Honkai Impact

Because in their eyes, her words were divine pronouncements, the representatives of the gods in the village. Digging wells, standing guard at night, even commanding the squads—wasn't all of this done because of her ability as a "shrine maiden" to communicate with the gods?

Some things are better left unsaid.

night.

Yae Ji told Sakura about her plan.

Yae Sakura became restless after hearing her brother's plan. Her big eyes were full of worry. "Brother, will this work? I'm not a shrine maiden yet, and I don't know how to communicate with the fox god."

"Try to communicate first. After two days of communication, I will change into a shrine maiden's outfit and pray to the fox god. If nothing unexpected happens, proceed according to my previous plan."

"If Coco the Fox God punishes my elder brother, then..."

"It's better than having those old geezers use Rin as a sacrifice!"

Sakura, kneeling opposite Yaeji, lowered her head, biting her lower lip tightly with her pearly teeth. The pale white lips on her lips soon turned a blood red.

Two small hands were clenched into fists and placed on the thighs, the shoulders trembling slightly.

"It's all because I'm useless. If I had become a priestess earlier, I could have communicated with the fox god."

Yae Ji hugged Sakura in her arms, "It's all those old geezers' fault, it has nothing to do with Sakura."

"elder brother."

"Ok?"

"We...we'll go and beg Father! He'll never let Rin be a sacrifice!"

Yaeji remained silent.

Do you think it's possible?

""

the next day.

Yae Sakura stopped training, changed into the attire of a candidate shrine maiden, and quietly prayed in the temple, hoping to communicate with the fox god.

Yae Ji explained the patrol team's situation to her father. Since the monsters that had been appearing recently were all low-level monsters, apart from the three unlucky ones who died in the patrol team at the beginning, everyone had developed a tacit understanding and could kill low-level monsters like wolf demons without taking any damage.

For this reason, Yae no Kami agreed to let Yae Ji travel with the patrol team.

That afternoon, Yae Kiyoshi went on patrol with Nozawa's team.

On the morning of the third day, another patrol team discovered a low-level demon and joined forces with Yae Ji's team to kill it. Because of the efficient division of labor, Yae Ji didn't even have a chance to test the [Assault Stream Slash].

"There are more and more of these strange things. Could it be that a great demon died somewhere and was devoured by those ferocious beasts in the mountains, and they all turned into lesser demons?"

"Who knows? You should ask the great Fox God about this."

"These low-level demons are too weak. Some large mountain beasts can rival them. They're only slightly stronger than corpse demons, tsk tsk."

Only Nozawa, with a solemn expression, came to Yaeji's side and whispered, "This is the third wolf demon we've hunted. Besides the wolf demon, there's only one wild boar demon. And this wolf demon looks very familiar to me."

Yaeji's heart stirred. "Tell me about it."

"Lord Ji, you should also remember that when we first killed a demon, a young man named Zuo died in the patrol team. Before he died, he used a knife to blind the left eye of a wild wolf. Look at this wolf demon."

Yae Ji glanced at it and, sure enough, there was a diagonal cut on the left eye of the dead wolf demon, which looked like it had been made by a human sword.

That's all the information?

"Hasn't Lord Ji noticed? Apart from the first time, when the wolf demon was accompanied by a large group of wild wolves, the other wolf demons have all acted alone."

Yae Ji muttered to himself, he had only encountered this twice, once with her and once without her. What was he supposed to say about it?

"So you suspect that these low-level monsters are being mass-produced by humans?"

Nozawa took a breath. "It may not be man-made, but mass production is very likely."

Yae Ji narrowed his eyes. Low-level monsters were rampaging around the village, and sometimes the patrol teams would accidentally let them escape. The only low-level monsters they had encountered, besides a wild boar, were wolves.

Why is the village in such a state of panic? Isn't it all because of these lowly demons? The villagers believe that digging the well has angered the gods, and this is their punishment, so they dare not drink the well water.

Without a fresh water supply, they had no choice but to request a sacrifice from the shrine. The large clans, for the sake of their land and their own interests, were all happy to sacrifice a completely unrelated little girl. No one wanted to lose everything for the year because of the fresh water issue.

The only one to be sacrificed was

And the old woman fueled the flames in order to cover up her own mistakes.

If these low-level monsters were indeed mass-produced, there must be a "source," and if they could eliminate that source...

"Let's come to the shrine tonight and discuss this."

Nozawa's eyes gleamed: "Yes."

It was night again, at a shrine, in a side hall.

The candlelight was dim, and two figures were reflected on the wall, appearing dark and distorted.

"The strongest elites in the team? But if we fail, even the Eightfold God Lord might not agree."

"If any monsters with three or more heads gather, we will return immediately and not take any more risks. We don't need to worry about Father."

Nozawa was undecided. "The captain is a loyal follower of the God Lord. If we want to take action, the God Lord will definitely find out."

"Are you listening to him or me?" The somewhat immature voice rang out again, yet it carried an inexplicable air of authority. "And as for the captain, I'll handle that."

Nozawa breathed a sigh of relief. "Then I'm relieved. When do we make our move?"

"The earliest is tomorrow afternoon, the latest is the day after tomorrow."

"it is good!"

Nozawa stood up and bowed to Yae Ji. "In that case, I won't disturb you any longer, Lord Ji."

"and many more!"

"Is there anything else, Lord Ji?"

"Have they caught the guy who filled in the well a few days ago?"

"They've been caught and are all being held in the village's warehouse."

"Heh~ It's alright, let our team members rest and let them go dig wells."

"Isn't this a bad idea? They'll probably resist."

"Resist? A beating will do the trick, and if one beating isn't enough, two beatings will do the trick."

"I understand."

Ps Keywords for this chapter:

[Clan] [Source] [Wolf Demon] [Mass Production] [Recommendation Vote]

(￣▽￣)~

Chapter Thirty-One: Today I Become a Shrine Maiden

"By the way, have you figured out Daisuke's situation yet?"

Nozawa frowned. "We've investigated. When Daisuke was a child, his father was killed by wild animals when he left the village. A few years later, his mother also died of illness. He and Ryo were childhood friends, and he only had two or three real friends. But we couldn't get anything out of them or find any clues. I sent two people to keep an eye on them."

"It's also possible that Daisuke secretly saw the well-drilling incident from somewhere."

"Yes, be sure to let me know if there's any news. Also, make sure to keep a close watch on that well."

"Yes!"

Upon hearing that the two had finished their discussion, the small figure outside the side hall hurriedly hid behind a large round barrel that was usually used to store grain piles.

The sky was dark, and Ye Ze was in a hurry, completely unaware that a petite figure was hiding behind the haystack.

Nozawa left, and Yaeji's mind was racing. It was true that Daisuke was taller than him, but in terms of combat strength, he was a joke. After the ritual, he ran out of the village and brought back a relatively fresh foreleg of a low-level demon, something that would have been impossible for Daisuke before.

Carrying something in the middle of the night, sneaking up to the well? What was he carrying? He can get the foreleg of a demon, so demon blood shouldn't be a big problem.

If that's the case

Yae Ji returned to the house. Rin, who had been unwell recently, was already asleep. Sakura, dressed in the attire of a candidate shrine maiden, knelt beside him, as if she had known he was coming.

“Brother, I was unable to communicate with the Fox God.”

"It's okay, take your time."

Yae Ji came to Sakura's side and ruffled her beautiful pink hair with her hand. "Prepare a candidate shrine maiden outfit for me tomorrow. I'll also go to worship the fox god."

Wearing a shrine maiden's outfit to worship the fox god was a test. Just like when the father and his two sons went to the temple to pray for seven days, if no disaster befell them during those seven days, it meant that the fox god tacitly approved of their actions.

They await Yae Ji's offering of prayers. If any calamity befalls Yae Ji within seven days, he will have no choice but to perform the ritual. The person chosen for the ritual cannot possibly be Sakura or Rin!

Otherwise, he would take Sakura and Rin to live in the big city and let those people fend for themselves!

Did they really think the patrol team could protect the area? Yae Ji, who had been hunting monsters with the patrol team these past few days, also witnessed the patrol team's limitations.

If a powerful monster were to arrive, they would be unable to defend themselves and would have to rely on the village's shrine maidens for protection.

After making up her mind, Yaeji fell into a deep sleep.

In his dream, he dreamt again of that magical other world. In this other world, humans, with mortal bodies, controlled destiny. They manipulated thunder and rain, seemingly omnipotent.

Even more powerful weapons are capable of moving mountains and burning seas!

The gods of that era were merely a form of faith, possessing no supernatural powers.

That's true. Humans can control "supernatural powers" on their own, so what's the point of having gods? To offer sacrifices to them? That would be utterly insane!

Yae-ji longed for this.

Early in the morning, while it was still barely light, Yaeyoshi got up to take a bath.

Yesterday, Yae Sakura took out a suitable candidate shrine maiden outfit to air it out, and today it will be just right for Yae Ji to wear.

After taking a bath, Yae Ji first went to the side hall where the spirit sword was enshrined, and then returned to the room. Looking at the shrine maiden outfit that Sakura had already prepared for him, his eyes twitched involuntarily.

He sighed. Anyway, this wasn't the first time he'd worn it. When he was a child, his mother had dressed him in a small shrine maiden outfit more than once.

First, there's the black lining that extends all the way to the neck, resembling a turtleneck sweater from another world, but even more like an assassin's mask; pulling it up can cover half of the face.

Yae Ji obediently put on the black inner lining, which was strange, retaining the high collar but without any extension on the arms.

Next is a pure white top, which also resembles a vest, except that this "vest" has an overlapping design in the front, giving it a very comfortable and aesthetically pleasing look. The large openings at the shoulder blades and even the neck of the "vest" are well hidden by the black lining, without revealing a single inch of skin.