So, after gathering some suitable grains, I ended up moving to the place where the other kids were, together with Rinne.
"Ah! You came, Rin... Huh? Yuseong too? What brings you here?"
"Ah, well, you see?"
I said that I happened to hear from Rinne that you guys were doing this, and since I had nothing else to do anyway, and it felt wrong to just send you off on your own, I tagged along.
"So, is everyone here?"
Looking around, all the main characters like Shido, Tohka, Yoshino, Kotori, Origami, etc., were gathered.
"Only Tonomachi hasn't come."
"Really? Okay, got it."
After saying I got it, I waited with the others for several dozen minutes for that Tonomachi guy, but no matter how long we waited, Tonomachi didn't show up. Eventually, bored, I suggested to everyone.
"It's boring to just keep waiting like this, so since we're here, why don't we all say what we brought as offerings? Let's start with Tohka."
"Hmm! What I chose is this!"
At my words, Tohka immediately rummaged in her bosom and then pulled out a kebab sandwich.
"That's... a kebab, right?"
"...Yes! This kebab is so juicy and delicious every time I eat it!"
"I see. I should try it sometime too."
After confirming Tohka's offering of kebab, I then asked Rinne.
"This time, let Rinne tell us... I've been curious since earlier... what on earth did you bring? It looked really heavy from what I saw?"
"Well... I didn't know what would be good as an offering..., and I thought it would be nice to eat together... heave ho."
Then, Rinne pulled out a large watermelon from inside a very heavy-looking bag.
"That's... a watermelon, right?"
"Umm... it's a bit early, but it looked sweet and tasty, so..."
"By the way, it must be quite heavy. Are you sure you don't need help?"
"It's fine, so don't worry..."
At my question, Rinne refused my help and put the watermelon back into the bag.
"Next is... Origami."
"White lily for offering."
"I see~"
Although Origami's answer was a bit rude, knowing what kind of person she is, I made an effort to understand and asked Yoshino.
"Then this time, Yoshino, what did you bring?"
"Ah... um, I, this is it!"
At my question, Yoshino, who was rummaging in her pocket, then pulled out a cow-shaped puppet and showed it to me.
"A cow-shaped puppet, huh?"
[I got it from Reine-ssi before~ She said it would be nice to have one more friend~]
"So... I tried talking to it many times..., but it didn't answer..."
"Ah... I see..."
'That's... because Yoshinon is special and can talk... normally, that's how it is...'
I swallowed the rest of my words and looked at Shido, asking.
"Then, Shido, what did you bring?"
"Ah... I bought a shortcake from a cake shop in the shopping district."
Shido showed me a well-packaged cake and said, and I nodded appropriately, then looked at Kotori and asked.
"Then this time, Kotori, so what did Kotori bring?"
"Fuhuhu~ my secret weapon is this~!"
After saying that, Kotori pulled out one candy from her pocket and showed it to everyone.
"Hmm hmm, as expected... no! This is just the usual stick candy you always eat!"
"No, it's not! This is a region-limited edition stick candy, are your eyes just holes, big brother?!"
"...Isn't that the same thing?..."
"What did you say! What about you, Yuseong-oppa!"
"Me? I..."
I took out the statue I had carefully stored in my bag.
A statue of a woman carved quickly from a suitable rock found nearby using the power of Star Platinum with Precision A.
*For reference, the statue was in the form of Rinne in her angel form, and the reason was... just because it suddenly came to mind.
Anyway... the reaction of the group upon seeing my statue was:
"Totally... a waste of talent..."
"Waste of talent..."
"Hahaha... this is completely a waste of talent..."
"Am... amazing..."
[Waste of talent, awesome!]
"That's amazing!"
"That's... amazing..."
Mostly, it was either a waste of talent or amazing.
"Hmph... right? It's truly a great statue."
As I said that and was about to put the statue back in my bag, at that moment,
"Huh? What's that?"
Through Star Platinum's eyes, I sensed someone rushing over from far away, quickly identified who it was, and prepared my fist, and
"I'm hereaaaaaa!"
"Shut up!!!!"
"Guhk!!!!"
As soon as Tonomachi Hiroto appeared, I punched him in the solar plexus.
"Tonomachi!"
Shido looked at Tonomachi's fallen face, surprised, then immediately started checking his condition, and soon Tonomachi got up and shouted, full of fear.
"It's out! It's out!"
"What is?"
"I don't know, but there's something... I'm going back first. Itsuka, hurry back."
Then, Tonomachi just ran away, and we headed to where Tonomachi had come from, puzzled.
And what we saw there was
[Gaoh Form!]
Kamen Rider Gaoh... no, just an ordinary crocodile.
"Haham~ what? It's just a crocodile. I thought there was some monster or something?"
[Your constellations are yawning repeatedly.]
Then, I glared at the crocodile and released my ki very, very weakly, and the crocodile, startled even by that ki, immediately ran away.
"There! Case solved! Let's just give the offerings and go down!"
Then, we gave the offerings and descended.
"Well... shall we go?"
And the next morning, I headed to the Shin Tengu Tower.