The Lie of the Beautiful Girl in Shrine Maiden Clothes

February 23, 2022Zathael

After returning home with Maya-chan,
“Sorry I’m still not feeling well…..
but today is a day for celebration so let’s get sushi for dinner”

Kanako-chan’s face is still red.

“Celebration?”
“Yup”

Then with light steps, she returns to the second floor.

“If you make mom unhappy I won’t forgive you okay”
I seem to have annoyed Maya-chan…..

I’m sure the reason is that I wasn’t able to properly resolve the misunderstanding.
Even I can figure out something like that.

“I’ll properly take responsibility”
“Hmmm, is it alright to leave it to you?”
“Of course”

Maya-chan glares at me with suspicion.
“Well whatever, getting sushi is nice”

She brings out some delivery menus from the dining room and looks over them happily.

Whenever you feel you’ve made a mistake, even if it seems like a detour, reassessing the situation from the beginning is the quickest and best route.
While arranging the memories of the few days I’ve been here, I return to my room and dismantle the smartphone I bought.

As expected, the structure of the smartphone was the same as the basic circuit of the latest magic tools in the other world.

In order to compare, I bring out the [Status Window] and disassemble it in the same way and find that many parts bear a resemblance to each other.

Despite the difference of magic tools using mana as energy whereas phones use electricity as energy,

“Like this there’s bound to be some patent infringements”
Well, I guess it’s a good thing there’s no system of that sort in the other world.

As a test I consume a pawn to transplant some parts from the status window into the phone.

Then pour mana into it,
“As I thought…..”
The smartphone’s start screen appears.

I take out the manual and instructions from inside the box and open up the settings only to be even more surprised.

“Wh- What’s this…..”

I can’t understand what’s written at all.

　　×　×　×　×　×

After a difficult struggle against the initial settings and registration, I somehow become able to use the smartphone.

“Hey is nigiri okay?”
Maya-chan appears with a tub of sushi and bottle of tea.

“I don’t mind, what about Kanako-chan?”
“I’ll eat in my room she said, to have a developmental fever at that age…..
as her daughter I’m somewhat embarrassed”

Maya-chan mutters to herself as she sets the food on the table,

“Can you take a look at this”

Using the status window’s output I display a smartphone in midair.

“What the hell is this”
“It seems that modern IT devices have an affinity for magic”

“It works?”
“Of course, it can use electricity and mana to pick up nearby free Wi-Fi”

Then when I chant “OK spin around! Where’s the nearest convenience store”, a map appears with a pin at that point.

“I can’t tell if that’s amazing or not anymore…..”

For some reason Maya-chan is gazing at me with sad eyes.
“But with this we’ll be able to communicate outside, with things like SNS and free messaging apps”

She brings out her own smartphone and explain various things.

The two of us eat sushi while the configuration setup finishes,

“Oh yeah Maya-chan, can you help me out with one more thing”
“What is it”

“The girl in shrine maiden clothes from last nights attack is stuck in my storage magic”
I bring up what I remembered after organising my memories,

“Hah? How did you forget something so important”
She makes a look of utter disgust,

“I want to speak to her but peeking into the room of a girl is a beach of manners”
After saying so, I somehow convince her.

I open up the entrance to my storage magic where the beautiful shrine maiden is trapped inside,

“I’ve made it so she can’t attack from that side so call out to her”
I bring the thirty centimeter sized spacetime distortion closer to her face.

“It looks like the living room of some famous celebs villa”

In order to rest during my travels, the sub-dimensional tent was made spacious enough to fit all my favourite furniture with leeway but…..

What’s a celeb?

“Ah, there’s a girl lying by the fireplace eating potato chips”

If you wish for food, the ingredient reserves will automatically prepare it.
That being said, Chips are a good choice.

“There’s only one person there so it has to be her”
“Oiiii, Can you hear meee”

Maya-chan calls out,
“N- No way, why is Haruka here!”

She steps back in surprise.

“Someone you know?”
“M- Maybe…..
She looks exactly like my class president”

“Then that makes things easier”

I snap my fingers and bring the girl in shrine maiden clothes out,

“Errr, ahahah, my bad Maya”

The girl was still lying on the floor, eating chips with one hand and scratching her head.

“Hey Maya-chan”
“What?”
“Why does she look like that”

“Dunno, ask her yourself.
Also I never said it was ok to bring her out”

It’s just as Maya-chan says…..

As I look at the beautiful girl wearing nothing but a black bra and panties, I take a deep sigh.

　　　×　×　×　×　×

After returning her into my storage magic once more, we start over and listen to her story.

“Umm you see, shrine maiden clothes are hard to move in and taking care of it is a pain since it wrinkles when I sleep”

She’s properly wearing clothes this time but,

“If master wishes for it then I will dress any way you please, ah but as expected clothes like that young girl that look like they would go against the child protection law is…..
I’m not confident or more like it’s embarrassing, but but if I’m your partner at night then it’s completely ok.
Ahhhhh, but but I don’t have any experience so if you would be gentle the first time that would be nice.
O- Of course I’m also happy to work as a summoned beast.
So please spare my life”1

The scene of her prostrating herself while talking rapidly is pathetic in all sorts of ways.

“I don’t intend to do anything like that, I actually completely forgot about your existence until just now so if anything I should be apologising to you”
I offer her a cushion and tell her to sit normally but,

“No, I’ve come to understand master’s strength more than enough.
For one who employs a dragon with a divine rank of the age of gods and a young girl with powers on the level of the church’s secret forces, and can knock down Yuikuu, the anti demon warrior’s strongest, barehanded, I have no intention of defying”

She simply pleads with teary eyes.

“Nonono it’s alright.
I just want you to answer our questions honestly then you can leave”
At Maya-chan’s words the shrine maiden clothed girl quietly clicks her tongue.

“I can no longer return.
It’s seems that the Shimogami’s plan has been seen through so whether I talk her or not, I can only see myself being punished for the crime of leaking information”

She looks up to me, tears welling in her large eyes.

Just in case I grab her face and point it to Maya-chan,
“How much was the truth”
I try to confirm,

“Apart from the part where she was desperately trying to flirt with you, it seems like the truth”
Maya-chan shakes her head in disappointment.

“It can’t be helped…..”
I release my hands and sigh,

“Please take good care of me”

Search magic, which activated on its own was displaying [Self Interest] above her tears but even without using magic the fact she had ulterior motives was clear.

Well in a sense it brings peace of mind.

“Then I’ll guarantee your safety, so answer my questions”
“Thank you very much”

“What is the Shimogami’s goal?”
“Just as master guessed at the inari shrine, I do not have anything more to add”

“What do you know about Kanako-chan’s eyes”
“The Shimogami believe them to be mystic eyes that bring disaster but it seems the Kashizu sect have a different opinion”

“Then in relation to that, did anything happen recently”
“Yes, umm…..
omens that a disaster will occur have been becoming more frequent, it seems the Shimogami plan to use the kitsune as some kind of offering…..
those omens are related to those mystic eyes it seems…..
but that’s just a rumour going around the Shimogami so it’s not confirmed…..”

I stop my questions there.
It appears that she isn’t lying, and she’s trembling in fear.
Any more would be bullying a weak girl, and this is about all I can hear from a member at the bottom of the organisation.

“Then what are you going to do now?”
I can’t really put her to work.

There’s the problem of her family and school, and above all else, it would be difficult to take custody of a girl unauthorised in modern japan.

“Can you return home?”
“I’m an orphan who was raised by the Shimogami so I don’t have any family, and the apartment I’m renting will likely be under watch already”

“Then what about school…..”
“I was enrolled under a fake name and family register anyway, it was fun but…..
it’s my second time”

“Second time?”
As I tilt my head, a smiling Maya-chan walks up to the shrine maiden clothed girl.

“Hey, how old are you really?”
Shrine maiden clothes-san turns her head to avoid Maya-chan’s gaze,

“Then maybe I should ask Onii-san to kick you out of here”
Maya-chan laughs,

“Nineteen…..”
She muttered,

“As if!”
As Maya-chan yells in a loud voice…..

“I’m an ayakashi too”2

From behind the shrine maiden clothes, two cat tails appear.

Translator’s Notes:
1: The master she uses is goshujinsama the same kind you’ll typically hear from maids as opposed to shishou which saitou uses for his master.
2: While technically ayakashi is meant to refer to yokai that appear above a body of water the two terms are more or less used interchangeably.