Back home, Riki finds Shizuru sitting by the pool in a daze. None of the fish food at the feet moved, and the carp in the pond gathered at the edge, opening their mouths to be fed, blowing out a series of transparent bubbles.

She was in a relatively bad mood, in an average mental state, in a shaky state, and if she didn't know how to fall into the pond and play with the carp.

Ruiji put the things she bought in the kitchen for the time being, sat cross-legged next to her sister, grabbed a handful of fish food and sprinkled it into the pond. The carp scattered in the corners swarmed up and fought fiercely.

"Still angry about what happened in the morning?"

"Of course I'm angry, the shrine is a treasure left by mothers, a precious legacy, how can those bastards get their hands on it? If the god's habitat is demolished and the airship station is built, the god will be angry and will never bless the Sakuma family with all the best. There are a lot of good memories here, and if the shrine is demolished, I won't be happy even if I buy a newer and bigger house. ”

The steady girl vents her strong emotions in one breath, and the developing female advantage fluctuates violently with the breathing.

In fact, she is quite material, not smaller than herself.

Adolescent witches don't disappoint, and Riki can already imagine what it would be like for Shizuru to enter the prime of life. It will definitely be a beautiful woman with a convex and backward curved and outstanding appearance.

Looking away from her sister, Ruiji continued to stare at the carp grabbing in the pool, and pondered for a long time before speaking.

"Actually, I think the shrine ...... It is a burden. ”

"What do you mean?"

"That's it...... The existence of the shrine has a lot of bad effects on your life and studies, and the work of exorcism is hard and dangerous, and I have always felt that you can unload these burdens that do not belong to you and consider a more appropriate way of life. ”

"Sister, the current way of life is the best for me, I don't need anything but this shrine and you. It must have been those witches from the Airspace Development Department who told you something that made you have such an outrageous idea. ”

"Not exactly. I really don't think there's a comparison between the shrine and your safety. The job of hunting monsters can also be replaced with a safer ......"

That's the end of the conversation. I'm tired, go back to my room first. ”

The topic of the shrine always makes Shizuru very stressful, no matter who takes the initiative to bring it up. Fearing that continuing the discussion would be more unpleasant, Ruiji silenced herself, fed the rest of the fish food into the pool, and left alone in the open courtyard.

There were still three hours left before lunchtime, and the housework was done, so Ruiji had nothing to do for the time being, so she had to go back to her room to find something to do for recreation. The first is to reply to the message of the duo who have forgotten their friends, given their performance in Flotin yesterday, they have not replied until now, and there will be no guilt in their hearts.

Two or three messages pop up in the group created by the three of them every once in a while, and Ruiji flipped through them casually, basically asking her why she didn't come to class today.

Rej: Is it unusual that I don't come to class? Anyway, you two have your own fun, and I'm superfluous.

Officer: Yesterday's ...... I'm sorry, but I can't hold back that impulse, and Miss Lafatali and I haven't been together for a long time, and it's a little hard to part with for a while. Next time, I'll invite you to eat at Flotin's Airship Sightseeing Restaurant and order whatever you want.

Azuma: I'll give you a few bottles of health potion to compensate, and after a fierce battle all night, I will continue to jump to school the next day.

Rij: The potion is gone. Something happened today, and I haven't reacted yet, so you give me an idea.

Through group chats, she explained the visit of the Airspace Development Department in the morning to her two friends, focusing on expressing her grievances of being severely reprimanded by her sister.

It's been more than a week since they crossed over to the Witch World line, and the sisters haven't blushed for anything else. The still flow just now is like a woman who has just entered the second day of her menstrual period, and has been tormented by menstrual cramps and has a short temper.

The most stable official first gave his opinion after a thorough analysis.

Official: Sakuma, you have a blind spot in your cognition. First of all, you are too arrogant to put yourself in the shoes of your sister. What you think is a stable life is what you think is that she will only see this heavy concern as an obstacle from the opposite side.

Rij: Even you think so?

Lodger: Miss Rafatali also guards a small bar in Flodin, and I asked her why she didn't transfer the bar to another witch and move to Tokyo or somewhere else, away from that filthy and noisy place. "This bar was left by two mothers, and I don't want to destroy what little good they have," she said.

Rij: Isn't that very similar to my family's situation?

Official: So, I understand your sister's thoughts. Sakuma, I just hate you for being a piece of wood.

My wife: yes, I can't even get Miss Fujinaga secretly sending Autumn Waves, do you really don't understand or are you pretending?

Riji: Anything big can turn on Fujinaga.

Officer: Now that you're ready for class, think about what I just said. Otherwise, I'm really afraid that you will be single for the rest of your life if you continue like this. It's the first time I've seen a witch like you who doesn't understand women.

Azuma: I'll see you later. Miss Fujinaga's face is very bad today, you can shush a little and ask for warmth. Sisters can only help you so much.

The lively group chat suddenly became quiet, and Ruiji temporarily lost his goal, so he had to open the half-read second-level magic book on the table first.

The disagreement with her sister disturbed her mind to a certain extent, and she couldn't continue after only half an hour of reading, and it was difficult to concentrate on the dense text, so she had to give up for the time being.

Learning magic requires a high level of concentration, and building a spell with an ambiguous attitude is only a painstaking experience.

"Even those two idiots complained about my wood. Is it really that exaggerated? How do I think I'm still quite empathetic? ”

Ruiji lay on the tatami mat in a large shape, holding the snowy owl coin brought back from Flotin in his hand, and the whole person fell into a state of consciousness and chaos. She doesn't think it's wrong to let Shizuru give up the shrine, but this idealistic "correctness" is the source of the disagreement.

The existence of the shrine will continue the cycle of death, and Shizuru will continue to repeat the process of part-time work, injury, and recuperation, and sooner or later exhaust himself.

If there are two chains that keep Sakuma Shrine running, one is Shizuru and the other is her, the position of the chain representing Shizuru is fixed, and if she wants to change the status quo, she can only take action to make the deviation of the trajectory smaller.

"Money...... I need money. ”

Like in her previous life, she had an urgent and strong desire for money. The snowy owl coins flowing in the palm of his hand made the chaotic mood fluctuate a little.

"As long as he has money, Jingliu shouldn't force himself to work like crazy anymore, and he can at least live a happy life."

Although it is strange to have affection for her sister so quickly, no matter how you look at it, it feels abrupt, this mood is difficult to explain, and Ruiji can only understand it as instinct - instinctively yearning for family affection and warmth, wanting to cherish and protect the only family member now.

The fastest way to get money is to go other than the entries written in the Civil Code of Japan.

"Wouldn't things get better when you become a feather of a snow owl?"

The answer to the question is known only to Flotin.

Ruiji put away the snowy owl coins and found that the inexplicable white fox mask appeared in sight again. This time she remembered very well, she specially locked the mask in the cabinet before going to bed, and put a reminder rune next to it.

Opening the cabinet, the runes were intact and not triggered, and the mask was obviously unaffected by ordinary magic items, able to move around without spatial limitations, and always appeared by her side, like a ghost with unfulfilled wishes.

The Snowy Owl had mentioned that the white fox mask was a seal. Seals are derivatives of regional myths that can be purified and used by witches. Until it is harmless, the seal can cause negative effects.

The mask's eyes had a strange attraction, like a powerful magnet, and Ruiji's hand suddenly became uncontrollable, picking it up and putting it on her face. The mask fits perfectly to the face without any discomfort, as if it should be used as such.

Through the position of the mask's eyes, Ruiji saw the dense forest between the lofty mountains, the endless wilderness, the half-man-high weeds and the withered yellow ridges, and the Rutsuki Station standing next to the railroad tracks in the dark night.

The weak witch who had turned into a strange story stood on the edge of the platform with Chiyo Naling, carrying a white fox mask that was exactly the same as her face.

"We meet again."

So said with Naling.

"Why? Why can I still see you? ”

Ruiji found that she was not in the room, and she was stepping on the railroad tracks under the platform of Ruyue Station, just opposite the four eyes of Naling on the platform. Some messy memories were forced to be remembered, and time diluted them a little, and the appearance of Naling made all efforts go to waste.

She really didn't want to go back to that hellish place, not for a second.

The self-protection mechanism takes effect, and both hands grasp the edge of the mask and try to pull it off, but it turns out to be futile. The mask seemed to be welded to the face, and no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't move even a centimeter.

Is it too late to regret it?

"If you don't get your attention in this way, how can you take a break from the many trivial things in reality and give me a little attention?"

Yo Naling sat down on the waiting bench at Rugetsu Station, his two slender legs swaying gently, and the absolute realm under the skirt of the sailor suit was hidden in a deep darkness, invisible to the eye.

"So...... I'm not stuck at Rutsuki Station right now? It took a lot of effort to go back last time. ”

"I didn't mean to trap you, Sakuma-san. I've called you here to determine the ownership of this mask, this seal, as soon as possible. I'm now one with this seal, and I don't want it to fall into the hands of other witches, so I have to find a way to appear in front of you to emphasize my presence. After all, if you don't wear it, we can't communicate. ”

"And this is the first time I've heard this statement."

"The effect of this seal, as you can see, is that it can move in space when worn on the face, although there is a cooldown between each move, as long as it is where you have been, when the magic power is enough to move, you are free, and nothing can trap you. You probably haven't learned the rare [Return Gate Magic] yet, and this mask is equivalent to allowing you to enjoy the convenience of the 'Return Gate' in advance. ”

"What is the 'Return Gate'?"

When Rigdy heard a new and unfamiliar word, she was immediately interested. The thirst for knowledge engraved in the witch's blood is ready to move.

"The Gate of Return is a traditional saying, commonly used by witches in the 90s of the 20th century, and now in the 21st century, witches like to use 'teleportation magic' to describe space movement magic, and the term "Gate of Return" has almost been forgotten."

"It turned out to be teleportation magic. If you say teleportation magic in the first place, I know what's going on, so why use such lofty words? ”

"The generation gap of the times."

He magically drew a dividing line on the ground, separating her from Ruiji.

"There are many differences in the vocabulary of the textbooks of the Showa era and the Heisei era, and now it's the Reiwa era, miss, I'm dozens of years older than you, born in 1977, you were born in 2005, I'm a witch of your aunt's generation."

"It's not a big problem. Since this piece of noodles is so useful, how can I keep it for myself...... No, make it my possessions? Do I want to beat you up again? ”

"There are many ways to make a contract with a seal, but I don't know what to do. The way this mask registers ownership is simple—"

At the end of the mountains, a metal dragon with gray and green shells roared through the gaps in the mountains, just like the bad night when it broke the rules of weird talk.

"Take the Yamanote Line with me one more time, and you will be able to return to your original world, and my spirit state will leave with you. I'll be your person from now on, please advise. ”

Then, Yonaring stretched out his hand to Ruiji.

"What a wacky manifesto......"

Ryji took her outstretched left hand, and the warm magic flowed between her fingers, completely different from the touch she had when she first met her in the regional weirdos.

There is no resentment, no unwillingness, and the mood is as calm as the shallow sea of the Izu Peninsula.

With a suspicious feeling, I waited for the Yamanote Line train with Narying, stepped into the carriage with both feet, and found a window seat to sit down. The place where they sat was exactly the same as last time, outside the window was the boundless night, a few sparse stars were scattered, and the blue moonlight gently caressed the land.

Strange stories and fires, collapses and reconstructions, grief and resentment, all turned the page completely with the end of that night.

The world in front of us is not the same as the last regional weirdness, although they have the same scenery and things, and when compared together, it is like a real scene and a man-made scene used to make a movie in the film and television city.

The train doors closed, and this time there was no sound of station announcement.

The Yamanote thread passed through the bright light last time, and Ruiji closed her eyes, and when the bright light gradually faded and disappeared, she slowly opened her eyes as if she had woken up from a dream. When people return to their homes, the masks on their faces can be taken off smoothly.

The red lines on the surface of the white fox mask quietly turned into a light blue that represented magic.

(End of chapter)