Chương 89: Amongst Myths and Bloodstained Legends.
"Urk…"
"Hey boy… Wake up."
I woke up facing the stone walkway. From the way I felt it, I knew that someone was holding me by the waist by slinging me under their arm.
"Kyo-kun. Let him go now."
"Understood."
"Argh!"
Without even hearing my request to let me lower my feet to stand up, the zombie guy let go of me, making me fall face first onto the pavement.
"Kyo… how many times do I have to tell you to at least be tactful to our guests?"
"I apologize, Inari-sama. I must've forgotten about it due to my memory lapses, but I'll keep it in my mind carefully next time."
"You have said those exact same words again and again… Next time, I won't let you use that excuse."
I slowly raised my face to look at my surroundings. Beside me was Kurumi and the Kyonshi named Kyo. This time, the place wasn't the same shrine hidden behind a grove of maple trees. Instead, the place has a long line of torii gates in front and behind us and mayoke charms are placed in all kinds of areas as a temple that is large enough to seem like a palace can be seen under a gigantic Sakura tree in front of us.
"Now, now… let me see who our guest is…"
A voice that didn't came from the two resounded in my ears. It was like the same thing with the Kitsune spirit I met in the forest. It echoes yet the source is nowhere to be found.
"Boy. Keep your head down or I'll cut it off your neck. You are in the presence of the Great Inari-no-kami…"
"Ah…"
I corrected my way of sitting and kept my head down like the two as a faint light came from in front of us.
"You may raise your face now, my children and my guest."
Kurumi and I raised our heads except for Kyo who kept his gaze downwards. The person I saw was just like the one illustrated in Kaiho Sanctum back in Kiko's mountain temple that worships the Fox deity.
She had ears and irises like that of a fox and behind her are nine tails, each bearing a bluish soul-like fire that levitates around her as she walked with grace. Walk is not that accurate of a term… It's like she is walking on the air, her feet that doesn't have a slipper nor a shoe doesn't even touch the ground as an elegant and almost ethereal Shrine maiden robe covers her body.
"Little Kurumi… Why did you have to bring this man here instead of leading him out of our Sanctuary?"
"Permission to answer, Great Lady Inari."
"Fear not, my child. Feel free to speak."
Kurumi stood up and that was when I noticed that she was wearing a more formal Shrine maiden outfit unlike the modified one that has a short skirt or her kimono that has maple leaf and fox fire designs.
"I have brought him to your presence due to something that me and my aide, Kyo, discovered about this man."
"And that is?"
"Kyo. Present the seal."
"Yes!"
The zombie guy took out my Kirin Lord seal from his sleeve pocket and without raising his head to look at the fox spirit, presented the seal towards her.
"Hmm… I see."
She extended her hand, and the seal began to shake before it flew towards her hand. She examined the object before speaking.
"Stranger… May you tell me your name?"
"Ah… Umm… My name is Iwasawa Hiroshi. I am the Daimyo of Kiko and the Chancellor of the Southern Quartet Alliance."
"Oh! Kiko? I can fondly remember that place. I used to call it as my home after all."
"U-used to?"
I raised my face to look at her directly and her face can only be described as one full of elegance, wisdom and compassion.
"I have left Kaiho Sanctum long, long ago… It's for a particular reason, there are things that took more precedence to me than the petty squabbling of mortals who wish for prosperity and good harvest without having the right character to responsibly use and appreciate the blessings that I give."
"I guess your disappearance is the reason why Hisako doesn't know any rituals."
The Fox goddess closed her eyes and slowly, her tails became smaller and the fox fires were extinguished as her spirit-like form dissipated to be transfigured into a physical form.
"I-Inari-sama…"
"This is rare for you to do, Lady Inari…"
After her transformation, she approached me and gave me back my seal.
"Well then, can we talk privately, Kirin Lord?"
"Y-yes…"
With a snap of her finger, the temple grounds that we are in changed into a room inside the huge temple itself.
"Kyo-kun. Guard the door. Kurumi-chan, brew us some tea."
""Understood.""
The two went their own ways. The zombie guy walked towards the door and closed it behind him as he stood to guard it. The young lady walked to a nearby table where cups and some pot jars are located.
"As for you, let's be comfortable and talk cordially."
She snapped her fingers again and I suddenly fell down to a Seiza position in front of her who is sitting at the same level while running her fingers gently over some one and two-tailed foxes.
"First, I would like to explain everything to you… You are inside my Sanctuary at the hidden forest of Mori. Officially speaking, this is the province of Furuya. But since this land has no connections with the outside world, we simply call it the Sanctuary or the Abode of the Kitsune spirits."
"…"
"This land is owned by no one and has been trespassed by no one since I came to claim it as my own and created it as my vision of a paradise thousands of years ago. So as to say, I am its one and only leader."
After her explanation and the foxes on her lap scurried away, I found the right moment to make my reply as things are still very unbelievable to me. After all, I am talking to a divine spirit that has broken every sense of logic in my mind.
"I see… Kurumi said that I was brought here by one of your fox envoys after we used the wood that came from the forest to keep our campfire alight… She said that my name can be cleared once I raise an appeal towards you."
"Oh? I see… If it's the six-tailed ones, I can see why they will follow my directions from start to end. They're the ones least understanding of exceptions after all."
"She said that as well."
The fox spirit pondered for a moment before speaking again.
"I can consider your use of the forest's wood as a simple and honest mistake, but due to your identity, the other denizens of the forest would most likely not let you go easily… It's even possible that they would use your companions as hostages to keep you in here as a captive for all eternity."
Hearing those words, a shiver ran up to my spine as the thought of being kept here for the rest of my life made me want to just run away from this place.
"Why does my identity as the Kirin Lord affect the opinion of the people? I know that it is quite the important title that most would like to covet. But why does the other beings of this Sanctuary want to keep me here just for it?"
"Hm? Haven't the person who gave you that title explain it to you?"
"Explain to me what?"
"Titles that include a mythical beast's name usually means that they have "conquered" that mythical beast. As for you…"
"I killed a Kirin?"
"Exactly."
This… This is bullshit! Why didn't I get informed about this?! And when the hell have I meet a Kirin and slew it?!
"I haven't killed one, why would that be credited to me?"
"I know that, but the other beings of this forest aren't as informed about the outside world as me. To them, people bearing such titles are slayers of their kind and deserving of punishment, curses and death to satiate their thirst for revenge."
"How… how exactly did this start?"
I was still confused about everything, so I asked that out and received a fairly satisfactory reply.
"Titles such as those were first given 5000 years ago when this country has only started to become an empire. The four Priestesses who owned Shrine Sanctums in their respective lands each received the patronage of a great spirit."
She paused for a moment, seeming to be recollecting a faint memory before continuing.
"We great spirits live by our own brands of morality. So as to say, my morals are different in some respects to the great Pheonix spirit while hers' is also different in some respects to the Sea dragon spirit who himself is also different from the White tiger spirit. To simplify it, we would sometimes send visions or prophecies to the keepers of our temples to punish a particular person who has crossed our rules or a certain mystical being who has trespassed our territory."
"Then that would mean that by giving them these messages, they would act in lieu of your orders and execute whoever crossed you?"
"Exactly. But there is one thing that I want you to keep in mind… We may want to thin out the population of certain denizen of the land… but we would never want to hunt them to extinction… but then, one man came into power to do just that…"
I held my breath as the fox goddess opened her eyes to stare at mine to show me the memories that she is narrating.
"A mortal, in service of the honor and glory of his emperor, went out to stabilize the land by removing every being that has the power to manipulate it. Be it Yokai spirits that form from the soil of the underworld land of Yomi, curses that come from human emotions or mystical beasts that has lived since unrecorded antiquity, all of them fell victim to the massacre committed by this man who bathed in their negative karma and blood."
I saw her memories as one man stood atop an immeasurable mountain of corpses of spiritual beings and mythical beast alike. On his hand is a sword that was familiar to me yet seem to not belong to my memories. His face was indistinguishable… it was too stained with blood as an aura as dark as the void covered his body.
"This man was a mindless killer for the lesser spirits and mystical beasts… But for his master and the people, he was a hero deserving of a title that came from the strongest beast that he has slew at the time."
"That seal… I get it now."
I closed my eyes, and the vision was cut by her as she sighed before speaking.
"The first person who received such a title was someone who committed genocide in his aim to leave the fate of humanity's progress to their hands instead of the reverence they can give to those spirits, or the miniscule mercy given by them."
"If his aim was to remove every powerful being that can manipulate the fate of humanity's resources, why are you and the four other great spirits still existing?"
The fox goddess giggled a bit and replied with a gentle tone.
"I can still fondly remember that… If you came from Kiko, I believe you seen the Onnoki gulf while you were travelling here."
"Yes. We crossed it since my retainer said that it would be better than getting through Mutsuki province."
"The Onnoki gulf wasn't there 5000 years ago. It was formed when that man dragged us out of our Shrines through a forced expulsion ritual and fought us one to four… I can still remember it… The way he parried the white tiger spirit's claws, the moments when he would narrowly dodge the Sea dragon's attacks by slicing the tidal waves into half and even simply brush off the flames that I and the Pheonix spirit would send his way."
"That sounds like a fight scene from an anime."
"Anime? What is that?"
"Sorry, that was a slip of tongue. It's nothing important."
I covered up my blunder which confused her, but it is better than to explain something that is yet to be invented.
"The conclusion of our fight ended weeks after we started. We have exhausted our spiritual energy and the entire landscape has been destroyed… yet our adversary was not drained at all. He was at tip-top shape with barely any scratches and his aura was still emanating his bloodthirst. It was as if the negative karma that he gained after all the killings that he did has made him break all of his human limits."
"What happened in the end?"
"The white tiger spirit and the Sea dragon beast told me and the Pheonix spirit who is most susceptible to death by spiritual exhaustion that we should escape as they stall our enemy. But before they can charge forward to make a suicidal attack, the Kirin Lord absorbed his aura and sheathed his sword, catching us by surprise."
"What does that mean?"
"He surrendered. Without any reply, he burned four talismans that contained our names, and we were suddenly brought back to our Shrines where we were able to recuperate our spiritual energy and heal our bodies. The next time we received news about him was when the news from the capital spread to our lands where it was said that he took his own life with the same sword that he used to kill spirits and beasts alike in front of his emperor."
Hearing that end, I finally remembered why that sword looked familiar to me.
"That's the heirloom sword of the Aoyama clan… I've seen it back at Aoya."
"I see that you are aware of the history in your own lands. Good job, Lord Iwasawa."
"I am honored for that praise."
After a long conversation, the Shrine maiden named Kurumi finally brewed the tea and presented it to us.
"Thank you, Little Kurumi."
"You're welcome, Lady Inari."
She stepped back a few steps before bowing and going outside of the room, leaving me alone with the priestess.
"Now that we are alone, I would like to talk with you about more personal subjects."
I drank my tea, it felt quite strange but given all the weird things and stories that I have seen and heard here, this is nothing.
"I want to ask you about what your strategy would be if the denizens of this place will ask for your death."
"…I don't really know. I don't want to die, of course. But I also don't want to just dismiss their anger as nothing."
"It's not an anger that you should bear. I can just force them to accept that you are not like your predecessor, after all, they are living in my abode, and I am their master."
"I wouldn't want that… If I want to be accepted, I want it to be from my own effort and not from coercion of a higher power."
"…"
After hearing my statement, she looked surprised and asked me something.
"You said that you are the Lord of Kiko, right?"
"Yes."
"And your name is Iwasawa Hiroshi?"
"Yes. That is my name."
"Then what happened to the Akizuki clan?"
I pondered for a moment before replying.
"Akizuki Hisako, the princess of the Akizuki clan and the Priestess of the Kaiho Sanctum, is still under my care. Her father, Akizuki Godan, was exiled from the lands after my ascension and we haven't received any news about him again. One other person bearing that name is currently outside of Kiko."
"I see. That explains the sudden loss of spiritual energy sent to me from Kiko. I've left that place long ago anyway after they plunged themselves into war again and would seek my power to bless their crops and last longer in war."
"So, you hate bloodshed, Lady Inari?"
"I've had enough of killing and war for this long lifetime. If mortals want to kill each other, I don't wish to be a part of it in any way anymore."
"…I see."
I looked at her and saw a somber look on her face. It was clear to me that even though she is a powerful and almost immortal being, she still has a heart that can get hurt or feel loss.
"I want to ask something, Lady Inari."
"Yes. Ask away."
"What does a true leader mean to you?"
"…"
The fox spirit closed her eyes and seemed to be pondering about that question.
"A true leader… is someone who cares for those under him like a parent is to their child."
"Is that the kind of leader that you are, Lady Inari?"
"Yes. I have created this sanctuary for that exact reason. I have lived a long life… Ever since I can remember, I have fought for dominance over lands where I would be considered a deity. At first, I liked it. I am praised, I am worshiped… People will come to me to ask for my blessings and they will thank me greatly for the bountiful harvests and great riches of gold and silver."
She drank her tea with grace before speaking her next words.
"But then, I saw that the people I blessed with food and riches will someday fight against each other, and when they begin to accrue losses of life and resources, they will come to me, and I will have to choose whose side I will take… which will come to upset one side later on."
"…"
"I can say with all certainty that there is no merit with being the leader of those who cannot embody my morals. Just like how followers choose the leaders that they will serve through their morals, leaders are also entitled to choose those who will follow them through their willingness to obey."
"I agree."
"?"
"I agree that leaders also have to choose their followers wisely. I know a lot of great people who fell from grace and loss their hard-earned merit solely because someone who claims to act on their interest has done something inexcusable."
"…"
The fox goddess looked at me and asked me something in return.
"You said that you don't want to die but you also don't want to earn the right to live just because of my coercion, right?"
"Yes. If I have to make them respect me, I want it to be something I earn and not given."
After I replied like that, she stood up and made her ears and tails to sprout up again, effectively returning her to her spiritual form.
"If so, I guess it's time for you to meet the humans living in the human abode of Furuya and the assorted denizens of the spiritual abode of Gensokyo."
"G-G-Gensokyo?"
"Huh? Yeah. The area inhabited by the yokai and nature spirits in my Sanctuary is called Gensokyo. Why do you look like you can't believe your ears?"
"I-I mean… Surely you don't have a poor shrine maiden here, a witch that likes explosion magic or perhaps, a time-manipulating maid?"
Oh heavens… if this is somehow the same place that I am thinking about, I'm going to abandon my responsibilities as a Daimyo and live here as an early retirement!
"What in my nine tails are you talking about? Did you get a nail loose on your head while my fox envoy brought you here?"
"Ahh… Why did I even expect… of course Reimu and the others wouldn't be here…"
"What?"
I guess my expectations that this would be that place is like Cirno's math class… just a total joke.
(T/N: For those who doesn't get this reference, try to search for Touhou series and maybe you'll get to relive some early 2000's hype for bullet hell video games."
With a snap of her finger, Lady Inari brought the two of us outside of the temple yet again. But instead of the earlier one where we are in the midst of a whole line of Torii gates, this one is on the temple courtyard where humans and spirits are gathered in front of the raised platform where I and Lady Inari are standing at.
"Mine dear children who lives in mine Sanctuary, I greet thou a good day and bless thou with great fortunes!"
"""For thou as well, Lady Inari."""
All of them bowed down and showed great praise to the fox goddess who now wore a dignified expression of a reliable leader.
"I believe that a multitude of thou hast known about the recent visitors that mine envoys hath found in the outskirts of our protective forest. One of them is this man beside me who has appealed for their innocence which I found to be acceptable. Therefore, I will set them free under my own judgement."
There were murmurings in the crowd. It seems like the humans are more lenient while the spirits seem to not like my presence.
The next announcement just made the spirits' reaction more hostile.
"As I am a fair and just leader, I will not keep mine mouth shut about the truth. This man beside me bears a title. A great title that would most likely send all of our ethereal companions into terror and anger, yet as I have promised, so will I act out… This man named Iwasawa Hiroshi, has the title of the Kirin Lord."
"THAT-!"
"KILL HIM!!!"
A group of nature spirits shouted out as soon as my title was declared. I knew that it was coming, so I didn't have any kind of complaint.
"I am aware of the rage seething inside your souls, lower spirits. But I wish to appeal that this man in front of you is not the same person that you think of him as."
"We wish to debate about it no more, Lady Inari. As much as we respect you and owe you our lives for sheltering us after the First Kirin Lord's ascension and massacre, we cannot accept a man such as that to live amongst us!"
One elderly looking Kappa, a yokai that looks like a humanoid turtle, voiced out the appeal of the spirits who either looked hostile or indifferent towards me.
"The Kirin Lord is the Kirin Lord. Whoever is given that title has surely achieved something great for the humans outside of the Sanctuary. Either he has murdered our kindred spirits outside of the forest or he has hunted and put down the last remaining mystical beasts alive in the world, we will not absolve him. He will be maimed and left to die on his way out of the forest or he stays here as a slave to pay for the crimes of his predecessor!"
The old yokai's speech riled up the dissenters. Their demands left no peaceful option. If I choose anything between those, I will still end up dead.
"These curs…"
As I was near her, I heard the low growling of Lady Inari as her bloodshot eyes seem to be enraged with the words spoken by her subjects.
"Ahem…"
I cleared my throat which caught the attention of everyone, even the humans who must be hearing someone from the outside world speak to them for the first time in their lifetime.
"If we are talking about the crimes of our predecessor, then I believe it is within my right to ask all of you spirits to die as well due to your and your ancestor's crimes."
"W-What?!"
"According to Lady Inari, nature spirits are responsible for the flow of the things in the territory that they hold while Yokai spirits are responsible of consuming the negative karma produced by the emotions of humans. As such, I order you to die for all the natural disasters that you have made as well as all the crimes that the people who cannot tolerate the amount of negative karma around them has committed because you weren't able to balance it out."
I gave that cruel order towards the raging spirits with no care about whether they will see me in a worse light.
"If you wish justice for your race, I also wish the same to mine."
"You're too full of yourself! You're not even aware of how frightening it was to fear for your life when someone will take your life without any concern!"
"Really?! Do you think we humans have the luxury to not be wary of our own security?! Why the hell do you think we take our food into granaries, make stronger homes and take up arms against wild animals or our enemies?!"
"Tch!"
My reply silenced them. Some of the local humans even nodded to my words and seem to have gotten my intention.
"All of our lives suck! None of us can live in paradise because none of us deserve to live in it! So, if you're going to demand that I die because I share the same race and title as the one who has wronged you, then pay your own fair share of fees as well! Pay for every person that died because you felt like flooding the river you control! Pay for everyone who died because you didn't want them to get a good harvest! Pay for every person whose house collapsed over them because you wanted to make your winds blow harder!"
I almost made myself hoarse after my speech, but as soon as I spoke out all of it, I was relieved that I got my side across.
"…"
"As you have heard… none of us here deserves to demand anyone to die for things that they did not commit. I took all of you in here regardless of your race after you pledged your loyalty to me and promised that every ill feeling will be forgiven and forgotten. But you spirit folk… all of you disappoint me…"
"…"
The spirits all bowed down or lowered their selves in front of the fox goddess. Both as a sign of reverence and apology.
"As you have heard, we spirits are not in the right place to speak ill or demand the death of any human. I myself who seen and fought the first Kirin Lord has long forgiven and forgotten his actions even though he never gave us any words about his reason for committing such a heinous crime, the gist of "slaying those who can affect the things that dictate my race's survival" is already enough for me to understand what kind of person he is… For all of you and the younger me, he is a monster, but for those who benefitted from his actions and the current me, he has only done what he must do even if he has to stain his hands with our people's blood."
After saying those words, Lady Inari took out a fox fire and placed it on my hand.
"I can simply order all of you to accept him. But as he is a man of honor, I will heed his wish of earning your respect and approval through his own actions. During the preparation week of this year's summer festival, he will come around and help out in anything he wishes to help in. This is my own way to teach all of you that it is time to remove the boundaries that you made in your heart and mind about the other race living with you in this land of mine."
The humans bowed down as well and accepted their leader's order.
"As for you, Iwasawa Hiroshi, your men will stay in my temple until the end of the festival. I will cast a spell on them to keep them alive yet asleep. You have 14 days to learn about this land and teach them more about each other… I will not expect you to solve everything. But I do wish that you can break the societal hurdle between them."
"As you wish, Lady Inari."
As her declarations were finished, she returned into her physical form and turned her back with Kyo following her into the temple building with a sword on his hand.
"Little Kurumi."
"A-Ah! Y-yes!"
"You will accompany our guest during the time. Since you're not doing your temple duties and you're already outside, you might as well do something useful instead of fluttering around like a stag beetle."
"Ah! You could've called me a butterfly or something! Why did you have to choose such an ugly and bulky insect?!"
"Ohohoho! That's what you deserve for ditching work!"
The heavy doors of the temple were closed by Kyo as the crowd dissipated and each group returned to their own settlements. One went to the town a walking distance from the temple while the other group went to the forest that had enough shrubbery to keep sunlight out of it.
"Now, now… how should I do this?"
I began to ponder for a moment as I weighed in my options.
The work given to me is to simply help out at the two places that is preparing for a week-long summer festival. If that means physical labor or help in planning, I can confidently do it. But if it is something else…
"Oi… I hate you."
"H-huh?"
"Why did I have to be included in the punishment given to you?!"
"Ah! Ow… Stop it, will you?"
Kurumi suddenly puffed her cheeks and threw her light and skinny arms to hit me with her fists. It didn't hurt but it sure was annoying.
"And just when I thought that I can enjoy the next week just loafing around because you're sent to help them… Argh! My plans are now ruined!"
I held her wrist and placed them down as she is still whining about her ruined plans of just lazing around. This made me sigh as I remembered someone who is as childish and whinny as her.
"Well, that's what Inari-sama ordered to us two. You can go and tell her to reconsider if you want, it's not like I will force you to help out."
"Heh! She'll just scold me if I do… Even if I don't like it, I really just have to obey at this point."
"Why did you even complain in the first place then?"
She simply puffed her cheeks and looked away with a "Hmph!". She really acts like a child.
"In any case, I want to start as soon as I can. I'll walk around the town of Furuya first, care to join me?"
"Well, it's not like I have any other choice. Come on, I'll guide you around."
The two of us walked towards the town inhabited by humans, at first, I expected nothing but physical labor or advice in planning, but I didn't expect that instead of works using my hands, what I will end up giving to the people of this land is help rooted from their unique situation of living in a place of abundance and lack of most sufferings.
The moment I heard their complaints and listened to their stories, I realized that there really is a need for humans to suffer in some kind of way lest they become like these people.
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Ephraim_Chronia
Ephraim_Chronia "Prepare for some risky commentary and existential crises next chapter. That's all that I can spoil for you guys."
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