Chapter 214: He Owes You An Apology
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

As he followed the middle-aged man, Kimura Kazuki’s eyes wandered around his surroundings and found that the Arisu Shrine was full of incense offered by devoted worshippers. As Yagyu Kenichiro had mentioned, the Arisu family was indeed notable.

He had also begun to remember some of his memories regarding the Japanese onmyoji during the Dharma Ending Age. Generally, families with Japanese onmyoji would establish their own family shrine.

The size of the shrine did not equate strength, but usually, the more famous a shrine was in the local community, the more incense that was burnt and the stronger the family would be. There were similarities between the practice system of Japanese onmyoji during the Dharma Ending Age and during the recuperation of reiki, but they also had their differences.

The onmyoji during the Dharma Ending Age had difficulties in practicing without the protection of their family, an issue with the shrines.

During the Dharma Ending Age, the onmyoji only had two tactics. One was based on Enchanted Talismans, while the other one was about spirit seeking where the onmyoji would sign a contract with the spirit and worship it. The capabilities of the spirit could be activated with incense and these spirits, or rather, specters were known as shikigami.

If the shikigami wanted to upgrade their power, they could only rely on the incense at the shrine.

This practice strategy was the developmental culmination of generations of Japanese onmyoji during the Dharma Ending Era. On the other hand, for battle, onmyoji would mainly use Enchanted Talismans as their weapons.

The Arisu Shrine was huge. As they walked past the main hall, it was another five to six minutes of walking before they came to the hindmost section of the shrine, which was the place where the Arisu family stayed. Along the way, he saw quite several people in their kariginu and hakama. Upon seeing the middle-aged man who was Arisu Atsuhito, these people would stop and bow to him. It was apparent that his status in the Arisu Shrine and the Arisu family was quite high.

He sensed that these people were basically just ordinary people. Very few of them had reiki flowing within their body, and even then, the reiki present was quite weak.

By the time they reached the anteroom at the hindmost section of the shrine, Arisu Atsuhito had managed to calm himself down. Yet, he was still awestruck when he looked at the young face of Kimura Kazuki. A young man with such an unfathomable power at this age was someone that he could not afford to offend. At the same time, he was also trying to guess his identity.

How could a young man with such immense power hide in the shadows for so long? It just isn’t possible!

“Please have a seat, Master Kimura. The master of the house will be here in a minute.”

Kimura Kazuki nodded in acknowledgment.

Arisu Atsuhito walked to the entrance and instructed a servant to wait on Kimura Kazuki for the time being.

Soon enough, Arisu Atsuhito came along with Arisu Taigo, the current head of the Arisu family. Instead of rising from his seat, Kimura Kazuki just continued to sip on his tea as he eyed the old man up and down.

Although Arisu Taigo was in his twilight years, he looked alert with a rosy complexion and white hair that was still streaked with black hair that indicated the remnants of his youth.

He was a remarkably energetic elderly person.

Upon entering, a flicker of curiosity flashed in the eyes of Arisu Taigo as he caught sight of the sitting Kimura Kazuki.

A few moments ago, he had sensed a strong wave of reiki from his room and had sent his son out to greet the visitor. Now that he could see for himself, it was precisely as Atsuhito had remarked. He was young, way too young. With that thought, he forced a smile, attempting to mask his displeasure at seeing Kimura Kazuki sitting still in his seat without budging an inch.

Shortly after Arisu Taigo was seated in the kamiza, he put on a cordial smile, “Nice to meet you, Kimura-sama. So, what brings you to the Arisu Shrine?”

Even though Arisu Atsuhito, who sat in the shimoza was curious, he remained silent with his head slightly bowed, awaiting further instructions.

Kimura Kazuki skipped the small talk and went straight to the point, “It’s regarding Arisu Yuusuke from the Arisu family.”

The mere mention of the name made Atsuhito lift his head up involuntarily since Arisu Yuusuke was his son. His heart skipped a beat as he knew very well what his son was capable of. In fact, his son’s personality was basically spoiled rotten by his father, Arisu Taigo.

This was all because of Arisu Yuusuke’s talent in practicing since he had been a kid, which led to Arisu Taigo pampering him. Every time Arisu Atsuhito wanted to lecture his son, he would eventually be stopped by his father before he could even get a word out.

In the Arisu family, Arisu Yuusuke was the center of all the love and attention.

However, he had been well-behaved since he joined the Department of Mysteries last year and did not get the Arisu family into any trouble. He had even thought that this spoiled son of his had turned over a new leaf… He pondered over it. He could no longer hold back his curiosity and asked, “Kimura-sama, Yuusuke is new to cultivation, and his capabilities are still weak, so please excuse him if he has offended you in any way at all. If you have suffered any inconvenience or losses, the Arisu family is willing to compensate you.” As he spoke, he took a glance at his father, who sat in the kamiza.

Arisu Taigo gave Kimura Kazuki an apologetic smile after a brief silence, “No worries, Kimura-sama, I will ask Yuusuke to come back now. He owes you an apology!” He motioned to Atsuhito with a glance, and Atsuhito smiled at Kimura Kazuki in a friendly manner before excusing himself to ask a priest to call Arisu Yuusuke back home.

As for the reason why he did not contact his son himself, it could only be said that the relationship between Arisu Atsuhito and his son was a tense one. For that particular reason, he feared that Arisu Yuusuke would refuse to come back if he was the one that made the call.

“That’s great.” Kimura Kazuki’s lips curled into a light smile, accepting Arisu Taigo’s suggestion. It looked like Arisu Taigo pampered his grandson very much.

The Japanese onmyoji society was a circle dominated by the powerful, and those who were weaker would be severely punished if they offended anyone stronger. However, to Kimura Kazuki, as long as his loss was compensated, he could not be bothered to take the trouble to punish Arisu Yuusuke.

He barely knew Arisu Yuusuke, but based on what Director Mitani had said on the phone earlier, what Arisu Yuusuke had done was purely unintentional. If so, then he would naturally just let it go.

With that in mind, he gave a rough outline of the issue at hand.

Arisu Atsuhito heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing Kimura Kazuki’s words. So the whole issue was regarding his son absorbing the Kimura Kazuki’s wraith… However, the Arisu family did not have any wraiths with them for the time being since wraiths were not something that could be kept over a long time. Typically, the onmyoji or shrine maiden would strip it of its impurities and absorb the wraith right after killing them.

While it was true that the Arisu family had no wraiths in their hands right now, but it was only a matter of time for them to capture one. Worst comes to worst, they could just seek help from the Deity Rising Palace.

As the three of them were chatting, Arisu Yuusuke had returned to the Arisu Shrine in confusion. He held back the man who greeted him at the entrance and asked, “What’s going on, Uncle Youzai?” Since he was part of the Arisu family, the people at the Department of Mysteries did not dare to mess with him. However, at home, there were too many rules to follow at the Arisu Shrine, so he would rather stay at the Department of Mysteries than come back and deal with his father’s ill-tempered face.

Although his grandfather doted on him, he could not possibly keep a close eye on him all the time.

As they walked together, Arisu Youzai got to know part of the story from Arisu Atsuhito. He had assumed something significant had happened by the look of Arisu Atsuhito’s panic-stricken face. Still, once he got the picture, he felt that Arisu Atsuhito was simply making a mountain out of a mole.