Maybe I've Already Gotten Too Much / Thanks to Miko

Shortly after the airing of "Creepy", Yotsuya Miko sensed the death of a person, the death of Shimakawa Kameyo.

Theoretically speaking, the first person she truly killed and wished to kill.

Is this the right thing to do?

She was somewhat at a loss, but inwardly she felt relieved at his death. For the first time, she had subtly used her magic to create a death that Divine Gate could not trace back to her.

Because of this, she couldn't immediately find out the answers to her questions about Shimakawa Kameyo. Even though a living person is far more useful than a dead one, she couldn't get close to him, which was quite a headache. Right now, she could only hope that Divine Gate would discover Shimakawa Kameyo's death soon, so she could use a pretext to see what secrets were hidden in his body.

It would be best if, in the end Shimakawa Kameyo's body was never found, and she lost such a crucial clue. Speaking of which, what exactly will that gangster do with Shimakawa Kameyo's body? Will he dump it at sea like they said on TV?

That's ridiculous! That's far too rigid a approach. No gang would do that, would they?

Etc...

Yotsuya Miko took a deep breath and picked up her hand... no, she directly conjured up a map of the country in her mind. When she set up the grand formation last time, she had memorized the geography of the entire country perfectly. Soon, she found several rivers in her city, one of which was particularly close to her city and flowed directly into the sea, making it ideal for disposing of the corpse.

Oh no, oh no, oh no...

As she muttered to herself, her thoughts shifted from the complex emotions she felt about killing Shimakawa Kameyo to her concern about the corpse.

Please, don't dump the body in the sea!

"Ah Qiu!"

The bald man sneezed, somewhat puzzled. He shook his head and walked towards his apartment, incidentally scaring away a group of thugs who were already lusting after him.

"Oh, walking alone so late? You're really carefree, miss."

As he spoke, a pair of large hands slapped the young woman's shoulders without any hesitation. It wasn't that he was lustful like these thugs; having just been dumped, he was in no mood for romance.

But those thugs were just too ugly, which annoyed him.

"Points to note."

The instant he released his grip, he seemed to feel something detach from his arms, but with a throbbing headache, he paid it little mind and turned to leave.

The poor woman was left standing in the cold wind for a while before shakily making her way back to her original dwelling.

"What bad luck..."

The woman sighed.

"You're really unlucky, Natsukawa Yuki."

Chapter 213 Perhaps I've already received too much.

Natsukawa Yuki's luck has probably never been good, ever since she encountered that silver jewel.

A series of events happened to her, and it was because of this small piece of silver that she was forced to resign from the school and lose her original job as a teacher.

However, the government officials were understanding of her difficulties and introduced her to a job as a civil servant.

However, having neither worked in nor considered working in a government department, she was clearly not very comfortable with this kind of work. Even after being on the job for quite some time, she still struggled and almost got scolded and fired by her department head.

This includes the fading influence of Yin Yu, which diminished her social impact, as well as her own confusion and unease about these experiences.

Even now, she still wonders what kind of reward the silver jade would demand from her for the benefits it brought her. Could it be that there really are gods who ask for nothing in return?

Ah, silver jade...

Sighing to herself, she got home late at night. Because of her unfamiliarity with the job, she had worked a long overtime shift that night, staying up very late before finally going home. On her way home, she unfortunately encountered a group of thugs loitering around, and then ran into an even more ruthless gangster.

This experience made her already bad mood even worse.

Gods, is this a reward? Or revenge?

Thinking this way, she felt incredibly melodramatic. Clearly, all these mishaps were caused by her own mistakes. If she hadn't been so focused on her work, none of these accidents would have happened.

"I should focus on figuring out how to deal with the things I'm currently handling."

Shaking her head, she banished all the thoughts from her mind. After a quick wash, Natsukawa Yuki fell soundly asleep in bed. Exhausted, she soon calmed her breathing and drifted off to sleep.

While asleep, she was unaware of the subtle black mist emanating from her body.

The black mist gradually spread from her right shoulder to her chest, surging into her full bosom and heading towards her heart.

Amidst this strangeness, a look of pain appeared on Xia Chuan's face.

She instinctively curled up into a ball, hugging her knees tightly, as if this would give her more support and comfort.

Her pain subsided only when a sliver of light shone through the window, and her face, contorted with agony, slowly softened.

"Ring ring--!"

The alarm clock woke Yuria from her deep sleep. She slowly got out of bed and pulled back the curtains in front of the window.

After a quick wash and some tidying up, I started making breakfast and lunch boxes for today.

Her mornings remained unchanged despite what she had experienced; they were always the same.

Yuria had grown accustomed to her parents' constant work and the empty house.

Although Yuria gained her own income after becoming the vice-minister of the Divine Gate Special Affairs Department, her parents did not give up their current work. With the government's help, their business began to flourish and made considerable progress. Therefore, they were even busier than before.

Even when they do have some free time, they feel lost and speechless because they haven't spent much time with their daughter in a long time. At least in Yuria's memory, she and her parents only had that kind of leisure time during the New Year, after what happened in her childhood.

"There's plenty of ingredients... Let's make more, we can give some to Hua."

She opened the refrigerator and took out the ingredients she needed to prepare. Because she was busy between school and work, she was worried that she wouldn't have enough food at home, so she bought a lot of food over the weekend, even more than she had expected.

These ingredients don't have a very long shelf life, so she plans to make as much as possible. Anyway, she doesn't need to worry about whether she can finish all the extra food; with Hua around, there won't be a problem with any amount of food.

"After all, she's very pretty. [The rest of the text appears to be gibberish and unrelated to the initial statement.]"

Muttering to herself, Yuria thought of the orange-haired girl, and then immediately thought of another friend— Yotsuya Miko.

Then came a long sigh.

While at the amusement park, she confided her feelings to Yotsuya Miko brother, and her master, Takeda Mie, saw through her even more clearly, knowing without her saying a word that she harbored ill intentions towards Yotsuya Miko.

Even now, Granny Saegusa hasn't forgotten her question, but she still can't make up her mind.

Can she really bring herself to say it?

But what happens after being rejected?

Yuria had given up hope after her failed confession. She could Miko's feelings for Yurikawa Hana, and her determination to protect her. It was just that the oblivious Yuko was unaware of it, mistaking it for mere friendship.

Having already developed such feelings, Miko probably wouldn't be able to accept another relationship.

Without a doubt, all she'll end up with is failure; the worst-case scenario is that she won't even be able to remain friends.

If I don't say it...

"Isn't that a good thing too?"

Yuria muttered to herself, a smile spreading across her face.

"If we don't say anything, let's just consider it a simple friendship, a steadfast and reliable friend who helps each other. I do like Miko, but I can't bring myself to feel jealous of Hana. So, I'm sorry, Granny Saegusa, I'll give up."

Making peace with herself was something Yuria really wanted to do; she had already come to that realization back at the amusement park.

When I talked about those things with Yotsuya Kyosuke back then, wasn't I venting my emotions? Afterwards, I did feel much better.

"Kyosuke tell Miko about Kyosuke or not, it's fine."

Pack the prepared food into the bento box, and then gently place the packaged box into your backpack.

"As long as I don't say it openly, no one will feel embarrassed."

Yuria placed her schoolbag on the chair next to the dining table, picked up her breakfast plate, and ate very slowly today. She looked out the window where the sunlight was shining brightly, and many thoughts welled up again.

Childhood, that version of myself who was bullied, that version of myself who cried.

In middle school, I was a quiet, reserved person who silently endured being estranged from others.

That lonely version of myself, whose parents were unable to be with me for many years.

That self who, because of being able to see, has no companions, and yearns for companions.

Her memory of many things is hazy; only faint impressions remain.

But she remembered that night very clearly, because it was the first time that someone had stood in front of her and was willing to accept her.

For the first time, I told myself that she was my guardian deity.

"... That's wonderful,"

She murmured,

"Why can't you give me more?"

"Perhaps... I've already received too much."

Chapter 214 Gratitude to Miko

Because of Shimakawa Kameyo's situation, Yotsuya Miko's mood wasn't very good.

Her Spiritual Sense couldn't cover an extremely large area, which dashed her hopes of using the Falcon Spirit Wind Control Incantation in the dead of night, combined with her Spiritual Sense, to search for Shimakawa Kameyo's corpse high in the sky. On the ground, the modern surveillance cameras were too annoying. These mechanical creations couldn't be shielded using methods used against living beings; she could only evade their line of sight.

Having evaded the surveillance cameras, her movements were severely restricted, preventing her from conducting an efficient and rapid search. Furthermore, she had not yet reached the level where her Spiritual Sense could perform such detailed searches.

To monitor a specific person over a wide area, the best method is to place an object that can transmit information on them, or to use an object imbued with their scent to lock onto them. The prerequisite for doing this is to first make contact with that person.

Under yesterday's circumstances, to be on the safe side, Yotsuya Miko didn't have the opportunity to get close to Shimakawa Kameyo, thus losing the chance to do such a thing. Moreover, among the techniques she had learned, there wasn't one that could locate and search; she did have location tools, but they were too obvious. It was the kind of Talisman Iron Pellet that she had placed on Tono Zen earlier, which she hadn't had time to optimize yet.

So, in the dead of night, she agonized over her actions and spent the entire night learning a new technique to locate and search for the body. But this was merely a belated attempt to salvage the situation; it was too late. If the body had truly been thrown into the sea, the trail of its aura would have been virtually destroyed after a night of submersion. The people of this world lacked the means to preserve corpses, nor could they concentrate their aura. Under the immersion of seawater, any aura would be dissolved.

In other words, if she were to actually throw herself into the sea, there would be no need for a post-mortem examination, because the body would have been completely destroyed and unusable.

Good morning, Yuria.

Despite feeling deeply frustrated, Yotsuya Miko had no choice but to swallow her bitter pill, knowing that she was the one who had caused the problem. She hadn't thought of any other ideas at the time; it was only after the deed was done that she considered one possible outcome, which was also the most likely one.

You look much more energetic today.

Her Spiritual Sense naturally swept over the person in front of her. Compared to Yotsuya Miko's gloom, Yuria in front of her did not have much negative emotion.

She didn't know what had happened, but the "strange" feeling that had been lingering around Yuria had dissipated considerably, and even Yuria's mood had become somewhat clearer.

This is a good thing; I thought of it Miko.

She still had many questions about Yuria. Her mother, brother, and even Granny Saegusa all said that something was happening to Yuria, but she still didn't know anything about it, which made her feel somewhat excluded.

Although she didn't know, and neither did Hua, logically speaking, someone with Spiritual Sense should have been able to sense it.

But... why doesn't she know yet?

If Yotsuya Miko hadn't trusted Yuria so much, she would have openly asked her what was keeping from her. It clearly seemed like something that would cause Yuria a lot of distress, so why couldn't she just tell her and ask for her help? They were friends, weren't they?

Yotsuya Miko had seen what Yuria had done for her at Divine Gate these past few days and was very grateful to have such a friend who could help her in these ways. Because of this, she also wanted to repay Yuria and do something for her. As for the Profound Nether Qi she had injected into Yuria's body and the tools she had given her, they were only a very small part and could not at all offset the help Yuria had given her.

"Yes, because I've figured some things out, I feel much better."

Yuria smiled faintly and bowed slightly to Jianzi when Miko a little taken aback.

"Thank you, Miko."

"Huh? What's this?"

Yotsuya Miko somewhat at a loss, her gaze blank as she looked thoughtfully at Yuria before her.

Why did you suddenly bow?

"It's nothing, I just remembered how much help you've given Miko in so many places before, and realized that meeting you was truly a wonderful thing."

Is such a formal expression of gratitude necessary?

Miko sighed, a helpless smile on his face.

"We're friends, isn't it normal for friends to help each other? Besides, Yuria, you've helped me a lot, so if that's the case, I should thank you too. Well then... Yuria-chan, thank you so much for your help lately, I hope you'll take care of me in the future."

Although she didn't know what had happened, she bowed deeply to Yuria before walking to her side.

"Alright, thank you all. Let's go to the classroom together. Speaking of which, our classrooms are quite close. Hua's a bit slow today; even at a time like this, he hasn't—"

"Who are you calling slow? Miko."

Yotsuya Miko turned around and saw Hana walking towards the two of them, just in time to hear her complaining.

I'm talking to you.

The Spiritual Sense did not detect Hua's appearance because Miko had narrowed the range of her Spiritual Sense to her entire body. As mentioned before, she could cover a large area with her Spiritual Sense, but she would feel tired and exhausted, and it was also easy for her Spiritual Sense to be damaged in places with a lot of people. Therefore, under normal circumstances, Miko would not cover a very large area with her Spiritual Sense.