Chapter 43
"A festival?"
"That's right. You said you liked playing, so why not a festival?"
Jinseong asked with a smile in his eyes.
"...I don't dislike it. But so formally...?"
Rise glanced at Jinseong cautiously.
She seemed to be worried about causing trouble for Jinseong.
The word 'festival' gave such a grand impression that it felt burdensome.
"There's no need to feel burdened. If I like it and you like it, then what could be better?"
Jinseong said this while glancing at the slime.
The slime had pulled out spines from inside its body and stuck them densely around the sphere of light, creating something like a fence, and was patrolling outside the fence as if it were a security guard.
And the Saetani, finding something amusing, had climbed on top of the slime and was laughing with its mouth split open. It would then stick its hand into its throat, pull out its long tongue, and slap the slime's head with it.
Every time the slime was hit on the head, it would express itself through flashing bright light from its nucleus part as if it were getting angry, but the Saetani paid no attention and continued to wield its tongue like a whip, continuously hitting the slime's head.
Shudder!
"Ack!"
Finally, the angry slime drew up divine power and threw the Saetani.
It's using divine power skillfully now.
It was an incredibly bizarre sight, and had become a daily scene in the shrine already tainted with madness.
Seeing how it uses it so skillfully, there must surely be capacity to spare.
Jinseong looked back and forth between the slime and Rise.
The nucleus part of the slime was pulsating continuously as if squeezing something out, drawing divine power outwards, and the divine power thus drawn out swam a few laps inside the slime's body before escaping outside and connecting to Rise.
The path thus connected poured divine power into Rise's body to ensure she never lacked, and as a result, Rise's body was gradually being optimized to match the divine power of Mukurikokuri no Inugami.
This was a significant experience possible because her growth hadn't finished yet.
Seeing that there's no growing pains, it should be fine even if the output becomes stronger, and since her mind is at the level of being susceptible to her inner demon, her limit should be high, so she will be truly useful if raised well.
Moreover, there was no risk of betrayal.
The divine power Rise was using was being supplied from the slime he had created, and the slime was following Jinseong's control completely. Even if by some chance there was a sorcerer superior to Jinseong and control was taken away, he could make it self-destruct at any time, so if he wanted to, he could turn Rise into a powerless person.
Moreover, Rise's father was following Jinseong in his madness, and his body belonged to Jinseong due to the spirometra plerocercoid larva implanted in his body. If Kenji tried to betray Jinseong, the spirometra plerocercoid larva implanted in his body would immediately start cutting off his cerebral blood vessels.
Even if he tried to remove the spirometra plerocercoid larva through brain surgery or supernatural ability, unless all of his 'colleagues', who had already become a considerable number, removed the spirometra plerocercoid larva at the same time, he would face retaliation.
Since they're all humans like water ghosts or hungry ghosts, they won't just watch if someone tries to escape.
Kenji and all his colleagues were in a situation where they were caught in their own snares.
Unless they all developed altruistic hearts, they wouldn't be able to escape easily.
Now that things have stabilized, it would be good to extend our hand to other shrines.
Thinking this, Jinseong said to Rise.
"Happiness comes from leisure. Wouldn't it be good to enjoy and play at the festival, reflect on hobbies, and grow the shrine and divine power with the byproducts?"
"What? By...products?"
Byproducts.
At that word, the color drained slightly from Rise's face.
It was because she recalled what she had experienced.
"Think about Mukurikokuri no Inugami, and the present situation. Wouldn't my going rather be liberation, be a blessing for them?"
The method was rough, but the result was good.
So what he was doing was a good thing.
It was an absurd sophistry.
"...Yes. I understand."
But Rise accepted it as it was.
She thought that what she was thinking wasn't important, and since she had vowed to serve Jinseong, she should follow what he did without complaint.
Helping Jinseong with all her might.
She thought that was her duty.
"Then you'll need to know about festivals. Let's see. Is there a festival happening soon?"
But with Jinseong's following question, she couldn't help but realize her own inadequacy.
"I-I’m not sure..."
Rise knew nothing about festivals.
Because she was just a shrine daughter destined to quietly support the adopted son-in-law, she hadn't been educated on any important things. And one of the things she hadn't been educated on were also things about festivals, which were always important events involving the shrine.
"It's alright. Everything has its right place. Isn't it right to give a sniper rifle to a sniper, and a machine gun to a machine gunner?"
But Jinseong wasn't disappointed in Rise.
He could just ask someone who knew, no?
Jinseong took Rise to Kenji and asked about festivals.
"What? A festival? Of course! I know well!"
Kenji answered the question with gleaming eyes.
"But this Morita guy would know better than me! I'm only involved in festivals happening in this area, but this guy is the president of a famous security company, so he dispatches employees whenever festivals happen!"
He pointed at Morita, who had woken up once but fainted again due to mental shock.
"I don't know if you heard from up above, but this guy is even a sponsor of Jigen-ryu. His security company is famous and with his position as a Jigen-ryu sponsor, he has many Jigen-ryu martial artists as security guards, so he's popular! So if you wake him up, you'll be able to hear what you want to know! Hahahaha!"
Hearing this, Jinseong grabbed the air to bring Morita in front of him, then placed his hand on Morita's head and softly chanted an incantation.
"Urgh!"
Then Morita shuddered as if he had been electrocuted.
"Wh-who are you?"
Jinseong said as he pulled out a chunk of Morita's hair:
"You'll know soon."
Some of the hair in Jinseong's hand turned into black ash, and some became thin, wriggling caterpillars.
* * *
"Ask anything you want! I'll answer everything!"
It didn't take long for Morita to prostrate himself at Jinseong's feet.
Perhaps because he worked in a profession with a strict hierarchy, Morita didn't hesitate to treat Jinseong as a superior as soon as he finished assessing the situation. And the moment he realized Jinseong was a being who could give him pleasure he could never taste again, he volunteered to become a loyal dog.
Jinseong looked at this with satisfaction.
"Good. Very good. Then I ask you, do you know about any festivals that will be held soon in this area?"
"Yes! Of course I do! There's a festival coming up in nearby Izumi City!"
"Very good! Well then, explain it to me."
But Morita, who had been full of enthusiasm like he would answer anything, hesitated to speak and kept glancing at Jinseong and Rise.
Morita carefully asked Jinseong.
"But, um... Future Shinto priest? Are you thinking of going with that shrine maiden?"
"That's right."
Morita pondered for a moment at those words.
Then he looked at Rise, who obviously looked like a sheltered maiden, and saw her incredibly pure face that seemed like she not only hadn't dated a man but was completely immune to men.
And as if he had made up his mind, he said.
"...I'll recommend a different festival."
"Why is that?"
"Well... The festival held there wouldn't be suitable for the two of you."
Morita sighed slightly and said in a small voice that only Jinseong could hear.
"The name of the festival held there is the Fundoshi Man Festival..."
"Fundoshi Man?"
"Yes. It's... where men wearing only fundoshi get all tangled up..."
Jinseong nodded at those words.
"Recommend something else."
Unless there was no alternative, he didn't want to go to such a place if there were other options.
"Hmm... The next earliest one besides that is... Ah, that's right! There's the Sea God Welcoming Festival in Minamisatsuma City! It's a very large festival that even attracts tourists from abroad!"
"That sounds good too. When is it?"
"Exactly 30 days from now!"
"30 days later?"
Jinseong frowned slightly.
"Is there nothing happening sooner?"
"Well, among the ones I know, there's nothing except the Fundoshi Man Festival. This area is in a festival drought these days..."
"Hmm."
It was quite possible.
Originally, festivals were events with set times.
They were held after the grain harvest was over, or to pray for a good catch before the main fishing season, or to pray for a good harvest before starting farming.
That was why festivals often tended to be held around similar times.
"Then how about other regions, not just this area?"
"Well, there's the Matchmaking Festival in Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture! It's a famous festival where many onmyoji and Shinto priests gather to match and bless couples! It's quite famous, and local broadcasting stations come to cover it every time the festival is held!"
"Onmyoji and Shinto priests, you say?"
Jinseong shook his head.
"Tell me about somewhere else."
"Um... Then how about the Fried Tofu Festival in Tottori Prefecture? It's a festival where they offer fried tofu to Inari, and various fried tofu dishes are served, which is highly praised by gourmets. Fried tofu has gained attention as a health food recently so tourists come from all over Japan."
"Fried Tofu Festival. Inari."
Jinseong smiled at some of the words that reached his ears.
"That sounds good."