[Comprehensive] Natsume Reiko's trip

On the night after the Li Yujing incident ended, Reiko sat in her room with her legs crossed and her chin resting on her chin, looking out the window, the stars were very bright.

"Thank you so much today, Reiko! Thanks to you, I was able to form a relationship with youkai. I'm really, really happy!"

For some reason, Reiko's mind kept echoing what Shinichiro said when he was saying goodbye, as well as that smiling face.

Can seeing monsters really be a joyful thing?

Shinichiro has the protection of brocade, even if he sees it, most monsters can't hurt him.If I can see Shinichiro again tomorrow, I will give him the magic circle that can see youkai.

Thinking about it, Reiko opened the cabinet and took out a cardboard box from the inside. Inside the cardboard box was a notebook whose paper had started to turn yellow.

This notebook belonged to a demon exorcist named Hakozaki, who was buried in the forest without knowing it.

The breath of the monster exorcist prevented the little monsters in the forest from approaching. Reiko dug out the notebook after hearing the news by accident.

The notebook records many demon exorcisers' experience in learning spells, as well as some experiences and essays about exorcising demons.

Reiko opened the notebook, took out the white paper figurine that had been used as a bookmark before, and turned the notebook to the page with the magic circle that would allow ordinary people to see monsters.

"Yes!" Reiko randomly found a piece of white paper, drew the magic circle on it according to the shape in the notebook, then stacked two stacks and put them in the school bag.

Reiko picked up the paper figurine and wanted to clip it back into the notebook, but the thin and sharp edge of the paper figurine cut a small hole in Reiko's index finger, and the red blood soaked the paper figurine.

"Really..." Reiko closed the notebook and put it back into the cardboard box, and sucked her index finger, which was still bleeding, indifferently, and the blood soon stopped.

This night, Reiko vaguely dreamed of something.

Holding a pair of scissors in his hand, a man whose face could not be seen clearly cut out a small paper figurine on a piece of paper full of spells.

"Please take care of me in the future, little paper man. As long as there is a medium, you can change into what you want, so how about calling you Qianmian? Thousands of people have thousands of faces, and thousands of faces have no faces. This would be a good name. "

But ah, the man has never used Qianmian once.

Why not use it?Obviously it is a special shikigami that was produced in anticipation!

It's so dark in this book!

It's really dark!

so dark!

Master, hurry up and use it!It can change anything...

Anything can be...

The next morning, when Reiko opened the notebook again, the paper figurine was gone.

Reiko pursed her lips, thinking of the finger she accidentally cut last night, is it because her blood contains spiritual power, that's why the paper figurine was awakened?

We must find the paper figurine, and we must not add trouble to this place again.

But when Reiko was about to go out with her schoolbag, an accident still happened.

"Reiko? Didn't you go out? When did you come back?" Mrs. Tian Yuan looked at Reiko standing at the door with a puzzled expression.

"Eh? I didn't always..." Reiko's eyes widened slightly in surprise, and then she thought of something and stopped her voice abruptly.

Sure enough, a frightened expression appeared on Mrs. Tian Yuan's face: "Why do you say such scary words again! Is it fun to lie to us? If you have been here all this time, then what is it that just went out!"

Mrs. Tahara's voice continued to rise and become thinner.This kind of thing has happened before. After Reiko's nonsense, there will always be some inexplicable things at home.

Suddenly broken windows, inexplicable strange wind, strange footprints in rainy days, etc., these are all disasters brought by Reiko.Although these ominous incidents haven't happened for a long time, just thinking about them makes one's scalp tingle.

Reiko showed a distant smile when she heard the words, and bent her eyes to hide her true emotions: "I'm sorry, sorry, I actually sneaked in when you weren't paying attention, and I forgot my homework at home. did not want you to know."

"Yes, that's it, don't make such jokes in the future!" Mrs. Tian Yuan forced herself to believe these explanations, but her expression was still very anxious.

"Well, don't worry, Mrs. Tahara, nothing will happen, I promise." Reiko comforted Mrs. Tahara with a smile.Then say goodbye and leave.

The monster can do anything to her, even if it eats her, it doesn't matter, but there is only this room, and the monster must not be allowed to come close.

On this day, after confirming that the paper figurine that had become her did not go to class, Reiko found a reason to ask the teacher for leave and left the school.

Reiko vaguely guessed where she should go to find the paper figurine.

If the paper doll monster still has a deep attachment to its master, then it will definitely continue to wait for the return of its master at the place where it was left behind.

The place where she picked up the notebook was in the depths of Yahara forest.

What kind of mood did that Hakozaki-san throw away all the youkai-related things?

Is it because you hate monsters and don't want to have anything to do with monsters anymore?

No, no, because the few words recorded in the notebook revealed a strong bond with youkai.

[After the monster was removed, the flowers in the park bloomed, let's take it with me next time to see it! ]

[The monster that appeared in the rainy night is very strong, and I was injured. It would be great if I could be stronger. ]

……

[Everything about monsters is gradually blurred, one day, I won't be able to see it, right?It would be great if there was a way for ordinary people to see monsters. ]

[I developed a magic circle that can see monsters, but that is not useful for everyone, at least not for me who is about to lose sight. ]

[So, what if you try to make a paper doll that can turn into a drawer? ]

……

[I terminated the contract with you. Although my son also has visible talents, there is no need to leave my shikigami to him, because he will also have his own partner.After losing that talent, even if I forcibly keep this fate, it will only deepen the pain of both parties. My research should not stay in this world. ]

Every time when recording the gains and losses of exorcising demons, or the research on spells, Mr. Hakozaki will always write down the relevant things unconsciously.

The guy named "Uki" is probably Mr. Hakozaki's shikigami. It turns out that humans and monsters can also have such a deep relationship.

But why, Mr. Hakozaki would suddenly abandon his research and bury everything in that forest?Reiko wanted to know.

Reiko trotted through the forest, asking about the monsters living here, trying to recall the route she had traveled before, and finally, in a clearing surrounded by trees, she saw a paper figurine that had transformed into herself.

"Fufuhu, I finally found you! Tell Qian to face it? No matter what reason you have, it is very rude to walk around in someone else's appearance!" Reiko looked at herself. With the same back view, he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I'm sorry to trouble you!" Qianmian turned around, showing an apologetic smile, "Because I want to know, why did the master...create me and then throw me away?"

"So, I want to wait here until the day the master tells me the answer."

Reiko looked at the face that was exactly like her own, and said the truth bluntly: "Maybe your master just wants to draw a line with monsters, and will never come back."

"Then I'll go find him myself." A very stubborn expression appeared on Qianmian's face.

Reiko laughed angrily: "I don't care what you want to do, but do you want to run around in my face? Stop joking!"

"So what, you..."

"boom"!

Before Qianmian finished speaking, Reiko punched it on the head unceremoniously.After a burst of white smoke, a small paper figurine fell to the ground.

Turned into a paper figurine, Qianmian staggered to his feet, and two eyes the size of black beans appeared on his face. He tried to raise his head, trying to look at Reiko, but no matter how hard he tried, all he could see was Reiko's shoes.

Reiko used her fingers to lift Qianmian to a place where she was at eye level, feeling a little headache.

This kind of special monster that can be seen by humans is very troublesome. Although it has no power, if it comes into contact with someone's blood and turns into that person's appearance, it may cause riots.

"Qianmian, how about we make a deal? I'll help you find that exorcist named Hakozaki, and then you give me your name."

Wait until you find the exorcist, and then return the name to it. At least, this will save as much trouble as possible.

Qian Mian blinked Heidou's eyes a few times, seemingly lost in thought: "Can I trust you?"

Reiko looked into Qianmian's eyes and smiled: "Yes, you can."

"I have read your memory. Although you have a large number of monster names, you have never commanded them once. Therefore, I am willing to give you the name. But, Reiko-sama, you have taken away the names like this, but you still treat those monsters. What is the difference between the behavior of abandoning it and the fact that Hakozaki-san created me and then threw it away?"

"Monsters can also be lonely!"

Maybe it's because Qianmian was born in the hands of a demon exorcising master, and he doesn't have the slightest fear of Reiko's powerful spiritual power, so he can look at Reiko's wayward behavior with such a thorough perspective.

Are monsters also lonely?

Reiko looked at the blue sky, where the clouds took the shape of monsters.

Ah, she knows, it is irresponsible to take away the name of the monster casually.

After she understood the importance of names to monsters, she also thought about returning the names to those monsters.

But what would the monsters whose names were taken from her think of her?Will he hate her and want to kill her as soon as he meets her?

Thinking of those youkai who she regarded as friends would show disgusted expressions to her, Reiko was still unable to take that step.

One day, when the trauma in Reiko's heart is gradually healed, she will try to return the name to those monsters, and then say "I'm sorry" to them.

How wonderful it would be if that day really happened.