The four girls emerged from the shrine and headed towards the shrine gate and its flights of stairs descending below.
On one side stood a tranquil and elegant bamboo forest, its simple yet refined natural structure evoking a sense of winding paths leading to obscurity, while the fresh air invigorated their spirits, filling them with a sense of exhilaration.
The four maidens walked shoulder to shoulder down these quiet stairs. Kallen, with the curiosity of a young girl, looked around with clear and lively eyes, her hands clasped behind her back, occasionally skipping playfully down the steps.
Previously, Kallen had never taken the time to explore the village properly.
Yae Sakura and Serenade watched Kallen's antics with gentle smiles, surprised to see such playful, childish moments from someone who usually appeared so invincible.
"It's such a lovely place here," Kallen said, walking backwards and bending slightly towards the Yae sisters and Serenade, with a beaming grin.
"It's alright, I suppose! After all, it's springtime now..." Yae Sakura and Serenade shrugged it off, thinking all villages were pretty much the same.
However, Kallen, accustomed to her comfortable home, found the change of scenery refreshing and soothing. It was akin to living in a bustling city of skyscrapers and occasionally visiting a picturesque village with rolling hills and clear waters. The village would seem far more idyllic than the city.
One might even wish to stay in such a village forever.
But... after a month at most, such thoughts would vanish. A occasional change of environment was nice, but living there permanently...
It just wouldn't do. Only then would one realize that the initial impulse to live here forever was mere fanciful thinking born upon arrival.
Kallen, Serenade, and the two Yae sisters arrived at the village, but were surprised to find hardly any villagers around. They wondered where everyone could have gone.
Although villagers were busy during the day with farm work, this season... the peak of activity should have passed. Usually, there would be small groups of villagers gathered together, engaged in idle chatter.
Despite the strangeness of the situation, Serenade didn't give it much thought. To be honest, she couldn't care less about the lives of these people from Yae Village.
Although she was currently in Kallen's body, Kallen's selfless, saint-like mindset...never influenced Serenade.
The difference in their personalities was just too great.
Serenade wasn't inherently evil, but neither could she be considered inherently good. She only cared about protecting those who mattered to her, not irrelevant strangers.
If something was within her means and didn't inconvenience her too much, she wouldn't mind helping out. However, if it became troublesome or threatened her interests, there was no room for negotiation.
So in this world, Kallen seemed to believe that Serenade was her dark side, meaning her heart must be the same as hers despite different expressions—this was wrong!
Serenade and Kallen were completely different!
Kallen would sacrifice herself for strangers, but Serenade never would.
That was the difference between them.
-
The four had initially planned to stroll by the small river at the edge of the village, but they hadn't gone far when a young boy rushed towards them with a panicked expression.
The boy looked around twelve years old, quite younger than Yae Rin.
"Big Sis Miko! Oh, mighty Godly Being!"
Upon reaching the group, the boy clung to Yae Sakura's clothes as if grasping onto straws, teetering between sobs. He pleaded tearfully, "I-I-I beg you... please save my little sister..."
Seeing the boy's distressed face, Yae Sakura's initial slight aversion to men softened immediately. He's just a little boy, she thought. Had he been an adult man, Yae Sakura would have already kicked him away forcefully.
Yae Sakura glanced at Serenade beside her, then bent down and gently asked the boy, "What's wrong? What happened?"
"Great Miko, my sister... my sister was taken by Grandma and the others! They're going to offer her as a sacrifice to the divine beings!" The little boy's eyes were red from crying. "Great Miko, only you can save her. Please... please... spare her! I don't want to lose my sister."
Upon hearing this, Yae Sakura and her companions exchanged glances, their faces filled with doubt.
The boy's sister was taken by his grandmother and others to be sacrificed to the divine beings?
Which divine beings?
A sacrifice ceremony... organized by the villagers themselves?
Why wasn't the miko notified?
Serenade and Yae Rin immediately looked towards Yae Sakura.
"I don't understand..." Yae Sakura shook her head at once. Although the Fox God's ritual... if she counted the days, it was indeed approaching.
But Yae Sakura had already discussed it with Serenade; when the time came, she would announce to the villagers that the tradition was being abolished. Though it might be difficult, the now powerful Yae Sakura felt confident in her decision.
However, the time for the ritual hadn't even arrived yet—there was still almost a month to go...
So the villagers are organizing their own worship activities today?
As the miko, I wasn't even aware of this.
"Could it be... the villagers acted on their own?" Yae Rin ventured, her astonishment palpable.
"No way..." Yae Sakura's voice lacked conviction. Logically, a purification ritual must be conducted by a shrine maiden.
However, this was no time for pondering such matters. Yae Sakura bent down, gently stroking the little boy's head. Abandoning the cool demeanor she maintained with other villagers, she smiled warmly and reassured him:
"Have no fear. I will protect all of you."
Sacrificial offerings? To the gods?
Yae Sakura's face darkened with grave concern. The villagers had clandestinely organized such a ritual without consulting her, the shrine maiden.
Yae Sakura felt a surge of inexplicable frustration, sensing that events were slipping beyond her control.
-
On the village's altar, a young girl wearing a "Kitsune" mask lay flat on her back.
A crowd of villagers surrounded her, their gazes a mix of compassion, unease, and above all, anticipation—a fervent, almost feverish expectation.
They knew that the "ritual" was about to begin.
If successful, the kitsune, guided by their benevolent god, would drive away the foreign evil spirit...
The village would return to normal, free from the scourge of monsters and yokai, safe from any further horrors.
This was the villagers' hope, and they clung to it with unwavering faith.
Generations of tradition had ingrained a deep belief in the existence of the fox god in the hearts of most Yae villagers. Even though the fox god had never truly manifested before them, they remained steadfast in their conviction.
However... among those present, a few—those a bit more clever and reasonable—could not help but harbor doubts.
Is it really that simple? they wondered.
Will the ritual truly banish that powerful spirit, ensuring the village's safety from future monstrous threats?
Yet... these skeptical villagers, though uneasy and questioning, dared not voice their misgivings aloud.
For the majority here believed wholeheartedly in the fox god, convinced of his unmatched power.
Any failures in the past, they reasoned, could only be attributed to a lack of faith on the villagers' part.