Prince Ren walked into the shrine.
The witch standing in front of him was wearing a white witch dress. She looked to be in her twenties, with a calm and gentle temperament.
She made a welcoming gesture to King Ren and said, "Please come with me."
She guided Prince Ren in the direction of the inner room, stepping on the flat stone road in the front yard.
Seeing Prince Ren watching the back of the Equality House gradually walking away, she showed an apologetic expression, "The Equality House -kun is a little short-tempered."
Prince Ren followed the witch into the shrine, "He is also here …"
Speaking of which, the girl in the shrine is called the witch. What is the boy in the shrine called, the Son of God?
"Ah, the Equality House -kun is one of the heirs of the nearby Equality House Shrine, and now he is cultivating here."
The witch explained, "In fact, your questions can be better answered in the Equality House Shrine."
"Do you know me?"
"God has already given me guidance." The witch's smile was mysterious.
She opened the door of the tea room in the shrine, "Please sit down and have a cup of tea first."
In the clean and simple tea room, there was a soft cushion on the wooden floor, and a tea tray on the bamboo table.
Prince Ren sat on his knees and waited for the witch to make tea.
The nearby window was opened, and the hot wind blew in, but it was blocked outside by the bamboo window.
Prince Ren heard the sound of the ball hitting, rhythmic and familiar, one after another.
The witch was meticulously boiling water, and Prince Ren was listening to the sound of the boy called "Equality House", who was probably a "senpai", hitting the ball.
The sound was muffled, and it should be on the ground, probably still bumpy muddy ground.
This reminded Prince Ren of Kazuyanagi Yukimura's idea two months ago in Hakone.
Although it was rejected, the eight of them also tried, and it was true that they couldn't play on that kind of ground.
What about the Equality House?
Prince Ren remembered the golden-haired boy's arrogant attitude at the door.
Although he didn't want to admit it, perhaps the Equality House could really do it.
What's the big deal? He looks a few years older than me.
I was able to do it when I was in my third year of high school, but the Equality House is still a high school student — a high school student, right?
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Prince Ren blinked and reached out to take the tea offered by the Miko.
He wasn't particularly familiar with etiquette, but surprisingly, the witch didn't mind.
But was the shrine really such an approachable place?
Shouldn't the status of a Miko be very high?
"You should know that our shrine worships the Inari God."
Miko-sama smiled and said, "You have the power of Inari God, but you don't know how to use it."
"… The power of Inari?" Prince Ren's eyes widened. "Previously, others said that I have the power of the stars."
Miko-sama's expression stiffened for a moment. "'Xing Jian'?
… No … Huh? "
She looked at Prince Ren seriously for a while, then sighed and said, "I'm ashamed that I can't see all the facts with my ability.
But you have unparalleled potential to be tapped. "
"That's why I'm here." Prince Ren said, "My ability …"
"If it's your ability, you must know how to control it yourself."
Prince Ren thought, I don't intend to control it.
"How should I use it?" he asked.
Miko-sama smiled and said, "Follow your heart."
Prince Ren:?
Was the shrine such an idealistic place?
"If you want to learn the basic use of Spiritual Power, then the place that can teach you has already sent you an invitation." Miko-sama said.
Prince Ren thought of the so-called Government of the Time.
Inviting him over and over again, should they be really sincere?
"I understand, thank you."
He finished the cup of tea after bowing, hesitated for a while when he walked out of the door, but decided to satisfy his curiosity.
He walked to the place where the sound of tennis balls kept coming from.
After going around the shrine's pillar and walking for a short while, a very simple tennis court appeared in front of him.
It wasn't even appropriate to call it a tennis court, it was just a road where the boundary of the court was drawn with white lines on the road where the soil and stones intersected.
In the middle of the court, there were two small trees that hadn't yet grown up, only as tall as a person and a half, pulling an old net.
The young man who had stopped him outside the door had a head of blonde curly hair (Prince Ren felt that the hairstyle was very similar to his minister's, even the hairband was the same style). He was holding a racket and running on the shabby court.
His aura was particularly steady, but with a domineering aura that couldn't be ignored.
From what Prince Ren had seen in the national tournament, no one was as good as him (after all, Tachikai was the best).
This boy from the Equality House was better than Sanada.
Prince Ren could come to this conclusion.
He was too familiar with Sanada's moves, by far, he was most familiar with Sanada's moves in the tennis club.
To some extent, this was a failure, because his partner was Yanagi.
So he had been reflecting on this recently.
Then what about Yukimura?
How would he compare to Yukimura?
Prince Ren didn't know, he hadn't played against Yukimura.
Or rather, they had a practice match, but it was obvious that Yukimura wasn't too serious.
The tennis ball hit a small stone on the ground.
But the change in its trajectory was clearly within the blonde boy's control, he even only took two steps to receive the ball that bounced back from the opposite wall.
How did he do it?
Moreover, the wall was more than a meter away from the baseline, he was able to make the ball bounce back and hit this side of the baseline. His control of strength …
Prince Ren unconsciously held his breath.
Then the Equality House turned the racket and put it away.
He stood up straight, letting the tennis ball bounce naturally on the racket.
Then he turned around and glanced at Prince Ren, revealing an expression that was half contempt and half arrogance.
He reached out, grabbed the tennis ball, gripped it hard, and threw it into the air.
It was a standard serve posture, the muscles on his arm bulging slightly as he accumulated strength.
Then he squatted, jumped, swung his arm, and swung the racket.
Pa!
Prince Ren's eyes suddenly widened.
He sucked in a breath of cold air.
It's coming!
When the tennis ball flew past his cheek, he couldn't help but shrink back, and then he reached out and touched his cheek.
Just now …
How many balls were there?
Two, or three?
How could there be a few tennis balls?
Or were some of the balls spiritual power?
He turned around, the tennis ball hit the ground when it landed, and there was only a ball print.
But just now, both of his cheeks were indeed …
He retracted his hand, and his fingertips were stained with a little red.
He was bleeding.
"Hey, Imp." The Equality House put the racket on his shoulder and walked over.
He was ten centimeters taller than Prince Ren, and his physique was much stronger. He didn't mind it when he was outside the door, but now that he looked at him, he was really oppressive.
"Are you a junior high student?"
After he said this word, he didn't seem to expect an answer. Instead, he smiled contemptuously. "Looking at your team uniform, Tachikai University?"
"I heard that Tachikai University won the national championship as soon as I graduated." He snorted. "But you'd better understand that tennis is not just a game."
Prince Ren opened his mouth and found his voice. "You haven't seen my games, how do you know that our tennis is just a game?"
"That's why I said, Imp, you're too inexperienced." The Equality House came closer, almost touching Prince Ren.
He lowered his head. "Your eyes just now expressed it very clearly."
Prince Ren was silent.
He couldn't refute.
"Forget it."
The Equality House stared at him for a while. It seemed that he didn't get the desired reaction, so he took a step back dispiritedly.
He swung the racket down. When he stopped, he pointed it at the tip of Prince Ren's nose. The distance was no more than two millimeters. "You also have spiritual power, right?
You came here for that, right?
Then grow up quickly. "
Prince Ren: "…?"
He didn't think that this person was enthusiastic and liked to cultivate the temperament of the younger generation.
The Equality House laughed arrogantly, like a shark opening its bloody mouth. "Next year, the U17 training camp will recruit junior high students.
The international U17 competition has been discussing adding junior high students since last year, but it's estimated that it won't be in time this year.
If you can stand in front of me one day … I haven't seen someone like you play tennis for a long time. "
Someone like me?
Someone with spiritual power?
No, it shouldn't be. Everyone has spiritual power, it's just a matter of how much. At least, Prince Ren believed that the grass in Sanada's knife and the white stone he saw were the embodiment of one's spiritual power.
Is that someone who can realize that they have spiritual power and can use it subjectively to do something else?
Prince Ren looked at the Equality House.
He felt that this person was very strange and somewhat wishful thinking. "Are you so sure that junior high students will be selected next year?"
On this occasion, he didn't feel that being recruited by the U17 team was something to be happy about.
"I naturally have my ways," the Equality House said.
He turned around, took another tennis ball from the basket next to him, and ignored Prince Ren.
Prince Ren watched him play tennis for a while, but in the end, he still couldn't make an accurate judgment of his level.
This is because my strength is too far away from this level, Prince Ren thought.
He unconsciously clenched his fists.
The pre-set alarm on his phone rang. It was prepared for him to rush back to Osaka to take the school bus.
Prince Ren hurriedly turned off the phone and looked up. "Well, what's your name?"
"Phoenix of the Equality House." The blonde boy was still waving his racket. "Imp, you don't know how to be polite. You have to call me Senpai."
You're from the Vine of Shepherds, not Tachikai University.
Prince Ren thought.
He dragged out the word "Oh" and said, "Okay, goodbye, Senpai."
He was very obedient.
He went back the way he came and walked out of the shrine. The witch stood at the door and smiled at him. She even opened the door for him.
After he was out of the door, he breathed a sigh of relief and touched the scabs on his face.
Will that guy hit me with a ball if he doesn't agree?
Prince Ren really thought that the Equality House would hit him with a ball.
He thought of Qiang, who picked up the ball on the other side of the court. Every time a ball hit him, a little bit of dust would fall off the wall. There were spider web-like cracks where the ball was particularly deep.
If he was hit by a ball, he might end up in the hospital.
As Prince Ren thought about it, he touched the tennis bag behind him. He felt that the tennis ball's lethality was probably stronger than his imagination.
He had a good memory. He took the bus he just came from and transferred to the train back to Osaka.
The timing was just right. He was just in time for the assembly.
He even bought himself a loaf of bread on the way.
When he arrived at the assembly point while gnawing on the bread, the others were already there.
Marui saw him first. He raised his hand to greet him and suddenly paused.
He almost jumped up. "Prince Ren?!
Where did you go?
Did you fight with someone?! "
Huh?
"Puri?" Prince Ren showed a puzzled expression.
Marui jumped in front of him in two steps and looked at his face with a look that gave people goosebumps. He reached out and touched his cheek: "This kind of injury, it can't be from a fall, right?"
Prince Ren was speechless.
He chewed the bread in his mouth and swallowed it. After that, he rolled his eyes. "It was from a tennis ball."
"Who can hit you with a tennis ball?" Marui had an expression of "you're not dreaming, right?"
Prince Ren looked over his head and saw Yukimura's frown. He knew that he really had to explain himself.
But he was telling the truth. Why didn't he believe him?
"It was really a tennis ball," he said. "A high school student."
Thinking about his teammates, especially the Big Three, who had defeated countless OB players, he added, "He's from the Vine of Shepherds.
He said his name is Phoenix of the Equality House.
Have you heard of him, Staff Officer? "
He looked at Liu.
Liu frowned.
After a moment of silence, Mōri, who had been leaning against the bus door, suddenly stood up straight.
He took two steps forward and looked at Prince Ren with a strange expression. "You saw Equality House Sang?"
"Senpai, do you know him?" Liu asked.
He flipped open his notebook.
Mōri turned around and glanced at Liu before replying, "Yes, I've seen him before."
He suddenly smiled. As he smiled, he looked at Yukimura with a complicated expression. "The Vine of Shepherds won three consecutive championships under the leadership of Equality House Sang.
Yukimura, you're walking down a path he has already walked. "
Yukimura's expression changed in an instant.
His aura as the "son of God" was fully exposed.
However, Mōri ignored him. Instead, he turned around to face Prince Ren again. "Did you provoke him?"
"No, you won't come out unscathed if you provoke him." He shook his head again.
Marui pointed at Prince Ren's face speechlessly. "You call this unscathed?"
"Ha."
Mōri laughed mockingly. "I remember that the isolation between the middle school and elementary schools wasn't that serious. Haven't you guys heard of it?
Equality House Sang's reputation back then was even more 'notorious' than Lion's Delight's doubles team. "
He enunciated each word with an adjective that he would not normally use in a conversation.
Liu hesitated for a moment before asking tentatively, "'Pirate King'?"
"You remember now?"
Mōri sighed. "He actually has quite a lot of nicknames, such as' Evil Barbossa 'and' Captain of the Caribbean '. In the end, it was Tennis Weekly who summarized him as' Pirate King '."
For a moment, everyone else from Tachikai University fell silent.
Mōri calmed himself down and asked the only two people present who had seen the Equality House before, "What do you think?
What do you think of him? "
What do you mean what do you think of him?
Prince Ren, who had received too much information, reacted the wrong way under the influence of the atmosphere.
He glanced at Yukimura. "I think he and the minister are a little … alike …?"
His voice trailed off at the end.
Looking at Yukimura's sudden smile and the large patch of lilies in the background, Prince Ren shuddered.
'What did I just say?
Could spiritual energy reverse the flow of time and space and swallow this sentence?
"Pirate King, huh?" Yukimura said with a smile, "That's quite interesting.
Renji, go and see if there are any videos of him. "
"Yes," Liu said.
He closed his notebook with a snap.
"Prince Ren, sit with me in a row later. Let's have a good talk about 'Pirate King,'" Yukimura said. "Everyone, get in the car."
Prince Ren thought, "Heaven wants me dead."
Mōri smiled and patted him on the shoulder. Marui shook his head and patted him on the shoulder.
Prince Ren was furious, but when faced with Yukimura's smiling face, he could only stuff the last bite of bread into his mouth and nod in silence.