21st Century Necromancer

As Yu Chen and Hiromi Jounouchi discussed coming back early from their honeymoon, Miketsu and the Matchmaking God arrived at Minami's family's small shop, accompanied by Suzuhime.

Although they were aware that every move Minami made was under surveillance by the Metropolitan Police Department and the Public Security Intelligence Agency, and so far she hadn't shown any intention of contacting Inomata Naoki, Miketsu understood more than anyone else what the Matchmaking God meant by bonding of fate.

There is a Red String of Fate connecting each person with their predestined partner, invisible until the destined time. And when fate arrives, the string becomes visible.

The process where the invisible becomes visible is what the Matchmaking God referred to as "tying the knot."

If the Red String of Fate is but a shadow, then all is well, indicating merely the potential for a union between two people. Depending on the changes in the world and their hearts, the string could break at any time.

But if the Red String of Fate has become solid, it signifies that the two individuals are bound to be together.

As for the high incidence of separations in modern society, where both men and women might change their hearts...

Sure, such situations do happen, but they must occur after being together, can they not be called changes of heart?

Yet now, what everyone seeks to prevent is Naoki Inomata and Minami, whose Red Strings of Fate have become solid, from coming together.

"Xiao Yuan, is it really impossible for you to sever the Red String of Fate between them?" Miketsu asked affectionately, using the Matchmaking God's nickname, but her question was very serious and earnest.

The Matchmaking God shook her head, and although her small face carried the expression of a sulking little girl, the words she spoke were not those of a child, "I, too, wish to separate their Red String of Fate. I can tell which is lighter and which is more severe: the Divine Power obtained from bonding fate, or the dire consequences that arise from breaking the barriers of life and death. But as the Matchmaking God, I cannot do such a thing as separating a bonded fate."

"Is that so? Then it seems we can only prevent the two of them from being together," Miketsu sighed, feeling at a loss for options.

There were still straightforward options: sending the dead to Reincarnation or the living to death, but ultimately Miketsu was a Benevolent God, and such choices were not to be made lightly.

As they talked about these matters, they walked into the small shop, the doors of which had been opened by Suzuhime.

"Welcome! Please, take a seat. What would you like to eat?" Seeing the customers come in, Minami greeted them with a professional smile and added, "Our menu is on the wall; we only serve these items. But if there's something specific you'd like to eat, and my father can make it, he will try his best."

"I want to eat grilled Rock Carp!" said the Matchmaking God, seemingly intent on causing trouble by ordering a dish that definitely wouldn't be found in a common restaurant.

Naturally, Minami's family shop couldn't possibly have such an exquisite ingredient like Rock Carp, so she hesitated and turned to her father as though seeking advice on how to handle the situation.

Seeing his daughter at a loss, the owner came over and said to the Matchmaking God, "Although I can make grilled Rock Carp, we don't have Rock Carp in our restaurant. Could you choose a different dish?"

Hearing the owner's response, Miketsu chimed in from the side, "Don't worry, we've brought our own Rock Carp."

Having said that, She gave Suzuhime, who was still standing beside Her, a look. Suzuhime nodded and then pulled out a lively Rock Carp from her voluminous sleeve.

As the wriggling Rock Carp was held out in front of him, the owner felt a slight twitch on the scar on his face. He really hadn't seen how Suzuhime managed to pull out such a big fish from her sleeve.

But since the fish was placed right in front of him, it wouldn't be good for the owner to refuse. He nodded, accepted the Rock Carp, and said, "Then please wait a moment. Would you like to order any other dishes?"

"Owner, can you make Tricolor Dango?" Upon hearing the owner's offer, Uke Mochi ordered something very common, yet not usually found in such a small restaurant, and she emphasized deliberately, "Don't give me the ready-made ones from the street; I want you to make them fresh."

Looking at the gazes of Uke Mochi and the Matchmaking God, the owner couldn't bring himself to utter a word of refusal no matter what.

Although these two looked like they came to cause trouble, for some reason, as long as their eyes were on him, he couldn't think of any reason to go against their wishes, making the owner feel a bit nervous, but he could only nod and say, "I can make them, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait quite a while."

Hearing what the owner said, Uke Mochi nodded indifferently, "It doesn't matter. Time is the most useless thing. We can wait as long as it takes."

Since the customers had this attitude, the owner naturally wouldn't say much else. He nodded, took the Rock Carp, and went into the kitchen.

Watching the owner start to prepare the ingredients, Uke Mochi then took her gaze off him and looked at Minami, who was still standing in front of Her.

Uke Mochi sized up Minami and suddenly asked her, "Are you the owner's daughter? You look very much alike."

"No, I'm just the owner's niece. I moved to Tokyo after graduating high school and am just helping out in my uncle's shop," Minami was startled inside, but she hurriedly stuck to the original setting and explained to Uke Mochi.

Uke Mochi nodded at Minami's "explanation," not denying or commenting further. One listen to a lie was enough.

Perhaps to dissolve the awkwardness or to change the subject, Minami suddenly asked the two, "Would you like something to drink? We don't have many spirits, but we do have some."

"There's no need, we two..." Suzuhime had just started to say that the spirits sold by mortals couldn't possibly be offered to the deities, but Uke Mochi raised Her hand to stop her.

She glanced at the menu on the wall and then said to Minami, "Highball... this name is interesting, I'll have one of those. Xiao Yuan, what do you want to drink?"

"Children shouldn't drink alcohol. Give me a cup of Oolong tea," the Matchmaking God had learned quite a lot about the mortal world and knew that with a child's appearance, one should not order alcohol in such places. Besides, She really didn't like alcohol, so She only ordered a drink that She had recently taken a liking to.

Minami heard what they said, nodded, and responded, "Please wait a moment."

After saying that, she turned and went into the kitchen to pour the drinks for them.

Looking at Minami turning away to pour the drinks, Uke Mochi suddenly sighed, "It's a marvelous spell, perfectly concealing the scent of the dead, keeping her from affecting the living, and even nourishing her soul, making her indistinguishable from the living! Coming up with such a spell is truly remarkable!"