprised he didn't ask Mei directly."-Su seemed to agree with my opinion.
-"I'm not stupid."
The short silence spoke more than thousands of words.
~"So you want to propose. How? Ring? Maybe Elven tradicions? Or Dragon one?"
-"Ring."
~"Good. You got one?"
Kevin shook his head.
~"Do you know what style of ring Dr. Mei would like to wear?"
Kevin shook his head.
~"Do you at least know the size of the ring?"
Unsurprisingly, Kevin shook his head.
~"Sigh. Su, can you take this guy to some jewelry shop? I'll get the size of Dr. Mei's finger later. After he decides on the style, I'll make the ring for him."
-"Sure, leave this to me."
~"This out of the way, now, when do you plan to propose?"
-"On our victory party."
~"On the anniversary of our fight with Fianl Herrscher? Color me surprised. This is not a bad idea, but it's still almost half a year away. I don't think you can keep this secret for that long."
-"..."
-"Mei's birthday is in two weeks."-Kosma spoke for the first time.
~"True, this is a much better option timewise. What about the place?"
Kevin tilted his head as if not understanding my question.
-"How about the new city in our world? Not long ago, our hometown was rebuilt, but we hadn't had any time to visit it."
~"Returning to the roots? This will work. Bring me a reference for the ring in the next few days, and I'll give one to you shortly before Dr. Mei's birthday."
-"Thank you."
~"Good luck."
Kevin nodded and left with two of his friends.
-"Master Yue, if I may."-Rita appeared from a hidden entrance on the side.
~"Go on."
-"That was hypocritical of you."
~"Sigh."
I leaned back on my chair, and moments later, there was a ringing of the rings falling onto my desk. Each of them was in a different style and color, but each of them had been handmade by me.
~"It's easy to preach theory to others. As for implementing it..."
-"Master Yue, I might believe that if any other person said it, but you?"
~"What do you want me to do then?"
-"Just be direct."
~"Then, Rita. Will you be mine?"
-"Rita already belongs to Master Yue."-A charming smile appeared on Rita's face as she leaned over me from my back.-"But after finally hearing the words I've been dreaming of, I don't mind serving my Master even more now."
I also smiled and caught the hand that was placed on my chest, and after picking a ring that had a red gem cut to look like a rose with a band styled like a thorny wreath from the table, I put it on Rita's ring finger.
~"I'm blessed to be served by a maid like you."
-"My Master, you know what to say after all."-Rita narrowed her eyes at my words.-"Then I can't disappoint."
Walking from behind me, Rita knelt between my legs, and before I could even say anything, knocking on the door stopped me. Seconds later, Keqing entered my office and began reading reports that needed my input, her work aura preventing any excuse for not doing those now.
An hour later, Keqing finally left, having finished all the matters on hand,
and me... While the service was enjoyable, I would still prefer if Rita knew the time and space for such things, though the following punishment was also satisfying.
After five days of waiting, Tsukuyomi finally invited us to the shrine from where we would enter the Takamagahara. Kaguya and Haruhime had already split from us a day ago, going to meet some people who share Kaguya's distaste for certain nobles.
-"Yue, I'm sorry for making you wait for so long."-Tsukuyomi, with whom I talked almost daily those past days, apologized politely.
~"I understand that inviting someone from lower word to Takamagahara is not an easy task. Not to mention, I spend those days enjoyably, so I wouldn't mind waiting even longer."
-"I'm happy to hear that. Please come with me. There are still a few things that need to be done before we can start."
Cellinia, Jingliu, and I followed Tsukuyomi and two other Miko deeper into the shrine. Along the way, Tsukuyomi explained what we needed to do before entering Takamagahara.
-"I apologize for how it might sound, but to enter any Heaven, you need to be clean of worldly filth. You three will need to undergo a purification ritual before you can enter Takamagahara."
~"I see. We will follow customs."
-"Thank you for your understanding. The purification ritual consists of three parts. One for body, spirit, and Soul. To purify the body, you'll need to wash with water from Takamagahara, leaving worldly possessions behind. To purify the spirit, you'll need to undergo a ceremonial rite, cleansing evil from your will. Lastly, to purify the Soul, you'll need to accept the baptism of Takamagahara's essence, elevating you from the mortal world."
I nodded, marking my understanding of what will happen.
-"This ritual is done every time someone wishes to enter Takamagahara, mortal or god. Only those who are pure are exempt. For example, I, as a goddess of the moon, also have a lesser divinity of purity, and this is why I was appointed as caretaker of this shrine."
~"Thank you for your explanation."
-"No problem. Miss Jinglin and Miss Cellinia, please follow Mikos. They will walk you through all the ceremonies. I will attend to Yue personally."
Both girls nodded and followed Mikos to their respective side rooms while Tsukuyomi took me to the main room. After entering inside, Tsukuyomi closed the doors and placed a seal on them, isolating us from the outside.
-"Now that we are alone, I can speak about the other matter. My sister asked me to return this to you along with this reply."-Tsukuyomi passed me two envelopes, one I gave her before and the other sealed with Amaterasu's seal.
I took back the first envelope to my storage and opened the second one, reading through the reply.
~"Are you aware of the contents of this letter?"
-"Yes. My sister informed me of everything."
~"Aren't you a neutral party?"
-"I'm, and I don't plan to change my position. Sadly, sometimes, the decision is not on my side. If the situation develops as you described, then I will stand on your side."
~"Thank you."
-"As for the ritual..."
~"Do I have to undergo it? You can easily see that I'm pure."
-"I see that, but others don't. If you don't, others will use it against you, especially those traditionalists from neutral faction."
~"You are right. I don't want war after all."
-"Thank you for understanding. Please leave everything behind and enter the pool in the next room. I'll be waiting there to perform rites."
I looked at Tsukuyomi surprised, but noticing her avoiding my gaze with reddened cheeks, I decided to keep quiet. Entering the changing room, I made my clothing disappear, leaving only [Wyrd] on my finger. Wearing a prepared bathrobe, I exited into the next room.
In said room, there was only a pool in the middle with water falling into it from the ceiling. Under Tsukuyomi's instruction, I entered into the water and stood under the waterfall while she performed rites around me. While still in Miko's clothes, she was also in water that was almost one and a half meters deep, so the atmosphere was a little subtle.
After five or so minutes, I could exit the water and enter the next room, where Tsukuyomi performed a Kagura dance. After that, I moved to the last room, or rather a space, as despite standing in a place that still could be called 'room', before me and an open plain.
-"This is the entrance to Takamagahara."-Tsukuyomi spoke after walking up to me.-"This path is the last rite. You must pass through that Tori gate."
~"Is there anything I need to worry about?"
-"This road will allow you to see into your own Soul. I know that you have mastery over Souls, but this path is a little different. Its purpose is to realize divinity."
~"Help in ascension?"
-"Yes. I hope this can help you."
~"You want me to ascend into goodhood?"
-"I don't know. I just hope that it can help you achieve whatever goal you pursue."-Tsukuyomi looked into my eyes.-"I might be ignorant of many things in the world, but I pride myself in judging people. I know that you have many things on your mind. You are always thinking about thousands of things. Slow down. Sometimes, it's better to go with the flow."
~"It would seem that the moon will always be my lucky sign. Thank you, Tsukuyomi."
-"As a leader, you are taking care of all those who follow you. Now, even acted to care for our matters. I can't do much, so allow me to at least care for you in return."
I smiled at that and started walking forward, following Tsukuyomi's advice, and allowed myself some quiet time. Dispersing my other avatar and even stopping operating other puppets. Just myself and the quiet road.