Holding both ends of the amulet, Zongya carefully smeared the ink on it, and then rolled it on the white paper, leaving a series of increasingly clear patterns and words.
As Sugawara Kyoko guessed, the amulet was actually a rolling seal.
"Please use."
He took the wet towel from Sugawara Kyoko and wiped off the remaining ink on the amulet. When he gave it back to her, her attention was entirely on the pattern printed on the amulet.
"It's indeed a seal."
"Yes." Sugawara Kyoko came back to her senses and nodded, "But does Soya-kun know these words?"
The pattern printed on the paper is extremely complicated, and the ink in the front part is thick and unclear, but in the middle part, the ink is not too much and not too little, perfectly showing the delicate lines carved on the peach wood.
It seems to be surrounded by cloud patterns, surrounding two pairs of seal script Chinese characters one above and one below.
"I can only tell that it's small seal script." Zonggu said, "It's the same as the text on the stamp."
"Um."
She pointed to the paper, "This seems to be the word 'tea', and the one here probably means 'base'."
"Can you think of anything, Sugawara-san?"
"It's 'Senior Sister'."
"Senior Cha Lei."
"..."
She glanced at him and was about to say something when she suddenly lowered her head.
"Yulei (Yulei), Shentu."
Chaogiri Ling woke up at some point, got in between the two of them, and looked at the seal script on the paper.
"The door god who exorcises ghosts and wards off evil spirits in Chinese mythology."
"I see."
Zong Gu lowered his gaze, brushed the messy short hair on the back of her head, and didn't care about the seals or seal scripts.
"Are you still energetic?"
She raised her head and said, "Spirit."
"Then go back."
"Um."
"...Wait a minute, Soya-san."
Putting the amulet thing aside for now, Soya has not yet formally responded to Sugawara Kyoko's previous proposal.
"If Sugawara-san can hold back his curiosity, I will consider coming to the shrine to help."
Chao Wuling glanced at him.
"Of course, I still work elsewhere, so I won't come here too often."
Sugawara Kyoko said solemnly: "We will pay Soya-san a very generous remuneration. In terms of monetary rewards alone, it is far more cost-effective than working part-time."
"Isn't that what Miss Harada said?"
"Ms. Harada is a part-time shrine maiden who only accepts ordinary people. The money for her part-time job is paid by the shrine, the Sugawara family."
"Would it be different if I joined?"
"Sotani-kun works for the Spirit Awakened Organization in Kinki, and his salary is specially allocated by the organization."
"Unfortunately, I haven't realized how to work hard for you."
"..."
Sugawara Kyoko suddenly showed a disappointed look, but Soya changed the subject:
"My abilities are limited and I will not participate in ghost removal operations. I have seen many ghosts before. All I can do is sort out the ghost information for you and convert some of it into usable information."
She nodded, "This is what I want Soya-san to do."
"Aren't there any other jobs?"
"Not yet."
"Then now it's my turn to make conditions."
Zonggu raised his finger:
"First, I will sort out the existing information about Fuun Shrine, and you will also provide me with permission to browse the information owned by other institutions in the Kinki region. It would be better if there are other places;
Second, for the second 'net closing' that is about to begin, I need to understand the entire process of the operation, especially the real-time movements of the peerless evil spirit.
Can you agree, Sugawara-senpai?"
"..."
Sugawara Kyoko was silent for a while.
"Within the spiritually aware organization, the authority requirements for this information are not high, and it is not difficult to agree to these two conditions.
But if Sotani-san wants to hide his identity as a spiritual awakener, that’s another matter. He must first prove his ability to someone other than me.”
"no problem."
Soya agreed quickly, "Is it enough to prove that the existing spiritual body information of Fuyun Shrine is compiled into information that can be referenced?"
She glanced at him, but there were some words she didn't say.
"That's enough."
"See you tomorrow then."
"good……"
Sugawara Kyoko agreed halfway, then frowned again, "Tomorrow?"
"Meeting Sugawara-senpai and coming here are both unexpected things. I have other things to deal with."
Soya lowered his head and looked for it, only to find that Asagiri Suzu had already held his schoolbag.
She was waiting for him at the door.
"I will come again after school tomorrow."
...
"Tirino, are you at home?"
After ringing the doorbell twice, Zonggu took a few steps back and looked towards the terrace on the second floor.
There were no lights on inside, but there was plenty of light at this time, so that didn't mean anything.
After waiting for a while and seeing that no one opened the door, Zonggu took out a pen and paper from his schoolbag, leaned by the door and wrote a note.
Squeak——
"..."
The closed door finally opened, Kirino Akane and Yoshikawa Anko stood inside the door, looking at him together.
"So you are at home."
Just as Soya was about to put away the note, Kirino Akane stretched out her hand and took it to look at.
"Only 'Kirino'? What about the ones at the back?"
"I haven't thought about it yet."
"If I had known, I would have opened the door later." She looked outside again, "Didn't Suzu come over with Sogu?"
"She's at home."
"Oh. Come in."
"This is for you." Soya handed over the paper bag in his hand, "Yoshikawa, let's eat together too."
Akane Kirino took it in her hand and asked, "What is this?"
“The golden croissant bought near the station.”
"Why?"
"..."
Zonggu lowered his head and changed his shoes.
She hummed softly, pulled Yoshikawa Anko back to the living room, and poured him a cup of hot tea for him who had just arrived.
Around the low table, the three of them sat speechless.
When Soya drank his second cup of tea, Yoshikawa stood up.
"It's getting late, it's almost time for me to go back."
"Well, be careful on the road~"
"...I will."
"Wait a minute, take this."
There were four gold croissants in the paper bag. Kirino Akane only took out one piece and handed the rest to her with the bag.
"..."
Yoshikawa Anko glanced at Soya, her eyes a little sad.
I'm sorry for disturbing your girls time... In this case, Sogu could only say it in his heart.
After seeing Yoshikawa off, the two sat back down.
Click.
Kirino Akane took a bite of the crispy croissant, and a smile quickly appeared on her face.
"It's really good. I really want to eat another piece."
"Half of the bag of croissants just now belonged to Kirino."
"The other half belongs to Soya, right?"
"Hmm." Soya looked at the table, "I forgot that Yoshikawa might be here."
Click.
Half a croissant was handed to me.
"……Feel sorry."
"Eat first and then talk."
Seeing him move, Akane Kirino stuffed the remaining half piece into her mouth and licked her fingers again.
"After all, Zong Gu is an 'invisible' person now, so it's normal for him to ignore it."
She held her chin up and said, "It would be better to say that I still feel scared to this day. It's simply too shameful..."
Although they did not stay together all the time, her sense of security was still maintained with him when facing those inhuman things.
"It's only been a little over a month."
"It's been long enough. How long did it take Soya to get used to it?"
"It's just like Kirino adapting to the time when there is sky and sun in the world."
"Ah... by the way, Souya is born with the ability to see, so it's no surprise."
Zonggu licked his lips. His original lunch was taken away in a bag, and he really wanted to eat another croissant.
But there are more important things right now:
"I went to Fuyun Shrine today mainly to confirm the movements of the evil spirit.
During this time, I will go there to help, and accordingly, they will also tell me real-time news. The bell has been waiting.
In addition, I also plan to use the intelligence network of the Spirit Awareness Organization to collect traces of several divine...spirit bodies that have disappeared for many years. They may be the key to me getting out of this predicament."
Kirino Akane watched silently, and he paused.
"I think if it can be explained clearly, Kirino might feel a little more at ease."
The corners of her mouth curved.
"When Soya was left on the train, I was already prepared to contact the moving company when I got back...Ah, Soya doesn't seem to have much luggage."
"...please calm down."
"It's not that simple!"
"..."
"Let's go to the station and buy some croissants."
She climbed out of the kotatsu and smiled at him, "Soya's treat."