After Gender Swapping, I Became the Daughter of a Yandere Mother with Animal Ears—With the Help of My Yandere Mom and Powerful Sister, I'll Live as a Fox Girl

“Now that the greetings are out of the way let’s get to the main topic. Mashiro-sama, Kohaku-sama, you said you would help us, but specifically, what can you do?”

“Of course, we came here to exterminate the Magatsuhi. I want to remove them so I can fluff Onee-chan quickly.”

Please don’t say ‘fluff’ so shamelessly… I bowed my head to hide my blushing face.

“I see… However, I’m sorry to say the battle with the Magatsuhi is already over.”

“Eh!?”

I looked up in shock.

“It’s over…? Did we win? But then, why is the atmosphere in the village so heavy…?”

“What do you mean?”

“We lost.”

“That can’t be…! There are still people who can fight, like the woman over there!”

Kohaku pointed at Hiiro, but she just stared back coldly, unmoved.

“Indeed, we could continue fighting if we wished. However, there’s no longer any meaning in it.”

“Why not? If they haven’t been defeated, they’ll come back, won’t they?”

“They won’t. Their goal wasn’t to destroy the village.”

“Huh?”

Not destroy the village?

According to Kohaku, Magatsuhi aims to reproduce impurity… Destroying the village would be more efficient for that…

“The Magatsuhi that attacked us were merely pawns controlled by humans. Their purpose lies with the one human controlling them… And his goal was a key.”

“A key?”

“Yes. In the eastern part of our village lies the Shrine of Soul Exchange, Konkou. The human demanded the key to the shrine in exchange for not attacking any further.”

I see… The village wasn’t destroyed… because they surrendered…

“We agreed to their demands. We didn’t want any more casualties. As a result, the village was saved. But… in exchange, the key fell into their hands.”

The village chief’s face was filled with regret. He clenched his fists tightly.

“Is that bad?”

“We don’t know… We don’t know much about the Shrine of Konkou… But it’s said to house a sacred artifact, the ‘Mirror of Soul Exchange.'”

“Hmm…”

Kohaku seemed utterly uninterested. Maybe she lost interest because the topic shifted from fighting Magatsuhi.

“It feels wrong to let someone so violent have it. They won’t use it for anything good.”

“Indeed…”

Not knowing what the Mirror of Soul Exchange is, it’s easy to imagine it being used for further evil, seeing the state of the village.

“We have a request for you two.”

“Yes?”

“We’d like you to go to the Shrine of Konkou with Hiiro and Yorikoma and retrieve the Mirror before it falls into their hands.”

“We can do that, but…”

“Will you accept?”

The village chief’s face brightened at our agreement. But one question remained.

“Can we make it in time?”

“The shrine is a maze-like cave, as I’ve heard. He’s probably still looking for the mirror. If you hurry, you might retrieve it before him.”

I see… If the shrine is maze-like, we might get there first. Even if we don’t, we can catch him as he leaves.

I looked at Yorikoma, who nodded vigorously in response to my gaze.

It seems we have no choice but to go…

☆★☆☆

“Don’t drag us down, fox.”

“Excuse me? Don’t slow us down yourself, dog with standing ears.”

Kohaku and Hiiro walked along the road glaring at each other, their faces uncomfortably close. Sparks seemed to fly between their gazes. It had been like this since we left the village, making the atmosphere tense.

“You two seem to get along well!”

Yorikoma cheerfully commented, looking back at us with a smile.

“Does it look like that to you?”

“Yes! Hiiro and I are friends, and she always treats me like that. So, I think it’s a sign she wants to be friends too!”

“Is that so…”

I couldn’t help but admire her positivity. Well, they say ‘fighting like cats and dogs’ sometimes means they’re close, right?

“Well, in my case, I’m a bit scared to talk back, so I just keep apologizing!”

“Uh-huh…”

So that’s why Yorikoma is always apologizing… Hiiro’s scolding influenced it.

“Hey, Yorikoma, what are you talking about? You better not be making up stories about me.”

“No, I haven’t said anything! Really!”

“Hmph… We’ll see about that.”