In the present world, Kamiyagawa's home.

In the bedroom on the second floor, Kamiya woke up.

Inside the room, the thin strips of petals on the other side fluttered and dissipated, and in a slender red, JK Enma Xiang Yuefu appeared.

Originally, she was considered a half-Shikigami of Kamiyagawa, so she could appear directly by Kamiya's side like Mary and Prajna.

But because only half of the body has a contract with Kamiya Shikigami, it has more freedom of freedom than other Shikigami.

Smack.

The folding fan in Xiangyue's right hand was closed, and she gently tapped the palm of her left hand.

She looked around the bedroom of Kamiya: "It's really good, it's obviously a living person, but you can freely shuttle between the world of humans and monsters." ”

"I can make the Lord of Enma obey me, so I have to have some special talents."

Kamiyagawa sat up from the big bed.

"Hmm......" the girl of Styx snorted noncommittally, "what time is it today?" ”

"January 29th."

"Seems to be just in time."

"What can you catch up with?"

"Kamiya-sama." Xiang Yuexun's gaze swept over the cloakroom of the bedroom, and continued to talk to herself, "Change into formal and serious clothes, and then accompany me out." ”

"Tell me, what are we going to do?"

Although he agreed to the request of the Enma Maiden in order to get closer to the new type of god, Kamiya still doesn't know what the other party wants to do.

"Accompany me to a funeral."

"Huh?"

……

In the living room on the ground floor.

Kanoya was facing away from the sliding door on the side of the hallway, leaning down on the coffee table and doing his homework.

Today is a rare day in a week when she has not been assigned to her spiritual homework, but it doesn't mean that she can be completely idle, after all, the schoolwork still has to be completed.

"Hmm...... Hmmm......"

The ballpoint pen swiped across the scratch paper, making a rustling sound.

Halfway through the equation, the fawn suddenly had some sense, put the pen against the soft cheek, and turned around.

As soon as I turned around, I saw my master, wearing a black suit, passing through the corridor.

Beside him, there was also a girl in a sailor suit, a complete stranger.

"Wow!"

The fawn's pupils dilated and he exclaimed.

What's going on?

Master, why did he come down from the stairs with a beautiful girl he had never seen before!?

This, what can I do with this Hotaru sister?

The Kamiya River and Kazuki Kamizuki, who passed through the corridor, stopped.

The girl from the underworld glanced into the living room, then at Kamiya, and spoke in a strange elder tone, "Your daughter? Pretty cute. ”

“…… My apprentice, Yukino Kanoya. No matter how you look at it, we shouldn't be recognized as father and daughter, right? ”

Kamiyagawa was a little speechless.

There is only a three-year gap between himself and Xiaolu.

What a look!

"Oh, the disciple who entered the room." Xiang Yuexun nodded lightly, and then shook the folding fan in her hand, explaining as a matter of course, "The appearance and the actual age do not necessarily match." So no matter what your relationship is, I won't be surprised. ”

"Then let me think in a normal direction."

Kamiya felt that Enma's words seemed a little strange.

But before he could think about it, Lu Yeya interjected: "Master, who is this sister?" ”

"Oh, Kazuki smoked. As I told you before, the Enma in the Santu River has just officially woken up. Kamiya opened his mouth to introduce.

"Miss Kanoya, Gui'an." Xiangyue greeted the fawn quite formally.

"Expensive...... Good afternoon! Sister Enma. Kanoya stood up from the ground.

That's right, this Xiangyue sister really doesn't smell like a human.

"Xiaolu, please take care of the house, I want to go out with Miss Xiangyue."

"Good~"

After greeting his apprentice, Kamiya led the Enma Maiden towards the entrance.

Xiaolu sat down in front of the coffee table again, flipped through the homework book, and breathed a sigh of relief: "It's a strange talk, that's fine." ”

Sister Hotaru is still saved.

No...... Wrong!

Why do I think it's okay to think it's weird?

This must be Master's fault!

There are too many weird women around him!

……

Hachioji City, Tokyo.

Under the guidance of Kazuki Fumi, Toshitoshi drove the ghost car to a relatively independent courtyard far from the center of the city.

After Kamiya and Kazuki got out of the car, Oishi poked his head out of the cab window: "Boss, I'm waiting here for you and this Miss Kazuki." ”

"Okay."

"Tired, young man." Xiang Yuexun bowed lightly towards the yellow-haired boulder, and then walked in the direction of the other courtyard.

Wait until they leave.

Dashi, who was lying on the edge of the car window, scratched his head, his face full of confusion: "Strange, this Miss Xiangyue obviously looks like a female high school student, how can she be like my grandmother?" ”

It's confusing.

There is indeed a funeral ceremony going on on at the annex house.

"All nights" to be exact.

Funeral customs vary from place to place in Japan, and the average funeral around Tokyo is held over two days. The first day is an "all-nighter", on which the family and relatives of the deceased hold a vigil. Then the next day is the farewell ceremony, where the body is cremated after the Dharma teacher recites a sutra to say a final goodbye to the deceased, and then the body is sent for cremation.

As a strange talker, Xiang Yuefu has hidden her aura at this moment, so ordinary people can't notice her existence.

And because Kamiyagawa is dressed in a serious outfit, it doesn't seem abrupt at all to appear here.

After approaching the courtyard, Kamiya noticed that the watch sheet hanging at the door read: [Kazuki]

The person in charge of entertaining outside was a middle-aged man in his forties, and when he saw a strange teenager walking over, the man seemed a little surprised: "May I ask who you are?" ”

"I'm Kamiya."

Kamiyagawa first took out the "Gorezen" prepared in advance, which was a paper bag specially used to hold funeral money.

There was 5,000 yen in it.

After handing out the gift money, he gestured with his eyes to the incense moon smoke on the side that could not be seen by ordinary people.

The Enma Maiden tapped her palm with a closed folding fan: "I said that you and Xiangyue-san met in the chess hall, about a month ago. ”

Kamiya Kawami's face did not change his color and repeated this statement.

The man on the other side nodded with a relieved expression, first took the "Imperial Spirit Front" with both hands, and then handed it back: "No gift money will be accepted." Thank you for coming to see off your aunt, Kamiya-kun. With a sensible junior like you, I think my aunt will be pleased. ”

"Hmmm......"

Kamiyagawa replied thoughtfully and vaguely.

Then he followed the man into the courtyard.

There are not many people who come here to mourn, and you can't see a few when you enter the door.

The man of the Kazuki family seemed to notice Kamiya's expression: "Auntie, she has never been married, and she doesn't have many friends, after all, she has such a strange disease. So there are very few people who can come to see her off. Earlier, there was a representative from the chess club who came over, but now he has left. ”

"Sick?"

"Ah, my aunt didn't mention it to you...... Also. Mr. Kazuki stopped talking.

He took Kamiyagawa to the mourning hall, where there was no one either.

In the middle of the altar is placed a black and white statue, on both sides of which are lotus lanterns, flower baskets, flowers, fruits, and the coffin is placed in the forefront.

Mr. Kazuki arched towards the statue and walked out again.

He was very sympathetic to his aunt.

Such a strange disease......

At the same time, Mr. Kazuki couldn't help but think about the boy his aunt met in the chess hall in the last month of his life.

Auntie, what kind of mentality does she use to look at this "junior" who has the same hobbies as her?

In a sense, the two of them should be considered peers, right?

But one is young and handsome, and the other is old.

What will my aunt think about when she faces this boy?

I don't know.

It is estimated that in this world, no one can empathize with her.

Mr. Kazuki leaves, and Kamiyagawa and the girl from the underworld are left in the mourning hall.

Kamiya shifted his gaze to the altar and looked at the statue.

In the black-and-white photo, she is a thin, but looking energetic old woman.

"That's?"

Kamiya looked at Kazuki beside him and spoke tentatively.

The latter was very calm and shrugged his shoulders: "That's right, that's me." Ordinary people rarely get the chance to attend their own funerals, right? ”

"Why?"

Although he was already mentally prepared, after hearing the exact answer, Kamiyagawa was still a little confused.

"Why did you ask you to bring me here? I want to say goodbye to my past self and confirm a few things by the way. ”

"Actually, I want to ask, why are you the way you are?"

Kamiya finally understands why it is obviously JK's Kazuki Fumi, and his words and deeds are so old-fashioned.

And what does the phrase "appearance and actual age do not necessarily match" mean?

Although the body has become smaller, the mind is still the same as the old man, right......

"Why am I the way I am now? This should be asking you, right? Didn't you wake me up? I thought it was your personal fetish. The folding fan patted on the young hand's palm, and Xiang Yuefu looked thoughtful, "But maybe it's because my soul is still a girl, right?" ”

Kamiyagawa: ?

Well, completely incomprehensible.

But in the midst of doubt, Kamiya still grasped a little clue of inspiration: "What did Mr. Xiangyue say about the illness just now? ”

"Well, I'm sick." Xiang Yuexun nodded calmly, "When I was 17 years old, I should have just won the title of female king for a while, and I was quite impressed, because at that time I was very hopeful to be promoted to the fourth dan and become a real chess player......"

Kazuki smokes, like a comet, appears in the shogi world of talented female chess players.

During his service, at the age of 17, he held the titles of queen, female king, female king, and Kurashiki Fujihana, and was known as the "ghost of women" in the industry.

Among them, the two titles of "Throne of the Female Stream" and "Kurashiki Fujihana", because the number of titles won reaches the standard, they enjoy "eternal qualifications" during the service period, which is the so-called "Empress Throne" and "Empress Kurashiki Fujihana".

However, the talented chess player was active in the shogi world more than 60 years ago.

At that time, the status of female chess players was still particularly unimportant.

After winning the title of female king, Kazuki Kao's name never appeared in the shogi world again.

As she said, she was sick.

An extremely bizarre, extremely unreasonable disease.

After falling asleep on an ordinary night, Kazuki never woke up again.

It's like a fairy tale sleeping beauty.

Of course, a more practical way to put it is vegetative.

After fainting, Xiangyue was taken to the hospital, and after examination, there was nothing wrong with her body.

But she couldn't wake up for a long time, and she could only rely on medical equipment to stay alive.

Moreover, compared with other vegetative cases, Xiang Yue's state is even more strange, her vital signs are very stable, and she has been bedridden for a long time and has not seen severe muscle atrophy.

"The first time I woke up, it seemed like five years had passed. But I didn't really feel anything about that, for me, it was just a sleep. After a period of rehabilitation, I was able to leave the hospital without any problems. I thought things would get better, but after about two months...... Once again, I fell into a long sleep, eight years later. ”

Xiang Yue's tone was calm, not like she was telling about her own experience, but like she was telling the story of someone who was not related to her.

Time goes on and on, waking up for a while, and then not waking up on a long sleep night that I don't know when it will come.

As far as Xiangyue is concerned, only about a year has passed.

But a few times in the past year, she woke up from a hospital bed, but she could see her face in the mirror, from a girl to an adult, then to middle age, and then to twilight.

All of this happened in a "year".

For a young girl, this is an extremely cruel thing.

She hasn't had time to enjoy her youth, and she hasn't had time to become a real chess player, competing with those top professional chess players for titles such as "Dragon King", "Ei King", and "Chess Saint".

Her originally brilliant life inexplicably jumped to the stage of running out of oil and running out.

The last time Kazuki woke up was two months ago.

The young soul of an 18-year-old was stuffed into the body of an old man who was about to die.

Just as her nephew, Mr. Kazuki, thought, no one in this world could empathize with Kazuki.

Kazuki, who woke up for the last time, knew that her time was running out and calmly accepted her impending death.

Maybe it's calm, no one knows.

She went to take a portrait, contacted the funeral company to arrange the funeral for herself, and went to the shogi hall a few times.

In this day and age, there are many things that she can't understand.

AI has had an irreversible impact on the game of chess; The status of female chess players has risen to a certain extent......

In the era of Kazuki Xun, there were very few female chess players like her who debuted at the age of 10, but it doesn't seem to be rare now.

"Actually, I think that in this era...... Maybe it's not bad. Xiang Yuexun stood in front of his portrait and coffin and said, "There are few people who can observe the world sixty years later with a young and curious attitude like me. ”

Kamiyagawa was silent.

Looking up at the altar again, I felt that the candle flame next to the statue reflected the yellow and white flowers a little dazzlingly.

"Shogi...... So the inscription on your folding fan, is your title? ”

"Or what do you think?" Kazuki unfolded the folding fan with a snap, "That's right, in front of you is the Queen of Kazuki in the shogi world, the female ryu king, the empress throne, the empress Kurashiki Fujika, and the fumi. Oh, and at the same time, he is also the new master of the Santu River, the Yama Maharaja. ”

Kamiyagawa: ......

It's a long opening.

I see, it's not Kazuki who smokes the middle two, but the Japanese who came up with these titles are quite middle two themselves.

"And ...... your illness?"

"I'm begging you to bring me here just to make sure." The Enma Maiden nodded, her expression still cold, "The power of the Enma is quite convenient, now I can be sure that I am not sick, I have a curse on my body." ”

"Cursed?"

Kamiyagawa narrowed his eyes and looked at the coffin.

He could indeed feel a little different kind of power, but perhaps because Kazuki's body was already dead, the residual power aura was indistinct.

Smack.

The folding fan in the hand of the Enma Maiden tapped twice between the young and elastic palms:

"Well, do you know Xiao Binze?" (End of chapter)