Chapter 69

With a small sigh, and a light groan, I plop down onto the floor amongst one of the many, formerly, unused rooms of my palace home, setting my morning cup of orange juice next to me.

I say formerly because it was turned into a warehouse by Rose to store everything Ama had been sending me ever since Odin left and we made that alliance with the Norse.

And oh boy, was there a lot.

After coming back home from making Kunou unable to walk for the foreseeable future, I had decided it was finally time to go see what Ama had been throwing at me…that I had no idea about until like, a couple of days ago.

As I thought, it was quite a bit. This explains why Uzume had been absent again, Ama was using her as the delivery girl.

Currently, though, she's back and passed out on the couch, and according to her and Rose, the flow of stuff has stopped…for now.

So it's probably a good idea to go through it all now before she starts sending more, and this piles up to the point I don't have a chance to get through any of this reasonably.

Luckily?

I slap down the stacked binder Rose has put together.

Rose has made this entire process much less painful for me.

I really ought to do something nice for her for this, seriously, this is far more than I was expecting…from both Ama and Rose.

First things first, the money and books.

The money portion was easy to see…all I had to do was check my banking account.

Though as I started flipping through the first few pages of the binder, Rose didn't slouch on even that.

The first, and smallest, section of the binder was all accounting essentially. She put down the exact dates, down to the hour and minute, of when the exact amounts of money were deposited, and added up the total all at the end.

Damn, just damn.

Also, to note, this was millions of yen, by the way. These weren't small numbers she was working with.

Crazy, simply crazy.

I idly note that with the cash refresher I got sent, I should be good there for at least a few more years.

That is until whatever the discount copyright-free version of Blizzard is called here becomes the discount copyright-free version of Activision Blizzard and scams Kuroka out of even more money with their monetization schemes.

That'll be the day.

Regardless, we'll be fine until then.

Next up, the books I asked for, and speaking of Kuroka…

I'm having the black cat girl be useful for once and go through all of those in the library right now.

Mostly because, out of all of us, Kuroka knows the most about the Eastern Systems of Magic and Ki, and could tell which material would be most useful and such.

And as I flipped through the pages to the binders section specifically focused on the literature sent, I let out a low whistle.

Once again, Rose has categorized every single book in subdivisions, alphabetically ordered them, and cited them in a style I haven't seen since I wrote essays in my first life.

So the weeb shit isn't folded in with the magic or ki books, and each book has an author, a published or written date, the title, and all the fancy-looking jazz you'd see at the end of an essay.

The more I read, the more I simultaneously feel awed and proud of her, but also a little bad for her for feeling she needs to do all this.

Because somehow, I doubt this is an Asgard standard thing.

I do a quick skim through this bit, cackling as I find that, yes, Ama didn't go hard in the weeb shit, as I said. Most of the books are magic or spiritual stuff, or at least they seem so from a glance.

Which means Kuroka has some work to do.

Heh!

I'll stop by the library once I'm done here, just to check on her, though the walk from here to there might be a little dreadful.

See, this room I'm sitting in now is specifically one of the ones furthest away from the meeting and living areas.

Why? Well.

I lift my head, and cast my gaze across the sea of golden glows permeating throughout visible space and the Shinkai.

Yeah, pretty much every single item here is imbued with Holy Spirit Aura. They're all mystical artifacts or weapons.

This is the kind of space one would usually lock up in a special containment vault…but I don't have that, and with them all sitting here together, the aura they put off is far more than your average deities shrine.

If a Devil or Youkai walked in here, and they weren't stupid strong, or special like Kuroka, they'd probably die from the divine aura poisoning.

This is precisely why this place is as far as it can be from the meeting hall.

Hopefully, one of those new books has a spell or three in it that'll lock up and seal this room more effectively, but for now, this will have to do.

I stand back up, snatching up the binder and my cup, downing the rest of its contents in one gulp before throwing it over my shoulder and outside and stretching out one last time.

"Ahh…well," I mutter to no one, "time to get to work."

It's a shame life can't be all sex, sleeping, and fighting, huh?

I flip to the first page of the section that Rose has titled as simply 'Artifacts' despite most of what I see around the room being glowing weapons.

It seems for this section, she ordered them based on the strength of their aura, something she could feel, as she couldn't wield anything here due to lacking the affinity for it.

As a result, she just has that noted down, along with the names of the artifacts, if applicable, the Uzume told her.

Importantly though, she didn't know the abilities. She's got it noted down, first thing, and rather amusedly as a break from her clean and precise note-taking, that although Uzume does know what each of these things can do, she was ordered not to talk by Ama specifically to keep the surprise.

Fun. That means I have to go through and individually inspect each object personally.

Thankfully, Rose left space between each artifact listed so their abilities could be neatly written down.

How thoughtful!

So, first up, the weakest aura presenting artifacts…

A bunch of bog-standard Totsuka swords, ancient-looking Japanese longswords.

Well, I say 'standard', but they're still producing Shinto aligned divine aura.

I know of families of Shinto Priests and Exorcists that guard and utilize these types of swords.

Though not as strong as any of the well-known swords, they still work far better as weapons compared to, say, the standard light sword Church Exorcists use.

Rose has their smiths noted down, and they are all names I don't recognize, so I doubt these swords have an added special ability, but it still wouldn't hurt to check.

That said, I run my hand along the grips of the swords, which are all neatly sheathed together within a barrel, and hum as what happens is exactly what I expected.

Nothing.

They all are indeed just powerless Holy Spirit Swords.

We're off to a great fun start, yeah?

I'm just going to…

I start flipping through the pages, ignoring everything I instinctively feel is going to be duds for anything beyond a novelty, or maybe something I can play around with when I feel like playing smithy.

It, shockingly, doesn't take long for me to come across something of worthy note.

Though admittedly, it doesn't look like much on the surface.

Rose has all the objects' names written down; 'Gohei', 'Onbe', and 'Heisoku'. So many names for just a wooden wand.

I walk over to where the wands, which weren't too far from the swords, because of course she sent several copies, are laid, sitting atop a table, neatly spread and sitting atop a dark soft cloth.

Each wand is wooden, decorated with two zigzagging paper streamers set on either end, and both wand wood and streamers are different colors compared to the others.

These wands are usually used in Shinto Rituals by Priests and Mikos, though the wands I've got sitting may be a bit more special, at least that's what Rose surmizes in her notes regarding these.

Supposedly, she picked up on not only a divine aura coming from these wands but also a magical aura as well.

Not like the divine aura would get used like the aura from the sword since there's no blade, but…

Interesting.

Tentatively, I pick one of the wands. For color theme sake, I choose the blackened wand with yellow paper streamers, though I doubt it matters because each feels the same to my senses regardless.

I don't feel anything upon touching or holding it, so I turn away, facing toward the exit still wide open to the outside, and give it a wave.

…Then snort, as nothing happens.

This isn't Harry Potter, right.

I point the wand toward the exit, and this time, channel a smidge of what I'm fairly certain is magical power.

This is probably a terrible idea because I don't exactly know magic, but still-

A fireball nearly the size of the door I'm aiming at flies from the tip of the wand, and shoots off into the sky.

The force of the spell(?) firing off usually wouldn't have knocked me over, but the result shocked me so much I wasn't prepared for it, and so it did.

I'm sent tumbling to the floor, staring outside wide-eyed as the mass of purple-cored red flame shoots up into the sky, and explodes like a firework.

Slowly, I stood up.

Even slower, I put the wand…whose tip was now emitting small golden sparks and smoke like a magic gun, down with the others.

Picking up the binder, which I had dropped when I fell, I casually took up the pen stuck to the side of the binder and wrote down 'Amplifies Magic Power Passing Through It'.

Yeah, nope, not touch that thing again until I know how to magic without blowing up the house.

Until then, I think I'll leave these tools for Rose and Kuroka. Most likely Kuroka, since she likely knows more about Eastern Magic, which logic tracks would probably work best with these wands.

I vaguely recall, in canon, that Rose herself gets a wand that enhanced her spell power later on, and the one she got was made of some material that was the best at conducting magic.

Or something like that.

I'll probably have to revisit this one with the girls and see if they can even use it. As a Shinto implement, it would make sense for it to only work for Eastern Magic, specifically Shinto and such.

As I did take Kagutsuchi's power and all that, for all I know, my magic could very well just be the Fire Phase of Shinto Magic incarnate, and I only got that reaction from the wand because of that unique condition.

…Though I could just grant them access to the Fire Phase via a blessing to get around that anyway.

Food for thought later.

I added that little note about the possibility the wand's usage is locked to certain magic types, before quickly stepping away from the wands entirely and flipping ahead some more.

The next one I stop at isn't because of my interest, but purely because of Rose's note.

'It's…just a bunch of rocks?'

It took everything I had not to keel over and burst out cackling.

It was a very close thing though.

When I finally did manage to calm down enough, I decided to see what she was talking about and walked off to where these rocks are noted to be stored.

I quickly find and open up the small square box by removing the lid, and find that, indeed…it's just a bunch of rocks, six in total, each sat in soft cloth at the bottom neatly.

However that's not all, they aren't perfectly round or oval-shaped rocks. Instead, each one has a jagged jutting point or deformity, that makes you do a double take.

They're also each wrapped up in lengths of laid rice straw or hemp rope, it looks like.

Curious, they are just rocks, but the divine power within them feels less neutral and more…empty.

That feeling also kind of feels… familiar?

I found myself reaching down to poke at one, almost unconsciously.

As soon as my finger brushed against the top of one, I knew what exactly these are, and what they're for.

I quickly jerked my hand back, and looked back at the binder, reading the name of the artifacts beneath me.

Yorishiro. 'Approach Substitute' in Freedom Tongue.

That's when it all clicks together.

Alright, in layman's terms, these rocks here? I can use them to create my own Shrines, dedicated specifically to myself as a Kami, giving out blessings related to me automatically, and such.

Basically, all I have to do is infuse my Holy Spirit Power into one of these rocks, turning the Yorishiro into a Shintai, or 'Body of the Kami', then all I have to do is build a Shrine around it, which makes the Shintai the core of the Shrine, becoming a Mitamashiro, or simply 'Substitute' for me.

Once complete, that Mitamashiro will act similarly to the spirit Inari I saw at her Shrine, getting offerings, giving blessings, and so on. This is how I create one of them.

…It sounds complicated, but it really isn't.

The reason why these rocks felt so familiar is because I had to do something similar with Kagu's old Shrines.

All in all though, very neat. I never really thought about, or even considered, building my own Shrine before, but…well.

As I set the lid back on the box, I look around my general area and find boxes with stacks of O-fuda talismans, O-mamori amulets, and O-mikuji fortune-telling slips.

Interestingly, though I can tell what they are O-mikuji based on them being long slips of paper…they don't have anything written on them. They're blank.

Besides that though, yeah, I now have pretty much everything I need here to set up my own Shrine. All I need is an actual Shrine.

It feels like a certain someone is pushing me toward doing this, for some reason.

I'd usually spite the notion of being all but told what to do, but in this case, I'm mildly…curious.

Ah, well, I'll give it some thought. Though right now I'm thinking it'd be a good side project to work on since…I don't know what's going to happen next.

I shake my head off that slightly terrifying thought and dive back into the binder.

I pass over the pages talking about the other smaller artifacts I just mentioned, along with other Shinto equipment, until I landed on one of the first weapons.

Well, technically it's a weapon. It's a hammer, a magic hammer, though I don't think I'll use it as such.

Another quick jaunt takes me to its resting place, sitting neatly wrapped in cloth atop a table, yet despite its covering, its golden glow shines through, albeit muffled.

The Uchide no Kozuchi, literally the 'Tap-Appear Mallet', is pretty much just a glowing wooden hammer, though its length makes it closer to its name, a mallet.

I remember hearing stories about this one in this life, back when I was much younger, from a fairy tale.

Well, technically not about the hammer specifically, it was focused on the hero of the story, Issun-boshi.

I suddenly snort.

Issun-boshi. 'One-Sun Boy'.

Damnit Ama and your stupid references.

I shake my head and carry on with my thoughts.

In the stories, Issun-boshi used the hammer to do some crazy shit. Its name tells you pretty much everything there.

You hit something, and stuff happens.

What kind of stuff?

Anything! In the fairy tale, Issun-boshi uses it to get insane amounts of wealth, and the Princess he saves in the story uses it to make him taller.

…Oh yeah, the guy was only like, an inch tall in the story, forgot to bring that up.

Doesn't matter though, the point is, the hammer is supposed to be ridiculous.

So as I pick it up by the handle, and connect my power to it, I'm not at all shocked to find that I can't magically make anything I want.

However, that doesn't make it one bit useless.

Connected to it now, I can feel its unique power, and it's…sort of hard to explain.

Essentially, it grants something like enhanced luck or fortune toward whatever the wielder wishes for.

So, for example, let's say I smack a guy who's wearing a full suit of armor…and assume my already insane strength doesn't just destroy the guy and the armor outright.

Let's say I wish to break his armor, to create an opening. Well, when wielding this mallet, I'll have a greater chance of doing just that.

Somehow. That's the part that's hard to explain…but then again, when it comes to luck-based powers, that's par for the course.

I'm not much of a hammer wielder, turns out, so I won't be using this for combat…but, having a fortune-boosting divine hammer when blacksmithing sounds incredibly useful, just for its insane raw durability alone.

The fortune bonus, if it pays off, could lead to some insane creations.

I cackle as ideas start running through my head, putting down the hammer gently as I do.

The first thing I'm going to do with that hammer is upgrade the Horni Bat-

Which I just realized is right next to the True Longinus, under my bed.

A cackling snort leaves me heaving and nearly falling over at that particular realization, before I manage to right myself and move on.

I am trying not to spend all day here after all.

Next up, is a trio of artifacts, a pair of weapons, and a magical harp of all things, that caught my eye not because they seemed particularly powerful, but because of who they belonged to.

The pair of weapons are called Ikutachi and Ikuyumiya, ironically enough, the 'great sword of life' and 'great bow of life' respectively.

The harp is called the Ame-no-Norogoto…which legit just means 'the heavenly harp'.

The reason I said ironically for the weapons?

They were Susan's weapons.

Oh yeah.

So, with snickers and a smirk, I walked over to where all three artifacts sat.

The three were all contained in a box case with a glass cover, letting one peer inside to see them.

A sword, a bow and quiver filled with arrows, and a harp all sat neatly inside, glowing with some of the strongest divine aura of the items here in this room. Each one possessed the same design, a cascade of bright blue and white, swirling with beautiful patterns of sea waves, with people dancing happily within them.

…Ah, damn. I can't lie, they're gorgeous. How the hell did Susan lose these things!? I certainly didn't see or sense these babies anywhere within the Palace down in Yomi, and with the amount of Holy Spirit Aura they radiate, I would have, I know it.

Carefully now, I open the casing, and brush a couple of digits along the side of the blade of the sword, temporarily connecting and getting a feel for the blade's power in turn.

It's important to note that, at certain levels, although magic or divine swords never gain sentience, they do kind of sort of have a will of their own, the stronger the weapon becomes.

For instance, in canon, Durandal in particular is noted to be rowdy, and to 'kick like a horse' at their wielder.

I bring this up because weapons of these types tend to have wills based on their long-time wielder or makers.

So, in this case, this sword should have a will based on Susanoo, and yet…

As I connected to it, the sword didn't revolt against my attempt at all, instead, it embraced me with open arms, shocking me.

It freely shared the details of its power, a sword that can't cut the living, only the spirit…essentially the Senjutsu ability to strike the soul in sword form.

Hot damn.

I assume it's likely the same with the bow as well, then?

Though I wonder…

I pull my hand back, and brush it against the cords of the harp, being careful not to accidentally strum it.

Connecting to it was pretty much the same as the sword, but its ability was slightly different.

Its cords create music that the soul can hear. Whatever that means, exactly?

Literally music for the soul, huh?

I give the three artifacts a good-natured chuckle, before pulling away entirely and closing up the case.

I was expecting a trio of very edgy, destructive artifact weapons…not that. Still a welcome surprise though.

And on and on it went after that, there were still a couple that were worth mentioning.

Another Holy Spirit Sword, Kogitsunemaru. The "small fox" blade.

Though, as its name likely suggests, it was slightly different compared to the others, that is it seemed to be based more on a Youkai, the Kitsune, than anything else oddly enough.

It was a katana with a golden hilt, going up to the guard that was shaped like fox tails or ears.

Its power seemed to be rather simple, igniting the blade with blue foxfire when I picked it up.

I couldn't help but feel a real Kitsune would probably get more out of the sword, and though I planned to make a sword for each of my future kids myself…well, this could do as a backup for one of them I suppose.

The next one I'm only mentioning because it slightly peeved me. Dojikiri Yasutsuna, the sword that supposedly killed Shuten-doji in myth.

I know the guy is stuck in a rock at current though, so that myth is not accurate, but at the same time, it is still one of the five great blades of Japan.

It looked more like a demonic spirit sword with its base colors of red, black, and gold, but the golden glow around the blade gave away its true allegiance. All in all, it looked exquisite, like the perfect Japanese sword.

It's power, though, that's what peeved me.

I didn't have anyone to test it on, thankfully, but the sword seemed to be telling me it was super effective against evil spirits, like Oni.

Gee, that would have been useful months ago!

That said and done, it didn't end up taking all day to go through everything, and by the time I was penning the last notes down, it was only a touch past lunchtime.

Just to make sure I didn't miss anything, I flipped through the section again, all the way to the back…only to find that I did indeed miss something.

Although, it wasn't an artifact, no.

It was a mail envelope, tapped neatly to the final page at the very end of the binder's content. Above it, a small, and final note from Rose.

'This is the last thing Lady Uzume gave me and told me to give you at the end of…everything.'

I quirked an eyebrow at the envelope, removed it from its spot pinned to the binder, and pulled it open.

It's a letter, written in…crayon? Yellow crayon.

I snorted. Does she not have a pen or pencil lying around in her girl failure cave?

In any event, it's not like it's illegible, so I read on.

'Noriaki!'

'I hope you like everything I sent! And, even if you don't, I'm sure you'll find some use for it!'

Well, not everything is useless, which I kind of sort of expected, to be honest…so, yeah. I can't say I didn't like it. Also, who doesn't like loot?

'I really really really wanted to send the Kusanagi sword, over…but still, nothing from the Church or Heaven, of course.'

'So! My last gift to you! St. Mary's Cathedral in Tokyo That's where they're keeping the broken pieces of the sword. It's undergoing renovations right now, but I know it's there.'

I stared, blankly, down at the words I just read.

Really? They're keeping the sword in Tokyo? Right in the Imperial Family's backyard?

My face slowly morphs into a scowl.

Of course they are. It's the Church, after all.

'Do with that information what you will…well, mostly what you will, don't go for the nuclear option right away, alright? I trust you won't just up and start a war!'

I huff. No promises.

'Annyyywayyyy~! Enjoy your stuff! There will likely be more opportunities to earn more stuff soon!'

'Until then! I looooveee you~! Can't wait to see you again!'

I gave a small warm smile at the poorly drawn heart with a smiley face and rays of sunlight coming off it that followed.

…She's really trying, huh?

With a shake of my head, I tuck the letter away and start heading out.

I would like some lunch to think all…that, over. Maybe I should bring some food to Kuroka while I'm at it?

I doubt she actually did anything…but hey, a guy can dream, right?