Shortly after the morning dew had dissipated, the bright sun was climbing towards its zenith. The main road to Heian-kyo was already bustling with people.
Commoners, merchants, samurai, monks, ox-carts, and sturdy horses... A ceaseless river of people and livestock flowed along the wide road, and among them was the figure of a young girl.
Wearing a veiled market-woman's hat, a tea-colored short-sleeved kimono with simple patterns, white socks, and wooden clogs, Miketsu walked among the crowd. From time to time, she would look left and right, curiously observing her surroundings.
"Lady Uka... please be a bit more careful. Ordinary mortals don't gawk around when they walk."
From within Miketsu's sleeve, a familiar voice emerged. It was a tiny black fox, hidden inside.
"Ah... my apologies, Tsuruha. I've never walked like this before..."
Hearing the divine fox's reminder from her sleeve, Miketsu lowered her voice to reply to Tsuruha, then quickly straightened her posture and looked ahead at the crowd.
Ever since coming to this world, Miketsu had existed in the divine realm, isolated from the mortal world. As long as she didn't directly interact with humans, nothing she did would be noticed. Thus, she had developed the strange habit of secretly observing the daily lives of mortals to pass the boring time.
But today, Miketsu was wearing the Miasma Jade, re-entering the mortal world as a human. She hadn't quite adjusted yet. She kept looking around as she walked, sometimes even getting closer to observe others. This drew the gazes of passersby, who wondered which family's daughter this was, to be so ill-mannered.
After walking with a proper posture for a while, Miketsu discreetly moved to the side of the road where there were fewer people.
"Tsuruha... are you alright staying like that...?" Miketsu asked with concern in a low voice, unsure if it was uncomfortable inside her sleeve.
"It's no problem, Lady Uka. It was a bit awkward at first, but I've gotten used to it now."
"If you feel uncomfortable, you can come out. You can just follow me from the divine realm..."
"Thank you for your concern, Lady Uka. But if I were to follow you like that, I would also attract the attention of extraordinary individuals. Then your disguise would be for nothing," Tsuruha replied gratefully. Hearing Tsuruha's words, Miketsu said no more.
Avoiding the eyes and ears of extraordinary individuals was the purpose of Miketsu entering the human realm as a human to go to Heian-kyo this time, and it was Tsuruha's suggestion.
According to Tsuruha, Heian-kyo, as the center of this country, gathered not only many high-ranking officials, ministers, and nobles, but also a great number of extraordinary people. Among them were many who could perceive the three realms and were knowledgeable about gods and demons.
They even gathered to form organizations, becoming the backbone of humanity's strength to resist the darkness of the demon realm. The Onmyoji Clans, which produced various onmyoji, were a prime example.
The imperial court openly recruited onmyoji from various Onmyoji Clans and renowned schools, forming the official Onmyoryo to deal with supernatural incidents in Heian-kyo and across the country. This was an active defense measure taken by mortals against the threats from the demon realm.
As the main base for onmyoji, Heian-kyo was constantly patrolled by onmyoji using their spiritual vision to monitor the three realms, preventing dangerous beings from the demon realm from infiltrating important locations. If Miketsu had come through the divine realm, she would likely have been spotted at once.
Although gods and humans have a relationship of worship and being worshipped, it is not absolute. For the numerous wild gods, who are only a fine line away from being yokai, it is common for them to cause trouble and harm people. After all, a large portion of them are transformed from yokai who received offerings.
Therefore, onmyoji are highly vigilant even towards beings from the divine realm. If Miketsu were to enter Heian-kyo from the divine realm, she would most likely be targeted.
More importantly, not all onmyoji are upright and benevolent. According to Konkiku, some malicious onmyoji would go around capturing shikigami indiscriminately, sometimes not even sparing beings from the divine realm. If they discovered Miketsu, a true god who had lost her power, the consequences would be unknown.
Thus, to avoid unnecessary trouble, Miketsu disguised herself as a human and blended into the crowd entering Heian-kyo. To protect her, Tsuruha also shrank her form and hid on her person.
In fact, when Miketsu first heard that Tsuruha would follow her by shrinking, she was very curious. In her memory, Tsuruha seemed capable of transforming into a human. Why didn't she transform and enter the human realm to go to Heian-kyo with her as a human?
Miketsu had asked Tsuruha this question, and the answer she got was that Tsuruha didn't seem to like transforming and would avoid it if she could.
'A fox should look like a fox, especially since I am Lady Uka's divine fox. If I were always obsessed with transforming, what would be the difference between me and those yokai vixens?'
Those were Tsuruha's exact words. At the time, Miketsu felt a wave of embarrassment. She also came to understand that her divine messenger seemed to care deeply about her identity as a divine fox, always wanting to distinguish herself and the foxes of Inari from ordinary yokai.
Tsuruha was a fox who valued integrity and had high moral principles. She absolutely looked down on those vixen spirits who loved to transform into various beauties to bewitch the world.
In her heart, Miketsu silently defined her divine messenger's character.
Inari Mountain was not too far from Heian-kyo. Miketsu leisurely walked along the main road for less than an hour before arriving at Heian-kyo's southern gate—the Rajomon.
The Rajomon was a two-story wooden gatehouse. Several tall, vermilion-lacquered pillars supported several wide gates. It wasn't the stone gatehouse connected to city walls that Miketsu remembered from TV dramas. On the surface, this southern gate of Heian-kyo didn't seem to serve any military purpose; it was likely more symbolic.
After sizing up the Rajomon for a moment, Miketsu passed through it, officially entering Heian-kyo. Before her lay rows of neat buildings stretching into the distance on both sides, with a wide road in the middle. Based on the knowledge Tsuruha had given her earlier, Miketsu knew she was now standing on Heian-kyo's central axis—Suzaku Avenue.
Looking at the bustling street before her, Miketsu sighed with a sense of bewilderment.
"So... where should I go to find a shrine now?"
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