SWNOVELS Book 12: Chapter 2: Part4
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Part 4
“We are a matchmaking shrine.”
“Matchmaking?”
Lexia-san, Luna, Yuti, and Merl twisted their necks, perhaps not being accustomed to hearing this word.
“Yes. There are various requests to get a job at a good company or to connect with friends, but… the most obvious request is to find love.”
“Love?”
The moment they heard those words, I thought the eyes of Lexia-san and the others had changed.
“For example, we have a lot of things like love fortune and spots to increase your luck in love.”
Heh… I didn’t know it was a place like that.
Because I came here before for a test of courage, I didn’t have that impression.
After a brief explanation, Lexia-san’s eyes lit up.
“I-I want to do all of that! No, I’ll do it!”
“R-right. It is also important for us to investigate the God of this country. Yes.”
“I-I’m curious too…!”
“Is that so? Then go ahead and do it.”
Thus, overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of some of the girls, we were led by Kagurazaka-san.
First, we were taken to a place where we could draw fortunes.
“You can draw the omikuji here.”
“What’s an omikuji?”
“Well, to put it simply, it is something that predicts a person’s fortune… Ours is a love omikuji, so it only predicts things related to love. What do you do? Do you want to draw it?”
“Of course!”
“O-oh… everyone’s so motivated!”
“Y-yeah… women in love are so strong…”
Ryo and Shingo-kun were a little taken back in front of the exploding enthusiasm of the girls. I-it’s true that it’s a great amount of energy…contemporary romance
However, since we’re here, we decided to join in as well.
Lexia-san and the others seemed a little hesitant to see the contents, so they decided to read the fortune that Ryo, Shingo-kun, and I had drawn first.
“Hmm, ‘Shokichi,’ huh? What is it…? ‘Since you have a good sense of humor, although you have many friends of the opposite sex, it is unlikely that you will be able to make progress beyond that point. Therefore, it is difficult for them to realize that you are interested in them, and it is important that you are able to recognize this.’ …It’s kind of specific, isn’t it…?” [T/n: Shokichi = Slightly good luck.]
“I’m ‘Chukichi’ …”Enjoy your hobbies and interests to the fullest and expand the circle of your community. You may talk passionately with other people who share your interests, but it is also important to stay cool and not get too passionate.’ That’s what it says…” [T/n: Chukichi = Medium luck.]
What can I say? I am quite surprised at the content of the omikuji, which seems to be tailored to Ryo and Shingo-kun.
Although I don’t know what the two of them are actually like, I didn’t think the content would be so suited to them.
“I know you were surprised, weren’t you? The omikuji at this shrine often come true.”
“O-often comes true…”
“Well, but you shouldn’t worry too much about it. It is important how you feel and how you act after reading it.”
That’s certainly true…
While admiring Kagurazaka-san’s words, I checked my omikuji too.
“Let’s see… Eh?”
The omikuji should have said ‘Shokichi” or ‘Chukichi,’ but what was written on it was the symbol───’?’ a mark question symbol.
“W-what is it? This is…”
“Hmm? …What is that?”
“I want to know about it too, though…”
I was so confused that Kagurazaka-san peeked into my hand, and her eyes widened at the omikuji I had drawn.
“What did you do to get such incomprehensible luck?”
“Is it my fault?”
I don’t think it’s my fault at all…
Anyway, although my fortune was ‘?’ just like Ryo and the others, there was an explanation written under it, and the content is:
“‘What is it? This strange destiny is… so complicated with various connections that I can’t see what’s to come… but if you do well, you could be connected to all of these connections. I’m curious too, so please do your best.’ …What is it? It’s like it’s talking to me!?”
The content is a mess, and what is this omikuji?
I mean, is my connection so complicated…? Is this also something to do with spiritual power?
I’m curious about that too, but isn’t it bad to be tied to all the connections? This is a love fortune, right? This country isn’t monogamous… I can’t imagine myself being that way in the first place…
I felt indescribable: I believed in the existence of God because of the fortune that spoke clearly to me, but I didn’t really believe in the content of the fortune itself.
Well, I have met an observer, a being close to God, and it would not be surprising if God existed on this Earth.
While I was pondering the contents of my own omikuji, Rin, Yuti, and Yukine were reading the contents of the omikuji that they had drawn.
“It’s good luck… “Think about your own happiness,” huh…?”
“Medium luck. ‘Engage with others as much as possible and learn the subtleties of the heart.’ …Difficult to understand.”
“…Small fortune. ‘Be moderate in your hobbies.’ …I think it’s working for me right now.”
Each of them groaned in front of the omikuji as if they had their own thoughts on the subject.
And Lexia-san and the others, who are the most serious about their omikuji, have finally made up their minds and decided to read what’s inside.
“Let’s go… Eeehh! ──Eh?”
“──Eehh?”
Lexia-san read the contents first, but her eyes were dotted with what was written.
And Kaori and the others who followed her also dotted their eyes when they checked their contents.
“It seems that everyone has the same thing written on it…”
“It says ‘do your best’ …What does it mean…?”
“Eehh!? That’s… true.”
Kagurazaka-san immediately checked, but everyone’s omikuji had only a brief encouraging sentence, “Please do your best.’
After that, at Kagurazaka-san’s suggestion, Lexia-san and the others drew their fortune again, but the result was still the same.
“Aaah! I feel kind of bewildered!”
“That’s for sure…”
“B-but, but maybe I’m a little relieved…”
“That’s… you’re right.”
“…Action is still the only way to go, isn’t it…?”
Everyone seemed disappointed that they didn’t know what the contents were about but also somewhat relieved. Well, I wouldn’t like it if something bad was written on it, would I?
“The omikuji ended up being kind of weird, but… I’m sure the love spots I’m going to take you to now will be no problem.”
“Oh, that’s right! There’s that one, too, isn’t there?”
“I guess this is where the battle begins…”
“I-I’ll do my best!”
Kaori and the others show their motivation once again.
The place we were led to was a pond inside a shrine with a small island floating in the middle.
“It is said that if you can throw coins from this position and have them land on the small island, it will bring good luck to your love life.”
“I see. It’s not that easy! Then, Luna, give me the money!”
“Good grief…”
Luna, in amazement, handed Lexia-san some coins, and Lexia-san put her arm around it and threw it as hard as she could.
However… Lexia-san’s coins did not reach the small island but fell into the pond.
“Eeeehhh? No way!”
“Pfft… too bad, huh? Lexia. Now your love is over.”
“Why do you say thaaaaaat?”
When Luna snickered, Lexia-san complained with tears in her eyes, but Luna didn’t seem to mind and took the coins in her hand.
“Well, just watch me there. This is the difference between you and me──!”
Luna’s coins, thrown sharply, flew straight to the small island in the pond.
But──.
“Meow!”
“Wha-!?”
A cat suddenly crossed there and knocked away Luna’s thrown coins.
“That stray cat… often comes to visit our shrine…”
Luna trembled at Kagurazaka-san’s words.
On the contrary, Lexia-san smiled happily.
“Ara ara ara!? I’m so sorry to hear that. You must be even unluckier than I am to be stopped like that!”
“Ugh! N-no, you couldn’t even reach it by yourself! You must have had worse luck than me!”
“What did you say?”
“What?”
“”Gnunununu…””
We didn’t know what to say to the two of them, who were snarling at each other face-to-face.
Then Kagurazaka-san quieted them down, looking somewhat dismayed.
“You see… I understand how you feel, but as I said before, the important thing is what you do, okay? This is just wishful thinking. You shouldn’t worry too much about it.”
“T-that’s true, too…”
“I got carried away…”
“Well, okay, now what? Who’s up for the challenge next?”
“I-I’ll go next!”
The next person who raised her hand was Kaori.
But when I saw that, I had a bad feeling.
And it turned out to be right on the money.
“I’m ready… Eeii!”
“Whoa!”
“Why is it coming this way?”
The coins flew toward us, who were watching from behind at an unbelievable speed!
“H-huh! I-I’m sorry! O-once more… Eeiii!”
“Hyii!”
She tried again, but this time the coins flew out like they were going to cut my cheeks. Oh, that was dangerous… If it had been off by a few more centimeters, it would have been really painful.
After that, Kaori tried several more times, but in the end, she couldn’t make the coins fly forward and had to give up.
“Ugh… I hate myself for my lack of athletic ability…”
“I wonder how it could fly so neatly right to the back…”
“I-it was like in a manga…”
“Ah…”
Kaori was depressed by Ryo and Shingo-kun’s impressions. D-don’t mind it…
While Lexia-san, Luna, and Kaori continued to fail, Kaede and Merl also tried, but both ended up failing.
“N-no way…”
“I-it’s strange… both the force and angle of the throw should have been calculated…”
Merl even seemed to have done the calculations using the technology of the planet Amel, but suddenly a strong wind blew, agitating the coin and causing it to fall into the pond.
As the most motivated of them all went down, we were a little nervous, but then Yuti raised her hand and said.
“Challenge. I’ll give it a try.”
“Eh?”
I was surprised that Yuti raised her hand because I thought she was not interested in this kind of event in the first place.
But when I heard what she said, I understood.
“Question. Since a while ago, it seems that something has been blocking the coins with a strange force. I want to see if my technique will work.”
“Ah, I see.”
The most likely to succeed, Luna also failed, so as a disciple of the Bow Saint, she probably wanted to test her own abilities.
In that sense, I’m certainly concerned… because, looking at the flow of events up to this point, I couldn’t help but think that a great invisible power, like God, was affecting the small coins that were being thrown.
As everyone watched, Yuti gazed at the small island in the pond with a serious expression on her face.
And then──.
“──Saw it. [Comet]!”
“You’re going to use that?”
I couldn’t help but raise my voice at the unexpectedly exquisite technique.
The coin was thrown with such force that it pierced through the gusts of wind that blocked the path and the twigs that flew up in the air and pierced into a small island in the pond.
“Oooohhhh! A-amazing!”
“I-it went straight through!”
“N-no way…!”
“D-did we lose…?”
Unlike Ryo and the others, who were excited by Yuti’s divine feat, Lexia-san and the others had a despairing look on their faces, like it was the end of the world. That’s how depressed they are!
I was surprised at the extreme reactions of everyone, and then Yuti came in front of me.
“Show off. Yuuya, is it great?”
“Eh? Ah, y-yeah. That was amazing!”
“…I see.”
When I told her honestly, Yuti hid her face as if she was a little embarrassed.
“Kiiiii! I wanted to be praised by Yuuya-sama too!”
“Mai! Is there anything else out there? Something even we could do…!”
“Eehh? I thought you did that one just now well enough, but… well, okay. There’s one last thing, and I’ll take you there.”
As we followed Kagurazaka-san, who had an indescribable expression on her face, we saw a magnificent tree growing there.
The size of the tree was overwhelming, but combined with the serene atmosphere of the surroundings, it seemed sacred.
“This tree is called ‘the great tree of the rim,’ do you see the hollow there?”
“Oh, it’s true.”
I looked in the direction indicated by Kagurazaka-san, and sure enough, there was a hole just large enough for one person to pass through.
“It is said that if you can go through that hole in a figure of eight, you will be blessed with the chance to be united with the person you love. It is said that it means ‘to mesh the ties by going through in a figure of eight.'”
“That sounds like something we can do!”
Indeed, while the previous wish involved physical ability and luck, this one seemed easy enough to do since all we had to do was go through the hole.
The hole is certainly narrow, but it seems that the girls here could at least get through it.
So Lexia-san was the first to try, and this time she succeeded in making a wish.
“I did it… I did it! Mai, I succeeded!”
“Mhm… then me too…!”
Following Lexia-san’s lead, Luna and the others also tried, and all succeeded.
“I succeeded too!”
“I think we’re in the clear.”
I thought it would be a relief if they all succeeded, but… it didn’t work out that way.
“Ueeeeeee! Something got stuck, and I can’t get through!”
To my surprise, It was Kaede.. that, her chest got stuck in the hole, and she couldn’t get through.
We boys felt uncomfortable with this situation, but the girls were in despair when they saw the reason for Kaede’s failure.
“S-so this is what you call a gap in strength…”
“It’s strange… we should have succeeded, but why do we feel so defeated….!”
“Kaede, it’s not fair…”
“…Yeah. Kaede, it’s not fair.”
“Eeeeeeeehhhh!? Why am I being blamed for this?”
Kaede must have felt terrible because even though she failed to make a wish, she was blamed by everyone.
Thus, despite all the happenings, we were able to accomplish the goal of the exorcism as originally planned.
done.co