That year was a tranquil summer. The sky stretched cloudless. Scorching sunlight bathed the mountains. Only the endless chirping of cicadas echoed through the lush green forests.

The Sacred Shrine, inherited by the Shindo Residence for generations, stood isolated from the small town miles away.

Young Kamidou Chiyo knelt in the tea room beside the courtyard. His grandfather, Kamidou Ryuushuu, sat cross-legged opposite him. He wore a yukata and cradled a teacup.

Thud—

Outside, in the courtyard, a bamboo tube collecting water from the artificial stream slammed heavily onto the stone platform. A dull thud echoed.

“Chiyo.”

“Hai!”

The boy kneeling on the tatami mat replied lazily.

“Why are you always so slovenly? You cannot inherit the Sacred Shrine like this.”

His grandfather’s stern words filled the tea room.

“Eh? Grandpa’s switching to lecture mode again?”

The boy picked his ear with his pinky, speaking absentmindedly. His mind was far older than his child’s body. He wouldn’t be fooled like ordinary kids.

“I’ve said it—I have zero interest in inheriting any shrine.”

“Sigh… Sigh… Just like your father. No interest in this shrine at all…”

The old man sighed deeply. He closed his eyes and sipped his tea.

Seeing no reaction, the boy flicked away the earwax he’d dug out. He quietly stood and slipped away.

This was my childhood self. A reincarnator and transmigrator raised in a mountain village. Burdened with an aura that repelled the opposite sex.

Hands behind my back, I walked down the corridor toward the shrine’s exit. Perhaps because I’d grown up here.

Even with a mind far beyond my peers, my habits had sunk to the village kids’ level.

The town had many girls. At this age, girls matured earlier. They were often stronger than boys. Boys became easy targets for the bossier girls.

Village kids had little outside exposure. Puppy love was impossible at this age.

Stories where tiny kids suddenly develop crushes? Nonsense. At best, it was simple friendliness—being nice for nice’s sake.

Such fragile bonds shattered instantly over a lollipop or ice cream.

This was also peak chuunibyou age. The town’s girls united against the boys, bullying them relentlessly.

…Partly because of my opposite-sex aversion aura. It made all the boys disliked.

Life under the girls’ harsh rule was tough. Snacks stolen. Notebooks vandalized. Common kid stuff.

But the bullied boys, led by Nishi, formed the “Resistance Army.” They aimed to overthrow the girls’ reign.

I, Kamidou Chiyo, became their unwilling leader. My mature mind, status, and Nishi’s insistence forced it.

Honestly, I was just the ringleader among troublemakers.

A normal kid might enjoy it. But with my adult mind, I couldn’t connect with these brats.

I’d refused at first. You can’t just shove a title on someone. Not even Nishi could force it.

Yet the kids ignored my wishes. They pinned the title on me anyway.

Whenever girls attacked me, boys would rush out. They “sacrificed” themselves to protect me.

Funny, right? I thought so too. That’s how I became the Resistance Army’s “General” amid the girls’ hatred.

I shook my head with a wry smile. Reached the shrine’s main gate.

Just as I stepped out, two figures burst from the woods beside the stone stairs. They were two of the Resistance Army’s “Generals.”

Nishi and Takashi. Despite sharing the “-shi” suffix, their personalities clashed.

Nishi Koushin was all brawn and no brain. Takashi Natsume, the other “General,” had gentle brown-blond hair. He never truly resisted anything.

His frail frame hid terrifying strength when angered. Sometimes, it stunned even me.

He often muttered about seeing spirits. I dismissed it as chuunibyou. Ignored it.

He’d lost his parents young. A pitiful kid, bullied until Nishi and I rescued him. He joined the Resistance Army.

Nishi, bonding over similar names, treated him like a brother.

One day, after reading a Three Kingdoms manga, Nishi dragged Takashi and me into a “Peach Garden Oath.”

I’d refused at first. But he pestered me until I agreed—as long as I was the eldest brother.

That “Peach Garden Oath”? Nishi had stolen a giant peach from someone’s house. He wanted us to share it.

I almost joked, “This isn’t a Peach Garden Oath—it’s ‘One Peach Kills Three Warriors’!”

But he was just a kid. He wouldn’t know that Chinese tale. I kept it to myself.

Thankfully, Takashi and I weren’t competitive. Or that peach might’ve caused real tragedy.

Fruit was a luxury for eleven-year-olds here.

Still, our bond deepened. To my eyes—which saw friendship meters—it reached staggering levels.

“General! Emergency! Critical situation!!”

Nishi rushed up, panicked.

“How many times? Stop calling me ‘General’!”

I rubbed my temples. Kids’ games bored me.

Without this Resistance Army nonsense, my opposite-sex aversion aura wouldn’t make me enemies with every town girl.

Kids this age were simple. A lollipop or ice cream could break the aura. Boost friendliness easily.

Their antics made me vow to leave this town early. Join my parents in the city. Escape this unplayable place.

“What could rattle a ‘General’ like you?”

Like a certain detective, I played along. Even when I hated it.

“The girls are plotting something! They’ll wipe out our Resistance Army!!”

“Huh? Wipe us out?”

I picked my nose with my index finger, deadpan. “What can those ‘she-devils’ possibly do?”

Let’s be clear: this wasn’t chuunibyou. Just humoring him.

Ignoring these kids had severe consequences.

“I don’t know details! But it’s super scary!”

I glared with dead-fish eyes. My lip twitched.

He’d probably believed some baseless rumor again.

I shook my head and headed downhill. “Then stop their evil plan. You two handle it.”

“Yes, General! No problem, General!”

Nishi yelled. He grabbed Takashi and vanished into the woods.

I continued toward the town.

The girls had their own group too. I knew little. After boys formed the Resistance Army, some fierce girls rallied others.

Just kids’ war. Mudballs. Pebbles. Water fights at worst.

My strict rules prevented worse. Without discipline, who knew what horrors these brats might unleash?

As their leader, I’d stopped real tragedies.

Once, a kid suggested burning the girls’ leader’s house. I ordered him Aruba’d on the spot.

Another planned to push her into the river. After my punishment, he still avoids rivers.

Under my rule, they obeyed absolutely. East or west—I decided.

They brought me treats from home. I’d taste a bite, then share it all.

That’s how I controlled them. Carrot and stick. It always works.