【Ch. 4 - Coming Up】

Well, one of my questions did get answered in short time. Unfortunately, it was the worst possible one for this situation. I was the weird one. Something about Takeda seemed to draw spirits of all sorts to him with an overwhelming greed or lust. Irrespective of form, gender, or tangibility; All were equally drawn. And I seemed to be the only one who wasn't affected.

“T-Tama-san! Hurry!”

I let out a sigh. It had been roughly an hour since our encounter with Kimi and in that time it has just been an endless series of encounters as we make our way over to the shrine. I had taken up a strategy of simply using Takeda as bait and putting the assailant to sleep with a hex similar to how I handled Kimi.

Much to his chagrin.

For the ones that I couldn't put to sleep, binding hexes were thankfully still possible. We'd still need to make haste since once they regained their senses as we got further away, the binds were trivial to escape. The first encounter we looped three times in a bind, escape, berserk, bind, etc sequence. That was tiring.

”Tamaaa-saan!”

We were currently dealing with yet another one of my acquaintances this time. It would not be an exaggeration to say we've been leaving a trail of them in our wake. I did not recognize her this time, but she has been by far the most vigilant one yet. I've failed a number of times already, and she seems to be putting Takeda into some sort of submission hold now.

”Tama-sa- Urk!”

”Ara? Why are you not paying attention to me, cutie~?”

His clothes were pretty much in shambles by now. She was yet another in a long line of those attempting to strip him and she was well into this task by now. There wasn't much protecting his dignity at this point and he was desperately protecting what was left.

With her prize so close, I sense her vigil finally dropping, revealing an opening. I swiftly put her to sleep with this chance.

As her grip grows limp, Takeda wastes no time in unwrapping her from his body. This encounter, naturally, exhausted him out and he takes a while to regain is breath whilst fixing what he could of his clothing.

”Is there... haa... is there any reason we can't sneak around this path or something?”

”We can't really get too far off into the forests without risking our souls being torn apart. And, well, at the distance we could safely go, they'd be able to sniff you out anyway.”

I did try casting an invisibility and masking ward initially but it seems like whatever is attracting spirits to Takeda, they didn't need to actually see him. If anything, it felt like there was just this inexplicable aura that caused them to go berserk once they got near enough.

”... I'm a little afraid to ask but, Tama-san, do you have a plan for when we actually get to the shrine? Wouldn't there be a bunch of you there?”

”Well, that is true. Um, I guess rush you as quickly as possible to the gate and shove you through?”

”Eh?”

Oi. Don't give me that look. Okay, so its not a very well thought out plan, but I'm out of options. The reality was I needed to get him out of here as soon as possible and since he had no idea of how he opened that first gate, the only options left were inevitably at shrines.

”The shrine we're heading to is on the pretty small side, so there shouldn't be that many attendants. Well, there'd be a decent number of messengers, but I'm hoping we've dealt with most of them already.”

”If its a shrine, there's a kami there right? What about them?”

”Yes, we'll most likely encounter Kitohana-sama. I'm hoping she won't be affected like the others...”

”And what if she is? What then?”

”Uh... I guess let her have her way with you?”

I really wouldn't be able to do anything about it if she really put her sights on Takeda. Up until now, the only reason I was able to deal with everyone else was a combination of being more or less on the same peerage as them and their suffering from short-term insanity. This would not be the case up against a kami.

Takeda didn't particularly take my answer well, either way.

”Don't give me that look. I mean, at the very least she'd keep all the others off of you. So, uh, just enjoy it? Not every day you'd get the chance to have an amorous encounter with a kami.”

”I'd rather not! It really feels like I'll lose my life if they actually got their way with me!”

He really was looking rather disheveled at this point after all of his encounters, especially the last one. His suit jacket and tie were basically shredded some time back and it really was only a matter of time before his dress shirt was damaged beyond repair too. Not to mention the multiple destroyed belt loops.

Really, he looked like he went through a warzone.

”Well I wouldn't be able to do anything to help you if she really got you. Without being able to figure out how to open a gate like the one you got here with, you'd have to get closer to a kami sooner or later.”

”Ugh... Is there any reason we have to go to a shrine?”

There did actually exist hotspots in the mortal realm where concentrated energies allowed you to open gates at those locations, but they had their own set of problems. For one, they were invariably in deep wilderness. For another, there was an even bigger issue given this situation.

”Truthfully? No, but the alternatives have even higher numbers of spirits around them... most of them are independent too and some not friendly to humans. So I'm not even sure if it even counts as a last resort”

”So we really don't have a choice?”

Well, technically he didn't have a choice. I didn't really have much of a reason to help him this much outside of obligation to report this. Honestly, I could very well just dump him onto Kitohana-sama and leave him as is, job finished. It'd leave a bad taste in my mouth, though.

”Unfortunately, no. We're getting pretty close, so prepare yourself.”

May as well see this through to the end in any case.

We were coming up to the base of the steps to the shrine. It wasn't a particularly long flight as the shrine itself was fairly small. Enshrined was the aforementioned Kitohana-no-mikoto, a local kami of relationships. Despite its size, the shrine itself was well maintained and received a good number of local visitors so she herself wasn't lacking much in divine power.

”Hmm?”

Thats weird. I was expecting to encounter one of her attendants already. There were usually one or two near this entranceway. Given the shrine’s small size, it was almost a given. I look up the steps towards the shrine with quizzical head tilt. This was ominous.

“Lets head on up. The gate opens in the yard just outside the shrine entrance.”

Of course, I'd still need time to open it, but let's worry about that if it actually becomes an issue. Takeda slowly follows behind me as we head up the steps. The ascent was strangely quiet. Shrines, whilst not always bustling, should have at least some noise from the attendants performing tasks. I could hear none of that usual activity. Something was off.

As we approach the top the steps and my view breaks the crest of the stairs, I finally saw the reason why. Standing in the middle of the shrine's front yard was Kitohana-sama. She was sporting a wide mischievous smile, her eyes lock on me immediately as I finish my climb to the top.

It was an expression I recognized, so at least she did not seem to be bewitched…

“How rare, Tama-chan. One has finally brought a man here. A rare specimen, at that.”

Still, it's not like I didn't have other reasons why I didn't particularly want to see her.