Beng San, I have an unfinished date with her

Yae Sakura was heading to the side room behind the shrine, so naturally she followed.

In the guest room, Yae Sakura took out the bedding from other rooms and spread it on the tatami. At the same time, she asked curiously: "Mr. Takashi, are you only staying for one night?"

Takashi originally said that he could lay it out by himself, but Yae Sakura said that the visitor was a guest and she could do it.

Long rubbed his chin and thought for a while before returning: "Well... I haven't thought about it at first, but I just encountered several monster attacks along the way... There is something uneasy around here. I feel that I need to be here." Stay in the village for a short period of time to see if it returns to normal. If possible, Miss Yae, can you let me rent this shrine? Don’t worry, I will pay for the room and board."

Yae Sakura stood up and said with a smile: "No need, Mr. Takashi."

"There is no problem with the food and accommodation provided by the shrine for one more person, so you don't have to pay for it. Moreover, the coins of Yae Village are different from those of the outside world. Don't worry, Mr. Takashi, you can just stay here."

"Really..." Long scratched his hair: "This kind of freeloading behavior is quite strange."

Yae Sakura chuckled and said: "If Mr. Takashi feels uncomfortable, you can go with me to eliminate the monsters, or help me patrol the village and its surroundings. After all, I am the only guardian of Yae Village, and monsters have appeared recently. The frequency is indeed a bit high, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to take care of the village by myself, so Mr. Lailong’s arrival is an unexpected surprise for me.”

"Then I'd rather be respectful than obey. Let me share part of Miss Yae's work as my room and board expenses."

Yae Sakura nodded, walked out and said: "The third room over there is the bathroom. Mr. Takashi, please use it if you need it. There is water and firewood in it. As for drinking water, there is water in the kitchen. I have to go to the village for a walk. It’s so late, Mr. Long, please rest as soon as possible.”

"Shall I go with you?" Takashi said, looking at Yae Sakura who was walking to the door.

"No need. Tonight, Mr. Takashi, just think of yourself as Mr. Takashi who is here for a trip. How about starting work tomorrow?" Yae Sakura asked with a chuckle. The feeling given to her by just getting along with Takashi was not bad, no. Like a bad guy.

"Well - since you said so, Ms. Yae, then I will stay here tonight."

"Well, good night, Mr. Takashi." After saying that, Yae Sakura closed the sliding door and left.

Takashi stayed in the room and lay on the quilt for a while. In his perception, Yae Sakura had left the shrine and headed for the village.

Takashi stood up and started exploring the shrine.

There is nothing in the sacrificial hall in the center of the shrine. There is only a shrine and a knife with a very exquisite pattern. I don’t know what the god is. It is probably a remote village’s own belief or nature worship, or it is some kind of agricultural god. Yeah, nothing to worry about.

He looked around everywhere except Yae Sakura's bedroom, but didn't find anything strange.

"..."

"Want to go in? It's not very good."

Just when Takashi was struggling, he sensed someone coming outside the shrine, it was Yae Sakura.

Long quickly returned to his room, lay down on the quilt, and adjusted his breathing rate and body state to sleep.

Yae Sakura came to his room and listened for a while, then left and returned to her room. She originally planned to ask Takashi something, but she heard that he had already fallen asleep, so she couldn't disturb him anymore.

Yae Sakura changed out of her clothes and came to the bathroom.

Scooping up a basin of cold water and pouring it on her head, she couldn't help but whisper: "Long pink hair, carrying a long knife at the waist, learned superb swordsmanship, the only relatives...sisters."

"Is there really someone like me in this world...What are her and her sister's names..."

"My father once said that there will be someone in this world who is almost exactly like me..."

"If it is true, I wish the sisters can live a good life..."

"cold..."

Yae Sakura became a little excited. She scooped up another gourd of water and doused herself completely. In this not-so-hot weather, the water at night was actually quite cold. Her body trembled slightly, as if this could calm her down. Come down.

"Ok?"

She just entered the bathroom with a worried and melancholy mind, so she didn't notice at first that there was some heat and mist in the room.

She looked at the corner of the bathroom, where a bucket of water had been boiled. She reached out and touched it. The water temperature was very suitable...

Takashi burned it when he was exploring the shrine. He didn't need it, but Miss Yae must be very tired from killing demons and patrolling late at night.

Yae Sakura showed a faint smile: "Thank you."

Change comes quietly: 140. Two people on patrol

The night passed, and the dark room was illuminated by sunlight that filtered through the oil paper on the sliding door window.

The clear blue sky above Yae Village and the chirping of mountain birds wake up Takashi.

"Click, click—" The sound from the bamboo water clock behind the shrine made Takashi open his eyes.

"Unfamiliar ceiling..."

"Let's go take a walk in the village."

.....

"Da da."

He stood up and put the bedding in the corner of the room. Just as he was about to walk towards the door, he heard footsteps coming along the floor of the corridor outside the door. It was Yae Sakura.

She knocked on the doorframe and asked, "Mr. Long, are you awake?"

"Good morning, Miss Yae, I'm ready to come in."

"it is good."

"Huh? Miss Yae, what are you doing?"

Yae Sakura slightly moved the square wooden tray in her hand and said: "The breakfast prepared for you. The village is located in a remote place and cannot be compared with the outside towns, so there are no outstanding ingredients, only simple food. Please forgive me, Mr. Wanglong."

On the tray were two simple triangular rice balls, a small plate of salted radish, and a bowl of vegetable soup.

No matter how simple the ingredients are, after all, they are prepared for you to eat, even Takashi doesn't need to eat at all.

Takashi quickly walked over and continued: "Thank you, Miss Yae, it's already very good. Only some food in the outside towns can be so rich."

Long sat down cross-legged, picked up the rice ball and started eating.

"Ha~~ As long as you don't hate it." Yae Sakura was sitting not far from the tray, raising her hand to slightly cover her face and smiling.

While Long was eating, the two also started chatting.

"Uh... By the way, Miss Yae, have you eaten?"

"Don't worry, I've already eaten."

"Oh...well, the pickles taste good. Ms. Yae, do you have anything to do today?"

"It's nothing. What I have to do as a miko is very simple. As I told you before, daily martial arts and swordsmanship training, patrolling in and around the village and surrounding roads, helping the villagers, holding rituals on important days, etc. ."

Yae Sakura chuckled and said: "I don't know why after so many years. Although the village is not big, I always don't have much spare time every day. Daily exercise and several patrols can consume a lot of spare time."

"Really...how about this, Miss Yae?" Takashi said, choking on a mouthful of rice balls and drinking some vegetable soup.

"Well, what?"

"On the days when I live here, let's alternate patrols. You can rest while I patrol today, so that Ms. Yae can have a lot of free time to do what she wants to do."

"...Ah, oh...well, that's not impossible."

"And since I am living here until things return to normal, I must be in contact with the villagers, and I have to make them familiar with me so that it is more convenient, isn't it?"

Yae Sakura hesitated: "Well, that's not bad. Let me take you through the route and see the situation in the village today."

"Listen to Miss Yae's instructions. You are the master, aren't you~"

"Well, this is what the master should do." Yae Sakura's expression was obviously stunned for a moment, and then she returned to her normal smile and responded to Takashi.

"Thank you for the hospitality." Long said politely after finishing the food.

Yae Sakura picked up the tray on the ground and said, "Mr. Takashi, please wait a moment. I will wash it and then go to the village."

"Excuse me, Miss Yae, I'll go take a look at the cliff."

Yae Sakura didn't say anything, smiled and walked towards the kitchen.

Takashi took off the two long knives next to the clothes hanger and put them on his waist. He went to the cliff outside the shrine and looked into the distance.

It's a good day. The weather is very good. The mountain village stands in this lush valley. The villagers go to work in the farmland around the village. The old women are doing their own handicrafts or food processing at home. Some of them are strong in the river. They are catching fish, or hunting across the mountains. They are the most dangerous ones. After all, the concentration of Honkai energy has been a little bad lately.

There are only a small number of children in the village running around in the passages of the village with toys made of various simple materials. The smiles on their faces are very obvious. .

It is a very dynamic village. It can still maintain such a life in this remote place. Compared with many places outside where there are constant wars and disputes, it is already a very good life.

But...Takashi looked in one direction of the village.

Can such a village support such a castle tower?

Supporting a shrine like Yae Shrine is barely enough. Such a huge castle tower... has exceeded the productivity of the far east village in this era.

Even at this time, there were not many castle towers that big in the entire Far East.

Check it out again if you have a chance.

"Mr. Long, let's go."

"Ok."

While he was watching, Yae Sakura took care of everything. She put on long leather boots over her thigh-high white stockings, slung the long knife she saw last night around her waist, and walked down the stairs to Longxiang. beside.

In order to let Takashi remember the patrol route, Yae Sakura began to lead Takashi along the mountain road outside the village.

There are no people on the mountain road outside the village now. The villagers are working and living on that side, including hunting and fishing. After all, the shrine is built on the mountain and the terrain is too high. Generally, people will not go this way. Naturally so do hunters.

The two of them walked through a cemetery with many tombstones. Yae Sakura stayed in front of one of the tombstones for a while, but Takashi didn't ask any questions.

They also passed a small worship place composed of a huge stone and several much smaller stones, probably made by the villagers. The huge stone was also wrapped with thick pillars and ropes made of a lot of materials, and there were many other things beside it. There are few things such as tributes, materials, pottery pots and the like.

He also asked Yae Sakura what she was doing.

"Miss Yae, what are these stones?"

"Well...it's a worship item, a part of the gods worshiped by the villagers, not just a shrine."

"Then what kind of gods do the villagers worship?"

“…”

"I have no idea..."

As the shrine maiden in charge of Yae Shrine in Yae Village, she actually said that she didn't know what kind of god she was worshiping...

This answer is a bit unexpected.

Yae Sakura's confused expression piqued his interest, and Takashi continued to ask: "Miss Yae, what do you think of this god? Will it fulfill everyone's wishes?"

"..."

Yae Sakura was completely silent, and the two of them walked forward in silence for a while before she said: "I don't know... God, it seems that everyone's wishes have been fulfilled, but it seems that... the wishes have not been fulfilled."

"Huh?" Takashi looked at Yae Sakura's side face. A somewhat disappointed and hesitant look continued to float on her face, making her face as beautiful as Sakura covered in haze and sadness.

“…”

"Nothing, let's continue."

Although Yae Sakura didn't intend to answer... But Takashi could guess...

The god of Yae Village probably has some price... This kind of thing is very cliché, but very useful. It is a way left by humans in this regard, and it still exists even in remote areas of civilization in the last era.

Thinking of the huge shrine but only Yae Sakura came to see it, Takashi had a guess. Her relatives might have paid the price for that kind of sacrificial activity in the past or at a certain time...

And when I told the story about the sisters Sakura and Suzu, Yae Sakura's excited look and mood...

Long felt that he should have guessed almost exactly.

.....

Half an hour later, they were gradually able to meet pedestrians and villagers on the road around the village. The terrain was relatively gentle, and they had reached the road around the village.

It was much calmer during the day than at night, and Takashi didn't sense any strong accumulation of Honkai energy or reactions from Honkai beasts along the way.

Yae Sakura's status in the village is quite good. The villagers greeted her kindly and even gave her some food.

But Long's arrival...

It's obvious that they don't welcome outsiders.

When the two came to the center of the village, Long was surrounded by the villagers, but they all stayed at least five meters away. After all, Long's clothes with strange metal pieces and the two long knives on his waist were all very different. It shows that he is different from ordinary people. Most of them are "samurai-sama" from the outside world.

So a very funny situation occurred. The villagers surrounded Long, but no one dared to approach him.

When Long moved forward, the crowd in front of him would also start to panic, and start to retreat in obvious panic, causing the people behind them to grumble, and Long couldn't help but feel full of humor.

Change comes quietly: 141. Panic Yae Village

"Get out of my way, what are you doing!?"