Tales of the Past

At sunset, the hour of Oma-ga-toki arrived.

Deep within the sprawling city, in a cold and desolate park, a damaged fire hydrant continued to spray white plumes of high-pressure water into the sky. The surging current scattered everywhere, turning into artificial rain that fell upon the park grounds, which had already transformed into a battlefield.

The curtain of artificial rain washed away the water pooling on the floor tiles. Amidst this dark and gloomy atmosphere, a splash of bright, vivid pink stood out eyesorely against the surroundings. The wind yokai of Shikoku, the Yi, were scattered in a wide circle around the park. Every one of them stood frozen in shock, mouths agape, eyes fixed in a dead stare on the gargantuan entity in their midst—a creature completely out of place in this environment.

Standing over ten meters tall with a chubby, cylindrical body, short little legs, long arms, and eyes that were merely two black dots, it possessed an air of innocent, simple-minded cuteness. This was the Sugar Bean Man Shikigami created by Miketsu. It stood in the rainy gloom, its round, tightly clenched fists covered in overflowing blood. The gore-stained color seemed entirely at odds with the shikigami's adorable appearance.

"B-Big brother..."

"Big brother is gone. Just like that... he was crushed out of existence."

"What kind of monster is this!" The black-clad yokai spoke in trembling voices, their tones thick with obvious terror. They clearly hadn't expected their leader to be crushed to death in an instant by such a bizarre, inexplicable thing, without even a chance to resist.

Amidst the fearful gazes of the black-clad yokai, the massive Sugar Bean Man Shikigami slowly unclenched its fist. A mess of unrecognizable bloody pulp and shredded meat fell out. Then, the shikigami straightened its body and turned its round, neckless head to the side. Its unchanging, expressionless black eyes locked onto a group of black-clad yokai in one direction. The yokai who were met with its gaze couldn't help but think one word: 'Run.'

However, before their bodies could react, the massive figure moved first. With speed far exceeding its size, the Sugar Bean Man Shikigami sprinted forward. After taking just one step, its short legs pushed off with incredible force. With a crack of shattered tiles, its round, massive body took to the air, pouncing toward the yokai ahead. Before they could react, a colossal shadow loomed over them.

With a strange sound, the Sugar Bean Man Shikigami's massive body crashed down. In a loud boom, three black-clad yokai were flattened beneath it, vanishing into a cloud of dust.

"Run!" Seeing this, the remaining black-clad yokai finally snapped to their senses. They began to scatter in a panic, but the Sugar Bean Man Shikigami had already stood back up. It thrust its hands forward, charging at the survivors with a speed incomprehensible to an ordinary person. The black-clad yokai had just transformed their legs into whips of wind to flee when the massive pink figure appeared before them.

Accompanied by a series of peculiar sounds, the Sugar Bean Man Shikigami swung its long arms, swatting away four of the black-clad yokai in a few strokes. They were sent flying, broken and scattered by the impact, dying instantly. Only the last black-clad yokai managed to coil wind around his legs and leap high into the sky, fleeing upward in terror.

Lifting its head to look at the black speck fleeing into the sky, the Sugar Bean Man Shikigami stood still for a moment before leaping. Both of its hands grabbed at the yokai who had just taken flight. The black-clad yokai watched in despair as two massive, round hands slapped toward him from both sides.

With a crisp 'clap,' the Sugar Bean Man Shikigami crushed the airborne yokai like a mosquito before its massive frame landed back on the ground, causing the earth to tremble. In just a few seconds, the Sugar Bean Man Shikigami had used a swiftness that belied its size to completely annihilate all the assassin yokai. The sight left Natto-kozo staring blankly in place.

"W-What a terrifying fellow. It looks so big and clunky, but how can it move so nimbly?"

Currently, the massive Sugar Bean Man Shikigami stood in the rain, its pink body stained with fresh blood and bits of flesh. Its round fists were soaked in crimson. It was a stark contrast to its naive and cute appearance; under the gloomy rain, this blood-soaked pink giant looked horrifying and eerie.

"The combat strength isn't bad. It seems I do have some talent for spellwork after all." Holding an umbrella while standing in the 'rain,' Miketsu looked at her shikigami and nodded with a satisfied smile.

This Sugar Bean Man Shikigami was a simple shikigami creation technique based on paper shikigami. Though the spell structure was simple and crude, if one mindlessly pumped it with an excessive amount of energy, the resulting shikigami would still be incredibly powerful. It was a classic case of using raw spiritual power to make up for a lack of precision, which was why the Sugar Bean Man Shikigami was so strong.

Although crude spells were a massive waste of spiritual power, Miketsu happened to be someone who didn't care about waste at all. The amount of spiritual power she had given the Sugar Bean Man Shikigami was enough for the Onmyoji of the Heian period to drive a hundred-person array to deal with a Yokai Lord-level threat.

Incidentally, at Miketsu's current level, she no longer needed external tools to transform energy into various forms. Whether it was divine power, spiritual power, or demonic power, she could manifest it with a wave of her hand. Miketsu caused the massive Sugar Bean Man Shikigami to dissolve into blue flames and vanish into the air. By then, the water from the fire hydrant in the grass had weakened, the spray height dropping until it was no longer raining over the area. Miketsu folded her umbrella and looked back at Nura Rihyon.

However, she found Nura Rihyon looking at her with a peculiar gaze. His expression was somewhat dazed, his mind clearly lost in thought.

"Elderly yokai, the assassins who wanted to kill you are all gone."

Seeing the obviously strange behavior of Nura Rihyon, Miketsu spoke plainly. Hearing her words, Nura Rihyon was slightly startled before shaking off his thoughts and responding as if he had just realized what happened.

"Is it settled? Oh... oh ho ho. What an astonishingly powerful shikigami. I didn't expect you to be an Onmyoji, young lady. Thank you truly for today." Nura Rihyon coughed twice as he spoke, then his expression tightened as he continued.

"I am deeply grateful for you stepping in to save me in a moment of crisis. May I ask for your name? And where do you reside? I would like to visit and offer my thanks in the future," Nura Rihyon said, testing the waters. Miketsu had already anticipated his words and answered with a smile.

"My name is Fushimi Inaba. I am a miko of the Inari Shrine on Mount Kagami-oboro."

"The Inari Shrine of Mount Kagami-oboro... So you are a miko of Inari. No wonder you have such talent at such a young age. Truly, the younger generation is to be feared." Hearing Miketsu's words, Nura Rihyon spoke in a nostalgic tone. Then, his expression shifted as he continued to smile at Miketsu.

"Since you have already... ho ho, to be honest, I am just an ordinary executive of the Nura Clan. Recently, the Nura Clan has been targeted by outside yokai, and some members have already been harmed. Those yokai just now were likely part of that same group of killers, trying to take advantage of my solitude. It is fortunate you intervened, young lady."

"Ah, so you're actually from the Nura Clan, elderly sir. The Nura Clan that governs the demon realm of Kanto."

Miketsu's face showed an expression of surprise at Nura Rihyon's words.

"Indeed. In the Nura Clan, while I might not be considered a founding veteran, I can at least be called an elder with some seniority. Ho ho. Speaking of which, Inari and Nura have cooperated for hundreds of years to stabilize the human and demon realms of Tokyo. Beyond that, our two houses have been friendly for many years. Our history even goes back a thousand years to the Heian period."

Putting on the air of a wise elder, Nura Rihyon smiled at the Inari 'junior' before him. Upon hearing this, Miketsu adopted a curious expression and asked, "A history going back a thousand years to the Heian period? What kind of connection did we have in the Heian period between Inari and Nura?"

Hearing Miketsu's question, Nura Rihyon suddenly became energized. He straightened up and began to speak.

"Well, you might not know this, young lady, but the founder of our Nura Clan, the first head Nura Rihyon, was a Great Yokai born in the Heian period. When the Lord Rihyon was young, he went to the prosperous Heian-kyo to make a name for himself," Nura Rihyon explained, and Miketsu nodded as she listened.

"Thinking back to those days, Lord Rihyon studied under the strongest yokai of the era. Within a short decade, he became a rising star of the demon realm, crossing through Heian-kyo. He fought valiantly in the depths of the Onmyo prisons, led the Night Parade on Suzaku Avenue, and drank merrily atop the Kyutei-gosho. How carefree and unrestrained he was! He was the acknowledged young hero among the yokai of that time!

"Even in the demon realm of Heian-kyo, which was filled with powerful figures, the Lord Rihyon of that time was a presence second to only one!"

Nura Rihyon spoke with dramatic emphasis and great emotion. Hearing this, Miketsu marveled as well.

"Incredible, incredible..."

Beside Nura Rihyon's feet, Natto-kozo scratched his head and thought with some helplessness: 'The Grand Commander's habit of bragging is acting up again...'

Seeing Miketsu's reaction, Nura Rihyon nodded with satisfaction before coughing twice.

"Ahem. In any case, young lady, you should know that in the Heian-kyo of a thousand years ago, the Lord Rihyon of the Nura Clan was a significant figure. At that time, he had many interactions with the Inari Honsha. He even knew your Heavenly Fox, Tsuruha."

"He actually knew Lady Tsuruha?"

"But of course. You might not know, but a thousand years ago, Heian-kyo was exceptionally dangerous. Yin and Yang were in chaos, various yokai factions were at war, and evil gods plagued the world. During that time, the goddess Uka of Inari often sent down miracles or even descended in person to end disasters with her great divine power... At that time, Lord Rihyon even had the honor of catching a glimpse of the noble divine face of Uka-no-Mitama-no-Kami. So, tell me, is the connection between Inari and Nura deep or not?"

Nura Rihyon continued speaking, then looked at the young girl's reaction with a smug expression. But for some reason, the girl had turned her back to him, hunching over with her hand over her mouth. Her entire body was trembling slightly.

Seeing this, Nura Rihyon spoke with concern, "Young lady, what's wrong? Are you unwell?"

Hearing his voice, Miketsu stiffened, suppressing the urge to burst into a wild laugh. After taking a few deep breaths, she turned around.

"...Thank you for your concern, Nura elder. I was just exhausted from the excessive spiritual power consumption while summoning the shikigami."

Nura Rihyon nodded in understanding. "Inari's spells are indeed quite taxing on spiritual power. You'll need to train more in the future."

"Ho ho, the fact that you can command such a powerful shikigami at your young age is already a mark of genius. Go back and practice diligently to expand your spiritual power. In a few years, you won't suffer from such side effects anymore."

Nura Rihyon offered his advice, and Miketsu responded plainly.

"Thank you, elder. After hearing your words today, I finally realize that such a deep connection exists between Inari and Nura."

"No need to thank me. You saved me today, that's what matters. These tales of the past aren't some great secrets anyway." As he spoke, Nura Rihyon's expression grew serious as he focused on Miketsu's face.

"By the way, I have one more small question I'd like to ask you, young lady."

"A question? For me?"

"Yes. I wonder if you have ever seen..."