Star Railway, starting as Kiana

As time passed, only one copy of the commission remained.

Looking at the request from Konta Village, Ying also swung her somewhat stiff arm, collected the spoils on the ground, and headed towards her final destination.

"Ying, what's the final request?"

"It's for exorcising evil spirits."

When Ying said this, it was unclear whether it was in retaliation for Paimon's provocation earlier.

He looked like a zombie, as if his joints were stiff, turning his head in fits and starts.

After looking at Paimon, Ying suddenly opened her mouth wide.

"Wow!"

"Yeah!"

"Bang!"

Finally, Yingxi received a bullet from Paimon.

It's just that Ying is very agile; otherwise, the feast could have started tomorrow.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. But it's not all my fault, it's all Ying's fault for scaring me on purpose."

"That was close, I almost thought the banquet was about to begin."

Finally, in an awkward atmosphere, both Ying and Paimon apologized, while Kiana took the pistol from Paimon's hand.

"By the way, Kiana, are you saying you're very strong? But do you use firearms to attack?"

"Yes, I am a descendant of the Kaslana family and I am proficient in gunfighting. By shaking my arm while shooting, I can make the bullets curve."

"Huh, really?"

"fake."

"Eh!!!"

As they were about to arrive at the place mentioned in the commission from Konta Village, Paimon seemed to be afraid and started talking frantically, trying to keep the scene from quieting down.

Kiana became Pain's preferred chat character.

There was no way around it, because she knew Ying well. Although Ying was very reliable in important matters, she was utterly useless in trivial matters.

I'm afraid that as soon as I start a conversation with her, she'll steer the conversation in a scary direction.

"Kiana, Kiana, by the way, was what you just said about gun-fu really fake? And also, they all say you're Lord Miyaji's sister. Who is Lord Miyaji? And also, Kiana, aren't you an outsider like Hikari? How did you suddenly meet so many people in Inazuma?"

Paimon kept babbling on and on, so Kiana, in order to stop him from acting like a nagging monk, decided to demonstrate what "gun-fu" was all about.

Under the expectant gazes of Paimon and Luminous, Kiana conjured a pair of exquisite pistols in her hands, and then suddenly fired them without any warning.

But the bullet didn't curve, however...

Ying and Paimon witnessed firsthand what true "gunfighting" really is.

Watching the two bullets seem to come alive, tracing various curves in the air, both Ying and Paimon were dumbfounded.

Paimon was even shaking his wrist, seemingly trying to analyze how "gun-fu" was performed.

Ying, on the other hand, exclaimed that it was unscientific.

Physics no longer exists!

Of course, the shaking gun that made the bullet turn was a fake spirit, (in reality) it was Kisana who used the power of the Void Law V to forcibly control the trajectory of the bullet.

Upon arriving at her destination and seeing the request issued by Konta Village, a place supposedly haunted by ghosts, Kiana's long-buried memories awakened.

"Could it be that the so-called ghosts and monsters are actually Hanarisan?"

However, it's unclear whether Hanari San hasn't woken up yet, or whether Kiana was also there, and it wasn't just Ying visiting alone, so the other party didn't appear.

Ying waited there for a full quarter of an hour, but seeing that nothing happened, she finally gave up.

"Let's go back and rest first, and come back tomorrow."

Kiana was also a little sleepy. After saying goodbye to Ying, she snapped her fingers and returned to her room at Narukami Shrine.

Ying and Paimon exchanged a glance. "Kiana left way too fast. We should have asked her to see us off."

The two then walked back along the original path towards the location of Inazuma Castle.

...

When Kiana returned to her room, she found that the lights were not turned off. Instead, all the lights in the room were on, and in her usual spot on the bed, someone was lying diagonally, flipping through the light novel that Kiana had left there.

Upon noticing Kiana's return, she lazily stretched, her fox-like eyes unconsciously glancing at Kiana, appearing alluring and captivating.

Kiana did feel something was wrong. Just as she was about to leave again, Yae no Miko suddenly closed in from behind and grabbed Kiana's arm.

"Little one, it's so late, what are you planning to do instead of going home?"

"Woo!"

Seeing Yae no Miko's face gradually darken, Kiana experienced a long-lost feeling of impending danger.

In order to protect herself, Kiana chose to act cute.

"嘤嘤嘤!"

...Since that day, Kiana has never seen Luminous again, and according to her memory, when she went to the fox statue, she never found any trace of Luminous.

The next time news about Ying was heard was a week later.

It was just another ordinary day. As soon as it was light, Kiana was woken up by Yae no Miko and had a delicious and substantial breakfast.

After finishing her meal, Yae no Miko didn't go back to her usual routine of staying at Narukami Shrine reading light novels or playing pranks on the shrine maidens who were going to work with barbells. Instead, she spoke seriously to Kiana, who had just finished breakfast:

"You stay here and watch the house today. I have some things to do and may have to go out for a while."

"Don't worry, I'll be back by noon today. I'll bring you dumplings, milk, and tofu when I come back."

"Even if it's slow, it'll only be a day. At the latest, you'll see me again tomorrow morning."

"If someone contacts me, you can ask them to wait, or you can handle it yourself..."

Yae no Miko repeatedly emphasized the precautions.

For example, he should not go out and wander around, nor should he stay out all night. Only then did he leave Narukami Taisha alone.

Kiana watched Yae no Miko leave, then looked at the shrine maidens inside Narukami Shrine, and lazily yawned, intending to go back to her room to catch up on some sleep.

"There are so many problems. I've been here for so long and I haven't seen anyone come to Narukami Shrine to solve the problems. How could someone come knocking on the door as soon as Yae no Miko left?"

As a result, Kiana's jinx worked again.

Chapter 313 Exorcism Ritual

Is Lord Gongsi here?

"what happened?"

Since Yae no Miko was not there and Kiana was still catching up on her sleep, Inashiro Hotaru, who was a shrine maiden, came to the two visitors and asked them what had happened.

“Miss Shrine Maiden, my name is Nanako, and this is my senior apprentice, Junya.”

"Our master seems to be possessed by an evil spirit, he, he..."

"Junior sister, let me speak."

The young man, whom Nanako calls Junya, tells Inashiro Hotaru the story of their master.

"Our master, Tsuchimon, is a successor of the Myokyo Shisui-ryu school. Since we became his disciples, no matter how strong the opponent, he has been able to defeat them with ease..."

Seeing Junya suddenly start introducing their master, Inashiro Hotaru quickly waved her hand, stopping him from continuing.

"No need for introductions, just tell me what happened. Why do you think your master is possessed by an evil spirit?"

"That's how it is." Nanako explained the recent situation of their master.

“My master’s mental state has been very poor these past few days, and sometimes he even goes crazy suddenly.”

When he goes crazy, he mentions names we've never heard of before.

But as soon as we asked, Master retreated to a corner of the room like a trapped beast, his eyes bloodshot, uttering strange words into the empty space ahead.

"In order to prevent Master from having another episode, we stopped asking him questions when he was acting strangely, but it had no effect at all."

He even treated us like other people. After his illness started, he would suddenly start shouting and making a scene even if I didn't say anything.

Even after his master left, he never touched the sword again, and would mutter to himself from time to time, as if he were talking to someone.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's all my fault."

"I'm sorry, I'll never touch a sword again. I'm such an idiot."

Upon hearing this, Yingmei from Daocheng also concluded that their master's current condition was due to possession by an evil spirit.

Out of caution, she asked again, "Have you seen a doctor? Are you sure it's not an illness, or that he/she has gone crazy due to some kind of shock?"

“We’ve tried everything, but nothing has worked. They just prescribed some calming medication, but it had no effect whatsoever.”

"Like This."

After some thought, Inashiro Hotaru proposed two options for the two of them to choose from.

"The Palace Master is away on business. If you don't want to remember, you can wait until the Palace Master returns."

Alternatively, I could perform the exorcism ritual, but I have no way of finding out the reason why the two masters were possessed.

"An exorcism ritual will suffice, please, Miss Shrine Maiden."

Seeing that the two of them made the decision without hesitation.

Inashiro Hotaru continued, "You two should go back first. The exorcism ritual needs to be performed after nightfall. I also need to prepare some materials for the ritual. You two can go back and clean your rooms to make a suitable place for the ritual."

After thanking them repeatedly, the two returned to their dojo and began preparing for the exorcism ceremony that evening.

Instead of immediately retrieving the materials needed for the ceremony, Inashiro Hotaru went to Kiana's door and gently knocked a few times.

Before Inashiro Hotaru could wait long, Kiana's somewhat languid voice came from inside.

"What's wrong? Is it lunchtime?"

"Lady Kiana, an evil spirit is suspected to have appeared at a Taoist temple in the city. In order to perform an exorcism ritual, we need to go out and purchase some materials."

"Hmm? Going out to buy groceries? Why did you ask me to come? Do you need me to come along?"

Kiana wasn't fully awake yet and thought that Inashiro Hotaru had called her to ask her to go shopping with her.

Meanwhile, Inashiro Hotaru, who was outside the door, was slightly moved when she heard Kiana's words, but she quickly suppressed the thought.

"It's like this, because I need to go out and the High Priest is not here, so I need to ask you for permission, Kiana-sama."

"Hmm? Just go, and you don't need to call me 'sir,' it feels weird."

"Okay, Kiana."

And so, because no one disturbed her, Kiana slept until the afternoon.

Even after Kiana woke up, she still hadn't seen Yae no Miko return.

"Is she not coming back tonight?"

Kiana walked through Narukami Shrine while munching on snacks.

Just then, Yingmei Inashiro returned, carrying large bags and bundles; anyone who didn't know better would have thought she was moving house.

"Does an exorcism ritual really require so many things?"

"Kiana, these are snacks and fried tofu for you."

Inashiro Hotaru opened the big bag, and inside were all sorts of packaged snacks and pastries, bottles of dango milk, light novels, and fried tofu wrapped in oil paper.

Inashiro Hotaru then took out a small bag from her bosom; those were the materials needed for the exorcism ritual.

"Then I'll leave first."

After putting down the bag, Inashiro Hotaru planned to return the way she came and head towards the dojo.

"Hotumi."

"Ok?"

When she heard Kiana call her name, Inashiro Hotaru stopped in her tracks.

Kiana waved her hand, put away the large bag of snacks and pastries, and came to Inashiro Hotaru's side, taking her hand.