How did I, an Onmyoji, become the Lord of Yokai?

"Because I lost, you won. Isn't that obvious?"

With his arms crossed, Arakawa no Nushi responded in an extremely natural tone.

"I know what you're saying, but shouldn't I be the one who loses?"

Quite puzzled, Shimizu Asahi tried his best to think outside the box and ponder carefully, but no matter what he did, he couldn't figure out what he had just done to win the battle.

He had squeezed out every last drop of his spiritual power, while the Lord of Arakawa remained in his prime, incredibly powerful. No matter how you looked at it, the Lord of Arakawa was the one who had won.

"You should still remember the rules, human. Before the battle, I set two rules: one is that the battle arena is limited to this pool of water, and the other is that there are no other rules besides the first one."

"And your attack just now blasted me out of the arena."

"Eh... it's that simple!?"

The boy was stunned when he received the answer. He never imagined that the one thing that allowed him to win the battle was the only rule that he had never paid any attention to.

After a while, the boy laughed, tired but happy.

"...What? So, you win just by blasting the ball off the field..."

He lay back down in the mud and sand, his tired eyes closing again.

The two-stage reversal was unexpected. He thought he was going to lose, but he won by accident in this way... His nerves were exhausted. If the venue hadn't been wrong, he would have even fallen asleep right there.

"This is not a place to sleep, human."

Walking up to Shimizu Asahi, Arakawa no Nushi crossed his arms and exclaimed, "If you want to sleep, I have rooms available."

"Is it really okay? Don't you like peace and quiet?"

"Oh, may I take that as underestimating me? Human... no, Shimizu Asahi."

"How could that be? It was just a slight surprise..."

Shimizu Asahi smiled softly. Perhaps because of the pure battle just now, the distance between him and Arakawa no Nushi seemed to have shortened considerably. Now, they should be considered true friends, right?

With the help of the Lord of Arakawa, the weary Shimizu Asahi returned to the shore.

He looked at the pool water that had turned to ice and the terrifying mark that was a hundred meters long and several meters wide, chuckled, and said, "I think I was really too ruthless just now... It will take a long time for this kind of wound to heal, won't it?"

"It's nothing. The soil in Arakawa is very fertile. It will recover quickly with just a little bit of demonic power."

"Instead of this, I think you should be more concerned about the fact that the place I went through so much trouble to choose has been exposed."

"I don't think anyone would be foolish enough to come here looking for you even if you were exposed."

After a conversation that felt like that of close friends, the two returned to the quiet cabin.

Upon returning, Shimizu Asahi was thrown into the bathroom by Arakawa no Nu. He stood at the door and said, "I don't have any extra clothes here. You'll have to figure out what to do with them yourself. I'll tell you about the Sea Kingdom after you're done."

"Yes, thank you."

After closing the wooden door, Qingshui Chaoyang skillfully boiled water, then took off his clothes and soaked them in the hot water.

Then, in the next moment, a comfortable groan escaped his mouth uncontrollably.

"call......"

The water enveloping his body washed away his fatigue, like a pair of warm hands massaging his entire body. The comfort from the bottom of his heart made him extremely enjoyable. He didn't want to move at all and rested his head on the edge of the wooden tub.

A hot bath is definitely the best way to relax after a long day.

His physical and spiritual energy gradually recovered in this comfortable environment. Qing Shui Chaoyang didn't know how much time had passed. He simply waited until all his physical and mental fatigue was swept away before stepping out of the wooden tub.

After regaining his strength, he washed his clothes. Of course, with his spiritual power, he wasn't worried about not having clothes to wear.

After what seemed like an eternity of fussing, Qingshui Chaoyang finally emerged from the bathroom, dressed.

Then, stepping on the clean white wooden planks, he relied on his memory to reach the living room.

"We're really late."

The Lord of Arakawa remained seated, sipping his tea with his eyes closed, showing no intention of turning back to look at the clear water and rising sun.

"Sorry, I was too tired, so I soaked for a little longer."

Having returned to his original state, he smiled and apologized before sitting down opposite the Lord of Arakawa.

A steaming cup of tea had already been placed in front of his cushion.

"Thank you."

After expressing his gratitude, the young man picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then turned his gaze to the Lord of Arakawa.

Noticing the gaze of the clear water sun, the water spirit opened its eyes and put down its teacup.

"Well then, it's about time I told you about the Sea Kingdom."

"I'll only say this once, so listen carefully."

After letting out a soft breath, the Lord of Arakawa began to speak quietly...

It turns out that the Sea Kingdom is located southeast of the Arakawa River, a full month's journey away. The current leader of the Sea Kingdom is named Ōtakemaru, whose strength is comparable to that of the Lord of Arakawa. Ōtakemaru is also a guardian deity protecting the sea monsters. He established the Sea Kingdom for the sake of peace.

Under his protection, the monsters of the sea kingdom did not resist humans. Those humans who braved storms and avoided death vortexes and finally arrived in the sea kingdom under extremely lucky protection were all warmly welcomed by them.

This is a very friendly force.

However, friendliness does not equate to weakness. The reason why the Sea Kingdom can coexist peacefully with others is because they possess absolute strength.

Over the past few centuries, the power of the Sea Kingdom has become deeply ingrained in people's minds. Anyone who harbors evil intentions towards the Sea Kingdom and attempts to seize its treasures will be crushed into dust by the Sea Kingdom's giant waves.

None of the humans who arrived in the sea kingdom were able to leave.

Their greed and evil cost them their lives.

In other words, the Sea Kingdom only welcomes friendly guests; those with greedy hearts are not within their circle of friendliness.

However, this is still not the most important point to note.

Arakawa no Nushi told him with the utmost seriousness that if he wanted to speak with Ōtakemaru, he must not harm any of the sea monsters in the Sea Kingdom.

For the monsters of the Sea Kingdom, their most precious treasures were not the gold, silver, jewels, or divine artifacts that people spoke of, but rather every inch of the Sea Kingdom's land and every one of their fellow beings. (Chapter 212, Section 215: Shimizu Mio, Stepping into Izumo Taisha)

"A yokai force that doesn't discriminate against humans?"

Qingshui Chaoyang murmured something softly, then let out a sigh of relief.

"This is truly wonderful news."

"I thought the Sea Kingdom hated humans intensely, but I didn't expect... Now I can rest easy."

In fact, before setting sail, Shimizu Asahi had been worried about one thing: what if the sea monsters of the Sea Kingdom hated humans?

This concern is not unfounded. Although humans have not developed the ocean much, and only sail on the sea for a very short time, they have never stopped trying to control it.

Whether it was the three great families who built warships or the samurai who constantly went out to sea in search of treasure, they all longed to obtain treasures from the sea, and their greed never ceased.

Therefore, sirens have a strong aversion to humans.

To be honest, he was very uneasy before receiving this news.

But now, he can breathe a sigh of relief.

This was the best news he had heard after learning that the serpent god had been resurrected and was preparing to attack Heian-kyo.

"Are you at ease? It's too early to be at ease now. Let's talk about it after you've met Ootakemaru."

The Lord of Arakawa glanced at him, and the words he uttered carried a strange meaning.

It was like... a reminder to him of something.

"Can't we rest easy now? Or has something happened in the Sea Kingdom?"

Shimizu Asahi naturally understood the obvious implication, so he asked the question with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.

"How could I possibly know that? After all, I only visited the Sea Kingdom once, a hundred years ago. I have no idea what happened there or what changes occurred. What I'm giving you is just information about the Sea Kingdom from a hundred years ago. So you'd better just take this information as a reference."

"If you believe everything you hear, you might suffer a great loss."

"I see... I understand. Thank you for telling me all this, Lord of Arakawa."

The boy, reminded, smiled again, sincerely thanked her, and replied, "I'll remember that."

"This is your well-deserved spoils. Alright, I've told you everything I know. You can leave now."

The water demon looked at the boy and smiled, a rare occurrence for her.

"Go and prepare. It's a whole month's journey from here to the Sea Kingdom. Aren't you supposed to be protecting Heian-kyo?"

"Okay, then I'll be leaving now."

After finishing his tea, Qingshui Chaoyang bid farewell and left.

However, Shimizu Asahi was unaware that after he left, the smiling face of the Lord of Arakawa vanished without a trace, replaced by a serious and solemn expression.

He came to the courtyard, raised his head slightly, and gazed into the distance with his deep blue eyes.

He could smell the weeping sea breeze blowing from afar...

Something seems to have gone wrong in the Sea Kingdom...

"Be very careful, Shimizu Asahi..."

......

Meanwhile, having received news from the Sea Kingdom, Shimizu Asahi returned to the inn immediately after leaving the Arakawa lord's house.

He pushed open the door and told the three girls who were waiting the good news, and said with a smile, "This is a month-long voyage, it may be a bit boring, so get ready. We will set off directly after we apologize to Princess Goldfish tomorrow."

After finishing his speech, the happy black-haired boy prepared to pack his things. After that, he would also need to notify He Maoxi Tu to purchase supplies and adjust the ships.

There's still a lot of work to be done before setting sail.

However, while he was happily carrying out his work on the voyage, something seemed off among the girls.

Although they seemed no different from usual, the aura surrounding them was slightly... dangerous?

Yes, for example, right now, Shimizu Asahi senses danger.

"Oh my, as expected of you, Master. You've received news from the Sea Kingdom so quickly. I find it unbelievable. But...hehehe, before you pack your things, Master, could you please explain to us why you fought with the Lord of Arakawa?"

The petite and adorable Ghost King sat at the wooden table, smiling as she watched the busy boy. Her beautiful, jewel-like eyes revealed an incredibly dangerous glint.

The moment she uttered those words, Ali and Qingnvfang's gazes fell upon her. Under the watchful eyes of the three girls, the black-haired boy, who was in a state of joy, stopped what he was doing.