I have an unlimited number of shikigami

"Uh……"

Fujiwara Izaya frowned.

To rule the world?

What world does he rule over?

He just wanted to ask a few questions, this crow must be possessed!

Looking at Fujiwara Izaya's tightly furrowed brows and solemn expression, which clearly indicated that he had something important to do, Dark Crow felt a surge of excitement and was completely overwhelmed with emotion.

He has suffered a lot of injustice these days.

As a powerful demon of high rank, his responsibility is to protect the safety of a group of ordinary students.

Other tengu either eat meat and drink wine to their hearts' content, or live a carefree and unrestrained life of revenge and vengeance, but he can only spend his days with a flock of real crows, compete for food with a group of gray pigeons, and is often pinned down and humiliated by a fat orange cat... He has truly disgraced the tengu clan!

Fortunately.

These days will soon be over!

The young master is about to do something big. As long as I seize the opportunity... Thinking this, Dark Raven suddenly looked up, his eyes shining as he stared at Fujiwara Izaya: "Please give the order, young master!"

The sound was very loud.

The snow woman glanced at him, then, as if bored, moved her knees closer to her master.

"Hmm, not bad, very energetic." Fujiwara Izaya praised his subordinate, picked up a beer can, poured beer into a glass, and asked, "The main reason I called you here today is to ask if you know anything about 'Inkstone Jade'."

"Of course I know, isn't that a treasure unique to Mount Yingyan!" Dark Raven's voice trembled with excitement.

Fujiwara Rin didn't say anything, but silently picked up his glass and took small sips of beer.

Mount Hidehiko, located in Fukuoka Prefecture on Kyushu Island, is a scenic tourist destination in the eyes of ordinary people. However, in the eyes of ascetics, it is a terrifying forbidden area, where the Mount Hidehiko Buzenbo Great Tengu, one of the Eight Great Tengu, resides.

"Young Master, are you planning to take over Kyushu first?" Dark Raven rubbed his hands excitedly, his expression eager to try. "If so, please let Dark Raven prepare resources for you right now. In six months, no, within three months, just three months, I guarantee that you can bring your army to the height of Yingyan Mountain!"

"Do you think I can beat that old man from Buzenbo right now?" Fujiwara Izaya asked.

“Uh…” Dark Raven’s heart tightened, and he struggled for a moment. “Young Master is a descendant of the old master. How dare he fight you?”

Low emotional intelligence: You can't beat him.

High emotional intelligence: He doesn't dare to confront you.

"Alright, alright, stop flattering me." Fujiwara Izaya laughed and scolded, then took out the bead he had picked up that day from his pocket and tossed it to him. "I accidentally killed a spider demon today and found this. Take this to Mount Eihiko and find out who made it and who ended up in its hands."

Dark Raven held the bead in both hands: "Yes, sir."

“Remember, investigate secretly,” Fujiwara Izaya added. “If Buzen-bo finds out, you’re dead over there.”

"understand!"

Dark Raven nodded vigorously, and just as he was about to ask again, "When does the young master plan to raise an army?", Snow Maiden suddenly bent down, obediently lay on the young master's body, took out a cucumber from her chest with both hands, and then... then she fed the cucumber into the young master's mouth.

?

Young Master...

How decadent!

Dark Raven stood up abruptly, stretching out a trembling hand: "...Young Master, no!"

"Hmm?" Fujiwara Izaya chewed on the crisp, frozen cucumber, then turned to look at his subordinate. "If there's nothing else, hurry up and leave. Don't disturb me while I'm eating."

"Beauty can ruin a nation! (Heartbreakingly)"

"roll."

"Young Master, please don't become addicted to..."

"If you don't roll away, I'll roast you."

"Quack quack—"

Crows took flight, their black feathers blending seamlessly with the night.

As Fujiwara Izaya ate a frozen, crisp cucumber, his gaze swept over the charred wooden beams on the ruins of the shrine, where mushrooms had sprouted. The Yuki-onna gently massaged his shoulders, occasionally tilting her head to look into his eyes with a bewildered and puzzled expression.

The evening breeze rises.

The night casts a cool, serene hue over the falling cherry blossoms, making it a truly beautiful time of year.

Chapter 12. Yukino Riho's Strange Hallucinations

At six o'clock the next morning, Fujiwara Izaya woke up on time.

After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I left my home at Asakusa Shrine and went for my morning run along the same route as always.

Before dawn, the entire city of Tokyo was still shrouded in darkness, with scattered lights flickering on the Tokyo Skytree.

Wearing headphones, I practiced my Spanish pronunciation along with the radio as I ran across the dimly lit riverbank.

I passed by the bakery from yesterday; the door was closed, and it hadn't opened yet. However, the people living on the second floor of the bakery were already awake. Warm yellow light shone through the curtains, illuminating the dark river surface with a layer of fine, fish-scale-like shimmer.

Fujiwara Izaya likes Tokyo at this time of year.

It's not hot, not noisy, not complicated, but the floating lights have a touch of everyday life, making it a perfect place for monsters who want to hide their identities to come out and have fun.

He opened his heart to breathe in the crisp, fresh morning air, trod on the familiar stone path, his figure weaving through the floating mist. At that moment, he was like a slender, clean dolphin swimming freely in the azure sea—at least that's how he saw it.

Dolphins are free!

Fujiwara Izaya is also free!

I ran all the way to the Tokyo Skytree. The sun was just coming out a little, and Tokyo was starting to get hot.

When there's a breeze, it's alright, but once the wind stops, the fog-like humidity drifting in from Tokyo Bay feels like a damp, thin cloth wrapped around you, making you feel uncomfortable all over.

Fujiwara Izaya turned off the radio, put the noise-canceling mode on his headphones, and ran back the way he came.

He doesn't listen to the radio; he's usually thinking about the demon's life.

While I say I'm reflecting on my life, it's really just a way of summarizing and organizing some trivial things that have happened in my life recently, like whether the woman who fell into the water yesterday will catch a cold.

It's best not to... Such a stupid woman probably wouldn't even know how to buy medicine when she gets sick.

Where did the bald spider come from?

I don't even know if killing him will cause any trouble.

Anyway, Fujiwara Rinya was well aware that he couldn't hide the fact that he had entered the bread factory last night. If the bald man had relatives or friends who wanted revenge, then he, who happened to be there, would definitely be targeted.

Now, all we can do is hope that Dark Raven can find useful clues in Kyushu so that we can figure out Bald Spider's identity and prepare a strategy to deal with him in advance. Otherwise, we won't even know who our enemy is when we are retaliated against...

Fujiwara Izaya wasn't afraid of any of that.

But he's currently living a quiet life in his own little world, and he'd get annoyed if his peaceful existence were disrupted.

Lost in thought about random things, Fujiwara Izaya passed by the spot where the woman had fallen into the water yesterday, turned around, and headed towards the bakery.

The bakery called "Lemon" has a small entrance, which is inconspicuous among a bunch of messy buildings. A blue women's bicycle is parked in front of the store, with a white plastic frame on the back seat.

It seems that the stupid woman listened to his advice... Fujiwara Rin felt a sense of relief and pushed open the shop door.

A bell rang in my ear.

"i ra ssya i ma se! (Welcome!)"

It's a very small shop with basic decor. There's only a bread display case, a bar counter, three long tables, and two small tables, and there wasn't a single customer.

Inside the bar, a long-haired woman in a blue dress was holding a book, and it was clear she was well-off. She only looked up when she heard the noise.

"Oh, it's you?"

After recognizing Fujiwara Izaya, Yukino Riho quickly closed her book, strode forward, and bowed slightly: "Thank you so much for yesterday. If it's alright, please allow me..."

Looks like you don't have a cold.

"I'm glad you're alright." Fujiwara Izaya interrupted her and turned to leave.

"...Huh?"

Yukino Riho was so surprised that she forgot to close her mouth.

Are you leaving already?

I haven't repaid you yet...

She rushed out of the store, wanting to call out to him to stay, but the boy's figure had already disappeared around the corner of the street.

After a long, bewildered thought, Yukino Riho finally realized what was happening. She frowned and murmured, "She was worried I was sick, so she came to check on me, right? She's quite thoughtful, but not very gentle..."

The sea breeze blowing from Tokyo Bay swayed the ends of her hair that hung down her back. She sniffed and went back to the bar to continue reading.

A book about Shintoism, discussing the functions Shintoism has played in Japanese society.

In modern society, Shintoism has played an important role in making up for and improving the incompleteness and contradictions of the social system.

It is because of the existence of Shintoism that people can enjoy the stability and prosperity brought about by a harmonious society.

When she sees something strange, she will curl her lips into a slightly mocking smile, pick up a sharpened pencil from the table and make a mark in the book, then raise her slender white wrist to brush away the bangs that are blocking her view.

Single-mindedly extracting the information needed from the words on the paper, her lips had been slightly parted at some point, revealing her neat, white teeth and her soft, pink tongue.

If someone were to look closely at her from the front, they could see that her pink tongue was slightly curled, as if she were licking something and sucking in the air. Her cheeks were sometimes puffed out by something, and sometimes sunken in, as if something in her mouth had suddenly been pulled out.

However, Yukino Riho, who was directly involved, seemed unaware of this unusual situation at the moment.

When she put down the book and her thoughts returned from the words to her body, she belatedly realized that her mouth felt cold and her lips were numb, as if she had just eaten some frozen food.

Here we go again...

Riho Yukino furrowed her brow beautifully, gently tapping the table with her fingertips holding a pencil.

Starting a year ago, she would often have these hallucinations unexpectedly. She would inexplicably feel something gently stroking her cheeks, hair, thighs, and feet; and she would also suddenly feel a round, cold stick being put into her mouth and made to suck on it.

It was a strange, unreal hallucination, because whenever she came to her senses, she couldn't find anything unusual, and there was nothing strange about her body.

"It must be because of the pressure of living in human society that I'm always so stressed that I have these hallucinations..." Yukino Riho comforted herself, then thought of that strange boy.

He passed by the store for two days in a row. Is this his regular morning jogging route?

I wonder if I'll run into him if I get up early tomorrow?

If we run into each other, how should we greet each other?