"Looks like it's about ti." Watching the Yomi martial artists engage the yokai army, Hikigaya stood up from the grass with a satisfied expression.
The commander of the Self-Defense Force's 3rd Division was a mber of Yomi. By borrowing Yomi's influence within the Japanese Cabinet and facing the threat of a million yokai, Yomi had reached an agreent with various Japanese factions, leading to the 3rd Division's entry into the fray.
By using Hagoromo Gitsune and the Kansai Branch to concentrate the yokai, then using modern thermal weaponry to eliminate the vast majority of the "Brute-class" yokai, and finally using the remainder for a recruitnt exam, the leftover yokai wouldn't be much trouble. The favor he promised had been fulfilled; it was simply perfect.
Being so perfect, he could now head back to the shop to prepare. He had already calculated that this ti, he would definitely change the awkward situation of the shop having no custors. As a Campione—a "bug" set up to have no rivals except for gods and his own kind—it really wasn't easy to have hobbies. Ordinary hobbies simply couldn't hold his interest; he would get bored instantly.
"So, are we going to participate next?" Ena asked, looking quite eager to try.
"Even your chatterbox sword isn't here, what are you going to participate in?" Hikigaya wrapped his arms around the waists of Ena and Liliana on either side, with Tamamo-no-Mae perched on his shoulder. "The rest won't be interesting to watch; the real show only starts at the end."
With that, he kicked off the ground and took flight with ease. Using the Eye of Horus to navigate, he transford into a divine wind, swiftly carrying the two girls and the fox away from Kyoto. They swept past mountains and plains, passing by his hotown of Chiba along the way, and returned to Hinata Manor in Tokyo.
Landing in the courtyard, Hikigaya resud his human form and looked at the sky; dawn had not yet broken. Seeing that Ena and Liliana were clearly sleepy, it didn't seem appropriate to kill ti with "exercise," so Hikigaya decided to be a diligent shopkeeper and prepare rchandise on the night shift.
He brought the two back to their room and saw them off to sleep, then took Tamamo-no-Mae straight to the Yorozuya. Entering the shop, he saw Moe cleaning. She was a good employee who didn't need sleep; aside from her habit of being gleeful rather than worried about the lack of business, she had no other flaws.
"Hachiman." Seeing Hikigaya, Moe happily tossed her broom aside and lunged into his arms, nuzzling him. "There's no one here again today!"
See, the flaw was that obvious.
"It's fine, there will be people soon—even things that aren't people." Hikigaya chuckled, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
After praising Moe for her diligence, Hikigaya left her to continue her happy cleaning and ran to the back room with Tamamo-no-Mae to start preparing goods.
The first was for Haibara Ai. He figured her wish would be to resurrect her unlucky older sister. A Djed pillar could handle it, though if Haibara Ai didn't have even a single leftover part of her sister, there would be no way. No matter how aweso Hikigaya was, he couldn't replicate a sister for her out of thin air. But Hikigaya believed she had sothing; he was just that confident.
So, he first made a Djed pillar. To ensure quality, he followed the ancient Egyptian thod entirely, using gold to craft it. He carefully carved the images of Osiris representing Life and Sunrise on the East and Death and Sunset on the West. Hikigaya injected the power of his authority and finally carved the na "Miyano Akemi" onto the pillar.
Excellent, done.
Then he noticed Tamamo-no-Mae was actually fast asleep nearby and imdiately woke her with a flick of his finger. You're a yokai, and you're sleeping before the sun is even up? Aren't you ashad? The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons—listen to it! The term fully proves that yokai are night owls.
"What was that for!" The awakened Tamamo-no-Mae actually had a bit of "morning crankiness." However, she cleared her head quickly, especially when she saw the Djed pillar in Hikigaya's hand—the side representing death was facing her. Tamamo-no-Mae felt as though the Osiris carved on it was smiling at her.
"What's with that expression, like you've seen a ghost?" Hikigaya looked curiously at the suddenly wilted Tamamo-no-Mae, but he didn't care much. "Tell about Abe no Seii."
"Hachiman, why are you asking about him?" Tamamo-no-Mae transford into human form and sat down before him.
"He's the most famous among Onmyoji, isn't he?" Hikigaya found a random excuse. "Was he really born from a fox and a human?"
"That... This Concubine isn't very clear. This Concubine was no longer in Kyoto back then, but there were indeed such rumors." Tamamo-no-Mae thought for a mont. "However, This Concubine has seen his descendants; they indeed possess yokai bloodlines. If they practice diligently, they should be able to beco 'Immortals'."
"Then do you think Abe no Seii beca an 'Immortal'?"
"That, This Concubine doesn't know. but if Abe no Seii wanted to attain longevity, that was the only way."
Hearing Tamamo-no-Mae say this, Hikigaya nodded. It should be exactly like that. Abe no Seii was likely in the Netherworld acting as an Immortal, perhaps even an Spirit King.
The History Compilation Committee liked to use the Netherworld as a trump card, even though the Spirit Kings of the Netherworld ignored them most of the ti. Or rather, the Committee was likely only in contact with a few specific Spirit Kings. After all, the Netherworld isn't restricted by the boundaries of the living world; there are all sorts of people in there. "Spirit King" is just a title, not a judgnt of a specific power level; the strength of different Spirit Kings can vary greatly.
So Spirit Kings are straight-up Heretic Gods, like Di Jun. In theory, a Campione could also go to the Netherworld to be an Spirit King if they had the inclination. However, most of the inhabitants are "Immortals"—forr human powerhouses who broke through their limits after practicing to a certain point to beco theoretically eternal existences. Of course, while they have long lives, these people still can't beat Heretic Gods or Campiones. There's no way around it; they suffer from the "setting" of the world.
And it was precisely through this Kyoto incident that Hikigaya suddenly realized he had overlooked a huge custor base. Wouldn't doing business with those Spirit Kings be quite profitable?
The configuration of the Yorozuya needed an update! Hikigaya decided to thoroughly sort through all the spells he currently knew and develop more ways to combine them with his authorities, so that the Yorozuya could possess the ability to traverse dinsions—connecting directly to the Netherworld.
Oh, and he could kill that old man while he was at it. This wasn't about being petty; it was a matter of principle.
But before that, he would make a few other things. After all, no matter how you looked at it, the Yorozuya was still the most reliable hobby choice...
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