When Yae Sakura returned to Yae Village, she found that many people had already gathered in front of Yae Shrine.
They had also brought several corpses, covered them with straw mats, and laid them out before the shrine.
"Lord Miko!"
A villager from Yae Village spoke to the returning Yae Sakura. "Those monsters have appeared in Yae Village again!"
The villager pointed at the corpses. "Many more villagers have died."
The surrounding villagers murmured among themselves, and faint sobbing could even be heard.
"My friend was also taken by that monster..."
"My husband..."
"This must be the Divine Lord's punishment!"
Amid the crowd of villagers, an elderly man stepped forward and said, "This is the Divine Lord's punishment upon our village. As long as we soothe the god's wrath, peace will return to the village..."
"Lord Miko, we must... hold the ritual once more!"
The old man's words reached Yae Sakura's ears, making her raise her head and look at him.
"Hold... the ritual?"
"Yes! To calm the Divine Lord's fury, we must hold the ritual again!"
"I understand."
Yae Sakura did not directly answer the villagers before her.
Yet the villagers clearly all agreed with what the old man had said.
Hold the Sacrifice Ritual again.
Offer a young girl to the enraged god to please the god and dispel the Divine Lord's anger.
This was what Yae Village had always done.
It was also what Yae Sakura, as the Miko, had always done.
Yae Sakura lowered her head, her eyes half-closed, concealing her expression.
At that moment, Yae Sakura finally made her decision.
"The Sacrifice Ritual will be held three days from now."
Yae Sakura said this to the villagers.
"Thank you, Lord Miko."
"Now we won't have to worry about more monsters appearing."
After receiving Yae Sakura's