After saying this, Hibiki Tachibana waved at her, turned around decisively, and walked off in the other direction without looking back, quickly disappearing into the bustling crowd.
Only Mizuki Mirei was left, standing alone on the spot, holding that beautifully packaged macaron set, letting the cold evening wind blow through her messy hair and her freezing cold heart.
“The date… it… it just ended like this?!”
She stood stunned for a long time before finally recovering from the rollercoaster of emotions.
She had been completely and utterly dumped!
An indescribable sense of grievance and shame welled up in her heart, making her eyes sting, and she almost cried on the spot.
With nowhere to vent her complex emotions, she pulled out her phone again and, like a bullied young wife, sought comfort and vented to “Senpai Kinuko” on Line.
[Mirei: (Crying) (Crying) (Crying)]
[Senpai Kinuko:? What’s wrong? Did the date not go well?]
[Mirei: He… he didn’t want to go on a date with me at all! He just called me out, shoved this dessert at me, and left! Left!!!]
[Senpai Kinuko:…]
[Senpai Kinuko: Hahahahahaha!!!]
Through the screen, Mizuki Mirei could almost hear the other person’s unreserved, deafening laughter.
[Senpai Kinuko: Sorry, sorry, I couldn’t help it. But that really sounds like something that blockhead Kyo would do. I told you before, that guy’s emotional intelligence is incredibly low. I reckon in his eyes, you’re probably no different from a lamppost on the side of the road; he doesn’t see you as a peer of the opposite sex at all, does he?]
[Mirei: (Heartbroken)]
[Senpai Kinuko: Alright, alright, don’t be sad. By the way, let me tell you something important. A huge event recently happened in Tokyo. You definitely won’t believe it, but the legendary ghosts and gods actually exist.]
[Mirei:? Really?] Get faster updates on g.com.
[Senpai Kinuko: Would I lie to you? I’ll send you the exclusive video I got through my connections. It’s a bit bloody, so you should prepare yourself mentally.]
Immediately after, an MP4 video file was sent over.
…
Shifune Shrine is located in the suburbs of Tokyo.
Even if you take the fastest train from the city center, it takes quite a long time to arrive.
When Mizuki Mirei, dragging her exhausted body, stepped back onto the familiar mountain path leading to her family’s shrine, the sunset on the horizon was as crimson as blood.
Walking on the forest path leading to Shifune Shrine, every blade of grass and tree she saw made her feel an incomparable sense of nostalgia and affection.
This was the place where she grew up, the only home she and her father had, and the final crystallization of the Mizuki Family’s heritage over hundreds of years.
However, this home was about to be lost.
The religious circles in Japan have always been inextricably linked to the political world.
After the political ally that the Mizuki Family once relied on collapsed, their status within Shintoism plummeted, and they were now in their twilight years.
“If… if we can’t find a new, sufficiently powerful ally… this shrine will really be taken away by those people…”
Mizuki Mirei knew that the current generation’s head priest of the Mizuki Family, her father, was too weak and kind-hearted.
The burden of revitalizing the family ultimately fell on her, a young girl of only seventeen.
She subconsciously squeezed the dessert shop bag in her hand, an unprecedented sense of urgency rising in her heart.
“Should I… be more decisive? Tachibana-san doesn’t seem like a bad person.”
Biting her lip, Mizuki Mirei stepped onto the approach to the shrine with feelings of self-pity.
From here, she could look up and see the torii gate of Shifune Shrine.
The mountain gate of Shifune Shrine appeared somewhat dilapidated due to years of neglect.
This was only natural; with a lack of manpower and funds, the Mizuki Family had long lost the ability to maintain such a large compound.
Walking into the shrine’s courtyard, Mizuki Mirei instinctively wanted to greet her father as she usually did.
However, she soon discovered that the inner sanctum of the shrine, which should have been empty at this time, now had the faint sound of visitors, and it seemed to be accompanied by intense arguments.
Curious, Mizuki Mirei tiptoed over, hid in the shadows of the corner, and listened intently.
As a result, what she heard was enough to make her skin crawl and her body turn cold.
“Chief Priest Mizuki, we agreed on a one-month grace period for you to consider. However, our Cult Leader has changed his mind today. He hopes you can make a decision as soon as possible and officially transfer this compound and the land to our Miyuan Cult.”
A polite, yet chilling male voice said.
“All of Shifune Shrine’s current external debts have been transferred to our Miyuan Cult. Therefore, the request we are making now is completely reasonable and legal.”
“We hope the Mizuki Family will stop this pointless resistance… Chief Priest, you wouldn’t want your precious daughter, who is currently in high school, to meet with any accidents on her way home from school, right? You must have heard of our cult’s methods.”