Looking at Yuria trembling all over, Takumi chuckled.
"You're scared, aren't you?"
"..."
After half a second of silence, Yuria forced a determined look onto her face.
"A-as long as Takumi-senpai is here, I-I'm not scared!!"
Even though she was shaking with fear, Yuria still followed along.
Takumi rather liked that stubborn streak of hers.
"Your talent's a bit lacking, but now that you're one of my people, I'm not going to let you suffer for it. Yuria, fuse with this."
Condensing a Divine Envoy Piece in his hand, Takumi passed it to Yuria.
Seeing such a miraculous sight, Yuria's excitement immediately shot through the roof.
Even if she didn't understand what it was, she knew this was her opportunity.
Yuria, who had already decided she was Takumi's "disciple," obeyed his instructions without hesitation.
As the Divine Envoy Piece fused into her body, a pink heart-shaped collar appeared around her neck.
Takumi gave her a quick once-over and found that Yuria hadn't gained any particularly special trait.
"It's normal that there's no special trait. Her luck's too low, barely at the level of a minor supporting character. But after fusing with the Divine Envoy Piece, her base potential still jumped dramatically, so it's not like she's missing out on much."
Since Takumi had never expected much from Yuria in the first place, he naturally wasn't disappointed.
As for Yuria herself, after fusing with the Divine Envoy Piece, she felt as if every inch of her body had been flooded with power.
"This feels completely different from the Godmother's prayer beads. Takumi-senpai's power is so obvious!!"
Clenching her little fists, Yuria felt like she could punch a cow to death now.
And seeing that, Hana immediately got jealous.
"Takumi-kun~~ Can I get one of those pieces too?"
Coming over to him with a pout, Hana blinked those watery eyes at him and acted cute.
"Haha~ I'd already set one aside for you. I just hadn't given it to you earlier."
Pinching Hana's soft, pale cheek, Takumi took out another Divine Envoy Piece for her to fuse with.
The process itself was the same as always, but the effect after Hana fused with it was clearly much greater than Yuria's.
The invisible life energy inside her burst into blazing, tangible golden flames that boiled around her body.
From a distance, the scene looked exactly like a Super Saiyan transformation.
Takumi couldn't help getting curious and checked Hana's current status panel.
[Name: Hana Yurikawa]
[Rank: Divine Envoy Student]
[Level: 1 (Upper)]
[Traits: Divine Envoy (Purple)... Life Energy (Purple)...]
[Life Energy (Purple): Possesses an unusual constitution containing incomparable life energy. Physical training yields twice the result for half the effort. The aura of life radiating from her can easily burn away evil beings. Giving her life energy to others can regrow severed limbs or strengthen their abilities.]
"So the trait evolved."
Looking at Hana's changed panel, Takumi couldn't help smiling in satisfaction.
[Life Energy (Purple)] was a very good trait. He definitely needed to find a way to squeeze it out of her later.
Meanwhile, Hana was still immersed in her joy and excitement.
"Wow~~ I don't feel hungry anymore."
Rubbing her stomach, Hana looked delighted.
Because of her constitution, she usually had to eat something every so often.
But now she realized not only was she no longer hungry, she could apparently control the life energy inside her.
Before this, she'd been like a lightbulb, glowing nonstop whether she wanted to or not.
But now she could actively switch that "light" off, and if she didn't turn it on, it wouldn't drain her energy.
"This feels so much easier. Though it's kind of a shame about the strawberry daifuku I brought."
Muttering that to herself, Hana took off the rabbit backpack she was carrying.
Pulling out two strawberry daifuku from it, she smiled and said, "Takumi-kun, Yuria-chan, you should have some too. They're really good!"
Takumi took one without ceremony and started eating it right away.
Yuria clearly hadn't expected Hana to offer one to her too.
"Uh... thanks."
After politely thanking her, Yuria also accepted the strawberry daifuku and began nibbling on it in small bites.
The four of them continued onward together until they arrived in front of Sankogudani Shrine.
The ruined shrine stood there in utter silence, as though it had long since been forgotten by everyone.
Yet the path leading up to it was strangely neat and clean, as though someone had been taking care of it all this time.
"Hello~ Is anyone there?"
Miko called out cautiously. In her mind, a shrine like this ought to have someone living here.
But the only response was silence.
"Looks like there's nobody here, Miko. The buildings here feel so solemn. Let's go in."
Looking around, Hana was the first to stride past the pair of fox statues placed at the entrance.
"Nobody?"
Miko repeated under her breath, then followed Hana into the shrine grounds.
Takumi and Yuria followed close behind, stepping into the territory of Sankogudani Shrine together.
Whooosh...
A breeze stirred, and in that moment, Miko—who hadn't seen anyone before—immediately noticed two miko now standing in front of the shrine.
They wore fox masks, had small bodies, and fox ears growing from their heads.
Both fox shrine maidens had a hollow, unreal presence about them. They were clearly spirits.
As their mouths opened, Miko realized that what she had taken for masks weren't masks at all.
That was just what their faces looked like!!!
The two fox shrine maidens stared straight at Miko and Hana like hunters locking onto prey.
The bizarre sight sent a wave of fear rising in Miko's chest.
At this point, Yuria and Hana could also both see the two ghostly fox shrine maidens.
"Whoa! I can see them—two fox shrine maidens!!!"
Hana cried out in excitement, her face full of delight.
For her, running into spirit shrine maidens like this inside a shrine was a first.
Yuria, on the other hand, had already seen how terrifying a Grade 1 cursed spirit could be, so she instinctively shrank behind Takumi.
"S-senpai, are those two monsters too?"
Yuria asked in a tiny voice, scared those two fox shrine maidens might suddenly turn into hideous, twisted cursed spirits.
"Them? They're just small fry. One of them is a little special, though... she's the fox god here, formed by devouring a spirit medium's soul."
Narrowing his eyes, Takumi instantly saw through the true nature of the two fox shrine maidens.
One of them, caught completely off guard that her true body had been exposed, opened her mouth and forced out a sound.
"Run... run away..."
Her voice was faint. Under the fox god's control, she couldn't command her own body.
She knew perfectly well what was happening.
The fox god had set its sights on the men and women present.
The energy in them was rich—delicious food.
Once every so often, the fox god would lure in a spiritual practitioner and devour them.
And now, that time had come again.
The moment the fox shrine maiden's warning fell, a fierce gale suddenly swept up from nowhere.
...
For every 50 Power Stones → +1 extra chapter.