Chapter 174

It’s an unexpectedly gorgeous world

Responding to Ouka’s determination, I eagerly tried to leave for the land of the youkai, but there were many things I was forgetting about .

“Sorry to have kept you waiting, Yato-sama . ”

Ouka called out to me after getting ready to leave while I was waiting outside .

“I’m very sorry . I know I asked you to wait, but you ended up having to wait for a whole day . ”

Ouka bowed apologetically after saying that, but I really didn’t mind waiting .

Just as Ouka said, a whole day has passed since we decided to head for the capital .

“It’s okay . It couldn’t be helped, after all . ”

As I said that, I turned my eyes to the reason of our postponement .

“You’re that human from the other day!”

“Long time no see!”

I could see that the fox cubs seemed to be cheerfully delighted to see us again .

Karen was also there with them, also cheerfully stroking their heads .

“Yeah, it’s been a while . ”

Surrounded by the fox cubs, Karen seemed as delighted as them .

Even though they’re youkai, she just can’t leave small kids to fend for themselves .

They are the reason why we had to wait a whole day before departing .

Last time, Nayame got out without permission just to meet with Karen and me, so we can’t leave them unattended for too long . Otherwise, they might run off somewhere again .

That’s why we needed someone to take care of the fox cubs until we’re back .

So I had asked Karen for help with that, and she happily accepted .

And in order to be able to get this done in a single day, we had to leave early in the morning . That’s why we had to wait until the next day .

There was a time limit written on the letter, but fortunately, it was a little further ahead, so no problem there .

“I’m sorry for asking this of you on your long-awaited day off . ”

“It’s all right . I had something I was looking forward to doing, but I’ll hold it off until the next time . ”

I’m thankful that she told me that .

Back when I asked, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to say that I wanted to go, but she saw right through me .

As I was feeling relieved to see Karen enjoying herself, one of the fox cubs jumped at Karen and started talking to her .

“Hey, hey! Can you show me that thing from the other day again?”

That thing from the other day? That weird thing that Karen showed them that day that Ouka and I weren’t here?

That same thing that she then stopped showing them and then changed to another game for them to play, since they didn’t want to do “that thing” anymore?

I thought that Karen would refuse like usual, but instead of shaking her head in denial, she seemed rather troubled for some reason .

“Don’t?”

“… All right . ”

What was that reaction?

Was she upset? I could feel Karen’s eyes piercing me as if they were nails .

“Let’s play like usual today . ”

“Aww…”

Even if it made the fox cubs feel discouraged and let down, Karen told them that they’d play like usual .

“Please take care of the kids, Karen-sama . ”

“Leave it to me . ”

Ouka courteously bowed her head to Karen, who was still surrounded by the little fox cubs .

Karen put her chest out and returned the gesture with a thumbs-up .

“Shall we go, Ouka?”

I just wanted to go and finish this .

After Ouka said “Yes”, she leaned over to the fox cubs and said:

“You guys make sure to listen to what Karen says, okay?”

The little fox cubs cheerfully replied “Yes!” in unison to Ouka’s advice .

After that had been taken care of, Ouka came next to me, and I placed my hand on her shoulder .

“Thank you very much, Karen-sama . ”

“The usual games will be just fine, okay Karen?”

“You’re so pushy . ”

Karen looked a bit displeased, but still waved her hand at us to see us off .

Looking at Karen and the fox cubs, Ouka and I teleport to the entrance of the capital .

―――――――――――――

After reappearing, the first thing that I could see was that we were in a mountain overgrown with trees .

“Are we there?”

“Yes, this is the entrance . ”

After a quick look, all I could see was a deep sea of trees that suspiciously made me wonder if we still were in Japan at all .

Just as I was surveying the area, Ouka’s meek voice prompts me to look towards a different place .

When I looked towards where Ouka indicated, a huge cave was there, as if someone had just made it appear out of nowhere .

Well, of course .

Otherwise, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine humans being able to go in and out at will . When I looked around that same spot a while ago, there was nothing but trees all over the place .

And I could see that there were several charms hanging from those trees, too .

Had those been placed there as a barrier to make the cave invisible to human eyes?

“If we go through here, we’ll soon reach the capital . But first, Yato-sama… here . ”

Ouka reached into the pocket in her chest, took a fox mask out, and handed it to me .

“It would be best if you use this so that no one realizes what you are . It’s not rare for youkai to look like humans, so this should be enough to keep your true nature hidden from them . ”

Of course . If I were to walk in looking like I always do, I would have been exposed .

I nodded at Ouka’s explanation, and after looking at the mask from various angles with great interest, I obediently put it on .

“How do I look?”

“It really suits you well . No matter how I look at you, you don’t look human at all . ”

Was that supposed to be some sort of praise?

I wanted to believe she was flattering me, but I’m glad I didn’t end up asking her about that .

I could see a hint of regret on Ouka’s smiling face .

“Also, please try to hide your presence as much as possible . Your spiritual power looks impressive as it is, Yato-sama . Disguising your appearance alone won’t be enough . ”