A shrine maiden was someone who devoted herself to gods and spirits.
From the time Mizuki Mirei was young, that had been the core of the education she received from her mother, and later from her father after her mother passed away.
Serve with reverence.
Offer with sincerity.
Stand between the divine and the human.
That was what a shrine maiden was supposed to be.
And now, standing before her beneath the moonlight, was a true living oni.
Not a symbol.
Not a legend carved into old records.
Not a frightening story told to children.
Ibaraki-Douji.
The Oni King of Mount Ooe, whose name had left a bloody mark across myth and history.
If Mizuki formed a contract with her, then the difficulties currently pressing down on Shihou Shrine would most likely vanish.
The Meiyuan Church, the creditors, the officials applying pressure from behind polite smiles, all of them would become meaningless before the power of a being who could slaughter armed police officers in broad daylight.
But…
What would the price be?
A deal with an evil oni could not possibly be as simple as she hoped.
“To worship…”
Mizuki’s lips trembled.
“To worship Lady Ibaraki…”
Her teeth chattered faintly.
Each word seemed to scrape its way out of her throat.
She gathered the greatest courage of her life and asked the question that had been haunting her heart.
“Do you require…
living humans as sacrifices?”
If worshiping the oni of Mount Ooe required innocent lives as offerings, then what was she supposed to do?
Could she really make that decision?
Could she sacrifice someone else’s life to protect her family shrine?
If she did, then how would she be any different from those bastards of the Meiyuan Church, who treated human lives like disposable offerings?
Mizuki’s mind went blank.
The cruel answer she feared did not come.
Instead, Ibaraki-Douji looked offended.
“Huh?
Are you looking down on me?”
The oni girl’s small face darkened.
Her golden eyes narrowed, and her cheeks puffed with visible anger.
“I already told you.
I am not the sort of low-ranking oni who cannot control her own appetite.”
She planted both hands on her hips and snapped back with great indignation.
“The magical energy I need to act in this world will be drawn from the leyline beneath this mountain.
There is no need for such troublesome nonsense.”
She lifted her chin.
“As my shrine maiden, all you need to do is offer fine wine and delicious food.”
Then her expression sharpened with sudden seriousness.
“Oh, right.
Those sweet snacks from earlier must not be missing.
The more, the better.”
When she mentioned the snacks, Ibaraki-Douji subconsciously licked her lips.
A very obvious glimmer of desire flashed in her golden slit pupils.
Mizuki stared.
Her mind had already played out a hundred bloody scenes of sacrifices, screams, rituals, and corpses.
She had been prepared to hear something horrifying.
Instead, the legendary oni of Mount Ooe crossed her arms, stomped her foot, and demanded wine, delicacies, and sweets.
This…
Was this really the monster whose name once stopped children from crying?
The contrast was too large.
“Just…
fine wine, food, and ordinary sweets?”
Mizuki repeated the words instinctively, still unable to believe what she had heard.
“Of course.
What else did you think?”
Ibaraki-Douji gave her a look that very clearly said, Are you stupid?
“My requirements are that simple.”
Simple?
That was more than simple.
That was practically a golden pie falling from the sky, one with diamonds embedded around the edges.
Mizuki’s heart, which had sunk to the bottom of despair, was thrown into the clouds by a sudden surge of joy.
Her eyes widened.
For the first time that night, light returned to them.
“Lady Ibaraki-Douji!”
She nearly lunged forward, clasping her hands to her chest with a piety almost like an oath.
“Please, by all means, form a contract with me!”
Her voice rang clearly through the moonlit courtyard.
“From this day onward, Shihou Shrine will serve as your sanctuary!”
Was there even a need to hesitate?
With conditions this generous, she could gain a mythical being as the shrine’s backer.
Forget Mizuki Mirei, any normal person would find it impossible to refuse.
“Mm, mm.
You are quite sensible after all.”
Seeing her cooperate so quickly, Ibaraki-Douji’s puffed cheeks relaxed at once.
Her familiar, slightly arrogant smile returned.
“I was thinking that if the owner of this shrine did not welcome an oni like me, I would simply burn this place to the ground, drain the leyline beneath it, and leave.”
She said it lightly.
As if discussing what to eat for dinner.
But the words struck Mizuki like ice water poured over her head.
The heat of joy vanished at once.
That was right.
She had nearly forgotten.
The being before her might look small and cute.
She might even be greedy for sweets.
But in her bones, she was still the legendary oni of Mount Ooe.
A monster who killed without blinking.
Her goodwill and her malice were both frighteningly pure.
If she liked you, she could grant power and glory.
If she was displeased, she would destroy you along with everything you cherished without the slightest hesitation.
“To worship the Lord of Mount Ooe is the supreme honor of Shihou Shrine.”
Mizuki immediately gathered herself.
She suppressed every unnecessary thought, lowered her body, and knelt with the most respectful posture she knew.
Under the cold moonlight, the young girl in red and white shrine maiden robes offered her loyalty and faith to the horned oni girl standing before her.
Behind them, the old and worn shrine stood in silence.
The weathered wooden buildings, the stone lanterns, the torii gate half-hidden in shadow, all of it seemed solemn and mysterious beneath the night sky.
Like a god or Buddha seated above the clouds, quietly witnessing a contract that crossed race and era.
“Very good.
It seems you have already entered the role.”
Ibaraki-Douji was quite satisfied with Mizuki’s attitude.
“This shrine is somewhat dilapidated, but the leyline beneath it is barely usable.
As a foothold for my Mount Ooe in this era, it is suitable enough.”
As she spoke, she reached out and pulled Mizuki up from the ground.
“I’m looking forward to it now.
If my dear friend Shuten can also return from that dull Void Realm soon and see the foundation I established for Mount Ooe, she will surely look at me with new respect.”
While Ibaraki-Douji spoke to herself in good spirits, Mizuki suddenly felt a sharp burning pain on the back of her right hand.
The hand Ibaraki-Douji was holding.
It felt as if red-hot iron had been pressed directly into her skin.
“Ah!”
She cried out despite herself and instinctively tried to pull back.
But Ibaraki-Douji’s hand, despite looking small and delicate, possessed terrifying strength.
Mizuki could not break free at all.
The pain came fiercely.
Then vanished just as quickly.
In only a few seconds, the burning sensation disappeared without a trace.
Mizuki hurriedly looked down.
On the back of her fair right hand, three mysterious marks had appeared.
They were vivid red, bright as fresh blood.
The shape was strange, yet carried a bewitching beauty.
At a glance, they looked like three overlapping lipstick marks from a beautiful woman.
But when Mizuki looked closer, a chill ran through her.
They were not lips.
They were three wide-open mouths.
Three bloody, fanged mouths, twisted into a pattern filled with violence and ill omen.
“This…”
Mizuki covered the back of her hand with her other hand, her voice trembling with uncertainty.
“What is this?”
“A Command Spell.”
Ibaraki-Douji released her hand, hopped over to the wooden veranda of the shrine, and sat down cross-legged without the slightest care.
Her two small feet swung lightly above the ground.
“It is a crystallization of magical energy.”
She spoke as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
“You are now the shrine maiden who serves the oni of Mount Ooe.
Naturally, I must grant you a fitting gift.”
Mizuki stared at the red marks on the back of her hand.
“As long as you trigger it with your consciousness, you can communicate with me at any time, no matter where you are.”
Ibaraki-Douji raised one finger.
“Of course, its greatest use is different.
By consuming one Command Spell, you can force me to obey one command.”
She spread both hands.
“There are three in total, so you have three chances.”
Mizuki’s breath caught.
Force Ibaraki-Douji to obey?
This tiny red mark on the back of her hand had that much power?
Ibaraki-Douji looked at her dazed expression and sighed with the air of someone looking at a country girl who had never seen the capital.
“The inheritance of Shinto has truly declined.”
She shook her head.
“A shrine maiden of the present world does not even know such basic knowledge of Onmyōdō.
Back in the Heian period, which of the onmyōji under that Abe no Seimei fellow would not have understood this?”
Mizuki’s cheeks heated.
Since childhood, she had received the most orthodox shrine maiden training of the Mizuki family.
But neither her father nor the old records of the family had ever told her that evil oni, contracts, Command Spells, and Onmyōdō from myth were actually real.
This was far beyond the scope of her education.