Chapter 48 - The Cat Shop Owner.

Under Konkiku's guidance, Miketsu walked forward along the riverbank, observing the various yokai coming and going on the street with curiosity, experiencing the atmosphere of this yokai night market.

"A little further ahead, Lady Uka, then turn right. It's an izakaya called Cat Izakaya," Konkiku whispered from Miketsu's shoulder. They had specifically chosen to walk along the riverbank because there were fewer yokai here, making it harder for their conversation to be overheard.

Cat Izakaya? Run by a cat?

Miketsu muttered about the shop's name as she walked forward, observing the various signs on the right. Finally, she saw a two-story izakaya with a cat-face-shaped sign, and the words 'Cat Izakaya' written on both the sign and the lanterns.

Finally found it!

Seeing this, Miketsu immediately turned the corner, pushed aside the curtain, and entered the izakaya.

"Welcome!"

As soon as Miketsu stepped into the izakaya, a friendly greeting met her. It was a light, clear girlish voice. Miketsu looked in the direction of the sound and saw a young girl carrying drinks.

The girl appeared to be around fourteen or fifteen, seemingly about the same age as Miketsu in appearance. She wore a short kosode, her fair legs clad in geta with pom-poms, and her waist adorned with gold coin decorations and ties. She had white hair, longer than Miketsu's, swept back from both sides and tied with bell hair ornaments. Above her white hair, a pair of fluffy cat ears protruded.

This is a cat yokai girl, Miketsu immediately defined the girl before her. It was also the first time she had seen such a beautiful yokai girl in this world.

With a polite smile and greeting, the cat yokai girl turned to look at the new customer who had just entered. However, when her green eyes locked onto Konkiku on Miketsu's shoulder, her polite smile involuntarily faltered.

Placing the drinks she held on a nearby table, the cat yokai girl lunged forward in a single bound, directly snatching Konkiku from Miketsu's shoulder.

So fast!

Miketsu was inwardly startled by the scene before her. She instinctively tried to block the cat yokai girl's hand, but the other's speed was far greater than her own. Before her hand could even begin to rise, the cat yokai girl had already taken Konkiku.

"It's you! You stinky fox! When are you going to settle your last bill?! If you don't pay today, you're not leaving this door!" The cat yokai girl shook Konkiku back and forth relentlessly, making Konkiku's eyes spin. Amidst the shaking, Konkiku struggled to speak.

"I... I'm... I'm here to pay... aren't I? And... and... I... I brought... you a new customer..."

"A new customer?"

The moment she heard 'new customer,' the cat yokai girl's actions ceased abruptly. She then turned to look at the mysterious guest beside her, wrapped in bandages and cloaked in black. Her fierce expression vanished in an instant.

"Oh my~ a new customer! Welcome! Welcome! Please come in, there's an empty table right here." Casually dropping Konkiku, the cat yokai girl, with a brilliant smile, enthusiastically ushered Miketsu to a seat. The speed of her expression change made Miketsu sweat.

"Mm..." Miketsu responded with a simple, hoarse sound, nodding slightly. From the shadow of her hood, her single crimson eye looked at the cat yokai girl, making the latter's hairs stand on end.

Where did this stinky fox find a customer like this? Looks fierce, not a good sort...

The cat yokai girl grumbled inwardly, but her movements didn't stop. She led Miketsu further into the shop, and Miketsu, watching the cat yokai girl's back, was also deep in thought.

Such a cute-looking girl, yet she's a yokai. Within that seemingly delicate body, extraordinary power must be hidden.

As she was not in the state of Yu-step, Miketsu couldn't divine the cat yokai girl's movements. However, it was undeniable that the speed the cat yokai girl displayed just now was the fastest Miketsu had ever seen, even slightly faster than Tsuruha.

"Alright, customer, please wait here for a moment. A cat will bring you the menu shortly. I'll go attend to other customers now."

After settling Miketsu, the cat yokai girl went back to her busy tasks. At this moment, Konkiku, who had just been shaken dizzy, staggered over to Miketsu's side and climbed onto the opposite seat. Throughout this, she kept muttering.

"Phew... What's the big deal about owing a couple of times? All these years of friendship, truly wasted. If you hadn't transformed first, I wouldn't be scared of you..."

Seeing Konkiku like this, Miketsu asked curiously in a low voice.

"Are you very familiar with her?"

"Well... I guess so. We've known each other since before either of us could transform. Back then, she was just a small cat rescued by the old owner of this shop." Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

"The old owner of this shop?"

"Yes, the old owner who passed away due to an accident. They say he was attacked by other yokai. From then on, she took over the shop. Since she's a cat yokai, people here call her the Cat Shop Owner," Konkiku said, reminiscing. Suddenly, her mood became a little downcast.

"Thinking back, she and I used to wander together. Now she's successfully transformed and even has a shop, while I'm still just a small spirit fox. The cultivation of spirit beasts is too slow; it's really better to be a yokai."

"Wait... wander? Weren't you born on Inari Mountain? How could you have wandered?" Miketsu found Konkiku's words strange. No matter how dire the situation of the Inari foxes, it wouldn't be so bad that they couldn't sustain themselves, right?

"I had a falling out with Sister Tsuruha back then, so I ran away from home..."

"..."

Miketsu fell silent after hearing Konkiku's words. Now she finally understood what it meant to be Inari Mountain's number one problem fox, and felt a touch of sympathy for Tsuruha's situation.

It must be quite difficult to manage this century-old problem child, in addition to several hundred other foxes of varying intelligence.

After waiting for a while, a black cat, carrying a small folded booklet in its mouth, lightly jumped onto Miketsu's table and placed the booklet in front of her.

Is this the menu?

Miketsu curiously opened the small booklet and found that it indeed contained names of dishes and simple illustrations. There were vegetarian, meat, and seafood options, as well as a plethora of strange and exotic items like insects, leeches, grass, tree bark, sulfur, raw iron... Everything from biological to mineral was available. Just from this menu, it was clear that yokai had an extremely broad diet.

Miketsu glanced over it and found no human flesh option, which greatly eased her mind. At the same time, a slight question arose in her heart, and she asked Konkiku in a low voice.

"Do all the yokai here not eat humans?"

"It's not that none of them eat humans, but human flesh cannot be openly sold in this Ghost Market. After all, this is on the edge of Heian-kyo, right under the nose of the Onmyoryo. Openly selling human flesh would be tantamount to provoking all the Onmyoji in Heian-kyo, and no one is that foolish."

"This is one of the unspoken agreements between the Human Realm and the Demon Realm..."