The higher you climb, the more you can feel the moisture of the clouds. Coupled with the looming black witches in the surrounding forests, Heather really feels like she is in a "place where the gods gather".
Climbing up the stairs, although Heather could reach the top of the mountain in an instant with the strength of his feet, he slowed down his pace to an ordinary person's pace and fully enjoyed the happiness brought by the 'journey'.
As we approach the top of the mountain, the frequency of the surrounding black witches begins to slow down.
After climbing about thousands of steps, I could finally see the dawn coming from above my head, and the fog became lighter.
You can already see the end of the stairs, where stands a huge stone torii gate that is two circles larger than the torii gate on the way up the stairs. It is very majestic.
"Good morning."
Suddenly, an unusually cold voice came from the front. A tall woman was holding a broom and wearing a black witch costume. She was standing directly under the huge torii at the end of the stairs, overlooking Heather.
I can't tell my exact age, but I'm a bit young, with a majestic demeanor. The thick black hair almost reaches the hips and is divided into two bunches. There are red eye shadows on both sides of the eyes. His appearance is not stunning but very attractive. You can tell he is here at a glance.
The leader of the Black Miko, because the design style of the miko uniform is slightly different from that of other black mikos, making her look even more majestic.
"Good morning."
Heather put her hand on the front of the hat and pressed it down slightly.
"On your way here, you should already know about the exclusivity of Santu Shrine to 'men' and 'samurai', right? Out of courtesy, I still have to ask - are you going the wrong way?"
The woman had no intention of turning aside to let Heather continue to pass. Although she did not have a samurai sword on her waist, the way she held the broom in her hand showed that she was a rare master of swordsmanship.
What about the attitude of rejecting people thousands of miles away?
"Tsuruga camouflage, you are the one I am looking for."
Heather had no intention of turning around and leaving. She raised her head and said with a smile. Huh? She has an unexpectedly good figure.
The leader of the black shrine maiden named Tsuruga Camouflage glanced at the tattered knife hanging on Heather's right waist. Her eyes stopped at the empty right arm for a second, and then she looked back at Heather's dew-stained big hat.
Hat:
"I'm sorry, it's Mr. [Sekiro]."
She bowed slightly, then turned sideways and stretched out her hand in the direction of the shrine: "Please come with me."
With that said, she took the lead and walked towards the shrine inside the torii gate.
Heather rubbed her chin. Her name was quite loud and useful. It seemed that people in any world liked the concept of "upright knights with strong martial arts skills".
Walking into the shrine in Tsuruga camouflage, what you see is a majestic shrine with a thousand steps and a huge torii. It is a beautiful Gongen-zukuri that has been carefully maintained. (Note 1)
Along the way, you can see many black witches, either cleaning the temple courtyard with tools or carrying heavy and medium-sized debris.
Seeing Heather walking behind Tsuruga in camouflage, they all stopped and stared at Heather motionless.
If looking across such a large piece of talisman paper can be regarded as 'gazing'.
"So, what does the famous Sekiro do to come to my little Santu Shrine?"
In the main hall, the two of them were sitting on the polished dark brown floor. They had similar lazy demeanors. Neither of them maintained the "sitting upright" in Japanese etiquette. There was a large bottle of sake and a bowl and plate in front of Tsuruga Camouflage.
He poured himself a drink and asked without raising his head:
"We still have a little ability to protect ourselves. There are no blind bandits or robbers coming here to cause trouble for the time being. I guess we don't need Sekiro-sama to show off his heroic posture."
Heather looked at the empty floor in front of her, and couldn't help curling her lips: "...can you consider this a little bit of self-protection? I'm really curious, what's wrong with you [former bandit]?
I will come and be the head shrine maiden of Santu Shrine."
"... Do you understand it clearly?" Tsuruga Camouflage's hand holding up the wine bowl froze for a moment: "I thought that I and the Santu Shrine were not even considered 'famous' in Izumo."
Heather laughed, leaned forward and took the whole bottle of wine directly from Camouflage. She bit open the cork and spit it onto the floor that the black witches had carefully wiped clean. Then she picked up the bottle and drank it with her neck raised.
After taking a few sips, he breathed a sigh of relief, put down the bottle, and casually wiped the corners of his mouth with his worn-out patched cuffs:
"The alcohol content is a little low, but it's still a good drink... The name of [Tsuruga Camouflage] is indeed not very famous, but [Thousand Swords·Thunder] is not necessarily so."
Tsuruga Camouflage was still holding the wine bowl and sipping the wine, but his eyes towards Heather became sharper.
"Oh, don't look at me like that, it's scary."
Heather waved her hand:
"When I went up the mountain, I noticed that the black mikos all wore the same style of sword on their waists. Is that the [Thousand Swords]? I think there are a thousand miko here, but you can't tell."
Although the shrine is large, it doesn't look like it can accommodate a thousand shrine maidens.
"There are only fifty shrine maidens left on the mountain. It is an armed shrine after all, so the security of the lower realm is also part of the job. If they were all placed in the shrine on the top of the mountain, the place would be overcrowded."
Tsuruga Camouflage put down the wine bowl, and the bottom of the bowl collided with the floor and made a crisp sound:
"There are no priests here. Although it is a shrine, it is only in form."
At some point, a dozen black witches quietly appeared in the hall. They still maintained a quiet posture, but they did not look 'non-hostile' with a thousand swords on their waists.
Tsuruga Camouflage did not order the witches to attack, nor did he let them retreat. He just stared at Heather's big hat with sharp eyes:
"Sir Sekiro, I have heard about your deeds. You are a rare hero, a knight, and a top swordsman. Because of this, I can also understand the deadly sword that Shikizaki Kiki's sword has for swordsmen.
Poison. I want to ask, are you here to seize the knife?"
As expected of the leader of the Armed Shrine, he was crisp and quick, and had the aura to kill Heather on the spot at the slightest disagreement.
Even if the opponent is Sekiro, who is said to be one of the best in the country in terms of martial arts, Tsuruga Camouflage has absolute confidence in defeating him. This is why one of the twelve completed variant swords of Shikisaki Kiki, "Sento·Ren"
The confidence it brings.
Heather sighed, took off the big hat, and revealed her face:
"It's such an ugly thing to say...I'm not here to grab a knife. Don't think of me as a robber."
When Heather's face, which was not covered by glasses, appeared in front of everyone, the silent black witches obviously made a slight commotion, and seemed to have been greatly shocked.
The front of Tsuruga's camouflage was greatly impacted by Heather's face, and his originally sharp eyes were involuntarily shaken and panicked.
At this time, she finally understood why the legendary stories about "Sekiro" were always accompanied by an episode in which the rescued girl Huaichun shed tears and finally became sad. With such a face, no woman could bear it!
It can no longer be called 'young and handsome'. Heather's appearance at this time is about thirty to thirty-five years old. She has an unshaven beard on her chin, a head full of slightly curly black hair, combed back casually, and a few strokes of black hair from her forehead.
The front and the sides of the ears are drooped, and the rest are scattered on the shoulders. There is a light and unrestrained smile on that handsome face that is difficult to describe in words.
It can be called the best portrayal of words such as "prodigal son" and "chivalrous man".
This is also another use of the stranger's fire that he learned about after coming into contact with the little prince - used to adjust one's own age and appearance. Sometimes the stranger will stay in a world for decades, and then it is necessary to use
Outsider Tinder adjusts appearance to avoid suspicion.
Of course, Heather only adjusted this way because it was fun.
He casually threw the bamboo hat to the black witches, and the witches caught the bamboo hat in a daze, their minds swaying.
With her elbows resting on her knees, Heather just sat lazily on the floor, looking at Tsuruga Camouflage:
"Atsushi and Camouflage, I know why you control [Thousand Swords·铩], and I can help you get rid of this trouble."
Tsuruga Camouflage took a deep breath to barely calm down his mood, and his originally lazy sitting posture changed to an upright posture: "Oh? Not to mention your strong self-confidence in the face of 'Thousand Swords', let's talk about it, mine
What’s the trouble?”
"You distribute the [Thousand Swords·Thunder] to these thousand black witches..."
Heather laughed:
"Is it to treat their wounds with knife poison?"
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Note 1: The so-called Gongen-zukuri is an architectural style in which a stone house is connected to the worship hall, also known as Hachidō-zukuri.