The Roots Of The Household Of Gods
I set off to Ojii-san’s mansion after breakfast for training today as well. Of course, with Teleportation.
I got ready in my own room and teleported to Ojii-san’s mansion from the room directly.
“Whoosh!”
“Ojii-sama, good morning”
“Morning. Tsukuyomi. Now then, what kind of training shall we do today”
“I guess the one we have not done yet, would be Clairvoyance”
“Clairvoyance huh. We can’t do that here even if we want to”
“Is it that difficult?”
“No, it’s no different from Telepathic Conversation and Telepathy. You can do it without any problem if it’s with Tsukuyomi’s power. However, you can’t do it without an opponent. Or rather, it won’t occur”
“What would that mean?”
“Put simply, it’s something you can see for the first time when you feel that you’re in danger”
“Aah, Ojii-sama had said it previously huh. That, ‘you will know with Clairvoyance if there are people who come and attack this Moon Capital'”
“That’s right. Something simple would be, when you’re attacked by a group of people, you can see how the opponents come attacking beforehand. In other words, it means it’s precisely because there’s the opponent’s bloodlust that there’s Clairvoyance”
“I see. Does it mean you can see the opponent’s sword path if you exchange blows during swordsmanship training?”
“You, what kind of world did you live in. How are you able to comprehend such things right away?”
Ojii-san directed a puzzled-looking face at me.
“Ahー, I guess that is the influence of stage plays. I have seen such stories before”
He probably won’t understand even if I explain anime and movies after all.
“I see. That’s what it is huh. You will ask the Royal Palace Knight to instruct you on swordsmanship after going to Nemophila Kingdom then”
“Is swordsmanship necessary in this world?”
“There’s nothing to lose in learning swordsmanship just in case, you know. You will come to be able to sensitively pick up on the opponent’s bloodlust after all. I said it previously as well, but even a God will die if they’re stabbed in the heart with a sword. You might lose your life if you rely solely on Clairvoyance. Besides, if you can see the sword’s sword path with Clairvoyance, you can probably acquire the name of a Sword Saint in no time at all”
“Sword Saint, is it. That is kind of dreamy for a boy huh. It is just that that name is unnecessary since it is not like I want to be a knight though”
“Does Tsukuyomi have experience in swordsmanship?”
“No, I only ever did a bit of it in school. It is a martial art called ‘swordplay1‘ though”
“Un. Moving your body is also something necessary for raising your abilities after all”
“Understood”
“Ojii-sama, does it mean that you would not be able to see things such as your own future, the fate of a country somewhere, and whatnot with Clairvoyance?”
“Yeah. It might be interesting if you could see it, but it’s probably better if you can’t see your own future and whatnot”
“I think so too”
“I guess that about wraps it up for Clairvoyance? Well then, let’s try to make it rain or something today”
“Make it rain, is it”
“Umu. It doesn’t rain at the Moon Capital when the rain clouds are low. We gather the rain clouds and make it rain only as much as necessary if water is insufficient”
“Aah, I see. That is something important huh”
“It rarely ever happens, but when there’s an excessive lack of rain in the humans’ countries, and the crops are about to wither, there are also instances where we are asked to and make it rain”
“That is literally a work of God huh”
“Right”
“Let’s give it a try then. Imagine rain clouds emerging in the sky. That’s all”
“Imagine rain clouds. Is it. I see”
It’s a cloudless clear weather when I look up at the sky. I try drawing the sight of thick grey clouds appearing one after another over there. Immediately after, white clouds created faint streaks in the sky where you could see nothing for the first time, and before long, their colour darkened, and they simultaneously started swirling.
The clouds then got increasingly thicker, and finally, raindrops fell drop by drop. When I thought about making the clouds even thicker, the rain started pouring down gushingly.
I see. Next time, I just have to visualise the phenomenon that actually occurred right now huh.
“Ohー, to be able to make it rain to this extent on your first time, Tsukuyomi’s power sure is incredible huh”
“Is that so. I do not quite know it myself since I have nothing to compare it to”
When I caught something moving from the corner of my eyes immediately after and turned over, laundry was seemingly being dried outside the mansion, and a maid dressed in a shrine maiden’s outfit ran over, flusteredly trying to bring them in.
“Ah! No good! Stop the rain”
“Eh. Stop? How would I do that?”
“Aah, you just have to imagine a clear sky”
“Ah. Yes!”
I pictured the clear weather up until just now in my head. Immediately after, the grey clouds rapidly became thinner, and the sun shone from the clouds’ gap. The clouds were all gone soon after, and it returned to the former clear weather. Ojii-sama calls out to the maid
“It’s fine already. Sorry!”
“No, it is nothing”
The maid responded with a smile and returned to the mansion.
“Umu. Rainmaking is a pass. Let’s have lunch then, shall we”
“Yes”
I had lunch at Ojii-san’s mansion. It’s a Japanese-style meal as I thought. It was a meal reminiscence of a grilled-fish set meal.
Dahlia-obaa-san isn’t around today for some reason. We had lunch with Carmia-obaa-san.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t feel any different from living in Japan. Aside from the appearance of the people before my eyes, that is, though.
“Tsukuyomi. How about we try going down to the shrine after drinking some tea and taking a break”
“Where would the shrine be?”
“It’s on the beach underneath this Moon Palace”
“Who is the chief priest there?”
“The daughter of Dahlia and I, Oborozuki”
“Would it be alright for me to suddenly intrude?”
“Dahlia and I go several times a week. She knows about Tsukuyomi since we’ve already talked about you as well”
“How do we go down?”
“That’ll, of course, be with Teleportation”
“A-, aah, that is right huh”
“I shall bring you over when we go. You will teleport back to your own mansion by yourself when we return. Since I have to bring Dahlia back”
“I was wondering why I did not see Dahlia-obaa-sama around today; she went to the shrine huh”
“Umu, this morning, I’d sent her there beforehand. Several times a week, Dahlia goes down to the shrine and helps out Orobozuki after all. Let’s make our way then, shall we”
Carried by Ojii-san, we teleported to the shrine.
The shrine was a size, a construct that wasn’t that much different from the mansion I stay. After following behind Ojii-san, we reached a large open space. Over there, there was something like an altar at the centre on the very inside.
I thought maybe there was an idol of something, but there wasn’t anything like that, and on top of the counter that was like a table with elegant accessories, I could see something like a round board made of stone or metal leaning there.
“Ojii-sama, what is that round board?”
“That huh. I shall show it to you up close”
When we approached the altar, it wasn’t just the round board that was visible from afar, there was a sword and a magatama2 placed there.
“Are these possibly, the Three Sacred Treasures?”
“You, how did you know that?”
“I think they are similar to the things stored as Amaterasu Oomikami’s treasures in a place called ‘Ise Shrine’ that is in my previous life’s world. I do not know whether they are the same things since it is not like I have seen the actual items before though”
“What. I see! Oh Tsukuyomi, the family name of us who call ourselves Gods is「Amaterasu」”
“Eーh! A-, Amaterasu-sama? is it? Well then, it is the same as the God-sama in my previous life’s country, is it not!”
“It sure seems so huh……”
“Would that mean Amaterasu-sama had gone back and forth between both worlds?”
“That was probably what happened huh. We don’t know which one was first though”
“About how many years ago did the record of this world’s Amaterasu-sama start?”
“I hear that it is roughly 1500 years”
“Well then, I think it is likely that my previous life’s country is first. But there is nobody who goes by the name of Amaterasu now though”
“Well then, ‘they were born in Tsukuyomi’s previous life’s world first, and they appeared in this world and left descendants afterwards.’ is how it would be huh”
“Since there is no way to confirm it after all this time, I cannot say anything though. But I think Amaterasu Oomikami is the individual who created Japan if I remember correctly, so if that individual, created this world afterwards, I think maybe it would not be strange for the language and culture to be close”
“Umu. You may be right”
“Well then, my name would be ‘Amaterasu Tsukuyomi’, is it?”
“Only the family head can take the name of Amaterasu. That’s why Gento is currently the only one taking the name of Amaterasu. The daughters and I can’t take the name. Tsukuyomi will come to be able to take the name after Gento passes the family headship to you”
“I-, is that so. What an immense responsibility huh”
“No, I’ve never felt that much responsibility though. However, do create an heir at least”
“I-, is that so”
Haa. Marriage huh. I wonder if the time when I can consider something like that will come……I very much can’t consider it right now.
We moved to the room beside that large open space. It was incredibly similar to a hospital over there. There were tons of beds lined up in the spacious room, and they were partitioned with a wooden screen.
There were tons of people lying on the beds, and women dressed as shrine maidens were looking after them. ‘The large hospital in the countryside at the beginning of the Showa era might’ve felt something like this.’ that is what I ended up imagining. The part where the nurses are dressed as shrine maidens has a strong out-of-place feeling though.
When we went to a room further inside while glancing at that, it was a room identical to a hospital’s examining room over there. A table was placed over there, and a woman was sitting there. That woman was roughly in her late 30s and was dressed in a white robe and a hakama with white patterns on the white fabric like a shrine maiden. That’s literally the getup of a chief priest.
“Oborozuki, I brought Tsukuyomi here”
“My! You are Tsukuyomi-sama huh. Nice to meet you. My name is Oborozuki; I serve as the chief priest in this shrine. I am Gento-sama’s elder sister”
“Nice to meet you, Oborozuki-oba-sama. My name is Tsukuyomi”
“What a beautiful face. You take after Armeria-sama huh”
“Yes, I am often told that”
Immediately after, probably because it’s an examining room, a woman who appears to be a patient entered from the corridor on the opposite side of the door we entered. After immediately noticing Ojii-san and me, her complexion changed in the blink of an eye, and she dropped to the ground and went face down. She’s rubbing her face on the ground and mumbling something.
“Hey, it is fine here. Please raise your head. I cannot examine you like this, right”
“Ye-, ye- yeーs! Thank you very much!”
The one who said and raised her head was a woman roughly in her 30s. I suppose those were actions she took thinking of Ojii-sama as a God-sama. The God-sama in this world, they end up being treated in that manner by ordinary people huh……
“What kind of symptoms did you come here with today?”
“Yes. U-, uh……”
The woman ends up blushing and stammering.
“The individual over here is the God-sama who sees through everything. There is no need to be embarrassed as such”
“Ye-, yes. Well then……uh……the time of the month’s impurity is a lot today”
“Understood. Well then, over this way”
Oba-san said that and brought the patient towards the corridor at the back.
When Oba-san passed by me, I ended up hearing Oba-san’s voice in her heart.
『This person also came for purification again huh. How many people has it been today……』
When we followed behind her, it was apparently a bathroom over there. I suppose there’s no way we can go in there and watch directly as one would expect. We stood at a spot that wasn’t visible and had a look by seeing through the wall since it can’t be helped.
Apparently, they come here to rinse it on days when they have a lot of menstrual blood and treat the pain of the abdomen and whatnot with Healing.
Honestly speaking, I was surprised. It’s something that happens every month, and yet you’re telling me they come and have it treated every time? Even though in my previous life, nobody visits the hospital for menstruation other than those with very serious symptoms. Well, does it mean that there’s no painkiller in this world’s medicine? They do have them in herbal medicines though……
Nevertheless, Oba-san was saying 「how many people has it been today」 in her heart. Could it be that, it’s because of this that the chief priest is overly busy. I have to try asking about it once huh.
“Ojii-sama. Today, after Oba-sama’s job is finished, would it be possible to let me have a talk with her?”
“Un? Of course it’s possible. It finishes in the evening. Well then, until then, how about I show you around inside this shrine or something”
“Yes. Thank you”
It’s important to know all the details of the treatment performed in the shrine beforehand. I shall hear her out thoroughly.
- 剣道(Kendo/ Swordplay): In order to differentiate 剣術(Kenjutsu/ Swordsmanship) and 剣道(Kendo/ Swordplay), I decided to translate Kendo into swordplay
- 勾玉(Magatama): A curved, comma-shaped bead that appeared in prehistoric Japan
