The next morning, You sat cross-legged on the corridor with the white paper laid out in front of him, continuing to practice the curse art he had already mastered over the past few days.
With his eyes closed, he guided his spiritual power as usual and infused it into the paper.
Subconsciously, he chanted a line: “Purge the impurities, with pure light.”
The moment the words left his mouth, he froze.
‘No.’
He hadn’t even started chanting, yet the curse art had already been successfully released.
You opened his eyes and looked down at the white paper in front of him. He could feel that just now, before the incantation was spoken, the technique had already been completed.
“Chihaya,” he called out.
Chihaya was sitting nearby drinking tea.
Upon hearing his voice, she put down her teacup and leaned over to take a look.
“What’s wrong?”
“Just now when I was casting… it seems I succeeded without chanting the incantation.”
Chihaya raised an eyebrow.
She picked up the white paper, examined it, then put it back.
“Try it again for me.”
You nodded and closed his eyes again.
Once more he guided his spiritual power, this time deliberately not chanting, simply guiding the power to construct the technique formula.
He opened his eyes.
Chihaya stared at him for a moment in silence.
“You really did it. Incantationless casting.”
Her voice was calm, but You noticed something unquiet hidden beneath it.
“It’s only the fifth day.”
You looked at his own hands.
“It seems… that’s really the case.”
“For ordinary people, mastering this takes months or even years.”
A hint of wavering appeared in Chihaya’s tone.
“You did it in less than a week.”
You scratched his head.
“Maybe because I’m a genius?”
Chihaya shot him a look but didn’t respond.
Mai poked her head out of the house, holding a plate of cut fruit.
“You-kun, sis, have some fruit—”
She walked over, placed the plate on the corridor, and sat down next to You.
She picked up a piece of cantaloupe with a toothpick and handed it to him.
You simply turned sideways and took the fruit from the toothpick with his mouth, which instead made Mai blush.
Chihaya glared at You, her eyes seeming to say, “You’re always so unserious.”
At this moment, Futaba and Hitomi also came out of the house.
Futaba was wearing a light yellow top and dark blue pants today, her hair loose with slightly curled ends.
In her hand was still that fan, swaying slowly.
Hitomi wore a white short-sleeved shirt and light gray pants, her hair tied in a low ponytail.
Her face carried that gentle smile, like the afternoon sun in spring.
Futaba spoke, still in that lazy voice:
“What’s wrong, Chihaya? Why so serious so early in the morning?”
Chihaya said flatly,
“You-kun has already achieved incantationless casting.”
The three of them froze.
Futaba recovered first and said with a smile,
“As expected of my fiancé, truly impressive.”
The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere shifted instantly.
‘I guess that’s Futaba for you? Such strong aggressiveness. Chihaya is definitely going to get angry.’
Mai’s gaze turned somewhat dim.
Hitomi looked at Futaba in surprise:
“Seriously? Attacking so directly? Is she trying to start a war this early in the morning?”
Almost everyone expected an outburst, but Chihaya just coughed once.
“Let’s focus on the main matter first.”
This reaction caught them all off guard.
One by one, they sat down.
Chihaya waited until everyone was settled, then spoke calmly, but You could sense a faint chill in her words:
“You-kun, since you’ve already achieved incantationless casting, you can learn the next curse art.”
You immediately put on an earnest, studious attitude.
“What can I learn?”
“What do you want to learn?”
You thought for a moment.
Yesterday, after Futaba’s Divine Descent, she was injured, and Chihaya, Hitomi, and Mai all treated her together.
That curse art seemed much more useful than “Purification.”
“The healing technique from yesterday,” he said.
“The one you used to treat Futaba.”
Chihaya was somewhat surprised.
“You want to learn that?”
“Yeah. That technique can heal injuries, right?”
“It can treat minor wounds and external bleeding. Nothing more serious.”
“That’s still better than ‘Purification.’”
Chihaya lowered her head and thought for a moment, then revealed a playful smile and nodded.
“Since You-kun wants to learn, it’s fine. That technique is called ‘Healing.’ It primarily restores vitality and heals minor injuries. It’s not as miraculous as you imagine. It can stop bleeding, but if the wound is too large, this technique alone won’t be enough. It can’t heal fractures, let alone internal injuries.”
“That’s enough for me,” You said.
“It’s still better than ‘Purification.’”
“Before learning, there are a few things I need to tell you in advance.”
“What things?”
“First, ‘Healing’ consumes a large amount of spiritual power. With your current spiritual power reserves, you can probably cast it only two or three times before you’re depleted. Second, if this technique encounters an injury beyond its capability, it loses its healing effect and can only restore vitality. Third—”
She paused.
“This technique requires direct spiritual power contact with the target. In other words, you must touch the target’s body when casting.”
After hearing this, You nodded.
“Understood. Let’s begin.”
Chihaya smiled slightly, her tone unusually teasing:
“You’re quite brave. Healing is much more complex than Purification.”
Hearing this, You felt a strange creeping unease.
‘Chihaya couldn’t have set a trap in advance, waiting for me to embarrass myself, could she?’
Chihaya took something out of her sleeve.
It wasn’t white paper, but a neatly folded square of white silk handkerchief.
“This is the technique carrier for ‘Healing.’ Like with ‘Purification,’ you need to first infuse it with spiritual power and feel its structure.”
She spread the silk cloth on the corridor and pointed to the pattern embroidered on it with silver thread.
It wasn’t the simple three lines of ‘Purification,’ but a more complex design, something akin to an abstract plant pattern.
Roots, stems, branches, leaves—all present.
You stared at the pattern for a few seconds, and his heart sank.
“Chihaya, are you sure this is what I should be learning now? Why is it so much more complex?”
Chihaya smiled at him but said nothing.
Hitomi couldn’t bear to watch and spoke softly:
“Chihaya, successfully casting the Healing curse art is the standard for a miko to independently conduct divine affairs. Giving this to You-kun, a beginner in curse arts, might be a bit too difficult, don’t you think?”
Chihaya looked seriously at Hitomi:
“The Moon Princess said I should lead You-kun’s curse art studies, and besides, he asked for it himself. Moreover, as a Living God, a genius at learning curse arts, it’s only reasonable to accelerate his learning progress, isn’t it?”
Hitomi opened her mouth but couldn’t speak.
‘Chihaya is really scary when she’s serious. And she’s so meticulous. Competing against an opponent like her for the position of legal wife is just too hard, isn’t it? Maybe I should just return the divine grace…’
Of course, she knew in her heart that returning the divine grace was impossible.
Chihaya turned to look at You, her smile sweet:
“So, You-kun, any more questions?”
You shrank his neck.
“No more, Chihaya.”
‘I thought Chihaya had changed when she didn’t get angry at Futaba’s provocation. Turns out I was happy too early. Chihaya is warning me not to get too close to Futaba. Well, that’s fine. I was planning to give Futaba the cold shoulder for a few days anyway. As for the curse art, I’ll just learn it. I don’t believe it can stump me.’
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