【shrine?】

After hearing what Jiuyuan said, the system paused for a few seconds, and then asked in a weak voice: [... Where do you have your own shrine? ]

Jiuyuan didn't get angry even though his secrets were exposed so bluntly.

"I didn't say I was going to my own shrine."

It was almost midnight and only the street lights were still flashing.

Jiuyuan was not nervous walking alone at night, after all, there was the system nagging him.

[So are you going? ]

"First, I'll find a small shrine nearby. I want to look for the god of the land." He said, "If everything goes well, I can go see Amaterasu - don't forget, there is the Ise Sanko Daijingu Shrine here, which is dedicated to Amaterasu."

【System: ……】

He thinks that he has started to let himself go since his master knew his life experience. Oh no, he should be more like his true self.

However, the system still expressed its concerns a little: [But wouldn't this be a bad idea? After all, this is the shrine of Amaterasu. Do you want to create an anomaly in the shrine to build momentum for yourself? ]

After all, from ancient times to the present, anything related to Shinto such as gods and sons of gods requires various reasonable reasons to create momentum.

Not to mention the all too common plot of strange phenomena in the sky at birth, Jiuyuan now has to use the name of the shrine and the gods to build momentum, and he has to communicate with the other party.

Otherwise, it will just create light pollution inside the shrine...

If the system had a body, it would have to swallow its saliva now.

What's more, it's a shrine dedicated to Amaterasu! What does it have to do with him?

"No, isn't there a ready-made reason?" Jiuyuan said, "Don't forget the thing in the sea water."

[You mean to use this as an excuse to get Amaterasu to, uh... agree to let you borrow her power? ]

"That's about right."

What Jiuyuan didn't say was that Amaterasu's power should have a better effect on the thing in the water. As the goddess of the sun, Amaterasu is definitely very effective in dispelling such dark and evil things.

Although he wanted to devour the power of the remnant in the sea, his body was not so stable now. It would be safer if he could weaken it with the power of Amaterasu before devouring it.

I just don't know what his relationship with Amaterasu is like. I'll have to ask my mother in hell about that.

However, for such a serious matter, should I go there in person?

But before that, you still have to visit the land god.

Only after figuring out the true nature of the pollution could he pry open the door to Amaterasu's house. Moreover, he knew that it was not easy to get benefits from Amaterasu, but it was different from the land.

The difficulty level is not the same.

He first went to a small shrine near his home. It was quiet and deserted at night, and the boy alone seemed suspicious.

“I don’t know what was originally enshrined here.”

After all, some shrines may not necessarily be dedicated to gods, but may also be objects, or the objects may be real historical figures.

He came here mainly to try to contact the land god. The local shrines are basically the places with the strongest inspiration, and it is relatively easier to connect with the people and gods of Shinto.

"I have been waiting for you for a long time." Under the street light nearby, the fox Yin was holding an oil-paper umbrella and respectfully facing the direction where Jiuyuan came from.

Jiuyuan nodded: "Good evening."

[System: ...] Although I know that my master is a person who pays great attention to ceremony, but, isn't this still too dramatic?!

The main reason why Yin was called here is because she has a certain air of dignity.

Unlike Jiuyuan, who has a special identity and is neither a god nor a demon nor a human, Yin has a truly divine aura.

Considering that Kyuen's aura is more like a demon from an evil series, summoning the land god might not be successful, so Gin was brought here.

Although I have encountered some small land gods before, the one I am trying to communicate with this time is the land god who is in charge of the land of Yokohama. Unlike those small land gods whose nature is closer to monsters and elves, this one is a real Shinto.

Even so, Jiuyuan didn't know what it took to summon the land god.

So she asked Yin to stand in the place where the spiritual energy was the most concentrated, and make a pious gesture to call on the land god.

Kuen himself stood farther away, took out his phone and sent a message to Izanami: [How is my relationship with Amaterasu?], then began to stare intently at the changes in the aura here.

The surroundings were calm and windless, but after Yin leaned forward slightly and put his hands together to pray, the spiritual energy gradually gathered towards the center.

In Jiuyuan's eyes, strips of light slowly gathered together and condensed at one point. The light bands turned from virtual to real and gathered at one point in an instant!

Then the light faded, and a short, blurry figure appeared in front of the two.

He is a genial old man with gray hair, just like the stereotypical "grandfather" image in children's picture books.

"Good evening." He bowed respectfully to Jiuyuan, as if he already knew that the person who was really looking for him here was Jiuyuan, not Yin who was in charge of the agency.

"I have heard that you are the unknown son of Izanami-sama, the head of the evil spirits sleeping in the underworld, Master Kuen, right?"

The system said "Wow" without any emotion.

[If this is an MMORPG game, your teammates will not be able to see your game nickname because it is too long...]

Faced with this sudden long string of prefixes, Gin covered his mouth to hide his smile, while Jiuyuan generously admitted -

"It's me. You are the landowner here, right?"

The old man nodded with some fear: "I am just a small land god."

He didn't dare to look up at the other person. From where he was, he could just see the boy's straight calves and the hem of Gin's kimono skirt.

For him, this was the safest angle of observation. If he looked directly at the other person, what he saw would most likely not be something beautiful.

But, maybe it's just a group of black evil spirits or something?

Thinking of this, he lowered his head even more.

"…Lord Jiuyuan summoned me here to… remove the polluted things that fell into the sea?"

Now that you know it, it will be easy.

Jiuyuan played with the flower cards in his hand and asked, "Do you know what that is?"

The land god must know more details than the special power secret service department. After getting the information from him, Jiuyuan was found by the special power secret service department. He had the upper hand and there was no information gap.

"I probably know what's going on. This is what's going on—"

He briefly explained that the battle between the Armed Detective Agency and the group ended with the fall of the white whale, but since then, a member of the group jumped into the sea and left the area along the water.

"But that member is definitely not an ordinary 'human'..." The land god sighed, "He should also be related to some powerful, unspeakable evil... Those evil thoughts followed the path he left and spread to the surrounding area, polluting this sea area."

"...Actually, I have already reported the information to my superiors, but..."

Judging from the land god's embarrassed expression and hesitant words, the efficiency of the gods' world is definitely worrying.

He didn't dare to say it openly, and could only hint at it quietly.

[System: That's right, Master. So October is coming soon... The annual gathering of the gods. It's called a gathering, but it's also a performance review meeting... The land god of Yokohama must be very nervous right now.]

Jiuyuan understood: This is like the last two weeks before the end of the semester. The teacher suddenly adds an assessment item and tells you that it accounts for a very high proportion of the final exam. How can you not be nervous?

But on the surface, Jiuyuan just turned over the cards and looked at them without saying anything, waiting for the next words from the land god.

...At this time, it is not convenient for the person who speaks first to negotiate the terms.

Seeing through Jiuyuan's thoughts, the system said: [...You even didn't let go of the wool of the land god? ]

Jiuyuan: "No, this is not taking advantage of me. The land god asked me for help, and I just asked for a reasonable reward. What's more, this job is quite dangerous..."

[…Okay, you do have a point.] The system was easily convinced.

The land god summoned up his courage and said, "I am so brave, could you please help purify this sea area, Lord Jiuyuan..." He seemed to think that the word "purify" was not appropriate for Jiuyuan, so he changed his words and said, "Could you please remove the pollution and residue from this sea area?"

Seeing that Jiuyuan Wensi did not move, he explained to her with reason and emotion, saying how beautiful and charming this city is, and how hard-working and positive people are living, and would you be willing to let this city be destroyed?

If Jiuyuan hadn't known that there would be a performance evaluation in October, he would have believed it.

The land god talked for a long time but never mentioned any practical benefits, so Jiuyuan certainly wouldn't give in.

He was still thinking to the system: "This land god is obviously a seasoned veteran in the workplace. Why would he trick me into working for nothing?"

[Isn’t this the law of karma…]

"Don't talk nonsense. I usually pay people for work they do."

Ah Yin turned the umbrella around and placed it horizontally in front of the land, and said softly: "My master doesn't really care about these human affairs."

The land god thought: Didn’t you have a lot of fun playing with humans before?!

But he didn't dare to refute, seeing that his words were useless and that the other party would just leave if he continued, so he hurriedly said: "I am willing to share some of the land god's authority--"

Jiuyuan: Now that you say that, I’m not sleepy anymore.

But he just raised his eyebrows slightly.

Seeing Jiuyuan's reaction, the land god quickly said: "But it can only be shared with your human body... otherwise it will be against the law."

Jiuyuan understood that the land god distributed part of his power to humans, which was actually a disguised way of developing his own agents or messengers. This was reasonable from the perspective of rules and regulations, and he was taking advantage of a loophole by doing so.

But this way, there is a time limit.

This human body will eventually wither, and at that time, the contract that the land god gave him to share will automatically terminate - the land god probably thought of this and dared to make up his mind to share the authority.

And he only gave authority to this body, which could be considered as his way of protecting himself to prevent the "evil spirit Jiuyuan" from snatching away his divine power.

After all, there is Izanami standing behind Kuen. Even if the other party really wants to get the divine power of the land god for his child to play with, he will be helpless.

Jiuyuan: "Okay."

After hearing Jiuyuan's gentle response, the anxiety in the land god's heart began to dissipate.

He mustered up his courage and secretly glanced at the boy——

That clean and flawless face and the cold aura of death overlapped together. Behind the young man, there was a transparent vengeful spirit, leaning on his shoulder like a pet, rubbing his neck affectionately.

Noticing his gaze, the fox next to him covered his lips with his sleeve and gave him a warning glance.

"Then I will open the authority for you——"

The land god lowered his head to do his job, and he was not afraid that the other party would run away.

Compared to the sharing rights that last for the life of a human being, being demoted due to a major disaster during the assessment at the Izumo Conference is more terrifying.

Of course he knew that now that Shintoism was in decline, if he was demoted to a lower-level god, he would most likely completely perish in a vicious cycle of lack of faith.

There is no better way, we can only rely on the conscience of this adult!

In Jiuyuan's sight, the light on the short old man gradually dissipated, and then a band of light separated, which went all the way into his body. He touched his chest and could clearly feel a trace of Shinto power in this body.

Perhaps this will be a new opportunity for him to get in touch with Shinto.

After obtaining this power, the world in Jiuyuan's eyes changed again.

The power of the land god is not only the omniscience and omnipotence that enables him to monitor the land from all angles, but also the ability to communicate with the creatures on the land, such as plants and animals. At the very least, he can simply change the surrounding small spiritual field.

I just don't know if it's because Jiuyuan is a combination of a vengeful spirit and a ghost from the underworld, which is why his affinity with animals is still not strong, so this function is a bit useless.

For Jiuyuan, the real benefit of this authority lies in the convenience it provides for his identity.

For example, if you want to casually create a grand "spiritual manifestation", you don't need to rely entirely on your own demonic power. You can achieve it by simply controlling the surrounding spiritual fields and plants.

In addition, when you need to search for polluted residues in the sea, it is easy to find the location of the pollutants accurately with the authority of the land god.

Otherwise, you have to use your magic power to inject the cards and manually turn the tide.

The authority that the land god had given him was simply a labor-saving plug-in!

"But... the land god did remind me of something."

【System: What's going on? 】

Kuen: "——When I go to see Amaterasu at Ise Shrine and ask her to bring me a good omen, how should she address me in front of others?"

The system thought to itself.

That's right, you can't just say "I, Amaterasu, have entrusted this matter to the head of the evil spirits in the underworld", right?

——Doesn’t this sound like a villain? !