Please to Kitsune-sama!

Chapter 241 : Kitsune-sama Goes to Kusatsu Onsen (4)

“Mm. Takeru, thou art a splendid man.”

“Eh?”

“Huh?”

Both Shion and Takeru let out baffled sounds at Inari’s unexpected words. Not “You worked hard,” nor “That must have been rough,” nor “You suffered much.” But simply, with genuine admiration shining in her eyes, “Splendid.” How could she possibly say such a thing so sincerely? Unable to make sense of it, Takeru found himself asking.

“S-splendid? What about me is…?”

“Thou hast done what lieth within thy power, and now thou art ranked third in Japan, art thou not? That, without doubt, is worthy of praise.”

“Eh? Well, I mean… maybe, but still—”

“I cannot presume to judge thy life itself. That would be wrong. Yet I can judge what thou hast accomplished. For those are the fruits of thine own effort.”

It was not judgment of his life, but recognition of his deeds. Takeru had heard similar words before. Many people, in many ways, had praised him. But never once had those words struck home—instead only deepening his loneliness.

So why now? Why did Inari’s words sink so easily into his heart? Perhaps because she looked only at his present, while acknowledging his past without binding him to it. And her words were… far too straight.

“Yes. Thou hast achieved results worthy of praise, results plain for all to see. Is it not so?”

“But… I can hardly leave Kusatsu.”

“And so, Kusatsu came to be seen as a haven, did it not? Behold—that too is thy result.”

“My… result… no, but—”

“Even should no one else acknowledge it, I shall. Takeru, thou art a splendid man.”

A single tear slid down Takeru’s cheek. At last, he understood.

“Ah… I see. I only wanted to cast off the past. I hated being tied to it. But everyone framed it as though I had triumphed over it…”

Inari did not tie his past and present together. She judged him solely on his “now,” facing the present Takeru directly. Where everyone else saw him as “the former Yamato Takeru,” she saw him only as “Doma Takeru.”

And that made it clear—his deepest wish.

Takeru turned to Inari with a troubled, almost sheepish smile.

“Strange. I always thought words were cheap things.”

“Nay, words are heavy things, Takeru. They may bind a man—or set him free.”

“…Yeah. That’s true. I should’ve known that. I really did know…”

He had suffered so much under the weight of words. He had grown weary of meeting people. He had felt the burden of words, but never their power to save. Yet now… Well, of course—it only worked because it was not mere flattery.

“…Maybe I made mistakes?”

“No, don’t worry. I needed to say it anyway. And thanks to you, I feel lighter.”

“Mm… still, I’m sorry. I was careless, speaking of another’s life so lightly.”

“Ha! You’re honest too, huh. Well then, I’ll accept your apology.”

Takeru laughed as Shion stood and bowed her head. Truly, his impression of her wasn’t bad. He could tell she had been speaking sincerely this whole time. Perhaps that was Inari’s influence as well.

“Thank you, Miss Kogami. I feel as though a weight’s been lifted from my heart.”

“I did naught, truly. Yet if it helped thee, I am glad.”

“Yeah. Really… I’m grateful. Honestly, I could fall for you. If you were of age, I’d probably have confessed right now.”

“Mmph?!”

“Inari will be underage forever. Keep that in mind.”

“Shion! What art thou saying!”

“Ahahahaha! You two are hilarious!”

Seeing Shion cover Inari’s mouth and spout such nonsense, only for Inari to scold her in fluster, Takeru burst out laughing. He had half-meant what he said about falling for her, but the atmosphere had scattered it away like smoke.

”Well… maybe it’s for the best. I can already see she’d have turned me down.”

Indeed, Inari didn’t look like the sort to accept such a confession. Better, then, that the whole thing flowed off as one big joke.

“So then… your main purpose here was the dungeon and sightseeing, right?”

“Mm. We thought thou wouldst know much.”

“Yeah. Leave it to me. Within the limits of what I know, at least.”

Saying so, Takeru laid out two maps—one old, one new.

“Among Kusatsu’s hot spring sources, some once dried up long ago. But now every last one has returned. And the output—always perfectly stable. Down to the millimeter.”

“…Could that be the dungeon’s influence?”

“That’s what they say. You know how Gunma Dungeon No. 1 is classified, right?”

“I do, more or less. It was… yes…”

““Volcanic Zone-type Dungeon.””

Yes—Gunma Dungeon No. 1. A dungeon truly deserving of that title.