Female Swordsman Training Dojo

Even without going as far as Tokyo, you can spend a day going out of the mountains and then take a bus to Osaka; there are plenty of factories there recruiting laborers, and apart from the elderly, both men and women can find jobs that pay much more than farming.

This is also the inevitable development of all rural areas in this era, or rather, during the industrialization period.

Even knowing this, seeing such a desolate and lonely scene still evoked a strange feeling in the group. Fortunately, they were all strong-willed individuals, and even the least capable Fujiwara Kaguya quickly whistled and regained her energetic self.

As Fujiwara Kaguya whistled, several barks suddenly rang out, quickly merging into a chorus. A more timid person might have been startled for a while. But Harunobu and his group were naturally unafraid. Let alone just a few dozen dogs, even a few dozen yokai here wouldn't be enough for them to kill—provided, of course, that their level wasn't too high.

However, the intense barking naturally drew the attention of the villagers. Harunobu and his group had only slowed their pace a few steps when a group of people emerged from a corner of the building, peering at them. Naturally, the first person they saw was Hirako, who was leading the way; one of the young men at the head of the group even recognized her unexpectedly.

"Hirasakiko? Are you Hirasakiko?"

Hirako hadn't been back for ten years, and she hadn't thought anyone would recognize her anymore, but to her surprise, she was actually recognized.

However, she disliked the man's overly enthusiastic tone, so she deliberately added a touch of coldness to her gaze: "Hmm, who are you?"

“It’s me, Genzaburo.” The young man patted his chest, speaking with unwavering enthusiasm as if oblivious to Hirako’s coldness. “Why are you back? Did your father send you back and…”

Harunobu put his arm around Hirako's waist, interrupting the young man: "Sachiko, who is this?"

"I don't know her, I don't remember." Hirako genuinely didn't recognize her; all her playmates in the village were girls, and there weren't many to begin with. However, she had a general idea—it was probably some random promise her disgusting father had made up.

Thinking of this, Hirako's already cold gaze darkened even further. The noticeably low temperature made the surrounding villagers worried, and the few who had initially wanted to speak up for the young man fell silent. Only the young man remained, gritting his teeth and stubbornly holding on, making Harunobu wonder if he had cast some kind of spell on him.

"Or is it that my Sachiko is really that charming?" Harunobu whispered in Hira Sachiko's ear. The way the two were whispering intimately made the young man's face turn pale, and he even clenched his fists.

Judging from the attire of Qingxin and his group, especially the sword at their waists and the guns in their hands, the young man was clearly not truly out of his mind.

Yakumo Kurenai tugged at Harunobu's sleeve, then whispered in Harunobu's ear as he crouched down, "That man is suspicious. The way he looks at Sachiko-nee doesn't seem like he's looking at someone he likes."

The fox spirit's authoritative certification made Qingxin and the others more vigilant.

The author says:

Author's note: Just realized the timer is set for the 31st ≡￣﹏￣≡

Chapter 369: The Countryside is Messed Up

Qingxin certainly wouldn't go so far as to kill the young man to search his soul. The main purpose was to search...

Chapter 397

Soul magic is really expensive. Even with two skilled mages like Shiranui Ran and Yakumo Kurenai performing it, it still costs nearly 10,000 yen worth of materials. Many of these materials are rare items that are priceless on the market, so using them here would be a huge waste.

However, Harunobu didn't intend to ignore this suspicious point; all he needed now was a clue. So he said directly, "We are samurai sent by the government to exterminate monsters. We've heard there's a shrine here; please take me there."

As they were talking, Qingxin's gaze fell on the young man, and the others, unsurprised, stepped back, leaving only three or four people still following the young man.

Explaining to these villagers what "Exorcism Class" and "government special envoy" meant was troublesome; but explaining that they were samurai was very simple. The sword at their waist alone was enough to make them understand.

At the same time, their gaze towards Hirako Sachiko completely changed. The subtle sense of superiority that had previously been hidden in their eyes vanished, replaced by fawning and envy; some even revealed a poorly concealed fear and anxiety—the reason for which wasn't hard to guess.

The Taira family had gone to Tokyo with Asuka Eiko to cause trouble, but they were all wiped out; their property left in this village must have been disposed of long ago, but now Taira suddenly returned, and it seems she's become the woman of some important person...

"Who would bring so many women to exorcise a monster? I think you're the one who's more like a liar! Don't be fooled by him!"

The young man shouted loudly, his face flushed. Even without Yakumo Kurenai's prompting, everyone could see that something was wrong with him.

How could ordinary farmers be so disrespectful to men carrying swords? They wouldn't even dare to speak so loudly to the Yakuza. Unless they have some powerful backing, or some compelling reason to act this way...

Is it because of a yokai (supernatural monster), or because of a shrine?

These are probably the only two points worth noting from what Harunobu just said.

The thoughtful crowd paid no attention to the comical young man, but his silence was interpreted as guilt by the other farmers. Those worried that Hirako would retaliate later were the first to speak up and echo the young man, their loud voices causing the others to blindly follow suit; even the more intelligent ones wisely chose to remain silent.

Suddenly, Qingxin and the others seemed to become the target of everyone's criticism and were at a disadvantage.

The young man breathed a long sigh of relief. After calming down slightly, a greedy thought crept back into his mind. Perhaps he could use so many people to stall for time a little longer—

The sudden oppressive aura ended his reverie, and Susanoo's icy gaze silenced them like castrated roosters being choked.

The commotion vanished in an instant, as if the previous outrage had been nothing but an illusion, as if it had never happened. Those who had been so arrogant and shouting now all hung their heads like castrated roosters, their eyes glazed, filled with unease.

The one who suffered the most was naturally the young man who led the group. He received the most "gaze" from Susanoo; while the others remained silent, he was already trembling and almost collapsed. He didn't even have the thought or strength to run away; all that remained in his mind was fear and regret.

Mind control is so effective against ordinary people, let alone the mind control of Hirako, who is a Shintoist.

However, given Hirako's current personality, if she didn't want to break free from Harunobu's embrace, she would have already slashed him with her sword, either killing him or cutting off his tongue—after all, she didn't have a good impression of anyone in this village.

Harunobu was too lazy to dissuade Hirako from taking action, because these guys had already proven with their strength that they were no good; if Harunobu continued to show them kindness, wouldn't they have been bad guys for nothing?

Ping Dashanren could not stand such things.

"Let's go to the shrine."

Harunobu explained simply, and this time no one dared to object. The young man eagerly turned and walked out of the village, followed closely by the others. Harunobu and his group followed leisurely behind, forming two distinct groups.

Although they remained vigilant along the way, it was indeed quite boring. Harunobu casually brought up a topic: "Speaking of which, Sachiko, didn't you say that all the young people in the village have gone to work outside? But aren't there still quite a few young people left? And none of them seem to have any disabilities."

Hirako followed beside Harunobu, one hand on the hilt of her sword, ready to draw it at any moment, and answered Harunobu's question: "Because those guys are the so-called youth group, which is a group of unemployed vagrants who could turn into Yakuza at any time; they usually make a living by helping out with odd jobs in the village, so they are not bad helpers. However, as times change, there are fewer and fewer things they can do, so they almost always end up becoming violent groups."

Well, later, during the height of militarism, they turned into right-wing groups like the XX Army and XX Group in various villages and townships, with the main goal of launching a heavy attack on the villagers.

Thus, Qingxin's last shred of sympathy for them vanished. He yawned slightly, changed the subject, and started talking about the various garments that Tachibana Seiko had just finished. The bursts of cheerful laughter left the villagers leading the way with mixed feelings, while the young man at the very front was burning with anger.

Damn outsiders! Damn Hirako! They're only arrogant because they have swords! Wait till we get to the shrine, and we'll see if they're still so cocky in the face of the shrine maiden's divine power!

The young man felt a surge of excitement at the thought of the shrine maidens' magical powers. In his opinion, Harunobu and his companions were far too arrogant, but such haughtiness from samurai gentlemen was perfectly normal. He was also absolutely certain that the shrine maidens could easily subdue Harunobu and his group, and he was already imagining how the shrine maidens would torture the remaining women after dragging that arrogant man into the shrine.

Ha ha.

Just you wait, you bunch of bastards.

The young man's eyes gradually reddened as he drifted into his fantasies, but he himself was completely unaware of it. On the contrary, Yakumo Kurenai and Shiranui Ran looked over coldly and shook their heads in unison.

"The corpse is talking."

"Don't learn from the kitten." Harunobu patted Yakumo Kurenai's head. "What did you find out?"

“That young man who was leading the group just now has been cursed. His soul has been preordained, and he doesn’t even know it. What an idiot,” Yakumo Hong said disdainfully. “And the method was so crude. If we had come a few days later, that guy would have become a fool with only the instincts of an infant.”

Qingxin's eyes lit up: "Does this mean we've found a clue?"

"It's hard to say. Many spellcasters use this kind of magic, especially those in remote areas," Shiranui Ran interjected before Yakumo Kurenai could. "Human souls are very useful material, especially for mages who have gone astray."

"Two tigers cannot share one mountain. Even if they are both heretical, the Tongxin Society probably wouldn't allow other forces to establish themselves in their stronghold," Harunobu speculated, though he wasn't certain. After all, Osaka Prefecture isn't small; perhaps the Tongxin Society wouldn't care about such a remote and impoverished area?

But one thing is certain: there is definitely something wrong with the shrine here.

Harunobu looked up at the bright red torii gate that was faintly visible in the mountains and forests.

The author says:

Author's note: Only two days left, please vote!

Chapter 370: The Witch Forsaken by the Gods

After trekking for nearly an hour along the mountain path, Harunobu and his companions finally arrived at the first torii gate. The torii gate was already quite dilapidated, with many cracks and bird droppings stained on it, as if announcing to passersby that this place was remote and dilapidated.

However, it still blooms with a bright red color, as vibrant as leaping blood.

“Sir, this is the shrine…” an old man with gray hair cautiously spoke to Harunobu. Although he was behaving so humbly now, Harunobu remembered how this guy had shouted earlier, “You stray dogs from out of town, go back to your mother’s den!”

So he shook his head: "Move on, or stay here."

Chapter 398

The old man swallowed hard and retreated back into the crowd. They seemed to know what was about to happen; all the murmurs and complaints they had made along the way disappeared, leaving only their tense breathing and the sound of the mountain wind blowing through the deep forest.

One, two... thirteen. After passing through a total of thirteen torii gates, Harunobu arrived at the temizu-sha (purification basin) of Ame-no-Neonori Shrine. He looked down at the clear, mirror-like water, straightened the wrinkles in his clothes, and then turned to look at the seven shrine maidens who were walking out of the main hall.

This shrine is not large; it can't even compare to the large shrines in Tokyo, let alone the small shrines in Asakusa. Their temizuya (purification chamber) is right next to the last torii gate, and ten meters ahead of the temizuya is the worship hall where offering boxes are placed, and maybe three or four meters behind that is the main hall—there are no other buildings besides these.

Harunobu suspected that these shrine maidens didn't usually live in the shrine at all, but instead found other places to stay, since their attire made them seem very adept at finding lodging.

The classic red and white color scheme of the white shirt and hakama has been altered to make the pure and simple white shirt into a super small vest that exposes the neckline, armpits, and navel, revealing a large area of ​​pink and white skin while covering the truly fatal parts; the lower body is even more simply and brutally amputated, with the hakama hem just level with the secret garden, and you can even see the dark forest spreading outwards as you walk.

Moreover, these clothes, whether enchanted or made of some special material, were subtly transparent, making it seem as if one could see the pinkish flesh beneath with every movement. But upon closer inspection, one could never see clearly, even doubting one's own perception.

The glimpse of something, sometimes visible, sometimes hidden, only fuels the burning desire within.

Harunobu stroked his chin, feeling like he'd learned something. He'd ask Yakumo Red later if she knew anything about it, but it shouldn't be some particularly rare material.

As they gazed upon him, the scantily clad shrine maidens had already passed the drooling crowd and arrived before Harunobu. The shrine maiden facing Harunobu was the tallest and largest among them—standing at 1.6 meters tall and reaching a height of 36 centimeters—so she confidently held her head high, flashing Harunobu a sweet smile: "Welcome to Ame-no-Tama-no-Mikoto Shrine, samurai sir; what services do you require? Exorcism? Blessing? Or perhaps…"

While not as voluptuous as Hirako and Tachibana Seiko, her ample bosom, which surpassed that of Yakumo Kurenai and Fujiwara Kaguya, was deliberately accentuated by her clothing, firmly attracting Harunobu's attention. A smug smile appeared on the shrine maiden's face as her gaze swept over the women around Harunobu, finally settling on Hirako, who was dressed in a kendo uniform.

"Ah, Sachiko, you're back~" The shrine maiden's voice sounded strained, practically dripping with malice, "You've become so mature, I'm so envious~"

Hirayukiko looked coldly at her childhood friend, who had once been a fellow candidate for shrine maiden, her eyes filled with disdain as if she were looking at a clown: "Keiko, have you ever heard of the Doshin-kai?"

Keiko's smug gaze faltered slightly, not out of surprise or anything, but simply because she was puzzled by Hirako's nonchalant attitude. Clearly, she couldn't understand why the unassuming Hirako felt no inferiority upon seeing her so glamorous, but rather seemed to subtly look down on her. This greatly displeased her.

So she took a step forward, trying to press down on Harunobu: "Why isn't the samurai saying anything? Why don't you go inside the palace and talk things over?"

Harunobu didn't shy away, and even generously pinched Keiko's buttocks as she deliberately flattered him: "Hmm, quite bouncy~"

"Oh dear~" Keiko shrieked shyly, but kept burrowing into Harunobu's arms. And because of the height difference, her full breasts kept brushing against Harunobu's massive member, and his huge body made her eyes start to moisten.

However, driven by a strong competitive spirit, she successfully overcame her instinctive urge to directly pull down Harunobu's pants, and instead looked at Hirako with smug satisfaction. She wanted to see Hirako's unwilling and disappointed expression, but what she actually saw was only Hirako's disdainful look, and that disdain seemed to mean... that she didn't deserve her?

To be fair, setting aside the influence of magic, none of these shrine maidens could compare to Harunobu's harem.

Harunobu's large hand traced the curves of Keiko's body upwards, grasping her ample bosom. The strange feel of it instantly killed his interest—tsk, magical breast augmentation is one thing, but the result is so poor, not even as good as a single Yakumo Red.

Forget it, let's not try anything fancy.

Harunobu pressed his hand against Keiko's chest, looking down into her alluring eyes: "Hey, have you ever heard of the Tongxin Society?"

"N-no...never heard of it," Keiko murmured softly, her voice alluring and far more pleasant than her previous affected tone. She felt as if she had fallen in love with the man before her—such a strong body, such a huge endowment, and he was that Hirako's man—as she pondered this, her lower body began to drip wet.

Hirako shook her head with increasing regret. She had originally wanted to give her childhood friend one last night of passion so that she could die more comfortably—but the teacher's college had too many principles; such a bad woman shouldn't be wasted.

But now it seems that going to teachers' college was definitely the right decision. This kind of slut who gets horny at the sight of any man doesn't deserve to be near teachers' college at all. She'd be too dirty to even use her as a sex toy.

Harunobu glanced at his wife, who was always trying to corrupt him, checked the labels on the shrine maidens' heads again, and then shook his head: "Well, what a pity."

Keiko smiled charmingly and puffed out her chest: "Sir Samurai, are you disappointed that we're wearing clothes, or disappointed...?"

"The only regret of my family's teacher training school is that you, a useless piece of trash with poor skills, gave him such an experience." After a long period of preparation, Yakumo Kurenai suddenly pointed at Keiko's chest with both hands. A cloud of smoke suddenly burst from the full chest that Harunobu was pressing, and then the whole thing collapsed.

What was once a D-grade thunderbolt that couldn't be held in one hand has now become an A-grade fried egg that can't even fill the palm of your hand.

The scene immediately fell silent.

Keiko pouted, stamping her feet as if on the verge of tears, "Why...why?! If you like me, Samurai-sama, we have some here too!"

Indeed, there is a shrine maiden who looks a few years younger than Yakumo Kurenai, but just like this fox spirit, she only looks young.

Harunobu gently took Keiko's hands: "I like older women, but I have a friend who doesn't like the names you use; besides, I'm Sachiko's husband, I can't keep a bunch of guys who still want to hurt her around."

As they spoke, Harunobu had already broken Keiko's hands, which were trying to cast a spell, while the others rushed toward the remaining six shrine maidens and successfully knocked them to the ground—just in case, it would be better to take them back and interrogate them.

Just as Harunobu and his companions defeated the seven shrine maidens, a distinct magical fluctuation suddenly emanated from the six corners of the shrine; then a clear magic circle appeared on the ground, a large circle with an inscribed six-pointed star, which enveloped the entire shrine in the blink of an eye.

"What kind of magic is this? It actually managed to deceive my senses." Yakumo Kurenai's eyes widened, shame and anger surging up at the same time—to be ambushed with magic in front of Harunobu was the ultimate insult!

I'm going to blast these lewd witches apart!

Despite her inner rage, Yakumo Kurenai did not lose her composure. Rather than attacking the spellcasters scattered at the six points of the hexagram, the most important thing now was to destroy the magic circle and protect Harunobu.

Without hesitation, she revealed her true form as a fire fox, and her magical power surged forth—

Tokyo, Ame-no-Neonori Shrine.

The shrine maiden, who was studying Asauchi, suddenly sensed something and looked in the direction of Osaka; her willow-leaf eyebrows lifted slightly, revealing a hint of joy.

"This must be what Harunobu meant by 'a pillow sent when you're sleepy'... Oh well, it's a good opportunity to test my knife."

It lightly skimmed through the air, and suddenly strands of transparent silk appeared from the sky.

Chapter 399

It breaks, then disappears.

At the Ame-no-Nyo Shrine in Osaka, the six-pointed star magic circle that had just lit up and was flowing with a large amount of magical power in an eerie way suddenly went dark. No matter how much magic the shrine maidens in the shadows poured into it, there was no reaction. In fact, after several attempts, a loud noise suddenly came from outside the shrine.