Chapter 48: Grandpa Lied to Me

Atsuta Shrine.

Located in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, one of Japan’s three major metropolitan areas, it is one of Japan’s three great shrines.

Its history dates back to the third century, and its fame rivals that of Japan’s most renowned shrine, Ise Shrine, and Tokyo’s largest shrine, Meiji Shrine.

The reason is not merely its long history, but also because Atsuta Shrine enshrines one of Japan’s Three Sacred Treasures: the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi.

It is well known that shrines have religious personnel, called shinshoku, with the head priest, or daigūji, serving as the shrine’s highest authority.

Tsuchimikado Kenji is the current daigūji of Atsuta Shrine, the twenty-ninth in line.

Tsuchimikado Xia Mei is the future thirty-first daigūji of Atsuta Shrine.

As the current daigūji and future daigūji of Atsuta Shrine, the two should never have appeared in a remote mountain forest.

One should remain at Atsuta Shrine.

The other should be studying at a Shinto school.

The reason they are here is primarily because Tsuchimikado Xia Mei is about to graduate from the Shinto school…

In Japan, shrine culture is widespread, so Shinto priests hold high status and are deeply respected; even before Japan’s postwar pacifist constitution, Shinto priests under State Shinto were government officials.

And because of this.

To prevent fraud and promote Shinto, Japan has established specialized examinations, rankings, and even a dedicated Shinto university for priests.

Only those who graduate from the Shinto university may become qualified priests and have the chance to enter a shrine and become daigūji.

In short, nowadays even becoming a monk or a shaman requires a diploma—this isn’t exaggeration; it’s the truth.

But it’s not mandatory to graduate from the Shinto university to become daigūji; in fact, some shrines practice hereditary succession, passing the position from generation to generation without requiring a diploma—such as Ise Shrine and Atsuta Shrine.

However, these hereditary shrines are mostly major ones, and to maintain prestige, they typically send the next heir to study, or at least secure a diploma through connections.

Tsuchimikado Xia Mei, the future daigūji of Atsuta Shrine, naturally also had to study at a Buddhist institution.

Unlike the heirs of other hereditary shrines, Tsuchimikado Xia Mei did not go reluctantly—she went willingly, genuinely fond of Shinto culture, and soon to graduate as a qualified priest with a high-level diploma.

Tsuchimikado Kenji was not particularly pleased by his granddaughter’s love of Shinto or her impending graduation.

The reason? Because Tsuchimikado Xia Mei’s devotion to Shinto had surpassed mere fondness—it had reached obsession, even madness.

How mad?

For example.

While others play games or date, Tsuchimikado Xia Mei reads ancient shrine texts and meditates, convinced that every daily meditation brings sudden enlightenment and increases her spiritual power—sometimes achieving hundreds of enlightenments per week.

When traveling, others shop or sightsee; Tsuchimikado Xia Mei goes out hunting for yokai, testing the Shinto spells she learned from ancient texts.

The root of Tsuchimikado Xia Mei’s obsession with Shinto lies not in her—but in her grandfather, Tsuchimikado Kenji.

Since Tsuchimikado Xia Mei is the sole heir of the Tsuchimikado family, Tsuchimikado Kenji naturally hoped she would inherit the position of daigūji.

But.

The world today is different from the past.

With technological and societal advancement, electronic devices and other modern comforts have captivated both the young and the old, causing many young people in shrines to refuse to become miko or priests.

To prevent this, Tsuchimikado Kenji began indoctrinating Xia Mei with Shinto teachings from childhood.

What kind of Shinto teaching?

Every night, Tsuchimikado Kenji told Xia Mei bedtime stories—all Shinto tales, exaggerated to the extreme.

Stories of ancient great priests exorcising demons, of priests emulating the monk Kūkai to travel across the ocean to an ancient land, mastering supreme Shinto arts, returning as the greatest priest, and effortlessly suppressing demons and yokai…

He also showed Xia Mei the ancestral records of Atsuta Shrine’s past daigūji, detailing their deeds and achievements.

It is well known that the term “shaman” originated in ancient times, referring to frauds who pretended to channel spirits; shrine and temple personnel were classic examples of such shamanistic charlatans.

Yet as daigūji of Atsuta Shrine, to leave behind a legacy of power, each daigūji naturally exaggerated their own deeds in the records, embellishing achievements with divine embellishment.

Reading these historical records of Atsuta Shrine’s past daigūji is no different from reading a novel—specifically, an invincible protagonist novel.

Add to that the gatherings of temple and shrine personnel, where mutual flattery is inevitable: “Tsuchimikado daigūji, you look so vigorous—has your spiritual power grown again? Soon you’ll become the strongest daigūji in Atsuta Shrine’s history!” or “Xiao, have you finally mastered a new Yin-Yang technique? You’re nearly as powerful as Amano Seimei!”

After years of such conditioning.

The result was obvious: Tsuchimikado Xia Mei was deluded, utterly convinced that Shinto and yokai were real.

Seeing how deeply she was deluded, she even told him that after graduation, upon entering Atsuta Shrine, she would dedicate herself to exorcising demons and subduing monsters, and would raise her future children to believe the same and continue the mission.

Tsuchimikado Kenji could no longer sit idle.

No, he had to explain the truth to Xia Mei—otherwise, future generations of the Tsuchimikado family would all become lunatics.

After much thought, Tsuchimikado Kenji decided to take Xia Mei into a remote mountain forest before her graduation.

Because he had often told her that yokai mostly lurked in deep forests.

Tsuchimikado Kenji’s plan was simple: confess. Take Xia Mei on a tour of the forest, let her find no yokai, then reveal the truth and tell her everything.

Confessing amid nature’s tranquility would be gentler.

Unfortunately.

After the confession, contrary to his expectations, Xia Mei refused to believe him—she thought he was protecting her, because fighting demons and monsters was dangerous.

Even after days of searching without finding any yokai, and Tsuchimikado Kenji repeatedly insisting on the truth, it made no difference.

Five days passed, and Tsuchimikado Kenji’s voice was worn out—still useless.

At best, he only slightly shaken her resolve; in the end, Xia Mei reassured herself and reaffirmed her beliefs.

Meanwhile.

Facing Tsuchimikado Kenji’s words, Tsuchimikado Xia Mei shook her head firmly.

“Grandpa, stop pretending. I know you’re trying to protect me, but I am the future daigūji of Atsuta Shrine. Spreading Shinto, communicating with the gods, and slaying demons are our duty.”

As she spoke, she checked her phone and found no signal.

Deep in the forest—no signal at all.

“Fine, I’ll agree to your terms—I won’t meditate daily or read shrine texts anymore. I’ll play with my phone, game, go shopping, buy clothes—do more of these useless things. Is that okay?” Tsuchimikado Xia Mei recalled her grandfather’s recent words.

Tsuchimikado Kenji’s eyes lit up.

“Huh? Really? You’re not lying to Grandpa? You’re sure you want to do more useless things?”

These past days, he hadn’t just confessed—he’d also explained why: Xia Mei was too obsessed, too mad. Now, hearing she wanted to shop and game, he was overjoyed.

With the allure of smartphones, shopping, and clothes, if Xia Mei immersed herself in these, perhaps she could slowly shake off her Shinto delusion and become a normal girl—even realize that everything he’d told her was just bluffing.

“Yes.” Tsuchimikado Xia Mei replied.

“Good, good, good! This is your promise to Grandpa! Remember—every day, twenty-four hours, except for sleeping and eating, you must spend at least six hours shopping, using your phone, or gaming. Agreed?”

“Agreed, agreed! I promise—six hours a day shopping, on my phone, gaming—as long as we leave the forest, because here there’s no signal at all, not a single bar in five days.”

“Then let’s go, ha ha!”

Tsuchimikado Kenji laughed happily, pulling Tsuchimikado Xia Mei out of the forest.

As soon as they left the forest, Tsuchimikado Xia Mei, true to her word, immediately turned on her now-signal-equipped phone and began browsing online.

Just as Tsuchimikado Kenji was calling someone to pick up the grandfather and granddaughter and return them to Atsuta Shrine…

Tsuchimikado Xia Mei, browsing on her phone, suddenly screamed.

The next moment,

she sharply looked up at the startled Tsuchimikado Kenji.

“Grandpa! Everything you said these past five days was a lie!!”

…