Prayer Beads and an Alley / Godmother

"Uh..."

He let out a roar with all the force he could muster, bringing the battle to an end.

"Man among men, Great Python Cave Bear!"

"Ah, thank you, Mr. Cave Bear."

Yotsuya Miko sighed. She felt as if something inside her had been purified, too. Even though the Ghosts were so close, her Soul Devouring Sensation had suddenly disappeared.

Perhaps this could be called philosophy.

Chapter 14: Prayer Beads and an Alley

Yurikawa Hana finally arrived, breaking the deadlock.

Yotsuya Miko got up and walked over to Hana, ignoring the extrovert's invitation along the way. But as she left Tea Leaf Buck, the female companion of the extrovert named Yuuyu showed up, too.

Seeing the several Ghosts following behind the woman, Yotsuya Miko couldn't help feeling numb.

As expected, that was just what you'd expect from an extrovert.

The high-level woman quickly took charge of the date, calmly asserting her authority.

Thanks to Mr. Cave Bear, she was now enjoying a rather peaceful period.

The walk from Tea Leaf Buck to Donkichi was uneventful, and at last they reached the part where they had to choose prayer beads.

Yotsuya Miko touched the prayer beads on the counter inside Donkichi and probed them with a trace of spiritual energy. She was lucky; they seemed to be genuine.

The wisp of energy soon returned to her body, carrying a gentle aura. It gave her the same feeling as Mr. Cave Bear had.

There just wasn't much of it.

When she left Donkichi again, Yotsuya Miko had four strands of prayer beads looped over her hand. By her reckoning, they should help her devour souls two or three more times.

After that, she'd have to come back and buy some more.

Raising the prayer beads in her hand, Miko slowly drew the mysterious power inside them into her body. The transfer was fairly quick; it took only a minute to store the power of one strand inside herself.

Soon, she had drawn the power from all four strands into her body. A gentle substance kept its distance from the Profound Nether Qi, settling in a corner. When the Soul Devouring Sensation appeared again, she could use this substance to suppress its negative effects.

That should put the Soul Devouring Sensation issue to rest for now. The only real nuisance was that she'd have to spend a lot of money on prayer beads.

As for not buying them and simply extracting the substance from the beads at Donkichi, she wasn't so lacking in morals that she'd do that. Besides, these prayer beads were genuine, and there were surely people who needed them. If she drained all the energy from them and someone who needed them suffered because of it, she'd be hurting them.

"Donkichi really does sell everything."

Yurikawa Hana exclaimed, hugging the large plush toy in her arms. The rabbit had its lower lip sticking way out, and it was hard to see what was supposed to be cute about it.

"You bought that plushie again?"

"Don't you already have a lot at home?"

At least, Miko couldn't appreciate what was so cute about these plush toys.

"They're cute because there are lots of them."

Yurikawa Hana said this as though it were obvious, stroking the toy's head.

"Didn't you buy four strands of prayer beads, too, Miko?"

"Yeah. I didn't think I had enough."

Yotsuya Miko raised the four strands of prayer beads in her hand. She'd drawn the energy out of them, but there was nothing wrong with wearing them.

"You need a lot to get the effect."

"The effect?"

Yurikawa Hana put the plush toy in her backpack and slung it over her shoulders, curious about Yotsuya Miko's purchase.

"Are prayer beads really in fashion now?"

"They're super popular."

Miko lied without the slightest qualm. She was thinking about whether she should go back and kill the four-headed Ghost from earlier. She hadn't been able to kill it before because of the Soul Devouring Sensation, but now that she had the prayer beads to help her, she had nothing to worry about.

Besides, that thing had ruined her good mood today.

"But I haven't seen anyone wearing them."

"I'm at the very forefront of fashion."

She said something she didn't believe herself, but was completely certain her friend would buy. Sure enough, Yurikawa Hana had no doubts at all.

"So they'll become popular later?"

"They will. Definitely."

Hearing Miko's answer, Yurikawa Hana looked thoughtful.

"Maybe I should've bought a strand, too."

Looking at Hana, Miko suddenly remembered all the things that had happened earlier. Hana couldn't see the Ghosts, but she was still being harassed by them.

Thinking of this, Yotsuya Miko silently poured the gentle energy inside her into the prayer beads on her left hand. If she'd known what spiritual energy was good for now, she would've infused some of that, too.

She took two strands of prayer beads off her left hand and handed them to Yurikawa Hana.

"Here. These are for you."

"Huh? You're giving them to me?"

"Yeah."

Yotsuya Miko sensed the small amount of gentle energy left in her body—probably just enough to keep the Soul Devouring Sensation at bay—and decided she should go back and buy a few more strands later.

For now, she'd keep shopping with Yurikawa Hana.

"Thank you."

Yurikawa Hana smiled happily and hurriedly put on the two strands of prayer beads, holding her hands up to show them off.

"Now we match."

"We're at the very cutting edge of fashion."

Remembering that she should return the favor, Yurikawa Hana turned to Yotsuya Miko.

"I'll treat you to some Butt Mochi as a thank-you."

"B-Butt Mochi?"

"They're soft and springy, and super delicious."

As she spoke, Yurikawa Hana led the way, and Yotsuya Miko followed her to an alley.

"It's just a short walk through this alley."

She jogged ahead, then turned around to hurry Miko along.

"Come on, Miko."

Yotsuya Miko looked at the alley full of Ghosts and watched as Yurikawa Hana walked among them, the Ghosts moving out of her way. She felt a little more reassured about the prayer beads. It seemed like giving those two strands to Hana had been a good idea.

Thinking this, she silently drew out a wisp of the gentle energy to suppress the Soul Devouring Sensation in her mind, then unhurriedly headed straight into the crowd of Ghosts.

Ah, this felt great.

Yotsuya Miko marveled at how good it felt as she moved among the Ghosts, pretending she couldn't see them. The troublesome Soul Devouring Sensation didn't act up, either. It was all because she'd gotten rid of... Huh?

Suddenly, she realized that the gentle energy inside her was disappearing much faster. Her Spiritual Sense alerted her to the presence of a big one that had suddenly appeared in front of her.

It was much taller than an ordinary Ghost, and every inch of it gave off the scent of a high-quality ingredient. No wonder the prayer beads' energy was being used up so quickly.

Of course, high-quality ingredients were also harder to deal with.

Yotsuya Miko hurried past the huge monster, then glanced back at it, committing it to memory.

She'd deal with it another time.

The Ghost seemed intelligent enough to glance back, too. But it wasn't looking at her; it was looking at someone else—Yurikawa Hana.

Yotsuya Miko could no longer feel its gaze. She chatted and laughed with Yurikawa Hana as they walked out of the alley.

"It's so itchy..."

The Ghost said this as it moved its feet, unsteadily and slowly making its way toward Yurikawa Hana.

It seemed to be drawn by something.

Chapter 15: Godmother

Butt Mochi sounded like some kind of perverted food, but it wasn't.

Daifuku was a Japanese sweet made from chewy rice dough wrapped around a filling. "Butt Mochi" got its name because the top of the rice cake had a groove dividing it into two halves, like a person's...

"Th-this is really good."

Daifuku usually tasted quite good, especially when the filling was runny. With just the right amount of sweetness and a soft, chewy texture, even people who didn't like sweets could easily polish off several.

"Right?"

Hearing Miko's opinion, Yurikawa Hana gave her a knowing smile.

"It feels so soft, just like eating a butt."

"I've never eaten a butt."

Yotsuya Miko enjoyed her daifuku, feeling more relaxed than she had in a long time.

Now she could eat delicious food with her friend and chat about trivial things, without any Ghosts bothering them. It was a rare treat.

"Nom, nom—"

Yurikawa Hana took big bites out of the two daifuku in her hands, then shoved both of them into her mouth at once. Her cheeks puffed up like a hamster's.

"Yummy."

Mumbling, she walked over to the trash can and threw away the two paper wrappers.

"I really wanted a strawberry daifuku, but they were already sold out."

Hearing the regret in her voice, Yotsuya Miko shook her head and continued eating her own daifuku in small bites.

But it seemed the Ghosts weren't going to let her relax for long. Her Spiritual Sense sounded another warning. She looked up and frowned.

That thing had followed her here.

The Malevolent Ghost she'd met in the alley, far stronger than an ordinary Ghost, was now staggering toward her. The Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record treated it as high-quality food, so it would use up the energy in her prayer beads several times faster than an ordinary Ghost. What was more, she'd kept only a little of the energy from those strands inside herself, pouring most of it back into the prayer beads in Yurikawa Hana's hands.

"Hana, do you know anywhere nearby where I can buy prayer beads? Somewhere close would be best."

Seeing the way this thing was coming at her, Yotsuya Miko had no intention of showing it any more courtesy. She planned to send the Ghost straight to the afterlife.

"Huh? Didn't you already buy prayer beads?"

"They broke."

Miko said this calmly. The prayer beads on her hand suddenly fell apart, their beads scattering across the ground.

She lowered her eyes, her mood darkening.

"I just noticed the string holding them together was damaged."

"What?"

Yurikawa Hana looked at the prayer beads scattered on the ground, growing angry, too.

"They gave you a defective product? No way. I'm going back to make them replace it."

"No, don't. Let's just go to another store."

Yotsuya Miko shook her head. She'd cut the string herself with her spiritual energy; the beads she'd bought at Donkichi weren't defective. She knew perfectly well what had happened, so she wasn't going to ask Donkichi to replace them. It wasn't their fault.

"But..."

Yurikawa Hana looked at her indignantly. After a few seconds of silence, she finally gave up.

"Fine. I just don't understand you. I do know a fortune-telling place, though. Maybe they sell prayer beads."

"That's perfect. Let's go, Hana."

Saying this, Yotsuya Miko quickly finished her daifuku and headed straight toward Yurikawa Hana without looking back.