The Exorcism Tale of Hachiman

Hachiman Hikigaya's face was filled with curiosity.

Could it be that the man in the trench coat and the Inari god...

"Is the tail in your hand nice to touch?"

"It does feel quite comfortable to touch."

"Right? I thought so too a hundred years ago."

"........."

.

After leaving behind one of Inari's tails, the man in the trench coat vanished in a flash before Hachiman Hikigaya's eyes.

Along with him, the humanoid mark on the ground that had been pressed down by Hachiman Hikigaya also disappeared.

If it weren't for the excellent feel of the tail in his hand and the surging silver power within his body, Hachiman Hikigaya would probably have thought that what had just happened was nothing but his imagination.

"So, are we going to the shrine to return the tail next?"

Thinking about what he had to do next, Hachiman Hikigaya shrugged, then picked up his luggage and continued walking home.

Chapter 326 Don't Touch Your Hands If There's Nothing Wrong

Around 7 p.m., at an Inari shrine on the outskirts of Chiba City.

When Inari saw the familiar tail in Hachiman Hikigaya's hand, his dignified expression instantly crumbled.

"Mr. Hachiman, where did you get that tail in your hand?"

This was the first time Hachiman Hikigaya had ever seen Inari grit his teeth like this.

Not only Inari, but everyone in the entire shrine except him changed color when he revealed the tail that the man in the trench coat had given him.

"This was given to me by the person I met on my way home."

The man in the trench coat explained a lot of information to Hachiman Hikigaya throughout the conversation, but he did not reveal any information about himself.

However, judging from the reaction of the Inari God, it is clear that even if he did not say the name, the Inari God knew who the person he was talking about was.

"Is that so?"

Upon hearing Hachiman Hikigaya's words, Inari God lowered his head and pondered for a while.

When she looked up again, the strange emotions she had shown earlier had been completely suppressed, and there was no sign of anything amiss.

"Thank you so much for bringing my tail back."

With graceful movements, he pulled the wooden box containing the tail to his front. Feeling the familiar aura emanating from the box, even Inari, who had lived for nearly a thousand years, couldn't help but feel excited.

After all, for a fox, the more tails it has, the stronger it is.

Moreover, the tail that she regained also contained immense divine power, enough to change her current predicament and restore her strength to a new level!

"No need to be so polite, I was just doing this for someone else."

When faced with Inari's gratitude, Hachiman Hikigaya was already adept at offering polite words of thanks.

However, perhaps because the return of the tail was too important, for the first time, Inari God did not chat with Hachiman Hikigaya, but quickly got up and left after expressing his gratitude.

"Lord Hikigaya, this way please."

Since Inari left early, the task of receiving Hachiman Hikigaya naturally fell to the head priestess.

Pushing open the wooden doors and windows, the chief priestess invited Hachiman Hikigaya to a small tea room in the shrine, and then disappeared for a short while.

When the chief priestess reappeared in the room, she was carrying a small wooden box with an extremely antique style.

"Thank you again for returning Lord Inari's tail. Please accept this small gift."

As she spoke, the chief priestess opened the wooden box to reveal what was inside, and then pushed it in front of Hachiman Hikigaya.

"this is?"

The wooden box was wrapped with a red fabric of unknown material at the bottom.

In the very center of the red fabric, a golden bead, about the size of an olive, rested quietly.

After obtaining the chief priestess's consent, Hachiman Hikigaya reached out and took out the bead, examining it in his hand.

The moment Hachiman Hikigaya touched the bead in his palm, he felt as if he had come into contact with an extremely vast ocean of divine power.

"A bead that stores extra divine power. I think Lord Hachiman will need it."

Looking at the beads in Hachiman Hikigaya's hand, the chief priestess's tone remained unchanged. On the contrary, the little foxes eavesdropping outside the door started scratching at the door in a panic.

"Wait a moment."

Hearing the creaking noise from her companion scratching at the door, the chief priestess frowned, apologized, and left the room again.

After several screams rang out, the room returned to silence.

"Wow..."

After dealing with the troublemakers, the chief priestess casually opened the door and walked in again.

She then knelt beside Hachiman Hikigaya and brewed him a cup of fine tea that she had just collected from the believers the day before.

"Well, I was just helping to deliver something back; you didn't need to go to such lengths."

Hachiman Hikigaya felt awkward watching the chief priestess serve him so respectfully.

"No, what you brought back is absolutely worth doing now."

Looking at Hachiman Hikigaya, who had seriously underestimated the importance of that tail, the chief priestess gently shook her head.

After acquiring that tail, Inari God's body was fully restored once again.

In this way, the Inari God wouldn't have to spend a lot of incense every year to prevent his power from being lost.

The incense saved, whether used to create new companions or to enhance the strength of these divine servants, would be of great benefit to the entire Inari Shrine.

Compared to the future prosperity of the Inari Shrine, what she is doing now is nothing at all.

"By the way, how did Inari lose his tail?"

Although the question was somewhat troublesome, the fact that the Inari god's tail ended up in the man in the trench coat's hands was like a tickling cat, making him very curious.

"It has been more than a hundred years since the Inari God lost his tail."

The chief priestess was clearly prepared for the question posed by Hachiman Hikigaya.

After all, if she were Hachiman Hikigaya, she would also be curious about this matter.

"A hundred years ago, a great battle broke out at the border of Kanto and Kansai, in which humans and gods joined forces to fight against evil spirits."

"As one of the few great gods in the divine ranks at that time, Lord Inari was naturally the focus of attention of several demons and gods."

"So the tail was lost in the battle?"

Hearing the chief priestess's account, Hachiman Hikigaya was somewhat confused.

This plot doesn't seem to match what the man in the trench coat said.

"Not really."

The chief priestess was not angry when she was interrupted by Hachiman Hikigaya. Instead, she waited until Hachiman Hikigaya finished asking his question before continuing to recount the subsequent developments.

"As a great god, Inari God's strength is beyond doubt. Even when surrounded by several demons, he still managed to achieve a remarkable victory with one death and several injuries."

"However, despite such a great victory, you were not without injuries. The demon that you killed, in its dying counterattack, injured the base of one of your tails."

"Then, just as the adult returned to the camp in his fox form, someone impulsively touched something!"

Even though he was certain that he wasn't the person the chief priestess was talking about, the chilling tone still made Hachiman Hikigaya shiver involuntarily.

"And coincidentally, right after that incident, the evil spirits' second wave of attacks came. Because he lost a tail, Lord Inari was ultimately unable to hold out until the end of the battle and was forced to flee here..."

As she recounted what happened next, the chief priestess's tone gradually became dejected.

Meanwhile, after hearing the whole story, Hachiman Hikigaya's face showed a hint of understanding.

Chapter 327 Is there no other way?

Ten o'clock at night.

After listening to the chief priestess recount the various tragic experiences he had encountered over the years due to the continuous decline in the power of Inari God, Hachiman Hikigaya left the shrine.

Shortly after he left, a golden glow suddenly rose above the Inari Shrine.

As the glow of dawn appeared, Hachiman Hikigaya could clearly feel the spiritual energy in the air rushing rapidly toward the shrine.

"Has your strength been restored?"

Remembering what the chief priestess had said before, Hachiman Hikigaya was not surprised by this strange phenomenon.

However, in the abandoned shrine on the other side, the nine-tailed fox who had helped Yotsuya Miko deal with the multi-armed evil spirit during the day became serious when she sensed the commotion.

Clearly, the Nine-Tailed Fox had not expected that Inari God would suddenly regain some of his strength.

"We need to get our payment as soon as possible..."

The nine-tailed fox's eerie voice echoed through the shrine.

As its sound faded, several blue butterflies that had been perched on the torii gate fluttered their wings and flew towards Tokyo in the distance.

...........

"Still not awake?"

Looking out the visiting window, Isayama Naraku, Isayama Yomi's adoptive father, gazed at Isayama Yomi lying motionless on the hospital bed in the room, his voice filled with exhaustion and worry.

"I'm sorry. We have already used the most advanced equipment in the world to examine Ms. Isayama's physical condition, but we still haven't found anything abnormal."

The attending physician, wearing a white coat, shook his head with a hint of apology, indicating that the hospital was powerless to help Isayama Yomi.

"Is that so? Thank you for your hard work."

The doctor's answer did not surprise Naraku Isayama.

After all, when Tsuchimiya Kagura brought Isayama Yomi back, he had already gathered all the physicians of the Isayama family to find out why Isayama Yomi had become like this.

As a last resort, I came to this hospital hoping that modern technology might be able to help.