Chapter 72: The So-called Disappearance
The shrine in Yae village is not large, but it has everything it needs.
Kirataka lay on Mei's shoulder and followed her through the torii gate to the main gate of the shrine.
There is a huge fox statue built at the entrance of the shrine. This is the "Fox God" believed by the people of Yae Village.
According to Yae village's belief, as long as sacrifices are made to the so-called "Fox God" on a regular basis, good weather and good harvests can be expected.
——In the Far East, where there is the concept of "Eight Million Gods", it is not unusual for people to believe in all kinds of strange things.
"A... fox?"
Mei tilted her head and looked at the fox statue in front of her, but it looked so familiar.
The common people of this era had no knowledge of Honkai and Honkai Beast, but she, who had studied seriously at St. Freya Academy for a period of time, could still easily recognize the various details on the statue of the so-called "Fox God" in front of her. In fact...
It's just like an animal that has been infected and mutated by Honkai energy.
"Well, this is probably the truth. The so-called [Fox God] they worship is actually just a fox that has become abnormally huge after being infected by Honkai energy."
Kirataka nodded and spoke in a weak voice into Mei's ear.
There are no gods in the world, at least, no gods like the ones the villagers imagine can call the wind and rain by offering sacrifices.
"Hmm... so, are all the monsters recorded in the myths of the Far East..."
Mei thought of something and said weakly.
Although she has lived in the Honkai world from the ordinary world for a while, she still has a lot of conflicting knowledge that has not been integrated.
"Yeah, it's just what you think, Mei."
Existences such as "Tsuchigumo", "Nekomata", and "Oni" are mostly legends left behind due to insufficient understanding of Honkai.
The shrine was empty at noon, and Mei and Kirataka were observing the inside.
It can be seen that the shrine maiden in charge of looking after this place is quite responsible. This shrine, which is obviously quite old, is still well maintained.
There is a money box inside the shrine, in which you can see some coins from this era.
On the wall near the cash box, there is a tablet with someone's name engraved on it.
Mei went forward to check, and saw that all these names were prefixed with "Yae", and they almost all looked like female names.
Yae Kasumi, Yae Aoi... and so on. I think these are the names of the Yae family members over the generations.
"The Yae clan has been protecting this village for hundreds of years."
Mei looked at the words written on the wall and got a general understanding of the past of this village.
However, the whereabouts of the vast majority of people's names ended up being written as "disappeared."
The so-called "disappearance of the gods" means that the person concerned disappears without reason. In the words of the Far East, they were taken away by monsters such as gods, heavenly dogs, fox spirits, mountain witches, ghosts, and goblins.
"Oh..."
Kirataka sneered in his heart.
He knew that there was a custom of human sacrifice in this village. Whenever there was a severe drought, a sacrificial ceremony would be held, and innocent girls would be slaughtered and dedicated to the so-called "Fox God."
The idea of the disappearance of the gods is probably just to fool outsiders and children in the village.
Thinking of this, Kirataka looked carefully at the list of the eight shrine maidens on the wall.
The name "Yae Rin" has not yet been engraved on it.
'So, now should be the time when Rin is still alive in Yae Sakura's memory...'
'In this case, I'm afraid the village will soon hold a sacrifice ceremony and let Yae Sakura kill her own sister with her own hands.'
He kept repeating painful memories to wear down Yae Sakura's will to resist, and finally completely invaded her body once again...
Kirataka pondered to himself.
After that, after walking back and forth in the yard, Mei and Kirataka still failed to see Yae Sakura.
Apparently, she is not inside the shrine at this time.
Come to think of it, although the village is not big, there are a lot of things to do as a Yae village Miko.
Daily swordsmanship training and shrine maiden training, handling villagers' requests, looking after and cleaning the shrine, and defeating invading Honkai beasts... if you list them one by one, there's quite a lot.
"Well... why not come back tomorrow morning?"
Mei suggested.
Kirataka had no objection to this. Just as they were about to return to the inn in the village, a subtle but pleasant sound came into their ears with the wind.
The gentle and tender tone penetrates numerous obstacles and slowly drifts in the air. The ups and downs of the low singing make people stop and listen unconsciously.
The voice is as pure as the morning dew, full of a girl's tenderness and dreams, making people feel relaxed and happy when listening to it.
However, although the voice was sweet, it sounded a little weak, intermittent, and very forced.
The singing came from next to the shrine, that is, from the Yae family's residence.
"What a beautiful voice..."
Mei couldn't help but stop and listen.
After the song ended, the childish voice began to cough constantly, so violently and frequently that the two people standing on the other side of the wall couldn't help but feel a little heartbroken.
"Hey, this should be Yae Rin's voice...!"
Kirataka's heart suddenly moved.
Anyway, since we're here, even if we didn't find Yae Sakura, it would be great to go and see Yae Rin.
Then, he said to Mei:
"Mei, let me turn it over and take a look."
——Transforming into a kitten also has its advantages. If a grown person, especially a grown man, climbed over the wall and appeared in front of her, he would probably be regarded as a bad guy by the young girl, who would call for an adult to drive him out.
But if it was just a cute, harmless kitten, it would be a different story.
"...I understand. I'll wait for you here."
Mei nodded.
So Kirataka leaped and easily landed on the wall of the shrine, then took another small jump and landed on the wall of the Yae family.
He stuck his cat head out and looked down.
The place in front of us should be the backyard of the Yae family. It is well-maintained like a shrine, with various plants planted there, and it looks like a world of its own.
A young girl was sitting under the eaves, coughing constantly, and it was obvious that she was in a weak and sickly state.
Her long cherry-colored hair was draped behind her white neck, with a ponytail on each side of her head - although such a ponytail actually looked more like the product of a bun being removed, it did give the girl a more delicate feeling that suited her.
She is Yae Rin.
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