[Comprehensive] Natsume Reiko's trip

[Sincerely Mr. Hakozaki:]

[The Dechang Clan will hold the "Demon Hunting Festival" in the Eastern Forest on the evening of the 16th according to the custom. The specific location will be notified after arrival. Welcome to come and enjoy your face. - Yours sincerely]

Evening on the 16th?Isn't this today?

No, I promised Tahara and his wife that they would go back on time. If they disappeared for three days, it would definitely cause a lot of trouble.

"Although I'm very interested, I still forget it." Looking at the invitation letter, Reiko said to herself.

"If Reiko-sama doesn't mind, I can live in your appearance for a few days." Qianmian, who had turned back into a paper figurine, still stood on Reiko's shoulder, her gentle voice echoing in Reiko's ears.

"You know what I'm thinking?" Reiko remembered clearly, she never said what she was thinking just now.

"Because I got Reiko-sama's blood, I can see part of her memory..."

Inferred from memory?

As Mr. Hakozaki said about the forbidden technique, this is indeed a very unpleasant ability.As long as you get someone's blood, you can perfectly change into that person's appearance, and even inherit your memory.

Even if Qianmian doesn't have any offensive power, if this ability is used in a bad way, it is quite dangerous.

And what's wrong with Qianmian who has this ability?

"I just want to repay Master Reiko's kindness. I am very sorry that my existence has caused trouble to Sir." Qianmian's voice was very low, is it not needed anywhere?

Reiko looked at the invitation letter in her hand and fell into deep thought.

What is her future like?Where will she go when she becomes an adult and can no longer live in the Tahara couple's home?

Reiko usually doesn't want to think about these problems, because when she thinks about them, she will feel fear and confusion about the unknown in her heart.

She wants to see how people who can see as herself survive in this world.

and so……

"Okay, then I'm counting on you, Qianmian. I'll be back in three days at most, can you change into my appearance and keep it for that long?" Reiko thought of Qianmian being punched back to her original form by herself , still a little worried.

"It's difficult to rely on my own strength, if Reiko-sama can provide me with some spiritual power, it should be fine.

"Okay." Reiko ran her finger across the edge of the paper figurine very simply, and the sharp piece of paper immediately opened a small hole in Reiko's hand, and the blood stained the white paper figurine red again.

Reiko is not afraid of Qianmian cheating on her, because Qianmian's name is still on the account of friends.

Qianmian wrote down his name and handed it to Reiko, which is equivalent to giving her his own life.Even if the account of friends is not with Reiko, Reiko can give orders to Qianmian at any time.

"Master Reiko, I can absorb your spiritual power without blood." Qianmian's panicked voice came over.

"Huh? Is that so? It's okay, it's just a little blood. I don't want you to suddenly turn back into a paper doll in front of the Tahara couple." Reiko could feel her spiritual power continuously transfer to Qianmian's body along the blood, she tried To control the flow of spiritual power in the body, let more spiritual power pass through the blood.

"It's alright, Master Reiko, enough is enough. Your spiritual power is very pure, and this spiritual power is enough for me to maintain my human form for a few years." Feeling the unprecedented fullness in his body, Qianmian hurriedly stopped Reiko from continuing to bleed.

Reiko withdrew her finger and wrapped it with a tissue.

In fact, Reiko didn't lose much blood, only her spiritual power was lost, even though it was only one-tenth of it, as long as she slept, her spiritual power would naturally recover.

After Qianmian absorbed the spiritual power, the blood-stained paper figurine returned to white again, and gave off a faint white light—this is a sign of overflowing spiritual power.

It jumped off Reiko's shoulder, and after a puff of white smoke, it turned into Reiko's appearance.

Qianmian imitated Reiko's appearance, showing that cold and alienated expression, and asked Reiko, "What do you think?"

"It's like a mirror, but as long as I have this face, no one will suspect anything. After all, almost no one has ever approached me, right?" Reiko said with some self-mockery.

"Just say goodbye here, Qianmian, do you remember the way back?"

"Yes, Reiko-sama."

The two identical faces looked at each other, then smiled contemptuously at the same time, and bid farewell.

This is the last time Reiko and Qianmen will meet.

The two people who were at the same origin turned around like this, and walked back to back on two completely different paths.

Originally, he was still walking in a straight line, but in the end he turned and staggered, and never saw him again.Perhaps in the distant future, the two lives will usher in a new intersection, but at least at this moment, a new and unknown life is waiting for them.

Which kind of life is happier?Except for the parties involved, I am afraid no one can tell.

Reiko got on the tram in the opposite direction to the one planned, and went to the address in the invitation letter.

After getting off the tram, I asked someone for the route, and Reiko followed the path to the fork leading to the Eastern Forest.As soon as she looked up, she saw a little demon in the tree holding up a sign with a "left" arrow drawn on it.

So can monsters still use it like this?Reiko couldn't help but marvel at the wisdom of human beings.

Through such a simple way of guiding, all those "invisible" people can be eliminated, and there is no need to worry about someone taking advantage of troubled waters.

Reiko walked down the little monster's road sign all the way, and came to the second fork. Sure enough, there was also a monster standing at the intersection here, holding a wooden sign with a "forward" arrow drawn on it.

In this way, Reiko zigzags through the mountains according to the instructions of the monsters, and finally comes to the mansion located in the deep mountains.

A very beautiful kimono was hanging on a tree at the entrance of Dichang's mansion. Reiko stared at the kimono, and couldn't bear to look away for a while.

"A face I've never seen before, wearing a uniform to participate in the Yashou Festival, are you still a high school student?" A girl's voice came from behind Reiko.

"The Yaoshou Festival doesn't stipulate that high school students can't come to participate, right?" Reiko withdrew her gaze from the kimono and turned her head away.

This is a girl who is about the same size as Reiko, with brown shoulder-length wavy curly hair, and a somewhat arrogant expression on her face.

"Of course not. I'm also a high school student. You've been looking at that dress just now. What color did you see?"

Although she was puzzled why the girl asked such a question, Reiko, who had just arrived, answered the question: "Ah, it is a very beautiful crimson kimono with big yellow chrysanthemums and pink and white peonies printed on it. There are colorful butterflies flying, it's really beautiful."

As she spoke, Reiko couldn't help but landed on the kimono again, slowly admiring it.

"Butterflies? How could there be butterflies?!" the girl exclaimed in disbelief.

"Can't you see?" Reiko knew she had made a slip of the tongue after she finished speaking, and quickly stopped talking.She had thought that everyone who came here was the same, but that wasn't the case.

The girl looked at Reiko with hostility, and bit her lower lip tightly: "I hate people like you who think you are great just because you have talents! Even if I don't have outstanding talents, I will definitely become a powerful demon exorcist, you guys Wait!"

After saying that, the girl ran away alone.

"Well~ Forget it." Reiko, who offended the girl somewhere, quickly put it behind her. If she had to struggle with everything, wouldn't she be annoyed to death?

If you have time to care about what others think of you, it is better to look at the distant scenery.

At the gate of the mansion, Reiko imitated others and showed the invitation letter, then took the mask from the monster and put it on her face.

A huge eye is drawn on the mask, which can be used to block the human breath.

Because not only the exorcising masters came here for this gathering, but also their own shikigami.Although Shikigami generally signed a contract with the demon master, it cannot rule out the situation of suddenly getting out of control, so it is very necessary to protect yourself.

The front hall of the mansion was buzzing with people. After recognizing each other's identities, some acquaintances gathered together and began to reminisce about the old days. There were long tables around them, with sumptuous food on them.

In this place where humans and monsters are mixed together, even Reiko can't tell the difference between humans and monsters.She took a plate of food casually, found a remote place, and stood against the wall. She always felt that this place gave people a very unpleasant feeling.

Especially this mask, as if someone deliberately wanted to confuse identities.

"Sure enough, the Natori clan didn't come this time. It is said that because no one in this generation can see them, they ran away impatiently like a stray dog ​​in mourning."

"I heard that the Hakozaki family has disappeared. Who is here today? His son?"

"I don't know, but there are people from the Hakozaki family on the roster."

"Today's gathering should be the new head of the Chang family, who seems to be in his early twenties. Because he violated the contract with the monster, every head of the Chang family will have his right eye taken away, presumably the previous head In the end, you couldn’t keep your eyes, right?”

"Shh, this kind of thing is not something we can talk about. At least with the power of monsters, each generation's field can be guaranteed to be strong enough."

Reiko lifted the mask slightly and put the food into her mouth.

Where there are people, there will be disputes, and even demon exorcisers are not immune to this.

The back door of the hall suddenly opened, and a young man with long black hair in a black kimono walked in. Behind him were two masked shikigami with long necks—that was the young man from the Chang family. Patriarch, Yusi of the field.

Yuji Chang's right eye was covered by a talisman with tadpole-like spells written on it, his long hair covered half of his face, the other exposed red phoenix eye was raised slightly, and the corner of his mouth was outlined with a seemingly invisible smile.

"Thank you for coming to the Demon Hunting Festival held by the Chang Clan. I am the new Patriarch of the Chang Clan—the Master of the Field. The Demon Hunting Festival will officially begin tomorrow morning. The hunting location is the Eastern Forest. The person who catches the most monsters can Get 3 promises from the Chang Clan."

"As for tonight, everyone can exchange information freely, or do some gang-building things. If you are tired, you can find the shikigami of the field clan, and they will bring the guests to the room, that's all."

After briefly saying these words, Yuji Dechang turned around and left, as if everything was just business.

The people in the front hall started a new round of conversation, and the condemnation of the new Patriarch of the Chang family was even more unnoticed.

Obviously, when they were face to face, they had a submissive look, but they changed their faces immediately after the people left. Presumably, Yusi Chang didn't want to spend too much time with these people, so he just left so simply?

"It's really boring, this kind of competition."

Reiko swallowed the last bite of food and followed Shikigami to her room.

She hates hypocritical humans, but if she can't learn how to interact with people smoothly, no matter where she is, she won't be able to blend in with the crowd.

Either change yourself to integrate into the world, or be out of tune with the world alone.

Reiko chose the latter.