"But…" Seiji forced himself to say this word despite Chiaki's hopeful expression. "Even if that's the case, that doesn't mean that it'll be possible to recover those who have been spirited away. There will still be all sorts of problems—where the spirited away people are, what type of condition they're in, whether they'll be able to return to our world, what will try to stop us, will we need to fight against the G.o.ds… problems such as these. Entering the realm of the divine is just like taking the first step. There will be hope of recovering her, but that's all."

Chiaki's eyes dimmed after she heard all this.

Although it wasn't nice to dash her hopes like that, he still had to tell her the truth. Seiji inwardly sighed.

"Can't we try?" Mika couldn't help but speak up. "We could try and find Chiaki's mother… maybe that will be possible?"

"I didn't say that we shouldn't try," Seiji stated. "We just need to understand the situation clearly."

It was only his guess that the Realm of Cherry Blossoms was actually a divine realm. And even if his guess was proven right, there would be all sorts of problems regarding how to find and bring someone back. Things weren't optimistic at all.

Seiji felt that it would be bad to be overly optimistic. Taking reality too lightly would typically end in reality teaching you a harsh lesson. For instance, an adventurer who thought they could easily defeat a goblin might be defeated, killed, or even worse.

Too much optimism was no good, but that didn't mean that Seiji wanted to give up because of some difficulties.

"The first step will be to try and find Chiaki's mother in the Realm of Cherry Blossoms…" Seiji looked towards Natsuya. "Is there any spell that can be useful for this?"

Chiaki gradually calmed down as Seiji and Natsuya began discussing magic spells.

She felt that Seiji was correct about needing to see the situation clearly.

Although there was hope, that was all—just hope. There was no guarantee of being able to find her mother… in fact, it could be said that it would be normal to be unable to find her. It would be a miracle if they could actually find her mother.

Seiji would definitely try his hardest for her sake. All she needed to do was believe in him.

The knight order members all arrived.

Seiji opened up the portal to his Spirit House and had everyone, including Chiaki, enter.

Not only was Chiaki going to enter the Spirit House, she was also going to attempt Visualization.

Seiji didn't know how she would react to the Spirit Image as she wasn't an Awakened or a spiritual ability user.

Perhaps she would fail, or perhaps she would succeed. If she succeeded, maybe she would increase her spiritual power, which might attract more attention from the G.o.d watching her… Seiji explained all the possibilities to her.

After learning all the potential results and consequences, Chiaki insisted on trying.

She wanted power… even if simply raising her spiritual power by a little might be useless, she still wanted to try.

Her desire to try became even stronger after learning about the possibility of finding her mother!

Seiji was somewhat worried about her. But after he saw how adamant she was, he could only let her try.

Everyone entered the dojo of Seiji's Spirit House.

After their previous experience, everyone didn't immediately look at the Spirit Image. This time, they all sat down beforehand and prepared themselves before looking at the Spirit Image.

It was the same for Chiaki. When she entered the dojo, she avoided looking at the giant watercolor painting hanging from the wall across from the door. Only after she sat down next to Mika did she look at the Spirit Image.

While looking at that incredibly realistic painting of the three individuals' backs… Chiaki felt a wondrously subtle sensation.

The woman wearing Sakura Island attire and holding a paper umbrella gave her an especially profound and indescribable sensation.

The painting enlarged as the figures appeared to become closer. The colors brightened as everything became real… Chiaki entered a state of Visualization without her realizing it.

The wind was blowing many cherry blossoms around in the air.

Chiaki was now walking down a path in between a grove of cherry blossom trees that were in full bloom. The falling cherry blossoms were amazingly beautiful.

Chiaki was charmed by this moving beauty and admired the scenery as she walked down the path. She didn't regain her senses until a red torii appeared in her field of vision.

'Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?'

Chiaki was confused as she couldn't recall the answer to any of these questions.

Chiaki then noticed that she was wearing exquisitely beautiful traditional Sakura Island attire. Although the clothing was beautiful, it was also unfamiliar, and didn't seem like her own clothing. She also happened to be holding a paper fan in her right hand.

A sudden strong gust of wind blew past, bringing along many flower petals that seemed like a sudden rainstorm.

Chiaki was forced to close her eyes against the powerful gale. She also felt a chill that helped to clear her mind and recall everything.

Chiaki opened up the paper umbrella in her hand and continued forward, pa.s.sing through the red torii.

The wind constantly sent cherry blossom petals flying through the air, creating a sound that resembled a low whisper.

Ordinary people would feel uneasy from hearing this sound. The seemingly harmless flower petals were actually harmful as well. Fortunately for Chiaki, the paper umbrella created a barrier that blocked them all.

As Chiaki walked down this path, she saw another red torii.

She pa.s.sed through this torii, and then she pa.s.sed through a third, a fourth, and a fifth torii…

The whispering sound continued for all this time. The flower petals constantly fell without stop. The originally clear sky began to darken, and the temperature was evidently dropping.

The beautiful scenery now began to seem dark and eerie.

Chiaki held out her paper umbrella while walking forward at her quickest walking pace. Although she appeared calm on the surface, she couldn't help but feel spooked inside.

As long as she finished walking down this path, she would be able to meet "that person." She would no longer be afraid if she could be by their side.

He had told her that taking this path by herself would be safer than traveling at his side.

Chiaki believed him. However, she still felt unsafe as a girl walking down this type of path by herself.

She intended to complain to that person after she saw him again.

After pa.s.sing through yet another torii, Chiaki saw some red mist!

This red mist seemed rather ominous. Chiaki instinctively didn't want to pa.s.s through it. However, that person had told her she would be fine.

Chiaki stopped for a moment and took a deep breath to muster her courage. She then walked into the red mist.

Her paper umbrella started glowing white and blocked the red mist with its barrier.

The whispering sounds changed into ear-piercing clamor. The pink cherry blossom petals flying in the air became bright red. Everything around Chiaki became hazy, dim, and ice-cold…

Chiaki constantly walked forward down the path without looking around her or thinking too much about what was happening. A while later, her vision started clearing up again.

A handsome Yin Yang Master wearing hunting attire was standing not far away from her. A black-armored warrior holding a longsword and wearing a black helmet was standing next to him.

When she looked over in his direction, the handsome Yin Yang Master also noticed her. He looked over with a smile.

After seeing this gentle smile, Chiaki was moved in her heart. This greatly diminished her earlier desire to complain to him.

She reflexively wanted to smile back at him, but the remaining dissatisfaction caused her to withstand her urge to smile as she kept a straight face instead.

"Are you alright, Miss Chiaki?" the Yin Yang Master asked her worriedly.

"I'm fine all thanks to you, Seiji-san." Chiaki intentionally spoke in a rather forceful manner that showed a bit of complaint.

"Did something happen?"

"Nothing, it was just that I'm too much of a coward, so I felt afraid even though I was walking on a safe path."

Chiaki walked next to him as she said this.

The moment she arrived next to him, she felt the earlier chill around her disappearing, making her feel relieved.

"I apologize for having you walk that path by yourself." Seiji understood and apologized.

"No need for you to say that. I was the one who was cowardly. The great and famous Yin Yang Master Seiji Kamijou had guaranteed my safety, yet I was still afraid. I'm such a useless girl." On the surface, Chiaki seemed like she was denigrating herself, but she was actually still complaining (acting spoiled).TL/N: Torii is a gateway to a s.h.i.+nto shrine. One shrine can have multiple torii standing in a row, as in this case