Quoted By:
Your eyes shoot open and you return to the world of the living. You straighten and find Jakuchō sitting next to you in silence. The shrines long roof protects you from the rain that fails heavily, the sky weeps today as well. You cannot go anywhere with the iron attached to you, but the women actively chooses to sit at the shrine in silence. There are things you wish to say and ask, but she seems unapproachable despite being an arms reach away. This continues for a long time, until finally the rain stops.
"I have much work to complete today, will you assist me?"
"Of course, anything."
She frees you from your shakes, and you are once again set loose. As she sweeps the temple of the few leaves that have fallen from the tree, you are sent to the back to chop firewood. She insisted that the task should be done beyond the sight of the venerable tree that guards the shrine. After, you are tasked with helping to patch the leaking roof. This trend continues as hours pass with more tasks, not a single person ever comes to visit the shrine.
"While the elements give us respite, I shall make my rounds. I must ask you to come with me swordsman. I have promised to keep a vigil over you."
The maidens 'rounds' mostly consist of walking the roads around her shrine and stopping from time to time to place charms and pray for a moment before moving on. You attempt to find some correlation between the places she chooses, but cannot find any. Rarely, someone will stop to speak with her. Mostly, its elderly women who wish to give an extremely small donation, or ask to purchase one of her charms. The spiritual life of city dwellers, and those that live in the country side is almost incomparable. Kami do not live in the stones and wood here. They have long been driven out.
