Chapter 11: More Reiryoku Received
After kissing for a while, the two left the room. They didn't forget about their main task: Searching for the whereabouts of the powers of the Tree of Life.
In fact, they had walked past a lot of places just now and still couldn't find it, but there was still a place worth noting: The Shrine in Hakone.
Since the Tree of Life is in Kanda Shrine, maybe it had put its power in some other shrines!
Therefore, the Itsuka siblings cleaned up and left the room, without encountering other girls, and went directly to the shrine.
The shrine here was obviously not as grand and spectacular as Kanda Shrine, and there were not so many tourists, but it had a more ancient atmosphere. It was built with stone stairs, a historical torii gate, and iron gates. The blue giant cauldron made people feel that this shrine was very traditional.
They entered the shrine, but there was no shrine maiden to greet them this time. Shido did not feel the power of the Tree, and couldn't help being a little disappointed.
After visiting for a while, the two came to the cash box for the wish-making competition. It usually asked for 5 yen (because five yen and fate are the same pronunciation in Japanese), to form a bond with the gods. When making a wish, the gods could hear people's requests and then decide to help them or not.
Of course, there were also many people who gave more money to show their sincerity, but this kind of thing depended on their own thoughts.
For Shido, he didn't believe that the gods were so superficial that they wanted more money to grant wishes.
"Shido, look there..."
Kotori tugged at Shido's clothes with concern.
"What's up?"
Shido looked curiously at the direction Kotori pointed, and saw a small sign above the money box.
"Give me 100,000 yen, and I will fulfill your wishes."
Shido frowned. This must be a swindle! But in a shrine? Really?
Shido felt that this was a little too weird. Often weird things turned out to be real, so he was a little unsure.
"This sign was just put here, we should be the first to see it..."
Kotori said in a deep voice.
"Also, if other people had seen it, it would be removed immediately."
Shido nodded in agreement. After all, 100,000 yen was not a small amount, and when people who come to visit the shrine saw such a statement, they would definitely see the manager!
"In other words, this is meant for us to see it."
Kotori analyzed.
"We are just ordinary students. If it is a scam, it will not come to us, so it should not be a scam, but..."
Shido frowned. His wish just now was to obtain the power of the Tree of Life.
Equivalent exchange! Give them money, and they will give me power...
What kind of god does this?
But if it was true, being able to get a portion of the power of the Tree of Life with a mere 100,000 yen was definitely worth it!
Shido hesitated for a moment, looked at Kotori, and nodded. He decided to give it a try.
Even if it was a scam, Shido had many ways to get the money back and punish those who deceived him.
Of course, if this was one of the characteristics of the shrine, there was nothing they could do.
Fortunately, his funds were still sufficient, and 100,000 yen was not too much for him.
He took out the money, and threw it in the money box without hesitation. The tourists next to him were stunned. They didn't know about the sign, so they naturally assumed that Shido was just a spoiled boy of a rich person, who decided to waste his family's hard-earned money without hesitation.
Shido didn't care what the others thought of him, he just watched the money enter the cash box...
"I accept your 100,000 yen!"
A cheerful girl's voice sounded in Shido's mind.
Looking at Kotori's somewhat surprised expression next to him, it seemed that she heard this voice too.
"This is real!"
Shido nodded affirmatively, but where was the power?
After waiting for a while, nothing magical happened. Could it be that he got scammed after all?
Not being scammed by humans, but scammed by gods…
Shido sighed, and just when he wanted to leave, he saw a five-year-old little girl in a shrine maiden costume running over and stood in front of the two of them.
"Big brother..."
The little girl gave a timid cry.
"Hello, little girl. What's going on?"
Shido asked gently.
"Here! This is for you!"
The little girl shoved a piece of paper into Shido's hand, then turned around and ran away.
"Am I really that scary?"
Shido murmured a little helplessly. He thought his appearance should be popular with children.
But he didn't think too much, but focused on the note given to him. He knew that this piece of paper could probably fulfill his wish.
Shido gently opened the note, and then he saw two words written on the note:
"Eat it!"
"..."
Shido was flabbergasted. It seemed just like an ordinary note!
Never mind! He opened his mouth and decided to eat it. Even if it was not tasty…
"Wait!"
Kotori suddenly shouted.
"What?"
Shido looked at her in confusion.
"It's not the note. It's this..."
Kotori pointed to the strand of pink hair sticking in the middle of the note.
There was indeed a familiar feeling in this hair...
"So I should eat this strand of hair?"
Shido asked tentatively.
"Maybe I should eat it instead?"
Kotori asked softly. If it was the power of the Tree of Life, it wouldn't matter who was the one to eat it.
"No, let me eat it..."
Shido shook his head. He didn't know what it was, but he decided to try it himself. He wouldn't want anything bad to happen to Kotori.
He picked up the strand of pink hair and put it into his mouth. Before his tongue could feel it, the hair melted instantly...
A moment later, a flow of power poured into Shido's body!
"Oh My God!"
Shido let out a comfortable cry.
"Shido, are you alright?"
Kotori asked worriedly.
Shido shook his head and didn't speak. It was different from last time. This time, he felt a new reiryoku roaming around his body and strengthening it.
But in this way, the amount of reiryoku would be reduced, which was not what Shido wanted to see. For him, compared with the increase of his own strength, he wanted to give the reiryoku to the Spirits. In this case, they could stay with him for a longer time.
Shido gritted his teeth. If it continued like this, he might have been strengthened, but there would be no reiryoku left. Therefore, he tried to use his own power to control the power he had just obtained.
Seeing that Shido's expression was not quite peaceful, Kotori was very worried, but she had no choice but to hug Shido lightly to support him.
On Shido's side, he had already found the source of the power. He used his own reiryoku to block the advance of the power, and then slowly absorbed it.
Finally, after a while, he absorbed all the power he could absorb, and he let out a light breath.
The power of the Tree of Life was really powerful, but unfortunately he seemed to have wasted a lot by accident. Shido waved his arm and felt a lot more relaxed and flexible. Sure enough, his body was greatly strengthened.
Of course, Shido was more concerned about the amount of the reiryoku he received. He examined it, and it was about the same as yesterday's.
Shido sighed. If he was careful, he should be able to save more.
"What's wrong, did you fail?"
Kotori asked worriedly.
"No, it's a success! It's just that the hair was not so tasty..."
Shido smiled. He did not want Kotori to worry unnecessarily. Anyway, in terms of the results, this was still a gain!
"Really?"
Kotori was very happy, and it would be great for her to spend more time with Shido.
"Well, let's go back and give you the power!"
Shido chuckled lightly.
"Alright."
Kotori blushed a little and nodded. She knew that the way to give her power was to kiss her, so doing it in public like this would be too embarrassing for her.
Shido smiled, then took the little hand of Kotori and left the shrine. He was glad that he got what he wanted.
It's worth 100,000 yen!
After a minute, two little girls appeared, right where Shido and Kotori were, but neither of them noticed.
"One...two... 100,000 yen! We made a fortune!"
The little girl in the shrine maiden costume was excitedly counting the money that Shido left in the money box.
"I don't remember asking you to collect the money!"
The other girl with plum hair pouted.
"What's the big deal, Rio-chan? I did what you asked, so shouldn't I be rewarded?"
"No."
"You can't blame me if your hair isn't tasty..."
"Whatever!"
The plum-haired girl said nonchalantly. She was not so happy that Shido said her hair was not tasty. Otherwise, she wouldn't mind that little girl in the shrine maiden costume getting a little money.
Naturally, Shido didn't know about the matter here. He was just content that he got some powers of the Tree of Life.
If everything goes well in the future, maybe my wish will come true.
PS: Would you eat your girlfriend's hair?