The Exorcism Tale of Hachiman

"Thanks to you for returning the tail earlier."

He nodded slightly to Hachiman Hikigaya, then Inari focused his attention on the large hole in the sky that had been torn open by the nine-tailed fox.

"Did it escape through here?"

The lingering scent at the cave entrance confirmed the other party's identity to the Inari God.

After realizing that the other party had escaped into the spatial turbulence and could not be pursued, the Inari God's face showed worry.

"It's all my fault for arriving too late. If I had arrived when you were fighting it, we could have joined forces to take it down."

"Speaking of which, Inari God, why did you arrive so late?"

Hachiman Hikigaya didn't mean to blame Inari for being late when he asked this question; he was simply curious.

After all, foxes can be found everywhere in Chiba now.

In this situation, the reaction of Inari God was so slow, which was really unusual.

"I'm sorry, it took a long time for the tail to accept and absorb the power inside."

Upon hearing Hachiman Hikigaya's question, Inari God's face showed a hint of helplessness.

After obtaining the lost tail from Hachiman Hikigaya, she happily began her seclusion.

And who could have imagined that Chiba would encounter such a mishap during such a short period of seclusion?

In fact, she hadn't fully reconnected the tail yet, but she stopped her breakthrough to help because she heard that her sister was in danger.

"This isn't your fault. After all, I didn't expect those guys to target Komachi..."

During their conversation, Hachiman Hikigaya deactivated the spirit-locking array, and the two returned to the main world.

"Speaking of which, Hachiman really cares a lot about his little sister."

Following Hachiman Hikigaya to Komachi's side, the Inari God immediately saw through the immense spiritual power belonging to Hachiman Hikigaya hidden within Komachi's body.

While marveling at Hachiman Hikigaya's willingness to devote so much power to protecting his sister, Inari God couldn't help but admire Hachiman Hikigaya's courage.

After all, if he were to distribute so much power, what he himself would retain would be...

"Well, this amount of spiritual power is just what you'd expect from your adorable little sister, right?"

Holding Komachi in his arms, Hachiman Hikigaya stroked her hair tenderly while regretting that he hadn't taken more precautions to protect her.

"This...this little bit?"

Upon hearing Hachiman Hikigaya's description of the spiritual power within Komachi, Inari was momentarily at a loss for words.

Although it was only a cursory glance, the total amount of spiritual power within Komachi's body was at least at the Emperor level.

This is why Sanzu River and Hirokomachi were unable to do anything before.

Looking at the Inari Shrine as a whole, it is shameful, but Inari herself has not spared any power exceeding that of a king for any fox.

After all, her shrine is vast and powerful; if every fox possessed that much power, even with her strength nearly restored to that of a mid-level god, it would still be far from enough...

Is there a problem?

Seeing Inari's reaction, Hachiman Hikigaya couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.

For gods, shouldn't the spiritual power at the Emperor level be insignificant?

"No problem... Come to think of it, I just realized that Hikigaya-kun's spiritual power is quite... vast."

Seeing Hachiman Hikigaya's innocent expression, Inari's face turned strange. Then she noticed a small detail she had previously overlooked—generally speaking, after a fierce battle, Hachiman Hikigaya's aura should have decreased significantly due to the large consumption of spiritual energy.

However, Hachiman Hikigaya, despite having just fought a fierce battle with the Nine-Tailed Fox, had a rosy complexion and a majestic aura, showing no signs of having just been in a fight!

"It's just a small trick."

Hachiman Hikigaya smiled at Inari, then carried Komachi to Totsuka Saika's side and began to check on her condition.

"Well, it's probably best not to touch her right now..."

Just as Hachiman Hikigaya reached out to Saika Totsuka, Inari, sensing something was amiss, tried to stop him, but Hachiman had already touched Saika's body.

"boom!"

With a soft explosion, the bracelet on Totsuka Saika's left hand shattered into several pieces.

"......"

"That's why I told you not to touch her for now."

Seeing that the bracelet had cracked, Inari God raised his hand to cover his forehead and said.

"I didn't expect it to break."

Looking at the fragments of the bracelet scattered on the ground, Hachiman Hikigaya was somewhat amused but not particularly surprised.

After all, it was just an early-game item priced at 1300 spirit coins, yet it managed to delay a ghost god for several minutes...

Compared to feeling sorry for the broken bracelet, Hachiman Hikigaya was more worried about the safety of Saika Totsuka, who had been chosen by the bracelet as her battle vessel.

However, when Hachiman Hikigaya probed Totsuka Saika's body with his spiritual power to check her condition, his expression suddenly became strange.

No.......

As the name suggests, something about Totsuka Ayaha's body has disappeared.

"System, what's going on?"

Feeling as if countless crows were flying overhead, Hachiman Hikigaya immediately asked the system why Saika Totsuka had become like this.

Although he had indeed fantasized about Totsuka Saika being female, he never said he would actually make up for God's regret!

And what should he do when Totsuka Saika wakes up? No, how should he explain it to her?

Tell her that you accidentally broke the bracelet, so congratulations on becoming a girl?

This is something that no normal person could accept!

The bracelet suffered irreparable damage before the target exited their transformed state. Therefore, the target's body is now implicitly in a transformed state.

After a period of silence, the system's explanation finally arrived, and after explaining why Totsuka Saika had become the way she was, it thoughtfully added a sentence for the first time.

[Given that the target is just an ordinary person with limited capacity to cope, a further shift is not possible.]

"........"

Chapter 342 The Other Side of Inari God

"Well......"

Just as Hachiman Hikigaya was confused by the system's words, Saika Totsuka suddenly let out a soft moan and opened her eyes.

"........."

The two looked into each other's eyes, watching Totsuka Saika's expression change from initial confusion to astonishment, and then to shyness.

Perhaps it was because she had become a woman, but Hachiman Hikigaya increasingly felt that Saika Totsuka possessed a kind of magic that was 'Hachiman Hikigaya's charm'; just their eyes meeting made his heart pound wildly...

"He's a man."

Taking a deep breath, Hachiman Hikigaya mentally told himself this.

However, whenever he thought this way, the words the system had just spoken would immediately flash through his mind.

"Since you can no longer become a man, then there's nothing wrong with being a woman, right?"

A dangerous thought suddenly took root in Hachiman Hikigaya's mind, and upon realizing this, Hachiman Hikigaya began banging his head against the ground in an attempt to bring himself back to his senses.

"So humans really are all idiots..."

Looking at Totsuka Saika, who was lying on the ground and looked panicked as she realized the changes in her body, and Hikigaya Hachiman, who was banging his head on the ground, Inari, the spectator, couldn't help but shake his head.

As a god who has lived for thousands of years, how could she not know what Hachiman Hikigaya was thinking?

but.....

The Inari God narrowed his eyes as he turned his gaze to Totsuka Saika.

Upon closer inspection, the human who could disturb Hachiman Hikigaya's mind was quite talented for her.

Although it is unclear what her condition was when she was male.

But now, that innocent expression on her face, enough to melt anyone's heart...

"It's such a shame she didn't become a shrine maiden."

For the first time in a long time, the thought of taking humans as her priestesses arose in Inari's mind.

"And if I were to take her as my priestess..."

After glancing at Totsuka Saika, Inari turned her gaze to Hachiman Hikigaya, who had calmed down.

It's obvious that Hachiman Hikigaya has feelings for Saika Totsuka.

However, due to issues such as unknown ethical constraints, he restrained his inner impulses.

However, if Totsuka Saika becomes the shrine maiden of Inari Shrine, these problems can be almost easily solved.

After all, once she became a shrine maiden, Totsuka Saika's former human identity no longer held much significance.

Without the barrier of her human identity, and with her suggestion...

"They'll probably accept it, right? After all, they already had something to hide, and it was an ally who proposed it..."

Holding her hands, the Inari God's tail swayed unconsciously as she pondered the problem, completely ignoring the horrified look that Totsuka Saika was giving her.

"Hachiman, which one is that?"

Barely recovering from the shock of transforming herself into a girl, Totsuka Ayaka looked at the Inari deity not far away and instinctively leaned on an acquaintance beside her.

"Huh? Totsuka, you can see her?"

Upon hearing Totsuka Saika's words, Hikigaya Hachiman suddenly turned around and stared at her in surprise.

Because the bracelet was damaged, some of the spiritual energy remained within her body.

The system's voice promptly interrupted the broadcast.

What followed was Totsuka Saika's definitive statement.

"Such a big person standing there, how could I not see him?"