The Reincarnated Onmyoji Who Returned From Another World ~ I Was Reincarnated Into An Onmyoji Family On The Verge Of Decline, But Thanks To My Experience As A Hero Who Fought In Another World And The Magical Power Training I've Been Doing Ever Since I Was Born, This Life Seems Like It Will Be Easy ~

Chapter 34: Nursing Care

“On the day of the entrance ceremony… I’m sorry. It’s because of me.”

“It’s due to your physical condition, so it can’t be helped.”

I was now taking care of Arina-sama, who had fallen ill on the first day we started attending elementary school.

“I’ll put something cold on.”

I placed a cold towel dampened with water on Arina-sama’s forehead as she had a flushed face, sweating and breathing heavily.

“…I’m really sorry.”

“No, please don’t worry about it. Kyukyunyo-ritsuryo.”

Then, using one of the general-purpose techniques, I cleanly wiped away all of Arina-sama’s sweat.

“…At least you…”

“I can’t just leave Arina-sama when you’re suffering like this. Besides, I’m not that interested in elementary school anyway.”

Being told to attend elementary school at this point… Well, this was just my honest feeling. The one who was truly pitiful was Arina-sama. I’d already been through elementary school once and gained the appropriate experiences. In contrast, for Arina-sama, this day should have been a once-in-a-lifetime special first day, yet it ended up like this. Arina-sama was the one suffering the most. On top of that, she already had a period where she was unconscious due to the curse.

“…Such a special day…”

“We were able to attend the entrance ceremony itself, so there’s no problem. Besides, spending time with Arina-sama like this is also part of a special day. The real cherry blossoms are beautiful too.”

A large cherry blossom tree was planted in the Tsuchimikado family garden. Just looking at it on the day of the entrance ceremony had its own charm.

“The cherry blossoms created by onmyo arts are nice, but… I still prefer real cherry blossoms. They’re calming.”

“…Yes, they are.”

“If it’s painful, you don’t need to talk.”

Being considerate of Arina-sama who nodded to my words while breathing heavily, I slowly stood up.

“Is there anything you think you could eat? If rice porridge is acceptable, I can make some.”

“…”

Arina-sama nodded modestly to my words.

“Understood. Then, I’ll borrow the kitchen.”

As expected of the Tsuchimikado family estate. Should I call this the room given to the current head’s daughter? This room had quite a few things that I’d want to comment on as being absolutely unnecessary. One of them was a small kitchen built into the room. I opened the refrigerator to check for ingredients to make rice porridge.

“…Hmm. There aren’t many ingredients. Oh, there are eggs here. Would plain egg porridge be okay? Arina-sama, can you eat eggs?”

Since they were in this room’s refrigerator, I thought it should be fine, but I asked Arina-sama whether she could eat them anyway. If it turned out she had an egg allergy, it wouldn’t just be terrible.

If Arina-sama, who was already suffering, went into anaphylactic shock, it could be life-threatening. If that happened, what kind of charges would I face… it would be the worst in every possible way. The Koutoku family would definitely be ruined.

“…”

“Then please wait a moment. I’ll make it now.”

After confirming that Arina-sama had nodded that it was okay in response to my worried inquiry, I began making egg porridge.

It was the day of the entrance ceremony. Just the two of us, spending time in a room with a view of cherry blossoms where only the sound of cooking quietly echoed. Wouldn’t that make quite a picture? No, perhaps that was inconsiderate to Arina-sama who must be suffering.

“…Thank you.”

“Hehe, just hearing those words is enough for me.”

She even thanked me. Therefore, I needed to put extra effort into making this properly. Well, it was just rice porridge though. Even so, hoping that this day wouldn’t become the worst for Arina-sama, I carefully made the egg porridge.

Chapter 35: The Other World

Three days after the entrance ceremony.

“I’m sorry for causing you trouble for such a long time.”

“It’s fine. Please don’t worry about it.”

After being bedridden for three days, Arina-sama finally recovered her health and became well enough to go to elementary school.

“I’m glad. You’ve recovered enough energy to go to school like this.”

“Yes… this is also thanks to Touya-kun taking care of me. Thank you.”

“Not at all, this much is only natural.”

Arina-sama and I were now walking along the commute route that ordinary elementary school students would take, carrying our school bags on our backs. If we just wanted to get to school, we could get there immediately using sorcery. But that wouldn’t have any charm, and I thought it might be burdensome for Arina-sama’s first outing in a long time to suddenly be at school just like that.

“Still, it’s nice weather today. Just walking feels pleasant.”

“Yes… I haven’t had the chance to walk along roads so leisurely like this. It feels good. Taking a stroll, that is.”

“It’s important to relax sometimes too.”

Arina-sama and I walked around leisurely, killing time until we had to go to school.

“…The presence of a demon.”

In the midst of this, Arina-sama suddenly muttered quietly and stopped walking.

“Hm?”

“I sensed the presence of a demon trying to come to this side.”

“…Ah.”

Come to think of it, demons didn’t live in the world where humans resided, but in the other world. And now such a demon was trying to come from that other world to the surface world.

“Let’s go. We’re the closest ones. It should be an opponent we won’t struggle much against. It should be someone we can handle adequately.”

“…Are you alright, Arina-sama? Your first outing in a long time is going to become quite demanding.”

“No, I am also an onmyoji. If anything, the other world is more calming.”

“…”

I wondered about that? While thinking such things, I entered together with her through the gate to the other world that Arina-sama had created with onmyo arts. Incidentally, since we were using a general-purpose recognition interference technique so that people around us wouldn’t recognize us, we wouldn’t stand out even if we used sorcery in the middle of the road.

“So this is the other world. I think this might be my first time setting foot here.”

The other world where demons were said to live. Setting foot in it for the first time, I lightly looked around the place.

The entire sky was dyed a deep red, and the sun hardly showed itself behind thick clouds. The clouds hung low, black smoke rose intermittently toward the sky, the wind was dry, and it blew intermittently while stirring up sand and ash from the ground. Most of the buildings were half-destroyed, with exposed steel frames stretching toward the sky.

It was a devastated world. It was a place that deserved such a description.

“Is that so? I thought Touya-kun would already be used to going there.”

“I haven’t really accumulated much actual combat experience, you see. I do have experience with interpersonal combat though…”

“…Interpersonal combat? That’s… no, let’s not go there.”

“Hm?”

“So I’m the senior when it comes to navigating the other world. Here, the other world is full of dangers. Please, follow my instructions—”

“Huh?”

“!?”

While listening to Arina-sama’s words, I suddenly sensed the presence of a demon behind us, so I voiced my question while turning my gaze backward. There, a small demon that definitely hadn’t been there just moments ago was standing.

“Gyagyagya!”

That demon charged toward me with movements as quick as its appearance suggested.

“Kyukyunyo-ritsuryo.”

I was surprised by its sudden appearance, but that was all. I hit the demon, which didn’t seem particularly strong, with flames, and it instantly turned to charcoal.

“Mmm… you handled that quite calmly.”

“No, I was surprised. With no presence one moment, then one appearing right behind me… was it just born?”

“Yes, that’s right. Here in the other world, demons are born without any warning. It’s a demon realm where you can never let your guard down, no matter when.”

“Seems like it.”

“Let’s proceed carefully… the target demon is very close by.”

“Yes.”

I followed behind Arina-sama, who was walking spiritedly ahead of me, while staying alert to our surroundings.