The Great Sacred Sakura Exorcism proceeded very smoothly. This was only natural.
After Hanachirusato had been extracted from the filth, the remaining filth was nothing more than a trivial matter for the Raiden Shogun.
She did not even really need a catalyst — Nahida could have brute-forced it directly.
However, considering that he was leading Miss Aurora Mamoru Mei, the old uncle still chose to follow the proper procedure.
At the very least, he brought the Divinity Training Class to meet the great youkai, the great tanuki youkai — Ioroi.
When they first met, the stone statue Ioroi had been pretending to be dead.
"This black-haired man, I know him. There was a period when he used to play together with the fox and Yoshihou. How utterly disgraceful! Can a stinky fox and a great tanuki be placed together to play?"
Then there was a little tengu beside him. Hmm, didn't know her, not familiar.
And over here was a purple-haired woman wearing two round lenses. She looked very familiar, but he couldn't remember who she was nu.
How strange. Why would this one's stone statue body start trembling uncontrollably nu?
But the moment he saw Hanachirusato, he could no longer hold back.
"Hey, that little girl over there nu, such a familiar scent. Let this one take a good look at you nu?"
Hanachirusato walked up to Ioroi feeling somewhat nervous. Mainly because in Kitsune Saiguu's memories, she had played hide-and-seek with Ioroi.
If she had found Ioroi, it would have meant Lady Kitsune Saiguu won. But if Ioroi discovered that Lady Kitsune Saiguu could not keep their appointment…
Although Lord Shura Anyakonsen-shou had said it was fine to be seen, the feeling of possibly being exposed still made her uneasy.
After all, Lady Kitsune Saiguu's last words contained this sentence:
[If I can return safely, I must properly apologize to Ioroi. And from then on, treat him a little better.]
"The scent is very familiar, but the appearance… Are you that stinky fox's daughter nu? That stinky fox actually found a man? Looking at the hair color, is that black-haired man beside you who keeps wandering over here your father?"
Even as a stone statue, Ioroi was genuinely confused.
This sentence successfully broke through Hanachirusato's already sorrowful heart.
"Ioroi … why would you think that?"
"Calling this one by name directly? How rude nu. Same personality as that stinky fox. This one has only turned to stone, it's not like my nose and eyes stopped working. Back then the man beside you liked to wander around this one's statue, and he carried a whole bunch of scents that were intimate with foxes. Plus your situation — similar to Kitsune Saiguu's aura yet different — one sniff and it's obvious your relationship with that stinky fox is extremely close. At the very least you're her biological child. This one was even wondering why he was liked by the fox, but if he's connected to that stinky fox then it makes perfect sense… Still, that stinky fox really is no good nu. On the child's appearance the human genes actually won out. What a disgrace nu…"
The Shura Anyakonsen-shou covered his face with his hand at this moment.
Damn it. Why did he feel like his innocence had been lost again? As expected of Inazuma.
Watching the muttering Ioroi, Hanachirusato wanted to speak but didn't know what to say.
"So what did that stinky fox send you all to find this one for? Is she saying she wants to find this one nu? Hide-and-seek only counts as her win if she finds this one personally nu! Relatives finding this one doesn't count nu!"
At this point, wanting to speak turned into silence.
Hanachirusato realized one thing.
This Ioroi had actually known about Kitsune Saiguu's situation all along.
He simply refused to acknowledge the reality of her departure.