Responding to Ouka's determination, I eagerly tried to leave for the land of the youkai, but there were many things I was forgetting about .
"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Yato-sama . "
Ouka called out to me after getting ready to leave while I was waiting outside .
"I'm very sorry . I know I asked you to wait, but you ended up having to wait for a whole day . "
Ouka bowed apologetically after saying that, but I really didn't mind waiting .
Just as Ouka said, a whole day has passed since we decided to head for the capital .
"It's okay . It couldn't be helped, after all . "
As I said that, I turned my eyes to the reason of our postponement .
"You're that human from the other day!"
"Long time no see!"
I could see that the fox cubs seemed to be cheerfully delighted to see us again .
Karen was also there with them, also cheerfully stroking their heads .
"Yeah, it's been a while . "
Surrounded by the fox cubs, Karen seemed as delighted as them .
Even though they're youkai, she just can't leave small kids to fend for themselves .
They are the reason why we had to wait a whole day before departing .
Last time, Nayame got out without permission just to meet with Karen and me, so we can't leave them unattended for too long . Otherwise, they might run off somewhere again .
That's why we needed someone to take care of the fox cubs until we're back .
So I had asked Karen for help with that, and she happily accepted .
And in order to be able to get this done in a single day, we had to leave early in the morning . That's why we had to wait until the next day .
There was a time limit written on the letter, but fortunately, it was a little further ahead, so no problem there .
"I'm sorry for asking this of you on your long-awaited day off . "
"It's all right . I had something I was looking forward to doing, but I'll hold it off until the next time . "
I'm thankful that she told me that .
Back when I asked, I was worried I wouldn't be able to say that I wanted to go, but she saw right through me .
As I was feeling relieved to see Karen enjoying herself, one of the fox cubs jumped at Karen and started talking to her .
"Hey, hey! Can you show me that thing from the other day again?"
That thing from the other day? That weird thing that Karen showed them that day that Ouka and I weren't here?
That same thing that she then stopped showing them and then changed to another game for them to play, since they didn't want to do "that thing" anymore?
I thought that Karen would refuse like usual, but instead of shaking her head in denial, she seemed rather troubled for some reason .
"Don't?"
"... All right . "
What was that reaction?
Was she upset? I could feel Karen's eyes piercing me as if they were nails .
"Let's play like usual today . "
"Aww..."
Even if it made the fox cubs feel discouraged and let down, Karen told them that they'd play like usual .
"Please take care of the kids, Karen-sama . "
"Leave it to me . "
Ouka courteously bowed her head to Karen, who was still surrounded by the little fox cubs .
Karen put her chest out and returned the gesture with a thumbs-up .
"Shall we go, Ouka?"
I just wanted to go and finish this .
After Ouka said "Yes", she leaned over to the fox cubs and said:
"You guys make sure to listen to what Karen says, okay?"
The little fox cubs cheerfully replied "Yes!" in unison to Ouka's advice .
After that had been taken care of, Ouka came next to me, and I placed my hand on her shoulder .
"Thank you very much, Karen-sama . "
"The usual games will be just fine, okay Karen?"
"You're so pushy . "
Karen looked a bit displeased, but still waved her hand at us to see us off .
Looking at Karen and the fox cubs, Ouka and I teleport to the entrance of the capital .
―――――――――――――
After reappearing, the first thing that I could see was that we were in a mountain overgrown with trees .
"Are we there?"
"Yes, this is the entrance . "
After a quick look, all I could see was a deep sea of trees that suspiciously made me wonder if we still were in Japan at all .
Just as I was surveying the area, Ouka's meek voice prompts me to look towards a different place .
When I looked towards where Ouka indicated, a huge cave was there, as if someone had just made it appear out of nowhere .
Well, of course .
Otherwise, it wouldn't be hard to imagine humans being able to go in and out at will . When I looked around that same spot a while ago, there was nothing but trees all over the place .
And I could see that there were several charms hanging from those trees, too .
Had those been placed there as a barrier to make the cave invisible to human eyes?
"If we go through here, we'll soon reach the capital . But first, Yato-sama... here . "
Ouka reached into the pocket in her chest, took a fox mask out, and handed it to me .
"It would be best if you use this so that no one realizes what you are . It's not rare for youkai to look like humans, so this should be enough to keep your true nature hidden from them . "
Of course . If I were to walk in looking like I always do, I would have been exposed .
I nodded at Ouka's explanation, and after looking at the mask from various angles with great interest, I obediently put it on .
"How do I look?"
"It really suits you well . No matter how I look at you, you don't look human at all . "
Was that supposed to be some sort of praise?
I wanted to believe she was flattering me, but I'm glad I didn't end up asking her about that .
I could see a hint of regret on Ouka's smiling face .
"Also, please try to hide your presence as much as possible . Your spiritual power looks impressive as it is, Yato-sama . Disguising your appearance alone won't be enough . "