Chapter 767: Beast Shrines

Chapter 767 – Beast Shrines

When the officials of Village Five got used to Youko’s cute appearance and behavior, measures were thoroughly taken to prevent her from speaking as much as possible. Seiten also decided to leave.

He stayed in Village Five for around five days.

He seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed the food and entertainment in Village Five.

When he came to say goodbye to me, I gave him “Village Five Alcohol Alternative” as souvenir.

Seiten had the silver foxes, who were supposed to be his guards, carry his luggage so he managed to bring back quite a lot.

Well, it’s just a small amount compared to how much we produce.

I really don’t mind.

There was no place to stop on the way so I prayed for their safe return.

-0-

The silver foxes said they’ll come back to Village Five with their whole race as soon as they were done escorting Seiten.

Before Seiten’s departure, Youko, Kon, and Kitsu carefully checked and discussed the place.

They had chosen the mountain which will be a protected area.

There are still some non-aggressive monsters and demon beasts there but living with them seemed to be fine.

However, that mountain certainly lacks something.

Houses.

Of course, I don’t think giving them a mountain and turning it into a protected area is enough.

Since they can transform, they should need houses, right?

Plus, they also need ways to make money.

I’m not going to approve their assassination business which means I have to give them another job.

If I’ll just throw them in the mountain and tell them to live as they like, what’s the point of migrating?

Also, there are things that need to be considered such as setting the boundary of the protected area.

We don’t want people wandering in and tearing up the protected area because they didn’t know they were there.

It’s not practical to enclose the entire protected area with ropes.

It’s a mountain after all.

A signboard would have been good but not everyone could read.

What should we do then?

Also, we need a reason as to why this place is a protected area.

We could honestly say that the reason is to protect animals but if there will ever be a food shortage, that reason wouldn’t matter to others.

I suppose we could ask the demon king to invoke his authority but we still would need a suitable reason.

While I was thinking about what to do, Niz came to Youko’s mansion which made an idea pop out of my head.

Shrine.

I decided to build a shrine in the protected area to turn it into a sacred ground.

Fortunately, there were requests for shrines.

And they are from the gods themselves.

Since there was even a separate table prepared for the gods in a banquet, there shouldn’t be any problem in preparing a mountain for the gods.

…….

There shouldn’t be, right?

I asked Niz to make sure.

「I think it’s a wonderful idea since beast gods are more pleased around nature.」

Is that so?

「I can vouch that the serpent god prefers to be with nature.」

….okay.

In my mind, snakes are indeed more likely to be found in the forest or by the river than in a city.

Then, let’s say we built shrines in that protected area….

How many shrines are we going to build?

Ah, yeah, more than I could count with both hands.

It would be difficult to build shrines for all of them.

In other words….

Can we put them all together?

How about building one majestic shrine and worshiping them all together there?

…..will there be a fight?

「Ah, I don’t know. There might be a fight if they are all in the same place but if we put them into different rooms, I think everything will be fine….also, it might be nice to put have some take a leading role as the main attraction.」

Different rooms.

Ah, yeah.

It is better to be able to relax in a room of your own than in a big room with many others.

I can relate.

Then, what should we do with the…. leading role?

It will be “god something is the best”.

Won’t there be a problem then?

Hnn?

Right.

Why don’t we make it like the chinese zodiac?

Every year, we would choose a god of the year that will take the leading role.

Let’s see, the twelve chinese zodiac signs are…..

Rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake…..

Ehto, dragon….snake….what’s next?

Wait a minute.

Calm down.

Breath in….

Rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake….horse, sheep!

I got it!

I always get stuck at horse.

But I remembered.

Good.

The rest is easy.

Monkey, rooster, dog, and boar.

The Momotaro trio and the boar.

To sum it up…..

Rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, monkey, rooster, dog, and boar.

Let’s write them down so I won’t forget them again.

Come to think of it, I am somewhat related to these chinese zodiac signs.

Rat – No, I don’t have any

Ox – There are cows in the ranch area and there are also minotaurs.

Tiger – Sangetsu and Sougetsu

Rabbit – I eat them quite often

Dragon – The dragon race

Snake – The familiar of the serpent god Niz, the lamias, and bloody vipers

Horse – There are horses in the ranch area and there are also centaurs

Sheep – Can be found in Shashaato City and Village Five. Should we include the goat in this group?

Monkey – I got acquainted with Seiten

Rooster – There’s the phoenix chick Aegis, eagle, chickens, and harpies

Dog – Inferno wolves, fenrir, and orthros

Boar – I eat them quite often

……

I’m only not related to rats?

As a farmer, rats are my enemies.

Do I replace it with cats?

No no no, it’s not good to change something like that because of personal likes or dislikes.

Thinking about rats, we can consider squirrels and beavers.

I have never encountered a squirrel or a beaver though.

Maa, we can adopt the twelve signs of chinese zodiac but that doesn’t mean we have to stick with them.

It would be better to decide this matter according to whether there is a shintai for them or not.

Depending on the existence of gods, there is a possibility that we might not be able to adopt the chinese zodiac.

After all, the only thing that has been confirmed is the snake.

-0-

In any case, I decided to build the shrine immediately.

Yeah, the more I think about it, the better it becomes.

Aside from being a place to live in, it will also be the job of the silver foxes.

Yeah, managing the shrine.

That way, it would be justifiable for Village Five to pay their salary.

If they want to earn money themselves, they can also earn money by selling oracles and votive pictures.

If they want to make a specialty of their own, I can give them ideas.

Good good.

The plan is now confirmed.

I just asked Youko and she said there’s no problem with those so let’s start.

I want this place to take shape before the silver foxes come.

-0-

However, I don’t think the carpenters around will understand if I ask them to build something like a shrine.

I can imagine them building something like a western style temple.

I want an eastern shrine perhaps because it fits the twelve chinese zodiacs more.

Because of that, I’ll build a miniature plan.

The concept is to have the main shrine halfway up the mountain and that place is where the main god of the year be worshiped.

At the foot of the mountain, a worship hall would be prepared and it would be where the believers would pray.

Visitors are not allowed to approach the main shrine.

Otherwise, there’s no point in making this place a protected area.

Next to the worship hall will be the dormitory of the silver foxes but it’s for those who can transform to humanoid forms. It will also be the place where they work and the shrine’s office.

Near the worship hall will be a big shrine similar to the main shrine. The inside of the shrine will be divided into smaller rooms where the gods can be worshiped one by one.

The gods are basically worshiped in this large shrine and only the main god of the year will be moved to the main shrine.

However, that would make the main god of the year less worshiped….

I discussed the arrangement with Niz and Youko.

「Considering that the number of gods worshiped will increase in the future, I think it would be best to make the shrine as big as possible.」

「I agree kon.」

There’s a possibility it would increase?

「Did you think it won’t?」

Sorry.

I also thought of that.

「This is actually a perfect opportunity for those gods who were not usually worshiped kon! They will surely, certainly, positively come kon!」

Okay, let’s make the temple as big as we can.

-0-

And when I finished the miniature plan after five days, the construction of the shrine had already begun.

Why is that?

Not only the carpenters of Village Five but even the high elves of Big Tree Village are participating.

「From the time we started building the miniature, the high elves already came and were making arrangements.」

Really?

「They were very motivated since it was the first large-scale construction project after a long time. Ah, the general site construction manager is Ria-san desu.」

I-I see.

That saved us a lot….right?

Well, it’s good to shorten the period of time the silver foxes should wait.

「That’s right kon. I’m sure they’ll be pleased kon.」

……Youko.

「What kon?」

Your punishment period should be over, right?

Why do you still dress and act like that?

「There was a strong demand from the residents of Village Five to have me stay like this for a little longer….I have to stay like this for a while to ensure Village Five will run fine kon.」

I see.

Ehto….hang in there.

「I will kon.」

-0-

Narration: Nothing must happen in the next 240 hrs (10 days)!

Village Council: Huh?

Narration: Now, extended!

Village Council: Huhhhhhh!