Chapter 440: The Traveller comes back

Recently, Narukami Island has been blessed with clear, sunny weather, and such beautiful days always bring a sense of joy. On this particular day, Lumine was in high spirits.

Early in the morning, the priest had returned to Mount Yougou. He had flown straight into the sky, heading for the mountain. Lumine couldn't help but marvel at this—even with her Wind Glider, she needed external assistance to ascend to such heights.

Of course, having seen much of the world, Lumine didn't dwell on it for too long. After getting up, she devoted all her energy to processing the remains of the Riftwolves. While slimes would drop their condensed essence upon death, and hilichurls would leave behind their masks and arrowheads, the corpses of Riftwolves required more careful handling, such as cutting off their claws. As a seasoned adventurer, extracting valuable materials from monsters was an essential skill.

When she accepted this commission, Lumine had learned from Katherine at the Adventurers' Guild how to properly dissect Riftwolves.

The priest had killed a significant number of Riftwolves, and their bodies were piled up like a small mountain. Lumine had to process each one individually, all while dealing with occasional attacks from autonomous mechanical constructs. She had to set aside time to handle these interruptions as well.

With mastery over three elements, the only fate awaiting these monsters was to become another corpse for Lumine to dissect and harvest materials from.

Despite the additional workload caused by these interruptions, Lumine successfully dissected all the Riftwolves. During the process, she placed the **Serenitea Pot** gifted by Granny Ping nearby, and Paimon would store the harvested materials inside it.

Thanks to this method, Lumine could now survive in the wild for one or two months, eventually returning to the Adventurers' Guild with a bounty of loot to sell. The guild, unlike ordinary merchants, didn't lower their prices due to the large quantity of materials. Their buying price remained consistent, and they accepted any amount without hesitation.

After completing this task, Lumine left the remaining Riftwolf corpses behind. The leftover bodies were simply discarded, likely to be scavenged by hilichurls or other monsters for food.

In any case, that was no longer Lumine's concern.

It took her a little over a day to return to Inazuma City from Narukami Island, with most of the delay caused by battles with monsters along the way. Now, when fighting, she had to be careful not to damage the valuable parts of the monsters.

At the Adventurers' Guild in Inazuma City, Lumine handed over the materials and received the Mora from the commission, as well as the earnings from selling the harvested parts. The total sum was quite substantial, and Paimon was overjoyed.

"Let's go eat something delicious, Traveler!"

"Sure, let's head to Uyuu Restaurant. But after that, we'll need to go to Mount Yougou," Lumine said cheerfully, her tone indicating her high spirits.

The amount of Mora they had earned was indeed significant. Even without further income, it would sustain them for quite some time.

Paimon nodded. "I haven't forgotten, Traveler."

After enjoying a delicious meal at Uyuu Restaurant, the two set off toward Konda Village. By the time they left Inazuma City, it was already late, and they had to pick up their pace to reach Konda Village before nightfall. They rested in the village overnight and continued their journey to the Grand Narukami Shrine the next day.

The path from the Kamisato Estate to the Grand Narukami Shrine wasn't particularly long, and for Paimon, who could fly, and Lumine, an experienced adventurer, it was an easy trek. Along the way, they encountered samurai directly serving the Shogun. Since the Shogun had moved to the Grand Narukami Shrine, these samurai had been stationed along the path, and Lumine could even see their temporary lodgings.

The samurai didn't stop Lumine and Paimon from ascending the mountain. Recently, pilgrims hadn't been allowed to visit the shrine, and anyone wanting to go up needed proof of permission. Lumine and Paimon speculated that this was likely an order from the Grand Narukami Shrine.

This was Lumine's second visit to the Grand Narukami Shrine.

Passing through the torii gates, they eventually saw a shrine maiden standing at the **temizuya**—the water ablution pavilion. Her name was Inagi Hotomi.

"Excuse me, is the Guuji here?"

Inagi Hotomi, standing at the entrance of the Grand Narukami Shrine, was responsible for guiding visitors. If someone wanted to see another shrine maiden, her assistance wasn't necessary. But if someone wanted to meet the Guuji or the priest, they needed to announce themselves and see if the person in question was willing to meet them.

"The priest... Oh, are you here to see the Guuji?" Inagi Hotomi, upon seeing the Traveler, initially thought to say that the priest wasn't available, but the name that came from the Traveler's mouth was Yae Miko's.

Lumine nodded. "Yes, I'm here to see the Guuji. The priest instructed me to come directly to her."

The Guuji, known as Yae Miko, wasn't someone Lumine was very familiar with. In the Grand Narukami Shrine, the person she knew best was still the priest.

"If it's on the priest's orders, I'll take you inside," Inagi Hotomi said. "But..."

"What is it, Inagi?" Lumine was curious about the shrine maiden's hesitant expression.

"If it's you, I suppose it's fine to say. Actually, the Guuji hasn't been in the best mood today."

Inagi Hotomi remembered that the Traveler had a close relationship with the priest. According to the shrine maidens, the way the priest looked at the Traveler was similar to how Kuki Sara looked at Kuki Shinobu.

Because of this, Inagi Hotomi's attitude was much warmer than usual, a stark contrast to her usual aloofness. If the priest valued this person, then they were practically part of the shrine.

"What's wrong with that fox lady?" Paimon asked, tapping her fingers together.

"Since the priest and the Shogun have been away, all the work has fallen on the Guuji. The increased workload has probably been quite stressful for her," Inagi Hotomi speculated.

The two of them entered the Grand Narukami Shrine and made their way to the office.

Along the way, Inagi Hotomi whispered to Lumine, "I hope you can be understanding of the Guuji's current state."

"I understand."

Curiosity sparked within Lumine. What kind of state was Yae Miko in that had the shrine maidens so worried?

Time would give her the answer.

The so-called office was a converted guest room, with a window facing the corridor. In front of the window was a desk, and Yae Miko sat there, working.

Or rather...

Yae Miko was lazily sprawled across the desk, her head resting on her elbow, while her other hand held a brush, scribbling and crossing things out.

The scene felt oddly familiar, as if Lumine had seen this posture somewhere before.

"Guuji, you have a guest."

"What guest...? I said unless it's the Shogun or that guy returning, I don't want to... Hm? Oh, it's the Traveler. What brings you here?"

Yae Miko squinted at the newcomers, then sat up straight and stretched her arms.

Lumine glanced at Paimon.

Paimon spoke up, "Lady Guuji, we're here on the priest's orders."

"What kind of backup plan does he have?"

"He said we should go and pull him out of some kind of space."

"Oh?"

Yae Miko paused mid-stretch, her interest piqued.

She smiled and said, "Now this is getting interesting."