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

"But sir, did the siren leader do anything to you during this trip to the island?"

After briefly explaining Yoko's situation, Tamura Shigehime became worried about Shimizu Asahi.

Shimizu Asahi smiled and shook her head, about to say it was nothing, but at that moment, a calm and indifferent voice came from the paper crane.

"Don't worry, human, I won't do anything to my 'important people'."

The sudden sound startled Tamura Shige. He instinctively looked up, and then the figure of a girl standing on a paper crane came into his view.

"This is... um!?"

The general instinctively wanted to ask who this was, but when he saw the girl's face clearly, he was stunned.

"Leaf, leaf!?"

"W-What's going on? Weren't you resting inside? How could you... Wait, you're not Ye Zi! Who are you?!"

Seeing the general's wary expression, Shimizu Asahi immediately explained, "General, don't be nervous, the princess means no harm."

After calming Tamura down a bit, he recounted his entire deal with the mermaid princess, explaining in detail that the princess was naturally like that and wasn't deliberately imitating Yoko.

Upon hearing this, the general was stunned once again.

Hmm? This is its original appearance; it wasn't intentionally imitating a leaf?

He looked at the clear water and the rising sun, his dark eyes filled with expressions like, "Sir, you're not lying to me, are you?" and "Sir, you're not joking with me, are you?"

“I understand how you feel, but that’s the truth. By the way, General, there’s something the princess would like to discuss with you.”

After patting the general on the shoulder, Shimizu Asahi gave the princess a look. Although she didn't know much about human knowledge, she could still understand the universal language of eyes. So, she jumped off the paper crane and came to Tamura Samurai.

"Yes, there's something I'd like to discuss with you. It's about my time in the human world, where I acted as your daughter."

"In my daughter's capacity?"

The mermaid girl's calm and serious expression made the general's somewhat bewildered gaze reveal a hint of confusion.

"What...what does the princess mean by that?"

“I need an identity that allows me to live openly in the human world. He said I look a lot like your daughter, so I want you to be my father.”

"..."

After the princess finished speaking, Tamura Samurai fell silent. Looking at the seriousness on the princess's face, he understood that this was the result of the mermaid princess's careful consideration, so his expression also became serious.

"Princess, do you simply need my identity, or do you actually intend to call me father?"

“I want to experience more of human emotions, so I plan to actually call you father.”

"Human emotions..." The black tiger eyes lowered slightly, a hint of thoughtfulness flashing within them.

He couldn't make a decisive decision about this matter. If the princess only needed an identity, he could cooperate with her in this charade. But now the princess said she wanted to experience more human emotions and planned to truly acknowledge him as her father. If he agreed, then they would be a real father and daughter.

What this represents is the bond and connection between us, and the responsibility and burden we carry on our shoulders.

He must think about it carefully.

"..."

Before they knew it, the three of them had been standing in the courtyard for a quarter of an hour, and Tamura Shiya still hadn't given a definite answer. Shimizu Asahi looked at his serious expression, thought for a moment, and finally broke the silence, saying, "General, there's no need to rush to make a decision now. We still have time to think about it slowly. Besides, if we can't figure it out, we can ask Miss Tamura."

"After all, even if you really want to adopt the princess as your daughter, you still have to inform Miss Tamura, right?"

"..." Upon hearing this, Tamura hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and said, "Since you say so, then I won't rush to make a decision now. Besides, you're right, as my daughter, Yoko, I do need to discuss this matter with her."

"I wonder, what does the princess think?"

"Hmm, I'm not in a hurry, I can wait."

"Alright, since we'll leave this matter aside for now, let's go inside. Also, General, you're still injured and need to recuperate. Staying up all night is too damaging to your health, so please go and rest." After deciding to put the topic aside for the time being, Shimizu Asahi led the princess into the house, and at the same time, gave Tamura a word of advice.

“My injury is not a problem, sir, you don’t need to worry. Rather, sir, today at court, I reported to the daimyo as you instructed. Although the daimyo did not express disbelief, the other generals insisted that I produce evidence in order to suppress me. Under their pressure, the daimyo also said that he would only believe me if I handed over the evidence.”

"What should we do now, sir?"

"We are prepared for this matter." Shimizu Asahi and the mermaid princess had anticipated Tamura's words, so they were not in a hurry. After he finished speaking, he took out a blue talisman.

He casually placed the talisman on the ground and silently chanted, "Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!" As the incantation flowed, a deep blue light immediately surged forth, and then, a lifeless head emerged from the light... Chapter 279, Section 276: Help Me Choose a Name

"This is... a siren's head?"

Upon seeing what had appeared, Tamura Shiro looked surprised. He turned to the mermaid princess and asked, puzzled, "Princess, what is this...?"

"This is the evidence. Hand this over, and they will believe you."

"Is this really acceptable? These are, after all, your people..."

"It's okay, just hand it in. I don't care."

"In that case, I will accept it with great gratitude."

Since the mermaid princess had said so, Tamura Samurai didn't say anything more. He carefully raised his head and said, "Sir, princess, now that things are settled, I'll take my leave."

"Yes, General, please go and rest. I will entertain the princess."

"Then I'll leave it to you, sir."

After saying that, Tamura Shibin left the room.

After watching Tamura Shigemitsu leave, Shimizu Asahi let out a long sigh of relief. This incident was pretty much over. As long as Tamura Shigemitsu handed over the siren's head, the island would return to its original tranquility. As for whether the fishermen would go up to check, or whether the daimyo would send someone else to check, these questions didn't need to be worried about. After all, a three-hour journey was enough to deter them.

The fisherman who discovered the island was driven there by a storm, and of course, how he returned is unknown.

However, just as she breathed a sigh of relief, Shimizu Asahi suddenly remembered something else.

He looked at the mermaid princess and said, "By the way, princess, there's something I forgot to tell you. I'm only staying here temporarily. I'll leave once this matter is over. If you really acknowledge the general as your father, do you plan to stay here or leave with me?"

"Temporary stay? Aren't you from the Mountain City Kingdom?"

The princess tilted her head, looking somewhat puzzled.

"Well... although I am from Yamashiro, I prefer to travel to other places, so I don't stay here often."

After thinking for a moment, Shimizu Asahi gave this answer: Yamashiro Province was the predecessor of Heian-kyo, and as a member of Heian-kyo, it didn't seem wrong to say that he was a Yamashiro Province person.

"Is that so... Since you've decided to go somewhere else, I'll go with you."

The princess hesitated for only a moment before making her decision.

She recognized Tamura Shigehiro as her father in the hope of experiencing more human emotions. Her reason for experiencing emotions was to better understand what important people are. In other words, all her decisions were based on Shimizu Asahi. If she recognized Tamura Shigehiro as her father but then left Shimizu Asahi, wouldn't everything she did soon become meaningless?

The princess's answer did not surprise Shimizu Asahi. After all, she had already followed him out of the island, so there was nothing wrong with her following him to wander the world.

Upon hearing this answer, the young man chuckled softly and replied, "Then it's decided. I look forward to your guidance for the next period of time, Princess."

"Hmm, nice to meet you, human... no, Shimizu Asahi."

The princess smiled slightly and called out Shimizu Asahi's name for the first time.

They were equals, and neither looked down on the other. Even though she always referred to Shimizu Asahi as a human, she didn't mean it in a way. However, the word "human" coming from a yokai's mouth always gave people that feeling, so she decided to call him by his name instead.

The princess's change of address made Shimizu Asahi feel respected and acknowledged, and undeniably, their relationship was brought a little closer.

A faint joy welled up in the black-haired boy's heart.

However, he then noticed another problem: he didn't know the princess's name yet.

Although they had known each other for a day, he had always called her "Princess" and had no idea what her name was. So he said, "Princess, I have already told you my name. What is your name? I can't keep calling you 'Princess' forever."

However, to everyone's surprise, the princess replied directly to the question: "Name? I don't have such a thing."

"No?"

"I have never seen my parents since I was able to think. Apart from knowing that I am a descendant of the mermaid race, I know nothing else. Therefore, I do not have my own name."

Faced with Shimizu Asahi's surprise, the princess briefly explained her background and continued, "Although I have thought about whether I should have a name like humans, the sirens don't have names, and I have always stayed in the sea without contact with humans, so it doesn't matter whether I have a name or not. Therefore, I gave up that idea."

"This... I'm sorry, I brought up something that hurt your feelings."

Upon learning the truth, the black-haired boy immediately showed a guilty expression.

She has never met her parents since she was a child... No wonder she doesn't understand what 'family' or 'kinship' means.

No, he should have thought of this a long time ago. If the princess had parents, how could she not understand these things?

How could he not have noticed? That's so wrong of him!

"It's nothing, I'm used to it, so you don't need to worry about it too much."

Seeing the boy's guilty expression, the princess waved her hand dismissively, then said, "Instead of that, how about you help me think of a name?"

"Just like you said, when I move around in human society, in addition to a legitimate identity, I also need a name. But I don't know much about humans, so the name I choose might not sound very good. So, can you help me choose one?"

"As for the surname, I'll use yours. I quite like the surname Qingshui."

"I'll take it?" Shimizu Asahi was taken aback. How did things suddenly jump to naming the child, and now he wants me to do it?

"Well, I don't have any particular requirements for the name, but if possible, I'd like it to sound nice."

"Moreover, this name will become the first connection between us. I feel that with this, I will be able to understand the feelings of 'important person' more quickly."

"But Princess, even if you say so, I don't know what name to choose." Scratching his head, Shimizu Asahi looked troubled. Although he had never chosen a name before, his intuition told him that he was terrible at it. Asking him to choose a name was just making things difficult for him.

"It's alright, Tamura Samurai also needs time to consider. You can take your time to think about it." The princess ignored his refusal and made the decision directly: "You can name me."

Seeing the princess's expression, Shimizu Asahi understood that he couldn't refuse. Knowing that he had to do it, he sighed helplessly and began to think.

However, inadvertently, while he was thinking with his head down, he noticed two bells... Chapter 277, Section 280: Your Sisters Have Come to See You

The princess's attire was actually quite similar to that of Kazuko, both wearing white blouses and red skirts with shimenawa ribbons. However, perhaps to make it easier for others to distinguish them, the princess also wore two golden bells hanging from her waist in addition to the shimenawa ribbon.

This is something that leaves don't have.

He hadn't noticed it before, but now he did.

"A bell...?"

Asahi Shimizu instinctively thought of a name: Shimizu Rin.

The name is derived from the bell in the bell. Although it is simple, it sounds quite nice and should please the princess.

However, the moment the thought crossed his mind, he shook his head and immediately rejected it.

Although the name sounds nice, ... Ling and Ling, although the pronunciations are different on one side, the pronunciations on the other side are exactly the same, and even the spellings are only slightly different. If this name is used, it is very likely that people will not be able to tell who is who.