The Exorcism Tale of Hachiman

"Well, then I'll leave it to you, Hachiman-kun..."

"Wait, hold on a second! What do you mean by going to school together?"

Hearing their conversation, Ilya keenly sensed a hint of danger.

If they go to school together, then it means there are at least two people in the group.

And her mother, Irisviel, is already so old that she obviously can't go to school, which means...

"I don't want to go to school!"

She grabbed Irisviel's slender waist and, in front of everyone, Ilya protested loudly.

"Ilia!"

If Irisviel were alone in a closed room with her daughter, suddenly having her hugged around the waist, she would naturally not feel uncomfortable at all.

But this is outside!

Feeling the tingling sensation from Ilya's clothes brushing against her smooth skin as she was being held tightly, Irisviel blushed deeply and quickly reached out to take her daughter's arm.

"Um, Ilya, kids your age all have to go to school!"

Completely surprised that Illya would have such a strong aversion to going to school, Hachiman Hikigaya softened his tone, trying to get her to accept the reality that children have to go to school.

"No, what's so fun about going to school? I want to stay home and play video games!"

Despite Hachiman Hikigaya's attempts to persuade her, Illya remained unmoved.

Ever since she discovered the new world last night, she has made up her mind to stay and explore that ocean forever.

As for going to school, something she'd never even heard of before, she didn't care!

Chapter 268 The Origin of the Killing Stone

"I've kept you waiting, Hachiman Hikigaya..."

At 3 p.m., in the Inari shrine closest to Chiba, the Inari deity, still dressed in a gorgeous kimono, looked at Hachiman Hikigaya sitting in front of her with a hint of resentment in her eyes.

Although for her, only a few days had passed since the two last met.

However, in such a short time, Hachiman Hikigaya's temperament underwent a dramatic change.

"It seems that Hachiman has correctly recognized his own strength."

Seeing the confidence that Hachiman Hikigaya exuded effortlessly due to his immense strength, Inari nodded in satisfaction.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

Hachiman Hikigaya was extremely grateful that Inari God sent reinforcements in time during the Holy Grail War.

"Actually, it's nothing serious. It's just that my partner suddenly went to another world, so I'm a little curious."

As Inari spoke, he carefully examined Hachiman Hikigaya's face.

Whether it was her imagination or not, she felt that the spiritual power in Hachiman Hikigaya's body was extremely abundant, giving her a sense of boundless power.

Is his spiritual power greater than mine?

The thoughts that subconsciously surfaced in Inari's mind surprised Inari.

Even though her power has fallen from that of a great deity to a level that can barely maintain that of a god due to the loss of many shrines and sources of incense offerings, she has not been able to do so.

However, the spiritual power within him should absolutely not be comparable to that of Hachiman Hikigaya, whose strength is only equivalent to that of a King.

"Hachiman-kun seems to have gained quite a few benefits in this other world."

Subtly concealing the shock on his face, Inari God brewed a cup of tea for Hachiman Hikigaya while inquiring about his experiences in the other world.

"Well, that's right."

With his right hand over his heart, recalling Alaya's expressionless face, Hachiman Hikigaya nodded vaguely.

As payment for purifying the Holy Grail, Alaya merged a pure part of the Grail into his heart, thus allowing him to continuously draw upon the Grail's magic even across worlds.

Simply put, he's now in a state of having unlimited mana.

However, he can keep this to himself; there's absolutely no need to tell Inari.

"I called you here today because I have something to tell you."

Seeing that Hachiman Hikigaya had no interest in discussing life in another world, Inari God decisively ended the reminiscing session and went straight to today's topic.

"notify?"

"That's right!"

Seeing that Hachiman Hikigaya had shown interest, Inari nodded and continued:

"Do you remember when one of my shrines was attacked? The perpetrators stole the items that contained my meager offerings from the shrine."

"Of course I remember that. Did something happen?"

"Actually, after these past few days of investigation, my foxes have already figured out why the culprit stole my incense offerings that day..."

When the incense offerings that had been stolen from him were mentioned, Inari God gave a bitter smile.

She was already struggling enough just to maintain the existing size of the shrine. Then, one-seventh of the incense offerings were stolen...

Nowadays, due to a lack of incense offerings, her power has begun to gradually decline.

Although all the Inari shrines in Chiba City have been taken back, there will be a long period of time before they can be put into operation, and before they can regain the worshippers and incense offerings.

If anything happens during this time, we'll probably have to rely entirely on Hachiman Hikigaya.

"So the reason is?"

Hearing that Inari could not provide him with effective help, Hachiman Hikigaya's mind did not change much.

After all, from the moment he met Inari, it was actually the foxes under Inari's command who provided him with the main assistance.

The trouble he encountered was far from being so serious that it required the intervention of the Inari God!

"You should know about the Killing Stone, right?"

"Of course!"

Hachiman Hikigaya nodded.

A piece of the Killing Stone, which he obtained from the system, was fused into his heart.

Thanks to that small stone, his body's self-healing ability is now nothing short of abnormal.

"Do you know the origin of the Killing Stone?"

Fiddled with the teacup in front of him, Inari God hesitated for a moment and asked.

"I don't know that."

"The Killing Stone is actually a heart. But not a human heart, but the heart of a demon..."

When the Killing Stone was mentioned, a trace of reminiscence flashed across Inari's face.

When the true owner of the Killing Stone was still alive, she wasn't in this state where she could only eke out a living in the shrine.

Back then, she was the true Inari deity who ruled over the harvest!

"For some special reasons, that demon was destroyed by our gods along with human forces. However, its heart, which was the source of its power, was found to be indestructible. In addition, after the humans discovered that its heart could provide many benefits, the demon's heart was called the Killing Stone and passed down through generations."

"May I ask the name of that ghost?"

Upon hearing Inari God's account of what sounded like a record of slaying monsters and obtaining treasures, Hachiman Hikigaya's forehead creased with a few black lines.

"You should be quite familiar with this; it's a nine-tailed fox."

"It does indeed feel very familiar..."

Upon hearing the ridiculously ridiculous name of the demon, Hachiman Hikigaya's lips twitched involuntarily.

A nine-tailed fox.

This creature was more than just familiar to the Japanese; it was practically a well-known legend.

"So that guy stole the incense to revive the nine-tailed fox?"

The mention of the nine-tailed fox, especially a dead one, coupled with the fact that Inari specifically summoned him for a talk, made Hachiman Hikigaya realize that he had a pretty good idea of ​​the truth.

"Your wisdom truly amazes me..."

The Inari Goddess clearly hadn't expected that Hachiman Hikigaya would have guessed what she was going to say before she even opened her mouth.

However, after a moment of slight surprise, Inari God was relieved.

After all, if Hachiman Hikigaya was able to predict this in advance, then he should have been prepared for dealing with the Nine-Tailed Fox as well...

"No, actually anyone in Japan who enjoys reading light novels even a little bit could have guessed this based on what you said before."

As soon as the Inari myth was finished, Hachiman Hikigaya explained with an expression that was hard to describe.

The boss resurrection trope, which is already commonplace in the light novel world, would be even stranger if he couldn't guess it.

Chapter 269 An Interlude on the Way to School

"light novel?"

As an ancient relic who has lived for countless years, Inari God still felt quite novel when he suddenly heard a word he had never heard before from Hachiman Hikigaya.

"As for light novels... well, never mind, they're just a type of erotic reading material anyway."

Seeing the questioning look in Inari's eyes, Hachiman Hikigaya was about to explain to him in detail what light novels are.

But then I thought about it again, and it would be really weird to introduce a light novel to a god!

To avoid any strange trouble, Hachiman Hikigaya decided to keep quiet.

In any case, Inari God would definitely not be interested in light novels that are basically used as toilet paper.

"To put it simply, is that guy who stole the incense about to resurrect the nine-tailed fox?"

Although it sounds like a rather old-fashioned premise.

However, according to Inari God, that nine-tailed fox was a great demon that existed during Inari God's peak period, and it was only by the combined efforts of the gods and humans that it was finally destroyed.

Needless to say, the nine-tailed fox is extremely powerful.