Please to Kitsune-sama!

Chapter 152 : Kitsune-sama Walks with a Celebrity

“Thou hast just finished thy work, hast thou not? Would it not be wiser to rest…?”

“I won’t be a burden. Besides, I’ll be useful, you know?”

“Hmm…”

“If you don’t want me, I’ll give up…”

At that, Inari considered. In the beginning, it had been more convenient to work solo… but now that she had grown somewhat famous and her record was known, there was little left she needed to hide.

Moreover, Shion ranked fourth among Japan’s awakeners. Though said to be a water specialist, the very fact that she wanted to accompany Inari into a dungeon suggested she possessed more than just that specialty.

And more than anything, it might be useful for the future to witness firsthand the power of one called a top-ranker.

“Hmm… very well. Let us go together.”

“Yay.”

“Mhm.”

Whether her emotional range was small or her face simply did not move much, Inari could not tell—but to the public eye, she must have seemed the cool, composed type. Inari, having met only those with wild swings of emotion thus far, simply thought, “She’s a quiet child, isn’t she.”

At any rate, rising from the bench, Inari and Shion began to walk.

“So, where are we going? Saitama No. 3?”

“I have not summoned Atsuage, so no.”

As Atsuage popped his head out, Inari spoke to him, and Shion let out a small “Oh.”

“That’s the famous block golem?”

“Mhm. Thou knowest of him?”

“Super famous. Recently, someone even made a goblin into a pet monster.”

“Hmm…”

Inari did not really understand that part, but apparently other awakeners had begun to obtain “pets” as well. Inari had seen goblins before, but… well, they were not very cute. Not cute at all. Still, perhaps if those murderous faces softened into smiles, they might be a little cute—she caught herself thinking so.

“Mmm… well, since it’s a pet, its expression would soften. Being humanoid, it might well make a fine companion.”

“Yeah.”

“Ah, but as for today, we are headed not to No. 3, but to No. 4.”

“What? That haunted house?”

“Hast thou been there?”

“Nope. But its nickname is ‘the haunted house where you really die’…”

“Aptly said, indeed…”

Well, it was a dungeon after all. Whether careless or careful, one could still die, and if it carried the air of an urban legend, then it was certainly a haunted house of sorts.

“Now then. I believe there should be a bus somewhere…”

“In that case, it’d be the old Kawaguchi Station. But if it’s the Saitama Dungeon No. 4, we can just walk.”

“Oh? Is that so?”

“Yeah. I grew up around here, so I know.”

They had gotten off near Kawaguchi Port, in the Iizuka area of Kawaguchi, with Nishi-Kawaguchi lying just next door. Of course it would take some time, but with that, the two of them began to walk.

“There are factories all over this area now, but before that, it was residential. And before that, it was factories again.”

“Ah, a return to one’s roots, so to speak.”

“Maybe.”

Long ago, the factories had mostly been foundries, quite different from today’s landscape… but that was a past unknown not only to Inari, but to Shion as well. Passing shipbuilding-related factories, worker cafeterias, and convenience stores, they eventually left the factories behind, the landscape shifting into residential streets—the Nishi-Kawaguchi area.

“Oh, the scenery hath changed greatly.”

“Mm. Just a little farther.”

Nishi-Kawaguchi had its own storied history, but now it was a residential district for factory workers and their families. The people walking about were different from those they had seen around the industrial zones—office workers and others.

And in such a peaceful-looking area, a dungeon stood, surrounded by sturdy fences and gates—an incongruous sight, yet one perfectly emblematic of the modern world.

There, before the gate, stood a staff member, who smiled warmly as Inari and Shion approached.

“Miss Kogami? Your reservation is confirmed.”

“One more hath joined me, is that a problem?”

“No, not at all. We’ll just need to confirm identity and keep records. May I see both of your awakener cards?”

“Mhm.”

“Yeah.”

Reservations were always made under a single representative, so whether one person entered or fifty, it was never an issue.

Yet when the staffer glanced at the cards, he let out a startled “Eh?”

“M-Miss Suzuno… you’re, um, the ‘Submarine’…?”

“Yup.”

“W-Welcome! Please, go right in!”

Snapping a crisp salute, the staffer nearly trembled, while Shion only nodded, tugging Inari along.

“Oh my, he is still saluting.”

“My face isn’t well-known. That happens a lot.”

“Ahh, I see.”

Indeed, to realize only after wondering “who is this” that one stood before a top-ranker—it was enough to give anyone a shock. Still, once recognized, they might end up surrounded as Inari had today.

Perhaps it was best to think of such surprises as simply part of a staffer’s job.

And so, amidst the quiet stir caused by the sudden appearance of a celebrity, Inari and Shion stepped through the dungeon gate.