"Sky Fox Manifestation Curse!" A fox-shaped bolt of Electro zipped past Reisen Riou's armpit.
Sweat beaded on his forehead.
What kind of demon is this? His dream of a perfect woman shattered. Yae Miko's wicked personality made Raiden Ei's martial-obsessed, blunt charm seem downright cozy.
Hiss—I'm gonna get zapped to death.
"Fine, not fun anymore," Yae Miko sighed, eyeing Reisen Riou. This kid's great, but too fragile for teasing.
"Yurekusai, take him to Mount Yougou."
Yurekusai, a male fox youkai with plain looks, bowed. "Yes."
The curse lifted, Reisen Riou scrambled after Yurekusai.
He knew a bit about Yurekusai. This black-furred fox was a renowned Inazuma scholar and literary giant, one of the few great youkai.
Sighing, Reisen Riou trudged up the mountain path with Yurekusai.
Chatting with him was pleasant. Unlike that white-furred shrine fox, black-hearted through and through, Yurekusai was black-furred but straightforward.
"Foxes are hard to read," Reisen Riou griped. "All I wanted was payback for getting knocked out and dragged to the battlefield. Why's it so tough?"
"Modern warriors are so crude," Yurekusai huffed. "Even mikos lean toward them."
"Mikos should stick to curses and archery. Why chase martial arts?" he lamented, sounding heartbroken.
Reisen Riou nearly bought it—until he caught the glint of amusement in Yurekusai's eyes. Another trickster.
Not a trickster person—a trickster fox.
The term "trickster fox" sparked intense déjà vu.
"What's up?" Yurekusai asked.
"Haha, just wondering what's on Mount Yougou," Reisen Riou deflected with a laugh.
"Not much," Yurekusai said. "There's an Oni village nearby. Wanna check it out?"
"Mount Yougou's home to Oni and Tengu. Tengu live scattered in family units, while Oni cluster in villages," he explained. "Most here are regular Oni."
The Oni village was small, under a hundred households.
Reisen Riou estimated four to five hundred Oni, mostly elders and a few kids.
Oni were highly humanoid, their society mirroring humans'.
"So few young Oni?" Reisen Riou asked, curious.
"Most young and adult Oni serve the Shogunate," Yurekusai said. "Few stay. Youkai are declining—foxes, Oni, all of us. We had bigger populations before, but the Archon War's over."
"Under Narukami's protection, we've recovered slowly," an elderly Oni added. "Humans lost more in that war, but their rebound's freakishly fast."
"This is Lord Toragari, the village elder, once an Oni war-ghost," Yurekusai introduced.
The elder looked ancient, frail as a dying candle.
Reisen Riou hadn't expected such a bigshot in a random village.
This elder wasn't some late-Archon War rookie. He'd lived through its early and mid-stages—a true veteran.
"Greetings, Elder," Reisen Riou said respectfully.
The old Oni nodded, chatting with Yurekusai. Reisen Riou recorded their talk in his Inazuma Lore—Youkai notes.
Youkai elders' reminiscing was tedious but rich. They boasted of the god-tier fox youkai Whitebeard Ancestor and gushed about new fox pups, name-dropping Chiyo Inazuma and Yae Miko, Inazuma's top youkai.
Tengu General Sasayuri, another big name, fell centuries ago when Narukami slew the Far-Feathered Serpent Sovereign.
Their talk dragged on.
Halfway through, Reisen Riou couldn't take it. He waved to a peeking Oni kid.
"Hey, kid, c'mere. What's your name?"
"I'm Akakago," the kid said. "Who're you? What youkai? Your aura's weird."
"I'm Reisen Riou, a humanoid elemental being, kinda like a Tsukumogami," he replied. "Got food here? I'm starving."
"Not much," Akakago said. "Food's tight monthly."
"Hmm." Reisen Riou scanned the area. "Go there, pick those fungi. They're edible—mushrooms and Matsutake."
More kids joined. Reisen Riou described the fungi, then had them gather branches.
Using training arrows (no heads or fletching) from his Vision, he roasted the mushrooms and Matsutake over a fire.
He brushed on oil, sprinkled salt from his pouch, and presto—simple grilled mushrooms and Matsutake.
By the time Yurekusai and Toragari finished, Reisen Riou and the kids had downed several grilled Matsutake and some Violetgrass Melons.
An Oni teen swiped the melons from his family, who served the elder—his great-great-grandfather by lineage.
Their grove had plenty of Violetgrass Melons this season.
"Yo, you two done? Grab some," Reisen Riou teased.
Yurekusai hesitated, but Toragari dove in, his massive maw startling.
Eventually, Yurekusai perched on a stump, eating daintily. After half a day's chatter, he was hungry too.
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