Information

In this village, the information Miketsu had gathered was quite surprising. Had she not accidentally flown over this village, she wouldn't have known there was a highly revered Inari Okami here, frequently manifesting.

Seeing this, Miketsu stroked her chin, contemplating playfully. According to the villagers, the Inari Shrine in their village was a branch shrine. It must have been built here when the Inari Okami was not yet dormant, and the Inari faith was still flourishing in this area. After the Inari Okami fell dormant, the fox hunters' rampant actions damaged the Inari faith, and this branch shrine was abandoned.

Until a few years ago, a deity capable of answering prayers mysteriously appeared in the formerly abandoned shrine. This deity quickly amassed followers by frequently helping villagers solve their difficulties and troubles, even prompting the villagers to voluntarily renovate the shrine.

It seems then... something is impersonating the Inari Okami and using her shrine. What could it be?

After briefly clarifying the situation, Miketsu didn't delve deeper for now. Instead, she returned to the previous forest to meet Makoto and see if she had made any other discoveries.

After Miketsu waited for a while in the forest, Makoto finally descended from the sky, flapping her wings. Seeing Makoto land, Miketsu asked curiously.

"You've been gone quite a while, Makoto. Did you find any valuable information?"

"My apologies for keeping you waiting so long, Lady Uka. I encountered some interesting things during my investigation, so I went a little further to confirm them," Makoto replied respectfully to Miketsu. She then reported her observations and findings in the vicinity to Miketsu.

Makoto's account was similar to what Miketsu had already heard, but included many interesting details. The deity in the shrine was indeed helping humans, but the methods of assistance were rather thought-provoking.

For instance, if someone prayed to her for a good harvest, she wouldn't make the rice abundant but would instead place a pile of food at their doorstep. If they prayed for rain, she wouldn't make sweet dew fall from the sky, but would ensure that a little more water appeared in dry wells each morning. If they prayed for a lost item to be returned, it would soon reappear with its owner, though it wouldn't be the exact item they had originally lost.

The crucial part was yet to come. To gather more intelligence, Makoto later expanded her investigation, swiftly flying to other nearby villages. There, she discovered even more interesting information.

For several years now, nearby villages had frequently experienced missing items. The range of lost items was extensive, from children's toys to daily necessities, livestock, and even rice stalks from the paddies—almost nothing was safe!

The villagers from those surrounding settlements were greatly alarmed by these frequent disappearances, believing them to be the work of yokai. They invited many mystics to solve the problem, but all were in vain. Until, by chance, a villager from a neighboring settlement saw someone from this particular village plowing a field with their own ox. That's when the trouble erupted.

"So... the people from the other villages think the villagers here stole their things?" Miketsu interjected, guessing directly upon hearing Makoto's account up to this point.

"Precisely. Using this incident as a trigger, the people from the other villages unanimously concluded that the villagers here had stolen their possessions and demanded their return. However, the villagers here vehemently insisted that these items were their own, retrieved by the deity, and thus refused to return them. This led to several armed conflicts between the two sides. But because the so-called deity intervened, the villagers here never suffered any losses..." Makoto continued her investigation findings. Though she had been gone for a long time, she had obtained extremely valuable information.

"So the villagers here are constantly gaining, while people elsewhere are always suffering losses?" Listening to Makoto, Miketsu felt that everything was becoming increasingly intriguing.

"There's one more thing: it seems that due to the deity's activity, the villagers here are preparing a festival to celebrate and express their gratitude," Makoto added at the end.

"Hmm, I heard about this festival. Is there a problem with it?"

"It is said that to further express their gratitude to this deity, the villagers here are even preparing to offer a human sacrifice at the festival," Makoto continued, her words perplexing Miketsu.

"Human sacrifice? What is that?"

"Well... human sacrifice means a living offering. It's a ritual where humans offer themselves as sacrifices to deities, Lady Uka," Makoto explained after a slight pause, addressing Miketsu's question. Her words directly startled Miketsu.

"What? A living offering? How can such barbaric and backward practices still exist?"

"Uh... while such practices are indeed barbaric, they are not necessarily considered backward. Many places have such traditions, offering human sacrifices to efficacious or wrathful deities to pray for long-term blessings and peace. This is considered normal in most areas," Seemingly surprised by Miketsu's reaction, Makoto continued.

"Lady Uka, you are also aware that the vast majority of deities are wild gods. Many of them were formerly yokai, and a significant portion retain their cannibalistic habits even after becoming deities."

Makoto's words suddenly made Miketsu realize that the level of civilization in this fantastical ancient world was not as high as she had previously imagined. Her previous sense of well-being might merely be due to her prolonged stay in Heian-kyo, the country's largest city. The human world outside Heian-kyo might conceal considerable darkness.

"So, did that deity demand the villagers offer human sacrifices at the festival?" Miketsu frowned, then continued to ask Makoto.

"No, it seems that deity hasn't made such demands. These seem to be things the villagers are proactively preparing to do. They intend to use this method to further please the so-called deity, so she will continue to bless them."

"To please... so this is an initiative taken by the villagers? And that deity hasn't stopped them?"

"Yes, that appears to be the case right now."

"Hmph... feudal superstition really does kill people..." Miketsu couldn't help but sigh directly at the villagers' backward thinking. Makoto, upon hearing Miketsu's words, couldn't help but blink.

"Lady Uka, what is feudal superstition?"

"Feudal superstition is... well..." Miketsu was about to explain to Makoto, but suddenly felt that explaining those four words, given her own identity, felt awkward no matter how she tried. In the end, she could only clear her throat twice and change the subject.

"Ahem... In any case, since this matter has escalated to this point, I can't simply ignore it. Makoto, let's go investigate the village together once more. After that, we'll go meet this 'deity.'"