When it comes to New Year's visits to shrines, the first thing that comes to mind is none other than those things.

Draw lots, wishing cards or something.

Even if it is Hakurei Shrine, there are things that should be there - although they have been put in the warehouse for a long time to accumulate dust before they were turned out by Mo Ming.

Holding the knot with both hands and shaking it slightly, the honping bell tied to the top makes a tinkling sound, which means that it has attracted the attention of the gods, and then you can bow your head and make a wish when you put your hands together and make a soft crackling sound.

Seeing Mo Ming's movements, Lingmeng on the side couldn't help but chuckle.

"The worship only started in the first month of the year. So he said.

It's been a long time since I've sat in the hallway, and on the last day of December – today is an exception.

Just after lunch, the long-lost sun poured down, and the entrance was warm, and even the cold wind that had been scraping the bones for a long time seemed to have disappeared, so if you put on the futon mat, you can finally sit back here and bask in the sun with a teacup in your hand.

Hearing the nagging of his own students, Mo Ming couldn't help but say proudly: "Everything has to be prepared in advance, although I have been here for a long time, I haven't done the real worship yet, so I can save time by practicing a lot......

Because they had been preparing for a month in advance, the preparations for tonight's festival were finally all in place, and it was precisely because of this that the two of them were finally able to steal half a day of leisure.

"No, I'm not praising the teacher," Reimu picked up a slice of apple and took a sip of tea, "Speaking of which, what does the teacher plan to pray for in the first month?"

"Well, if you pray, aren't they usually those...... I hope that bad things will become good, and things that are good in themselves will last for a long time......"

"I have a teacher-style prayer. "Pragmatic style.

"Yes, hehe. ”

"So I'm not praising the teacher. ”

Tie the shrine's honping bell, Mo Ming returned to the shrine and took out the signature box.

It's also an old antiquity turned out of the general store.,The weather-beaten markings on the bamboo stick holder can be seen at a glance.,I heard Yakumo Blue say that a certain Hakurei witch got it from somewhere.,I found that no one came to the shrine to ask for a sign and threw it into the grocery room.。

Mo Ming gently shook the stick holder and sifted out a bamboo stick.

Then, following the serial number on the bamboo stick, I flipped through an old booklet.

"Hmm...... No, it's ...... again" Mo Ming looked at the word "big murderer" written on the unsigned place of the corresponding serial number, and couldn't help frowning, "There are a lot of signs in this box......"

Reimu tilted her head and asked, "Why do you say a bit too much......?"

"Ahem," Mo Ming, who had just sat down on the hallway, couldn't help but tilt her head when she heard the little witch ask, "Generally speaking, if this kind of luck happens, you will definitely want to try it a few more times......"

"Woo," Reimu leaned out, put his hand on the mouth of the stick, and took out one with spiritual power, "I'll try it too......"

"The eighth lot, but since it's a lottery drawn by Reimu, you don't need to look at it to know that it's a lot. ”

Mo Ming on the side poked his head out while making a disapproving look, and sure enough, he saw that the booklet that Reimeng had spread out had the words "Daji" written on it.

"Damn, I'll try again......"

Mo Ming, who took the lottery box, drew the big murderer again.

Mo Ming: "......"

Reimu: "......"

"Speaking of which, there seems to be a saying that if you get two or more lots in a short period of time, all the lots you get won't work. Reimu tried to comfort.

"Is that so? anyway...... Trying to draw lots must not count, right, lottery prayers are not valid if they are not in the first month, right, Reimu?"

There is no rule that says that you can only draw lots and pray for the New Year......

Reimu, who was about to say this, looked at his teacher's big watery eyes, and couldn't help but be defeated.

“…… Probably. ”

"Haha, I think so," Mo Ming muttered while dismantling the bamboo tube, "There are too many bad sticks in this box, I'll take out some ......"

This made Reimu a little dumbfounded: "This, this is a god fraud, right......?"

"I don't even know who the gods are...... Besides, no one will suffer anyway, so it's better to say that all the lots drawn are good, so that the people who come to worship will leave good memories, right? At least you can have a good mood during the festival, which is also a good promotion for the first festival at the shrine...... Thinking about it this way, why don't you change all the signatures to the upper ones?"

The place that ushered in was naturally the full spit of their own students.

"That's not right, isn't it, if according to the teacher, everyone draws the same lot, what's the point of lotting?

"Hmm...... Listening to Xiao Lingmeng's words, there is some truth. Of course, I didn't stop in my hand, but I still took out all the "big murder" sticks, even if it was a "murderous" stick, only one was left in the holder, just for a moment.

Reimu didn't stop it, if it was a bit too much to say that all the signs were replaced with the upper signs, it really wouldn't be a big deal to just take out the lower ones...... As the teacher said, no one will really be hurt by this.

"Speaking of which, I don't know much about the gods enshrined here, but ...... If it's a shrine, it's supposed to be a branch of Shintoism, right?

Reimu replied, as expected, "I don't know." ”

Sure enough, it's useless to ask your own students, and Reimu never seems to care about that.

"I don't have much research on that, though...... If you have something to say, it may be...... The dragon god in the Great Enchantment? Or, according to tradition, ...... Amaterasu Okami...... ...... and so on."

Mo Ming, who seemed to think of something, suddenly became depressed.

Then straighten your posture.

"I'm going to get serious next!"

"I didn't count all the draws before, but now I have a serious lot! The Great Compassion Guanyin Bodhisattva helped me draw ......"

"Wait, where is this god......"

Moreover, even if there is a god who is in charge of luck, he will not respond to the teacher's playful prayers...... I always feel like the teacher played the lottery as a game of chance.

"Bell bell, what will it be if the fifty-sixth lot? If it is not signed, it means that I will be lucky for a whole year!"

"Isn't that interesting?" Reimu on the side complained as he ate dried apples.

"Reimu, who always keeps good luck, must not understand, the mood of people like us who often run into bad luck," Mo Ming, who was making a self-deceptive speech while flipping through the booklet, fell into depression again, "Suekishi" ...... Yes. Mo Ming, who thought that he would draw the only "fierce" lot, was in a complicated mood.

"Well, if it's not sincere, it's not allowed to sign~ If you don't believe it......"

Reimu took the box again and stretched out her index finger, but was immediately stopped by Mo Ming.

"Don't, stop," he said, grabbing the box, "Daji" is very good. ”

“…… Oh. ”

The two can be regarded as accepting each other's kindness.

"Sueji" is not bad. I would like to conclude with this.

……

……

Tables are laid out, the stage is erected, plates and snacks are arranged, lanterns are hung, and candlesticks are lit, and preparations are still in place until the New Year's Eve festival begins.

As the twilight grew, the number of visitors who received invitations began to arrive.

"Yo roar, Reimu~" The voice of the ghost of the "elusive" Ibuki Suika suddenly came from Reimu's right ear, and then his body gradually appeared.

With one leg crossed and one leg dangling, the little ghost held the wine gourd in one hand, and the other arm supported the crooked body behind the back, turning his head sideways and saying to Mo Ming on the left side of Reimeng: "Oh, who are you there." ”

"Who is that," Mo Ming, who was relying on Lingmeng on the side, obviously not afraid of all kinds of immortals, "Where is the little guy, it's really rude." ”

Since the other party called himself "that who", Mo Ming's side naturally did not intend to be accommodating.

In fact, the two have seen each other more than once, and it seems that the other party has established a sense of "untrustworthiness" for this side from the beginning.

"Don't talk to me, liars are contagious," Sumika Ibuki looked disdainful as he stretched out his little finger with his hand holding a wine gourd and pinched his ear, "Also, if you want to talk about your age......"

"Does it make sense to talk to humans about age? Obviously I'm talking about a head, a little ghost~"

"Oh?" the little ghost sneered, "if I'm serious, I'll be taller than this shrine." ”

"Taller than a shrine?"

"It's several times higher!"

"Hmm, that's so tall," Mo Ming pinched his chin in thought, and glanced sideways at the ghost, as if to confirm whether the other party was really angry, and seemed to be looking at the body shape, and then said, "Such a tall three-headed body, maybe you can pick up some majesty?"

"You kid!"

"Ahem!" Reimu stopped the two of them in time...... In other words, it stopped the physical lesson that Mo Ming was about to receive unilaterally.

"Hey," Ibuki didn't intend to entangle with this cunning human, so she turned the conversation to Reimu's side, looking around and saying, "Looks like you're well prepared, it looks like it's going to be very lively tonight?"

"Thanks to the teacher~"

“…… It's going to be a long time coming, why isn't it dark yet? ”

"It's time to go, you're here too early. ”

The time is just the beginning, and the arrival of the god key mountain chick will be even later.

Mo Ming took out a few bamboo sticks that he had just picked out from the lottery holder not long ago, held the part of the lottery with both hands like a lot, and handed it to Ibuki Tsuika.

"Come on, it's okay to be idle anyway, draw a lot and try it? Maybe you will be lucky?"

Reimu in the middle held his forehead in a helpless manner.

The little ghost on the right drinks to himself and doesn't pay attention to him.

……

……

About a quarter of an hour later, a second visitor ascended the stone steps of Hakurei Shrine.

Alice Margot Royd looked around at the festival's costumes as she walked to the entrance where three people in different positions were sitting.

Smiling and nodding with Lingmeng, he heard Mo Ming's greeting on the side.

"Hey, Alice, it's so early!" Mo Ming greeted with a smile and patted the entrance on the right.

"It's rude. Alice greeted the one-sided ghost, pulled up her long skirt, and sat down to the left of Suika.

Although there were many seats in the festival room, it was obviously a bit silly to sit there now, and Alice chose to sit in the entrance with a few others.

Then, leaning out to look at Reimu holding tea in the middle, he smiled and said, "Although I said before that I didn't need help here, I didn't expect it to be really good." ”

Of course, Reimu replied as always, "Thanks to the teacher." ”

So he leaned forward two points, looked at Mo Ming on the far right with a depressed face, and smiled: "I saw Teacher Mo Ming in the back mountain in the morning." ”

On the contrary, it made Mo Ming a little puzzled, in all senses.

"I'm nothing, but Alice, you actually remember the customs of the world?"

On the last day of the year, the worship of the deceased, when Mo Ming returned to the shrine in the early morning, he saw Alice's figure from a distance, but he greeted him twice from a distance and did not get a response.

"Do as the locals do. ”

"Yes, Yin Yuelin should be happy. ”

It's three quarters, and there is still an hour and a half before the start of the New Year's Eve Festival.