Chapter 139 The Second Player

Although Hanayamain Haruna's last name is "Hanayamain", she is the goddess of the "Zenin" family.

Going back thousands of years, the Kazanin family is a prominent family of the direct line of Fujiwara no Kita no Morizane. The founder of the Kazanin family was Fujiwara no Ietada, the second son of Fujiwara no Morizane, who was the youngest son of Fujiwara no Yorimichi, the eldest son of Fujiwara no Michinaga. Therefore, it can be said that the "Kazanin family" is also the direct descendant of the Fujiwara clan, which was well-known to everyone in the Heian period. [1]

The Fujiwara clan itself was a prominent family in the Heian period and had produced countless sorcerers. Thousands of years ago, the Kayamain family was also a prominent family of sorcerers. At its peak, the Kayamain family's ancestral sorcery "Senra Wanxiang" could even be compared with the Gojo family's "Musuki", the Zenin family's "Ten Shadow Techniques", and the Kamo family's "Red Blood Manipulation Technique".

However, the descendants of the Hanayama family who inherited "Senra Wanxiang" are rare, and the descendants who awakened the spell are not many. Moreover, "Senra Wanxiang" is also different from the "Unlimited Technique" and "Ten Shadow Techniques". The sorcerer who awakened the spell also needs to have certain talents and qualifications in order to exert the maximum ability of this spell.

If a sorcerer's own qualifications are dull, even if he awakens the "Senluo Wanxiang", his level will not be very high - there are some who will only remain a second-level sorcerer throughout their lives.

Therefore, a thousand years passed, which was enough for the Hanayamain family, which had a great reputation a thousand years ago, to gradually decline in the world of sorcery. However, even if the Hanayamain family gradually disappeared in the world of sorcery, in the world of ordinary people, the Hanayamain family is still a noble family that ordinary people can only dream of but cannot reach.

——In fact, when he was young, Fushiguro Shinji also thought about it. Who knows if the Hanayamain family also felt that no matter how good a sorcerer was, it was not better than being a public noble in the secular world, so they gradually withdrew from the sorcery world under the pretext of "there is no heir in the family to inherit the sorcery"?

After all, when a sorcerer exorcises cursed spirits, there will always be dangers. No matter how good you are, it may not be better than being a public noble living a safe and stable life in the secular world, right?

Of course, if his idea was known to other people in the magic world, especially other people in the Zenin family, they would probably be ridiculed and mocked - after all, in the eyes of those magicians who inherited the noble "Three Houses of Zen", no matter how good the secular world is, it is just an ordinary person without any magic power. How can it be compared with a magician with a natural talent for magic?

Even Fushiguro Shigeki changed his mind before he left home as an adult.

As for the Zenin family... a thousand years ago, the Zenin family had always been on good terms with the Kayamain family. Even though the Kayamain family gradually declined in the world of sorcery because they had no offspring to inherit the sorcery, the Zenin family still maintained the practice of intermarrying with the Kayamain family for hundreds of years.

——Although it has gradually changed from the marriage between direct descendants a thousand years ago to the current practice of using ordinary collateral descendants with low or no talent in spell casting to get by, the connection still exists.

Anyway, if they were to marry into the Hanayamain family, even if the Hanayamain family withdrew from the world of sorcery, they were still a noble family of high status in the secular world, and even among the court nobles, they were one of the "Nine Qinghua" after the "Five Houses of Spellcasting". It would not be a loss for the Zenin family to marry into the family with useless members who had low talent in sorcery - anyway, those people with low talent in sorcery or even no talent at all were originally equivalent to dispensable waste in the Zenin family, which attached great importance to talent in sorcery.

The mother of Hanayamain Haruna was a member of the Zenin family who had an alliance with the Hanayamain family in the previous generation. She was an ordinary member of the Zenin family who had almost no talent in spells.

Originally, neither family paid much attention to this marriage. However, what neither the Zenin family nor the Kayamain family could have imagined was that two ordinary people who originally had no talent for spells actually gave birth to Kayamain Haruna, a genius who inherited the Kayamain family's ancestral spell "Senra Wanxiang" - this was the first time in hundreds and thousands of years.

The parents of Haruna Kayamain were originally collateral branches of both the Kayamain and Zenin families, but because they had a daughter like Haruna Kayamain who had a great talent for spells and inherited the "Senra Wanxiang" spell, their status in both the Zenin and Kayamain families rose.

Even though Hanayamain Haruna's last name was "Hanayamain", she also had half of the Zenin family's blood in her body. The Zenin family was one of the "Three Great Families" at the top of the world of sorcery, while the Hanayamain family had long been defeated in the world of sorcery, and there were only two or three people in the family who inherited the talent for sorcery, which was completely not on the same level as the Zenin family.

Seeing that in front of him was Gojo Satoru, who inherited the "No Bottom Line" and possessed the "Six Eyes", and was destined to change the world of sorcery since birth; behind him was Kamo Kenki, who, although not a direct descendant of the Kamo family, also inherited the Kamo family's ancestral sorcery "Red Blood Manipulation".

However, in the Zenin family alone, for three generations, no one, whether direct or collateral, could inherit the Zenin family's ancestral spells and the "Ten Shadow Spells" that could compete with "No Bottom Limit". There was even a "Ten and Curse" among the direct descendants who did not have any spell power at all. This person was completely equated with "waste" in the Zenin family.

Unable to find a clan member who had inherited the "Ten Shadow Techniques", the Zenin family simply turned a blind eye and righteously treated Hanayamain Haruna as a member of the Zenin family - after all, Hanayamain Haruna had half the blood of the Zenin family in her body, didn't she?

What is even more surprising is that not only has Hanayamain Haruna awakened the "Senra Tensei", but her qualifications are also very high. Even if she is not as good as Gojo Satoru of the Gojo family, she is still better than Kamo Kenki of the Kamo family who has awakened the "Red Blood Manipulation".

And although Hanayamain Haruna's mother was not a direct descendant of the Zenin family, her ancestors a few generations ago were also direct descendants of the Zenin family.

As a result of the back and forth wrangling between the two families, Hanayamain Haruna was born. Although her last name is still "Hanayamain", she is also called "the goddess of the Zenin family". She has spent nearly half of her time in the Zenin family since she was a child.

Hanayamain Haruna's status in the Zenin family is extremely high, not much different from that of the Zenin family's direct descendants who inherited the Zenin family's ancestral curse "Ten Kinds of Shadow Jutsu".

Even if she wanted, she could change her name to "Zenin Haruna" - but she didn't have that idea, so now she is still "Hanayamain Haruna".

Fushiguro Jiner, whose original name was "Zenin Jiner", naturally knew how Hanayamain Haruna was treated in the Zenin family.

In fact, Fushiguro Shigeki had met Hanayamain Haruna several years ago.

At that time, he was not yet an adult. Although he felt disgusted and suffocated by the corrupt Zenin family, he had not yet run away from home. One day, he unexpectedly met Hanayamain Haruna, who was only four or five years old.

The little girl, who was only four or five years old, looked extremely delicate and cute. She was wearing a beautiful, well-tailored light purple kimono with a peony pattern on it. She had short pink hair hanging behind her head and blue eyes as clear as an endless blue ocean. She was surrounded by countless side descendants of the Zenin family who were bending over. Her face showed a leisurely and comfortable expression. It was obvious that she was a child who had been carefully raised and lived in a honeypot. She was so carefree that it made people feel disgusted.

Although "Zenin Shinji" is called the "direct descendant" of the Zenin family, he is regarded as "useless waste" by the family because he is born without any curse power. From childhood to adulthood, he has been ridiculed, mocked, ignored and bullied by countless members of the Zenin family with curses.

As for Hanayamain Haruna, although it can be said that she has almost nothing to do with the Zenin family, but because she inherited the infinite talent of the curse "Senra Wanxiang", she has been treated like a direct descendant of the Zenin family since she was a child, and is better than a direct descendant. Wherever she goes, she is surrounded by countless people.

The contrast between the two men is ironic.

Zen Yuan even knew from the first time he saw her that he hated her very, very, very much.

Just like he hated the little "six-eyes" from the Gojo family who he had seen before and who had discovered his whereabouts... No, he hated Hanayamain Haruna much more than he hated that little brat from the Gojo family.

Even when Hanayamain Haruna was a child and Zenin Shinji was once again ridiculed by a junior brother, she helped him out, reprimanded the junior brother who ridiculed him, gave Zenin Shinji her favorite candy, and tried to comfort him with childish words.

Zen Yuan even felt that...he hated her even more.

But ever since he ran away from the Zenin family after he became an adult, stayed away from everything in the Zenin family and became "Fushiro Nori", he hasn't seen Hanayamain Haruna again. If you count, it's been almost ten years, right?

Fushiguro Shigeki never thought that he would meet Hanayamain Haruna again in such a place and scene.

But looking at Hanayamain Haruna's expression, she probably doesn't remember him, right?

Come to think of it, a guy who is ignored and hated by everyone in the Zenin family, Hanayamain Haruna must have seen this person countless times since she was a child in the Zenin family. She must have forgotten about him a long time ago, right?

With his dark green eyes narrowed, Fushiguro Shinji looked at the clueless Hanayamain Haruna in front of him and smiled meaningfully.

——Ah, confirmed.

They hadn't seen each other for nearly ten years, and when they first met, he was still the same as before - he hated her.

As soon as Fushiguro Shigeki's words came out, he received surprised looks from Hanayamain Haruna and Saikai Haruto.

Hanayamain Haruna looked confused, with a hint of vigilance in her eyes: "Eh? Mr. Fushiguro, do you know the Zenin family? Do you know me?"

However, although she was a little wary, it was not much - Hanayamain Haruna could sense that although the man in front of her named "Fushiguro Shiori" gave her a sense of danger, he should not be a sorcerer, so even if he was dangerous, he would not be that dangerous to her, not to mention that there was also Igarashi Yuki by her side.

Knowing about the Zenin family and her identity was nothing. After all, the title of "Goddess of the Zenin family" was not as well-known as Gojo Satoru's title of "Gojo family's Son of God"... but there were still quite a few people who knew about it in the world of sorcery.

"Ah, the goddess of the Zenin family is famous. Is there anyone in the world of spells who doesn't know her?"

Fushiguro sneered lazily, "But the goddess is of noble status and busy with things. I don't know how many small people like me she has seen. I guess she has forgotten me a long time ago."

"Impossible."

Hanayamain Haruna was determined: "Mr. Fushiguro, if I had ever met you, I would definitely not forget you!"

——You're kidding. With the looks and demeanor of Fushiguro Nori, it's obvious that he's an important character in the game even if he's not a character to be conquered. If she's seen him before, how could she not have any impression of him?

Hanayamain Haruna must be amazing.

Just like Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru, she recognized who they were as soon as she saw them; and as for Igarashi Yuuki, even though she had never seen him before entering the game, she was also able to quickly determine that he must be one of the important characters in the game after seeing him.

Wait...is Fushiguro Shiori also one of the hidden NPCs in the game like Igarashi Yuuki?

And...she did have some impression of the name Fushiguro Shiori...wait, had she really seen Fushiguro Shiori somewhere?

Hanayamain Haruna's mind froze for a moment, and she suddenly felt a little uncertain.

"Hey, 'the goddess of the Zenin family', Mr. Fushiguro, are you talking about Haruna?"

Saikai Haruto looked curiously at Fushiguro Shiori and Hanayamain Haruna, whose auras suddenly became strange, with a confused look on his face: "I have heard that the Zenin family seems to be one of them... Anyway, it seems to sound very powerful, but classmate Haruna, isn't your last name Hanayamain?"

"It's one of the 'Three Houses of Yu'."

When I was at the Zenin family, I often heard people from the Zenin family saying things like "The Zenin family is one of the three great families in the world of sorcery, along with the Gojo family and the Kamo family." Hanayamain Haruna, who almost had her ears choked by these words, immediately responded like a subconscious reflex without thinking.

Xi Haiqingdou blinked and laughed nonchalantly: "Ah, sorry, sorry, I don't remember these things very well."

"This question is a little complicated to explain..."

Hanayamain Haruna, who was originally immersed in thinking about where she felt that Fushiguro Shinobu's name sounded "familiar", came to her senses. She stroked her hair, a little hesitant, not knowing how to explain it to him - uh, how should she tell him?

Should I tell him, "Actually, I have no idea. It was just that before I officially entered the game, the game automatically selected this background for me, so I somehow became the 'Goddess of the Zenin Family', but I don't really know the specific reason"?

Let’s not talk about whether Saikai Haruto believes it or not, she definitely can’t say such words - besides, with Hanayamain Haruna’s understanding of “Igarashi Yuuki”, even if she said that, Igarashi Yuuki would probably still sigh and say “Haruna, your dry humor is really funny”, right?

"Of course it's because the eldest lady has the blood of the Zenin family and has inherited the ancestral spells of the Kazanin family. And up to now, no one has been born in the Zenin family who has inherited the Zenin family's 'shadow spell' spell, so the eldest lady has both the surname Kazanin and the surname Zenin, so she can be considered a member of the Zenin family."

Fushiguro Shigeki said this carelessly, without any hesitation about the existence of Saikai Haruto, who had nothing to do with the Zenin family, and he had no intention of covering up for the Zenin family at all - although the reason was indeed because of this, but when he said this, it made the Zenin family seem very... shameless.

Xi Haiqing Dou thought about it and finally used this word.

"…Eh, is that the reason?" As a result, Hanayamain Haruna also blinked her eyes, with a confused expression on her face similar to that of Saikai Haruto.

"Haruna, you don't know why either?"

Xi Haiqing Dou also looked at her in surprise.

Fushiguro Shigeu suddenly realized that the expressions of these two people were not only unrelated, but also exactly the same - as if they had eaten a melon that had nothing to do with them, and they were shocked and curious as if they were not involved.

Hanayamain Haruna nodded silently, feeling a little ashamed inside - she actually learned the origin of her particularly childish nickname from a stranger, which seemed to make it seem like she didn't care much about the Zenin family?

Come to think of it, she thought it was a special title given by the game to correspond to Gojo Satoru's title of "Son of God".

"Tsk - what? So you don't know either, Miss?"

Fushiguro Shiori couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Really... this is too funny, right? Hahaha, didn't the old guys from the Zenin family tell you this? Or did you not take it to heart at all?"

"I say, Miss, you don't think that because those old men in the Zenin family like you so much, that's why you let someone who has almost nothing to do with the Zenin family call you the 'Goddess of the Zenin Family'? You are worthy of being the eldest lady... You are too naive, aren't you? Hahahaha!"

It seemed that he really found it very funny. Fushiguro laughed so exaggeratedly that Saikai Haruto even suspected that if he laughed any more, he would burst into tears.

"I know I'm not that popular! I just can't remember it clearly!"

Since entering the game, Hanayamain Haruna, who has completely regarded the Zenin family as half of her home in the game, couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

"Ah - I remember now, you are the Zenin Shijiro that Zenin Naoya always talks about, right?!"

A light bulb suddenly flashed in her mind, and she suddenly remembered where she had heard his name, and Hanayamain Haruna blurted it out subconsciously.