Miss Hebe is Fighting Her Way Out of the Lostbelt!

Hebe stood in the gentle afternoon sun, her sleeves drawn in. Her flaxen hair was tied back at the nape of her neck, secured with a wooden hairpin.

She wore a dark outer robe with wide sleeves, while the close-fitting garment underneath was a pure white, unblemished by any impurities. Her slender feet were clad in wooden sandals, and she stood quietly not far away.

"Koko..."

"Hush." Hebe raised a finger to her lips, making a shushing gesture. "Miss A-Long, call me Little Jade when we're outside. Don't reveal my identity."

After calming the somewhat restless Miss A-Long, Hebe turned and walked towards the village.

Her wooden sandals made a sound on the stone path, and the villagers looked over with suspicion.

Hebe stopped a few meters away, her hands tucked into her sleeves, and bowed slightly.

"My companion and I have come from the mountains. We'd like to ask you, which way leads to the town?"

Hebe's clear voice carried, and the villagers' wariness lessened. Some bravely poked their heads out.

"Go east!"

"Thank you." Hebe thanked them curtly, then turned and left.

The villagers exchanged glances. Weren't the more beautiful yokai supposed to be more ferocious? Why was this one so easy to talk to?

Someone whispered, "My dad told me his friend met a yokai in the mountains once. That yokai also asked him some questions, then treated him to good wine and meat. When he went down the mountain, they even gave him a lot of gold."

As soon as this was said, the villagers were filled with regret. Some hurried out, trying to catch up to Hebe, but when they reached the outskirts of the village, her figure had already vanished without a trace.

Returning to their original spot, Miss A-Long was still crouching there.

"Koko turned into a human..." Miss A-Long said something with an ambiguous meaning.

"I can change back," Hebe comforted her. "Let's go."

It was spring, and some reeds had grown along the road leading to the town. Hebe pulled out a few tender blades of grass and wove them into a hollow ball.

Hebe handed the hollow ball to Miss A-Long, telling her to hang it from her waist.

"This way, Miss A-Long will appear as an ordinary young girl to humans."

Miss A-Long's unusually tall stature and hair, which was harder than a normal sword, were practically screaming her non-human nature. Without the cover of an illusion, even entering the town would be difficult.

Miss A-Long was very happy after receiving Hebe's gift, completely forgetting her earlier unpleasantness.

She ran ahead to chase swallows for a while, then went to smell the wildflowers by the roadside.

It wasn't until the sun was about to set that Hebe and Miss A-Long arrived at the town. Several soldiers wearing bamboo hats and carrying bamboo spears guarded the entrance. Above the low city gate behind them hung a plaque with Chinese characters.

—Hyuga.

"So it's the Hyuga country, the Miyazaki Prefecture of the Eastern Kingdom in later generations," Hebe suddenly realized.

She turned her head and looked back the way they came, at the towering mountain peaks covered in white snow.

"So that's Mount Takachiho."

In later legends, Mount Takachiho was one of the most important stages for Eastern Kingdom mythology.

According to legend, the heavenly cave where Amaterasu hid was on Mount Takachiho, and the gods of Takama-ga-hara would ascend and descend along this mountain.

However, in the past year, Hebe hadn't seen any heavenly cave, nor had she seen any so-called "gods of Takama-ga-hara."

'According to some theories, Tamamo-no-Mae is a facet of Amaterasu...' Hebe found it somewhat amusing.

Then the small shrine where she spent the winter could be considered the heavenly cave.

62 Demon Extermination Record?

Regardless of whether Hebe was a nine-tailed fox or the god Amaterasu, the toll had to be paid.

Fortunately, at this time, even copper coins were rare items imported from Zhendan. Most parts of the Eastern Kingdom still operated on a barter system.

Hebe had woven a few extra fragrant hollow balls along the way, which she used to pay the entrance fee to the town.

She also took the opportunity to inquire about the current time from the gate guards.

—Kentoku 3, which was 965 AD.

Although the Eastern Kingdom had its own court, Zhendan's era names were also in use. Hebe counted on her fingers; by this time, the Great Song had already been established, but the chaotic Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period had not yet ended.

Hebe shook her head, casting aside the faint melancholy.

The facilities within the towns of this era were unremarkable, and the food was even more difficult to describe. Even nobles ate nothing more than hard white rice, which they shaped into cylinders, inverted into their bowls, and then arranged around the bowl.

It was less about enjoying the food and more about enjoying the visual aesthetic of the presentation.

Hebe had seen later restorations where chefs placed seasoned wild boar, wild pheasant, dried abalone, octopus tentacles, and cheese made from solidified milk in small side dishes around the rice.

But in reality, nobles of this era did not have a strong preference for game meat. One reason was religious belief, and another was likely simply that they couldn't defeat the animals.

—The weak are humble, and the strong are arrogant.

The noblemen of Heian quickly understood this rule after paying the price with their lives. After all, compared to life itself, mere gluttony could easily be discarded.

Meanwhile, ordinary commoners subsisted mainly on millet and brown rice.

In stark contrast to these two classes was the samurai class. As the main force in the pioneering of the Eastern Kingdom during this era, samurai essentially "ate their enemies" to maintain their combat effectiveness.

That is to say, they hunted, eating whatever they caught. To ensure a more nutritious diet, they sometimes grew vegetables in their own yards...

Hebe gazed at the building at the end of the main street of the town, a residence that clearly belonged to a noble. She took a gentle sniff.

Atop the building, there were traces of illusion magic, and… a distinct scent of a wild beast.

The sun was already beginning to dip below the horizon, and the street was momentarily empty. Even those who lingered were being urged along by soldiers wielding clubs.

Curfew was about to begin.

Hebe wasted no more time and led Miss A-Long towards the noble's residence.

Servants at the entrance greeted them.

"May I ask what business you have, honored guests, that brings you to our humble abode?"

Even though Sugawara no Michizane had cut off diplomatic missions to Tang China for decades and vigorously promoted the so-called "national style," the Eastern lands still yearned for the customs of Zhendan. Whether in clothing or daily life, they still considered "Tang style" to be the epitome of beauty.

The servant immediately recognized that Hebe's robes were of the most standard "Tang style."

"My companion and I have been cultivating in Mount Takachiho. In recent years, stillness has led to a desire for movement, so we have descended the mountain to travel," Hebe began speaking in elegant Zhendan dialect. "Just now, while standing in the center of town, I observed changes in the cloud formation above your esteemed residence. Have you encountered any strange occurrences lately?"

The servant was dumbfounded. He could roughly understand what Hebe was saying, but he couldn't reply in the Zhendan dialect.

After a long pause, the servant bowed deeply in greeting and quickly opened the large gate.

"Please follow me!"

Upon entering, they happened upon the master of the house having his meal.

The master's surname was Minamoto, and he hailed from the Seiwa Genji.

In the rice bowl was a cylindrical portion of white rice. Beside it, a small bowl contained a few pieces of fish seasoned with pickled plums, accompanied by some seaweed. This was considered a delicacy that would make even Heian nobles' mouths water.

"Honored guests, please partake," the master of the house, seated at the head of the table, gestured with a smile.

Hebe glanced at the food and sighed, reaching out to hold Miss A-Long back.

"While the nobles' food isn't exactly great, at least it's edible… Is it too presumptuous to serve us dirt and pebbles?"

The noble at the head of the table's expression changed: "You–"

Before he could finish speaking, the maiden seated at the guest table snapped her fingers.

Snap.

The surroundings shifted.

What was placed before them was no longer rice and fish. The rice bowl was filled with a pile of foul-smelling dirt, and the small bowl contained a handful of stones; as for the seaweed, it was nothing more than green grass.

Miss A-Long flew into a rage and lunged at the noble seated at the head of the table.

"Aieee!"

The noble, who had been sitting upright, let out a scream and vanished. The next moment, he crashed to the ground, revealing his true form.

He was a plump Bake-danuki, with a vibrant green leaf perched atop his head.

Hebe reached out and lifted the Bake-danuki. "Using illusion magic before me, hmm?"

The Bake-danuki covered its face with its forepaws. "Tanutarō is sorry, Tanutarō won't dare again!"

Just as Hebe was about to say something, she heard footsteps from outside.

Immediately after, the middle-aged noble they had seen earlier rushed in from the doorway. He looked around before his gaze fixed on the Bake-danuki in Hebe's hand.

"Damn tanuki!" the middle-aged noble said hatefully. "You've been causing trouble for me for a full six months, and today I'm going to kill you!"

Saying that, he reached out to grab the tanuki.

Hebe quickly pulled her hand back, causing the middle-aged noble to grasp at empty air.

"May I ask who you are…" the noble narrowed his eyes and withdrew his hand.

"You may call me Tamamo-no-Mae," Hebe replied. "This Bake-danuki is now my spoils of war. Isn't it a bit much for Lord Minamoto to try and snatch my property?"

The noble burst into laughter. "I was just joking earlier. Please, sit, please sit!"

Immediately, servants quickly entered, cleared away the bowls filled with mud and stones, and brought out steaming hot dinners – this time, they were indeed real dishes.

Miss A-Long ate with great enjoyment – after all, there were no seasonings in the mountains.

Hebe, as usual, did not touch her chopsticks.

The noble secretly marveled, thinking that this beautiful maiden named Tamamo-no-Mae must be a noble of extremely high status, possibly even from Zhendan.

The tanuki secretly clicked its tongue, thinking that Tamamo-no-Mae must be a terrifyingly powerful great yokai, to be so unmoved even by such exquisite food. Perhaps she had come from the West.

Both the noble and the tanuki felt a sense of unease.

After Miss A-Long finished eating, Hebe passed her own plate to her.

This was, of course, highly improper, but no one dared to comment.

"Lord Minamoto hails from the Seiwa Genji, with a distinguished family lineage," Hebe suddenly said. "Do you perhaps miss the scenery of Heian-kyō?"

A look of nostalgia and pride appeared on the noble's face.

The Seiwa Genji were descendants of the Imperial line, making them genuine court nobles.

Heian-kyō was, at this time, the most prosperous capital in the East. As for the Hyuga country... how should I put it? If they had a choice, no one would want to leave the bustling capital region for the southernmost border.

"Ever since I left Heian-kyō, I have not stopped thinking of my homeland, not for a single moment."

The noble of the Minamoto clan sighed, looking earnestly at Hebe.

"Miss Tamamo-no-Mae has helped me resolve the Bake-danuki crisis. I am truly grateful. Please, feel free to state any request you may have."

Hebe smiled. "I happen to be going to Heian-kyō. I would trouble Lord Minamoto to write a letter for me and my companion. This way, we can avoid some unnecessary trouble."

The noble laughed heartily. "What difficulty is there in that? I shall write to Miss Tamamo-no-Mae right away."

In a short while, two letters, still wet with ink, were finished.

Hebe blew a breath onto the two letters, and the ink instantly dried.

She put away the two documents, bowed to the stunned noble, and then, picking up Tanutarō, who was stealthily trying to escape, she called out to Miss A-Long and left the lord's mansion together.

63 Miss Tamamo, Save Me!

The tanuki's ears drooped as Hebe held him by the scruff of his neck.

"Don't eat me, I don't taste good," the Bake-danuki trembled, so scared that his dialect even slipped out.

Hebe smiled playfully.

Bake-danuki were yokai skilled in using illusions. They were elusive and by nature enjoyed playing tricks. They could freely transform into other objects, even into human forms, though in most cases, this did not lead to life-threatening danger.

Relatively speaking, the alignment of Bake-danuki was somewhat removed from beasts, leaning more towards humans.

This was also a facet of the Heian period, where humans and beasts gradually became blurred—even nobles could degenerate into great yokai, yet yokai and oni, through this influence, gradually developed humanity.

Hebe did not remove the leaf from the tanuki's head.

For Bake-danuki, the leaf on their head was both a tool for casting illusions and the source of their wisdom. Once removed by an outsider, a Bake-danuki would turn into an ordinary tanuki.