Fox Lady Saiguu: !!!
Mikoshi Chiyo: ???
Both of them were completely dumbfounded.
After so many years together, they knew Ei better than anyone. In their eyes, the Raiden twins were practically one being split into two distinct personalities.
The elder sister, Raiden Makoto.
Bright, open-minded, sharp, and capable—thorough in everything she did. Even the powerful youkai Fox Lady Saiguu willingly served under her.
If she had any flaw at all, it was that as a god, she lacked firsthand experience with the mortal world.
The younger sister, Raiden Ei.
Quiet and taciturn.
Innocent and kind at heart.
But she clearly lacked even the most basic life skills, to the point that living independently was difficult for her.
Her one obvious strength was her overwhelming combat power. In the era when gods and demons rose together, Ei's strength ranked among the very top—more than enough to deter any would-be threats.
So how could Fox Lady Saiguu and Mikoshi Chiyo not be shocked when they heard Ei say she wanted to learn how to make sweets?
"You… really want to learn?" Lin Mo asked, his expression strange.
"Yes. I don't want to trouble you all the time," Ei replied earnestly.
"Is that so…"
Lin Mo felt a headache coming on.
He could confidently say that aside from Raiden Makoto, he was the one who understood Ei best.
This woman truly had no common sense when it came to daily life.
Lin Mo was almost certain that Ei had no idea why glutinous rice needed to be steamed to achieve that soft, chewy texture.
She definitely didn't know why powdered sugar tasted better on dango than granulated sugar.
No—
She probably didn't even know what glutinous rice was.
Nor that what she sprinkled on dango was powdered sugar in the first place.
On the surface, it looked like he was going to teach Ei how to make sweets.
In reality…
He would be teaching her basic life knowledge from the ground up.
"Are you… absolutely sure?" Lin Mo asked awkwardly. "If you've really made up your mind, I can teach you."
"Yes. I've made up my mind," Ei nodded.
"Alright… then."
Lin Mo nodded as well. "Starting tomorrow morning, come find me. I'll teach you from the very basics."
"Okay."
Ei nodded once more.
Her expressions were never very rich.
The only time she ever smiled was when she was eating sweets.
"Lin Mo, you really have it rough~"
Fox Lady Saiguu patted him on the shoulder with heartfelt sympathy.
"Pfft—"
"Hahahahaha!"
"The great general of the tengu clan, reduced to a stumbling personal nanny!"
"Hahahaha!"
Mikoshi Chiyo finally couldn't hold it in anymore.
That peal of laughter echoed through Mount Yougou.
Even thousands of years later, Ei could still remember it clearly.
For the next half year, Ei came to the tengu grounds on Mount Yougou every single day.
Though she came to learn how to make sweets…
The actual lessons rarely went the way she hoped.
Even now, recalling those days, a faint, sweet smile would unconsciously appear at the corner of Ei's lips.
"Ei! That's the wrong one—wrong one!"
"You're holding regular rice!"
"Didn't I teach you how to tell rice from glutinous rice?"
"Look, the long, thin grains are regular rice—used for cooking meals or rice balls."
"This one here, shorter and oval-shaped—that's glutinous rice."
"…No, no, that's wrong again!"
"Ei, that isn't sugar—it's MSG!"
"MSG is white and slightly translucent. It's used to enhance the flavor of cooked dishes."
"This one here—also white, but not transparent—that's sugar."
"Ei, steaming means placing the food above the water and cooking it with steam."
"You throwing everything straight into the water—that's boiling. You're about to cook it to mush."
All those moments replayed vividly in Ei's mind.
"Back then… Lin Mo really worried himself sick over me, didn't he?"
Thinking of that busy figure,
even after thousands of years, guilt still rose unbidden in her heart.
"Even though…"
"I never actually learned how to make sweets…"
"His efforts weren't wasted at all."
…
Looking back on that time, Ei truly felt she had learned so much.
Life skills.
How to interact with others.
Though in name she was Lin Mo's superior,
in reality, she was like a junior—like a daughter—being patiently and carefully looked after by him.
That kind of relationship
made her unconsciously grow dependent on him.
At first, she didn't even understand what romantic feelings between men and women were.
Until one day, she saw Lin Mo and Fox Lady Saiguu arguing fiercely in the fields of Hakushin.
"You're getting too close to her. Far too close," Fox Lady Saiguu said, her eyes tinged with resentment.
"You know just how many things Ei needs help with in daily life," Lin Mo said earnestly.
"I don't want her to be seen as nothing more than the blade that protects Narukami Island."
"I want her to live as a real person—
to have humanity, just like the rest of us."
Watching Lin Mo desperately trying to explain himself,
Ei felt her heartbeat change for the very first time.
"Not just a blade…"
"A real person… with humanity…"
In that instant, Ei's eyes reddened slightly.
For the first time since her creation,
she felt the urge to cry.
Yes…
Everyone had long grown used to seeing her as nothing more than the blade guarding Narukami Island.
So they tolerated her ignorance and naivety.
Only one person.
At that moment,
only Lin Mo—who patiently guided her, who never gave up teaching her—
wanted her to become a "person."
Ei suddenly had an overwhelming urge to rush forward and hug him.
But just as she was about to take a step—
Fox Lady Saiguu's cold voice rang out.
"But that's not a reason for you to let her stay overnight in your room."
"I think we need to calm down for a while."
"We… should break up. For now."
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T/N:
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