>>22129 Thanks.
And happy new year guys!
---
You point the new notebook to her; not to brag, but to show that the lord herself gave you her fabulous book. Wait, that's bragging...
“Well, I see you've got yourself a new notebook...” She takes it and examines it. “I assume the meeting went well. Would you like to tell in details what she said to you?”
---
You describe everything that the lord said to you, or at least what you can remember from it.
“Hm, she really acts like that?” Kanako asks. “I chose to keep the formality when asked the same question. She shrugged and carried on with the conversation in formal manner.”
Well, kind of expected from Kanako, but maybe she can handle lord Tenma if she chooses to carry on the conversation in informal manner, seeing how Suwako is more leeway than her... Kanako continues reading.
“She took off her mask? That's... I don't know. She didn't take off her mask for me... Good for you, I guess,” Kanako reads your story again. Maybe you should ask her about the reactor now... You point her the part where the lord mentioned nuclear reactor.
“Oh, she told you that, huh...” Kanako sighs. “It's incorrect to call it a nuclear reactor, it's a geyser center. We're conducting some research and experiments in there, too. One of them is a cold fusion reactor.”
Wait, 'we'? And cold fusion? How does it work?; Why gods need it anyway? You take your notebook back and write your questions.
“Well, first... There's concern about the lack of energy... And we have to power the electricity in the shrine,” she explains. “And when I said 'we', I meant the kappas, Sanae, and Suwako too. Yes, Sanae's smarter than girls of your age. Go ask her how it works, I don't feel like explaining it to you without showing examples...”
Alright, this sounds interesting... You ask her if she can include you in her project. Maybe you can learn something useful, and you need a job to do...
“No.” She flat-out rejects. Eh? “The place is infested by evil spirits, and we haven't driven them out. It's only a nuisance for us, but for you, it's asking for a death to come there. If you want a job, go with Sanae to the village. You can help her gather faith, or seeking some work while at it; There must be people who are willing to pay you for lending a hand to them.”
If she says so... Suicide is not on your to-do list, so it's better to heed her warning. It's surprising Kanako said that Sanae is involved in her research, doesn't she get burdened with her shrine maiden's tasks? You rethink that statement- What tasks? She's a goddess herself, not to mention you never spot her doing what shrine maidens do, like praying, or rituals... So she must have had a lot of free time to stud-
*Bam!*
You hit a tree in front of you. Ouch.
“Focus, Nobu,” Kanako looks at you and resumes walking. How dares this tree stand in your way? You kick the tree in anger- OUCH. Now the pain transferred from your face to your feet.
---
You arrived back to the shrine. You can see Sanae walking on a different road to the shrine, with a pink haired woman, in chinese dress and a bandaged hand. She goes away as soon as she notices you and Kanako are in front of the shrine's gate.
“Welcome back. How's today?” Kanako asks.
“Not bad!” Sanae smiles, and looks to you. “Instead, how about the meeting? Did it go well?”
“It did. Let's go inside first, it's going to be dark soon,” Kanako tells her. You need to refill your stomach now...
---
“She's really that leeway?” Sanae asks after reading your story. You nod repeatedly to her. “I thought meeting with a lord will be...”
“Plain?” Suwako guesses while chewing her meal. “Come on Sanae; We're goddesses, but we talk to each other and to Nobu like normal people. You shouldn't get surprised by this.”
“You're right... I can't just judge someone by their title,”
“Anyway, he's looking for a job,” Kanako puts down her finished bowl. “Do you know if there's something that he can do in the village?”
“I dunno. I don't really need help whith collecting faith, and if he will have a job in the village, it'll be dangerous for him to come back and forth everyday between the mountain and the village, maybe he's safe while on the mountain, but there's a considerable length between the village and the mountain. I can't carry him to the village everyday-”
“Sanae...” Suwako stares at her.
“Sorry... I mean, there must be another alternative. How about helping Nitori? She said that he can visit her again. Maybe he can learn something-”
“Tomorrow we'll go to the geyser center, remember? So she'll be unavailable,“ Kanako tells her. “Show him the way to the village tomorrow, then meet me at the base, okay?”
“Fine... But,” Sanae looks to you. “I'll tell you how to survive first, so listen to me! First, don't get fooled by appearance! Most youkai are human-like in look, so be prepared if you feel anyone watching you!”
Human like? You remember what the lord said about most youkai being forced to take human form as a part of the seal... Alright, you open your notebook and write it in.
“Second, even when you're healthy now, do
not even begin a fight with those youkai if you happen to meet one. Even the village guards who are stronger than you can get overwhelmed easily by one, so run quickly to the village or back to the mountain and find a white wolf tengu patrol quickly. Of course, there are some youkai that don't attack humans like the one on this mountain, but do not take your chance!”
You write it in again. It's not like you want to fight those youkai... Youkai that you've met until now had no intention to kill you, so maybe you can talk to them. But, just in case...
“I think that's it. Remember those, okay? I don't want to find a body half-eaten by one of those youkai...Now, go to sleep. I'll show you the shortest path tomorrow,”
Yes, ma'am. You step outside and walk back to your room. Let's hope tomorrow Sanae's fear won't become true...
---
“Hoam... All the dishes washed...” Sanae informs the other goddesses.
“Good! You better sleep now. Remember, make sure to pick the safest route for him tomorrow!” Suwako reminds her.
“Yes... Even though there's no road thats 100% safe for him...” She mumbles and steps out, leaving Kanako and Suwako in the room.
“Suwako... I need to tell you one thing...” Kanako pours some tea for herself and Suwako. “Nobu... He's related to Sanae from the past, before we took her in...”
“Huh? Are you sure?”
“Yes. Yukari gave him the photo; I saw it myself. It's clearly Sanae.” Kanako puts the photo on the table. “She can't remember him, and he doesn't discuss it any longer, so it's safe for now. I'm afraid she'll remember it too once he regains his memory...”
“That's inevitable, isn't it? I mean, she
has to know the truth one day...”
“Perhaps, but Suwako, don't you remember her reaction years ago?”
“It's different now. She must be able to handle it herself now...” She quickly drinks her tea and steps outside. “I'll go to sleep. Let's not think about what will happen. Better focus on tomorrow's research on...What is it?”
“High temperature superconductor materials.”
“Yeah, better focus on that. Good night, Kanako.”
“Good night,” Kanako drinks her share of tea. “I know Yukari had something on her mind while sending him here...”
---
You stand up in the middle of the road. It's really dark...
*Taptaptap!*
“That human looks delicious...”
A woman steps out from the darkness.
“He doesn't look muscular, so his meat will be easy to chew!”
Another woman steps into your sight.
“Why waiting then? Let's eat him now,”
This is bad... You run away following the roa-
*Bruk!*
“Gotcha!” She appears in front of you and grabs you. Oh shit mother-of... You try to break free from her grip, but she's too strong... She instantly bites your arm. Another woman grabs your leg and tears a bit of flesh from it...
Goodbye cruel worl-
---
“Nobu!!!!”
You rise from your bed. Sanae's sits besides you... You check your arm and leg; Looks good... That was a dream? Thank goddesses...
“Nobu, you look pretty pale... are you sick? Did you remember something again from your dream?” Sanae asks. No... That's definitely not another piece of your memory; The dream's too blurry, but you must admit that it scared the hell out of you... You write to her that you just had a nightmare, and she should not worry about it.
“Nightmare? What was it about?” She seems interested in it... You scribe how you tried to run away from a group of youkai, how they commented how delicious you are before they caught you and ate you.
“Urgh... That's horrible... Good for you, youkai usually don't move in groups. If two youkai are chasing you, maybe you can make them fight with each other, and you can slip away. I do hope you never meet one, let alone
two hungry youkai...” She then stands up. “I'll wait at the living room as usual.”
---
You eat your breakfast; Today, you're served with a fried egg with a bowl of rice. Tasty.
“So, Sanae... Do you have any idea where he should start?” Kanako looks at her.
“Like I said before, I dunno. There's farming, tree-cutting, taking care of animals... I can only think some hard labored work that'll exhausted him....”
“It'll exhaust him no matter how hard it is. The only important thing is if he has the will to adapt or not,” she drinks her tea.
“Yeah... Maybe you should start by finding Ms. Keine. She maybe has something for you.” Ms. Keine? Who's she? Puzzled, you look at Sanae . “Hmm, she's a teacher in the village, but also a historian. I dunno, she should know everything in the village and can fill you in, I guess. She has long silver-blue hair and wears a funny hat on her head, you can't miss her.”
Long silver-blue hair? That's pretty unnatural... Maybe she's a youkai too? Sanae stands up before you can write your question.
“Let's go! I'll show you the way by flying!” She says. You step outside with her, and hop onto her once she lowers herself.
“Waiiitttt!” Suwako's voice comes from one of the rooms. She runs towards you. “Don't forget to bring this!” She hands you a frog, the same that she gave to you previously, It automatically hops to your shoulder. She also gives you a... frying pan?
“Lady Suwako, he won't do cooking at the village!”
“Who said it's for cooking? It's for self-defense! I don't expect you to use it, but in case you're trapped by youkai, go smack that man-eater straight in their face!”
She makes a gesture of a league batter. Well, at least you have a weapon now... Sort of. Sanae sighs and flies with you.
“Goodbye! Good luck finding a job!”
---
Sanae points you many things that you can use to trace your way back home - road sign, stone mark... Before she lands in front of the group of buildings, surrounded by a tall wall. This must be the village.
“Nobu, I'll head away. Do you remember the way back?”
You nod. You remember all the things that she pointed... for now. You quickly make yourself a map on the book... She notices what you do and smiles.
“That's good! I'll go now. Good luck!” She flies away... That's the last time she'll see you... As an unemployed person. The guards stares you down, probably thinking 'what does this one-eyed all-green suit want to do in this village?', but let you in anyway. The security isn't as tight as in the tengu town, you don't know if it's good or not...
---
Now you stand in the middle of the village after walking aimlessly, unable to find something that you can do. Maybe searching for job is harder than it sounds...
[] Go find the teacher. It's better than walking around the village like a madman...
[] Continue wandering through the village. There must be something that you can do in here...
