Although it was called anonymous, for the Shura Anyakonsen-shou who had activated his Elemental Sight, this was essentially a roll call with real names.
Those who didn't want to participate were noted down and shouldn't be selected. The key was still whether little Kuki Shinobu agreed or not.
Faced with the Shura Anyakonsen-shou's strange request, the lead shrine maiden had no objections and simply gave the instructions to proceed.
In the end, after hesitating for a long time, little Kuki Shinobu filled in "unwilling."
When something like this happened, the old uncle had no real way to handle it.
He had to respect the child's wishes.
In the end, the old uncle chose a shrine maiden with long, straight black hair.
Kuki Miyuki—Kuki Shinobu's older sister. Among the shrine maidens, everyone liked to call her Miyuki.
In the original storyline, she was the shrine maiden who was constantly teased by Guuji Yae every day.
There was also another one with short hair named Kano Nana, who was the older sister of Shikanoin Heizou. In the original storyline, she was the one responsible for capturing Sayu.
Although the old uncle was a little curious why the hair colors of the Kuki Shinobu sisters were so mismatched, it wasn't important.
The reason the old uncle chose Kuki Miyuki wasn't because she was Kuki Shinobu's older sister, but because this young girl had filled in "willing" the fastest.
"Lord Shura Anyakonsen-shou, if you choose Miyuki, although she has already completed all the shrine maiden training, her age..."
The shrine maiden sister who had first received the old uncle seemed somewhat hesitant.
At this time, Miyuki was only about the age of a junior high school girl—roughly the same age as little Ayato and little Eula.
The Shura Anyakonsen-shou looked at the slightly excited young shrine maiden sister Miyuki and nodded.
"The scent of Lady Guuji is very strong on her. It seems she receives quite a lot of personal attention from the Guuji on a regular basis."
The receiving shrine maiden smiled.
"As long as you are satisfied, my lord. In the days to come, Miyuki will go to your residence to handle some of the miscellaneous divine affairs for you."
With that, the old uncle's blessing ceremony at the Grand Narukami Shrine was more or less complete. What came next was returning to the Kamisato residence to prepare the lesson plan for Her Excellency the Raiden Shogun the following day.
Ah, speaking of which—did I forget to ask the Raiden Shogun for Kujou Sara?
Seriously, the pressure of teaching the Raiden Shogun was so immense that something this important had completely slipped his mind.
He could mention it during tomorrow's lesson with Her Excellency.
Never mind—better to set off right now. Children's matters couldn't be delayed. Having Kujou Sara remain at the Kujou residence right now might not be a good thing.
"So with that settled, I'll take my leave first. I suddenly remembered there's one more matter I need to report to Her Excellency the Shogun. If anyone needs to find me, I'm currently residing at the Kamisato Estate."
Before leaving, the old uncle didn't forget to reach out and destroy the slips of paper that had been filled with "willing" or "unwilling."
Along the way, he also glanced at little Kuki Shinobu, who was watching the collection box with worry. At this moment, after seeing the Shura Anyakonsen-shou destroy the anonymous votes, little Kuki Shinobu let out a sigh of relief.
Only then did she look toward the Shura Anyakonsen-shou, but he had already turned to leave.
In the end, little Kuki Shinobu could only watch the busy, hurrying figure of the Shura Anyakonsen-shou depart.
Gods sure seem busy.
At the same time, she looked at the pile of paper that had already been shredded into tiny fragments.
Actually, little Kuki Shinobu felt that the Shura Anyakonsen-shou knew exactly what each person had written. As a divine being, having such abilities was only normal.
But since the votes had been made anonymous... did that mean the divine lord also wanted to know her true thoughts?
Could this... be some kind of test?
Little Kuki Shinobu recalled a time when her older sister wasn't around and she had caught a cold. Wanting to handle it on her own,
she had followed an old saying passed down among the shrine maidens: weaving a circle from thorny plants and vines and wrapping it around her body, hoping that through such a bold act she would receive the blessings of the Narukami and expel the illness.