My daily life of exorcising demons and falling in love with a witch.

Yoshiyuki felt that both Erina's and his own thoughts were very dangerous.

Fortunately, Erina's attention span is never very long when she's not playing games, watching anime, or casting spells.

She didn't continue discussing this somewhat awkward topic, but instead began to look curiously into the fountain.

In the clear water of the fountain pool, many goldfish swim, and cherry blossoms that have fallen from the mountain float on the surface.

Moreover, I hadn't noticed it when I came before—there were several different denominations of coins at the bottom of the pool.

There were one-yen and five-yen coins that no one bothered to pick up even if they fell on the ground, as well as fifty-yen and one-hundred-yen coins.

Five-hundred-yen coins were available, but in very small quantities. Ten-yen coins were nowhere to be found.

The pool has the most five-yen coins. Because in Japanese, five yen sounds the same as "en" (meaning "connection" or "destiny"), it's considered auspicious. People often choose this amount when praying for good fortune.

The 50 yen note sounds like "fivefold affinity" in Chinese.

The homonym for 100 yen is "100 shares of fate".

However, since tossing these coins costs a lot of money, and the word "fate" often represents everything, the five yen option is still the most popular.

The reason fewer people use 500-yuan coins is simply a matter of cost-effectiveness. If the cost per transaction is too high, then there's no point in using them.

As for why there are no 10 yen notes in the fountain pool, it's because the pronunciation of 10 yen sounds like "away from fate."

Naturally, no one would put in a ten-yen coin. That would be like spending money to buy bad luck.

Looking at the pool of water that shimmered slightly because of the coins, Yixing couldn't help but ask this question.

"Little Princess, is this a wishing well?"

Yaodao-hime first shook her head, then nodded.

"Oh! I get it." Erina said confidently, "It seems to be a wishing well that isn't very effective. So it's a wishing well, but not entirely. Just like Yoshiyuki is a crossdresser now, but not entirely."

"Young Miss, that's enough! Stop implying I'm wearing women's clothes! I'd never wear them in my life," Yoshiyuki complained, half annoyed, then turned to Kohime and asked, "Little Demon Blade, why are you shaking your head and nodding at the same time?"

[It wasn't originally a wishing well, but shortly after the school was built, students started throwing coins into it to pray for good luck, and gradually everyone started doing it.]

"I see." Yixing nodded and continued, "So, does this wishing well actually work?"

【have no idea】

Xiao Ji gave a fairly honest answer.

"I see." Erina's tone was still somewhat puzzled: "Hime, you said it's about praying to the heavens for good luck, rather than praying to a specific deity? I thought that since Sakura-no-Kami (the cherry blossom goddess) is so close, everyone would pray to her."

Xiao Ji nodded.

Just as Yixing was trying to figure out what she meant, Yaodaoji quickly lowered her head and wrote something down before raising her notebook.

[If you want to pray to the Cherry Blossom Goddess, you can go directly to the Hatsuyuki Shrine.]

"I see." Yoshiyuki thought to himself that he needed more practice to figure out what Kohime was thinking, while also carefully examining the number of coins in the pool: "There are quite a few coins here. I'd estimate at least three hundred... There wasn't a single one when I passed by yesterday."

"Is it because the students have all gone back to school? So a lot of people are tossing a coin to pray for a smooth new semester." Erina looked at the plump goldfish inside and became curious: "Hey? It just occurred to me, who ends up with all these coins?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ji pointed to herself.

"Huh?! You gave it to me?" Yixing was a little surprised. "I thought it had become public funds like student council expenses."

Xiao Ji tilted her head slightly.

Then, after writing quickly, he picked up his notebook.

The chairman asked me to help clean the coins from the wishing well and feed the fish. In return, I was given all the coins as pocket money. Yesterday, I put the coins I fished out on the balcony to dry before coming here to wait for my parents.

"So that's how it is..." Yoshiyuki rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought. "Throwing coins here is like feeding Hime."

"Oh! That's true!" Erina exclaimed excitedly. "Perhaps that's the real intention behind some people flipping coins! Like those who flip 500 yen!"

Yixing imagined the scene of everyone throwing in spare change as a daily occurrence, and then Xiaoji coming regularly to scoop up the coins and receive the feeding, and he thought it was incredibly cute.

This is truly civilized feeding. There's no need to worry about the food you feed harming the animal's health.

In some ways, Xiao Ji is like a pet that all the teachers and students raise together.

People would occasionally chip in some spare change so she could buy whatever she wanted to eat.

This is so heartwarming.

"Seeing these goldfish, so fat they look like they could swallow a coin, reminds me of that black and white cat... I feel like that would be its favorite food." Yoshiyuki turned to Yoto Hime and brought it up: "It's that half-black, half-white cat I saw on the slope yesterday. Today it seems to have turned into a catgirl, hanging upside down outside my classroom window. Do you remember it?"

As expected, Yaodao-hime nodded.

She quickly sketched the two versions of the black and white cat in her notebook, added text, and showed it to the two of them: "Is this it?"

"Wow...it's so well drawn! It's exactly the same as the original! Not only is Xiao Ji amazing at origami, she's actually a master artist!" Yixing couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "Unlike your mother, who has absolutely no artistic talent."

"Hey! Why are you only talking about me! You're not much better than me, you worthless servant!" Erina retorted, dissatisfied. "Tell me then, what makes you so good at art?"

"There are too many examples. For instance, I can draw eggs like Leonardo da Vinci, but you, young lady, can only draw dumplings."

"What's the difference?!" Erina protested.

"There's a big difference, Master." Yixing patiently explained, "Drawing an egg isn't as simple as you think. It involves whether you can get perspective right. Otherwise, why would Leonardo da Vinci keep practicing even after he was sick of drawing them? The dumpling you drew has no technical skill at all. It's just a flat ellipse with two vertical lines for eyes. Even a kindergarten kid could do that."

"Tch... Mine was just a minimalist style!" Erina retorted stubbornly, "Anyway, that doesn't count! Give me another example!"

"I can make clay sculptures of Ultraman and monsters, but you, young lady, can only sculpt dough sculptures that require absolutely no brainpower... Oh, and Armstrong Cyclone Jet-Accelerated Armstrong Cannon."

"Hmph, you're wrong! It's clearly the Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon! And this doesn't count either!"

"Miss, aren't you cheating? It doesn't count for anything."

"I don't want to hear it! Anyway, even if my art skills are a little bit lacking, I'm great at singing and dancing!"

"It's normal for a professional shrine maiden to do these two things well! They're basic requirements!"