I planted a sacred tree in Tokyo.

Chapter 680 The Four-Man Group of Santu Town

island country,

On the railway heading west from Tokyo, leaving Otsuki City.

In the valley formed by towering, continuous mountains, a long train speeds along the railway; at first glance, nothing seems amiss, but upon closer inspection, two tiny figures stand on the train.

"so big"

The young man named Tatsuki Yuuto looked around and couldn't help but sigh.

“Giant mountains, enormous plants, massive railways, and enormous trains—it’s as if the whole world has shrunk except for us.”

"Yes, it actually magnified the entire planet five times. The power of gods and demons is simply unimaginable."

A young woman with a side ponytail walked over, wearing a lightweight exoskeleton suit.

"Yasuto, would you like to rest in the carriage?"

The girl, who already exuded a mature air, tilted her head.

"Leave the guard duty to me."

"No,"

The young man shook his head.

"I'll do it, since my parents are with me anyway."

'Silly boy, they're here to chat with you.'

"Oh dear, how could I be so stupid? Oh, my dear wife, have mercy!"

In Tatsuki Hayato's mind, he heard his parents' daily 'interactions', which made him roll his eyes.

"is it?"

However, this action led the girl with the side ponytail to misunderstand.

"I'm sorry, I haven't been able to break through to the Wolf level."

???

"No, it has nothing to do with Saki!"

Even if Tatsuki Hayato has low emotional intelligence, he wouldn't say the wrong thing at this moment.

"You know, my two—"

Pointing to his head, the young man gave the other person a knowing look.

"Uncle and Aunt are still so loving."

"So enviable~~"

The girl with the side ponytail also realized what was happening, twirling her ponytail with her fingers, her tone faint but tinged with disappointment.

Even though we've all lived together for so long, why is Yuuto still like this?
Don't you understand your own feelings?

The two were childhood sweethearts, but their small circle of friends had complicated relationships and concerns.

An awkward atmosphere suddenly formed between the two.

brush,

A gigantic, crimson, illusory hand hurtled towards them, aiming at the two people on the train—

beside!

Snapped,
The crimson, illusory hand clenched its five fingers, grasping a phantom figure that seemed to be both an ape and a human in its palm.

I said,

He climbed onto the roof of the train.

With one hand pointed at the two of them from afar, Yamagami Ryuji, maintaining a loose grasping posture, spoke helplessly.

"Could you two please not date during work hours?"

"Huh? We didn't!"

"Thanks, Ryuji!"

As the girl with the side ponytail subconsciously waved her hand in rebuttal, Tatsuki Hayato clenched his fists, and two illusory gauntlets covered his hands.

"Dad, Mom, let's go!"

The next second, the young man swung two 'spiritual energy gauntlets' and charged towards the evil spirits that suddenly pounced out from the surrounding mountains and forests.

Island nations do not have a profession like 'bodyguard' because they have 'samurai': if it is a government force, it will naturally have its own samurai to escort it; if it is a merchant, it will hire 'ronin' as a private bodyguard.

And now, the four-person group from Sanzu Town are the 'samurai' protecting this train.

Tatsuki Yuuto, Saki, Yamagami Ryuuji, Tatsuki Yukino.

This is also the job of most low-level superhumans!

Without the protection of a superhuman, leaving the city is practically tantamount to hanging one's head on the belt, leaving one's life to chance.

As students of the 'High School of Spellcasting', they haven't just been wasting their time these past few years: through both study and practice, their strength has been steadily improving, and they are already at the level of a powerful wolf, only one step away from the tiger level—except for Saki.

There was no other way; Tatsuki Hayato had 'parents' to rely on, so he was essentially the whole family.

Although it sounds a bit like 'hell,' for a psychic, guardian spirits are an integral part of their fighting power.

The young monk with blond slicked-back hair, necklace, and earrings: Yamagami Ryuji has mastered the secret techniques of the Koyasan esoteric sect and is able to condense a portion of the image of a Myō-ō (myō-ō).

The enormous, crimson hand can attack and defend, and is effective both at long and short ranges; it is also extremely formidable.

Only Saki, even though she has entered the ranks of the extraordinary, is an ordinary extraordinary person without any 'fortuitous encounters'. Although she has enough spiritual power, she has not mastered a single 'spell' and is not even a wolf-level being.

But that doesn't mean she lacks fighting ability.
boom!
The girl drew her gun and fired. The bullet whistled through an evil spirit, instantly piercing a large hole in its body.

"Roar~~~~"

The pierced evil spirit let out a painful roar and immediately pounced on the girl.

boom! boom! boom!
Three shots pierced the evil spirit, leaving three fist-sized holes. This being, essentially a 'remnant of the soul,' finally succumbed to the force, and its mangled body dissipated.

"Sigh, it's all money."

The girl with the side ponytail murmured to herself as she shot and killed the evil spirits; after running out of bullets, she immediately pulled out a new magazine. The bullets in the magazine were engraved with twisted runes.

Rune bullets can store spiritual energy for a certain period of time.

This is a product developed by the Ikko family!

The Onmyoji of the Igoya family are all teenagers, who are at the age when their imaginations run wild; in addition, their family has a large number of 'hunter' superhumans, so the demand for bullets is already very high - since ordinary bullets are ineffective against evil spirits, what about bullets that carry spiritual power?
This kind of 'rune bullet' was thus created. It only had a simple storage function; however, after being infused with spiritual power, it could harm evil spirits and became a bestseller in the island nation.

It is a favorite of canine-level superhumans: who wants to fight evil spirits hand-to-hand with ranged weapons?

Evil spirits also vary in strength; when one encounters a stronger one, it's uncertain who will kill whom!

Bang, bang, bang,

One after another, 'rune bullets' whistled out, with Saki in charge of long-range attacks; Yamagami Ryuji's 'Myōō Arm' was responsible for mid-to-long-range offense and defense, while Tatsuki Hayato was in charge of close combat.

With the three working together, the wave of evil spirits was quickly wiped out.

"Yukino, is everything alright in the carriage?"

Saki pressed her earpiece, put away her gun, and tilted her head to ask.

"Everything is safe,"

The voice of 'Tatsuki Yukino' came through the headset.

As the last member of the group of four, she is responsible for protecting the safety inside the train.

In fact, these carriages all have talismans from the Kakaiin family pasted on them; these talismans can serve to defend against evil spirits and prevent them from easily breaking into the carriages.

Of course, if the evil spirits are allowed to attack, the power of the talisman will eventually be exhausted and become ineffective. This is why people are sent out to keep watch: their mission is to eliminate the evil spirits that are attacking the train.

"Thanks for your hard work,"

The voice of 'Tatsuki Yukino' continued to play in the headset.

"I have great news for you. We have been selected to participate in the 'International Exchange of Extraordinary Schools'."

"By the way, the exchange will take place in a 'demigod plane,' are you going to refuse—"

"No!"

"A good opportunity!"

"Why refuse?"

The three people on the roof immediately gave their answers: a demiplane is a truly extraordinary opportunity, how could anyone be willing to miss it?
In the last 'Warring States Plane', many students went directly from ordinary people to wolf-level and tiger-level superhumans; moreover, their friendships with the martial arts families and great demons of the demi-plane were also a valuable 'superhuman resource'.

Although we encountered things like "Nine Empty Shakes Love's random intrusion" along the way, with the principal's protection, we managed to escape unscathed.

How could anyone not want such a good thing?

"OK,"

"I will reply to the school immediately."

As the group talked, the train passed through valleys between mountains, occasionally crossing high bridges and tunnels. A plain gradually appeared ahead: modern city buildings were in sight.

"We've arrived in Yamanashi City,"

Yamanashi City,
The former site of the Yamanashi Prefecture government.

The city is nestled among mountains, with two rivers carving out a plain, which is why the island nation established itself here.

Previously, this place was known as the "Fruit Kingdom," not only producing famous grapes, but also ranking first in the island nation in the production of peaches and plums, and boasting a scenic spot with peach blossoms.

And now, it is an important part of the 'Hairen Metropolitan Area'!

As you can tell from the name, this place is not far from the 'Sea Ninja Castle' of the Isoya family.

The reason they were able to develop in this era was precisely because they were backed by the 'Fifty Valley' family: various low-level Yin-Yang magic talismans, jade pendants, and even rune bullets were their flagship products, attracting a large number of extraordinary merchants.

The traditional fruit industry was also unaffected: any evil spirits that dared to show their faces here would be immediately eliminated by the Onmyoji of the Isoya family!

The train that Tatsuki Yuuto and his three companions were escorting was also for trade.

However, these are not issues that concern the four of them.

Is it really a good idea to hold exchange meetings now?

The four of them got off the train and, respectfully led by a Yamanashi City civil servant, went to a hotel to rest.

As they walked, they chatted about the upcoming 'International Extraordinary Schools Exchange Conference' and the unknown 'demiplane'.

Tatsuki Hayato was the first to raise a question: "The crisis with Yamata no Orochi has just ended. Isn't it a bit too hasty to launch such a global event?"
"What's the connection?"

Saki's side ponytail with an indifferent opening
With the 'principal' around, how could anything go wrong?

“Rural prices in Tokyo have already reached their limit. Only those who have made special contributions to the island nation or are priests of the Inari deity are eligible to move in.”

Despite numerous extraordinary disasters, Tokyo has remained unscathed. Even this planetary expansion has not affected Tokyo. Anyone with eyes to see knows that it is the safest place in the world.

However, the requirements for living in Tokyo now are incredibly high.

So now the outskirts of Tokyo have all been replaced by dense apartment buildings: many people work in other places and live in cramped apartments in Tokyo, which is a complete reversal of the natural order.

“Saki is right,”

With her black hair obscuring her eyes and a chilling aura emanating from her body, Tatsuki Yukino, carrying a long sword, chimed in.

“With the ‘principal’ here, we only need to give it our all in the demiplane.”

Fight for extraordinary opportunities!

"Speaking of which, that person in Heian-kyo has shut himself away again and continued living his own life?"

Since both girls felt that this topic didn't need to be discussed, Yamagami Ryuji simply started a new topic.

"Great Onmyoji are all like this... Hmm, pure and without desire?"

Ryuji originally wanted to say "otaku" (宅), but after thinking about it, he changed the word.

After all, their "principal" is also a "great Yin-Yang Master": at least that's how most people see it.

"Perhaps this is the demeanor of a truly accomplished person?"

As the 'group's darling,' Saki continued on this topic;
"We can't just follow in the footsteps of that Marshall Teach guy and start ruling the seas again, can we?"

(End of this chapter)