Ren awakened feeling a bit off. It was not a full hangover, but more like a slight stomach ache. He rubbed his eyes and glanced around the dimly lit room. His wife was still asleep, so he snuck out of the room to wash and then went straight to the kitchen to surprise Mirai with breakfast.

His thoughts quickly returned to the conversations that took place the previous day, making him feel slightly embarrassed. Admitting that he saw himself in dying Kaito felt stupid, and yet he couldn't shake the idea out of his mind.

Fortunately, he spotted Mirai stumbling out of the bedroom, heading straight to the bathroom. It looked kind of funny, which was a perfect distraction for him.

Refreshed, his wife came to the kitchen, and without a word, began helping Ren. She clearly didn't feel her best as she was not speaking at all.

With the food ready, they both ate in the dining room, but with the shutters only partially ajar. The food seemed to revive her a bit.

"We need to go to the temple," she pointed out, beginning the conversation as she munched on some rice.

Ren nodded before he drank some broth, and then switched to boiled vegetables.

"Do you know what we should be looking for?" She asked.

"The Hearteater, and anything they have on shinryoku," he replied, not even glancing at her, as he was too focused on filling his belly.

The chopsticks fell out of her hand, landing on the table and making a bit of noise. With her eyes wide, and food filling her mouth, she glared at him. It was obvious that the name drop caused such a reaction.

"Oh…," Ren smiled as he looked at her, then awkwardly laughed. "I guess I never told you who the ghost really was."

"You captured the Hearteater?! The same Hearteater I’m thinking about right now?" she asked after swallowing everything.

"Yes."

"How… How did you manage to catch him?"

"I needed to get strong quickly, to become a candidate, so nobody could snatch you from me," he confessed, a bit embarrassed about it. "So I tried, and I failed… But as he was about to kill everybody, I got an idea, and with a bit of luck, it succeeded," he shrugged his shoulders.

She snorted, then straight-up laughed before she began shaking her head. After she was done, she returned to eating. All the exhaustion seemed to disappear, and she appeared reinvigorated, which led to her quickly eating more.

"Let’s go," she said a moment later as she started to clean the table.

Ren was not done yet, so in a hurry, he consumed everything he was planning on eating and then helped her move the empty dishes to the tray. She took them to the kitchen, while he went to grab his sword from the bedroom.

It was still dark inside, as nobody had opened the shutters, which made the weapon that lay on the floor in the corner appear even spookier than it usually was. Ren hesitated briefly before grabbing it and stuffing it behind his obi.

When he got out of the room, Mirai was already coming his way, done with cleaning. "Let’s go," she repeated.

In such a manner, they left their house, heading straight to the temple. The sun was shining brightly, which made Mirai a bit grumpy as she appeared to be very sensitive to light. She tried to cover her eyes, which forced Ren to guide her. Most of the people who spotted them bowed politely, acknowledging his status as a candidate.

They arrived at the temple complex and rang the bell in front of the archway leading to the stairs, which were part of the main entrance. They waited a few moments.

The familiar face of the teenage miko appeared, and she bowed politely, noticing the candidate. "How can I help you?" she asked.

"I heard there is a library in the temple. I would like to use it," Ren said.

"You need permission from the saiin to use the library," the girl pointed out.

For a moment, Ren was silent as he thought about a way out of the situation. This led him to think about Reiko. She was a saiin and would definitely grant him such a favor.

"Could you ask Reiko to come here? I'm sure she wouldn't mind giving me access," he said.

The girl nodded, inviting them inside with a gesture, and then vanished within one of the many corridors. They entered, closing the door behind them.

"Reiko?" Mirai asked, raising her eyebrows, visibly feeling better as they found shelter from all the light outside.

"She helped me with the ghost… I saved her from death," he informed.

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His wife made a curious expression. Her eyebrows briefly raised, but she didn't say anything. The two didn't wait long before the familiar saiin showed herself, walking through the corridor.

"Candidate," Reiko bowed as she entered the room. "I heard you needed my assistance."

"Y-yes," Ren stuttered, feeling how awkward the situation had become. "I need to see the library in the temple. I'm looking for the history of the Hearteater, and I would also want to find what you have about shinryoku."

"I understand," she obediently nodded again. "Please follow me."

With those words, she began guiding both of them into the depths of the temple complex. After a long walk, they ended up in an underground chamber with electric light – something rarely present in the Noroi clan district. Tens of bookstands occupied the space, which was split into two sections. A small one was reserved for reading, with a few desks and chairs, and a bigger one, where all the collection of books and scrolls was kept.

A woman came forward between the bookstands to greet them. Her robes indicated she was a saiin as well. She was very slim and ghostly pale. Her black hair was tied into a bun, and she wore a pair of rectangular glasses. She bowed deeply as they entered.

"Candidate," she greeted Ren.

"Miyuki, can you find anything we have about the Hearteater and shinryoku?" Reiko asked.

"Yes, but we have quite a number of books about shinryoku. This might take a while," the woman pointed out.

"Then maybe… Maybe something about people from the Noroi clan who learned how to use shinryoku instead? I heard there was a handful of them," Ren interrupted their conversation.

"Of course," the librarian bowed again before vanishing between the bookstands.

"Please, take a seat," Reiko encouraged them, gesturing toward the desks.

Ren picked one and sat down, but since there was only one chair, Mirai needed to either bring one for herself or sit at a different desk. She chose the first option, squeezing right by his side. He found it a little bit funny but didn't say anything.

Meanwhile, Miyuki brought the first few books and placed the stack in front of them. Ren chose one, but he quickly discovered that he didn't even recognize the symbols, so he left the reading to his wife.

Reiko observed this from a distance and eventually approached. "Do you need some help?"

"Y-yeah," Ren said. "I don't know how to read, and judging by that the librarian went back between the bookstands, there will be quite a few to go through."

The saiin just grabbed a couple of them, then took them to a different desk, where she sat down to read.

This began a few boring hours, where Ren was mostly looking over Mirai's shoulder and whispering questions from time to time.

Overall, there were surprisingly few books about the Hearteater, and each told a different story. Some called him a demon who terrorized Hikarimura, while others portrayed him as a simple criminal who hated people. There was actually more written about the brave warriors who killed him than about the ghost. Especially the ones from the Tachibana clan, as they seemed to be strongly involved.

It was obviously a dead end, so they switched their research to shinryoku and famous warriors from the Noroi clan, looking for any clues on how Ren could possibly get stronger.

There, they also encountered quite a dead end, as apparently, other clans didn't share much information about shinryoku. If there was anything, it was vague, practically useless. Then Reiko approached them, and the situation slightly changed.

"Did you find anything?" Ren asked, noticing her.

"Not much about the ghost. There doesn't seem to be a single conclusive story about him. I read a few, but they all were different."

"We found the same thing," Mirai said.

"Damn it," Ren sighed. "Please tell me that you found at least something useful. I’ll take anything at this point…"

"Something… I think yes. I started looking into shinryoku, but there was very little. I only found a few members of the Noroi clan who were able to use it in the recent past. I found two. One is or was Seigen Noroi. He was apparently extremely talented, but after becoming a candidate, he vanished. There was also Kenzaburo Noroi, the son of Kagetora Noroi himself, but he is already traveling through the Realm of Gods, so he won't help you much. I did find something of use, though. Apparently, some of the warriors of the past did come to the temple to deepen their control over Makens. There wasn't much about it, and it's the first time I’ve heard about this, but there is somebody who definitely will know. The saishu, Tomiko Noroi. She resides in the mountain temple, where we learn everything before we can become a miko," she explained. "If anybody has knowledge about this procedure of deepening the control, it will be her."

Ren immediately looked at Mirai.

"You should go," she said. "If there is a chance for you to make the Hearteater obey you, you should try."

"Can you show me the way?" he asked, shifting his gaze back to the shinshoku.

"Yes. I can lead you there. It's only a day of travel away," Reiko informed.

"Then let's prepare for your journey," Mirai said while getting up.

"Let me show you the way outside," the shinshoku said, noticing that Ren got up as well.

She led them back to the main entrance where they left their shoes, and after saying her goodbyes, she vanished within the temple.

Mirai and her husband embarked on the journey back home, but only a few steps in, she asked: "Tell me more about her. Tell me more about this Reiko."

Ren immediately sensed trouble, so he initially was hesitant to speak, but after a moment, he started to talk, carefully choosing his words.

"We met when I was trying to find a ghost for my Jujin. She sold me paper talismans, but after speaking with Hiroshi, we came to the conclusion that this wouldn't be enough for the Hearteater, so we paid her for help. The plan didn't work. The ghost was too strong. I could fight him because Hiroshi gave me this pill, but it was wearing off, and the ghost became ridiculously strong. He broke Reiko's barriers and then attacked her. I protected her. Told them both to run…"

"So you saved her life… I can tell that she is grateful to you," Mirai pointed out. "Do you like her?"

'Fuck!' was Ren's first thought. He even stopped in the middle of the road and looked at his wife, who did the same. "I won't lie to you; she is attractive. But I have you, and that's all I need."

His words made her smile. She wrapped her arms around his and made him resume the walk.

"Who do you think is prettier, me or her?" she asked after a few steps, but much quieter.

"I wanted to marry you the moment I laid my eyes on you, Mirai," he confessed.

His words made her blush.

"Ren… If you ever want to take a second wife, I want you to tell me that first," she said. "I know men are weak to women's bodies, but promise me you will stay fateful. Never betray me behind my back. I don't want you to return from the mountains with a second wife," she said.

He chose to stay silent, as the idea of making Reiko his had already crossed his mind before, but he also didn't want to lose Mirai. At that moment, she seemed the most important person to him, thus silence seemed to be the best option to go with.

Like that, they finally arrived at the house and began preparations for tomorrow's journey.