「All right. Let’s go! 」

「Uu, I don’t want to go」

While forcibly dragging Gon, I arrived at the shrine. The three-year gathering of the white fox, if he didn’t go, his abilities will disappear. I must avoid it at all costs.

I am going to do my utmost to help Gon. I don’t know about the attitude of this Ohi-sama, but in the worst case, I’m prepared to exchange a few moves with her.

That being said, I’m not going there to pick a fight. I want to resolve this peacefully and prepared a certain countermeasure. It is said that she has her aides by her side. We can try the「Gift Strategy」. In my previous life, I was used to dealing with superiors.

That’s why I spent some time to make ohagi and fried tofu. Ohagi and fried tofu that I left in the shrine a while ago had miraculously disappeared. Believing that they liked it, I made a lot of both of them. If they didn’t, I will just give it to the harpies.

We stood in front of the shrine. For a moment, my surroundings became pure white. Before I noticed, we appeared in front of the large mansion.

The gate quietly opened. Once inside, I saw a Japanese style house. There was a fox in a peculiar outfit sitting in front of the entrance. When we approached,

「I was waiting for you」

She slightly lowered her head and led us inside. Gon was completely nervous, but she didn’t care and proficiently guided us inside. Surprisingly, my map doesn’t work here, is there some kind of a barrier?

Soon, we arrived at the hall. In the far end of the room, two foxes were sitting. We entered inside and sat in front of them.

「Oh, the one, who was dispatched to the Juka Kingdom, finally came back」

「It is good that you came back. Did you wash your neck? 」

Hohoho, laughed his superiors. A sudden preemptive strike was fired. Gon was completely defeated by it. He seems to have a trauma.

「You even brought a friend with you. You probably don’t know any manners, but I will allow you to tell me your name. Go ahead, state your name」

I breathed out and prepared my speech. I used a certain performance as a reference.

「I apologize for sullying your mood. I’m one of your faithful believers from the Hideta Empire named as Rinos. On this occasion, I presumptuously accompanied a white fox here. Although I overstepped my bounds, I hope you can forgive me. I’m aware of the intricacies of your relationships, but I still hope to have a fruitful conversation」 [¹]

「……Ho, quite courteous of you. It seems that you at least have etiquette in your skills」

All right, the first objective clear! Let’s go to the next step.

「Today, we are here to offer you our humble food. It might not suit your palate, but I still wish to present you with it」

I took out a lot of ohagi and fried tofu from the infinite storage. They immediately showed a reaction.

「This is something we found amongst the offerings a while ago. That thing was superb. It is even so much…..You are such a lovely boy. Umumu, leave it to us. I will bring Ohi-sama right away」

The superiors were surprisingly easy to deal with. They called Ohi-sama and waited in front of the bamboo curtain. After a while, the bamboo curtain was lifted

……and I saw a giant fox there. She truly had nine tails and was rather silver than white. She gave me a radiant feeling. Gon was desperately prostrating on the floor, and I followed him in his prostration.

「Umu. The one from the Juka Kingdom…….This one is willing to listen to you. You brought a mysterious person in our abode……But on behalf of your offering, this one will allow it. You can raise your head」

Gon became even more scared. While being relieved with her permission, I saw her aides nodding at her.

「This place isn’t suitable for a conversation. You two can follow this mistress inside」

The bamboo curtain was lifted aside. It seems, she called us in a different room. A different fox appeared and guided us inside, once we passed through the corridor

「I can only guide you up to here. The inner chambers are just ahead. Please proceed inside」

she said so and disappeared. We quietly pass through the corridor and headed towards the room.

「I’m glad that those girls didn’t lash on me this time」

「Somehow we managed to pass. The gift strategy was successful」

「I’m saved. But still, Ohi-sama is beautiful no matter how many times I look at her. I want to have such a princess as my wife. That would be nice. At least for three days……..」

「What the hell are you saying? You are her follower. Forget about Ohi-sama. Just go and buy a prostitute when we are home! 」

While having a silly conversation, we arrived at our destination. When we opened the sliding door, we saw two cushions. Once we sat down, we waited for Ohi-sama to start a conversation.

「This mistress summoned you here to ask for a favor」

I smell something troublesome.

「Ohagi and fried tofu from the last offering. This mistress won’t ask for it…….every day. Can you offer it once a week? Of course, it won’t be for free. This mistress will bestow a worthy reward upon you」

「That would be easy for me. But is it safe to assume that you forgave this Gon? 」

「Umu. This mistress took a liberty to look through your memory up until now. Including you killing thousands of people and becoming a Great Demon King. Even though you are of the same race, you can still accumulate the experience from killing. The experience gathered from such a number of people is tremendous, that’s what boosted your skill to such an extent」

Hou, I see.

「The fact that you gave up on being the Great Demon King is not because of that fox, but because of your own heart. More than that, this mistress is deeply pleased with you dealing with that demon fox, Paoran. That ****** ***** was leading our people astray. She even killed some our us」

I see. Mm? Did I just hear something outrageous?

「Therefore, this mistress forgives that fox. Forget about that, ohagi! Fried tofu! Even this mistress, didn’t eat something so exquisite in 10000 years. It is a waste to leave it all to the officials. You are to bring it directly to this mistress」

Such a spoiled princess. I’m totally fine with this arrangement, you know?

「Oh! So you accept. To repay you, this mistress will bestow the「Divine Protection」upon you. This one will also raise your liberal arts, while at it. Un? You have a lot of imposing titles. This might be a little difficult….this is…..」

Ohi-sama’s body shone. Like that, I obtained「Divine Protection LV5」and「Liberal Arts LV5」.

「With Divine Protection you can bestow and deprive people of their skills. Normally, you can only take or give skill below your own LV. But starting from LV4, you can manipulate the skill of the same LV as your own. When「Liberal Arts LV5」increase in level, you can freely interact with other species. You have a lot of different species around you, right? It should be rather convenient to you」 [²]

Oh! I’m going to dance in joy!

「A lot of your skill have reached the god-class and you obtained a multitude of titles as a result. Thanks to that, this mistress was quite hard pressed to grant you these skills. Most likely, this mistress won’t be able to alter your skills any more」

Didn’t know that the titles have such a characteristic. Un? Gon doesn’t have any titles, but……

「He is under me and acts on my behalf」

I see. So that is the reason.

「Thanks to granting you the skills, this mistress’ MP decreased quite a bit. Yes, granting and depriving the skills consumes a lot of MP, so be careful. It’s been a while seen this mistress used so much and this mistress became tired. Let’s give up increasing you skills any further on this occasion. Chieda, Saeda, if someone comes to see this one, you are to send them away」

Acknowledged, said the aides. Is it all right?

「Come to think of it, when you were about to enter this room, you voiced a strange word. 「buyaprostitute」, what does it mean?」

This….I’m troubled how to answer.

「W-we, common people, when we want to come home and relax, say「buyaprostitute」」[³]

「Oh, so that’s how it was」

I somehow succeeded. After that, we returned to our mansion. I still need to make more of fried tofu and ohagi.

….One day, we had a visitor from Ohi-sama. An old fox named Sandill.

Sandill is the second oldest fox after Ohi-sama with an age of 6000 years. His intimate attitude creeped out the females on the first glance.

Ohi-sama didn’t like Sandill very much. Be it his actions or his attitude. She always thought of sending him away.

「The one who worships the princess’ beautiful face, Sandill, at your service」

「You must be tired as of late. This one allows you to take a break and buy a prostitute」

After that, Sandill went away for a week, while Ohi-sama enjoyed her free time.

Ohi-sama (Fox God, 10112 years old) LV97
HP: 13579
MP: 18745
Appraisal Magic LV5
Presence Detection LV5
Mana Detection LV5
Liberal Arts LV5
Divine Protection LV5
Barrier Magic LV3
Space Magic LV4
Evasion LV5
Recovery Magic LV4

Erudite, Sage, Life and Death, Renowned Scout

Erudite: Liberal Arts LV5
Sage: Appraisal Magic LV5
Life and Death: Divine Protection LV5
Renowned Scout: Presence Detection LV5, Mana Detection LV5, Evasion LV5

Rinos (Barrier Master, 15 years old) LV∞
HP: 49859
MP: 62874
Barrier Magic LV5
Fire Magic LV5
Water Magic LV5
Wind Magic LV5
Lightning Magic LV5
Earth Magic LV4
Recovery Magic LV5
Life Magic LV2
Chanting LV5
Appraisal Magic LV5
Sword Arts LV5
MP Recovery LV5
Presence Detection LV5
Mana Detection LV5
Mana Absorption LV5
Body Strengthening LV5
Evasion LV5
Etiquette LV3 (UP)
Liberal Arts LV5 (UP)
Paralysis Resistance LV5
Poison Resistance LV5
Mental Resistance LV5
Black Magic LV5
Divine Protection LV5 (NEW!)

God of War, God of Knowledge, Greater Demon, Iron Man, Iron Fist, God of Barriers, Ace, Skilled Warrior, Renowned Scout, Life and Death, Erudite

God of War: Sword Arts LV5, Lightning Magic LV5, Wind Magic LV5
God of Knowledge: Appraisal Magic LV5, Recovery Magic LV5
Greater Demon: Black Magic LV5
Iron Man: Mental Resistance LV5, Poison Resistance LV5, Paralysis Resistance LV5
Iron Fist: Body Strengthening LV5
God of Barriers: Barrier Magic LV5
Ace: Fire Magic LV5, Water Magic LV5
Skilled Warrior: Chanting LV5, MP Recovery LV5, Mana Absorption LV5
Renowned Scout: Presence Detection LV5, Mana Detection LV5, Evasion LV5
Life and Death: Divine Protection LV5
Erudite: Liberal Arts LV5