Chapter Forty-One: His Excellency Two Feet, Two Tenths, Two Inches, and Two Hundredths

The Hachishakusama froze in place as if struck by lightning.

Staring at the terrifying demon face that had suddenly appeared before her, her thoughts instantly dissolved into complete chaos.

Uesugi澈 did not give the other party the slightest chance to react. He guessed that the Hachishaku Lady was at least a one-star entity, meaning any attempt to subdue her would have to come after thoroughly beating her into submission.

Channeling his Qi-breathing technique to its absolute limit, he let out a sharp roar and swung the blade of Kaga Kiyomitsu, leaving behind trails of afterimages.

This sword strike possessed the godlike speed of over thirty-five points in physique—could she block it?

The answer provided by the Hachishakusama was—

Absolute inaction!

That was right, neither offering resistance nor attempting to evade, she was simply pinned firmly in place by the terror of the smile and the roar, taking the full brunt of the sword strike head-on!

The blade sliced through the Hachishakusama's abdomen with almost zero resistance, making her entire form grow several shades fainter. Perhaps just a few more strikes like that would be enough to completely exorcise the urban legend known as the Hachishaku Lady.

"Popopo—!"

The Hachishakusama let out a cry of pain. Uesugi澈 abruptly halted his follow-up slash, looking somewhat bewildered as he stared at the motionless Hachishaku Lady.

Wait, what was going on here?

Uesugi澈 was somewhat baffled. This was his first time encountering an urban legend that just let itself get hacked to pieces without fighting back.

Could it be because of his 9 points in charm? Or was the infamous Hachishaku Lady actually a follower of the S&M cult?

It wasn't until Uesugi澈 shifted his gaze to the top of the Hachishakusama's head that sudden enlightenment dawned upon him.

As it turned out, the star-rating above this Hachishaku Lady's head was entirely empty save for a single half-star. At present, she was practically equivalent to a zero-star wandering spirit; managing to survive his sword strike without perishing was already a testament to her formidable tenacity.

Looking a bit closer, Uesugi澈 could even see a label reading: 【Verging on Dissolution Hachishakusama (Zero-Star)】.

Now, everything made complete sense.

The reason the Hachishaku Lady hadn't dared to approach earlier wasn't because she wanted to observe formalities before attacking, but because she knew full well how weak she was and needed to bide her time.

Similarly, when he had previously transformed into the Laughing Hannya upon arriving here, it wasn't that the Hachishaku Lady thought his charm was too low, but rather that she hadn't dared to show her face at all!

With this realization, Uesugi澈 stood up, pressed the edge of his blade against the Hachishakusama's neck, and said, "I ask, you answer. If you can't answer before I count to ten, this sword is coming down."

"——Why are you so weak?"

Staring at the terrifying Hannya mask before her and regretting her own carelessness, the Hachishakusama let out a cry mixed with sobs: "Popopo..."

"Eight!" The blade moved a fraction closer to her neck, causing Kaga Kiyomitsu to vibrate happily.

Uesugi澈 shouted sternly, "Crying? Crying counts against your time!"

The Hachishakusama instantly choked back her tears, sniffling as she wept, "Be... because, shortly after that factory was established, no one in Arakawa Village remembered me anymore, and no one has come here in ages. Urban legends simply fade away when they are forgotten by people."

The factory—that very sweatshop that exploited its workers, serving as the ultimate source of all evil in the ghostly village of Arakawa.

Uesugi澈 narrowed his eyes and pulled the blade back slightly. "Ten more seconds. Keep talking about the factory."

***

The Hachishakusama trembled slightly. "Ever since that factory appeared, the farmland was poisoned, and the villagers died, fled, or went mad one by one. The original village was left deserted just like that."

"Do you know anything about that factory?"

"I do..."

"What kind of people are inside?"

"Farmers, overseers who watch over the farmers, and the factory owner."

"Tell me in detail."

"The farmers were forcibly dragged in to do manual labor. The four overseers are stronger and more cruel than I used to be, and the terrifying factory owner only returns to inspect the place once every few months."

"How many factories like that are there?"

"I heard there are hundreds of them..."

A hundred-odd zero-star workers, four overseers of at least one-and-a-half stars, a mysterious factory owner, and potentially an entire consortium of Everworld capitalists standing behind them.

The Hachishakusama's words once again caused Uesugi澈 to temporarily dismiss the idea of making a move against the factory.

In troubled times like these, it was best to avoid actively provoking trouble.

Even so, looking at it now, the Hachishaku Lady was truly somewhat pitiful. As a household name in the real world, she had fallen so low in the Everworld that she was on the verge of fading away simply due to being forgotten.

Uesugi澈 pondered for a moment before hearing the Hachishakusama beside him say through her tears, "Hurry up and ask, I'll answer anything."

Finding it somewhat amusing, Uesugi澈 canceled his transformation. Sporting that face with its 9 points of charm, he asked anew, "Then let me ask you, would you be willing to follow me and do great things from now on?"

Seeing the fierce Hannya transform back into that handsome swordsman, the Hachishakusama was momentarily stunned into a daze.

Uesugi澈 raised an eyebrow, surprised to find that this Hachishaku Lady from the Meiji-era Arakawa Village bore a striking resemblance to the more widely circulated modern manga depictions.

——White hat, dark hair, and delicate features.

——And more importantly, she was susceptible to the charm attribute.

The Hachishakusama stopped crying. Figuring that such a stroke of good fortune was rare, she nodded eagerly like a chick pecking at rice: "I'm willing, I am willing!"

After all, even if left alone, she would soon fade away anyway.

Besides, the Hachishaku Lady reckoned she was no match for this swordsman who could turn into a Hannya in the first place. She might as well submit gracefully, lie back, and enjoy the ride.

As for why she thought the swordsman turned into a Hannya rather than the Hannya disguising as a swordsman... the answer was simply that one's worldview follows their aesthetic preferences.

"However, I have already become the land-bound spirit of Arakawa Village," the Hachishakusama said, pointing to the shattered Jizo statue lying inside the shrine. "Without a 【vessel】, I cannot leave the boundaries of Arakawa Village."

"That's easy."

Uesugi澈 retrieved a miniature Jizo statue from his storage inventory, placed it right in front of the Hachishakusama, and lightly flicked the gleaming tip of Kaga Kiyomitsu's blade. "Are you going in yourself, or should I help you in?"

"There's no need for you to help, I can move on my own."

Before the Hachishakusama had time to feel shocked, she caught sight of the swaying blade edge. Hastily squeezing out a stiff smile at him, she dissolved into a wisp of mist and drilled straight into the Jizo statue.

***

The next moment, a prompt popped up before Uesugi澈's eyes.

【The one-and-a-half-star urban legend "Hachishakusama" is attempting to voluntarily become your Shikigami. Do you accept?】

【You have chosen to accept.】

【You have successfully subdued the one-and-a-half-star urban legend "Hachishakusama"!】

【You have subdued your first Shikigami. Reward item: "Universal Vessel Prototype" × 1!】

【Side Quest 1—The Damaged Jizo Statue has been completed!】

【You may choose to claim the reward for this side quest immediately! Or you can wait to accumulate rewards after completing multiple quests!】

【You have chosen to accumulate the quest rewards.】

About a minute or two later, the shaking Jizo statue completely steadied, signifying that the Hachishakusama had successfully made it her "vessel."

Generally speaking, if an Onmyoji wished to subdue an urban legend or demon to serve as a Shikigami, they needed to use Onmyo arts to forge a contract, and then use a vessel compatible with the target's nature to capture them.

Throughout this process, not only were Onmyo arts difficult to learn, but finding a vessel capable of housing the target urban legend or demon was also exceptionally challenging.

This often led many Onmyojis to use parts of their own flesh and blood as vessels for their Shikigamis, continuously eroding their physical bodies and exhausting their lifespans just to accommodate them.

Feeling a subtle yet immensely resilient bond and connection form within his heart, Uesugi澈 attempted to trigger it, speaking within his mind:

"Come out, Hachishaku Lady!"

The next instant, the miniature Jizo statue glowed softly, and the Hachishakusama—now Uesugi澈's Shikigami—drilled back out.

Uesugi澈 stood looking down at the little white-hatted, dark-haired girl who didn't even reach his knees, momentarily dumbfounded.

Was this... the Hachishaku Lady from just a moment ago?

Uesugi澈 compared her height and realized she was roughly a quarter of her original size.

"This is clearly Lady Two-Foot-Two-Sun-Two-Bu instead!"

By this time, Hachishaku—no, she should be called Lady Two-Foot now.

Lady Two-Foot had also noticed her own transformation and let out a soft, adorable cry of alarm: "Popopo?!"

At the same time, a semi-transparent prompt floated beside Lady Two-Foot.

【Click to view Shikigami panel】

Uesugi澈 clicked it with his mind.