~ Support & Read 60 Advanced Chapters on Patreon
~ Bonus Chapter every 200 Powerstones!
<><><><><>
"So you're moving Yasaka Shrine to Itogami Island... is that it?"
Scene change to the plaza outside Yasaka Shrine. Having finally learned today's true purpose, Yura gazed at the shrine beneath morning sunlight, murmuring something both unexpected yet reasonable.
Though still somewhat hard to accept, she'd already learned in advance about her brother's relationship with Yasaka-san... and of course, a certain mother fox whose age had long broken four digits yet still pretended to be a seventeen-year-old black-stockinged girl.
Thinking carefully, during her last Itogami Island visit, everyone living atop that Keystone Gate thing had been her brother's women. Now that Yasaka-san and Hagoromo-Gitsune had both become that kind of relationship with her brother, moving together to Itogami Island seemed normal.
"Go Bokue-oniisan! Go Bokue-oniisan!"
On the plaza before the shrine entrance, a certain little fox shrine maiden's cheering came from nearby.
Turning to look, she saw little Kunou in her miko outfit holding two gohei she'd somehow produced, waving them forcefully in her hands.
Yura: "..."
To be fair, though she was an Onmyōji, she knew gohei were used during exorcism and purification rituals. Plus, even during ceremonies, you'd only hold one gohei.
Holding one in each hand and waving frantically like this—she was basically using them as cheer sticks...
Also, speaking of which, something seemed odd?
The young Onmyōji girl looked at the little fox shrine maiden nearby, a question she couldn't ignore suddenly flashing through her mind.
Come to think of it, when they'd met in the kitchen earlier, Hagoromo-Gitsune hadn't specifically avoided little Kunou when mentioning the relationship between herself, Yasaka-san, and her brother. In fact, she'd said it directly in front of Kunou.
So regarding the relationship between her mother, aunt, and her brother—didn't little Kunou find it strange at all?
Just as the young Onmyōji girl reached this thought, simultaneously on the shrine's right side, Bokue had already circled clockwise completely around and returned to the plaza before the entrance, accompanied by the just-woken, still sleepy-eyed little Kyōkotsu.
"Alright, with that the spatial positioning is complete."
Returning before the shrine entrance, Bokue made an OK gesture to Yasaka and the others, then turned toward the shrine with outstretched hand and spread fingers.
"Now to proceed with the transfer..."
Hummmm—
As his words fell, powerful golden magnetic field power instantly spread across the plaza with Bokue as the epicenter, enveloping the entire shrine. The feeling resembled Natsuki Minamiya's Void manipulation yet wasn't quite the same.
"This is..."
Yura froze slightly, about to raise her hand to touch and sense carefully, but the next second this power directly dissipated.
Simultaneously, she heard Bokue's voice.
"Alright, done."
Eh?
"Already done? That fast?"
Hagoromo-Gitsune folded both arms across her chest, surveying the familiar scenery around them with some skepticism before looking back at Yasaka Shrine still standing in its original spot.
"But... isn't the shrine still here?"
"Well, I'll explain slowly. Anyway, let's go inside first."
As Bokue spoke, he took the lead stepping up the stairs to push open the shrine door and enter.
"Currently, I've already connected the shrine's space with the top of the Keystone Gate. You just need to do this..."
Once everyone had followed inside the shrine, Bokue closed the main door.
A switch had suddenly appeared on the wall beside the door—right above the corridor light switch. Aside from having no wires, it looked no different from an ordinary light switch.
"Want to try pressing it?"
Bokue made a welcoming gesture.
After brief hesitation, Hagoromo-Gitsune stepped forward.
She maintained her arms-folded-across-chest posture, pursing her lips at the switch that had suddenly appeared on the wall before her. After humming briefly, she raised her hand for a light press.
Click.
The exact sound of flipping a light switch. Even after pressing, no vibrations or strange noises followed—no different from simply pressing a decompression toy's switch.
But cool high-altitude sea breezes seeped through the door crack—completely different from the tree-scented mountain winds that usually blew outside Yasaka Shrine.
"Could it be..."
Yasaka raised her hand in slight surprise, using her kimono's wide sleeve to cover her mouth.
More powerful than her sister and daughter, she'd already keenly sensed the anomaly. Somewhat incredulous, she approached the door to gently pull it open a crack.
The scenery outside had completely changed.
Through the opened door crack, she clearly saw the distant boundary between Itogami Island and the ocean, plus several other buildings sharing the high-rise rooftop with Yasaka Shrine.
"Is this place really...?!"
"This is Itogami Island now. We're currently atop the Keystone Gate at Itogami Island's center."
As he spoke, Bokue turned to stand beside the blonde beauty, helping her fully open the shrine door together.
Looking out, also sharing the Keystone Gate's summit were Bokue's own apartment, Nagisa and Yukina's apartment, Asagi Aiba's large flat, Rias's old school building, and more...
Most conspicuously out of place was naturally Natsuki Minamiya's grand villa. Just from external appearance, it was completely Gothic castle style—giving the impression the resident wasn't some Itogami Island Guard's Attack Mage, but rather a Primogenitor vampire who'd lived thousands of years.
"Actually, this thing was originally a bit troublesome to operate, so to save effort I integrated it directly into a switch."
Bokue pointed at the switch by the door.
"Like I said, I've connected both spaces. If you want to return to Kyoto, turn the switch on. If you want to return to Itogami Island, turn the switch off."
This... was convenient enough, though it sounded a bit like Minecraft's command block teleportation.
Yura—surprised yet also somewhat curious—asked:
"Brother, how did you even learn this kind of technique..."
"Natsuki taught me."
Bokue shrugged.
"Well, can't exactly say 'taught.' Just watched her use it. So I followed the pattern and tried it myself, then it worked."
Yura: "..."
So it really was that saying—if hard work was enough, what would be the point of talent?
"Though speaking of which..."
Bokue paused.
Come to think of it, every power he'd mastered so far had been learned after briefly encountering it once.
Like Natsuki's Void manipulation, plus his soul power that had greatly improved since reclaiming Brynhildr.
"What's wrong?"
Yura questioned.
"No, nothing..."
Bokue withdrew from his thoughts, shaking his head.
"Alright, since that's settled there's no problem. I have some other business to handle first. I'll be back shortly."
"Wait—"
Yura just started speaking, but the young man's figure had already vanished.
❁❁❁❁
Scene switch—
When Bokue reappeared, he'd already arrived inside Yukina Himeragi's apartment.
The bedroom was completely quiet. Barely past eight in the morning, the vacationing girl still lay happily sleeping in, peacefully slumbering in her covers.
Bokue stood bedside looking at Yukina, briefly considering before directly climbing onto the bed to pull back the covers and lift up the still-dreaming Sword Shaman girl. He decisively employed the fastest awakening method.
"...Eh? Bokue-senpai, why are you here so early... w-wait?! Hey...!"
<><><><><>
~ 60 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
<><><><><>
Keep the chapters coming—Support with Power Stones!