You say this is a love game?

She said, "Just take it, Master Mizutani."

"Is it really possible?"

"That's natural. It's your trophy... I'm glad you could free it."

Chidori was floating nearby.

This was not the first time that Mizutani Makoto had arrived at the school building with Chidorimaru, but this time without the distraction of the mission, Chidori could calm down and observe Furuya Ruriko.

After a while, she nodded slightly.

Tang Shizi will only follow people with both moral integrity and talent.

In ancient times, people who had both high moral standards and outstanding talents were generally called "sages."

And if someone can gain Tang Shizi's approval, it can basically be concluded that this person must be extremely outstanding.

However, she always felt that there was something strange about the way her sword master interacted with this witch.

Makoto Mizutani has special respect for Ruriko Furuya.

And Furuya Ruriko even addressed him as "you" and often called him "Ms. Mizutani", which showed her great respect.

This made Chidori a little confused.

Are both of them so polite?

"And..."

"Are there too many women around him?"

Chidori couldn't help but glance at Mizutani Makoto.

To be honest, as a Youdao princess who was born a hundred years ago, Chidori belongs to the very retro feudal school.

Just like how a fighter can not drink?

Beauty and hero, this topic has been a hot topic of discussion since ancient times.

Chidori has witnessed the complicated emotional and private life of her sword master in recent days.

First, Gong Shui Daoyu pressed him to the ground and bit his mouth.

Then he hugged and kissed Mai Yajima, and secretly decided to spend their lives together - in Chidori's opinion, it was indeed a secret promise to spend their lives together.

How to say this?

"Scumbag."

Just as she thought.

Those who play dual swords do have a bit of a jerk and scumbag nature.

Logically speaking, Chidori shouldn't care about these things. After all, she wants to follow a hero, and it's not unacceptable for a hero to have some romantic feelings... But the previous generation of "Raikirimaru" was too innocent and actually followed the sword master. This makes Chidori's views in certain areas always have a bit of "pure love" filter.

Dedicated, good.

Amorous, bad.

Fortunately, Chidori's essence is a sword, and she has no involvement in Mizutani Makoto's slightly complicated love life... So, for now, she just ignores it and doesn't think about the love life of this bastard sword master. This "inhuman" stance makes her at most... slightly dissatisfied.

Humph, don't get me wrong.

She didn't want Mizutani Makoto to pay more attention to her "favorite sword".

She just felt that the other side of the pairing of beauty and hero is that the hero is buried in the land of gentleness. Falling in love with little girls every day might wipe out the sword master's great wish.

It would be better to have no woman in your heart and just draw your sword like a god!

"Fool."

After this train of thought, I have jumped from the initial observation to the stage of wild speculation.

At this moment, Furuya Ruriko looked at Chidori.

"This spirit core should be of great help to your Demon Sword Princess."

"Also, this fire thunder is also... your Yao Dao Ji, who possesses one of the eight colors of thunder, right? I had Tang Shizi following me before, so I can sense the aura of this kind of thunder... You can also give the fire thunder to your Yao Dao Ji, it will definitely be helpful to her."

As for the final [Lion Auspicious Cloud Tail], Furuya Ruriko said that this was another material.

"If it were used normally for forging swords, it would be a waste."

"It can only be used to forge tools or protective gear to realize its true usefulness."

In other words, this is the material for armor.

Mizutani Makoto has accumulated a lot of unused materials in his backpack, such as the Gap Girl, the Gyuto Bird, and now the Tang Lion. The materials dropped by these BOSSes cannot be used to strengthen the knives, which is a pity.

We need to find an armor forger, or someone who can forge accessories and props.

"I have the [Scissors of Hate and Sorrow] that just dropped, which can be used to forge knives."

As mentioned before, as a demon sword princess, Chidori's body, Chidorimaru, also needs to be strengthened, and her strengthening does not need to be hammered by a swordsmith, but only needs to be fed with materials and accumulated slowly.

Moreover, when Chidorimaru fuses materials, it can probabilistically obtain certain special properties based on the "compatibility" of the materials.

"But this thing's compatibility with Chidori is too bad, Chidori doesn't want to eat it."

Still the same problem.

Chidori is the Thunder Blade. Giving her an evil thing to eat... is no different from giving her a bowl of Lao Ba Happy Meal and asking her to swallow it. If you force her into a corner, she will explode and electrocute you.

After talking about the items dropped by Tang Shizi, the only thing left is [Kagura Hokorin].

"This is a tool used to open up 'space'."

Furuya Ruriko held the Kagura Hokorin in her hand and shook it gently, and immediately a crisp sound spread out.

Mizutani Makoto stared at the swinging hoko bell, and it seemed that tiny ripples were spreading in the air.

"For example, using it to travel between the rift and the real world."

Furuya Ruriko said.

"This magical weapon can help people enter the crevice, and it can also help people escape from the crevice."

"Of course, getting into the crevice isn't particularly difficult; the hard part is getting out... Once you're inside, just shake the hokorin, and it'll open the portal in half a minute at most. But if you want to escape, you need to give the hokorin time to build up its strength."

"Back then, I gave this hokorin to my shikigami, hoping it could use it to escape."

Ruriko Furuya tells the story.

At the beginning, she tried to let Tang Shizi take the hokorin and escape from the gap, but the hokorin was severely damaged at the beginning, and the time required to open the portal was greatly extended, which prevented Tang Shizi from escaping. Furuya Ruriko had no choice but to order him to kill the evil spirit at the school gate.

A tool used to break through cracks and channels in reality?

Makoto Mizutani took the hoko bell from Ruriko Furuya, and the shrine maiden gave it to him as well.

But the purpose of this thing...

He couldn't possibly use it to connect the real world with the rift...

Mizutani Makoto thought to himself.

He is not stupid. The crack is eroding the world. He would like to seal the crack forever or even destroy it. How could he use this magic weapon to open up a path?

What should we do if we inadvertently deepen the erosion of the cracks on the real world?

"But it has other uses, it can also break the seal."

Furuya Ruriko reminded.

"For you, it would be more useful to help you, Master Mizutani, open up some previously impassable roads."

As she spoke, Furuya Ruriko stood up.

The shrine maiden pointed towards the stairs of the school building.

There was a basement level in the school building, and the level below that was blocked by something resembling tree roots.

Mizutani Makoto understood immediately.

The boy's eyes lit up and he immediately thanked Furuya Ruriko. Then he pulled up Chidori who was still thinking, and planned to continue advancing to the key area of ​​the map.

Of course, it doesn’t refer to the basement floor of the school building.

Mizutani Makoto is planning to do something big:

"The road blocked by tree roots isn't just the basement level of the school building."

"I once used a candlestick to shine on footprints under a cherry tree... There's also a secret spot beneath the cherry tree, entangled by its roots."

"The footprints usually reveal a small treasury... and there may also be other props."

The basement floor of the school building is most likely a hidden map.

The hidden place under the cherry tree was illuminated by the candlestick, and it was most likely a small treasury.

Besides, the cherry blossom tree plays a very important role in the story of the Hiiragihara family.

The old Onmyoji and the old monk, two key NPCs, buried Nue's bones under a cherry tree. This tree can even be related to the spiritual vein.

Regardless of the consideration from which angle, Mizutani Makoto wanted to reveal the key information about the cherry tree first.

Mizutani Makoto stood in front of the vermilion torii gate of the school building. As the faint light like fireflies spread out, the boy's figure disappeared from the school building and appeared in the atrium surrounded by teaching buildings.

"it's here!"

Following the flickering light of the candle, Mizutani Makoto once again arrived at the place where the roots of the cherry trees were intertwined.

The thick tree roots coiled around the ground like a giant python, crisscrossing each other. When he touched them, he felt a faint warmth from the roots. But when he tried to exert force, the steel-hard touch immediately rebounded from the roots.

[The roots of the cherry tree reject you.]

The lush yet familiar pop-up window appeared before my eyes.

He had expected this.

Mizutani Makoto took out the [Kagura Hokorin] from his backpack. The sacred bell that symbolized the three sacred artifacts flew high into the sky under Mizutani Makoto's astonished gaze, and then began to shake on its own.

Jingle bell~

Jingle bell~

The clear and melodious ringtone echoed in the silence.

The sound was not harsh, but it carried a thrill that penetrated the soul.

Silver light flickered, and circles of faint but sacred light turned into ripples, slowly spreading in the air, spreading in all directions, touching every inch of land and every leaf.

And the roots of the cherry tree... also began to respond.

Under Mizutani Makoto's gaze, the roots that had been motionless began to slowly wriggle, squeezing each other and making low, rough friction sounds. Some roots tried to slide to the sides, while others did the opposite, tightening towards the middle as if in opposition. The two completely different states caused the roots of the cherry tree to become rigid.

The seal is loosening.

At this moment——

Another pop-up window appeared in front of Mizutani Makoto.

[Remaining time: 47:59:44]

Mizutani Makoto looked at the string of words and couldn't help showing surprise.

"Will it take two days to open the area blocked by the cherry tree roots?"

Mizutani Makoto looked at the description of Kagura Hokorin again. Under the special notes, there was indeed a description of it being damaged, and its effect now was much weaker than before.

"It must have continued."

Mizutani Makoto has already come this far.

He had even cut off the life of the strongest BOSS he had ever encountered, Tang Shizi, and guided the Slit-mouthed Woman back to dust. He had crossed many life and death experiences just to get one step closer to the truth about the Private Hiiragiyama Academy. No matter how long it took, the place under the tree had to be opened.

Mizutani Makoto tried it.

This Kagura Hokorin does not require him to watch it all the time. A large amount of spiritual power was drained from it the moment it was activated. Now, as long as he puts it here, it will break the seal under the cherry tree on its own.

"Fully automatic."

Mizutani Makoto couldn't help but admire:

“This is really good stuff.”

Since it is fully automatic, Mizutani Makoto doesn't need to be here all the time.

Considering that there is no BOSS in the rift now, and the place where Kagura Hokorin is floating is a safe area without monsters, Mizutani Makoto let Kagura Hokorin break the seal here, while he himself went to clean up other areas.