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[C.G] Ch 20: Inuyasha— Midoriko
🕑 Added 2025-04-14 10:29:40 +0000 UTC— — — — — —
Elsewhere
Having left the sunflower field behind, Veyron was already making his way home.
He didn't know much about astronomy, geography, or current affairs.
But there was one thing he did know—
That elderly couple who lived on the outskirts of the bamboo forest and had helped him buy necessities over the past nine years—they always mentioned going to Fujiwara-kyo.
According to something they said once, Fujiwara-kyo was the grandest city in all of the Eastern Lands.
Even folks from distant islands would travel hundreds of miles just to catch a glimpse.
In other words, if you were in this part of the world, finding out where Fujiwara-kyo was shouldn't be that hard.
And it wasn't.
After walking into a nearby village and casually asking a few merchants, one of them quickly pointed him in the right direction.
And once he reached Fujiwara-kyo, finding the bamboo forest that even a pair of elderly folks could reach and return from in a single day shouldn't be a big deal, right?
Well… if only this chaotic world wasn't so chaotic.
---
Veyron sensed an enemy.
Without even drawing a blade—just a casual hand swipe in the air—
Backed by 6 points of base swordsmanship slash strength, even a hand strike from a swordsman like Veyron could carry some serious force.
A tiger yokai, along with the stone it was hiding behind, got sliced clean in two like it was made of tofu.
As he watched the dozen or so spirit slaves that had been under the tiger yokai's control regain their freedom, bow to him a few times, and then quietly pass on to the underworld, Veyron just shook his head.
He was dressed far more extravagantly than the average civilian, a long sword sheathed and slung across his back.
Though it wasn't the typical outfit worn by samurai around here, his appearance was enough that even as he crossed through various territories of different feudal lords, he'd never been troubled. Even bandits usually took one look and pretended they didn't see him—
Because who the hell knew if this guy was some big-shot noble who could summon an army from the capital at a moment's notice, or worse—some terrifying monster who could wipe them all out by himself.
If he was just passing through, best to let him go.
Besides, judging from his outfit, it's not like he was carrying much loot worth stealing.
Human fights didn't concern Veyron much. What really annoyed him were these dumb little yokai and creatures, like the tiger one from earlier, who had the mental capacity of a rock.
Honestly, sticking close to Kaguya's safety zone back in the day had been a genius move.
Nine years ago, with that skinny little body of his—even if his fancy outfit could fool bandits and warlords like now—there was no bluffing monsters. To them, no matter how pretty you looked, you were still just meat on a plate.
"Hey, you want this one?"
Whoosh—
A silvery-white blur shot out from the distance and landed squarely on the tiger yokai's corpse.
It was a snow-white puppy, not a single trace of other color on its fur except for faint purple markings on either cheek and a crescent moon mark on its forehead.
The tiger's fur—tough enough to shrug off arrows—was torn open like paper under the dog's bite.
Clearly…
This wasn't your average mutt—it was a demon beast, a yokai.
"Yo, Little White, you've been tagging along this whole time. Are you sure you don't wanna take me up on that offer I made earlier?"
Veyron placed a hand on the dog yokai's back, stroking its silky fur. This time, instead of flinching like before, it just gave a small shudder. That made him grin. "I won't make any big promises, but if you stick with me, I can guarantee you'll never go hungry."
"Grrr…"
The dog let out a low growl.
A normal person wouldn't have a clue what that meant. But thanks to his Red trait, even without activating Observation Haki or any special hearing ability, Veyron understood it clearly: "Stupid human."
But grumbling aside, the little guy kept quietly munching on the corpse as Veyron petted it.
"Hmm....."
"I can see that puppy doesn't seem to carry any killing intent, so I'm guessing it hasn't harmed humans before. But I'd still like to give you a bit of advice—keeping a demon beast as a pet isn't always a wise idea."
A crisp voice called out from beyond the trees.
Veyron turned toward the voice and saw a woman striding over with light, confident steps. She was dressed like a Shrine Maiden—longbow in hand, a sword at her waist, her presence calm but firm.
"No offense meant," she said as she approached. "I'm just doing my duty as a shrine maiden."
Veyron glanced at her, then scratched under the dog's chin.
"I dunno," he said casually. "Feels kinda fun having a little guy like this around to watch the house or something."
The dog, who had just started to relax under his touch, suddenly snapped its eyes wide open when it heard the words "watch the house," glaring at Veyron with glowing red eyes.
"Oi, what's with that look? You planning to freeload and complain?"
Snap—he flicked the dog on the head.
"…With your strength, I don't doubt you can keep it in line for now," the Shrine Maiden said, smiling as she watched the dog get bonked. "But someone like you should already understand—there's one big difference between humans and yokai."
"Humans are lucky to live a hundred years. But for a yokai? That's barely a footnote in their life."
She continued, "In my travels, I've seen plenty of families who raised demon beasts. Some were descendants of people who, like you, once made pacts with them.
"But over the years, those families either exhausted the goodwill of their ancestors and ended up becoming puppets to those yokai just to keep using their power… or they stayed on good terms, only to get dragged into messes when those yokai's enemies showed up—or worse, when jealous yokai decided to ruin their peace."
"So what you're saying is… better to just leave it be?" Veyron asked, still rubbing the dog's fluffy head.
"That's not what I meant."
The Shrine Maiden shook her head. "If it's never harmed a human, and you're feeding it other monsters—and more importantly, you can control it—then I have no reason to put it down. I just wanted to give you a heads-up. That's all."
"You're an interesting Shrine Maiden. Mind if I ask which shrine you serve? Maybe I'll drop by sometime if I'm in the area."
"My old shrine was destroyed in a yokai attack," she replied after a brief pause. "As for my name… you can call me Midoriko."
Midoriko, huh…
A shrine maiden… named Midoriko…
Veyron blinked, a strange look crossing his face. "Wait… the way you purify demons… do you extract their souls and cleanse them?"
"…You've heard of me before?" Midoriko raised an eyebrow.
Veyron: "…"
Only from a manga called Inuyasha and its anime, does that count?
Wait a second.
That's why that dog looked so damn familiar!
He grabbed the white dog demon (Inu-Yokai) by the scruff of the neck and lifted it up, staring closely at the crescent moon mark on its forehead.
.
.
.
