Searching for a New Base

Although Miketsu possessed the identities of both a human and a yokai, at her core, she was a deity. As a deity, she had a fundamental need for faith, even though her reliance on it as an established goddess was not particularly high.

Miketsu was well aware that faith was deeply linked to divine power. While it might not be of immediate use to her current self, her intuition told her that faith—which governed the strength of gods—was vital. She had to plan ahead, launching her initiative to revive and expand Inari worship as early as possible.

When it came to gathering faith, Miketsu did not want to rely on the traditional method of manifesting miracles to fulfill the individual prayers of every follower. She believed such a method had its limits; even with her immense power, her focus was finite, and she could not be everywhere at once. At best, such effort would only influence a single region. It would be far more efficient to cultivate wild gods, sharing her name as Inari with them so they could collect faith in her stead. Although she wouldn't receive the entirety of that faith directly, having enough subordinate wild gods spreading her name across a vast area would still yield a substantial divine return.

Of course, the primary reason Miketsu chose this path was her underlying leisurely nature. She had no desire to personally listen to every worshiper’s wish and manifest miracles one by one...

By now, Miketsu could already foresee that once the Aki sisters officially began their duties, even more wild gods would flock to Heian-kyo to find her. Perhaps... she should organize the foxes in advance for some proper training?

In any case, the arrival of the Aki sisters had allowed her long-standing ideas to finally be put into practice. This put her in a rather good mood, and she decided on the spot to treat herself to a fine meal at Choyo-machi that evening.

...

Night fell. Outside Heian-kyo, by a tributary of the Kamo River, Miketsu returned once more to the shimmering lights of Choyo-machi, dressed in her persona as Owl. This time, however, she did not head straight for the Cat Izakaya. She was intercepted on the way by Yamausagi and, filled with confusion, was led to the "base" she had previously ordered Kou and the others to purchase in the town.

However, when Miketsu saw the scene before her, her lip couldn't help but twitch.

"We are terribly sorry, Lady Owl!"

Before Miketsu, led by Kou and the Tanuki, the entire group of yokai prostrated themselves, shouting in unison with the utmost sincerity.

Ignoring the yokai for a moment, Miketsu continued to survey the scene. There, on the side of the street, was the house that was supposed to serve as Owl's stronghold within the Ghost Market—the place where Kou and the others usually lived. Now, for some reason, it had been reduced to rubble. Beams had collapsed, floorboards were shattered, and the entire site was a complete mess...

"Explain yourselves..." Miketsu said, her voice low as she suppressed her irritation. The prostrate yokai glanced at each other, but no one spoke up first. Finally, Kou cleared his throat and spoke slowly. "Well... it's like this, Lady Owl. Ever since returning from Sugo Unten, Tamamura and I have felt that our training was insufficient and our power lacking. So, we decided to gather everyone for some special training. We just didn't expect things to get... a bit out of hand."

Special training? Inside this house? Honestly, you're all yokai—fighting in such a cramped space, how did you expect it to hold up? Looking at the destruction, Miketsu couldn't help but criticize them internally. At that moment, the Cat Shop Owner, who had appeared beside her at some point, spoke up with her hands on her hips.

"Oh, please. You call that training? It was clearly a brawl. Honestly... I shouldn't provide any more sake for you lot during the day. Once you've all had a few drinks, you lose all sense of restraint."

"Don't do that, Big Sister Cat! How are we supposed to live without sake?" Upon hearing the Cat Shop Owner's words, the Tanuki immediately cried out in despair, and the expressions of the other yokai turned grim.

"What? So you can get drunk and go on another rampage? This time you tore down our own place; next time, what if you damage something else or hurt someone? You brawlers are truly a handful..."

"Ugh... it's just because this place was too small. We didn't have room to move..."

Listening to the Cat Shop Owner, Miketsu finally understood the gist of it. Kou and the others had likely returned to the base to drink while training during the day, and once the alcohol hit, their overflowing demonic power simply leveled the building.

Now that she knew the situation, Miketsu ordered the Cat Shop Owner to restrict their sake supply for a month, increased their training quota, and docked their funds as punishment. Then, she looked at the ruins of the base and began to worry.

"Cat Shop Owner, do we have any extra funds on the books?" Miketsu asked. Her intention was simple: to purchase a new place for Kou and the others to use as a base.

"Hmm... I'm afraid not, Lady Owl. We've just invested a large sum of money into Choyo-machi and Heian-kyo, so our liquid assets are quite low for the time being..." the Cat Shop Owner said, tapping her chin as she thought. She and Konkiku were the ones in charge of finance and logistics for Owl's yokai followers.

According to Miketsu's previous instructions, in order to expand their intelligence network and open new revenue streams, the Cat Shop Owner was authorized to directly acquire and manage commercial facilities in Choyo-machi and Heian-kyo. These would become the assets of the yokai group, earning profits while gathering information and providing support for Kou's activities. The Cat Shop Owner had recently closed several major deals, using up much of the initial capital brought back from Fangshan Castle.

Surprisingly, the usually calculating and stingy Cat Shop Owner was unexpectedly bold when it came to major business. She made large-scale transactions without hesitation, and her investment instincts were professional and keen. The first few shops she had purchased were already showing promising returns and steady profit.

"Actually, it's not that we're completely broke. If you intend to relocate the base, Lady Owl, we can pull the funds together. However, I would advise against buying in Choyo-machi again. The buildings here are not only expensive but also very small..."

The Cat Shop Owner spoke her mind, and Miketsu nodded in agreement. Because the scale of her yokai following had expanded so rapidly, the original headquarters had indeed become too small. Compared to the reputation of "Owl," it looked rather pathetic. Thus, Miketsu had already been considering a move; this incident simply brought the issue to the forefront, something she had wanted to address since their last meeting.

For Miketsu, now was the perfect time to find a new stronghold. The new base needed to be large enough and grand enough to accommodate this rowdy group of yokai, with plenty of room for gatherings, fighting, and drunken revelry.

In short, finding a new base to serve as the headquarters for Owl's yokai group had become Miketsu's primary objective. She looked at the ruins of the collapsed house and fell into deep thought.