Tomo-sama's Rescue Plan - Hell Chapter

One month later, Tokyo, Ginza.

"Is the prosciutto sandwich and curry rice ready for table four?"

"Come on, come on!"

"Miss Arakawa, the boss is calling you!"

"Please wait a moment, I'll go over as soon as I finish ordering for the guests!"

I picked up the menu and walked towards the family in western clothes with a skilled smile on my face.

Yes, I am now the hostess of this cafe called "Roslyn Coffee·Western Food House"——Ren Arakawa.

This is about an embarrassing incident that happened when I first returned to the human world a month ago.

That night, I was still wandering along the shopping street in the city, and suddenly found something that I hadn’t seen for a long time in the window of a shop on the side of the road.

"Sakura dumpling!"

I immediately recognized the lingering dim sum, so I rushed into the store excitedly.

"Please, please give me one of these."

"You are really discerning. This is our shop's signature, a century-old famous product from Edo."

The little brother in the store wrapped the dumplings in oiled paper with exquisite patterns, and said with a smile.

"Thank you for your patronage, ten dollars in total."

"Eh?"

I just remembered the most important thing——

Buying things costs money.

I don't know how the other gods do it, maybe they won't be as greedy for human snacks as I am?In short, under the suspicious eyes of the clerk, I blushed and ran away.

I, a god, have no money.

But it's hard to blame me who picked up rags in hell, besides, even a ghost with a weird personality like Mr. Wu Mi can linger in the human world for so long, why can't I?

So I intuitively chose one of the shops on the side of the road, and I opened the door and walked in.

The air is filled with the aroma of something called "coffee", and on the long table covered with a lace tablecloth, there are Western fruits that I have never seen before.

Hey, the shop owner turned out to be a foreigner with blond hair and blue eyes.

I mustered up my courage and said:

"Excuse me, do you recruit... a maid?"

A month later, my magical words at that time are still one of the jokes in the whole store, especially my foreign boss, who laughed exaggeratedly when he mentioned this matter.

"God bless, Miss Arakawa, I thought you were coming from the general's house."

"It's not called 'The General's House', it's called 'Da'ao'." I corrected him solemnly.

"Yes, yes." He said in half-baked Japanese, "You must be from Ooku, oh, there is a noble lady in my shop."

I have gradually adapted to the jokes of Westerners, so I said confidently: "Thank you for the compliment, at least my handwriting is pretty good, right?"

The menu in the store and the signboard outside are handwritten by me. According to the boss, it has both a Western style and a Japanese style signboard. The gentlemen and ladies in the nearby "university" like it very much.

"What's Roslyn? Your mother's name?"

On the day I wrote the signboard, I asked the boss.

"That's the name of a small church in my hometown." The boss said, "It's a very beautiful small church, as beautiful as you, Miss Arakawa."

The name of the foreign boss is Paul, and he comes from a place called Edinburgh in the faraway country of England.

For the first time, I knew that on the other side of the sea, there were other countries and other gods.

It was also the first time that I knew that everything from the West was rapidly pouring into this country. It was popular for people in the city to wear western clothes, eat foreign food, and ride clanging trams to and from work.

Oh no, that's called going to and from get off work.

I needed a place to quickly understand the current world and times, and a coffee shop was the perfect fit.

Among the guests who come and go every day, there are foreign friends of the boss, who either work in the embassy or come from afar, hoping to make a fortune in this strange but open oriental country; there are teachers and students from nearby universities, who often because of The cabinet elections and the dispatch of troops to Siberia were full of quarrels; there were also ordinary employees whose families came here to eat, and fashionable ladies and wives in the city. They usually just came out of the "Emperor Drama" and carried their I bought big and small bags from Mitsukoshi Department Store, and came to have an English afternoon tea.

While ordering and delivering food, I made sandwiches and baked scones, and listened to their "heart sounds"—just as the human body is transparent in front of Ji Guoyuan, human thoughts are also transparent in front of the gods. You can read a lot of information with just a little effort.After a long time like this, many things can be learned without a teacher, such as the language and words of this era, basic necessities of life, food, drink, and entertainment, and the hottest topics in society.The added benefit is that I can intimately remember the food tastes and comments preferred by many regular customers, which makes the guests like me very much.

You should like me, I am a god.In the end, my boss said that he picked up a lucky cat and insisted that I learn how to keep accounts and make coffee.

I don't like the smell of coffee. The bitter aroma reminds me of every day in hell and Wu Mi, and reminds me of someone I miss.

"Miss Arakawa, you don't look like most women in this country." Boss Paul once said.

"Really? How is it different?" I asked curiously.

"You're more like a woman in our country, I mean, personality-wise. You talk with grace, you're never intimidated by men, and you don't worry about getting married... like Queen Elizabeth, do you know who she is?

Westerners are really good at boasting.

"You just say that I can't get married..."

"Haha, isn't this what you Yamato women are most afraid of?"

I silently rolled my eyes.

"Who said women have to get married? The world is so big, why not do something?"

I have been squatting in hell for 200 years, and I have seen too much life and death. I just want to seize this hard-won day and experience "living" with my heart.

Although the world is still chaotic and ordinary people still have a difficult life, after all, this is no longer the era when samurai were domineering and girls were thrown into the river as sacrifices.

With the first month's wages, I bought a two-wheeled vehicle, yes, what humans call a "bicycle".

Because I am too lazy to run around on the roof, and more importantly, spring is here, riding a bicycle from the mountain of Arakawa Shrine to the store, the whole journey is like flying in the wind, and you can see countless beautiful scenery.

Winter is over, and the cherry blossoms are blooming. Although they are not the cherry blossoms of Edo Castle, but the cherry blossoms of Tokyo, the descendants of the cherry trees planted by General Yoshimune are still thriving on the bank of Arakawa.When the cherry blossoms start to blow on the streets of the city, the roadside shops will still sell sakura cakes, sakura dango and hanami dango, and people will take their families to the riverside and Ueno Park to enjoy the cherry blossoms.On weekends, when the store was resting, I took a sandwich and scones and rode to the river to bask in the sun.

I am so happy to be alive.

Although you will not be hungry if you don’t eat, human food has indeed undergone earth-shaking changes in the past 200 years. The foreign confectionery made with a lot of milk tastes better than wagashi. The imported Earl Gray tea also has a special flavor. Don't mind tasting them one by one.

The kimono is not good for riding a bicycle, and I couldn’t accept those clothes that cling to my body for a while, so I changed into a hakama and leather shoes like a female student, and soon discovered the advantages and disadvantages of wearing this way.

The advantage is that it is convenient to move around, no matter where you go in or out, you don't have to behave properly, but the disadvantage is that you can always attract countless idlers to make trouble.

Boss Paul spoke and acted with the unique heartiness of foreigners, and he didn't ask me to wear strange aprons like the waitresses in other cafes - clothes called "maid's clothes".So I walked in and out of the store dressed like a schoolgirl, and was often misunderstood by unfamiliar customers as a part-time student from a nearby girls' school.

"It's outrageous, I don't know which girl is so crazy, she even came out to work while she was still in school."

"Isn't it time to go on a blind date at this age? It's a pity to be so beautiful."

Sometimes I hear customers whispering like this, but I don't care, because my teacher said that even women should not be taken lightly.

Besides, I'm still a god.

Boss Paul is keen on collecting Yamato's works of art, and when he receives any good things, he invites a few friends to come to the store to appreciate them.Once I saw a few of them admiring around a few ukiyo-e, so I leaned over and took a look.

"Only one of them is real, boss, you have been cheated."

"Does Ms. Arakawa know about antiques?" the Westerner said with great interest, "Why do you say it's fake?"

Of course, I can't tell him that this kind of thing was often seen at the stalls in Edo Castle in the past, and it was not worth much... and the ancient things have a kind of atmosphere accumulated over time, which cannot be imitated by imitations.

"This is Suzuki Harunobu's painting, right? The color of Nishiki-e is a bit wrong, and the paper is not the washi paper of the time, but the one below is real. Those shiny ones are mica powder, which Edo painters like to use."

"God, you are such an amazing girl, Miss Arakawa, how do you know this?"

I had no choice but to say: "My ancestors were nobles of the Wu family, but they fell into disrepair later on. But when I was young, I still had this kind of thing at home, so I saw a lot of it. It's purely a feeling."

Why humans like to collect old objects from the past is still a mystery to me who have lived for hundreds of years.

However, the foreign owner went to the pawn shop to find someone to identify it, and the result was indeed the same as what I said.Now he got the hang of it, and he dragged me to see everything before he wanted to accept anything, insisting that I, the "miss from the general's house", give me some comments.

I especially want to tell him that the general's house is not so easy to get in and out. Even now, the old Edo Castle is where the imperial residence is.I and other ordinary people dare not pretend to be Chinese to bluff and deceive.

But Westerners are clearly keen on this.Once, after selling a year-extending plate, my boss made a lot of money and said he would invite me to eat steakhouse.

"What's that?" I asked curiously.

"Steak, uh, it's beef ribs." The foreigner looked at me incredulously, "Haven't you eaten it?"

"Cows cannot be eaten, because they are used for farming..." I was stunned, "People nowadays dare to eat anything..."

"Hahaha, Ms. Arakawa, sometimes I really doubt whether you are from the General's house or from some remote mountain. Your Majesty the Emperor personally demonstrated how to eat beef."

I just learned that after Meiji, beef is no longer taboo, but ordinary people can't afford it.

But the first time I ate with a knife and fork, I almost poked the good meat off the plate.

The foreign boss laughed so hard that he even sprayed red wine.I am fascinated by the magical taste of animal meat with black pepper sauce.

"Honestly, Ms. Arakawa, how old are you this year?"

"Ah? Ten..." I said cheekily.

"...you shouldn't be wasting your life in a coffee shop at such a young age."

The foreign boss suddenly became serious.

"I know that you women in Yamato are strictly controlled by your family, and you will marry and have children early, but in my country, women can also show their faces, go into business, go into politics, become artists and writers... I have a female friend for this Made a magazine, that is a bright and brave Yamato woman like you, maybe next time you can talk about it."

So under Paul's recommendation, I met the lady named Akiko Hiratsuka in the store.

She is a dignified-looking lady, about 30 years old, looking gentle and calm.

"Ms. Arakawa, this is the famous Mrs. Thunderbird. I used to be her English teacher." Boss Paul introduced, "Ms. Thunderbird, this Ms. Arakawa is very knowledgeable about antiques, and she is also the smartest one I have ever met. Girl, maybe there is something that can help you."

"Fortunately, Thunderbird is just my dharma name, just call me Mingzi." The lady smiled and extended her hand, and gave me a Western-style handshake.

Mrs. Mingzi gave me a magazine she founded. It was a thin booklet with the word "Qingqian" written on the yellowed cover.

"Qing Ling? What does this mean?"

"It means 'blue socks'. In 1750 of the Western calendar, that is, our Edo period, in a salon in England, a group of women decided to use this as a sign of self-awakening." The lady said with a smile , "You may not understand, but it's okay, just remember that women don't need to rely on others to survive, we are also independent people, and we are entitled to live proudly in the world."

"At that time... has there been such a saying in foreign countries?"

The world is really big.

I opened the first page of the magazine, and there was a line written on it:

——At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, women were the sun and real people.

"Well said..." I murmured.

"But it has been forced to stop publication, because those men don't want us to understand this." The lady said calmly, "I am preparing another publication, and I heard from Paul that your writing is very good and you are very smart. , would you like to transcribe some manuscripts for me?"

"Of course!" I laughed, "It's my honor to meet a lady like you. Boss, can I do this in the shop after work at night? The electricity fee can be deducted from my wages. "

"No, no, Miss Arakawa, what you need to do is to help me look at a few more paintings." My Western boss smiled very generously.

Anyway, I don't need to sleep, and I am idle at night.

Spring passed, and soon summer came.

It was raining heavily outside the window, and Mrs. Mingzi happened to come to the store to discuss things with someone, and stayed until night, seeing that the rain had no intention of stopping, so I took two umbrellas and offered to take her home.

"Actually, my mother's natal family is the imperial doctor of the lord of Jizhou's family, so I have some samurai blood. When I was young, my father said that it was because of this that I was different from other girls."

She said with a smile on the way.

"My mother was imprisoned in the family all her life. Although my father was an official of the Meiji government, he forbade me to learn English and said 'women don't need to learn that kind of thing'. I didn't believe it, so I secretly studied by myself, and later I was admitted to a women's university. The result was After that incident, the school expelled me, and my father no longer recognized me as a daughter."

"May I take the liberty to ask, what kind of thing is it?" I said in surprise, "You look very remarkable, why did the school expel you?"

She burst out laughing.

"Paul said that you seem to be from Daoli, I still don't believe it... The city was full of storms before that incident, don't you know?"

"Sorry, I've also been here not long ago from another place, so I haven't heard of it..."

"Of course it's my attempt to die with the man."

"Sacrificing... for love?" I looked at her speechlessly, "How could you do such a stupid thing?"

"You were young at that time." She was not ashamed, "I was dizzy when I was coaxed by the man with just a few words. At first, I listened to him talking about literature and thought I was a companion, but in the end it was just trying to trick you into bed. Arakawa Miss, you are still young. Girls of your age definitely want to fall in love, but as someone who has experienced it, I advise you not to waste too much time on love. You must read more and see the world more. You must know that the world is far away. It’s not the small piece of world in front of us.”

"I'm actually...unlikely to fall in love."

"Why, didn't your parents force you to go on a blind date?" Ming Zi asked in surprise.

"I didn't have parents a long time ago." I said, looking at the rickshaws and pedestrians coming and going on the street in the distance, "I don't have relatives and children. But I have a favorite person, he is far away, I am willing to wait for him."

"How far? Siberia?"

"Hahahahaha! It may be farther than that." I couldn't help laughing, "But you are still married, right? I heard that you already have two lovely children?"

"Well, because I met the right person. Although he was just a poor student who was painting at the time, and he was not officially married, I don't regret it." Mrs. Mingzi said, "Although raising a child is really distressing... But I always believe that times have changed, we women choose men, not let men choose us."

"It makes sense." I exhaled softly, "The times have really changed."

While we were talking, several figures stood in front of us, they were men in kimonos, the leader was smoking a foreign cigarette, squinting his eyes and said:

"You're the Hiratsuka Thunderbird? It's so ridiculous to post inexplicable things in the newspaper all day long. As a woman, you don't stay at home to serve your husband and spread these dangerous remarks, you fucking be careful .”

"Who are you? I'm going to call the police!" Mrs. Mingzi snapped.

"Haha, do you think I'm afraid? Oh, there's a beautiful female student here?" The man stretched out his hand to me, "She's not bad..."

A minute later, I opened the umbrella in my hand again, and smiled at Mrs. Mingzi: "I want to correct what I said just now. Times have changed, but people haven't changed much. No matter when, there are idiots who touch girls. .”

Her face was a little pale, and she nodded reluctantly.

"Miss Arakawa...you... have learned the art of swordsmanship? It's the first time I've seen someone who can beat someone like this with an umbrella..."

There was a group of people lying on the ground, all of them basically lost consciousness, humming twice.

"I told you, my family used to be from a martial arts family, and my teacher is a master of swordsmanship." I smiled, "Let's go, and I will take you home if you need it in the future."

When he was almost at the door of her house, Mrs. Mingzi suddenly said:

"Actually, you can go to the university to audit and try."

"Eh? University? That kind of place..."

"Go and listen, literature or philosophy, I think it suits you. At that time, I always went to the literature department to audit." She laughed, "I don't know why, but I always feel that Miss Arakawa is not an ordinary girl. Paul teaches you English, and I'll talk to him."

I stared at this ordinary human woman for a long time, and for the first time, I felt admiration for human beings.

"Miss Akiko...I have something I want to ask you."

"Please say."

"Everything in the world... What is the difference? For example, humans and animals, or men and women, Yamato people and foreigners... Or, is there any difference between other existences and humans, our lives?"

She shook her head, "I can't answer such a profound question, Ms. Arakawa."

"However, this reminds me of a question my master asked me once when I participated in a meditation retreat in a monastery."

"The question is, what was your original face before your parents gave birth to you?"

"Is it... the original face... of the parents before they were alive?"

Yes, what kind of existence were we before we came into this world as human beings or as other beings?

Before we are polluted by all kinds of love and hatred in the world, and we are named by all kinds of names related to blood, race, and identity, who do we exist as?

"It's... nothingness, isn't it?" I said cautiously.

"That's what I answered at the time, but I think all thinkers in human history have different answers to this question, and you need to experience it yourself."

Mrs. Akiko smiled and said, "Let's go and see the bigger world, Ms. Arakawa. Only by constantly moving forward can one understand what the 'self' really is."

In this way, after working in a cafe, I started my days as an auditor at a women's university.

It was a whole different world, belonging to a group of people I didn't know at all.

Strange, but very interesting, I listened to teachers and students talking about a foreigner named "Shakespeare" and the stories he wrote, and listening to them talk about the world on the other side of the ocean, that feeling shocked me.

I began to understand the mood of Mr. Wu Mi, thinking of the thick foreign documents on his desk, maybe Mr. Wu Mi, who always despises human beings, has also been curious about the world beyond the sea.

I feel a little guilty for failing to keep my promise to him.

Soon I also learned half-baked English, which was as bad as Boss Paul's Japanese.Because I can't work in the store often, I am embarrassed to ask for his wages, but instead change it to the way that I help him identify an antique every time, and he will get a cut after he sells it.

The money is not much, but it is enough for me to buy foreign fruit and new clothes.

In this way, autumn also passed, the weather gradually became colder, and finally one day it began to rain continuously, and then the maple leaves turned red, and then the maple leaves fell, and the sky began to snow.

Another winter is here.

The breath of the Ghost Slayer Squad seems to have completely disappeared from the world.I planted the blue Higan flower in the ruins of the shrine, but immediately discovered that this flower needs a lot of water from Arakawa to bloom, otherwise it will look no different from the weeds on the roadside, and it will even wither soon.I don't have that much spiritual power to water them all day long, so I can only leave the seeds temporarily and don't care about the flowers anymore.

In the blink of an eye, the new year has passed, and it has been the seventh year of Taisho.

One day I found out that a wooden sign had been inserted at the gate of the shrine.

I hurriedly found Machiho... No, it's called the city hall now, and I was politely asked for a title deed.

Where did I get the title deed?

"After the Meiji era, the land that originally belonged to the shogunate was nationalized, and parks and the like were built, like Ueno Park." The receptionist of the Religious Affairs Division explained politely, "An amusement park will be built near Arakawa, and it may be The shrine you mentioned is also delimited, but if the land is private property, we will have registration here."

"Yes, but..."

I didn't know what to do for the first time.

When I was a shrine maiden, the Arakawa Shrine was repaired and supported by the Yagyu family. After 200 years, even the shogunate has collapsed, and the owner of the shrine will not exist at all.

It turns out that the gods will also have such embarrassing times.

"Of course, because it is unowned wasteland, if you buy it before the government takes it back, it will be considered your private land."

"How much... how much is this?"

"Let me see...about 5000 yuan."

...It would be good if I can earn fifty dollars a month...

Well, I'm really going homeless now.

* Hiratsuka Thunderbird, February 1886, 19 (Meiji 2) - May 10, 1971 (Showa 46), Japanese thinker, critic, writer, and feminist.The women's liberation movement before and after the war, the leader of the women's movement, also concerned about the peace movement in the later period, whose real name is Akiko Hiratsuka.

The author has something to say:

Dazheng is a magical era, and there are not only ghost killing teams.