Magical Journey: The Other Shore Blooms on the Other Shore

"Welcome to the shrine~"

"Welcome~"

Two strikingly similar-looking girls dressed in shrine maiden attire stood confidently before Elena and Qin. It was clear they were twin sisters; the only difference was their eye patches.

One wears the left eye, and the other wears the right eye.

In the end, Elena succumbed to her desires.

An irresistible reward... As long as the risk is not too great, Elena never refuses such a request.

"Let me introduce myself, I am Ichinosegawa, the Witch of the River of Oblivion."

"The Ferry Witch, Ichinose Tsubasa".

"As you can see, I'm the older sister~"

"I'm the younger sister~"

"We are the goddesses of Sperado, the land of death," the sisters said in unison, then bowed respectfully, revealing a large red bow tied around their bodies.

Even the well-traveled Elaina was a little stunned by this scene. No wonder they're sisters...they're so in sync. And your outfits are truly unique.

"Hmm... So, what brings you two here?" Elena got to the point.

“Yes, yes, before that, could you please ask your travel companion to leave?” Ichinosegawa, the girl with an eyepatch over her left eye, said. “I have no ill intentions. What I’m about to say is actually a burden to those without magic.”

After all, knowing some things can be worse than knowing them.

Not knowing is actually a blessing.

But Elena looked around; it was empty. To avoid them, Qin would have to go to the door, ten meters away. They couldn't do that… but Elena didn't want to reveal the matter of the Yin-Yang Sphere.

This is her weakness.

It is foolish to expose your weaknesses to strangers.

Qin seemed to sense Irene's predicament: "I'm fine, if you're willing to talk."

Ichinosegawa then stopped insisting: "We would like to ask Miss Elena to help preside over the festival ceremony."

Grand sacrificial ceremony...

Irena had seen it in the kingdom's customs records; it was said to be a traditional worship ceremony, in which people begged the gods to bless the people and keep them away from calamities forever.

The materials she brought for her previous requests were mostly common materials used in ritual magic.

Regardless of whether ritual magic is useful or not, that's just how it's described in the magic descriptions.

"Shouldn't you be in charge?" Elena asked.

“That’s how it should have been,” Ichinosegawa said, then looked at his younger sister.

“But… Ni Xia said that there is evil spirit in the East that needs to be suppressed,” Ichinose Tsubasa said. “Our magic is rather special; if we sisters are too far apart, our magic will be lost.”

“Is it really okay for me to tell you that this is your weakness?” Elena said.

“Hmm—yes, sister, what she said makes a lot of sense.” Ichinose Tsubasa looked at her sister.

“Yes—little sister, we need to be careful next time.” Ichinosegawa looked back at his little sister.

Ok……

Aren't they a bit gossipy?

Elena mentally cursed them a thousand times. But she didn't mean to belittle these two witches at all; after all, they were witches, and they looked quite young.

But...didn't she just mention... Ni Xia?

What is that?

Moreover, the fact that such a task needs to be entrusted to a witch suggests that the sacrificial ceremony is probably not as simple as it appears.

"The reward?" Elena asked.

“500 gold coins…” Ichinosegawa blurted out.

How many?

“500,” Ichinose Tsubasa said.

"Do you know what I'm thinking?" Elena asked suspiciously.

“I know, I can read minds. Ah—don’t worry about how I can teach you, it’s magic I was born with.” Ichinose Tsubasa’s clear eyes looked at Elaina.

In other words... the sharp tongue I was thinking just now...

"Yes, I know you were just complaining about me and my sister. And... about the Ryougi Orb..." Ichinose Tsubasa smiled innocently.

Is she a demon?

Must be!

“Ugh—why are you comparing us to that kind of thing? Your travel companions probably have an even stronger stench than us,” Ichinose Tsubasa said.

"Little sister—" Ichinosegawa stopped his sister from continuing.

“Ha—don’t be nervous, Miss Elena. My sister and I mean no harm. In fact, if we did, do you really think you could have survived unscathed by us? So please trust us.” Ichinose Tsubasa bowed again. “The reward is 500 gold coins, Miss Elena.”

500 gold coins... Elena swore she had never taken on such a big commission before. The 200 gold coins from the commission from the Witchcraft Chersas was enough for her to travel around for a long, long time.

But... can these two people really be trusted without any restraint?

However, one thing they made was true: if they had malicious intent, they wouldn't have been so polite.

And mind reading... what a terrifying ability.

I should try to think less about this in the future.

"Why is there such a large reward?" Elena still wanted to ask.

“Because… the sacrificial ceremony isn’t that simple, you know~” Ichinosegawa said, “You know the history of our kingdom, right?”

Irena nodded.

"Hmm, the sacrificial ceremony is actually to suppress the vengeful spirit king beneath the kingdom. Hah, only three people knew of its existence, oh, now there are five."

This is indeed not good news.

It's definitely better to know as little as possible about such dangerous news.

"Can I refuse now?" Elena asked timidly.

It's too dangerous... I don't want to do it.

"No, little sister." Another voice came, a very clear child's voice. Then, the two sisters crawled in one direction: "Lion, get down."

A girl emerged from the shadows.

The most striking features were her blood-red eyes, and... the scythe behind her that was disproportionately large for her height.

she is?

But so cute...

The little girl is quite cute.

"Huh? You're not afraid of me?" the little girl said, frowning.

"Ah—why should a cute little girl be afraid?" Elena didn't know why the child was asking this. But seeing how respectfully the two witches treated this person, she couldn't be a child, could she?

“Ha, some people lack the reverence for death,” the little girl said.

Her gaze then fell on the zither, and she examined it carefully for a while: "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

“I don’t know you,” Qin replied.

“Of course.” The little girl looked away. “Because I am the Grim Reaper, Mercheberi Cartana. If you don’t want the hassle, just call me Mercheberi Cartana. That’s what my colleagues usually call me.”

grim Reaper……

Does it really exist?

I thought this kind of thing only appeared in storybooks.

"Is there really no chance to refuse?" Elena still probed.