Chapter 148: Standing Alone (9)

[ Yes. That alone is enough. ]

Jinseong said this, seeming relieved as he saw Rise's smiling face through the smartphone. He couldn't hide the contentment on his face as he watched Rise's mind grow after being enveloped in delusion and then escaping it.

[ Yes. Getting deeply lost in thought is truly a good thing, but doubt always follows it. If you don't hold your center firmly, you'll be swept away by huge waves and drift, so you must heavily root yourself in place using what's important as your anchor. ]

Jinseong said this and then looked over Rise's appearance once.

[ By the way, your clothes are disheveled. It's getting late, so the wind must be cold. It would be good to go inside and warm up before catching a cold. ]

"What? Ah..."

Rise glanced at her own attire at Jinseong's words.

The thin, white yukata was so sheer that her skin color was faintly visible through it. Perhaps because it was used as sleepwear, it was extremely thin, and the fabric was so light that it fluttered and swayed with the slightest breeze.

The yukata had become disheveled as if a gust of wind had swept over her body while she was lost in thought, and some of the skin she had carefully covered earlier by closing her collar was now slightly exposed. Moreover, it was even sticking to her body here and there as if she had been sweating.

As soon as Rise realized this, she slightly turned the smartphone away. Then, after fanning herself a few times to cool her flushing face, she casually turned the smartphone back towards herself. However, unlike before when it showed her whole body or most of her upper body, it was now zoomed in to show only her face.

Rise pretended to be nonchalant as she fanned herself from outside the smartphone's view to cool her face.

"It's not that cold since it's within the shrine grounds. And thanks to the divine power, I don't have to worry about minor illnesses. You don't need to worry too much."

[ Is that so? ]

Jinseong responded without showing any reaction to Rise's bright red face.

[ Even so, you still need to sleep. It's almost the hour of the Ox, so it's not good to be wandering outside. So go inside and try to sleep. As for that Ryosuke fellow, there's no need to worry much about him... Yes, it's enough to make him be checked and ostracized by other politicians. ]

Jinseong said this and then stroked his chin in thought.

[ It would be good to deal with him on the auspicious day he mentioned. Yes, if he doesn't want to use his abilities, he should at least be used as a tool. Yes, it wouldn't be bad to entangle him with the warriors of the Yatate Garo style.... ]

"Did you say Yatate Garo style?"

Rise slightly frowned as if recalling an unpleasant memory upon hearing those words.

In the past, Rise had a difficult experience when she snuck out and got entangled with a ruffian warrior of the Yatate Garo style.

"It's not a place with very good memories..."

Because of the ruffian who tried to seduce her with a very persistent, unpleasant, and strangely coercive attitude, Rise's escapade was discovered and she couldn't even dream of going out for a while. Whenever she tried to move outside of school and the shrine, a guard in the name of an escort would follow her.

It was so terrible that she felt like she was rotting away, trapped like a bird in a cage.

[ I'm sure it is. You went through hardships after getting entangled with some ruffian. ]

Rise, who had been wearing an unpleasant expression, was startled by Jinseong's words.

"You know about that?"

[ Of course. ]

Jinseong smiled at Rise, who was asking him in surprise.

[ Thanks to that, I came to know of your existence, and of this shrine's existence. ]

"What?"

[ It means that the thread of causality was connected thanks to that warrior. ]

At those words, Rise could only stare blankly at Jinseong. Her mouth was slightly open as if very surprised, and she was looking at him with eyes that were strangely out of focus, as if she had been hit on the back of the head with a hammer.

[ They were truly a terrible bunch to even call warriors, completely useless, with no connections to speak of, and what little they had were just trash that had gone to the afterlife. The connection with the Yatate Garo style was cut off, and all that was left was a life of debauchery. ]

Jinseong began to talk about the warrior.

[ Hahahaha. Are you surprised? Is it so surprising that the ill-fated encounter from your past is connected even here? ]

"What? Yes... I'm, I'm surprised."

Rise looked at Jinseong as if wondering how this could be.

[ Let me tell you this first. The one who was entangled with you in enmity is dead. ]

"What?"

[ So you don't need to worry at all about the chains of resentment coming back to you. ]

Rise's eyes widened again at the news of the warrior's death. She was so surprised that fox ears popped out of her ears, twitching and shaking, and her bushy tail appeared as an immaterial form through her yukata, showing lively movement as if expressing her emotions directly.

[ As they say, 'Heaven's net is wide-meshed, but lets nothing through.' The law that the net of heaven is wide and large, seeming loose but not letting evil people escape. The revenge that seemed to end with mere deportation to Korea was finished by my hand, so how can this not be called the mystery of fate? ]

Jinseong spoke while watching the twitching fox ears.

[ That ruffian was someone who would only live causing bad influences, no different from an evil object carrying poison and polluting the land, trash that spread harm everywhere while emitting a foul odor. I, who saw it first, took the trouble to clean it up. ]

Rise unconsciously nodded slightly at his words.

The terribly unpleasant encounter with the warrior, and the impression she got after hearing about the warrior's conduct and past later, made her automatically show signs of agreement.

[ That person became unable to escape from the bottom of a cave where not a speck of sunlight enters, until their breath stopped, their body became food for worms, and their soul rotted and crumbled. However, it's the usefulness of the useless. No matter how useless, it was useful enough to move causality and connect the threads of fate, making me aware of your existence, and through that, I visited you and saved you. ]

Jinseong said this and then closed his eyes.

And then he spoke in a very compassionate voice.

[ What was useless in life bestowed virtue in death. However, bestowing virtue is good, and this is unrelated to whether one is alive or dead. Perhaps the ruffian closed their eyes grateful for accumulating good deeds even in death, and grasped a thread leading to paradise. It's truly a good thing that a meaningless life gained meaning. Om mani padme hum... ]

Jinseong lightly prayed for the man who had become a ghost after death and then spoke to Rise.

[ Yes. Now you know that the one who had enmity with you is dead, and that because of that enemy, I visited this place and you were saved. How do you feel? ]

"...It's complicated. But I do think it's good that he died..."

Rise wore an expression as if she didn't know what to say.

Jinseong burst into laughter at that expression.

[ Yes. That's enough. That person's death was not because of entanglement with you, but solely due to their own karma. In other words, it's no different from their corpse floating down from upstream while you were sitting by the river, thinking about that person and getting annoyed. ]

"Yes. What you say... is right, Kannushi-sama."

[ Then let me ask you. Now that your enemy has been avenged, are the places where that enemy's feet touched and where they lived now completely unrelated? ]

Rise pondered Jinseong's question.

But the answer came easily without needing to think for long.

"No."

[ That's right. ]

Jinseong nodded at that answer.

[ There is always a sympathetic connection between the owner and their traces, and there is a strong causality there. It creates an unbreakable link where they influence each other, and this is magical sympathy. Just as we can't talk about the present without the past, that warrior's mistakes must be related to the trajectory of their life. The place that fed, clothed, and taught them was the Yatate Garo style. ]

"Yes. While I don't have bad feelings, I don't have good feelings either."

[ Yes. In other words, you won't regret whatever happens using the politician as bait. ]

Rise was nodding at Jinseong's words when she suddenly seemed to think of something and slightly parted her lips. But as if trying to swallow her question again, she tightly closed her lips, then moved them again as if about to say something. Then, looking elsewhere, she casually asked Jinseong.

"K-Kannushi-sama. If... if I had said I had good feelings..."

[ If you had said that, of course I would have chosen a different place. ]

Jinseong answered as if it were obvious.

"Is, is that so? Is it obvious?"

[ Yes. It's obvious. ]

Rise's face relaxed at those words.

She smiled broadly, covering one of her cheeks with her empty hand, and wiggled her fingers.

[ Yes. It seems time has gotten late and you've arrived at your room, so let's end the call here. ]

"Yes."

The smile didn't leave Rise's face.