Chapter 508 – [Sub Story] Teacher and I

000

The shikigami used to carry heavy loads return to their original form when Inari-sensei slaps his hand twice, making a popping sound on the spot.

The sky, the sky, I became a piece of paper that danced in the air, and I caught it without even realizing it.

“Tell me how to make paper shikigami too!”

“Later. Creating food souls is not that easy.”

At the teacher’s words, I answered while pouting my lips.

“Is it more difficult than the magic I’m learning now?”

“Umm…”

Seeing the teacher with a slightly troubled face and starting to think seriously, I first looked around.

A spacious, but empty mansion.

A mansion in the mountains, away from the brothel and away from the capital, Asteris.

In the past, it was said to be a secret place that was used as a training ground for yohos, but now a similar place has been built in the basement of the brothel, and it is said that this place is no longer used.

However, the only ones who know about this place are little older spirits like Inari-sensei.

It is a place only for us yohos who do not know this place, neither the king of Asteris nor the priestess.

When I think of that, my heart jumps a little.

“From today onwards, you will be staying here.”

“Yeah. I know. Is it because of the guys from the church?”

To tell the truth, I didn’t really like the idea of ​​hiding in the mountains so far away from Asteris, where everything was there.

I spoke while tapping the magatama hanging around my neck with my finger.

“Everybody, are you aiming for this treasure?”

“…Yes. That treasure is the most precious thing to the Yohos. If it falls into the hands of others, it has enough power to cause a great disaster.”

“Hakumen-sama’s Magatama…”

When he woke up after fainting due to exhaustion of his mana in the previous test, this was already hanging around his neck.

Tamamo-sama also told me not to separate it from my body even for a moment.

Thanks to this, even when taking a bath or sleeping, she could not take off the necklace.

However, I already fully understood the importance of this.

Like the leaf-shaped necklaces previously used for witchcraft training, this Hakumen-sama’s gemstone contained a tremendous amount of magic power.

So, it was an item that allowed me to continue to use witchcraft, even if I was a savannah yoho without a magical organ in my body, or yohos who couldn’t produce magic.

“But. Even so, isn’t it a bit much to keep it away from the body? It’s to the point of leaving a mark on my neck thanks to it.”

“So, don’t you have the neckband I gave you last year? What about that?”

“…I have it. I just don’t use it because my throat gets stuffy when I use it.”

The neckband that Inari-sensei gave me as a gift… It’s made of soft fabric and has magic on it, so even if I wear it for a long time, my neck doesn’t sweat.

But even so, the fact that I had to spend every day with something wrapped around my neck felt so frustrating to me.

Hearing my answer, Inari-sensei sighed, “Whew,” And smiled bitterly.

“Let’s clean things up later, and first of all, since we’ve been sweating all the way here, let’s wash our bodies first. There’s a hot spring here.”

“Spa!?”

When I raised my voice and jumped into Inari-sensei’s arms at the words I couldn’t let go, she lightly stroked my hair and headed for the bathroom where there was a hot spring together.

001

After lightly washing your body, soak your body in the hot spring, and the warm steaming water will cover your entire body.

Seeing that it was high up in the mountain, it melted the body as it was a little chilly.

Inari-sensei, who came in after me, also let out a long sigh as if the hot spring water was pleasant.

“Inari-sensei looks like a grandmother.”

“Because she’s actually my grandmother’s age.”

She laughed and accepted my words as they were.

I walked over to her and leaned her head on her shoulder her.

“Tamamo-sama said. Until I’m 15, I have to stay here with Inari-sensei, just the two of us.”

“Yes. Until the day I become an adult. Are you lonely?”

“Eh… I don’t have any friends in the brothel. I don’t care as long as I have a teacher and Tamamo-sama.”

It was sincere.

I am neither a Yoho nor a human. I have no mother or father.

The one who gave me a place to be was Inari-sensei, who recognized my magic talent.

And, Tamamo-sama, who entrusted Magatama to me as a goal to live for.

“Sensei, are you okay? Even if I can’t meet Tamamo-sama…”

I said that while thinking about the relationship between Sensei and Tamamo-sama.

The two seemed to be just friends now, but the eyes looking at each other were mixed with feelings that were more than just friends.

Tamamo-sama used a certain method to keep her appearance young, and Inari-sama has aged as it is, so the age difference between the two seems large, but I was surprised to hear that the difference was not that big.

Even when I asked other people about their relationship, if everyone gave a troubled smile, no matter how young I was, I could tell that much.

“It’s okay. For the next nine years… It’s not like she won’t be able to meet her at all during that time. And. It’s she who asked me to protect you.”

“Yes…”

She talked about it with a thin smile, but she still thinks it’s sad that she can’t be with the person she likes.

If I thought that I would have to spend a long time away from Inari-sensei, I might cry out of loneliness.

I looked at Hakumen-sama’s magatama floating on the water.

My mission that Tamamo-sama told me about.

To prevent Hakumen-sama’s Magatama from falling into the hands of dangerous guys like the Church.

In order to prevent the terrible things that could happen if the Magatama was passed on to them, I became the strongest sorcerer as Inari-sama’s disciple-

To become a shaman who protects the demons- and the continent from the cult guys.

“…I’ll do my best! Sensei and Tamamo-sama will become strong enough sorcerers to live in peace… I’ll protect them both…”

“…Whoops. That’s expected.”

The teacher’s smiling face, as always, was a little bit troubled.

For some reason, it was like I had never seen her smile her from the depths of her heart her.

So I-

“Teacher!”

“Yes?”

I smiled broadly at the teacher, as if asking him to follow along.

When I lifted the corners of her mouth with her fingers, she looked at me and smiled, much brighter than before.

002

A year had passed since she lived in the mountain mansion with her teacher.

During that time, I learned countless things from the teacher, and I realized that I had become quite strong.

“You’re amazing, Kuzunoha. You’re learning less and less from me.”

“Eh? But I haven’t learned how to make food souls yet… I don’t know how to pull out a few Killing Stones like you do.”

“Whoops. I see. Kuzunoha is very curious, so it’s worth teaching.”

The teacher stroked my hair as always.

“Now, it’s late today, so let’s go to bed early. Tomorrow, Tamamo said he would come and see the results.”

“Is Tamamo-sama coming? Yes! Okay!”

I gave a big nod and tried to go back to my room.

At that time, a presence was felt beyond the door of the mansion.

Thanks to you, I stop on my feet.

‘What? Is it the day that goods arrive from the village today?’

“Kuznoha?”

Apparently, Inari-sama didn’t notice the presence, and she looked in my direction.

“Sir. Someone is at the front door.”

“…”

At those words, the teacher’s face changed from a gentle smile until now to a stern one.

It was the same face as when looking at wild beasts and monsters in the mountains.

“…Inari, go back to your room. Don’t come out no matter what.”

“Uh…?”

“Hurry!”

After hearing the teacher’s loud voice, I flinched and trembled and tried to turn to my room.

Next moment, bang! That is, until you hear a bang and see the front door blown away.

“Kuh…! Exiled Church…!”

The teacher’s voice was clearly audible even amidst the sound of explosions.

When I turned my eyes toward the entrance, there were people standing there wearing masks that imitated animals wearing robes.

Smoke that could be said to be the reverberation of magic was rising from one of them.

“…Find the Yoho and the vessel. Destroy both and retrieve the ‘Magnet’.”

From that person’s voice, all I could understand properly was ‘Yoko’, ‘Destruction’, and ‘Recovery of Magatama’.

I quickly moved my hand and, with a spell, fired a fox-fire at the Exiled Church that was approaching me.

“Eat!”

The fire flies through the air towards the Exiled Church.

The opponent sees it and tries to avoid it by moving their body while kicking their tongue.

‘Fox fire is a sorcery that pursues the opponent forever…! It’s impossible to avoid!’

I was so sure that I would hit, and immediately prepared for the next spell.

“No, Kuzunoha! Run away!”

When I heard Master’s voice, the robe I was aiming for suddenly disappeared in front of my eyes.

It appeared right behind me.

“Bong, moving…?”

A principle not found in witchcraft – is this magic?

I struggled with the sensation of being grabbed by the neck right behind my back and being lifted up.

“I-let go…!”

“Kuznoha!”

When Inari-sensei’s urgent voice echoes, her tail her wiggles and the “Blue flames” Surrounding her feet her swirl and spin.

“For my father.”

However, the next moment, when I thought I heard such a voice, another member of the cult rushed at Inari-sensei from the side.

It was to throw oneself into the flames.

“What-!?”

Inari-sensei could not help but be taken aback by the cult member’s behavior of her.

Of course, that flame is not a mere illusion or a flow of magical power, but a flame with substance.

The moment a person’s body touches it, it is immediately eroded by flames and turned into ashes.

However-

The moment he died, the magical energy inside his body reacted like an explosive, causing an intense explosion that attacked Inari-sensei.

Quaang!!

And sounds and lights so powerful that they cover all senses, ears and eyes.

“Teacher!!!”

My voice jumps out like a scream, but the guy who was holding me starts to give strength to his hand as it is.

“Kahheuk…!”

Air does not pass through the throat.

My head and chest felt stuffy, and all my strength was drained from my body.

“Sssss, coots…”

Even the struggling body did not move anymore.

“Assin Hakumen’s medium… Retrieve this, to my father.”

And, in that state, I couldn’t shake the hand of the man who was trying to take the magat from around my neck…

But, next moment.

Roaring! Then, as the flames coming through the ground hit the man’s body, he screamed in agony and stepped back.

Thanks to that, the hand that was holding me was also released, and I was freed from the man’s hand and fell to the ground.

Breathing barely returned.

The man holding me had his right half engulfed in blue flames, and I immediately looked back.

There, in the aftermath of the explosion, Inari-sensei, who was wounded all over and bleeding from the corner of his mouth her, stood there with flames wrapped around his fingertips her.

“Kuzu…Noha…”

“Teacher!”

I got up and ran to the teacher’s side.

“Chi, cure… If you don’t call Tamamo…”

“It’s okay… It’s okay, come on, go back to your room and hide… I’ll take care of all these guys…”

As she said that, she glared at the man who had been holding onto me until now.

He somehow moved his body his even as his right half his burned, and took his horn from within his own bosom his.

“To think he didn’t die in the explosion just now… As expected, heretics are dangerous beings…”

He spoke so eloquently that he did not know how to speak-

He put the horn in his mouth.

“──”

I shrank at the sensation of intense magic power coming from the horn.

It seemed to be the same for the teacher as well, and it quickly came forward as if to embrace me.

“Teacher-!”

My voice is covered by the man’s horn.

And- the intense light that surrounds the eyes.

An intense chill enveloped the inside of the mansion.

003

The field of vision that was surrounded by light suddenly became dark.

Looking straight ahead, I couldn’t see the scenery of the mansion I was in until now, nor the appearance of the church.

Inari-sensei is just looking at me.

“Teacher! Are you okay!?”

When I tried to approach her while saying that, she responded with a smile.

“…Yes. I’m fine, Kuzunoha. Don’t worry.”

A kind smile as always – and a bitter smile that seemed a bit troubled.

She grabbed my shoulders and spoke while looking straight into her face her.

“…Kuzunoha. Listen carefully. It’s very important.”

“Yes…”

The teacher’s face was still smiling.

His voice her felt somehow sad—and above all, his body her was slowly becoming transparent.

I wanted to ask about it, but I just wasn’t in the mood.

“Kuzunoha. In the future, you may have several ‘opportunities to choose’. Each time. Many things will bother you.”

“…Torturing…?”

“Yes. But the important thing is how you want to do it. It’s okay to live for someone else. It’s okay to live for yourself. …Everyone has the right to live as they please.”

As a child, I had no idea what that meant.

“I-I want to live with Sensei… And Tamamo-sama.”

“…Don’t worry. I will always be with you.”

After saying that with a smile, she placed her hand on Hakumen-sama’s magatama that was hanging around her neck.

“If… Someday- if the day comes that you hate Tamamo… I just hope she can apologize to you…”

“Do I hate Tamamo-sama…? That, such a thing…”

Feeling somewhat uneasy about her words, I held onto the teacher’s hand her.

“…Is this the limit… I’m sorry Kuzunoha. Please forgive me for not being able to tell you the ‘truth’ until this happens.”

After that, the teacher’s body and her completely disappeared.

My eyes were once again blurring.

004

When I woke up, what I saw was a world where everything was frozen.

Everything in the mansion was frozen, including the teacher.

No voice came out.

Even the inside of my body seemed to freeze.

Even if he wanted to move his body her, his body her, frozen by the cold, would not move properly.

‘It’s cold… Sir…’

I think I have to warm the teacher’s body somehow, but even that doesn’t work properly.

At that time- if you hear a squeaking sound, you are started.

He knew something was coming towards him.

Could it be another cause of the church?

However, it was a fox-shaped food soul made of paper.

Teacher’s body.

It came to me with something like a blanket in its mouth, pulled the blanket over itself and—

Just like that, the mana that was contained in the body disappeared and returned to normal paper.

“No…”

This blanket, sir.

You have to warm up the teacher.

Please, please, save the teacher.

Move again…

I tried to say that to my food soul, but my voice and will not reach me.

The fire of the teacher’s life went out in the frozen body.

A noisy voice coming from outside.

“Inari! Kuzunoha!”

The voice calling our names was that of ‘Tamamo-sama’.