I Came Back from the Dead, Quit Being a Holy Hero, and Just Wanna Shake My Hips in a Harem - Chapter 35: What the Wind Calls

Chapter 35: What the Wind Calls

The old road through the great bamboo forest.

That’s where we were, escorting shrine maiden candidate Kokono deeper and deeper inside.

Long ago, when the shrine maiden clan first drifted into this land, they hid themselves in the depths of this bamboo sea.

Only after their pursuers were gone, when they decided to put down roots, did they move to the more livable area that became present-day Kamunkotan.

The Divine Descent Rite—basically, an ancestor pilgrimage.

Deep in the bamboo forest lay the ruins of old Kamunkotan.

It was there, at the very spot where the shrine maidens first arrived, that they communed with the spirits for the first time.

Candidates for the shrine maiden role go there to pray, form a pact with mystery itself, and become true Dancing Maidens.

But the place was ridiculously remote.

The old road had crumbled, hardly a road at all anymore.

Only the occasional stone deity statue—like a roadside guardian—stood as a marker to guide us onward.

And apparently, some spirits here disliked humans enough to throw off your sense of direction.

That’s why only a small group could enter—and only with the shrine maiden candidate.

It was part of the trial, they said. To test the maidens, devils would appear along the way.

Well, “devils” was really just a fancy way of saying wild beasts.

What surprised me, though, was that Kokono could actually fight.

“I won’t loseee~!”

Her airy voice echoed through the bamboo.

Standing before her was a massive bear with red-and-white markings—a Kamunkotan native species.

Its claws were monstrously overgrown, but Kokono showed not a trace of fear.

“Here I gooo~.”

Kokono snapped open her iron fan, and the red-and-white bear’s claws gleamed menacingly.

With a roar, it swung its massive right arm down at her—

But Kokono skipped aside in a dancer’s leap and smacked her fan against its side.

“Gauw!?”

The strike left a decent wound, but nothing fatal.

The bear bared its fangs, ready to counter—

But Kokono’s real strength lay elsewhere.

“Let’s clap and cheer~ Dance with me—Plum and Nightingale!”

Her feet tapped the ground—step, step, step!—in a graceful rhythm.

Fan poised, she spun, her whole body glowing faintly.

From that glow, a pair of translucent nightingales burst forth, circling around us in a spiral before fading away.

“Grruh?”

The red-and-white bear tilted its head, confused when no spell followed.

But before it could lunge, Filio dashed in—her rapier flashing—

“Haah!!”

—And pierced straight through its neck.

The beast collapsed with a heavy thud, lifeless.

I thought that was the end.

But nope. Two enormous peacocks swooped down from above, hurling blade-sharp feathers at us.

Kokono hopped lightly aside—thunk, thunk!—as feathers stabbed deep into the earth.

“Let’s clap and cheer~ Dance with me—Blossom and Butterfly!”

She twirled again, and this time two butterflies appeared, fluttering down to settle on my sword and Filio’s rapier.

Kokono flashed us a bright “go on” smile.

I swung my sword—and a slicing wave tore out, cutting one peacock clean from the sky.

A heartbeat later, Filio’s rapier gleamed, her strike forming a flying slash that brought down the second.

“Good work, everyoneee~!”

Kokono turned to us with a bright smile.

…Honestly, I was shocked.

The way she danced while fighting—it was just like Kikino.

Even if her mysticism was what boosted her physical abilities, I never imagined she’d stand her ground against monsters without fear.

Even without awakening as a full shrine maiden, she was more than enough as a buffer.

And buffers were rare.

Even if their own combat skills were weak, they could raise the entire party’s attack power.

Weapon buffs, special effects—like we just saw—those were absolute game-changers.

Since mysticism drew on the power of nature, it was ridiculously efficient.

That meant Lily could conserve her faith power, and Filio could hold back her mana. Very, very convenient.

So yeah… even if Kokono acted fluffy most of the time, her first-class dancing was exactly why she’d been chosen as a candidate.

“Haruya, what’s wrong~?”

“…Just thinking you’re pretty amazing, Kokono.”

The moment I praised her, Kokono blushed and fidgeted.

“Ehe… r-really? Am I? I mean, yeah, I did work really hard on my dancing, sooo…”

She shuffled about happily, clearly over the moon.

But maybe getting carried away wasn’t the best idea—because she slipped on some bamboo leaves.

“Funya!?”

“Whoops… you okay, Kokono?”

Filio caught her right away, slipping an arm gently around her back.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fineee…”

“Good. We can’t let a princess get hurt, after all.”

“Hawaaah… Filio, you’re like a princeee~…”

Kokono gazed up at her with sparkling eyes, and Filio gave a shy little smile in return.

While Kokono basked in her warmth, Lily quietly stepped in closer.

“Looks like you scraped your hand a little. Let me see it.”

“I-It’s fineee… I dodged properly, so…”

“Our job is to protect you. Besides, anyone working this hard deserves to be cared for.”

“Whaaa… Lily, you’re like a saint~.”

“Oh no, I’m just a humble cleric. ‘Saint’ is far too kind a word for me.”

Kokono’s innocent smile was answered with Lily’s gentle one.

Heh… the three of them really did get along well.

Kikino had been strong—able to perform the divine dance that summoned gods themselves—but she’d never really opened up to the team.

Her “Mm,” “Yeah,” and “Understood” were about as far as it went. She never built camaraderie like this.

That warmth… maybe that was Kokono’s real strength.

And for a second—even my own dirty thoughts started to… to…

“Wheyyy, wheyyy, wheyyyy!! Let me in on this girl-circle toooo~!”

I snapped back to myself, frantically wiggling my hips.

Way too close‼ I almost started watching them with wholesome Hero-eyes!!

No, no—get those instincts back out in the open! Humans are all perverts at heart!

That “prince” over there, that “saint” over there—they’re perverts too, deep down!

“Haruya, what’s up~?”

Kokono tilted her head at me—not with contempt, just a puzzled look.

“Lord Haruya is simply shy. He probably felt the atmosphere was getting a little too good, so he tried to cover it up. But don’t worry—he hasn’t forgotten to stay on guard.”

Lily said it like she had me all figured out.

Not… entirely wrong, but damn it!

Well, whatever—slaughtering the red-and-white bear hiding nearby was enough to prove my point.

Tch. Maybe I should just whip out my full-naked hip-thrust dance routine.

…Except Kokono would probably burst into tears, Lily would find a way to weaponize it, and Filio… yeah, Filio would absolutely jump right in.

As I pictured Filio’s reaction, Lily finished her healing and stepped closer.

“(So, Lily, how is she?)”

“(How… in what sense?)”

“(You checked her aptitude while treating her, right?)”

“(The way you speak as if you see straight through me… it’s a little irritating, you know.)”

She gave me a displeased look. Well, hey—I felt the same about her.

With a sigh, Lily glanced sideways at Kokono, who was happily chatting with Filio.

“(I can’t measure it precisely, since it’s not my specialty, but… as expected of a shrine maiden candidate, her affinity with spirits is excellent. However…)”

“(However?)”

“(…She may have poor compatibility with the holy attribute.)”

Lily’s tone carried a heavy, grim weight.

“(Is it really that bad if her compatibility’s poor?)”

“(Not good at all. If she tries to host a god while being incompatible, the burden on her will be immense. There will almost certainly be backlash of some kind. To bear divine power is something extraordinary. It’s not something you can train into later—it requires innate talent.)”

Her eyes hammered the message home: innate talent was essential.

I just kept up the conversation with my best “no idea what you’re talking about” face.

“(So… should we stop the ritual altogether?)”

“(As long as she doesn’t actually call the god into herself, it should be fine. She’ll likely sense something’s wrong before it happens, and I’ll warn her as well. At the very least, her spirit affinity will improve. Which means… yes, she could still become a fairly strong shrine maiden.)”

That was convenient for me—but for Kokono herself, it would probably leave a bitter taste.

Hopefully, before we reached old Kamunkotan, I’d get a real chance to talk it through with her.

Just then, Lily’s expression sharpened.

“(Something wrong?)”

“(Filio mentioned she caught an unpleasant scent around Kamunkotan…)”

“(Yeah, the spirits seem kind of off.)”

“(Exactly. She couldn’t pin it down, so she sent Persia—the hawk—out to scout toward old Kamunkotan.)”

“(That hawk, huh… and?)”

“(It came back without getting close. The paper tied to its leg was damp, which suggests there’s a heavy fog. Though, fog is common in this region. Still, Filio said the smell grew stronger once we entered the old road… even I can sense it now.)”

I leaned in quietly to listen.

Lily lowered her voice further, eyes scanning the area as though probing the unseen.

“(It’s the presence of the dead.)”

Just then, the wind rushed through the bamboo grove, leaves clattering together in a harsh zaa-zaa.

The muggy warmth clung to my skin, sending a chill of ill omen down my spine and, perversely enough, giving off the vibe of “yeah, this feels like the perfect time for someone to start jerking it, huh”—a filthy omen layered right on top of the grim one.