[Book 2] Gate Guardian - Song of the Frozen Soul

EXTRA PHASE - THE LEWDEST CHAPTER! PLEASE DON'T READ!

EXTRA PHASE - THE LEWDEST CHAPTER! PLEASE DON’T READ!

Three days have passed since the most horrible incident that happened in my life. The emotional trauma I had started to heal as I continue to live on with the man I love in the Brightmore Shrine.

Just like in the previous timeline, Brightmore Shrine is completely abandoned. It sits on top of a tall hill which means we are certainly secluded from the village nearby and is considered by the townspeople as a haunted place. Rikkun said that it is most unlikely that the Gate Guardians will pursue us at this point because everybody knows how much we hated this place. It sounds so ironic that the shrine we used to be scared about is now our only safe sanctuary.

On the first day, Rikkun and I tried to renovate the functional parts of the building. We tried to clean all the rooms and discovered a wide hall that is twice as wide as those in Kozukata Shrine, dozens of classrooms, and even an underground archive library. We never thought that this shrine is more than what it seems, and we can definitely say that we can stay here for a long time, maybe even move here permanently.

It may sound like we’re trespassing, but we’re not. Brightmore Shrine is owned by the Brightmore Witches, so I am the sole heir to this place. It feels weird for me to own this whole shrine and even the pathways down to the foot of the mountain, but I guess I have no choice but to continue my mother’s legacy in this place.

Speaking of my mother’s legacy, I discovered her nursery rhyme books when I was cleaning the library. There’s a ton of them, maybe fitted to fill up a very very large cabinet! I was surprised that there are also stories and songs that I never heard of from my mother, so I was glad that we went to this place.

We spent the next days renovating the very shrine, for there is nothing actually to do here. When afternoons came, Rikkun and I will take a stroll in the town to have a greater idea of how this place works. Just like when we last came here, this area is highly uncivilized. Electric lines still do not exist here. 

The people here live their life by farming wheat, oat, and rice, raising cows and sheep, and even fishing in the lakes. The women and elderly knit clothes and make organic baskets. The children here also work by getting firewood in the nearby forest. But still, I can see them happily living their lives.

There are no amusement centers here. If you want to get tipsy, you can go to the local pub. If you are hungry, you go to the local pub. That place is the only entertainment for the people here, and sadly, we can’t go in there. That pub is owned by an old woman who wanted to murder me, and if I remember correctly from Book 2, Rikkun punched her in the face. We may be on a different timeline, but we can’t risk going inside.

“Ah, this place is boring. I think the shrine library is more interesting than this primitive town.” Rikkun would often say with a loud grunt. Most people who pass around would hear him, so I had to punch him and make a public apology for his disrespect.

As for our living here, Rikkun covers it all up. He had money saved up, but it’s not the main source of our food. He often abuses his God Fragment powers to gain supplies. He would use the Goddess of Hunting’s powers to hunt a wild boar or squirrel. He would use the Goddess of Spring’s power to quickly cultivate potatoes in the mountains. He would also use the God of the Sea’s powers to catch big fishes in the lake. Rikkun can live on his own now, and it feels bad that I more look like a dead weight for him.

And so, I decided to volunteer as the cook. My cooking skills are a bit higher than Rikkun since he’s dependent on the internet. There’s no internet here, so I have a higher ground! I’ll definitely prepare the food he can’t make, and I will serve him the best dishes I learned from my stay in the Kozukata Shrine!