Miketsu, with her black hair and black eyes, put away the unexpectedly acquired white pearl. She glanced at a pile of corpses not far away, thought for a moment, then clasped her hands and bowed to them, wishing in her heart for their swift reincarnation and that they would not encounter yokai in their next lives.
"Lady... Lady Uka, you are a deity! You cannot bow to mortals!" Tsuruha, seeing Miketsu's action, grew anxious and quickly spoke.
"Life and death are of great importance. This is merely a small wish, nothing significant." Miketsu sighed faintly and replied to her divine messenger. At the same time, she was muttering to herself that although they were already dead, it was still not right to take someone's belongings without a thought. Expressing a little sentiment was a way to console herself.
"Life and death are of great importance..." Tsuruha mulled over the meaning of Miketsu's words, gradually falling into deep thought. Just then, Tsuruha suddenly sensed a fluctuation of spiritual power. She immediately turned her head and saw a figure that had appeared in the distance.
Having learned the basics of Onmyojutsu and used spiritual power, Miketsu also had some ability to sense it. She followed Tsuruha's gaze and saw a man.
Dressed in a magnificent Kariginu, wearing a court cap with a dangling tail, his face proper and solemn, he appeared to be in his thirties or forties but had no beard. Fujiwara no Saneyori stood alone on the scorched earth.
An onmyoji? Have these guys finally arrived? Their speed is comparable to the Hong Kong police. Seeing the newcomer's attire, Miketsu let out a slight sigh of relief. It was a good thing; now she had a place to turn in the magatama.
With a peculiar light in his eyes, Fujiwara no Saneyori sensed the residual spiritual power in the air. He surveyed the scorched earth, the forest of charred tree trunks, the shattered boulders, the cratered ground, and the twitching pieces of rotten flesh scattered everywhere.
"Truly a sight to behold..." Seemingly sensing the intensity of the recent battle from his surroundings, Fujiwara no Saneyori sighed deeply. His gaze finally settled on the only living person on the battlefield—the young girl standing amidst countless glimmers of spiritual light, Miketsu.
"This yokai... was it you who vanquished it?"
Fujiwara no Saneyori's question made Miketsu pause for a moment. Not wanting to cause too much trouble, she didn't want to admit it directly, but there was no one else to blame. So, she answered with some reluctance.
"It was us..."
He wondered if she considered her shikigami a companion. But in the world of onmyoji, shikigami were merely a part of one's power. Fujiwara no Saneyori couldn't help but think as he glanced at Tsuruha beside Miketsu.
"I was very curious as to who among the trial candidates could contend with this yokai for so long and ultimately vanquish it. I never imagined it would be such a young girl. If I may ask, where do you come from? And under whom did you study?" Fujiwara no Saneyori continued, now filled with curiosity about the girl before him.
Miketsu grew flustered at the question. She had no idea how to answer the onmyoji. She couldn't very well say she came from Inari Mountain and that her master was a self-taught onmyoji named Yura.
Miketsu thought carefully before finally answering.
"I come from the south, and my teachings are from scrolls."
"The south? Scrolls?"
Hearing Miketsu's words, Fujiwara no Saneyori couldn't help but ponder.
The south? Is it Iga or Yamato? Or perhaps even further, Ise or Kii? Hearing Miketsu's words, Fujiwara no Saneyori unconsciously began to guess at the regions in the southern part of the Kinki area. But he would never have imagined that while Miketsu did indeed come from the south, it wasn't as far as he thought—just in the southern suburbs of Heian-kyo, on Inari Mountain in Fushimi, less than half an hour's walk from the Rajomon gate.
As for her teachings being from scrolls, Fujiwara no Saneyori automatically interpreted this to mean that the girl before him might have unexpectedly obtained some rare book and cultivated the training methods and secret arts recorded within. But he didn't know that these so-called rare books were just a collection of unorthodox onmyojutsu scrolls that Yura had gathered from various places.
At this thought, a hint of eagerness appeared in Fujiwara no Saneyori's eyes. As the Senior Secretary of Onmyodo for the Fujiwara family, he didn't covet one or two rare books; rather, he was more interested in Miketsu's aptitude. To be able to cultivate to such a level simply by understanding the contents of scrolls on her own could only mean she possessed a once-in-a-century talent, perhaps even comparable to the unparalleled genius of Onmyodo who had emerged a few years ago—Abe no Seimei!
At only thirteen or fourteen, she possessed power exceeding that of a Senior Assistant and could subjugate such a powerful yokai. It was hard to imagine how much she could grow in the future. Secretly, Fujiwara no Saneyori already considered Miketsu a genius of Onmyodo on par with Seimei.
Of course, he didn't completely believe Miketsu's words. It was just that he hoped what she said was true—that she was simply a talented young girl with no master or school.
Because if that were the case, he would have the upper hand. Once she entered the Onmyoryo, he could immediately take her as his disciple and have her join the Fujiwara family. Such a malleable talent would surely achieve extraordinary things in the future, and the Fujiwara family would gain a powerful ally.
Ever since Kamo no Tadayuki took on a genius like Abe no Seimei as his apprentice, the elders of the major onmyoji families had been extremely jealous. And now, such a god-given opportunity had appeared right before Fujiwara no Saneyori.
Just as Fujiwara no Saneyori was about to say something more, he suddenly saw the black-haired girl walk towards him. In her hands, she held more than ten magatama.
Miketsu walked up to Fujiwara no Saneyori, took out one magatama from her hand, and offered it to him.
"Here. This is for the trial. I've passed, right?"
Suddenly finding himself in the role of an examiner, Fujiwara no Saneyori couldn't help but smile. After taking the magatama, he glanced at Miketsu's hands, where many more remained.
"You've passed, yes. But you still have many more there, don't you? Why not turn in a few more?" Fujiwara no Saneyori's meaning was clear: one needed to collect five magatama to enter the Onmyoryo.
"I'm only turning in one."
Miketsu answered directly, and her response slightly surprised Fujiwara no Saneyori.
"You don't wish to enter the Onmyoryo?"
"I'm sorry, I don't wish to be overly constrained. I only participated in this trial to find another avenue for learning," Miketsu said, reciting her prepared lines.
Fujiwara no Saneyori was a little surprised by Miketsu's attitude, but not overly so. After all, it was understandable for geniuses to have their eccentricities.
Understanding Miketsu's intentions, Fujiwara no Saneyori didn't try to persuade her, but instead began to consider other strategies in his mind.
Just then, another disturbance came from the forest. A group of onmyoji dressed in kariginu emerged from the woods onto the scorched earth. Amid their astonishment, they found Fujiwara no Saneyori, who had already arrived, and immediately gathered around him.
"Lord Saneyori!"
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