novelonline Chapter 1000 The Last Routine 179
Chapter 1000 The Last Routine 179
Chapter 1000 The Last Routine 179
The events involving the Crimson Demon Clan have caused considerable anxiety among many, including members of the royal family. As Princess Alice, she naturally came to investigate and, as before, enrolled in the Crimson Prison.
Alice, having finished her experience of attending school in the Red Prison, reluctantly prepared to return to the capital.
"The sorrow of parting is an unavoidable fate..." Alice said to Kobayashi and the others with a rather melancholy expression, "Everyone, brother. May we meet again in the cycle of reincarnation."
Perhaps it's because the Crimson Demon Clan has become even more chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur), but Alice has also become even more chuunibyou, which is a bit of a headache for everyone. But compared to the others who are somewhat distressed and helpless, Megumin is quite satisfied with the changes in the princess.
"You look completely different." Huihui nodded with satisfaction and said, "You're so much more handsome! As your mentor, I'm very proud of you!"
However, while she was happy, some were not, such as those close to Alice. Specifically, it was Claire, the royal guard who came to take Alice back.
"Hey, Kobayashi!" Claire grabbed Kobayashi's clothes and angrily demanded, "What on earth is going on?!"
"W-what are you saying? I don't understand." Kobayashi turned his head away from her and explained dryly, "If you're talking about the job of a guard, I'm doing a very good job."
Clearly, she didn't want to admit that Alice's changes were related to her. However, this evasive attitude greatly displeased Claire, who shook Kobayashi's shoulders forcefully again, angrily demanding, "Don't try to fool me! I'm talking about that strange way of speaking, Princess Alice. Why is she like this? Explain it to me right now!"
She was panting heavily, looking like she was about to hurt someone if she didn't explain, which frightened Xiaolin. She quickly explained, "This is all the result of Alice pursuing higher goals. Didn't you support her enrollment? Have you forgotten our previous agreement?"
That's right, Kobayashi had told Claire not to agree before Alice enrolled. However, at Alice's request, she easily wavered and said she could enroll, which is why things turned out this way. It has nothing to do with Kobayashi!
"Damn it...!" Claire bit her lip in frustration and said, "It seems it's better to get back to the capital as soon as possible. I've heard rumors about the instability in this village lately."
"Unsettling rumors...?" Kobayashi raised an eyebrow and said to Claire with some annoyance, "Hey, don't make weird promises."
He had just finished dealing with Ksitigarbha; if any other messy situations arose, he really couldn't handle it.
However, Claire clearly misunderstood.
She rolled her eyes in annoyance and said, "What nonsense are you talking about... Fine, I'll tell you. The shrine in this village—"
“Claire?” Alice walked over at that moment and looked at the two of them, saying, “If it blooms during your secret conversation with your brother, it must be a bright red like the red spider lily, right?”
"Um... even if you say 'right', I don't know what's going on..." Claire clearly didn't understand Alice's words, after all, she hadn't received the education of the Crimson Demon Clan like Alice.
Alice said with a hint of helplessness, "After studying in this village, I realized... Claire, you're not handsome enough. When we get back to the capital, let's practice your self-introduction first."
"...What?!" Claire seemed completely taken aback by Alice's words. Her mouth gaped open in shock, and she bit her lip in frustration, saying, "Damn it, we must restore Princess Alice to normal as soon as possible! Well then, excuse me!!"
Then, without a word, he grabbed Alice, turned, and walked out of the village. This prompted Kobayashi to reach out to her retreating figure and shout, "Hey, don't just leave behind an unlucky flag!!"
Unfortunately, she didn't respond at all. Before Kobayashi could react, she and Alice used teleportation magic to leave.
Claire said such strange things... Anyway, it's best to stay away from the shrine.
Just as Kobayashi was secretly resolving not to approach the shrine and cause the same situation as Jizo, he was suddenly drawn to the attention of other people shouting from afar.
"Kobayashi! Megumin!! We've finally found her!"
"...Is it Aqua?"
Seeing her rushing over, Kobayashi felt a vague unease. When Alice was about to enroll in the school in the Scarlet Devil Village, Kobayashi had specifically asked Aqua and Darkness to look after the house in Axel. He hadn't expected her to come here; something bad must have happened!
Huihui was also somewhat surprised to see the two of them running over, and said, "Weren't you two supposed to be looking after the house in Axel? Why are you here?"
"Because Aqua said she was bored and was being unreasonable," Darkness said with a hint of helplessness, then smiled at Kobayashi and Megumin, saying, "We came to see you, we didn't cause you any trouble, did we?"
Oh, is it because of this?
Kobayashi breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Aqua, however, shamelessly retorted, "No, that's not it! I was worried you might be lonely, so I came! Thank me!"
Wait, wait! Kobayashi suddenly felt uneasy again, because this Aqua was a useless goddess! Thinking about what Claire had just said, he felt like a flag was being raised. If this continued, things would get terrible; he had to leave the village quickly!
Thinking of this, Kobayashi quickly said, "Y-yes! Thank you for coming to pick us up. Okay, let's hurry back to Axel!" He really didn't want to stay here for another second and kept urging the three of them to return to Axel, wanting to leave this place of trouble. Unfortunately, the foolish goddess wouldn't allow such a thing to happen.
Sure enough, she complained loudly, "Ugh—but I want to rest! I'm already so tired and exhausted after just getting here!"
“Yes,” Huihui chimed in, “We’ve had a lot going on too, and we really want to rest.”
After all, she had just seen Alice off. She had put in a lot of effort to teach the kingdom's princess, and she was parched and exhausted. All she wanted to do was teach Alice all her skills.
Hearing her say that, Aqua happily replied, "That's perfect, let's find a place to have tea!"
"Hey!"
The two of them ignored Kobayashi's request and walked hand in hand toward the Scarlet Devil's Village, while Darkness followed at their call. Kobayashi had no choice but to go along as well.
The four walked through the Scarlet Devil's Village. Aqua looked around, somewhat puzzled, and said, "Um, is the coffee shop this way?"
Because the Crimson Demon Village had undergone a major renovation, it had become somewhat different. At that moment, everyone heard some strange, noisy noises.
"Ugh, it's so noisy."
"There are a lot of people surrounding the house..."
Darkness looked over there with some confusion, then turned to Megumin, a villager, hoping she could explain. Megumin didn't disappoint, saying, "Those were empty houses before, but they were demolished to make way for a new tourist attraction."
I never expected they'd actually build more. What happened to all those tourist attractions? Are they just going to leave them like that?
Huihui said helplessly, "However, everyone has different opinions on what kind of tourist attraction to build, so the project has not made any progress."
"So this is the Crimson Demon Clan," Kobayashi scoffed, "Trying to come up with some weird facilities again to scare the guests."
After all, the Crimson Demon Clan has become even more delusional now, and who knows what big news they're planning to create.
But this made Huihui very unhappy. With red eyes, she leaned closer and questioned, "Hey, I can't just ignore people saying that the Crimson Demon Clan has something wrong with their heads. Let me hear what you think!"
"No, I didn't go that far..."
Kobayashi took a few steps back in fear, but Huihui seemed unwilling to let him go, continuing to approach and demand an explanation. Just as Kobayashi was about to ask for help, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"—Stop! Don't do this!"
"Was that voice...you?"
Darkness said this with some surprise, and Kobayashi and the others stopped fooling around and involuntarily looked towards the place where the crowd was gathered.
"O filth from countless ages past, submit to the protection of my holy water... cough cough!" One of the red demons uttered some kind of incantation in a rather chuunibyou manner, but quickly choked and couldn't speak anymore. "This... how is this possible!? They would actually use such methods... I'm already...!"
He was coughing as he spoke, and looked like he was in a lot of pain.
Youyou was a little nervous and scared, and kept whispering, "If this continues... if this continues...!!"
"It's inside the shrine!" Megumin said to Kobayashi and the others as she saw the crowd gathering. "Let's go, let's go take a look!"
"Hello……!"
Seeing Megumin, Aqua, and Darkness running towards the shrine without looking back, Kobayashi knew his unease had come true. Sure enough, something bad was about to happen at the shrine.
Upon arriving at the shrine, I noticed someone doing something in front of it. He clasped his hands together in a strange gesture and then said, "Those who fear the radiant light that has shone since time immemorial...! In this world filled with darkness, guided by the wind, awaken from your eternal slumber!"
Ok? ? ?
Kobayashi had no idea what they were doing, while Youyou angrily complained to the red demon who was constantly baring its teeth and claws, "Seriously, stop putting on airs, do something! It can be finished in no time if it's air-dried!"
The Crimson Demon suddenly seemed unable to withstand the strain, coughing incessantly and staggering back several steps, saying, "Cough cough... I never expected them to use such methods... I can't take it anymore... Everyone, run!!"
In front of him was a stack of old books, covered in dust. The reason the Crimson Demon was coughing and feeling unwell was because the dust had gotten into his nasal cavity.
Seeing their childish antics, Youyou became even more unhappy and shouted, "Didn't I tell you those are old books, be careful of dust! Ugh, at this rate, it'll never end...!"
She said this very anxiously.
When Kobayashi arrived and saw this, he breathed a slight sigh of relief and said, "What? You were just cleaning. Hello, Yoyo."
"Strange, why is everyone here?" Youyou was clearly surprised and happy to see Xiaolin and the others, then asked somewhat cautiously, "Could it be... that you've come to see me?"
"No," Huihui denied coldly, stating bluntly, "I just heard some unsettling noises, so I came to check..."
Youyou was a little disappointed, but still explained, "Today was the shrine cleaning day that was scheduled a long time ago. Although everyone in the village was helping, but..."
She looked at these people with a helpless expression. One of the Crimson Demons explained with equal helplessness, "It's because we're short-handed. Cleaning doesn't attract attention, so nobody wants to do it."
"They're just putting on airs, there's absolutely no progress." Youyou pouted and complained reproachfully, "At this rate, it'll probably take until tomorrow..."
"Hehe, it seems quite difficult." Darkness chuckled when he saw how hard they were working, and said, "Alright, let's help out too."
"Really? That would be a huge help."
One of the Crimson Demons said this gratefully, and when Kobayashi saw this, she also smiled and gave Darkness and the others a thumbs up, saying, "Well then, good luck to you guys, I'm going back now."
"Xiao Lin!?"
Darkness clearly hadn't realized that Kobayashi wouldn't help.
But Claire had mentioned the shrine's instability, so how could Kobayashi possibly stay there for long? Besides, he didn't want to clean in the first place! Whoever wants to do this kind of work can do it; he wouldn't—
"Please, I'm begging you." The red demon asked somewhat helplessly, then, as if remembering something, added, "Oh, right, I'll give you all the things I found with the old book earlier."
"A shrine maiden's outfit... cat ear hair accessories?" Kobayashi twitched the corner of his mouth and couldn't help but complain, "Why would this shrine keep something like this?! Besides, I don't need it at all... no, wait a minute."
Who might find this outfit suitable? Maybe we could use it as an opportunity to do some business; we could make a fortune...
Aqua, upon seeing the outfit, exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, this is quite rare. In Kobayashi's hometown, this kind of outfit is very popular among some fans."
“As far as I’m concerned, a little bit of flamboyance doesn’t matter…” Megumin unfolded her shrine maiden outfit and said with some surprise, “This one is quite charming.”
"I miss the fake ears too. I remember helping out at the coffee shop with Chris and the others back then."
Aqua said this.
"Together!?" Youyou said excitedly, "If I wear it, I might be able to make friends with other people... Mr. Kobayashi, please give me this piece of clothing!"
"No problem at all!"
(End of this chapter)