"The strange place turned out to be this place, huh!?"

She exclaimed.

"Where else would be strange?" Beichuan Si furrowed his eyebrows and added, "From now on, when you say these things, you should at least understand the difference in importance. A girlfriend and a fiancée are completely different concepts."

"That's just being unreasonable... No, it's not really being unreasonable... but... but..."

Shen Gu Mirai's face turned red again as she spoke.

The more she talked, the easier it was for her to fall into Beichuan Si's pace.

But...

Beichuan Si wasn't wrong.

She really was his fiancée, and before calling herself a girlfriend, she should have thought about the fiancée issue.

Ah, no! The more I think, the more I get confused, the more I feel Mr. Temple makes sense!

Shen Gu Mirai freaked out internally, her brain functioning at maximum capacity.

Eventually—

Shen Gu Mirai gave up on thinking.

Her face flushed, head bowed, and with one finger pointing, she said, "Say it again."

"Say it again?" Beichuan Si stopped walking.

"...Say it again..." Shen Gu Mirai clung to the hem of Beichuan Si's clothes, and another finger extended, "Say it again... about the girlfriend and fiancée thing."

"...Mirai, you are my fiancée, not my girlfriend."

Beichuan Si repeated, as Shen Gu Mirai wished.

Ah!!!

Shen Gu Mirai's body trembled slightly, persistent:

"One more time!"

"Mirai, you are my fiancée, not my girlfriend."

"Again..."

At Shen Gu Mirai's request, Beichuan Si repeated the same words five or six times.

"Huh..."

Shen Gu Mirai exhaled contently.

The blush on her face hadn't faded yet, bright red like an apple.

Regardless of what Beichuan Si thought, she was satisfied now.

Really quite satisfied!

But even so...

"I still want to go to Yamanashi Prefecture, Mr. Temple!" Shen Gu Mirai clung to Beichuan Si's shoulders, and, with a coquettish tone, said, "And Mr. Temple, you also mentioned that after I help you investigate the 'Box of Calamities,' you would reward me, right?"

"...Yes, that's true."

Beichuan Si, with no intention to renege, nodded in response.

"Then, can I join you to Yamanashi Prefecture as my reward?"

Shen Gu Mirai batted her large eyes, almost hanging onto Beichuan Si.

Her persistent request baffled Beichuan Si; he reached out to pat Shen Gu Mirai's head, and she gently rubbed back against his palm.

Seeing her act like this, Beichuan Si's expression softened slightly, and he asked:

"...Mirai, do you really want to go to Yamanashi Prefecture?"

"Yes."

Shen Gu Mirai responded crisply, then hesitantly added, "Actually, this time I want to go to Yamanashi Prefecture not just because of Mr. Temple, but because of some dreams I've been having recently..."

"Some dreams?"

Dreams again?

Beichuan Si was puzzled but didn't ask further, just waiting for her response.

Shen Gu Mirai gently nodded and continued, "Mr. Temple, you must remember the Mouchi Witch's Certificate, right?"

As she spoke, she loosened her tie and slightly opened the V-neckline of her collar.

At Shen Gu Mirai's delicate collarbone, hung an ancient, exquisitely crafted, deep blue flat stone.

That was the Mouchi Witch's Certificate Beichuan Si had given her.

She gently caressed the deep blue flat stone on her chest, "Recently, I have been having some inexplicable dreams, where I see some very strange things..."

"At this point," Shen Gu Mirai unconsciously furrowed her brow, speaking in an uncertain tone,

"What exactly did I see... Totems... deities... or something else?"

Shen Gu Mirai shook her head as she spoke:

"The dreams still aren't entirely clear, but what I can be sure of is the word 'Mouchi'—which might involve a shocking secret. I have a feeling that what I saw in my dreams might one day come true."

"And this is the reason you insist on going to Yamanashi Prefecture, right?"

Beichuan Si appropriately added from beside her.

Yes, having had such a dream, Shen Gu Mirai naturally worried whether she might get dragged into some incidents in the future.

In entering that kind of incident, she hoped she could at least have the capacity to protect herself.

And like this time with the 'Catastrophe's Box' incident, it was precisely an event that enhanced her ability to defend herself.

This way, even if something truly happened to her suddenly, she wouldn't just be a burden to Beichuan Si.

"I want to be someone like Mom! Mom could help Dad, and I'm sure I can help Mr. Temple!"

Shen Gu Mirai looked up at Beichuan Si.

She was a strong girl.

Unwilling to leave everything to Beichuan Si to handle, seeing Beichuan Si hurt made her equally upset, equally heartbroken.

And all this was predicated upon the premise of honing and elevating her skills.

She now harbored many Mouchi Witch's spells and exorcism techniques in her mind, and her body also possessed the benevolent intentions necessary to utilize these spells, but without practical use, how could she possibly master them so easily?

She could learn self-defense techniques from Gangye Yoshiko, and the same went for Sanda skills.

But—

"Only Mr. Temple can give me experience in exorcism! Please! Mr. Temple! Let me go with you to Yamanashi Prefecture!"

Shen Gu Mirai took a step back and bowed deeply, her usual clever and quirky expression now replaced by one of determination.

Looking at Shen Gu Mirai making such a sincere request, Beichuan Si also fell silent.

Usually, he always thought about keeping Shen Gu Mirai away from the bizarre and the unusual.

But now it seemed...

Shen Gu Mirai had her own thoughts and wanted to be of help.

At least in times of crisis, she wanted to have some capacity to resist.

Could such a desire be wrong?

Beichuan Si snapped his fingers, pondered for a long time, and finally nodded in agreement, "Alright, this time I'll agree to have you accompany me."

However—

Before Shen Gu Mirai could rejoice, Beichuan Si added: "But this only extends to you not engaging in any dangerous actions. And once the issue with 'Mouchi' is resolved, you should just live a normal life as usual."

"I know, I know." Shen Gu Mirai grinned broadly as she hugged Beichuan Si's arm.

She knew.

Beichuan Si's mouth was like a sugar-coated knife. Having opened up this time, naturally, there would be a next time, and a time after that.

"..." Beichuan Si gave Shen Gu Mirai a meaningful look, then he pulled her away with a tone that was uncharacteristically solemn, "Before that, I hope you can tell me everything about your dreams."

As he said this, Beichuan Si also turned to glance at the setting sun about to sink below the horizon.

'Mouchi' involved many things, and the super-large spiritual site located in Kagoshima Prefecture could even affect reality.

Beichuan Si already knew some fragmented information about Mouchi Stone, Mouchi nursery rhymes, and the Mouchi Witch.

And now... Shen Gu Mirai had started dreaming again.

This was likely related to the memories in the Mouchi Witch's Certificate.

And some insignificant memories hidden in the Mouchi Witch's Certificate were beginning to affect Shen Gu Mirai's dreams.

"Kagoshima Prefecture... we'll eventually have to visit."

Beichuan Si muttered to himself.

Since the matter now involved Shen Gu Mirai, Beichuan Si naturally wouldn't skimp on the round-trip ticket.

What exactly was hidden behind the super-large spiritual site in Kagoshima Prefecture?

What did 'Mouchi' signify?

Could there be some other stories behind a potent object like the Mouchi Witch's Certificate?

All of this... Beichuan Si still needed to explore.

As for now.

While Shen Gu Mirai's dreams remained unclear, it was best to focus on the issue of the Catastrophe's Box.

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