Chapter 300

Now that Haruto knew Kikyō was nearby, he naturally intended to meet her.

Aside from his curiosity about her unusual state of existence, he also wanted to learn something about this world’s methods of spiritual training and its various techniques.

He was especially interested in barrier techniques and shikigami.

After asking the old man for directions to the village where Kikyō was temporarily staying, Haruto immediately set off.

Less than half an hour later, he arrived.

This village was even livelier than the previous one. Sacred shimenawa ropes had been tied between the trees surrounding the settlement, and Haruto could clearly sense that the connected ropes formed a barrier protecting the entire village.

Of course, he could also tell that the barrier was primarily meant to keep yōkai out.

It had little effect on humans.

Haruto entered the village, but before he had gone more than a few steps, several young and middle-aged men carrying hoes and hatchets moved to block his path.

The man at the front was tall and dark-skinned. He gripped his hoe tightly and gave Haruto a wary once-over before asking in a deep voice,

"Who are you? What business do you have in our village?"

Haruto stopped and answered truthfully.

"My name is Suzuki Haruto. I’m a traveler passing through the area. I heard that the priestess Kikyō was staying here, so I came to pay her a visit."

"You’re looking for Lady Kikyō?"

The villagers immediately became even more guarded.

Several people passing nearby stopped as well, directing suspicious looks toward Haruto.

To them, Kikyō was practically a guardian deity.

She was the reason they could live in peace.

The problem was that she was only staying in their village temporarily and could leave whenever she wished.

Now some unknown outsider had appeared and immediately asked to see her.

For all they knew, Haruto might be here to ask Kikyō to leave with him.

There was no way they intended to allow that without an explanation.

The men stepped forward almost in unison, surrounding Haruto.

"What do you want with Lady Kikyō?"

"If you don’t explain yourself clearly, you’re not taking another step."

Several of them tightened their grips on their farming tools, ready to drive Haruto out if necessary.

Haruto frowned, displeasure entering his expression.

He was just about to teach the villagers a small lesson when a cool, composed voice came from behind them.

"Let him through."

The tense atmosphere immediately eased.

The villagers loosened their grips on their tools and respectfully turned toward the source of the voice.

"Lady Kikyō."

Haruto looked over.

Kikyō was walking toward them at an unhurried pace.

She wore the traditional white-and-red robes of a miko. Her long black hair was tied back with a white ribbon, with a few loose strands falling beside her cheeks and framing a face of striking, almost austere beauty.

Her features were calm and cool, her eyes seemingly untouched by emotion, yet somewhere beneath that stillness lingered a faint melancholy.

A longbow rested across her back, with several Sacred Arrows in the quiver beside it.

Haruto could clearly sense the immense, extraordinarily pure spiritual power contained within her.

At the same time, there was also the faint presence of death clinging to her body.

That deathly aura intertwined with her pristine spiritual power in a way that should have been contradictory, yet somehow felt strangely harmonious.

Haruto knew exactly why.

Kikyō had already died once.

The woman standing before him now walked the world in a body of clay and grave soil.

Kikyō stopped in front of Haruto and quietly studied him.

She could immediately tell that he was extremely powerful.

There was an unfamiliar energy inside his body, something unlike anything she had ever encountered before.

It was neither yōki nor spiritual power.

Still, she sensed no hostility from him.

"Who are you?"

"And why have you come here?"

Kikyō spoke first.

Her voice was cool and devoid of unnecessary emotion, though there was a faint trace of curiosity beneath it.

The strange energy surrounding Haruto had caught her attention.

"My name is Suzuki Haruto. I’m a Super Chef, and I also work as a Gourmet Hunter."

Haruto introduced himself calmly before continuing.

"I heard about you while passing through a nearby village, Kikyō-san. What they told me left quite an impression."

"As it happens, there are a few things I’d like your help with, so I took the liberty of coming here to visit you. I hope you’ll forgive the intrusion."

Kikyō’s brow shifted almost imperceptibly.

Her previously calm gaze sharpened as she looked directly into Haruto’s eyes.

She had no proof, but something about his words gave her the feeling that Haruto had known her name and identity long before arriving here.

That was what had led him to seek her out.

Yet she had already died once and only recently returned to the world in this clay body.

Very few people who had known her in life should even be aware that she was walking the earth again.

The fact that Haruto seemed to know her made her wary.

One hand slipped silently into the wide sleeve of her miko robes, fingertips touching several prepared paper talismans.

Haruto remained perfectly relaxed.

He noticed her caution but made no suspicious movements, simply standing where he was with an easy expression.

Kikyō stared at him for several moments.

Then she turned toward one of the nearby houses.

"Come with me."

Haruto nodded and followed without hesitation.

The villagers who had been watching from nearby became even more anxious, but there was nothing they could do to change Kikyō’s decision.

Quite a few of them followed at a distance and remained outside the house.

Haruto stepped inside after Kikyō and casually closed the wooden door behind him, cutting off the villagers’ view.

The interior was simple.

There was a low table, several cushions, a spare longbow and quiver hanging on the wall, and a shelf containing medicinal herbs.

Beyond that, there was almost nothing unnecessary.

"You seem to be highly respected here, Kikyō-san."

Haruto could still sense the villagers lingering outside and casually remarked on it.

Kikyō turned and gave him a faint glance but did not respond.

The villagers’ reverence meant little to her.

She had returned to the world in a body of clay, and the only obsession remaining in her heart was to destroy Naraku and finally settle the hatred and tragedy between them.

Fame, respect, admiration from strangers—none of it mattered.

What interested her far more was Haruto’s identity.

Kikyō stopped beside the low table and looked directly at him.

"Tell me."

"Who did you hear about me from?"

Haruto met her gaze without flinching.

"I’m not from this world."

"I come from another world entirely."

"As for why I know about you, you can think of it as a unique ability of mine. I’m able to glimpse certain fragments of the past and fate belonging to other worlds."

Kikyō listened.

Her face showed no surprise whatsoever.

"I see."

She had died.

She had been betrayed.

Her remains had been used to bring her back into the world inside a body made of clay.

Compared with everything she had already experienced, the existence of a traveler from another world was hardly important.

Kikyō did not particularly care whether Haruto truly came from another world, nor whether his supposed ability to glimpse fate was real.

As long as he had nothing to do with Naraku, the rest was irrelevant.

Seeing how completely unshaken she was, Haruto felt strangely speechless.

He had expected that revealing his origins would earn at least a little surprise, even if she did not think he was insane.

Instead, Kikyō had simply accepted it as though he had told her the weather.

That composure was genuinely difficult for an ordinary person to match.

Still, Haruto did not dwell on it.

He simply stated the reason he had come.

"The main reason I wanted to meet you is because I’d like to learn this world’s methods for training spiritual power."

"I’m also interested in purification techniques, barriers, shikigami summoning, and similar arts."

"I was wondering whether you’d be willing to teach me."

Haruto’s expression became serious.

"Of course, I have no intention of learning for free. I’ll give you compensation that you find worthwhile."

He genuinely wanted to learn these techniques.

Perhaps he had no immediate need for them, but he traveled through countless worlds.

Sooner or later, there would almost certainly be a situation where such abilities proved useful.

Haruto had previously considered asking Miroku to teach him, but at the time, forging his kitchen knife had taken priority, so he had never brought it up.

Now that he had encountered Kikyō herself, there was no reason to let the opportunity pass.

After all, when it came to spiritual power and techniques, Kikyō was far beyond Miroku.