The God of Poverty

In the early morning on campus, inside a classroom where sunlight streamed through the windows, Hayakawa Rin was momentarily taken aback by Miketsu's words before speaking up curiously.

"A nanny? Inaba, you're actually that rich? You can afford a nanny?" Hayakawa Rin said in amazement. Looking at Miketsu's usual behavior, she really didn't seem like a child from a wealthy family.

She wore her school uniform every day, and even when they occasionally ran into each other during holidays, she was still in the same outfit. She wasn't like many of the other boys and girls in class who loved to show off various flashy brands of casual wear. Even the style of her school bag was very ordinary, looking like something bought at a random supermarket.

Her phone was a brand Rin had never seen before, which always brought to mind some kind of knockoff. She didn't wear any makeup at all, nor did she wear any necklaces, jewelry, or watches. She didn't fit in at all with the students who did everything they could to flaunt their wealth within the limits of school rules. She traveled to school by train or on foot, and Rin had never seen her being dropped off by a private car. Therefore, Hayakawa Rin had always believed that her front-desk neighbor, Fushimi Inaba, was a child from a normal family just like herself, only occasionally having better luck. But now, her family had actually hired a nanny? This couldn't help but cause Rin a bit of surprise.

"Actually, it's nothing much. My family is just an ordinary one. To be honest, she's just a relative I know. Since she's staying at my place, she's taking care of me as well." Hearing Hayakawa Rin's words, Miketsu responded slowly. Rin nodded in understanding after hearing this.

So it was a relative. That made sense. Hayakawa Rin had also seen cases where relatives living in the countryside came to the city and helped the host family with housework and childcare.

"So a relative from far away is temporarily staying at your house, Inaba? That sounds good. For a girl like you living alone, it's actually not very safe. If there's any danger, it could be terrible. Now that there's another person, it's like having an extra hand to look after you," Hayakawa Rin said, thinking to herself. Hearing this, Miketsu scratched her head with a slightly troubled expression.

"Ah... to look after me? I suppose you could say that. It's just that after living alone for so long, I'm suddenly a bit unconditioned to it..."

Miketsu spoke slowly. To be honest, she hadn't expected Kikyo to become so parental after her return, but it was within reason.

The Kikyo that Miketsu had been familiar with before was a devout believer. But the current Kikyo wasn't simply the one from Miketsu's memories. This Kikyo was not only her High Priestess from a thousand years ago but also the powerful miko who guarded the Shikon Jewel five hundred years ago. It was only after the consciousnesses of the two merged that the current Kikyo existed. Therefore, it was only natural for some additional personality traits to appear, such as the miko of the Shikon Jewel being clearly more emotional and feminine.

'Lord Uka, it's already so late; aren't you going to rest yet? Your current body is primarily human; please pay attention to your health.'

'Lord Uka, I saw on that so-called internet that the instant foods you eat are very lacking in nutrition and are dismissed as junk food. Please do not consume them excessively. I will prepare nutritious and abundant meals for you.'

'Hmm? You mean that figure with a bunch of pieces that was broken before? To prevent it from becoming a tsukumogami, I have already disposed of it... Eh? You say that's a model? You were just leaving it there because you hadn't finished assembling it?'

'Lord Uka! I just looked it up online... that kind of dark water you love to drink is highly toxic. In severe cases, it can lead to incurable diseases, and even in mild cases, it makes people listless and even lose their reproductive capacity. Other countries use it as a pesticide. For the sake of your current body, it is better not to drink it anymore; after all, your current body is mostly human.'

Recalling the recent conversation with Kikyo at the shrine, Miketsu couldn't help but rub her temples. To help her adapt to modern life sooner, Miketsu had taught her how to go online. But for some reason, Kikyo seemed to keep browsing strange things. Because she didn't quite understand the nature of the internet, she often took online rumors as truth. Fortunately, after Miketsu's explanations, Kikyo would eventually understand the truth and stop talking about it. Overall, many of Kikyo's recent problems stemmed largely from an ancient person's lack of adaptation to modern life. Although Kikyo had improved a lot over a few days, at this moment, Miketsu still missed her lazy days of living alone.

'I went looking for a miko, not a parent. It seems I should find an opportunity to send Kikyo to the main shrine. I'll just say that compared to simply taking care of my daily life here, she can truly exert her value as a powerful miko there!'

Time flew by, and soon, the morning classes were half over. When the bell rang, the teacher closed the textbook and slowly walked out of the classroom. The originally quiet room instantly descended into noise.

As usual, students gathered in groups of twos and threes, whispering various bits of gossip and discussion to each other. The entire classroom was submerged in a buzzing sound. Taking a long stretch, Miketsu sat in her seat and scanned the classroom before her with a bored gaze. Suddenly, her brow knitted slightly as she noticed an interesting phenomenon.

Miketsu discovered that several student chat groups were showing off strange little objects to each other—charms, Buddhist beads, and folded talismans. Besides these, they frequently took out their wallets to store these items. The expressions in their conversations revealed traces of worry, as if the topic they were discussing wasn't anything happy.

Charms and talismans, coupled with worried expressions... Seeing this scene, Miketsu couldn't help but nod playfully. At this moment, she felt that something interesting had happened again. As for what it was? Miketsu wasn't in a hurry to calculate it directly; instead, she intended to consult the class's resident know-it-all.

"Hey, Rin."

Turning around, Miketsu spoke to Hayakawa Rin, who was focused on copying notes behind her desk. Hearing Miketsu call her name, Hayakawa Rin was slightly startled before looking up in surprise.

"Inaba, is something the matter?" Looking at Miketsu, Hayakawa Rin spoke with some unexpectedness. Clearly, she hadn't expected Miketsu to take the initiative to seek her out this time.

"Well, it's like this. I just saw some classmates bringing talismans and Buddhist beads to school. There was no such phenomenon before. Do you know why?" Miketsu asked Hayakawa Rin directly. Hearing Miketsu's words, Hayakawa Rin's spirit jolted, and with a snap, she immediately closed the notebook on her desk.

"Are you interested in this, Inaba? What a coincidence. This matter hasn't spread too widely yet; many people still don't know. You've asked the right person." Looking at Miketsu, Hayakawa Rin leaned her body forward slightly and spoke with a mysterious tone. Hearing Hayakawa Rin's words, Miketsu responded immediately.

"What exactly is it? Stop keeping me in suspense."

"Oh, Inaba, don't be so anxious. Telling this kind of story definitely requires a bit of mystery to set the atmosphere; otherwise, it's no fun." As she spoke, Hayakawa Rin scanned her surroundings before lowering her voice and whispering to Miketsu with a theatrical air.

"I'm telling you, Inaba, an urban legend has occurred around here."

"Huh? An urban legend?" Hearing Hayakawa Rin's words, Miketsu's spirit immediately jolted. Especially after hearing the word 'legend,' she almost sat up straight.

'Good grief, it really is haunted again. This time, I'll have to see which lucky contestant is going to show off their talents in front of me.' Miketsu thought this way. She had already predicted this when she saw the talismans and beads. It turned out she was right; now it looked like there was more fun to be had.

"Yes, and this time the legend is very close to us. It's right around our school," Hayakawa Rin continued mysteriously. Hearing her words, Miketsu couldn't help but be startled.

'Good grief... it's right nearby. It seems there's no need to assign homework to Miko. After school, I'll just wander around for a bit myself and finish it.'

Miketsu thought this way, but she was also a bit curious about what this legend was. To think it was happening nearby and she hadn't noticed—was the entity behind the legend that good at hiding?

"Tell me, what exactly is this legend? Be specific," Miketsu said with a hint of urgency, looking at Hayakawa Rin, who was still acting mysterious.

"Oh, don't worry, let's take it slow... Ahem. Actually, unlike those horrifying and terrifying legends of the past, there isn't really a scary story in this one. It's just a minor legend..."

"I'm telling you, a god of poverty has been haunting the area around our school lately."

"Huh? A god of poverty?"

Hearing Hayakawa Rin's words, a look of surprise crossed Miketsu's face. A god of poverty? That should be a haunting-type yokai, like a ghost. Although they had 'god' in their name, they didn't even count as wild gods. What kind of waves could such a small thing stir up?

"Yes, a god of poverty! Overall, there's been some trouble with the financial luck around the school recently. People are always mysteriously losing money. Although the amounts aren't large, the frequency is quite high."

"Actually, at first, no one really cared. But during a gathering, a few students happened to mention this matter and found that many people had similar experiences. Therefore, everyone believes they've run into something sinister. There must be a god of poverty appearing near the school, causing people to have bad luck and thus lose money! This rumor is spreading further and further. So now many students specifically go to shrines to get protective amulets or to temples to get Buddhist beads, just so they won't be entangled by the god of poverty. In my opinion—hmm? Inaba?"

Just as Hayakawa Rin was about to continue, she suddenly noticed that her listener's appearance seemed to have some issues.

At this moment, for some reason, Miketsu had frozen in place, her mouth slightly agape and her eyes out of focus. This look gave Hayakawa Rin a start.

'Eh eh eh? What's going on with Inaba? Is she scared by the legend I told? But it's not that scary, is it? Before, when I told her even more intense stories, she was so calm. Could it be that having bad luck is a very terrifying thing for Inaba?' Hayakawa Rin thought to herself. And at this moment, Miketsu was indeed in a state of shock, the reason naturally being that she realized what this god of poverty legend was all about.

In all likelihood, the god of poverty currently being whispered about in school was Miketsu herself. The reason... was naturally her long-term practice of not carrying money and then manipulating causality to pick up money.

When Miketsu picked up money, someone naturally had to lose it. When enough money was lost and the victims gathered to discuss it, the rumors of a god of poverty's malice naturally spread.

'It seems I got a bit too carried away with picking up money. Now I've been slapped with the title of a god of poverty! It's all because I went a bit overboard when I was having that card addiction recently!' Miketsu cried out in the depths of her heart. Although Miketsu loved to pick up money and freeload, she generally had a limit—it was usually just some lunch money that most people wouldn't care too much about if they lost. That was why Miketsu had been able to freeload for so long without incident.

However, things had been a bit different since she became obsessed with playing cards recently. Building a deck in a card shop actually required quite a bit of money, especially since Miketsu herself was quite bad at the game. Often, if one deck couldn't win, she would go and build another. Sometimes she would buy rare cards directly from the shop owner, causing the amount of money spent to suddenly skyrocket. So, during that period, Miketsu went to pick up money more frequently. The result was that the urban legend of the god of poverty came out directly.

Miketsu really hadn't expected that one day, she herself would become an urban legend—and as something like a haunting god of poverty, no less.