[After the cherry blossom season, a visitor came to Nagato’s house. She was known as the Unripe Rice Village’s witch. She had managed the Unripe Rice Village shrine for nearly forty years. In fact, Nagato Munechika invited her because Haru Narukami seemed to be a little uncomfortable recently. Chizuko Nagato was waiting in the corridor outside her mother’s bedroom. Saburo Nagato also wandered outside anxiously. The examination took a long time. During the examination, Nagato Munechika and his wife came to visit once. Some from the family also came in batches. It was not until shortly after lunch was over that the bedroom door was opened. The Unripe Rice Village’s witch walked out with a smile and asked them not to worry. It ended up to be good news.]
[“Pregnant?! Really!” After hearing the Unripe Rice Village’s witch’s words, Saburo Nagato cried with joy.]
[Chizuko Nagato knew that she would have a younger brother or younger sister soon. Her small eyes became wide open. She saw how her aunty was pregnant with the belly growing bigger day by day. With such a big belly and a small life growing in it, she found it incredible. After Unripe Rice Village’s witch came out, Chizuko Nagato was the first to run into Haru Narukami’s bedroom, put her small head on Haru Narukami’s arms, raised her head, and asked, “Really?”]
[“Chizuko is going to be a sister. You can’t be so self-willed in the future. I will be a role model.” Haru Narukami touched Chizuko Nagato’s head and smiled softly.]
[Chizuko Nagato nodded seriously.]
[Another event happened on this day, which was actually about Chizuko Nagato. After the Unripe Rice Village’s witch checked on Haru Narukami, she quickly found Nagato Munechika and Saburo Nagato, with solemn expressions, “I intend to train Chizuko to become the next witch. I wonder what Sir Nagato would think?”]
[Nagato Munechika and Saburo Nagato looked at each other. The witch was a respectable person, praying for the village usually. She guarded the shrine and warded off evil spirits. It was precisely because of her presence that the Unripe Rice Villagers could live and work in peace and prosperity. Haru Narukami should have succeeded in the position as the witch, but she later married Saburo Nagato.]
[“Brother, you can make up your mind about this matter.” Saburo Nagato was silent for a while and finally decided to hand over the decision to Patriarch Nagato Munechika. He knew that his eldest brother could make the correct decision. It was just like how Nagato Munechika funded him to have the capital to go to the battlefield. Saburo Nagato came back from the battlefield disheartened and didn’t get much achievement. He felt sorry for his brother’s initial funding, but his brother didn’t complain. His brother treated him as always. Saburo Nagato felt he owed something in his heart.]
[“Chizuko is your daughter. This matter is up to you to decide.” Nagato Munechika shook his head and told Saburo Nagato to let him consider this matter from the father’s perspective without being stressed.]
[“Master Witch, is it because Chizuko is Haru’s child?” Saburo Nagato finally asked the question he most wanted to know. The Unripe Rice Village’s witch was respected, but he was unsure whether the witch would be upset about what happened in the past. After all, he married Haru Narukami, resulting in the witch losing an heir.]
[“It’s because she is Haru’s child. But, that’s not the primary factor.” The Unripe Rice Village’s witch nodded, and then smiled slightly at Saburo Nagato, “Does Sir Saburo know?”]
[“Master witch, please tell.”]
[“Since last summer, the kid has been trying to climb the stairs of the shrine alone. She has never given up.”]
[Saburo Nagato asked curiously, “Why?”]
[“Because of Sir Saburo.” The Unripe Rice Village’s witch said calmly, “I watch Chizuko in the shrine every day. At first, she just wanted to prove herself. After all, Sir Saburo also climbed over in the same way.”]
[Saburo Nagato smiled, knowing that the Unripe Rice Village’s witch was a little displeased about him marrying Haru Narukami.]
[The Unripe Rice Village’s witch continued, “However, having this persistence in a six-year-old child is naturally rare. Moreover, doesn’t Sir Saburo think that Chizuko Nagato wanting to climb up the shrine stairs is like fate? I think it’s not that I chose her, but she chose this path subconsciously. Of course, Sir Saburo gave Chizuko life. You have the right to decide what her future will be.”]
[“I want to discuss with Haru.”]
[“It seems I have made the right choice in entrusting Haru to you.” The Unripe Rice Village Witch showed a touch of relief.]
[Saburo Nagato and Unripe Rice Village’s witch agreed upon a time to have a formal reply. He then quickly got someone to send the witch away. He soon returned to his wife Haru Narukami’s side. Naturally, he comforted and took care of his wife’s wellbeing. Saburo Nagato also told Haru Narukami about the witch choosing Chizuko and wanted to hear his wife’s opinion.]
[“Last year, when praying for the New Year, Master Witch asked Chizuko in private.” Haru Narukami thought for a while.]
[Saburo Nagato hadn’t come back at that time. He was curious at the moment and asked, “What did Chizuko say?”]
[Haru Narukami reiterated what Chizuko said at the time to Saburo Nagato. After listening, Saburo Nagato thought for a while before he made a decision. Saburo Nagato grabbed Haru Narukami’s hand, smiled, and said, “Then this time, we let Chizuko decide for herself.”]
[Saburo Nagato later summoned Chizuko Nagato to tell the whole story. It had been more than a year since the last New Year’s blessing. Chizuko Nagato had grown up a lot. During these times, she continued to read. Her worldview had gradually broadened. She was independent enough to consider some things on her own.]
[“Father, if I become a witch, will it become respectable?”]
[“It is not because you become a witch that makes you respectable, but because you have fulfilled the witch’s duties that you are respected. If you want to get respect from the people, you must give the people something equivalent.”]
[“Father, Chizuko wants to study in the shrine.”]
[Chizuko Nagato agreed to formally enter the shrine after the autumn harvest to learn from the Unripe Rice Village’s witch and become a trainee witch. This news gradually spread and soon became a matter of discussion among the Unripe Rice Villagers. Chizuko Nagato was about to become a trainee witch. Children of the same age in the village began to distance themselves from her. Chizuko Nagato didn’t slip out but occasionally took out the bamboo saber that Saburo Nagato made for her and wiped it clean.]
[Before Chizuko Nagato officially entered the shrine, a happy event happened to the Nagato family. Shinji Nagato had reached his adult age. Nagato Munechika arranged a marriage for him. Shinji Nagato married Axiu as his wife on the last day of September. According to the
Unripe Rice Village’s custom, their elders had to give gifts and blessings. Axiu lost her parents when she was young, and she had been taking care of Chizuko Nagato. Haru Narukami took the role of Axiu’s parents and gave Axiu a comb made of sandalwood. Chizuko Nagato said she wanted to give Axiu something too, but what could she give away at such a young age. Everyone thought she was joking. Even if she gave something, it would not be a valuable item. However, Axiu accepted it happily. After all, there was nothing more delightful than getting married after a happy relationship. ]
[It was the night before the wedding. Axiu didn’t expect that the thing Chizuko Nagato gave her was the bamboo saber made by Saburo Nagato himself.]
[“Axiu! When your child grows up, give him the bamboo saber! Tell him; I used this bamboo saber to be invincible in the village! Let him not shame his aunty!”]
[Looking at the appearance of Chizuko Nagato like a child king, Haru Narukami opened up and chatted with Chizuko. Axiu, who did not cry even after finishing her dress, cried straight away. She knew that after the wedding, Chizuko Nagato would go to the shrine on the mountain. It would not be so easy to meet her sister in the future. “Miss, Axiu can’t bear to part with you!”]
[“Axiu is my sister!”]
…