After passing through rows of trees, he saw a plain filled with tanuki statues. It might be hard to count the total number of the statues since the number was a lot, but he knew there were 808 statues of tanuki.
808 was the original number of the strong army of tanukis that his father commanded.
In his young days, his father was fierce since he fought against humans to take over Matsuyama Castle. Yet his plan failed, and most of the tanukis were killed by humans. After that, the status of the Shikoku youkai turned downhill, and right now, it was stagnated.
It was also the reason why the number of the youkai on the altar decreased, unlike the Golden Days of the Shikoku youkai.
Yet he felt it was normal since even though 808 seemed like a lot, they were far from the number of humans.
If he wasn't wrong, the population of this country during the Edo period should be around 30 million.
He also knew the human also had a sacred sword or something. Still, this also made him quite frustrated. This treasure sword could slay many soldiers of his father's army in the Shikoku easily, yet when it came to the main protagonist, it could do nothing.
Was it the protagonist's halo? Obviously.
He felt the protagonist was really a buggy existence somehow.
Once they passed, the scenery quickly changed, and they came to the altar where the group of youkai could be seen everywhere. They all stood or sat in the audience seat that could usually be seen in the baseball stadium, but they were made from stone, giving a sacred and ancient yet feeling.
However, he felt it was too outdated. It was old and decayed.
He knew that every youkai hated modern times since they felt they had no place in this era. Yet he felt that they were just too lazy to think. After all, before the Heian period, the youkai were all living in the woods and jungle without a care, but when the house was created, they all started to mimic or take over the human's possession.
In other words, youkai's adaptation wasn't lost to those of a human.
If a youkai wanted to, they could also live in a skyscraper or even go to space with a rocket. If they worked harder, they might even be able to colonize Mars.
Yet they didn't want to change and just lived by thinking about the glory of the past.
This also made him understand the reason why the original Tamazuki wanted to lead everyone in the Shikoku. However, his thoughts were too brutal, yet even so, he felt it was too much for him to be beaten by the protagonist because of the power of plot armor.
When he and his mother came to this altar, all the eyes of the youkai in this space were attracted to him. He had gotten used to their gazes, so he just ignored them since he had gotten used to them.
Many female youkai squealed excitedly, but many of the male youkai grumbled.
Unlike his other siblings, he could clearly tell that he was different.
His other siblings were like normal tanuki. They were all furry and had big bellies, and their appearance wasn't good. He wasn't sure if there was a difference in the tanuki's aesthetic compared to a human, but he knew that he was the most handsome.
While it was good, it also brought a lot of trouble since most of his siblings were jealous of him.
He was different.
He was special.
He wasn't like any of them.
This caused them to feel inferior, and many of them isolated him. Some tried to bully him, but he fought and beat them to a pulp. He could do it easily because those bullies were young. As for the older ones, they didn't do anything, but they didn't stop the young ones and even supported them from behind. To be honest, he could tell that the older one also wanted to bully him, but they would lose their faces if they did so, so they didn't do anything, which he was glad for since he wasn't that strong before.
However, this was a normal reaction since the older one wanted to take over his father's position as the leader of the Shikoku Hachijuuhakki Yakou.
Yet his appearance changed everything.
It was a normal competition among the siblings to get the throne of their father. After all, wasn't it a normal thing? Especially when It often appeared in the human world, too, especially in those kingdoms in the past.
Siblings kill each other, so they can become kings.
He knew that his siblings dared to kill him since he knew how cruel the world of youkai was. Knowing this fact, he sighed and really felt jealous of Nura Rikuo.
'The main protagonist really has it easy.'
Here he had to fight against many of his siblings and might be killed by them anytime, but the protagonist could become the leader easily since he was the only descendant of the youkai commander, Nurarihyon.
Still, the thought of killing his siblings made him exhausted, wondering whether this was the only way.
If he had overwhelming power, everything would be easy, but he didn't have it now.
His system was a harem system, and he could only get a reward by getting a woman, yet when he checked all the youkai on this altar, no one could trigger his system, which made him depressed.
What was even worse, he only realized that all the women in this world that could trigger his system should be monopolized by Nura Rikuo, which made him want to curse Nura Rikuo even more.
'Should I steal them?'
He shook his head since he wasn't someone who loved to do boring things. He was still young, and he knew how weak the Shikoku youkai were. It might sound great, especially on the Shikoku, but once they went out, they would be massacred.
Kyoto yokai was one thing. He had never thought of going there. Kyoto was like an abyss now, and if they dared to attack it, they might be massacred. After all, the distance between Kyoto and Shikoku was quite close.
Then, how about Tokyo?
The Tokyo youkai led by Nura Clan was still in its Golden Age now, especially when the 2nd commander was still alive.
In other words, the Shikoku clan could be said to be the weakest youkai group among all the big youkai groups.
Previously, he might say his mother was strong, but if she went out, she might have a hard time in a battle.
Only his father, who was the youkai in Shikoku now, could walk out and do many things that he wanted to do outside of the Shikoku.
After all, as his mother said before, the world of youkai was cruel.
If he wasn't careful before, when a powerful youkai found him, they would eat him without hesitation!
In other words, if he dared to do a brute thing, he would be killed mercilessly now since he didn't have power.
Still, he then looked at the person who led this group of youkai.
"Tamuzusa has returned home, Dear," his mother said with a cold tone, yet her gaze toward his father was soft. As for the others, she ignored them since their existence was nothing in her eyes.
"Thank you, Rika."
His father's voice echoed throughout the space. Even though he talked softly, it was so loud. Yet it was expected since the size of his father was so massive.
Unlike the rest of the youkai, his father sat on the stone-like throne with a haori naked and a massive jug of sake on his side. He was so huge that his height could easily reach tens of meters.
If he had to say his father was like an old man in his retirement days.
Like him, his father was also Tanuki.
He was also one of the three great Shikoku tanuki youkai and the leader of the Shikoku Hachijuuhakki Yakou.
Inugamigyoubu Danuki.
"Tamazusa, where have you been? Your mother has been worrying about you, you know?" His voice was full of strictness, yet it was still soft. His treatment towards Tamazusa, his eight children from his 88th wife, was quite gentle and favoritism, which was different from his other children, yet it was a normal thing since Tamazusa was the only child that inherited his divinity.
As expected, this brought resentment to many of his siblings.
Watching this, he also felt annoyed, and his power was enough, so he had to show his prestige to everyone.
'I have to start now.'
He might not be able to do anything to Kyoto and Tokyo youkai, but to his siblings?
He shook his body, causing his mother to let him go. He stood before everyone, ignoring their gazes, and only stared at his father. "Father, will you give me the commander position of the Shikoku Hachijuuhakki Yakou?"
"....." Everyone.