Please to Kitsune-sama!

Chapter 184 : Kitsune-sama, Challenging the Rescue Mission (2)

“Yes, but…”

Tsukiko swept her eyes over the village. It wasn’t all that large, yet broad enough that searching would take time. If Shion were still conscious, they might be able to reach her through her Awakener Phone—but against urban legends there was a strong chance of hijacking and disinformation.

Indoors, behind buildings… there were countless places she could be. If she still lived, they had to find her as quickly as possible. The problem was the risk of splitting up.

“I’ll ask just in case—can’t that Nenekirimaru of yours be used to find Shion?”

“Nay, it cannot.”

Inari admitted it with an apologetic tone. Tsukiko covered for her with a brisk, “Doesn’t matter,” and made the call.

“We’ll divide into two teams. Me and Inari, and you two. Objections?”

“None.”

“Same here.”

“Likewise.”

“Then it’s decided.”

This was as strong a lineup as they could possibly hope for. Counting Inari as a frontline fighter, both teams were well balanced. What mattered now was speed. Recover Shion first—the boss could wait. After quickly divvying up their search areas, Inari and Tsukiko sprinted off.

“Let’s tear through them one house at a time!”

“Understood!”

The first door they slammed open revealed a woman cooking.

“Oh my, oh my… one more dish on the menuuaaAAH!”

“Not her.”

“GyaaaAAA!”

Foxfire hurled the woman away, and she vanished. No Shion inside. The next house—out came a man with a sickle, blasted back by Inari’s foxfire. They checked house after house, yet no sign of Shion. Explosions boomed from the opposite direction as well.

“Red Cape—guhh.”

“She’s not here either…”

An automatic laser from Tsukiko’s bits shot down the Red Cape that appeared behind her. Still, Shion was nowhere to be found. Where was she? Tsukiko ran on, frustration mounting, when the boy appeared around the corner in front of Inari.

A middle-schooler at most. On seeing Inari, he let out a relieved “Ah!”

“Y-you’re an awakener, right!? I—I was dragged here before I realized it…!”

“Wait—what? A survivor?”

“The awakener who saved me got badly hurt! I couldn’t do anything, then I heard noises so I ran this way…!”

“Mm, mm.”

Inari patted his shoulder with a reassuring smile. Calm as ever, she met his eyes.

“Fret not, lad. We are here now.”

“R-right!”

“Then, couldst thou lead us to this wounded awakener?”

“Yes, this way!”

The boy seized Inari’s hand and pulled her along at a run. Tsukiko followed a beat later, unease gnawing. Not impossible. But too convenient. Suspiciously so. And she couldn’t exactly strike at a child to test him.

『Worry not.』

“Eh!?”

Inari’s voice rang in her head. Startled, Tsukiko glanced up—but Inari never even looked back.

『Mind-speech. Just listen.』

“You’re joking… a psychic-like skill, on top of everything…?”

『’Tis surely a trap. Yet there are times when trusting is faster than doubting. For now—leave it to me.』

Tsukiko bit back her shock. She was right. If this was a trap, it was surely meant to disable Inari. And if she said it was fine, then fine. If not… Tsukiko would blow everything to ash.

“This way! There—look!”

By a small roadside shrine lay a collapsed girl. Shion, beyond doubt. Inari rushed up with the boy and examined her. Not just wounded—mortally so. They had to act here and now.

“I-is she gonna make it!? She’s looked paler and paler!”

“She hath strayed far… but not beyond reach.”

“Can you heal her!?”

“Mm.”

As Inari raised Kogetsu, the boy gasped in awe.

“Thank goodness… we’re safe now!”

“….”

The boy’s delight seemed genuine—but Tsukiko’s eyes narrowed. No contradictions in his story, but the situation itself was contradictory. Those wounds came from clashing with countless foes. And yet this boy was unscathed? Too odd. Not proof enough to condemn him, but still—

Meanwhile, Inari knelt before Shion, slid her fingers along the blade of Kogetsu. The steel glowed with a warm, blue-white light, like fireflies.

“Gather and heal—Secret Sword, Hotarumaru.”

The light streamed into Shion, her wounds closing before their eyes.

“Incredible…”

Both boy and Tsukiko stared, astonished. Even the finest healers needed tremendous mana and high-grade skills to pull someone back from the brink. To do it so easily showed the sheer scale of Inari’s power. And it meant Shion’s life was saved. Relief softened Tsukiko’s face.

The boy too smiled in relief—then, with that smile still on his lips, he drove a viciously designed knife down at Inari’s back.

Tsukiko’s eyes widened. She had been watching closely, yet the weapon had appeared out of nowhere—like a conjuring trick.

“Truly… what a blessing. To kill such a ridiculous one as this.”

It was the divine artifact, The Traitor of the Happy Ending—a weapon embodying the terror of last-minute betrayal in urban legends. It turned moments of “happily ever after” into the worst nightmare. The blade arced down—

—and bounced harmlessly off Inari’s shrine maiden garb.