At this moment, inside the Plane of Euthymia, Raiden Ei and Raiden Makoto sat together, conversing.
"Ei, I went to Yae Publishing House today."
"It took me a whole day, but I finally finished carefully reading both of Mr. Faxun's works."
"I think the stories Mr. Faxun wrote are quite interesting; you should read them if you get a chance."
Raiden Makoto shared her day's outing with her younger sister.
This had been their habit for many years; they would always share what they had seen and heard after each outing.
As she spoke, Raiden Makoto paused, her gaze turning to her sister, Raiden Ei, who looked exactly like her.
"Ei, what about you?"
"Did you have a good time going out with Mr. Faxun today?"
Raiden Ei nodded gently, recalling the day's events.
"Today, Makoto taught me how to cook, then he was my sparring partner, and finally, he took me shopping."
As she spoke, Raiden Ei took out two dolls from behind her.
They were statues of the Almighty Shogun, Narukami Ogosho.
The two dolls were identical.
She handed one of the dolls to Raiden Makoto and said earnestly, "This is a souvenir Makoto gave you."
Raiden Makoto said, somewhat surprised, "Mr. Faxun prepared a souvenir for me too?"
Raiden Ei hummed in affirmation, then flipped over the Almighty Shogun, Narukami Ogosho statue.
"Makoto made two identical dolls and wrote our names on the bottom of each to distinguish them."
Raiden Ei paused, then added, "Makoto said this was to achieve a state of balance."
"Although I don't know what this 'balance' is."
Raiden Makoto looked at the doll in her hand, and soon, an answer formed in her mind.
She carefully put away the souvenir Makoto gave her, a smile on her face.
"The so-called balance..."
"Hmm?"
Raiden Ei tilted her head, her face full of confusion.
"It's nothing, just something I said casually."
"Alright, I'm going to rest."
"Tomorrow, it's my turn to go out with Mr. Faxun, so I need to get enough rest."
Raiden Makoto waved her hand and got up to rest.
Because the two of them could not appear beside Makoto at the same time, they had agreed to take turns, one day each.
Behind her, Raiden Ei looked down at the doll, lost in thought.
She didn't understand what balance was.
But she really liked this doll.
She wanted to treasure it well.
This was also a part of eternity.
...
Meanwhile, back with Makoto.
At this moment, he was leading the Little Ones towards the Kamisato Family's residence.
It was already late at night, and it was time to tell bedtime stories to lull the children to sleep.
But it was strange; these Little Ones had played all afternoon, yet they still seemed full of energy and very spirited.
Not only did they show no signs of sleepiness, but they kept clinging to Makoto, seemingly still wanting more, not wanting to go back so early.
Ningguang held Makoto's hand, looking up at him and saying, "Brother Makoto, we're not sleepy yet."
"Can we play outside for a little longer? Just a little bit."
The little girl's clear eyes were filled with a plea, and her adorable expression made it impossible for anyone to refuse her.
Keqing also grabbed Makoto's other hand, swinging it back and forth.
"Brother Makoto, A-Qing doesn't want to go back to sleep so early. It's still early, isn't it?"
"Let's play a little longer, okay?"
Qiqi, with her innocent, blank expression, also tugged at Makoto's clothes, saying in a childish voice, "Makoto... let's walk outside... we'll play with everyone."
Watching the Little Ones playfully beg not to go home so early, Makoto couldn't help but smile wryly.
"Of course, it's fine if you want to play outside a little longer, but what should we play?"
As he spoke, Makoto turned his head to look at the street behind him.
The pedestrians on the street were sparse; most were shop owners closing up, and occasional shoppers were hurrying home with their heads down.
Only the dim yellow lights on both sides of the street illuminated the road, and the surroundings were silent.
It was clearly impossible to find any businesses still holding events.
So, what should he take the Little Ones to play?
Just as Makoto was thinking, a loud shout came from behind him.
"Waaah! It's that amazing little dog that uses a katana!"
"Hahaha, I didn't expect this great lord to meet it again! This definitely means we're fated!"
Hearing the boisterous laughter, Makoto instinctively looked up.
He saw a small boy standing behind him.
The boy had white hair, and a distinctive feature was the two red horns on his head.
Makoto recognized at a glance that those two horns were a characteristic of the Oni race.
Coupled with this extremely captivating laughter,
Makoto quickly realized that the person standing in front of him was Arataki Itto.
However, due to the timeline,
The current Arataki Itto was still just a little brat, not even as tall as Makoto's knee.
Seeing Arataki Itto standing with his hands on his hips, laughing heartily, Taroumaru instinctively took a step back, hiding behind Makoto.
It wasn't that Taroumaru feared Arataki Itto; he just felt that this Oni child seemed a bit... not very smart.
And Arataki Itto also realized that Makoto was Taroumaru's owner.
He looked up at Makoto and excitedly said, "Uncle, can I pet the doggy?"
Hearing little Arataki Itto's words, Makoto felt quite melancholic.
He never thought that he, a young man, would one day be called 'uncle.'
This complex feeling must be similar to how Xiao felt when he was called 'young man' by the common folk.
Looking at Arataki Itto in front of him, Makoto said with a smile, "If you call me 'brother,' I'll agree to your request."
Arataki Itto didn't even think, nodding without hesitation.
He revealed a simple smile and earnestly said to Makoto, "Uncle, can I pet my brother?"
...
Everyone, I apologize for only one update today. The final exams are getting closer and closer, and I don't have enough time...
To summarize, in the first few months of university, I ate and drank as I pleased, and leisurely washed my feet before bed.
But in the last month, I have to drink the foot-washing water.
I won't say more, it's all tears. I'm going to memorize knowledge points now. Everyone, get some rest early.
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