After Goryou Goma apologized and repaid every stall, he finally settled down, sulking as he trailed Reisen Riou and Raiden Ei through the festival's end. They regrouped with Raiden Makoto's party. Yae Miko, spotting Ei, pounced onto her shoulder.
"You dragged Goryou along?" Makoto sighed, exasperated.
"Great Narukami, I…" Goryou mumbled, shrinking.
Reisen Riou and Ei recounted his leaf-Mora scam. Makoto facepalmed. "You're Chinju Guardian—really?"
"It's… fun," Goryou wilted.
Makoto laughed despite herself, handing him to the festival's star: the new Kageyama Tengu and clan leader. The tengu, fed up, stripped Goryou of his enchanted leaves, hoping he'd behave.
"She's from the Takamine clan, a tengu elite," Reisen Anko whispered to Reisen Riou.
"Greetings, Kageyama Tengu," he said.
"Greetings, Lord Reisen, Shadow Warrior," she replied.
"No need for formality," Makoto said, affectionately hugging her, rubbing her face on the tengu's wings.
The Kageyama Tengu froze, idol shattered. Yae Saiguu and Torachiyo soothed her for ages.
"You spooked her, Makoto," Saiguu chided. "Not everyone's as thick-skinned as Reisen and Anko."
Reisen Riou and Anko: "?"
"Sorry," Makoto coughed, embarrassed. "Takamine, you'll adjust. The Shogunate's elite aren't what you expect—except Saiguu, she's consistently that Saiguu."
How Saiguu is Saiguu that everyone agrees? Reisen Riou mused, stroking the sleeping Yae Miko on Ei's shoulder. Should he shield Miko from Saiguu's influence? Nah, he's just as bad. Only Ei, Torachiyo, and the new Kageyama Tengu were upright warriors. Saiguu as a martial artist? Unthinkable. Let her grow her own way.
"Why doesn't Miko fight your touch?" Ei asked, curious. Miko always squirmed when she tried.
"Like this," Reisen Riou demonstrated, petting gently. "Makes her comfy—look, she's dozing."
Miko, lulled, burrowed into Ei's chest, then jolted awake, scrambling out to glare at Reisen Riou with a cute growl.
"Too adorable," he laughed.
Miko stomped, fuming. This phone youkai was the worst, yet his fox-petting was divine—curse his knack for weak spots.
The tengu recovered as the festival wound down. Makoto's group bid farewell to Kageyama Tengu and returned to Tenshukaku.
"Didn't expect Great Narukami to be so approachable," Kageyama Tengu said, watching their Electro trails fade.
"You'll get used to it," Saiguu replied. "Your elders are looking for you."
Saiguu stayed for other business. "See you tomorrow, little tengu."
"Tomorrow, Lady Saiguu."
"What's endless?"
"π."
"Correct. Welcome back, Lord Reisen," One System, Ten Thousand Minds intoned at Reisen Shrine.
"Still no word from Iwayaku?" Reisen Riou asked.
One System tracked his elemental sprite, Reisen Iwayaku, who'd studied at the Grand Narukami Shrine for nearly two years. A top-tier elemental being, her potential dipped slightly from forced growth but remained elite. Born at LV20+, she learned fast, excelling in spellcraft.
"She needs more time," One System replied. "Her birth name, Reisen Iwayaku, was divinely granted. Days ago, she gained a Geo Vision and a unique talent, Mountain-Whip Stone-Command, controlling large-scale Geo constructs."
"Impressive," Reisen Riou marveled, wondering if he'd have matched her talent without his own forced rebirth. "Any upgrade suggestions?"
"The cryo slime stockpile's overflowing—take some," One System said, content with itself.
"Perfect, my Serenitea Pot's too plain," he replied, relocating a dozen large cryo slimes. The cold storage emptied instantly.
He performed hardware maintenance and a software patch on One System's gem core. "How's the upgrade?"
"Minimal processing boost, but smoother operations—a small patch," One System assessed.
"My tech's hit a bottleneck," Reisen Riou admitted. "Need a micro-scale breakthrough for better materials. Reisen Island's yours again." He patted the gem's casing.
"Affirmed, Lord. I, One System, Ten Thousand Minds, will manage all."
Mature and reliable, One System had sustained Reisen Island's growth alongside Reisen Riou and Anko's remote orders, especially in their absence.