"280 Crystals? That's so little?"
Yae Sakura froze, a little disappointed!
This was a great demon, one of the most powerful beings in the entire Inuyasha world. Surely it should've been worth a few thousand?
And it was only... 280?
That was one gacha pull in the game!
This was the first-kill reward, too. If that was all she got for a regular kill... wouldn't she have to kill a dozen or so great demons just to unlock a new world?
But... it seemed she'd gotten more than just Crystals...
[Great Demon slain: Earth Spider.]
[Achievement unlocked: First Great Demon slain. Randomly draw one of the target's talents. Congratulations! You have obtained the Resurrection talent.]
"R-Resurrection?"
Yae Sakura was stunned!!
But when she looked closer...
Resurrection: You can be resurrected three times in each world. Upon resurrection, you return to perfect condition.
The first resurrection costs 280 Crystals, the second costs 2,800 Crystals, and the third costs 28,000 Crystals.
"28,000 Crystals? That's insane..."
Still, the first resurrection was affordable.
In the game, reviving only cost 30 Crystals. Here it cost 280. What a rip-off!
But thinking of that animated short, Final Lesson, where Himeko fought Herrscher Kiana, if she could resurrect Himeko, she'd be willing to pay even 28,000 Crystals, wouldn't she?
"What kind of system is this, anyway? Can I pay real money for stuff?"
Yae Sakura asked hesitantly, but, as expected... the aloof system didn't respond.
Forget it...
After dealing with Earth Spider, Yae Sakura turned to the other great demon, Kiyohime.
"Are you going to kill me?"
Kiyohime looked at Yae Sakura, her face showing neither joy nor sorrow, as if she didn't care what Yae Sakura did.
"..."
Yae Sakura didn't answer. Instead, she fell into thought. By rights, Kiyohime was a great demon, too, and killing her would surely earn Crystals. But... she was a demon who looked much like an ordinary human woman.
And Yae Sakura didn't feel any ill will toward her... She couldn't bring herself to do it.
Besides... if she ever really had to kill someone, the first person should be someone she hated, shouldn't it?
"You can go..."
Yae Sakura put away her Spirit Blade, deciding to let her go.
"..."
Kiyohime gave Yae Sakura a thoughtful look, bowed once, then turned and left.
Now that Earth Spider was dead, Kiyohime would return to the ruins of Dojo Temple and keep waiting, hoping that one day she might see that person again.
After watching Kiyohime leave, Yae Sakura returned to Xia Ji.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. How about you, Lady Yae? You aren't hurt, are you?" Xia Ji looked at Yae Sakura with concern.
"I'm fine! All right, this is settled. I'll take you home."
"What about Earth Spider..."
"Let's go!"
"Oh."
Half an hour later...
At last... Yae Sakura had escorted Xia Ji home, and the commission was complete. She'd earned 5 Crystals.
It wasn't a bad amount, considering a great demon was worth so little.
As for the reward Xia Ji said her father would give her, Yae Sakura turned it down outright. She already had over a hundred million gold coins. A little reward from some noble was nothing to her.
Still, Yae Sakura asked Xia Ji to help spread the word about her. If she wanted to become a famous shrine maiden, she'd need people to promote her so she could build her reputation faster.
Finally, Yae Sakura rummaged around in her inventory, pulled out a one-star USP45, and handed it to Xia Ji.
"I'll come visit again. Keep this with you for protection!
With this, you should be able to handle ordinary people and weak demons. Practice your aim whenever you're alone."
Though Xia Ji was beautiful, Yae Sakura had no intention of getting involved with her. She'd be leaving sooner or later.
Still, they'd met and gotten to know each other. They were friends, after all!
Yae Sakura had discovered that all the guns and cannons in her inventory had unlimited ammo...
So she'd never run out of bullets.
With the USP45, Xia Ji should be able to deal with ordinary bandits and the like.
The rest was up to her.
"Lady Yae, are you leaving?"
Xia Ji looked at Yae Sakura sadly. They'd only known each other for a day or two, but Xia Ji would always remember how well Yae Sakura had treated her along the way.
"Mm! Take care. Until we meet again."
Yae Sakura waved, pulled up her hood, and left Tanihara Castle.
Once she'd left Tanihara Castle, Yae Sakura immediately felt much more at ease on her own. She'd had to travel slowly with Xia Ji beside her.
Now... she could move as fast as she wanted, instantly darting from the tip of one tree to another.
"Where should I go now?"
Yae Sakura stood on a treetop, lost in thought. The story hadn't even begun yet. Kikyo hadn't taken charge of the Jewel of Four Souls.
Maybe she should go find Kikyo. Not just because of the demons who'd come after the Jewel of Four Souls. If possible, Yae Sakura didn't want Kikyo to die, either.
If Kikyo didn't die, Kagome would never appear.
But... compared to Kagome, Kikyo really was the one who'd suffered more!
That settled it! She'd go find Kikyo: first, to hunt demons; second, to prevent Kikyo's death.
But... how did she get to Kaede Village?
Looking out at the endless forests, Yae Sakura realized... she seemed to be lost again.
That night, Yae Sakura caught a pheasant, found a random place to sit, and built a fire.
Yae Sakura was starting to regret leaving so soon. She should've stayed in Tanihara Castle for a few days! Living outdoors like this was such a hassle!
Yae Sakura also wanted to take a bath.
"Huh? I have a friend? What the heck?"
As she ate her roast meat, Yae Sakura suddenly noticed that she had a friend listed in the system's main menu.
It was Xia Ji!
But what was the point of having a friend?
There was even... a private chat?
You could send private messages... Yae Sakura was speechless.
After thinking it over, Yae Sakura tried sending Xia Ji a private message.
"Are you there, Xia Ji?"
"Huh! Huh! Who's talking?"
Xia Ji's voice suddenly came from beside her, and Yae Sakura was startled, too.
"It's Yae Sakura. Can you hear me?"
"Lady Yae? Where are you? I can't see you."
"I'm not in Tanihara Castle..."
After chatting with Xia Ji for a while, Yae Sakura was truly amazed!
It felt just like sending your voice a thousand miles, or talking on the phone.
Incredible.
She wondered if private chat would still work after she went to another world. If it did, that'd be amazing.
The following afternoon...
After leaving the woods and asking around, Yae Sakura finally reached Kikyo's hometown, Kaede Village.
Perhaps because she was dressed as a shrine maiden and her ears were hidden beneath her hood, the villagers of Kaede Village treated Yae Sakura with great respect.
Or perhaps they were showing respect for her status as a shrine maiden.
When Yae Sakura explained that she wanted to meet the shrine maiden Kikyo, the villagers had a boy lead her to Kikyo's home.
There, Yae Sakura immediately spotted Kikyo teaching a little girl archery.
"Kikyo!"
Seeing Kikyo, Yae Sakura called out to her.
Kikyo, who'd been teaching the girl, turned toward Yae Sakura along with her pupil.
"Are you... Yae Sakura?"
"Yep!"
Yae Sakura took off her hood, revealing her fox ears, and walked over.
"Those fluffy, long ears!!!"
The little girl beside Kikyo stared at Yae Sakura's ears, then cried out in amazement.
"They're fox ears!" Yae Sakura said, unbothered.
"What are you here for?" Kikyo asked, puzzled.
"I don't have a home, so I've decided to stick with you! You don't mind, do you, Kikyo-chan?"
"Don't call me Kikyo-chan as if we're close. Weren't you escorting Lady Xia Ji?"
"I already took her home!"
"Then why didn't you stay..." Kikyo had started to ask why Yae Sakura hadn't stayed with Xia Ji, but then she remembered... Yae Sakura was a Half-Demon. Humans would surely reject her, so it was only natural that she hadn't stayed.
"Do you have nowhere to go?"
Kikyo thought it over, then looked calmly at Yae Sakura.
"Nope." Yae Sakura shook her head honestly.
"Then you can stay here for now. But... you mustn't harm the villagers, and you have to do as I say. Can you do that?" Kikyo had thought about what Yae Sakura had told her. Now that she was a Half-Demon, it seemed that neither humans nor demons would welcome her.
With Kikyo there, the villagers of Kaede Village shouldn't object.
She'd take her in for now!
Since... they were both shrine maidens.
"Thank you, Kikyo-chan! You're the best!" Yae Sakura immediately went over and hugged Kikyo.
"Let go of me. And remember: if I find out you've done anything to harm humans, I won't let you get away with it." Kikyo hurriedly pushed Yae Sakura away.
"Of course not! I'm a shrine maiden, too. Why would I ever harm humans? My duty is to slay demons and fight for a brighter future for humanity!"
"Is that so... Remember what you just said."
And so, Yae Sakura settled in Kaede Village.
Time passed, and soon a year had gone by...
"Sakura, Big Sister Kikyo accepted a commission from another village and is about to leave. Are you still not getting up?"
Yae Sakura was asleep when a little girl in shrine maiden's clothes came to her bedside. She stared at the fox ears on Yae Sakura's head, resisting the urge to rub them, and called out to her.
The little girl still remembered how badly she'd been scolded the last time she'd secretly grabbed Yae Sakura's fox ears while she was asleep.
"A commission? So early... I'm coming!"
Yae Sakura immediately sprang out of bed. After arriving in Kaede Village, she'd discovered that helping Kikyo with the villagers' commissions earned her Crystals.
Usually, it was just one Crystal, and sometimes there was none at all if the job was too easy.
The 5 Crystals she'd earned for escorting Xia Ji had been a generous reward.
But the Crystals added up! Over the past year, Yae Sakura had often accompanied Kikyo on commissions. The villagers of Kaede Village now fully accepted her as a Half-Demon, and she'd earned nearly three hundred Crystals.
With the Crystals she'd earned from slaying demons, she now had almost a thousand.
Wow... only a thousand Crystals in a year. She really was a failure!
The main reason was that she hadn't encountered another great demon. Great demons were rare in this world, after all.
As for quests, she mainly had commission quests. The bounty quest was the first one she'd gotten, and she still hadn't completed it.
The great demon slaying quest was complete. As for the quest to kill ten thousand demons, she still had a hundred left.
She'd already cleared out all the demons nearby, so they weren't easy to find anymore.