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The next day, New Year’s Eve.
Kou and the rest of the novice shrine maidens woke up early to eat breakfast, and go through cleansing. Some more training followed through the morning, so they would know exactly how the process of a shrine visit went, and be able to explain it to the visitors.
Then in the afternoon they finally wore their proper shrine maiden robes, and received the first visitors, still with the guidance of the older maidens there.
Some of the older folk who regularly visited the shrine quickly caught onto that, and happily allowed the girls to practice with them, so by now everyone knew how to do everything.
For some reason they always cheerfully encouraged them, while (mostly to Hinagiku, Miyuki and Kou) patting their heads or giving them candy… But it was still valuable experience for the novice shrine maidens, who slowly gained confidence.

After that they had a quick and early dinner, and after 5pm they split into two groups, which would work in alternating three hours, allowing one group to take a nap in anticipation of the busy night. Kou was in the group that got to nap first…but she woke up after one hour, with still two more hours left before her next shift.
Somehow…she could not fall asleep again, so she ended up waddling out to the shrine grounds.

“Oh, Mitsuki? Your turn starts at 11pm, so you can still rest if you want.”

As soon as she set foot outside, one of the older shrine maidens instantly noticed her and spoke with a worried voice.
Given Kou’s frail and delicate appearance, older girls tended to always get worried about her…which Kou appreciated, but also felt sorry about, so she quickly said she was fine.

…Even if she blushed a bit and had to look away.

That only made the older girl wonder if she had done something wrong, so Kou had to quickly switch topics.

“I wish I could sleep more, but I can’t help but get nervous thinking that in just a few hours we’ll be full of visitors… And there’s already a huge line outside, right?”
“Yup yup, many of them want to be here as soon as midnight strikes, so they’re just waiting outside. Things will get busy in an instant.”
“I figured as much…I guess this is kinda like the calm before the storm.”
“You could say that. If you really can’t sleep…then why don’t you come with me? We’re just doing the final checks on the Amulet Office.”
“Ah…sure!”

Following that friendly older shrine maiden, Kou went to check the Amulet Office, where she would also be stationed later.

…And once that was done as well.

“Mitsuki, do you have a moment?”
“Huh…Kikyo, is something wrong?”

Suddenly Kikyo came out from the Shrine Office, and called out to Kou, who felt a bit unsure about the whole thing.
They went together inside the Amulet Office, to a room without anyone else, before Kikyo finally explained what she wanted.

“Say, Mitsuki. Since you’re the daughter of that vampire hag…did you also learn *it*?”
“It..? What do you… Ah.”

It took Kou a moment to think of something her mother taught her, which warranted this much secrecy…

“…Do you mean…*magic*?”

Her voice lowered to a whisper, and Kikyo nodded.
Amari and Kikyo had known each other for a long time, so it made sense that Kikyo also knew about that.

“…Yes, that. Would you be kind enough to cast a spell to regulate the Amulet Office’s temperature?”
“I mean, I could…but are you sure I should do it?”
“Of course. It’s not like anyone *over here* believes in magic, so it’d be a shame to not make good use of it.”

Kikyo chuckled saying that, and it was enough to convince Kou, who began preparing the spell to ward off cold, just like Amari had taught her.
She knew that it would stand out if the effect was too strong, so she tried to limit it a bit…mostly so the cold wind would not get in.
The temperature itself…she kept it above the freezing point, so it was just a bit warm.
She also added some floor heating, since all the shrine maidens had to sit on their knees when working at the Amulet Office, which was situated in a spot exposed to the cold mountain wind.
All of that seemed good enough…so she ended the process and activated it, nodding once she noticed it was working.
…And then it hit her, Kikyo *had known that such a spell existed*.

“Wait…could you have done it yourself without my help?”
“Oh… Heheh, I wonder if I could. Let’s just say it’s good you got some practice?”

*I guess that makes sense.*
Kikyo evaded the question, but Kou could see what she had been trying to do, give Kou more experience…and allow her to master her control of magic sooner without standing out.
Then Kikyo requested that Kou reapply the spell after her break, so Kou could only sigh and say “I guess I have no choice…”

There was only a short moment of peace…and then it was 11pm, and in the distance the first bell announcing the arrival of a new year could be heard, and service in the shrine began in earnest…