There were a few things about this book that I talked about a few days ago, but considering that some readers might skip chapters, I'll go over the most important point again.
—How much longer will you be writing about Izumo?
At four thousand words a day, there's still quite a while to go. I definitely won't be able to finish this arc in just a few tens of thousands of words, but I'll definitely finish it and move on to the next arc this month.
I won't spoil anything else.
Since the book is going on sale, let's take this opportunity to talk about it.
I won't ask for votes or subscriptions or anything like that. The results are a complete mess, and I don't have any expectations for tomorrow's launch. The average number of subscriptions definitely won't exceed a thousand.
As for the bounty, forget it. I can't pay it back, and with these results, setting up a bounty would be somewhat humiliating.
How should I put it? I probably have just one fixation regarding this book: I want to get perfect attendance at least once.
I've been writing books for many years, but I've always had to stop and start again for various reasons. I've never managed to update continuously for thirty days. Even when I've written more than 200,000 words in a month, there have always been a few days when I dropped the ball. My habit of not stockpiling chapters has kept me from getting perfect attendance.
It's become a fixation of mine, so I want to set a small goal for myself here: to get perfect attendance once with this book.
In August, I'll do my best to overcome every obstacle and try to achieve the highest level of perfect attendance—updating 300,000 words in a month. I'm not very confident, but people have to have dreams, right?
Chapter Sixty-Four: Whale Monster.
Sirin bought one of everything on Kiana's list that could be purchased, while the funds she hadn't used were temporarily left with Kiana.
Kiana watched Sirin store the items in Imaginary Space and began wondering whether she could use the space that came with Phase Shift as a warehouse.
She would try it next time.
"Are you going back today?"
Sirin accepted the gift Kiana gave her and immediately sensed the changes in her body, which made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.
"Going back? Back where?"
"Aren't you supposed to be very busy?"
"Who said that?"
Sirin could only vaguely sense the changes, but she still couldn't be completely sure what had happened to her. She said, "I can take a vacation whenever I want."
She would find an open area later and test what exactly those vague changes were.
But after hearing her words, Kiana stared at her in shock. "You get vacations?"
Sirin immediately became displeased.
"Is it strange that I get vacation time? Tsumugari no Kami died, and more than a thousand years passed before Amatsukami appeared. After Amatsukami died, it took more than a decade for Takemikazuchi to appear. Only when an Oni God of that level appears am I required to be there. Think about it—more than a decade! If I had to run around killing things every day, I'd have broken down long ago. We Blade Masters are people too, not actual blades. Even if we were blades, chopping things nonstop would wear us down, right? So what's strange about us having vacations? When we aren't killing Oni Gods, we're just ordinary people."
She seemed to care about this point a great deal, so she rattled off a long string of words without stopping.
"That makes sense..."
Sirin had said so much in one breath that Kiana couldn't get a word in. She didn't dare say anything else and could only laugh awkwardly.
What was wrong with my brain?
How could I ask such a question?
"Why don't you stay in Changkong City for a while?"
She suggested it, trying to make up for her mistake.
"...I'm afraid I can't."
Sirin's confidence fell as she complained, "I have to hurry to Shanhai City. The Command Center said there was an energy reaction from a top-tier Kishin over there."
Kiana: "..."
So essentially, she wasn't leaving today only because she had something urgent to deal with tomorrow?
With such heavy responsibilities on her shoulders, how could Sirin freely take vacations or simply choose not to handle matters?
Considering Sirin's reaction just now, Kiana wisely decided not to cause trouble for herself. Instead, she became intensely interested in the top-tier Kishin and Shanhai City she had mentioned.
She was a one-punch wonder now and wanted to find something durable enough to test her strength against. Wasn't the top-tier Kishin Sirin had mentioned the perfect target?
"Can you take me with you?"
Kiana said excitedly, "I've never seen a top-tier Kishin before!"
"But you've already seen Takemikazuchi."
Sirin offered a small complaint.
"Takemikazuchi is Takemikazuchi."
Kiana became unhappy. "How can they be the same?"
Sirin thought about it. Taking Kiana along didn't seem to be a problem. After all, Kiana wasn't an ordinary person without the ability to defend herself.
"You want to come with me?"
"And Mei!"
Kiana said, "I'll go ask Mei later whether she wants to come."
"Fine."
When Sirin thought that Raiden Mei might come too, she suddenly felt more relaxed. "If she's willing to go, we'll let her use the Kishin in Shanhai City to test her blade."
Top-tier Kishin were the strongest class of evil spirits beneath the Twelve Oni Gods. They were perfect for testing the blades of Edict Blade users.
"Leave it to Mei?"
"Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on you."
Sirin patted her chest and said confidently, "I won't let you get hurt."
If they went together, their safety would indeed be greatly improved, and they could confidently try some bolder tactics.
"I'll go ask Mei what she thinks."
Although she was already very tempted, she didn't want to agree on Mei's behalf.
Outside, Yae Sakura and Mei had already finished their conversation. Mei had learned some things from Yae Sakura that she hadn't known before.
Some concerned Kiana.
Others concerned her father.
For example, after her father had been wounded on the battlefield and Sirin had brought him the news that she had become a Resonating Blade wielder, her father had voluntarily left the battlefield and transferred to a research institute.
How should she put it?
As his biological daughter, even Mei hadn't known that her father possessed this talent. But perhaps something similar had happened before, because she surprisingly didn't find it strange.
"What have you two been talking about?"
"We're almost done."
When Mei saw that it was Kiana, she smiled. "Are you and Miss Sirin finished with your business too?"
"We've reached a stopping point."
Kiana walked over in two steps and excitedly said to Mei, "Sirin is going to Shanhai City to kill a Kishin. Why don't we go with her and broaden our horizons?"
"Shanhai City?"
Mei blinked. As a native of Izumo, she had heard of the city called Shanhai City. It was far more developed than Changkong City and was famous as a technological capital. Its permanent population alone was several times that of Changkong City.
It was also a coastal city by the sea.
Its commerce was exceptionally prosperous as well.
"Yes. Sirin said there's a top-tier Kishin there, and if we go, she'll let us use it to practice."
"According to the latest information from over there, they've named that Kishin Whale Monster. It's a ghostly bone fish larger than a whale. It emerged from the shadows beneath the sea yesterday evening, but it seems to have been affected by the energy known as Honkai as well. So far, it hasn't made any other moves."
Honkai again.
And it was among the strongest Kishin beneath Takemikazuchi's level.
Kiana suddenly fell silent.
It wasn't because she was afraid the enemy was too strong. It was because a sudden disaster had struck a coastal city, and the situation was related to Honkai. She couldn't help associating it with similar incidents.
"Whale Monster?"
A Kishin that required Sirin to make the trip was definitely no ordinary creature. At the very least, it would be an enemy that required them to draw their blades and take the fight seriously.
Kiana wanted to go too.
"If we won't cause her any trouble, then let's go together."
Mei replied, "Shanhai City is fairly well-known in Izumo. It's worth visiting."
"It won't be any trouble. This job was originally supposed to fall to you."
Mei was left speechless.
Yae Sakura had already told her that Sirin had said this because she had taken Kiana's Honkai into consideration. Sirin hoped that the Command Center would discover and study Honkai first, and then encounter Kiana, who could provide assistance.
That was why Sirin told the others that she was deeply dissatisfied with the organization taking Narukami away and unwilling to follow the Command Center's orders.
How should she put it? What Sirin had said earlier hadn't been wrong. This counted as a good thing.
At the same time, however, Mei couldn't share the intelligence available to the Blade Masters, such as even the most basic information about the Kishin.
"But don't worry too much. I'll teach you on the way how to do your job properly. You'll be fine as long as you remember it."
"...How to do your job properly?"
Sirin picked up her Edict Blade and complained speechlessly, "Apart from not being able to retire and having an absurdly high danger level, how is this any different from a job?"
Chapter Sixty-Five: Shanhai City.
She had also asked Yae Sakura about Sirin just now and learned that Sirin claimed she hadn't joined voluntarily. She had only joined the demon-slaying operation because she had no other choice.
But her compatibility with the Edict Blade was far too high, and even after more than a decade, they still hadn't found anyone else with compatibility as high as hers.
For her to say something like that...
It really wasn't surprising at all.
"Since we're going together, there's no point wasting time in Changkong City. Go pack your things. We'll set out now."
Sirin had originally planned to stay in Changkong City a little longer, catch up with Kiana, and then leave. But since Kiana was going with them to Shanhai City, there was no need to stay any longer.
They could catch up on the way.
Since there was an urgent matter to deal with, the sooner they went, the better. After all, no one knew whether that Whale Monster would remain beneath the sea or when it would emerge.
It wasn't far from Shanhai City.
Therefore, once it made a move, it would definitely approach Shanhai City first.
If she hadn't been troubled by the uncomfortable feeling of owing someone money, her itinerary this time should have been reversed.
She would have gone to Shanhai City first, then come to Changkong City.
But who could blame her for hating the feeling of owing someone something? Besides, Raiden Mei was here too.
Well, she had considered from the start that Raiden Mei might ask to accompany her. After all, she was carrying a Resonating Blade and had yet to use it in actual combat.
A Kishin of Whale Monster's level wasn't the kind of cannon fodder that could be grabbed by the handful or swept away in one strike.
In any case, with Raiden Mei there, Sirin could openly provide support from the side and fish in troubled waters while letting Mei fight at the front.
Changkong City wasn't too far from Shanhai City either. By plane, four hours would be enough.
Kiana didn't even have identification documents, so she didn't need to buy a ticket. She simply followed Sirin onto the special section of the plane.
It really was... a novel experience.
Perhaps it was precisely because she didn't have those things that she cared about them somewhat. As one of the main forces fighting the Kishin, Sirin exercising special privileges whenever something happened was perfectly normal as long as the orderly world hadn't completely collapsed.
Before you continue