Honma Meiko's Memories from Five Years Ago

"There are many branches and schools within that Breathing Technique. Among them, the Sun Breathing used by the founder has the most powerful force and seems to be able to simulate the power of the sun through breathing, which is somewhat similar to the situation you described."

"And it's not surprising that the most powerful Breathing Technique have the greatest side effects."

"However, we need to see the specifics in person to know for sure."

"If you think that girl has a high affinity with the Ley Line and is a promising talent, then I'll go take a look."

As she said this, she, who hadn't even left her room for a while, stood up and, guided by the Kano Shrine Maiden, walked towards the office.

When she passed by Miyauchi Hiyage, she only glanced at Miyauchi Hiyage briefly.

She had, of course, already learned of Miyauchi Hiyage's identity from the Kano Shrine Maiden.

Therefore, after sensing the vigorous life force within Miyauchi Hiyage, she did not have any particular reaction, but simply sighed inwardly.

Those Sorcerers are really lucky. Since the Mystery Revival, they've been able to discover quite a few promising newcomers in recent years.

However, her thoughts changed after she saw Honma Meiko.

The shrine has indeed found a promising talent.

Kano Shrine Maiden is only a first-class shrine maiden, and she has only been at Chichibu Shrine for a few years, so her connection with the Ley Line is not particularly close.

But having been stationed at Chichibu Shrine for over ten years and almost completely connected to the Ley Line, she saw through Honma Meiko's true nature at a glance.

The other party has a high degree of compatibility with the Ley Line.

They've already connected with the Ley Line of Chichibu City; judging by the appearance, they've been connected for at least several years.

Although it wasn't the main branch in the city center, she only needed to sense it slightly to feel the aura emanating from a branch of the branch.

It looks like a branch from the northeast direction.

However, a person's aura is far too insignificant compared to the Ley Line, so she hasn't really noticed this change over the years.

How did an ordinary person become connected to the Ley Line?

After thinking for a moment, the Omiya Shrine Maiden chose to have her fortune told.

Using the blessing of Chichibu's Ley Line, let's carefully observe the fate of Honma Meiko.

However, upon performing this divination, the Omiya Shrine Maiden saw an exceptionally elusive result.

The girl in front of me looks completely drained. According to the divination, she should have passed away five years ago!

Chapter 199: Honma Meiko's Memories from Five Years Ago

The Omiya Shrine Maiden repeatedly checked the results of her divination, but none of them changed.

Judging from her fate, the girl in front of me should have passed away five years ago.

Of course, fate is an unpredictable thing.

Normally, even if a person's fate indicates that they will die at a certain point in time, their fate may be altered due to a sudden change in their thoughts or interference from other beings in the Reverse Side World.

Even after this fate has changed, it can still be predicted to some extent. Although it may not be as clear as before, it is still possible to see a general path.

But Honma Meiko...?

She is clearly still alive, which means that she should have survived the calamity five years ago and should have a brand new future.

How could her fate remain completely unchanged?

Even a seasoned Spirit Medium has experienced all sorts of situations was momentarily confused when he saw Honma Meiko, a girl who was directly connected to the Ley Line and should have died five years ago.

But she still has a wealth of experience.

At least his complexion still doesn't reveal any problems to others.

"If I'm not mistaken, you should have had a life-threatening experience about five years ago, right?"

Her tone remained calm, but her eyes were fixed on Honma Meiko.

Honma Meiko nodded naturally.

She had already mentioned the drowning incident to the Kano Miyauchi Hiyage Kano Shrine Maiden five years ago, so there was no problem in repeating it again.

So she recounted the entire story of her drowning incident from her own perspective.

After playing with his friends, he was on his way home alone when he accidentally fell into the water and nearly drowned.

Fortunately, Miyauchi Hiyage arrived in time and, along with Asahigaoka's group, rescued her and provided timely first aid, taking her to the hospital, which allowed her to survive.

Just after she finished recounting this past event, the Omiya Shrine Maiden nodded and then said, "Close your eyes and carefully recall what happened back then, then explain everything in detail, bit by bit."

Then, Honma Meiko received a notification through her Diary.

It's just a simple reminder, not a warning.

Honma Meiko subconsciously took out her Diary.

"An unknown force has been detected attempting to subtly influence the host with mental suggestion. Would you like to spend Reading Points to remove the suggestion effect?"

Seeing the reminder in the Diary, Honma Meiko couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

Is this witch in front of me using psychotherapy on me?

Is he worried that he hasn't told the truth?

Although the Diary entry says "slight" and there are no warnings of danger, it proves that the suggestion the priestess gave her was not malicious.

Seeing the prompt in her Diary that she could consume more Reading Points to analyze the effects of mental suggestion, Honma Meiko didn't hesitate and immediately chose to redeem it.

"So, the other party wants to know as completely and accurately as possible about their experiences five years ago, and wants to use mental suggestion to awaken those memories that they can no longer remember, or that they may have deliberately forgotten?"

After confirming the other party's purpose, Honma Meiko hesitated for a moment.

To be honest, although it was indeed an unforgettable experience, she originally thought she would never forget that day for the rest of her life.

But as time goes by, she does seem to have many things she can't remember about the drowning incident five years ago.

She couldn't even remember where on which mountain road she fell into the water, or where Miyauchi Hiyage and the others rescued her.

Since she confirmed from the Diary that the shrine maiden meant her no harm and simply wanted to clarify the memories in her mind, Honma Meiko, she opened her heart and let the other person awaken her memories from that time.

With the Diary protecting her, she didn't need to worry about her sensitive memories being discovered.

As Honma Meiko made her decision, the Omiya Shrine Maiden's Spiritual Power slowly seeped into Honma Meiko's mind through words.

Five years ago, that past appeared before Honma Meiko with unparalleled clarity, including those details that she herself had subconsciously ignored.

It all started with the Super Peace Busters, a group of childhood friends they formed.

First, a group of children who were good friends got together, and then they secretly bypassed their parents' warnings and ran to the mountains, which were about 20 or 30 minutes away from the city. There they found an abandoned wooden house, and spent more than a month tidying it up and turning it into their secret base.

Then they spent a long and happy time in that secret base, where they all carved their names and promised to be friends for life.

A group of boys and girls in their early teens, still in the dazed state before puberty, like to speak like adults and do things like adults in a self-righteous way.

Until one day during summer vacation five years ago, the sixth graders were playing in their secret base as usual.

Perhaps because of the hot weather that day, the topic of conversation suddenly shifted to the somewhat ambiguous topic of people they liked.

Then there was the boy who, although he would occasionally visit, had almost disappeared from his life, perhaps because he felt guilty towards him. He was also the boy who initially led them to form the Super Peace Busters. When another girl asked him if he liked her, he denied it out of shame and chose to run away.

Then, she tried to catch up with the boy, but another boy offered her a pretty pink flower, which she refused in her haste.

Finally, it happened during her hurried descent down the mountain to go home that she accidentally fell into the water.

This most vague memory, under the influence of the Omiya Shrine Maiden's Spiritual Power, became clearer than ever before.

Besides Miyauchi Hiyage and the others, the last boy from Super Peace Busters also discovered that she had fallen into the water, but he ran away after screaming a few times because he was too scared?

The other party must have gone down the mountain to call for help, although I didn't see the three boys, whose faces were full of guilt, until the next day at the hospital.

Honma Meiko thought this, in her memory, before she completely lost consciousness while drowning, she finally met the group of boys and girls who had rescued her.

First, several girls exclaimed in alarm that someone had fallen into the water.

Honma Meiko had no recollection of it before; she only learned about it after being rescued and through her parents' explanations. Now, however, she sees it clearly.

They were the two girls from the Koshigaya Family who were probably only nine years old at the time, and Miyauchi Hiyage's twin sister.

Then a 14-year-old boy, who is now known online as the "number one rural bully" of Asahigaoka, wanted to jump into the water to rescue him.

However, when he went into the water, Miyauchi Hiyage, who was also only a little over ten years old at the time, handed him several swimming rings and pointed out that the current in the river was very strong and he needed to be careful.

"So, back then, Miyauchi Hiyage also said something like 'Put your life first, and don't force yourself' to that boy?"

Looking at the man in her memory, who was clearly a year younger than her, yet whose tone of voice was not at all the pretense of maturity, and who made a group of boys and girls younger and older than him subconsciously obey his commands, Honma Meiko couldn't help but sigh slightly in her heart.

Fortunately, she was eventually rescued by the boy, with the help and guidance of Miyauchi Hiyage. The boy found a spot in the water where the current was not too strong and it was relatively close to the shore. Using a makeshift rope made from the clothes of several people, he pulled the two of them up.

Honma Meiko blushed a little at what happened next.

Miyauchi Hiyage first carefully checked her mouth and nose for any obstructions, and then began artificial respiration and chest compressions.

She could even notice Miyauchi Kouka's gossipy gaze in that memory.

Even though he knew that Miyauchi Hiyage was only taking emergency measures and had no intention of taking advantage of the situation.

Without the professional assistance of Miyauchi Hiyage, even if she had been rescued, she might not have survived until the ambulance arrived.

A little while later, before the ambulance arrived, she fell into a deep sleep after her body relaxed, having no immediate danger to her life. This memory was one that could not be observed even with Spiritual Power.

However, for those later memories, asking Miyauchi Hiyage should yield the same result.

As Honma Meiko thoroughly and clearly relived that day's events, the Omiya Shrine Maiden also obtained what she wanted to know.

The only place that seemed suspicious was the wooden cabin they had used as their secret base five years ago.

The Omiya Shrine Maiden did not comment on what happened back then. After all, it's not surprising that a group of 11 or 12-year-old children, on the verge of puberty, would do something impulsive.

She simply used the other person's memories to rationally perceive that there seemed to be something wrong with the wooden house.

Besides, the Omiya Shrine Maiden couldn't figure out how Honma Meiko had become connected to the Ley Line of that place.

"Ms. Honma, could you take me to the spot where you drowned?"

After all, the entire area surrounding Chichibu Shrine is under her jurisdiction, and now that a variable like Honma Meiko has appeared in her territory, she naturally has to go and investigate in person.

Although she will be leaving the city center of Chichibu City temporarily, the connection between the main Ley Line and the branch ley lines is still quite close, and her going to the branch ley lines will not cause rejection from the main Ley Line.

To give an example, it means that having an affair is not allowed, but you can occasionally indulge in the pleasures of your married concubine.

Hearing that the Omiya Shrine Maiden seemed to be preparing to go and check right away, Honma Meiko felt it was all too hasty.

She was originally thinking about whether she should take her time to consider it, but she didn't expect the Omiya Shrine Maiden to be in such a hurry.

"Well... I want to tell my younger brother and parents first, so they won't worry about me if I go home too late."

Although her younger brother should still be soaking in the hot springs, she had secretly run away with Miyauchi Hiyage.

If it's just for a short while, that's fine. But if we're going to their long-abandoned "secret base" and they need to deal with her problems, then it won't be a short time before she's back.

The Omiya Shrine Maiden naturally had no problem.

She saw it more clearly than the Kano Shrine Maiden: Honma Meiko's connection with the Ley Line was so close that if she were to learn some basic knowledge of Spirit Medium, she would probably be able to unleash super-grade power in Chichibu City by relying on the power of the Ley Line within six months or even a few months.

This person is clearly a pillar of Chichibu Shrine for the next few decades, so of course she has to do everything she can to keep him in the shrine.

In her experience, as long as the issues with the other party's family are resolved first, the matter is basically settled.

So, the Honma couple, who were at home discussing whether their two children had a good time that day and how long it would take for them to come home, suddenly received a phone call from Chichibu Shrine.

"What? Chichibu Shrine is going to hold a blessing ceremony for Menma?"

Wasn't it just a simple spring outing to enjoy the scenery? Why did we end up at Chichibu Shrine?

The couple exchanged a surprised glance.

And when did the Honma family gain such influence?

Praying at a shrine is a normal thing, but normally it just means that tourists go to the shrine to burn incense, draw a fortune stick, and get a talisman, which can be done for a few thousand yen.

However, a formal blessing ceremony provided by the shrine is different. There are special priests and shrine maidens who perform the ceremony, and it takes much longer. Usually, one day is not enough, and it is held for several days in a row at the shrine.

In reality, a formal prayer ceremony can cost far more than a wedding ceremony held at a shrine.

Aren't these kinds of jobs usually only done by small shrines that need offerings? I've never heard of a large shrine like Chichibu Shrine taking on these kinds of jobs.

Moreover, Chichibu Shrine is currently holding the Chichibu Palace Festival, so would they have time to hold a separate blessing ceremony for their daughter in the evening?

The shrine Kano Shrine Maiden made the call knew to elevate Miyauchi Hiyage's status, explaining that it was Miyauchi Hiyage who made the connection and that she sensed the connection between Honma Meiko and their shrine, which is why she made an exception.

Then she had Miyauchi Hiyage and Honma Meiko call the couple to let them know they were safe and to explain what had happened. She also said that if they were worried, they could come to the shrine now to participate in the prayer ceremony.