Miss Zashiki

It is true that Oyatsu was not in the shrine.

Walking through the magnificent torii, except for the huge holy image still standing in place, the entire shrine is empty - if the surface of the holy image is not still clean and new, it will almost give people the illusion that the residents of this land have already Abandon this ancient belief.

Fu Xiaoyue looked up at the benevolent and compassionate face of the icon, and sighed softly, "Where did she go?"

——The compassionate and kind God Inari, why would he abandon the people who believe in her?

Inugami also looked up with her, but he was a little puzzled: "Master, I think... it seems a little strange."

"Ok?"

The young man frowned slightly in thought: "Since God Inari has left, this place will no longer be protected by her divine power—why don't the human beings outside who worship and pray for blessings seem to be aware of this? "

Fu Xiaoyue was stunned when he heard this.Thinking of something, the whole monster was silent for a long time, and then said softly: "Maybe it's because...they feel that the gods are still protecting them."

"How could it be? Whether it's Qi Fu or wishing, they have lost their divine power?"

Fu Xiao didn't know how to answer yesterday, so he lowered his head slightly.They walked around here for a long time before, and the black cat in their arms had fallen asleep at some point, and was snoring lazily at this moment.

The Nine-Life Cat seems to be like this all the time, as long as she stays where she wants to stay and maintains the status quo she wants, everything that has nothing to do with her from the outside world—such as gods and monsters—is out of her scope of consideration .

Seeing her heartless appearance yesterday, Fu Xiao felt a lot relieved for no reason, and raised his head to meet the gaze of the dog god boy:

"By the way, before I entered the temple, I heard the conversation of two elderly people next to them—their only son went to fight in the army a few years ago, but unfortunately died, leaving them two old and weak old people who depended on each other at home .”

"As they get older, their lives have become more and more difficult in the past few years. They can't carry their hands on their shoulders, and the food stock at home is almost exhausted... When they can't bear it anymore, they can't help it. Come and pray to the gods, hoping that the gods will give them food, not asking for delicacies, just asking for a full stomach."

"Since then, on the morning of the first day of every month, a few more wild deer or hares will be tied up outside their house, which can be used for slaughter and food, or sold in the market... After that, their It's been a lot better."

"On the first day of this month, they also received a 'gift from the gods' at the door of their house. According to the usual practice, they came to Shasheng Temple to fulfill their vows."

When he said this, he paused for a while, Fu Xiaoyue looked at the young man who was always obediently listening to himself, and smiled slightly at the corner of his mouth: "Many people believe in gods, but most of the time they don't believe in gods themselves, but only long for the things that gods have. Power, to improve their lives—in the final analysis, whether God helped them, whether God really exists, may not be that important to them.”

The Inugami boy nodded half-understood: "The master means...Although Inari God left here, there are other people who have taken over her duties and fulfilled the wishes of these humans? But—" He looked at him with some doubts. She, "Who has such ability... Could there be other gods here?"

... other gods.

Fu Xiaoyue thought of the taboo name he heard before——the name of "Chasing the Moon". Although the word "God" is indeed embellished in the game, it is actually a monster who only specializes in priesthood. own beliefs.

——Is it like this in this world?

Fu Xiaoyue wasn't sure. No matter how much he thought about it, it was just an irresponsible guess based on the game's plot setting before it was confirmed.

Facing the doubts of the Inugami boy at this time, she honestly shook her head: "...I don't know either."

Inugami pondered for a while, trying to come up with a possible solution: "If there is really another existence that can replace Inari God, then let's pray to her and let her solve that 'earthquake catfish'. ?"

"..."

Fu Xiao was baffled by his unconstrained and unconstrained thinking yesterday, and the whole monster was a little dumbfounded: "This, it should, it can't be..."

Facing the pure, innocent and clear eyes of the other party, she had no choice but to think hard and organize her words:

"If I'm not wrong, Inari God should be the master of the Earthquake—so, unlike those humans, all they need is the divine power of Inari God, and what Earthquake needs is Inari God himself—— There is no substitute for that.”

The dog god boy in front of him heard her words, but the whole monster was stunned for a moment, there were some strange emotional fluctuations in his eyes, and he watched her slowly repeating: "...Master, man?"

Fu Xiao didn't notice his abnormality for a while yesterday, so he nodded his head—it's just that he was agitated because of the weakening of the barrier power, which is not believable no matter how you think about it.This is an enchantment established by the gods, and it has been maintained for hundreds of years without any incidents. There is no reason for it to suddenly weaken overnight.

What's more, in the original words spoken by Shuzhu earlier, the abbot was shocked by the power of the earthquake catfish in order to "save the monster"-what monster was he trying to save?Judging from the words and deeds of the previous group of guys, it is very likely that they are the "Chasing the Moon" who locked himself in the forbidden room.

If this "Moon Chaser" is really the "Moon Chaser" in the game setting, then based on the biographical plot, it is likely that after Inari God left the shrine, Chaser Moon pretended to be a god without authorization; but this was suppressed in The earthquake catfish in the enchantment was discovered, causing it to become angry and riot, and the abbot of the temple died accidentally in order to save Zhuiyue; the current Chayue should be guilty of guilt, and wants to apologize with death...

Guessing based on this idea, Fu Xiaoyue couldn't help feeling a little bit emotional: "If God Inari can't be found, it may be very difficult for the earthquake catfish to survive... I don't know how long the barrier can last."

"It won't last long." Inugami suddenly said softly.

Only then did Fu Xiaoyue realize that there seemed to be something wrong with his tone, so he raised his eyes and said, "What?"

The young Inugami's voice was deep, and there was some gloom between his slightly drooping eyebrows and eyes: "Abandoned by the owner, it won't last long... It must be suffering to death now."

Seeing him like this yesterday, Fu Xiao couldn't help but feel a slight stagnation in his chest. He pulled out the hand holding the black cat in his arms, stretched it out to hold him, and said cautiously, "...Inugami?"

The young man lowered his eyes to meet hers, and was silent for a while. There was some irritability between his usually clear eyebrows and eyes, and his breath was slightly rough, as if he still had a bit of embarrassment to say.

In the end, as if he couldn't bear the drive of a certain emotion in his heart, he knelt down halfway to keep her eye level, with a sense of urgent need in his tone, and even a little imperceptible pleading: "Master... in the future, you, Will you also be like Inari God... leave suddenly one day...don't want me?"

"..."

For some reason, being watched by such eyes, Fu Xiaoyue seemed to feel that even the air around him became heavy, and his chest seemed to be pressed by a stone, and he was slightly out of breath.

It took a lot of effort from the boss to force herself to put on a normal look, and then answered him as lightly as possible:

"Of course not...Wherever I go, don't I take you with me?"

-

After that question, Fu Xiaoyester stuffed the black cat in his bosom into the hands of the Inugami boy, and forced him to go back without any explanation. He pretended to ask him to help him find a good room and arrange the few luggages by the way.

In fact, it was because she felt that if she continued to talk about that topic with him like this, she would almost burst into tears...

It was not the first day that Fu Xiaoyue realized the deep dependence of Inugami and Jiumingmao on her, but after listening to them express to her so bluntly—without themselves, they would definitely not be able to live even a day Going down—similar to this, which can be called pleading, Fu Xiaoyue still couldn't help feeling heavy and stuffy in his chest, and even his eye sockets were sore and swollen.

She just stayed where she was, lowered her head slightly without saying a word, and looked at the ground in front of her.

After a while, the drug seller beside him who never said a word bent down and reached out to hug her, and walked forward in silence.

Out of the shrine, there is still a forest of cherry blossoms planted in this temple. He just hugged her like this, walking along the path between the layers of cherry blossom petals, leisurely and aimlessly go forward.

It was very quiet all around.

Fu Xiaoyue silently buried her face on his shoulder, and it took a long time before she said sullenly:

"Mr. Yakuro, I seem to have found the answer to the question you asked me before."

The medicine seller didn't stop walking, so he didn't respond.

Fu Xiaoyue sighed heavily, and raised her eyes to look at him: "The dog god and the nine-life cat are indeed different from you and me." Those usually cold eyes turned quietly, and she slightly Pursing the corners of his lips, he said seriously, "I have a sense of responsibility towards them."

- Sense of responsibility.

This is also what makes Inugami and Nine Lives Cat the most unique to her, compared to all the other companions she meets.

Although she has always claimed to treat the two of them as friends, it doesn't matter whether master or servant is subordinate, but in fact, from the day Inugami called her "master", or, from the moment she asked the other party to give her loyalty, The situation was no longer that simple—it was far from enough to commit loyalty to each other—what she needed was the awareness to be responsible for their lives.

It was only now that he realized this fact so profoundly that Fu Xiaoyue was almost at a loss as to what to do.Even if she told the medicine seller at this moment, she still felt a little uneasy.

The drug seller looked at her quietly, and after a while, suddenly and for the first time said: "What about me?"

"What, you what?" Fu Xiaoyue was still a little confused in his mind, so he answered in a daze.

The young man's beautiful face was hidden by the flowers, showing a different kind of beauty, and the slow voice seemed to be lightly soaked in the slightly sweet fragrance of flowers.

"You have no sense of responsibility for me, do you?"

"..."

Fu Xiaoyue looked at him speechlessly, and saw that he didn't feel that this rhetorical question had any question-like integrity on his face, and felt a little annoyed and funny for a while.

—I'm messed up enough now, can you please stop drama?

Thinking of this, she almost had a bad idea, raised her eyebrows and asked him: "Excuse me, sir, what responsibility do I have to you? Is it possible...do you want to call me master too?"

The drug seller's expression was calm, the corners of his mouth with dark purple curves were slightly opened, and he said calmly: "Excuse me, miss, you kissed me without my permission before, don't you need to be responsible to me. "

"cough……"

In an instant, Fu Xiaoyue was severely choked by the saliva.