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Chapter 62 – Goddess Chioharu no Fuai
“Please prepare an offering from your family.”
Upon hearing those words, the shrine maiden who had been waiting in the corner of the room began to move.
Glancing at the back of the room, my father received a pair of scissors and a piece of paper.
He wasn’t the only one who received them. The parents of each household came with scissors in hand to their children.
“Cut your hair.”
My father squatted down so as not to turn his back on the Goddess and removed my hair tie as he said so.
I wasn’t particularly surprised, as I had heard about it in the pre-explanation. It seemed that by offering hair that had spiritual value through Onmyodo, it showed gratitude.
Although I thought to myself, “Are you really going to cut it?” Hair was a material to be used at special times and not meant as last resort.
It seemed that cutting hair was also necessary in these kinds of situations.
My father used a piece of pocket paper as a saucer in his left hand and scissors in his right.
Then, he cut off my bangs. 
Bangs?
Snap.
The sound that reached my ears was different, but that’s what it sounded like to me.
I never thought he’d cut my bangs so short
.
I almost blurted out, “Huh?” in a loud voice, but I managed to suppress it because we were in front of the Goddess.
“Dad
why did you cut my bangs?”
“You told me they were getting in the way.”
Could it be that he remembered when I complained about my hair being in the way before?
He probably thought it was a good idea to choose the troublesome bangs since he wouldn’t cut my hair in normal circumstances. I appreciate the sentiment, and I’m happy that he remembered, but to be honest, it’s both appreciated and bothersome because my hair has grown longer recently, and I can now tie it up.
Looking around. The child to my right only cut the tips of their hair, and Sora only cut his unnoticeable hair on his neckline.
Of all things, my bangs

Judging from the length of the hair on the handkerchief, it was cut enough to expose my forehead. I, who have not cared about my hairstyle since my past life, definitely don’t want a short haircut.
Is there a mirror somewhere?
How’s my hair looking?
“Did that make you feel a little more refreshed?”
Yes, my forehead feels very refreshed.
Let’s save the complaints for when we get home.
It can’t be helped now that it’s been cut.
It’s an offering to the Goddess, and it’s the right thing to offer something important to oneself, like one’s own bangs.
With the children’s hair gathered, the priest resumed the ceremony.
Once again, the priest began to pray in a low voice, and at the end of the offering, he said clearly, “Let us pray.”
To Goddess Chioharu no Fuai.
This is a freshly cut bangs.
Furthermore, I have included some spiritual gems in it as well.
Please accept it with.
It seems that the human body is truly the best material for Onmyojutsu.
As I included the spiritual gems, they were absorbed by the person who takes in the hair.
Since they’re seeking spiritual power by taking in the hair, I thought I’d include the gems as well.
It doesn’t hurt to flatter the Great Gods.
“With the gratitude of the children who have received your divine protection, Goddess Chioharu no Fuai, please accept this humble token of appreciation and our prayers.”
With these last long mutterings, the ceremony ended, and we heard the voice that followed.
If the explanation beforehand was correct, then the ritual is over, right?
But then, a faint light flew into my eyes.
What is this? Particles of light rising around the Goddess statue?
Before I knew it, the priest, who had just finished the ceremony and straightened his back, returned to a bowing position, bending his waist in ninety degrees, followed by the shrine maidens who were standing behind him.
As we didn’t understand what was happening, the priest gave us instructions.
“Assume the posture of prayer.”
The adults were the first to follow the instructions, and the children followed suit after seeing them. From the tense expressions of the priest and shrine maidens, it was clear that an irregular situation had occurred.
Curiosity piqued, I remained in the posture of prayer and looked around with my eyes.
“Oh, sparkles!”
The children seemed to have noticed the same thing as me. A girl innocently informed us that particles of light were dancing before our eyes.
“Where are the sparkles?”
Sora-kun raised his head in response to the girl’s voice. Apparently, he couldn’t see the particles of light. But the particles were falling throughout the room, so there was no need to raise his head.
No, it wasn’t just in this room. The light grew increasingly intense and seemed to overflow. Could it have spread outside?
It was a miracle on a large scale that could not be achieved by human means. I recognized this phenomenon. In fact, I saw it regularly.
(It is the same as the Tenkyo-jin – a wave of power I had never felt in my past life. It was different from spiritual power, and
 it was scary.)
The unknown sensation that I had faintly felt from the Tenkyo-jin now surged forth. Both had light as their common denominator, but the strength that rode on that light was different. It was like being touched by a rushing current of power that humans couldn’t handle, and it was terrifying.
This is undoubtedly the power of a Goddess.
There is no other way to explain it.
The frighteningly powerful waves of energy seemed to pass by while I maintained my posture of reverence.
When I came back to my senses, everyone except for the priest and me had stood up.
“What on earth was that?”
“Was that the miracle of Goddess Chioharu no Fuai?”
“I had heard the rumors, but it seems they were true. Hmm, I see.”
“How interesting. Truly interesting. Sora, did you remember that sensation just now?”
Except for my father, the other fathers all chimed in with their opinions.
The children also started talking like their parents, and the room soon became noisy.
The priest, who had slowly stood up, changed the situation.
“We have been blessed. For a while, this whole area will become a Holy Site equivalent to a ward. You have all received a small part of this blessing. When you are blessed with good fortune, do not forget to show your gratitude to Goddess Chioharu no Fuai.”
The fathers’ excitement could not be contained with a simple explanation, and they bombarded the priest with numerous questions.
Eventually, I understood the answers that came back to me in my own way

Originally, it was a ritual to set up a ward on the shrine grounds. It also has the effect of warding off bad luck for children.Although it was a ritual that also used hair, it was not originally this powerful.Rarely in history, there have been offerings returned by the gods. This is probably that.Everyone should be honored to have received the blessing of the Goddess in the aftermath. Please keep your faith.They cannot show the shrine’s records.It’s impossible to recreate it.If they try to reveal any more of the mystery, they will anger the Goddess.
The research-minded father was questioning and provoking the anger of the Shinto priest.
There is a slight inkling in me about this miracle.
However, that power did not come from the spiritual gems.
Perhaps, the Goddess who was satisfied with the spiritual gem’s essences provided us with this service.
It takes a lot of work to make those.
“When you leave, we will give you amulets and thousand-year-old candies.”
Guided by the shrine maiden, we exited.
The four parent-child pairs were happy to have received blessings for their Shichi-Go-San prayers.
“Kyobe-dono, please wait a moment.”
As we were about to leave the room, the priest called out to us.
The room that had been a sea of light until just now was once again shrouded in darkness, and a suspicious atmosphere hung in the air.
There is probably something other than the miracle from earlier.
In addition to the atmosphere of the room, I was also nervous inside because I had a hunch of what was going on.
“
It’s the first miracle in about 300 years. That year, it seems that someone from the Kyobe family also came for Shichi-Go-San prayers
 Is the Kyobe family loved by the heavens?”
Wow, he is already probing. The Shinto priest is showing a calm face, but he is being very assertive.
But seeing this kind of maneuvering firsthand makes me a little excited.
“
I have not forgotten my gratitude towards Tomiku-sama for all her kindness. However, there is nothing that I am doing to receive her favor.”
“I see
 Please come to visit us anytime for worship. We are looking forward to it.”
After that meaningful conversation, we finally left the Heiden.
“That was amazing.”
“
yeah.”
Perhaps he wanted to ask if I had done something, but I didn’t know who was listening here.
Let’s talk about it after we get home.
When we left the Heiden, Mother and Yuya greeted us.
“How was the prayer
 Hijiri, what happened to your bangs?”
“Dad did it.”
“Big brother’s hair looks weird!”
That’s right, I wanted to talk to Dad about this matter too.
I had forgotten about it for some reason, but I had to take a commemorative photo at the Shrine with my bangs snapped, wearing a well-prepared kimono prepared by the photo studio.