Chapter 161: Invited To Be A Companion

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

“Thank you.”

Kimura Kazuki faintly expressed his gratitude for their suggestion and continued his journey.

Mei pursed her lips when Kimura Kazuki was no longer in their sight, “What? I told him that Sword Saint Takeda is not around… Why is he still going up?”

“Yeah.” It was rare to see Asuka not bickering with her.

“Hehe…” Sei Shigeru smiled gently and said, “As the saying goes, believe what you see, not what you hear. We are just strangers to him, why would he believe the words of strangers? This teenager did just right, and he had thanked you for your reminders. On the other hand, it’s not good for both of you to criticize him after he left.”

Mei and Asuka exchanged glances and remained silent. Grandfather would give them a lesson if they talked back to him right now. After all, they could never outtalk their grandfather.

They decided to keep silent in the end, but they heard their grandfather mumbling, “This young man has the kind of strength that should not be underestimated. Since Sword Saint Takeda is not around, perhaps I will have to ask for his help about the incident in Kyoto.”

Both of them stood gazing at one another with astonishment in their eyes. But there was no suspicion in their eyes about what their grandfather said just now.

Meanwhile, Kimura Kazuki went up the hill and came to the gate of a courtyard house with its gate tightly closed. There were trees and barks all around the place, and the scenery was beautiful. It seemed that Takeda did have an aesthetic mood to choose to settle down in such a place.

He knocked on the door, and soon, the live-in maid came to open the door.

When Kimura Kazuki asserted that he wanted to pay a visit to Sword Saint Takeda, he was told that Takeda had gone traveling, exactly as what the two people said. He would not be coming back for a short while. Kimura Kazuki would have to come over again at the end of the year if he wants to see him in person.

He did not believe the maid until he used his consciousness to sense around. He finally believed the maid’s words when he found that there were no other people in the house. Although all this was in vain, he kept his chin up. It was the weekend, after all, he could just take it as a distraction.

Thinking so, he was about to go home after going downhill. If Furuhashi Sakurakyu had known this, she would most probably be speechless. He had spent three hours on a high-speed train to Yamagata Prefecture, he could tour around the place for a while, even though he did not get to see the person. What was the rush?

But apparently, such a thought had never occurred to Kimura Kazuki.

He saw the three people were still talking in the pavilion when he reached the hillside. The old man was sitting inside the pavilion instead of standing. After realizing Kimura Kazuki was there, he stood up and spoke with a gentle smile on his face, “Hi, Mr. Kimura.”

Kimura Kazuki looked at him with a frown, wondering why he would know his name.

“Your fans called out your name in the tram just now, so I remembered it,” Sei Shigeru put up a benevolent and kind countenance. He explained as he saw the frown on Kimura Kazuki’s brows.

Both Mei and Asuka were staring at Kimura Kazuki, looking up and down curiously with their round, black eyes.

“What’s the matter?” Kimura Kazuki knew that since he had called out his name, it would not be a simple greeting.

Sei Shigeru gestured Kimura Kazuki to take a seat and introduced himself with a smile, “My name is Sei Shigeru, these two people sitting beside me are my grandson and granddaughter, Asuka Shigeru and Mei Shigeru.” He made a slight pause before continuing, “The reason I greeted you is that I would like to ask you a favor.”

“The seal at the former site of a shrine in Kyoto was destroyed, ghosts and demons were haunting the place, and they had caused a lot of trouble. I had accepted the request from Deity Rising Palace to handle this case. I came to Mount Tobiuo to ask for help from Sword Saint Takeda. It is such a regret that the Sword Saint had gone traveling. But life turns around, and we have encountered Mr. Kimura. It must be fate. I realize that you have great strength, can you please come along with us? Of course, we can discuss the relative remuneration.”

If it were not because of him knowing that Sei Shigeru really had reiki and was quite a strong Onmyoji, Kimura Kazuki would have misunderstood him as a charlatan.

He was absorbed in his thoughts upon hearing the name of Sei Shigeru.

In his past life, the name of Sei Shigeru was well known all over the world. It was for no other reason than the fact that Sei Shigeru was as strong as the Nascent Soul Cultivator. Asuka and Mei, who were standing beside him, were also notable in Japan after the recuperation of reiki. Especially Mei, who was from a special bloodline, holding Demon Shaking Bow that could make all the demons flee. But of course, all of their strengths came after the recuperation of reiki.

In Kimura Kazuki’s opinion, the current reiki in Sei Shigeru’s body was way weaker than his, let alone Asuka and Mei, who were beside him.

Kimura Kazuki had heard about these three people mainly because Asuka had passed away before he traveled through time. Asuka became Mei’s guarding spirit after he died. Mei won second runner-up in the national competition of the youth group, which impressed the whole world. Mei’s power was one of the top 100 in the national youth ranking, and her strength skyrocketed after Asuka became her guarding spirit.

At that time, the netizens from all over the world were split into two gangs. One of the gangs was not satisfied with the outcome, asserting that although Asuka was a guarding spirit, he was still a ghost who deserved civil rights and equality. But both of them took part in the competition together, wasn’t it a two-on-one fight? Another gang reasoned that Asuka was a guarding spirit and could be considered as the shikigami of Mei, which was a part of the strategy, so the competition was deemed to be fair.

The youngsters in Spiritual Academy were all talking about this incident back then, it was impossible for him to not know about this.

He was not surprised that Sei Shigeru could perceive his real strength.

Sei Shigeru is supposed to be the master of the Shigeru family now. As such, as the master of the Shigeru family, he must own the Bright Eyes according to the rules.

The Bright Eyes had the same skill as Peeking Eyes, which was why he could perceive his real strength naturally.

This was also the reason why Asuka and Mei did not show any doubt when Sei Shigeru mumbled that Kimura Kazuki had great strength before. Both of them were members of the Shigeru family, it went without saying that they knew their grandfather owned the Bright Eyes.

“Mr. Kimura, what do you think?” Sei Shigeru looked at Kimura Kazuki upon saying that, his eyes beaming with anticipation.

Kimura Kazuki took a gaze at him and nodded his head in agreement after some contemplation, “Sure.”

Japanese Onmyoji was one of the mage professions. They specialized in spiritual power and performed ranged attacks. If someone were able to approach them, their frail bodies would become their fatal weakness. As such, each and every single time an Onmyoji goes out for a mission, they would invite the swordsmen to accompany them.

It could be said that the witches and Onmyojis in Deity Rising Palace and the swordsmen in Ancient Kendo Community were in a symbiotic relationship.

Witches and Onmyoji required the close protection of the swordsmen while the swordsmen had to rely on the counterpart’s special ability, or else they would be entrapped by those demons with specialized skills.

“What do you say we set off right now?”

Asuka could hardly wait, he asked enthusiastically even before Sei Shigeru, and Kimura Kazuki had said anything.

“I still need some time to settle a few things first,” Kimura Kazuki shook his head. “I will contact you guys after I have dealt with them.”

“Okay,” Sei Shigeru grinned while nodding his head. “Mr. Kimura, don’t forget to give me a call when you’re done.”

Without any dilly-dallying, Kimura Kazuki exchanged contacts with Sei Shigeru. Then, Kimura Kazuki left.

He thought that this trip to Mount Tobiuo would be in vain, he never expected that he would be invited to be Sei Shigeru’s companion.

However… the spirit in Kyoto? A spirit that came out by destroying the seal, could it be that one? Kimura Kazuki was struck by a thought.

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