Chapter 21 The ritual of six people (in the middle)

"cheers!"

As the words fell, everyone started drinking the juice in the glass in different ways.

Okawa and Mengmeng put their hands on their hips, leaned back slightly, and drank the juice in the cup in big mouthfuls; Nobita seemed to be drinking it unhappy, but the juice in the cup disappeared faster than Okawa and Mengmeng; Sugiko, Shizuko and Shizuka were sipped in small sips.

With the juice, Shizuka swallowed a few things that seemed to be vitamin capsules.

"Ah~" Daha drank all the juice in the glass in one breath and burped comfortably, "One more cup! Shizuka, do you also need pills to supplement your nutrition? It would be great to eat more meals in normal times!"

"Well... I'm too small..."

"Mengmeng, pour me another cup." Teacher Jiang Lian also handed his cup to Mengmeng.

"Okay ~"

“Drink well…”

"This is the pure natural watermelon meow that Mengmeng grows by herself~ Of course it tastes good~" Mengmeng said proudly, putting the poured juice back in front of several people, "The wine that Teacher Jiang Lian drank is also the meow I made~ Mengmeng is an omnipotent meow~"

"By the way, Teacher Jiang Lian, have you lived in this town for a long time?" Fuko suddenly asked curiously.

"Well... the time is not short... I think about it... it's almost eight or nine years."

"Well, then Teacher Jiang Lian should have a deeper understanding of this place, right?"

"I wonder what aspects do you want to know about Shoko?"

"When Okawa said just now, I suddenly thought of it. Before I returned to Japan to live, my parents always told me about Japanese customs and customs, and all kinds of grand festivals were mentioned." Fukako recalled, "My mother told me that almost all places in Japan have their own unique festivals. However, it has been almost two years since I transferred to this town. Why have I never seen people in the town organize festivals? Isn't this town just like this custom?"

"Well...I remember the year I just came here..." Teacher Jiang Lian raised his glass and took a sip, turned to Mengmeng and said, "Mengmeng, what you gave me is juice."

"No, meow~ Mengmeng obviously poured wine~" Mengmeng looked at the wine bottle, "Well meow~ it must be a wine meow~"

"Is the ceremony..." Sugiko's voice, which was much lower than usual, came into the ears of everyone, "This town originally had a ceremony..."

He raised his head and drank the "juice" in his glass in one breath. Sugiko sat down on the sofa.

"Meng Meng..."

"Master Nobita, I'm sorry, Meow~ It's Mengmeng's wrong Meow~" Mengmeng hugged her little head and hid Nobita.

"Yeah... Is it a blessing to be considered as a loss of his horse?" said Teacher Jiang Lian.

"Thank you, Teacher Jiang Lian and Meng Meng, for giving me the courage to say these." Taking a deep breath, Sugiko said in a tone that was more mature and steady than usual but lost a bit of spirituality and liveliness, "Everyone, do you want to know the festival that this town once had?"

"Sumiko, are you drunk?" Shinko asked with some concern.

"I'm very sober, Shinko. You asked about the festival in this town just now?" Sugiko pointed to her clothes, "No one seems to have noticed the clothes I usually wear because of the Gongdao Club."

"Well... Isn't that actually the Gongdao Club's social uniform that looks very much like the witch's uniform, but is it originally a witch's uniform?" Dahe suddenly woke up.

"Yes, Okawa." Sugiko said slowly, "I am the only shrine in this town - Izuki Shrine - the only witch heir of this generation."

Speaking of this, Sugiko burped, but her tone was still very clear.

"The gods worshipped in the first place are no longer verified. However, it is certain that she is the patron saint of this land, in charge of the prosperity and harvest of the land."

"Is the nameless god?"

"Yeah, originally, God should have a name. However, in legend, because of her love and tolerance, people forget her name and make people call her just "God."

"However, what does God have to do with the sacrifice?"

"I don't know when it started. Every year, every harvest season, people will offer ripe grains, vegetables and fruits to worship God to thank God for his blessing to the people here. As a result, the sacrifices that were originally spontaneously acted gradually formed a grand harvest ceremony organized by the people in the town."

On the other hand, Shizuka was listening to Sugiko's explanation attentively while recording knowledge she didn't know on her mobile phone.

"In this way, slowly, slowly, with generations, witches and shrines appeared in the town that specialize in worshiping gods. Later, my ancestors and her descendants were unanimously recognized by the town and became the guardian family of the shrine. Each generation would select the best girl to become the next generation of witches, communicate with God, tell God the people's wishes, and pray that God can bless everyone's harvest."

"Is this town an agricultural town? Why don't you see farmland?"

"Actually, the town has farmland..." Dahe said.

"Abandoned...crying... farmland..." Shizuka suddenly said sadly, "I saw it a little further...."

"So it turns out that I didn't observe the surroundings carefully enough? I need to review it... But why hasn't there been any rituals in recent years? Sugiko asked.

"Because... I am the son of the curse..." As he said that, Sugiko suddenly fell on the sofa, tears oozing from the corners of her eyes, and she murmured, "Dad...Mom..."

"Sure enough, I'm still drunk..." Wiping the tears from Shanzi's eyes with a handkerchief, Teacher Jiang Lian picked up Shanzi, "I'll take Shanzi to the bedroom upstairs first, and then continue to tell you what I know... Shanzi is a poor child..."

－－－phantomofinferno－－－

When he returned to the living room, Teacher Jiang Lian poured a glass of wine himself and drank half a cup slowly.

"I think everyone knows the fact that Sugiko is actually a boy, right?" Teacher Jiang Lian said in a heavy tone.

"Well...but, we always thought Sugiko was a real Yamato Shoko!"

"It has a more ladylike temperament than this young lady, so Sugiko's gender must be God's mistake! Sugiko's she is not at all wrong!"

"Shangzi... is my dream goal..."

"I just came here in the first year. In that year, Sugiko was born. Although she was a boy, according to the customs of the shrine, she had to be raised as a girl for a while. So Sugiko was dressed up as a very cute girl."

"What a strange rule."

"That year, the town achieved an unprecedented harvest. Everyone thought that God was very happy about Sugiko's birth, so at the shrine ceremonies that year, Sugiko, who was just two years old and learned to walk and talk, also wore exquisite witch suits and danced the sacrificial dance clumsy but hard. She looked so cute at that time." Teacher Jiang Lian recalled with a smile.

"But." Teacher Jiang Lian's tone suddenly became heavy, "The next year, it was a disaster year with almost no harvest. Then, Sugiko, who went out to ask an agriculturalist to investigate, had a car accident on a road section where there had never been an accident. At that time, there were several other people in the car, but only Sugiko, who was only two years old at the time, survived in the arms of her parents. Later, the young Sugiko was adopted by her parents' friend, Jue Do-ya, the principal of the school."

After saying so much, Teacher Jiang Lian seemed a little thirsty and drank the remaining half glass of wine in one breath.

"The same was true for the next few years. Although the weather was good, the fields had never been harvested. Gradually, a saying appeared, saying that Sugiko angered God and was the "Son of Cursed" who brought curses to this land. After that, there was no longer the autumn harvest ceremony and the dance of worshiping God."

After Teacher Jiang Lian finished speaking, the living room was silent, leaving only the sound of the floor clock machine. Sugiko's life experience made everyone fall into silence.

squeak———

On the late summer night, the endless cicadas are accompanied by a warm wind that can only bring people irritability.

"Well..." Teacher Jiang Lian said that he was tired and came to the table. "I'll drink some juice, and I'll be a little drunk if I drink it again."

After getting a glass of juice and pouring myself a full glass, Teacher Jiang Lian returned to the sofa.

"Because of the so-called "curse" that came out from nowhere at the beginning, and the harvest that has not been good for no reason over the years, most people in the town have completely believed that Sugiko is the "curse son" who angered God in the legend. Therefore, Sugiko is increasingly rejected by the people in the town."

"How could they impose unreasonable things on Sugiko's head!"

"Human... is such a creature..." Teacher Jiang Lian sighed, "In this case, Sugiko is the only heir to the shrine. Perhaps, this child is really talented... Sugiko keeps working hard to get the recognition of the 'god' again and get everyone's recognition. And you have also seen that Sugiko is enough to make most girls feel ashamed of themselves. However, the more Sugiko does this, the more she is rejected by others. Perhaps because people don't want to see a 'cursed son', they are better than themselves, right? What about human nature?

"It's almost time for the world of the annual autumn harvest festival... But it seems that the people in the town are really ready to give up this tradition, right? Woo... Mengmeng's wine has such a great momentum... Everyone, it's getting late, let's take a break early? Ahha..."

"Okay, Teacher Jiang Lian!"

"Mengmeng will be responsible for packing the cat~ Everyone, go and have a rest~ Ah Meow~"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Mengmeng."

"Can we... do something for Sugiko...?" As he stood up, Shoko whispered.

"I... want to help Sugiko too..."

"Yes, is there anything we can do..."

"Ah Meow~ Leave it all to Mengmeng~ Mengmeng has a good idea~"

Chapter 21 The festival of six people (middle) end
Chapter completed!