chapter 17

Nine-tailed fox .

It’s a ghost that transforms into a beautiful woman that seduces the human heart and it has led countless dynasties and royalties to their doom .

A great demon old as time itself, known as the Daji of Yin dynasty in China… And known in Japan as Tamamomae who served the emperor Toba . A being that’s known by everybody in the world of exorcists .

She also has legends of her being a sacred beast, holy beast or something like qilin and one of the four sacred beasts, her power is equal to a God .

In the Heian Period when she had introduced itself as Tamamomae she invited our distant relative Abeno Taisei who was an exorcist at the time but he saw through it and he who was an influential exorcist in Kyoto at that time in a life and death struggle finally managed to seal her . (TN: Kyoto is the name of Tokyo in those old times . )

And since then my ancestors have been enshrining this place which is ruled spiritually .

Then, annoyingly, the seal weakens once every two hundred years .

When that happens, there’s a special event to calm the god, however… It has become required to offer shrine maidens for her to be calm again .

That’s our custom since those times, that’s the role of us the Abeno family .

This time the contenders for the offering are me, my sister and 3 cousins which makes us 5 people .

The current situation is the sacrifice selection exam is being held while the lower ghosts are rampaging due to miasma being spread from the nearing of the Nine-tails revival .

The rules are very simple the one who’ll have the lowest subjugations will be offered to the Nine tails and she’ll be eaten alive .

And finally the time is in the evening .

We were doing the customary preparation for departure to the front .

First is donning the shrine maiden outfit .

Katana, nagikata, bow, everyone began to care for their respective weapons .

And, we performed the basic movement of martial arts and lastly we confirmed our talismans .

I stood in the large garden of the Abeno family and began practicing on a 1 meter tall dummy with my talismans .

Talisman art is a kind of magic and it is highly spiritual .

Naturally, I’ll have to fine tune depending on the mental condition of the day .

If you do not confirm the fine tuning by practicing before the departure to the front then you might taste unforeseen incidents .

And, just as I was about to throw the talismans at the dummy which was 20 meters away-

Yui-san who has a vertically rolled and showy brown hair you’d find in a hostess bar called out to me .

By the way, she’s my cousin who’s five years older than me and a student at university .

Even if I’m saying this myself, my lineage has many beautiful people .

Yui-san is naturally a beauty however, her slanted eyes give off an intense impression .

“Fufu… hey, hey, Kaguya-san? How does it feel?”

“…?”

“I asked how does it feel being offered to the nine tails?”

Certainly my subjugation numbers are at the bottom and I’m last place, currently .

Generally, in a night’s hunt 20 subjugations is a good number, but right now Yui-san who’s 4th place is ahead by 30 from me .

There are 4 more hunts until the selection process, and from now on I have to surpass her otherwise it will be a disaster .

“It hasn’t been decided yet . ”

Yui-san smiled .

“Kaguya-san is not inferior to the others in talent or pedigree, right? However, you’re in your teens… so the gap of experience makes a difference . That’s a huge difference which is hard to fill . ”

“And I said, it is not decided yet . ”

Yui-san took out talismans from her bosom and threw them to the dummy which was 20 meters away .

The flaming talismans made an explosion at the 1 meter tall dummy which is the center .

A large hole of 70 cm radius has opened around the dummy .

“This is a difference of 5 years . A while back… I saw your flaming talismans previously and at best they were of 50 cm radius . Isn’t it too late for a turning point in the selection process? And you’re at the literal bottom . You yourself understand the differences in power . ”

「……」

She looked at the silent me and continued talking .

“Ah, I’m truly glad . Honestly saying, I was feeling chilly when I heard the Nine tails revival is… I’m truly glad . ”

“Glad for what?”

“I’m glad that Kaguya-san is incompetent . Because, I hate being eaten alive…”

While giggling and laughing she tapped my shoulders two times .

“This may seem abrupt, but Kaguya-san is a virgin, right?”

“Yes, that’s right . ”

“By the way, at the last moment before being eaten alive… There’s a legend going around… that before being eaten you’ll be toyed around . ”

“Toyed?”

“The nine tail will summon sexually active goblins that will violate the shrine maiden completely and then the skin will be peeled and bones smashed… And after that the shrine maiden will be eaten . ”

Certainly, I have read that in books .

They had been closed with the Nine-tail fox in a narrow space… The nine-tails fox had been starving for entertainment .

And there it had thrown toys to do as they please, so that is possible as well .

“I’m truly glad that Kaguya-san is incompetent . ”

「……」

“Well, you’re being persistent… If our ages have been reversed then our positions would’ve been reversed as well . ”

She took out a folding fan and began to elegantly fan herself .

“However, alas for you! ☆ You’re 17 years old and we’re all above 20 years old . The gap of experience in years is hopeless, you know?”

“However, being a virgin at 17 years old is seriously funny . Your attitude is hard or should I say… you’re naive . I’m telling you, it’s really funny . However as a freebie, the goblins will relieve you of it…”

「……」

And Yui-san began laughing and giggling like she couldn’t hold it anymore .

“Ufufu… Kufufu! Kyahaha!”

Before long she hid her lips with the fan .

“For me of all people to let out such a vulgar voice . However, oh my, I’m glad… Because I don’t know whether it’s fast or slow for me to have come out from my mother’s womb several years ago… This is the difference of circumstances . ”

「……」

“If you were several years older, too… Then you could’ve acquired the same skill of making a large hole as me . It’s simply bad luck, are you annoyed? But, this is reality . You’ll be spoiled and tortured… You’ll die being eaten alive . But be assured . Because I’ll make up for Kaguya-san and enjoy life to the fullest!”

She said that and went to the resting area in the garden .

It was a glass sided hut and she sat on a chair and drank coffee while she watched me with an amused expression .

「……」

I held the talisman tightly and then threw it at the dummy .

Almost all of my skill points from leveling up were allocated to Enemy sense per Morishita-kun’s recommendation .

And with the left-overs I’ve allocated them to my talisman technique .

My magical power in the status has increased by 1 . 5, and the talisman technique has went from 3 to 4 .

So the result is the 1 meter tall dummy has been blown to smithereens .

I nodded in satisfaction at the expected result .

All right, now… and I grasped my fist tightly .

And then I turned to Yui-san .

She who had watched it fully spat out the coffee that she was drinking while smiling .