episode_0059

Sukigawa’s prosperity was moderate in scale.

A real city with over 10,000 residents.

Arriving at the land ruled by the Daimyo, I naturally began to get nervous.

“Go to Daesa Temple, other spirits will be there as well.”

Yamato said and led the procession.

Taisha Daishe refers to a shrine that worships the high-ranking spirits of daimyo.

The ranks of the spirits were divided into Nanushi, Shomyo, and Daimyo, which could be considered the same as the level of the spirits.

Above the daimyō, the shogun or emperor reigned as the upper class.

We entered the Great Temple and were able to see countless spirits.

The spirits and entourage, which at first glance appear to be hundreds of people, are waiting at a lodging near the shrine, unable to even enter.

Yamato led the spirit that accompanied him and approached a group of spirits.

They were the Hwangjo faction.

“Yamato Takeru no Mikoto! How have you been?”

“Do you remember me? The last time I greeted you…”

“Oh! Yamato, I was waiting for you. There is a story that requires the Shomyo to get together now. It’s about where to decide for this hunting competition…”

Yamato is suddenly surrounded by various spirits.

He told me to see him later and headed inside.

“Hitokotonushi 一言主God, you come with me. Yamato-sama ordered you to explain the faction.”

A spirit who had accompanied Yamato approached me and said so.

He is a youkai called Oogama Ogama and looks like a giant toad.

Oogamanushi went around the Daisha Shrine and explained to me the main spirits.

…

“That person is Onigumakami, the demon god, one of the leaders of the neutral faction, and he has been feeling uncomfortable recently, so you should not approach him carelessly.”

“That person is the core of the shogunate faction of the Mizuchi and Sukikawa clans. The other spirits nearby are also from the shogunate faction, so remember their faces.”

‘These are all familiar faces.’

These are people that Inari has seen once in her memories.

I patiently waited until Oogamanushi explained all the other spirits, and when the explanation was roughly over, I asked a question.

“Oogamanushi, do you know anything about Shinto Ryu?”

Shinto-ryu (神道流)

It is one of the three great strategies of the divine kingdom and is a sword technique that only gods can use. Since users were limited to divine spirits, it was rare to find anyone who had mastered it.

Oogamanushi seemed to think about my question for a moment and then tilted his head.

“Shinto-ryu Shinto-ryu… Yamato-sama knows that best, right? In the first place, it was originated from human spirits.”

“Aha. Thank you for your reply.”

After hearing that, I thought I should join in on this clique game more.

‘Once I obtain Shinto Ryu’s divine path, I will have to return to Earth.’

And in order to request this Shinto-ryu from Yamato, I needed to show more of my abilities.

I was already invested in him, so it didn’t make sense for me to make another request to him for nothing.

It was right that I also had to pay him accordingly.

So I began actively promoting my abilities during the Godhead.

The method was simple,

A healing spell.

I looked around to find someone with a traumatic problem and approached them.

A spider monster with a human head and sword images carved here and there on its body.

“You don’t have a foot?”

“What is it? Are you starting a fight now?”

“Haha, no. I have healing abilities. Would you like to have that foot treated?”

“What?”

“You are my first customer, so I will not accept any compensation.”

“Hmm… I doubt it, but it’s good. But if it has no effect, you are deceiving me and no one will protect you.”

A divine spirit holding out a cleanly severed leg, as if the middle joint had been cut by a knife.

I moderately memorize two-word spells,

He showed everyone the strange phenomenon of legs growing from the cut surface.

And with just that one healing, I became a hot topic at the Godhead.

“Hey, could you please take a look at my bust? Even decades later, my wounds still ache because of the ghost energy.”

“This is my first time seeing your face. Have you become a new spirit this time? The faction is… what? Already there?”

“Can the disease be treated? I was recently bullied by the plague god…”

Requests for handshakes from countless spirits.

Although gods also have their own regenerative power, there are many ways to overcome that regenerative power and inflict damage.

Moreover, since they basically live for hundreds of years, it is impossible for them to get hurt.

In addition, the healing ability was low, and there was no level of regeneration of even severed body parts, at least as far as I know.

As a result of the combination of these factors, I received explosive attention and even shōmyō-level spirits came to visit me and try to make friends with me.

Discussion of factions was appropriately rejected, and the treatment ended with immediate treatment of two people on the spot.

“I’m tired after healing three people today. The remaining people will be treated tomorrow.”

I had no intention of giving it away like a vulture like I did to the burakumin.

The right to select their treatment could be a price worth demanding from Yamato for Shinto Ryu.

And as time passed, a day later, I faced Yamato again.

“Hitokotonushi, the master god of words, did you possess such a mysterious talent?”

“It’s just a weak talent.”

“Being humble, yes. So what are you aiming for by exposing yourself to the Godhead?”

It seemed like they thought there was some purpose to my openly advertising my healing abilities.

“There is no purpose. I started treatment just to get paid.”

“Really?”

Of course, Yamato’s expression did not look like he believed it at all.

I looked at that expression and got to the point.

“But when I started treating patients, so many people flocked to me and they asked me to treat them first, so it was usually not a problem. Mr. Yamato, could you please select the number of patients to be treated?”

Selection means that one chooses the person to receive treatment at one’s own discretion.

Simply put, it means giving up the interest in my treatment.

“Oh! You know what the doctrine is.”

Yamato smiled in satisfaction at my words.

Then he paused for a moment and spoke.

” Now that I think about it, since you have just become a spirit, you probably lack many things, such as servants, people, and land. As a superior, I have no choice but to provide support. Is there anything you want?”

The answer I was waiting for.

Like this, in this world, it is not polite to ask a being of high ‘position’ first, and you can only say what you ask for after first offering something in return.

I also paused for a moment before answering.

“I am very interested in military methods, and when I heard about it, I heard that Shinto-ryu, Shinto-ryu, is the best among them. But I am at a loss because there is no way to learn.”

“I happen to be well-versed in Shinto-ryu. After the meeting, I will guide you when I have time.”

“Ah! thank you Yamato Takeru no Mikoto!”

I bowed to him, thanked him, and then walked away.

“Phew…”

I stepped out of the Daisha Daesan’s guest hall, the room Yamato was in, and sighed.

Although the etiquette between spirits was quite cumbersome, I finally had the opportunity to learn Shinto-ryu.

“After getting this… where should I go.”

The universes worth going to now were the energy universe, the essence universe, and the pan-au universe.

It wasn’t a bad idea to go back to the martial arts world I had visited before or to explore a new world.

Should you deepen the martial arts you have already learned, or learn a new skill?

I spent some time thinking about what lies ahead.

***

Another day passed, and the Godhead came to an end.

I wondered if I would be able to see the daimyo, but the owner of the Sukigawa clan did not appear at this meeting.

“Well, there’s nothing good about running into each other.”

Even though the Godhead was over, the spirits were not all dispersed.

All the spirits of the clan gather together only once a year.

Therefore, some of the spirits were active to ask about each other’s well-being or to discuss faction activities and exchanges between villages.

Of course, there was a spirit waiting to receive my treatment.

“Your body has really recovered…”

A spirit leaving after receiving my treatment and expressing admiration.

I also stood up from where I was sitting and tidied up my seat.

The spirit just before was the last treatment, and I treated 16 spirits at this meeting alone.

“Now, there will be no more spirits to be treated in Sukigawa Domain.”

If it had been a truly critical wound, he would have died long ago, and if it had been a minor wound, he would have recovered through his own recovery power.

Moreover, with Yamato doing the screening on my behalf, the number of people coming for treatment has decreased.

“Are you finished with treatment? Thank you for your hard work.”

The toad spirit, Oogamanushi, approached me.

He originally only said hello to me, but after seeing my healing abilities, he approached me in a friendly manner.

“Yes. Now that I have cured all the people I need to treat, I will also have to leave the church soon.”

“Oh my, I can’t believe you’re leaving. Many spirits will be disappointed.”

Oogamanushi then took his thick, very long tongue out of his mouth and wiped his face.

I answered calmly because I was used to it because I had seen many strange actions of other youkai spirits.

“Okay. There are a lot of people who don’t like me, so it would be better if they didn’t talk behind my back.”

Representative examples include Hidarugami, which was applied to me, and a spirit that was refused treatment by Yamato.

And Mizuchi, the head of the shogunate faction, glared at me as if I would kill him when I rejected his offer.

He offered 500 people and land to come under his wing. If it were another spirit, I would have been tempted, but it wasn’t for me, so I declined.

“But before I go, I’ll say hello to Makoto and then go. He secretly talks about things like that.”

“I know that too. I was already planning to go see him.”

Because I need to learn Shinto-ryu.

While I was walking towards the guest room with Oogamanushi, I noticed a commotion in a corner of the Daisha Shrine.

“Hmm? What is that?”

Mizuchi, the leader of the shogunate faction, other small shomyō names, and even the Yamato I was looking for were gathered together and talking among themselves.

What you hear at first glance is…

“Hunting…hunting?”

“Hmm? Oh, is it hunting? Looks like you’ve decided what to hunt!”

Oogamanushi drooled and savored his appetite.

On my way here, I also heard what hunting was.

A hunting competition where you catch and kill monsters in a specific area and absorb their spirituality.

There is nothing wrong with spirits building up their spirituality, and it is a hunting competition held every 10 years to feast on meat.

To be honest, when I first found out that such a thing existed, I was relieved because I could have been the target.

When I look at the place where the spirits are gathered,

For a moment, I made eye contact with Mizuchi.

A mean smile that can be felt even though it has a grinning, snake-like face.

I felt an ominous, extrasensory sensation.