On many levels, Sugawara Kyoko is a terrifyingly serious woman.
At least Soya didn't expect that she chose to help him after knowing his intention to hunt down the gods, just to scare the monkeys.
To be precise, it was to allow Tsukuyomi-sama, who had already died once, to witness with his own eyes the tragic fate of a disqualified god, so as to strengthen his determination to turn around and become a god again.
"How does Jingzi know that the object I want to hunt must be a disqualified god?"
"Because Sotani-san is always just a human being. No matter how much knowledge and experience you have, it can't change your essence - your abilities are limited."
Kyoko looked at him, "Besides, Soya-san doesn't seem like someone who would seek death. Therefore, the target of Soya-san's hunting must be a small god who has lost his qualifications or is not worth mentioning."
Zongya was surprised by the judgment she made in one breath, but Kyoko hadn't finished her words yet.
"What's more, this matter cannot be separated from Tsukuyomi-sama's participation. I believe in his choice."
"..."
Soya glanced at Tsukuyomi, and Kyoko seemed to see through his thoughts.
"In terms of matters in the human world, Tsukuyomi-sama is a newcomer, and he is indeed blinded by materialistic desires. But when it comes to gods, I believe there is no one more trustworthy than him."
"..."
This is just her personal opinion. Having seen Tsukuyomi's unreliability, Soya really can't agree with it.
But now that Jingzi has chosen to stand on his side, he certainly won't refute anything.
"That's right." Soya helped Tsukuyomi up from the ground, "I also got support from Tsukuyomi-sama, and that's when I strengthened my determination."
Tsukuyomi: "I..."
"Shut up."
"..."
"So." Kyoko looked at him, "Which god is Soya-san planning to hunt?"
"It's not just one person, it's eight people."
As Soya spoke, he rethought his plan, "The Eight Thunder Gods from Underworld, Kyoko should have heard of their names."
"..."
Eight Thunder Gods...
This was not the little-known little god that Kyoko had originally expected, and she was a little shaken.
She firmly believed in the myth that "there are eight million gods living in Takamaki", even more so after Tsukuyomi appeared in the world; but among so many gods, there will always be some with inferior virtues or abilities, she thought
Soya's goal is one of them.
"Of course... the names of the Eight Thunder Gods are also in the Kojiki."
Jingzi paused, "However, this is the first time I heard that they also lived in the world."
"I just found out about it not long ago."
"Really? Souya-san, what is the purpose of hunting them?"
"I want Huangquan to return to its original appearance."
Asagiri Suzu is fragile, Tsukuyomi is unreliable, and Soya is alone, so he decides to let the miko Kyoko be his companion and helper. She needs a legitimate reason for her actions, and once she agrees, she will not give up easily, so she patiently explains to her
stand up.
In addition to hiding his relationship with Izanami and her guidance behind the scenes, Soya told Kyoko almost everything he could think of.
"..."
She was silent for a long time after hearing this, and looked at him as if she had just met Soya.
"Sotani-san...Before this, I thought Sotani-san was selfish and indifferent, perfunctory with people, passively evasive to things, and would only take action when there was no way to escape..."
"...Can you say this directly in front of me?"
"But now I know the heavy weight that Soya-san is carrying. What Soya-san did was for the sake of the entire world."
"..."
Zonggu was dumbfounded.
However, what he wanted was help on the road to hunting the gods, not a believer, so he immediately refuted her words that overly promoted him.
"No, benefiting the whole world is just an objective result. Subjectively, what I want is my own stable future. I am the kind of person that Kyoko thinks is selfish and indifferent, passively evasive, and will not take action unless absolutely necessary."
Jingzi nodded, "I know."
"..."
"But -" she continued, "this is just Soya-san's self-righteous idea."
"What?"
Kyoko moved to Soya, said "I'm sorry", and then took out the amulet hanging around his neck.
Her spiritual sense was cut off instantly, and she took a moment to adapt before continuing.
"With this amulet, Soya-kun can live a stable life even if he does nothing, right?"
"This is the amulet Grandma Kirino left for her." Soya said, "One day, I have to return it to her..."
"Yeah?"
Kyoko looked into his eyes, "The 'selfish and indifferent' Sotani-san, even if he faces many difficulties in finding and killing the Eight Thunder Gods in the vast world, is unwilling to become more of a commemorative talisman to Kirino-san.
Do you want to keep it as your own?"
"..."
Zonggu opened his mouth and fell completely silent.
"The misfortunes he encountered in the past made Soya-san tired of being in exile, and he subconsciously had the idea of saving the entire world. Soya-san did not escape with the amulet, but joined the organization again. This is the projection of this subconscious mind in reality."
He didn't speak, and Jingzi didn't know if he didn't listen or if he acquiesced to what he said.
"All in all, the future chosen by Sotani-san is consistent with my goals and even the goals of the Spirit Awakened Organization."
She extended her hand and said, "I will help Soya-san on his way forward and give everything he has for it."
"..."
Zonggu looked at her for a moment and held the hand.
"Please give me more advice."
...
After the discussion, Soya sent Kyoko back.
"I'll go back and make some preparations first. See you later."
"I'll take you to the station."
"No."
Kyoko stopped at the door and declined Soya's kindness, "Muneya has more experience in dealing with spirit entities than I do. Let's just use this time to consider our actual actions in the future."
What we have to deal with this time is not an ordinary spirit...
Zonggu smiled bitterly, but nodded anyway.
Kyoko didn't say much, turned around and left the Kirino family's old house.
Walking in a deserted alley, the moonlight was pale and hazy, and she could only hear her own footsteps.
"Subconscious..."
Jingzi stopped and looked back at the house not far away.
She could barely see anything in the darkness, just like the feeling Zonggu had given her all along:
He mysteriously appeared in Kinki. His past experience is mysterious. He wears a mysterious amulet that suppresses his spiritual sense. The Asagiri Suzu who appears next to him is also mysterious...
But this feeling suddenly dissipated a lot during the day - she had a strange dream when she and he were sleeping opposite each other in the school health room.
The content of the dream is about Soya's past before she came to Kinki, and she is an irrelevant bystander.
There was a voice lingering in her ears, nonchalantly, but it kept telling her all kinds of unbelievable things. And this was actually the same thing as what he had just told her.
Therefore, in reality, she also came to the conclusion that the voice in the dream told her: Zonggu, who escaped from the underworld, was charged with the mission of freeing the entire world from the harassment of the underworld spirit body.
As she convinces Soya, who considers herself selfish, to accept this, she seems to be convincing herself as well.
She is unswerving in her decision to become the assistant of Zongya's hunting god. Expelling evil spirits and protecting the world are her and the organization's eternal goals. But looking back, what is the source of this kind of dream full of substantial content?
Is it, as she said, subconscious?
But she had no idea about this before.
Unknowingly, Kyoko walked to the station.
After boarding the deserted tram, there was only one young woman in this carriage. She found a seat in the corner and sat down.
"……well done."
Jingzi raised her head in deep thought, and the woman sat across from her at some point.
"What?" Kyoko asked.
The other person smiled and said, "What?"
"..."
Wasn't he talking to her?
"Feel sorry……"
Jingzi nodded to the beautiful woman in front of her and quickly glanced around, but did not see any communication tools such as mobile phones.