A few days later, early one morning.
Satsuki pushed open the wooden door once again, stepping out from the cabin with Ruri by her side.
Her every appearance was enough to stir the entire Demon-Hunting Village into excitement. Her breathtaking beauty, dazzling even at first sight, made the hearts of every demon hunter—young or old—flutter involuntarily. Especially the sight of her striking, full curves that carried a distinctly feminine allure.
But beyond her beauty, it was her calm confidence, her unflinching composure before horrific wounds, and her almost divine healing abilities that soon earned her the respect of the entire village.
Even the few women who had initially harbored subtle dissatisfaction toward her gradually came to feel ashamed of their earlier feelings. With time, admiration and longing replaced their envy.
As for conversation topics, when women gathered, the subjects were always about the same.
"Satsuki-sister, what do you wash your hair with? How can it stay so smooth all the time?" asked a young girl with shoulder-length hair.
Satsuki glanced at the girl, and the name automatically surfaced in her mind—Kaori.
She was a girl in her early teens, her appearance as plain as most farmer's daughters, her height only reaching Satsuki's chest. She wore a simple short-sleeved kimono, already faded from many washes. Yet, the tiny flower pinned to her button added a trace of charm.
It was clear that this was her favorite outfit, one she wore whenever she wasn't busy with farm work.
Satsuki had always supported reasonable efforts to pursue beauty within one's means—it was, after all, an attitude of self-respect and respect for others.
So, from her sleeve, she took out a small bundle wrapped in lotus leaf. The moment she opened it, a faint fragrance spread through the air.
"This is hibiscus leaf. Mix it with water while washing your hair, rub it in until it foams, then rinse several times. It nourishes the hair and leaves a natural fragrance afterward. If you wash once a week, this amount should last you about two months."
With that, Satsuki reached out and handed the lotus-wrapped bundle to the girl.
However, though Kaori's eyes gleamed with desire, she restrained herself and did not take it.
Instead, she raised her head and asked, "Satsuki-sister, what should I give you in exchange for this packet of hibiscus leaves?"
Satsuki smiled faintly and pointed toward the potted plants on the upper balcony of her house.
"Same as before—just bring me some rare plant seeds."
Kaori's eyes lit up as she hurriedly took out a small pouch. "Satsuki-sister, this is a plant root I found while weeding in the paddy field at the foot of the mountain. It looks unusual—I think you'll like it."
She handed the pouch to Satsuki, then happily accepted the hibiscus leaf bundle.
When Satsuki received the pouch, her hand paused slightly. A subtle, unreadable light flickered in her eyes. "Yes, this is indeed something I like."
After Kaori, several other women from the village gathered around her.
The things Satsuki offered were too tempting for women of this era—and combined with her own charm, it was irresistible.
"My skin has been getting oily lately, Miss Satsuki, do you have any remedy?"
"Oily skin? Then you can use this..."
"I've been sleeping poorly, sweating at night—Miss Satsuki, do you have something for that?"
"I see. I happen to have some herbs for that condition..."
...
By the time the sun reached midday and the villagers had to return home to cook, Satsuki finally finished her work for the day.
Indeed, this had become a regular routine for her in recent days.
She didn't have her own paddy fields and did not engage in farming. Though she no longer needed to eat ordinary food, she still lived among common people.
So certain appearances had to be maintained—such as at least pretending to eat meals daily.
Through her treatments and trades, Satsuki mainly obtained plant seeds from the villagers. To acquire actual food, she had to trade with the outside world beyond the Demon-Hunting Village.
That, conveniently, provided her with a perfect excuse whenever she needed to leave the village.
It's often said that once a person tells one lie, they must create a hundred more to cover it up, and in the end, all will be exposed.
But in truth, if one can form a closed loop of logic, then one or two simple lies are enough to conceal everything.
"Host, you're done with your work, right? It's time to head out," Ruri's voice spoke softly inside Satsuki's mind. She had been silent the entire time, like a background decoration.
Incidentally, Ruri was also quite popular among the villagers. After all, her current appearance was very cute.
However, she usually stayed inside the wooden house with Satsuki, rarely responding even when children came looking for her. (Most of the time, she was in standby mode.)
As a result, in everyone's mind, she had become the image of a [shy and introverted pretty little girl].
(System: "Excuse me, this body doesn't even have a gender, okay? I'm the Strongest System Across All Worlds—I don't have such biological concepts as 'gender' like you creatures do!")
"Yes, it's about time to go out," Satsuki replied.
After tidying up her things, she walked along the smooth, yellow dirt road leading toward the gates of the Demon-Hunting Village.
"Hey, you idiot! You're fearless when hunting demons, but now you're just standing there like a fool! Go after her already! Or do you want me to go instead?"
By the time her figure had already disappeared at the edge of the village, a mid-ranked demon hunter wearing a respirator shoved Meo—who had been staring blankly in the direction Satsuki had left.
Even Kirara, usually lazy and lounging about, showed surprising intelligence at this moment—running to Meo's feet and tugging on his pants leg with its mouth, as if telling the big oaf to hurry and follow.
Meo finally snapped out of his daze and, amid the good-natured laughter of his comrades, chased after her, face flushed red.
He soon caught up to Satsuki on the mountain path.
"Miss Satsuki, what you mentioned the other day about that giant beetle—was that real?" Meo, at a loss for words, simply grasped for a topic.
"It's just a hypothesis, so I plan to investigate it tonight," Satsuki answered casually, without any attempt to conceal her intent.
"That's impossible! The forest nearby is extremely dangerous—yokai could appear at any time! Even shrine maidens with strong spiritual power don't venture there at night!" Meo immediately stopped walking, his large head shaking like a rattle drum. "And besides, you've never gone into the forest before. What if it's too dark and you get lost?"
"You don't have to worry about that. If I dare to go, naturally I have confidence in myself. Have you forgotten the power I wield?" Satsuki said lightly as she continued walking. "But you, Chief, if you come with me, you're more likely to be in danger. The one who should really return to the village right now is you."
At those words, Meo's face turned red. He looked at Ruri beside her, then puffed out his chest with determination. "Impossible! If Miss Satsuki is determined to go, then I swear to protect your safety with my life! Even if I lack the strength, I can at least protect Ruri!"
Heh.
The system let out a cold laugh inside Satsuki's mind. You big oaf, I think you've got it backward about who's the weakest one here.
Satsuki stopped walking and turned around to look at him. "I'm serious."
"So am I!" Meo declared firmly.
Satsuki's eyes narrowed slightly. The man before her was warmer than usual—his voice no longer carried the calm reasoning he usually showed in the village.
Had it not occurred to him to wonder how she and Ruri had survived in the wild before meeting him?
Or perhaps—he simply didn't want to think about it.
Either way, it pointed to one conclusion.
"Host, this male individual seems to be in mating season," the system said cheekily in her mind. "And his target of arousal... appears to be you."
Satsuki's expression didn't change as she replied coldly in her thoughts, "System, I suggest you behave yourself."
Before heading to the forest, Satsuki needed to visit a nearby village to obtain food supplies.
Because most of the neighboring villages maintained cooperative relations with the Demon-Hunting Village, as long as she could prove her identity, she could always receive certain discounts and privileges.
Although that young lord had spoken arrogantly before, he still held no real authority yet—and his father, the old lord, had not lost his senses.
The Demon-Hunting Village was vital to the safety of their territory and therefore an essential ally to be well cared for.
Several nameless small villages lay not far from the Demon-Hunting Village. Most of the inhabitants had fled there from nearby regions—some escaping bandit raids, some driven out by famine or wild beasts.
But the majority were survivors—those who had narrowly escaped being devoured by yokai.
Most of these people held deep admiration and gratitude toward demon hunters. Even in these chaotic times, they did their best to support and look after the Demon-Hunting Village.
...
This wasn't Satsuki's first time here, so she easily found the familiar place where she usually did business.
Under the curious gazes of passersby, she calmly retrieved a black magatama necklace from the box carried on Ruri's back.
When Meo saw the necklace, his eyes widened in astonishment.
"This... could it be...?"
"Oh? You recognize this?" Satsuki asked casually.
Anyone who had ever interacted with shrine maidens would immediately recognize such a distinctive necklace.
The necklace Satsuki produced matched her attire—predominantly black. The main material resembled black jade, though in truth it was a type of dark-colored wood. Each bead was of uniform size, its surface polished to an almost mirror-like smoothness, with even the tiny holes for the threading cord finely carved and smoothed.
Even judged purely from a craftsman's perspective, any expert could tell at a glance that its craftsmanship was of master level.
However, its value lay not merely in its exquisite artistry—but in the magatama interspersed among the beads, and the faint spiritual light that occasionally flickered across its surface.
That glow was the manifestation of a charm inscribed through a certain kind of power—a clear sign that the necklace was a consecrated spiritual artifact.
"Could this be the legendary Kotodama Prayer Beads?" the demon-hunter chief asked in astonishment.
"It's just a necklace with a trace of power. At best, it can ward off insects and miasma, and help the wearer feel more at ease, nothing more," Satsuki replied lightly.
"Ah?" Meo was left dumbfounded.
He wasn't some naive country bumpkin who had never seen the world. On the contrary, his position and experience in hunting yokai had given him opportunities to work alongside many monks, mages, and shrine maidens.
From those with strong spiritual power, he had learned much about artifacts of this sort.
A spiritual tool that could merely dispel miasma was already considered valuable—let alone something like Satsuki's, which possessed multiple functions.
Even the respirators produced in their own village could only filter weak toxins or miasma from the air for short periods. Prolonged exposure to dense miasma meant certain death.
Spiritual tools, however, were different. Their effects were near-permanent, and their potency far exceeded the disposable items carried by demon hunters.
For shrine maidens or spiritual practitioners skilled in such craft, the more functions a tool had, the greater its self-sustaining energy capacity needed to be.
And consequently, the difficulty of making such an artifact increased exponentially.
Thus, in Meo's eyes, Satsuki's necklace—possessing at least two or more functions—was an extremely rare treasure.
The necklace Ruri had taken out was something Satsuki had made casually during her spare time recently.
Yet, perhaps because her divine rank was simply too high, even something she created on a whim appeared to the demon-hunter chief as a priceless artifact.
"But to create an artifact with such power... only a shrine maiden with immense spiritual strength could possibly achieve it. Could Miss Satsuki truly be one...?"
...
In such a remote place, few people could truly recognize the value of what they saw.
Even with the endorsement and explanation of Meo, the demon-hunter chief, only a handful could appreciate it.
By the time Satsuki had sold off all her items, the setting sun was already casting its final orange glow over the horizon.
Before her lay bundles and sacks of white rice.
In these chaotic times, paper currency did not exist, and few villagers possessed surplus metal coins. Rice itself served as the most reliable hard currency for trade.
Satsuki counted the day's harvest and turned to Meo. "There's about two koku of grain here. I'll use half of it to hire you and some villagers to help me transport it back. Is that acceptable?"
"This..."
"What's wrong? Don't tell me the great chief of demon hunters can't handle such a small task?" Satsuki said softly.
"How could that be? Completing something like this is easy for me."
Meo's expression, however, turned troubled—not because her request was difficult. On the contrary, compared to the nearly one koku of rice she offered as payment, carrying it back to the Demon-Hunting Village was hardly a task at all.
But he understood very well that this was merely an excuse Satsuki had come up with to give some of her grain to the villagers under the guise of hiring them.
The reason for his hesitation was not the work—but that such an act of generosity felt unfair to her.
However, Satsuki didn't have time to waste arguing. A faint light flashed through her eyes as she activated a single-person version of Veil of Light and Shadow. Meo immediately called over a few helpers and, using a dinner as payment, hired several farmers to transport the rice back to the village.
Meanwhile, Satsuki and Ruri separated from him and headed toward the forest along the roadside.
She cast an illusion over herself and Ruri so that anyone who saw them would subconsciously ignore their presence.
The forest patrolled by the demon hunters was actually quite close by. Though vast, it wasn't entirely uninhabited—some villagers would occasionally venture in to gather wild vegetables or fruits to stave off hunger.
Only in the western regions, where powerful yokai ruled, was human activity completely restricted.
Following the narrow path for several hundred meters, the dense, shadowy forest soon loomed before them. The ground felt soft beneath their feet, as though covered in a thick layer of damp leaves. A heavy miasma spread through the air, while the intermittent cries of countless insects echoed faintly in the darkness.
As they ventured deeper into the jungle, even the moonlight was swallowed by the thick canopy. Around them towered ancient trees, their massive roots twisting and coiling across the ground. The treetops rose high into the night sky, their branches tangled with thick vines—some hanging freely, others coiled like serpents.
At ground level, shrubs grew densely, while ferns, mosses, and algae clung to roots and rocks.
The deeper Satsuki went, the quieter the forest became. The once-lively insect calls faded, replaced by a faintly metallic stench that filled her nostrils... and the distinct sensation of being watched.
Along with it came the unmistakable presence of a being radiating powerful spiritual energy.
"Be careful!"
A sharp, commanding voice suddenly echoed from the darkness.
Then—
Swish~
A faint gust sliced through the air behind Satsuki. She swiftly pulled Ruri to the side, her movements sharp and precise, evading the attack with preternatural timing.
Clang~
The metallic sound of something snapping shut rang out from where she had just stood.
Satsuki turned sharply. Through her Tenseigan, she saw a massive beetle—its body the size of a millstone—standing at her previous position, its jagged mandibles snapping menacingly.
But before it could even move again, a streak of violet light shot down from above. The beam pierced cleanly through the beetle's back, nailing it firmly to the ground.
Satsuki's pupils contracted. That was no ordinary light—it was an arrow.
A Purification Arrow.
She turned her head toward the depths of the forest—where a silhouette was slowly emerging from the shadows.