Chapter 146: Those in Power Are All Masterminds

Holding the bowl of rice, Kamikawa Mitsu suddenly froze, his head full of question marks.

?????

To a maid café?

Are girls today really that creative? Thanking someone by taking them straight to a maid café—this is way too in tune with a boy's heart.

"Is this your idea, or did Mizushima or Komuro come up with it?"

In his view, such a bizarre way of showing gratitude could only have been thought of by a sister.

"It was Iori who asked the boys in class and came up with the idea; my idea was for Iori to come dressed as a maid to thank you."

Kamikawa Chie said, nudging Kamikawa Zun with her elbow:

"Nii-san, won't you come this weekend? You can invite Tsuchimikado Xia Mei too—we can all wear maid outfits together."

You're probably just curious about what a supernatural descendant looks like in a maid outfit.

Kamikawa Zun mentally scoffed.

Because he saw clearly—when Kamikawa Chie mentioned wearing maid outfits together, her eyes sparkled.

"What do you say? Will Nii-san come? Tsuchimikado Xia Mei and Iori will both wear maid outfits, okay? Nii-san, do you think I should wear a long maid dress? Don't forget to compliment me!"

Kamikawa Chie shook Kamikawa Zun's arm, pouting playfully.

In the end, Kamikawa Zun still declined Kamikawa Chie's request—not because he didn't want to see it, but because he wanted to learn more about Shinto culture; there would be plenty of chances to visit maid cafés, but opportunities to read the Tsuchimikado family's scriptures? Who knew if there'd be another chance.

"Hurry and eat, your food's getting cold."

"Hai~"

"I bought cherries today—your favorite."

"Nii-san is the best!"

Kamikawa Chie was overjoyed, giving Kamikawa Zun a thumbs-up, her eyes glowing with Jin Guang.

Still, despite her happiness, she didn't want Kamikawa Zun to spend money on cherries for her.

In Japan, fruit is generally expensive—even common fruits. For example, peaches usually cost 3,800 yen per box, roughly 230 RMB, with about fifteen peaches per box, averaging over ten yuan each.

Ten yuan per peach? That's expensive!

To eat fruit every day in Japan is, without exaggeration, a sign of wealth.

Cherries, being uncommon, are naturally even more expensive.

Kamikawa Chie knew her family's financial situation—there was no need to buy luxuries like cherries.

"Nii-san, just buy cherries this once. They're too expensive, it's not necessary."

Her words rang out.

Kamikawa Zun smiled and ruffled Kamikawa Chie's hair:

"Don't worry about money. I bought them because the NH137 accident compensation has come through, and since I saved 231 people on NH137, the government also awarded me a bonus—plenty of money. Even if I bought cherries every week, what's left would still cover your high school tuition and meals."

The NH137 accident, officially classified as an accident, required the airline to compensate passengers for their safety.

To quell public pressure, the government deliberately put Kamikawa Zun on display, diverting attention from the public opinion that NH137 was sabotage, and doubled, even tripled, the reward meant for his heroic act.

Today, both payments finally arrived.

Only then did Kamikawa Zun splurge on cherries.

"That's wonderful!" Kamikawa Chie exclaimed, overjoyed.

With so much money, Nii-san won't have to work so hard anymore.

Kamikawa Zun smiled: "Besides these two payments, another sum is coming soon—the Yamazaki Group will pay compensation for hiring yakuza to drive us out. That's also a significant income."

As he spoke, Kamikawa Zun pulled out 10,000 yen and handed it to Kamikawa Chie.

"You're going out with Mizushima this Saturday—take extra pocket money and have fun."

Kamikawa Chie originally didn't want to take it; money was hard-earned, and she didn't want to waste it. But Kamikawa Zun insisted, so she finally accepted.

Kamikawa Zun didn't tell Kamikawa Chie one thing.

The government's reward was even larger than expected. He knew why—it was likely tied to the Kamikawa family being descendants of Ashiya Douman.

Just hours ago, Director Takahashi and the others had only just learned of Kamikawa Zun's family lineage, and soon after, the delayed reward and compensation arrived. He didn't believe the two were unrelated.

The facts proved it.

The Japanese government delayed issuing the reward not out of stinginess, but to confirm whether Kamikawa Zun had any connection to the late King.

Because this was a prime opportunity to court a supernatural being.

If Kamikawa Zun was confirmed to be connected to the late King, the government would give him a much larger reward, leaving the late King with the impression that the government was generous.

That way, if the government ever had the chance to contact the late King in the future, it would greatly increase their chances of winning his favor.

This decision was made by Director Takahashi and the others.

Today's revelation that Kamikawa Zun is a descendant of Ashiya Douman fully proved that their decision was correct.

Fortunately, they didn't issue the reward too early—if they had, and given too little, it would have been a disaster, since no one knew Kamikawa Zun's true identity or his connection to the late King.

There's a difference between having a connection to the late King and being a descendant of Ashiya Douman.

If it were only a connection, the reward might be tripled or quadrupled at minimum. But with the added status of being Ashiya Douman's descendant, merely tripling or quadrupling the reward would make the government look petty to the supernatural.

Fortunately, they didn't issue the reward early.

Now they could issue the reward based on Kamikawa Zun's confirmed identity and information.

That's why the reward and compensation Kamikawa Zun received this time were far greater than expected. Without exaggeration, he wouldn't need to worry about living expenses for a long time.

"Nii-san, did you see today's news? There was a supernatural incident in Tochigi Prefecture."

During dinner, Kamikawa Chie scrolled through her phone and saw news from Tochigi Prefecture.

The Tochigi incident involved not just the supernatural, but also confirmed China's supernatural presence—that Yuzaoqian is Su Daji. This news had already flooded the internet; it was impossible to miss.

So Kamikawa Zun wasn't surprised by Kamikawa Chie's discovery.

Instead, he took the opportunity to chat with Kamikawa Chie about the supernatural, then steered the topic sideways, drawing the conversation toward supernatural shrine lineages.

"Speaking of shrine lineages, Chie, weren't you the one who asked me before whether our family might possibly be a shrine lineage?"

"Right, right! Nii-san, you even argued back at me, saying our family couldn't possibly be a shrine lineage — what kind of down-and-out shrine lineage would we be? But I think it's totally possible! Isn't it always like that in those anime about yokai shrines? The male lead's family was originally a great shrine lineage, then fell on hard times."

Once the talk turned to their family being a shrine lineage, Kamikawa Chie immediately grew excited and began fantasizing:

"And in ancient times there were lots of shrine lineages, but now hardly any are left — just a few like the Tsuchimikado family. So our family has every reason to be a shrine lineage. In fact, I even suspect our family was an amazing shrine lineage, it's just that because of some mishap or something, our family declined way too fast, and now all that's left is you, Nii-san, and me."

Kamikawa Chie stood up and came over to stand in front of Kamikawa Zun.

Then, just as Kamikawa Zun was baffled, unable to figure out why Kamikawa Chie had gotten up from the table and come over to him, he saw her place one hand on his shoulder and speak with deep earnestness.

"Nii-san, you're now the last male in our family. Whether our once-great shrine lineage, the Kamikawa family, can carry on its line — it all depends on you."

……