Was it just me or was the third option consistently the best?
Lashing out was definitely too reckless.
It would not only tarnish my reputation even further, but it would also probably incur the Sugawara Clan Head’s ire, or at least, decrease his favour with me.
I wasn’t against slapping some sense into this spoiled brat, but doing it so openly might not be the wisest move in this instance.
Trying to act all nice didn’t sound good either.
Nevermind being reduced to a bitch, that’s just not how you deal with bullies!
If they thought they could get away with messing with you, and you even sucked up to them afterward, why would they ever stop?
The only option that made sense in this context would be the third, to ignore them.
Although, the accompanying internal monologue made me wary.
Would this option increase Michizane’s arrogance?
I’ve played visual novels and choice adventure games before where your choices determined not only the route, but also your protagonist’s general disposition.
I was afraid that the Simulation Gu acted with similar mechanics.
In the past, I used to admire Gilgamesh for his pride and arrogance.
I thought it was cool since he always remained his true self, unchanging even against the tides of circumstance.
I came from the modern era, after all.
The people from there always wore false faces and masks to amuse others.
It had always been like this since the beginning of humanity, but with the rise of modern society, it became even more prevalent.
Only those who weren’t afraid of negative reception and showed their true faces without shame were truly admired.
However, pride was more often detrimental than it was bountiful.
Even the King of Heroes suffered from it as his subjugation in Fate/Stay Night was only made possible because he underestimated his opponents.
It was perhaps the oldest cliche in human history that many somehow failed to learn from.
I could only hope Michizane would not fall for the trap of arrogance.
He was another version of me, so he probably wouldn’t, but it’s never bad to be cautious.
…In the end, I chose the third option as although it carried the risk of affecting his personality, it was still the most viable option in the end.
Michizane snorted as he turned away, completely disregarding the gathered children.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Shouted one of the children, an older boy with wavy hair.
“Shut up, peasant.”
The four-armed, four-eyed boy shoved past the crowd as his brother sneered and turned away as well.
The boy from earlier growled as he stepped forward, but was then stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
“Forget it, Enji,” Michikana said as he shrugged off some of the mud from his clothes.
“Let that weirdo play with all the bugs and frogs he wants.”
The crowd eventually dispersed as the children quickly forgot about all of the exhange, opting to instead play whatever game it was that Heian era children enjoyed.
The scene ended like that as I continued it after pressing the arrow.
[You ignored them and chose to focus on that strange frog]
[You remembered it from your occasional reading.
It was known as the Six-Fingered Toad and although it looked mundane, it was actually a Magical Beast]
[The Six-Fingered Toad’s unique power laid in its blood as anyone unlucky enough to drink it would immediately feel the sensation of phantom menstruation!]
[You planned to use it as Gu refinement material]
‘H-Holy shit, a frog that can make you feel like you’re having a period!?
What kind of crazy gimmick is that???’
I became slack-jawed, eyes wide as I considered the possibilities.
In Reverend Insanity, one of the most powerful Gu regarded in-universe was the Stare Pregnancy Gu refined by the Giant Sun Immortal Venerable.
It was a Gu Worm that could make anyone pregnant with just a stare…
even those that wouldn’t usually be able to.
Obviously, such a Gu was extremely strong and was completely out of my current reach.
A Gu Worm with the ability to make someone feel phantom menstruation on the other hand, was much more feasible, especially considering that I already had some experience with Dream Path Gu.
That theoretical Gu might also belong to the Blood Path, but since it was just the sensation without the actual thing, it was probably more aligned with the Dream Path.
I shook these thoughts away as Michizane chased the little toad down.
He did so for some time until the toad finally appeared out of breath, utterly exhausted.
Both of their hands momentarily met in the air before the four-armed boy pulled his hand back and stood up, warily gazing at the other party.
It turned out to be a girl in a yellow yukata.
The young girl seemed to be about a year or two older than Michizane, though not any taller than him.
She was gifted with long, lustrous pink hair that reached down to her lower back as well as a pair of yellow golden irises that contained black pupils inside, like the eyes of a cunning fox.
That fox-like impression was right on the money as extending from her head was a pair of vulpine ears!
Furthermore, a long fluffy tail grew from her lower back, and whenever her mouth opened, the sharp fangs of a fox were displayed inside.
She had fair skin that was like white jade untouched by the harsh sun, that of a more healthy tone compared to Michizane’s pallid appearance.
Upon her face was an expression of curiousity that soon turned into bewilderment.
“Wait, you can see me?” The beautiful girl asked with a chippery, melodious voice that felt soothing to the ears.
If Michizane had actually been a young boy mentally like he was physically, then he would have surely developed an infatuation with this little girl then and there.
Fortunately, since he had the same taste in women as me, he obviously wouldn’t no matter how much of a ‘jade beauty’ she might be.
As former teenagers, he and I had no problems pursuing girls our actual age.
But as for little girls like the one in front of him?
Yeah, hell no!
…Who did you think we were, Rudeus Greyrat?
“Was I not supposed to?” Michizane responded by giving her a weird look.
“You’re not exactly well-hidden for a Kitsune.”
I nodded at Michizane’s statement, assuming much of the same after being confronted by the sight of this fox-eared, fox-tailed girl.
Kitsune Fox Spirits were a staple of Japanese folklore, and while the real mythological Kitsune was more animalistic in its usual depiction, this was ultimately an anime world where countless historical and mythological figures were turned into scantily-clad beautiful women.
A Kitsune having the appearance of a little girl was far from abnormal.
This assumption however, turned out to be inaccurate as the girl’s eyebrows furrowed in irritation.
“I’m not a fox!” She hissed with a glare that was soon accompanied by a visible pout.
“Why does everyone think that?”
“Oh, I don’t know…
maybe because you have fox eyes, fox ears, and a fox tail?” He hazarded a guess, snorting in amusement as he knelt down and caught the Six-Fingered Toad before it could leap away, trapping it in his grasp.
“Fool!” She huffed and reached up to hold her fox ears, showing their prominent fluff.
“These are jackal ears, you see?
I’m a Yakan, totally different from whatever dirty fox you had in mind…”
I didn’t know what a Yakan was, but that seemed to be the jackal equivalent of a Kitsune.
“And you don’t exactly look like an ordinary human yourself, Oni-kun!” The jackal girl pointed out with a skeptical expression.
“Though you don’t have the horns…
hm, are you really just a human?”
“Of course, I am,” Michizane readily said, pointing back at his distant retainers.
“Otherwise, how would those people accept me into their midst?”
“They accept you?” She continued with a skeptical expression.
“Not to sound rude, totally-not-an-Oni-kun, but you are really ugly.
If I wasn’t a Yakan myself, I would have thought you came here to have a cookout!” She said with a cheerful smile, which then faltered as she reconsidered her words.
“A-Ahem, not that’s a bad thing or…
anything.
If you are, then please focus on those delicious, oily humans!
My jackal meat is too dry, foul, and disgusting…
hahaha…”
Michizane’s expression immediately darkened as he gave a sneer and turned the other way, the Six-Fingered Toad struggling to breathe as he kept a vice grip upon its slippery form.
“W-Wait, I still want to know how you can see me!” The girl called out dismay, rushing to further pester the boy as I raised an eyebrow.
“A-And give me back my prey, you prick!”
Thinking about it now, this jackal girl looked a bit familiar…
Was she a major character or something?
I squinted my eyes as I tried to remember who exactly she might be.
However, I had a hard time doing so.
…Unfortunately, it wasn’t so easy trying to match 2D cartoony illustrations with a 3D photo realistic person, especially when that person was far from the age that the illustrations depicted. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
I’ve also never played the games before, where this girl might originate from.
Really, the only exposure I had to those characters were from the many fanfiction I had read.
“Fine,” Michizane sighed in exasperation as he threw the Six-Fingered Toad back to the jackal girl with what appeared to be a face full of dramatic hesitation.
Silently, I smirked at his decision.
‘Smart move, me…’
The exasperation was entirely a bit, I reckoned.
What benefit he would have by possessing the Six-Fingered Toad obviously could not compare to forming a positive rapport with a sapient Phantasmal Creature.
He could always catch more Six-Fingered Toads later, but a Yakan like her was definitely a much rarer encounter.
The jackal girl gasped and fumbled as she tried to catch the Six-Fingered Toad in the air with her hands, decisively failed, then succeeded not long after as she used her mouth instead, sinking her canine fangs into the toad’s torso.
She tore into it like a starving wild beast as the frog thrashed about uselessly, its blood and guts spilling out as a result.
The Yakan soon devoured the toad as she chewed it within her mouth, the two hind legs sticking out as her chin was stained with the toad’s innards.
‘Ugh…
why would she eat that thing raw!?’
Both me and my alternate self turned up our noses and gave her looks of utter disgust.
Then I froze.
‘Wait, that frog gives you period cramps!’
Michizane seemingly had the same thought as he reached forward to try and tell her, but then abruptly stopped as we both realized it was a false alarm.
‘Right, Phantasmal Creature and all.
She’s probably immune…’
Well, she had to be, right?
My brows furrowed as Michizane and I watched her face intently, searching for any signs that she wasn’t.
The jackal girl proceeded to swallow her meal without even a twitch in her expression.
She glanced back at Michizane in confusion, “What?”
“Nothing,” he shook his head quickly.
“That was disgusting by the way.”
“Thanks.” She grinned and wiped her face with her sleeve.
“Anyway, how come you can see me?” The Yakan asked again with a skeptical expression.
“You’re not some kind of monk, are you?
I mean, you have hair, so…”
“I have no clue.” He replied immediately.
“Really…?” The jackal girl asked in doubt as she stepped closer, looking into the four-eyed boy’s upper pair of eyes.
“Yeah, really.” He shrugged and pushed her back with a hand.
“Hm…” The Yakan hummed after that, clearly not believing a single word the boy had said.
“Believe whatever you want to believe, I don’t care.”
He then paused and looked around, confirming that no one else could perceive her as he then asked, “Who are you, anyhow?”
“So you wish to know my name, ah?” The girl displayed a haughty and arrogant smirk as she laughed into her sleeve, clearly playing up a character.
“Why, why, aren’t you a bold one, hehe?
Hm, but I’m just a girl, isn’t it typically the gentleman’s move to…
uh, make the first move?”
“How smooth,” Michizane praised with thick sarcasm, none of which reached the somewhat airheaded jackal girl as she simply beamed under the compliment.
“My name is Michizane.”
“Mi-chi-za-ne?” She repeated with a tilt of her head, the corners of her mouth forming a smirk.
“What a funny name.
I think I’ll call you Michi-kun…
do you like that, Michi-kun?”
“…”
Seeing Michizane’s blank expression, the jackal girl giggled in earnest.
“I’m Mikuzume, but since I’m calling you Michi-kun, you can call me Miku-chan!” She clasped her hands together and grinned.
“It looks like we have pretty similar names, doesn’t that mean we’re really meant to be, fufufu~?”
As promised, an extra chapter.
Thanks for all the support.