"What kind of mess is this?" a voice snapped.
"Lady Palace Maiden, who'd guess a youkai was brewing in an amber? Aren't all youkai—save their race—born from the Ley Lines? Never heard of one coming from amber!" another defended.
"Hm, he's waking up. Let's check."
"What if he's gone dumb?"
"Look at me and say: one-two-three, three-two-one."
"Don't glare! It's not like I meant to mess you up."
Reisen Riou opened his eyes to a gaggle of chattering shrine maidens.
Leading them was a white-haired, fox-eared beauty in red-and-white miko robes—straight out of his wildest fantasies.
His body twitched twice. No movement. He tried to speak. Nothing. All he could do was glare at the miko who'd disrupted his birth.
If she hadn't drained the Ley Line energy, he'd probably be moving by now, not stuck with just his eyes working.
"Such soul-body dissonance. Tsk, pitiful," the fox-eared miko—called the Palace Maiden—said.
She led the maidens in a ritual. A surge of Ley Line energy flooded Reisen Riou's body. This woman could manipulate Ley Line energy like that? What kind of monster was she?
Back at the stagnation point, he'd only managed to tap Ley Line energy while linked to the amber. Direct ritual control? Unthinkable.
RAM: 7TB → 7.6TB
With the energy boost, Reisen Riou could move. His body's basic functions kicked in.
"I am Reisen Riou. My thanks to you maidens."
"Your mind's sharp, huh?" The white-haired, fox-eared miko flicked her white tail.
"As they say, I'm a tsukumogami born from the Ley Lines," Reisen Riou said. "But I'm not your typical tsukumogami. I retained some awareness in the Ley Lines, so I chose to hasten my birth in the amber at a stagnation point."
"Awareness in the Ley Lines? Impressive. Do you know who you are?" she asked.
"A small trick," Reisen Riou said. "As for who I am, I know. But the past is dust. Rebirth is a fresh start. I won't cling to old troubles."
"Pretty open-minded. That's a big legacy you're letting go," a nearby miko chimed in.
"Little one, you've got nowhere to go, right? Stay at the Grand Narukami Shrine for now. Learn the ropes," the fox-eared miko said. "We oversee all Inazuma's youkai. You'll need to follow our rules. Otherwise, you're just a wild youkai from the sticks—killed without a tear shed."
With that, the fox-eared miko led her chattering maidens away.
Reisen Riou rose from the bed. Shorter than his past life—his body, shaped in adolescence, stood at 1.78 meters. Not too shabby.
He tested his movements. Still laggy. The new form, though functional thanks to the ritual, had high latency.
This was likely the limit of that foreign Ley Line energy.
He sensed abundant Ley Line energy in his body, subtly refining his form. But for boosting his RAM? Useless.
He staggered around, getting the hang of walking. His old-world experience helped. In an hour, he moved like a normal person.
Running, though? Not yet.
His clothes weren't from his past life or some youkai robe conjured at birth. The maidens had dressed him.
He realized this while pacing the room, sensing his youkai robe nearby.
Clutching the gohei-like otori in his hand, he sighed. They'd seen him bare. Great.
Footsteps approached. Reisen Riou sat quickly.
False alarm—not the fantasy-fueling miko, just some junior maidens. How'd he know? Their polite honorifics.
Inazuma Common Knowledge LV3 (10.0/100) told him only juniors used honorifics with superiors. A newborn youkai like him? Senior maidens wouldn't bother.
"Lord Reisen, Lady Yae Miko has asked us to escort you to dine," a maiden said.
"One moment," Reisen Riou replied.
He quizzed them about the Grand Narukami Shrine. His Inazuma Common Knowledge, mostly Ritou-based, barely touched the shrine.
The maidens explained: "You" died over a century ago. About seventy years back, your memorial tablet showed signs of spiritual growth, so a miko performing the Ritual of the Small Pluck brought it to the shrine.
The Grand Narukami Shrine, as its name implied, venerated the Electro Archon. It was led by the Electro Archon's friend, the millennial youkai Yae Miko of the Hakushin Clan—a fox clan—hence her title, Lady Yae Miko or Palace Maiden.
So, the XP-worthy woman was Yae Miko, Reisen Riou thought.
The shrine's food wasn't fancy. Better than Ritou's village grub—not quite coarse, but far from gourmet.
A fungal dish caught his eye. It carried Ritou's essence. A century on, Ritou's mushroom industry was thriving.
After eating, the maidens led him and other young youkai for training.
Among them were winged tengu, horned oni, and a scampering horde of foxes and tanuki, darting across the shrine.
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