Chapter 184-3

Chapter 184-3

[Part 3/4]

With her fist stretched out towards the ceiling, she tightly grips fate again, letting out a mocking laugh. It's a mix of self-mockery and self-deprecation.

This young lady thought she was being overly dramatic. The secret powers of the shrine maiden? The recreation of the shrine maiden? It all seemed laughable to her.

After spending money, time, and sacrifices, she stitched everything together, but Miyataka did not value the completed products. There was no reason for her to care.

Even after putting them in a jar, they only turned out slightly better.

The flesh of the shrine maiden, the eyes of the shrine maiden. Even when stitched together, they still fell far short of the miraculous existence they once were, and their lifespan was dismal.

Above all, Miyataka Shinobu's shrine maiden powers had a fatal flaw.

"Hey, were you daydreaming here? Isn't it time for a refill?"

The shoji paper door slides open, and a man with a kind smile walks in. He's her teacher and partner in crime. A 'ghost' with a dirty appearance speaks casually.

"Is that a problem? ...I'm not feeling well."

"That's not good. I'll mix some medicine for you next time."

"Will you mix it right in front of me?"

After all, this is about that ghost. Who knows what extra stuff he might add? It could be more extras than the main ingredients.

"You want to study how to make medicine? That's great, but be careful. Just because you want to try something doesn't mean you should wake a sleeping child and get lost in your own dreams. When studying how to make medicine, please don't think like that, okay?"

"...Hey, how much of this did you expect?"

This was a sharp comment from a girl who saw through the ghost's old-man lecture trick.

"You talked to make her interested, right? You planned this, didn't you? That black fox was a wanted criminal, right? So, there's no way you didn't talk to her. Am I wrong?"

Could it be that he knew this would happen and got involved with her? No, maybe he was part of Miyataka's plan to bring back shrine maidens from the very beginning!

"You're overthinking it, or maybe you're just being too suspicious? Unfortunately, I'm not that all-powerful. Besides, she (the black fox) didn't tell me clearly either."

Even though they were once leaders of the youkai army, they were not united. Some followed the general's last words, while others rebelled.

Some created their own organizations, while others returned to the wild to do as they pleased.

Especially that old nine-tailed fox has led a pack of youkai foxes since before the youkai army formed. Her relationship with the organization is more cooperative than that of an ordinary member.

When their general was sealed, she withdrew from the front lines with her step-sisters, even at great cost. Since then, they have occasionally exchanged information and cooperated on individual cases, but that was it.

She (the black fox) only hinted at this case, which spanned time, and the ghost never heard any specific details.

"She took over the position of the one who was defeated, but I didn't know anything about her either. She's quite secretive. I'm more surprised that I finally got to check the answers."

The body possessed by the ghost shrugs. However, for the lustful princess, it's a story she doesn't know how much to believe. Even if it's not an outright lie, there are many ways to mislead and deceive others.

"Tsk tsk, why don't they trust me? I'm trying to be honest."

"Isn't it because you're trying?"

The young lady's response is accurate and harsh. Effort is meaningless without results.

"I'm trying to make it seem like I have results. ...So, you still couldn't figure it out after all that time?"

Her head is held tightly, forcing her to confront reality. She bites down──again and again. Her hands and legs are used, and her hair is used as well.

She takes in everything. She comforts them. It's all to sustain her life and soothe her soul.

As usual, she succumbs to pleasure, gazing at the ceiling, shutting off her thoughts, and allowing the drug to cloud her mind, making her feel relaxed and numb.

...Unfortunately, it doesn't happen right away.

"...Haha. It's dirty."

Her dark emotions, which she had not felt in a long time, are washed away by the noise of flesh, sweat, and roars, and by the drug that invades her brain....

* * *

'Well then, this is the end of the cleanup, isn't it?'

The black fox's cold smirk accompanied the purging flames that burned away all traces of what had happened. In her arms lay the limp form of the daughter──a white fox, blood smeared on her mochi-like cheeks.

'After all, she was just dead weight for you, wasn't she? I'll be taking her home with me, if you don't mind.'

"Wait...!?"

At the fox's declaration, she ran without a thought for her own safety, desperately chasing after the creature that was stealing her daughter away.

It felt futile──grasping at clouds, the black fox's form shimmered and faded like smoke, its outline melting into the air.

'Hehe. From what I see, it seems the girl has already returned to her original self... As promised, I'll let you go. Enjoy your brief and lighter life without any regrets, okay?'

"No, stop! Give her back! Shirona, my daughter, give her back to me!?"

Her desperate pleas fell on deaf ears, the fox's indifferent smirk mocking her as it vanished from sight. The world around her faded, leaving only emptiness behind.

"No, nooo...!? Please, don't leave me alone. Bring my family back...!?"

She clutched at the void where her daughter had been, grasping at nothingness. The woman sank to her knees in the snow, collapsing and weeping in sheer despair. Even knowing it was pointless, she couldn't suppress the flood of emotions pouring out.

* * *

Once, in an age of great war──or perhaps even before──there were superstitions about this. Those possessed by a youkai fox would bear descendants cursed to be of fox lineage.

The foxes looked down on humans and sometimes played tricks by taking over human bodies. Even though experts said this wasn't true, people believed that some families were more likely to be taken over by foxes because of their bloodlines.

This idea of being cursed by a fox spirit had been passed down for many years.

She belonged to a family connected to a fox that could possess people. Though she seemed like a regular human, the spirit of the fox controlled her body. This was part of a bigger plan during a chaotic time in history.

Some believed the stories about fox possession were just tricks made up by monsters to scare others.

She was human, born from a human mother, and didn't inherit any fox traits. However, the bad rumors made people fear her family, thinking they were cursed. That was the Miko family.

There wasn't open persecution because some understood the accusations were baseless, while others feared the curse's revenge.

Now, after receiving a severance payment, she found herself in a quiet, remote place. Her family had a long history of marrying close relatives for three generations, leaving her as the last one.

After her mother passed away, Ine felt completely alone in the world.

Yes, she was truly alone. No one wanted to marry into her cursed family, and no man would let his daughter marry her. People in the village avoided her, which made her very afraid of being lonely. So, she hesitated for a long time until she found a baby.

She discovered a baby who looked like he might not survive the cold wind and decided to take care of him. When the baby cried and seemed to come back to life, she felt hope.