What Yae Miko worried about most right now was Raiden Ei finding out that she had sold out Inazuma.
Agreeing to Ye Xi's request, handing Inazuma over to Ye Xi and all that—it was no different from betraying her own God.
If Raiden Ei ever found out, she'd surely chase her around whacking her with a slipper.
But if she could drag Raiden Ei down into the water with her, things would be completely different!
Once even Raiden Ei had become one of Ye Xi's little wives, then they'd all be one family!
Whether Inazuma belonged to Ye Xi or to Raiden Ei—what difference would there be?
They were all one family anyway, so there'd be no need to draw lines between mine and yours.
That way, even if Raiden Ei found out later what she'd done, there'd be nothing she could do about it.
And these little schemes she could only keep to herself; if anyone else found out, that would be bad.
That was why she still couldn't give Ningguang a concrete answer.
Otherwise, if she failed to drag Ei into the water later on, she'd have broken her word and offended Ningguang too.
Hearing Yae Miko's reply, Ningguang felt rather at a loss.
If you like it, you like it; if you don't, you don't—why all the secrecy?
Truly worthy of being a fox.
Ningguang shook her head helplessly.
Just at that moment, a jumble of noises came from outside.
It was Lisa, leading Klee in, with Amber, Collei, and Eula following behind.
Because Klee was still a child, she had to be bathed first and then put to bed early.
"Pitter-patter-patter~"
Klee dashed up to the hot spring and leapt right in, splashing water everywhere.
Right after came Lisa's sigh: "Little Klee, I told you—you have to rinse off properly outside before you can get into the hot spring."
"Bringing all the grime on your body into the hot spring like that—how is anyone else supposed to soak in it?"
"If you keep this up, I'll have to ask Master Ye Xi for a confinement room just for you."
"Eh——!?"
Klee's little face went pale with fright, and she hurriedly scrambled up onto the bank, pleading in a pitiful manner: "Klee knows she was wrong, Sister Lisa!"
"Klee doesn't want to be locked up in confinement here..."
Collei, off to the side, gave a soft laugh: "Teacher Lisa, it's all right."
"During the daytime, we can put Water Slimes into the hot spring."
"The Slimes will dissolve all the filth in the pool and purify the water, so there's nothing to worry about."
"Oh? That's actually so convenient!?"
Hearing this, Yae Miko, who was in the pool, let out a gasp of amazement.
This gave Collei quite a start: "Eh!? Miss Miko, you were here all along!? You scared me to death!"
With steam drifting all over the courtyard, she simply couldn't make out the situation in the pool.
Yae Miko giggled: "Little one, your ability to sense your surroundings really isn't up to par~"
"I heard you do forest ranger work in Sumeru—you can't patrol the forest like that."
"Uh..."
Collei's face turned a little awkward, because what Yae Miko said was indeed quite right.
Seeing Collei grow self-conscious, Yae Miko was a little surprised.
She hadn't expected Collei to be so shy that she'd take a little joke seriously.
She hurriedly said with a smile: "Aiyaya, don't be discouraged—how about Big Sister teaches you a youkai art?"
"A youkai art?"
Collei was instantly filled with curiosity.
Amber and Eula, off to the side, were both very interested as well.
"That's wonderful, Collei! Hurry and have Sister Miko teach you!"
"Mm, it'd be great if I could learn a youkai art or two as well."
Just now they'd heard Yae Miko say it herself—that she was a youkai who had lived five hundred years.
In all of Inazuma, a youkai who had lived five hundred years was absolutely a great youkai, so it was perfectly normal for her to know some marvelous youkai arts!
If they could really learn a trick or two, it might just come in very handy!
Yae Miko smilingly cast a youkai art, but just as she was about to demonstrate it for Collei, she heard Klee's voice come from behind.
"Sister Miko has tails!"
"Eh!?"
In an instant, everyone turned to look behind Yae Miko.
Sure enough, there were tails floating on the surface of the water—and more than one at that!
Yae Miko couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Oh my, when I use my power, my fox tails show themselves. Looks like you've all found me out."
At these words, the girls all let out exclamations of wonder.
"Eh!? Didn't Sister Miko say she had no tails?"
"So... so many! Why are there so many tails!"
"Can Klee touch them?"
Amber and Collei were very curious, and Klee even more so could hardly hold herself back.
Eula's face was full of astonishment too, because those tails were fluffy and looked very nice to touch!
Yae Miko let out a teasing sigh: "If you touch the tails in the hot spring, a lot of fox fur will fall out."
"It's all right, the Water Slimes can eat it up!"
Amber's face was full of anticipation.
Seeing the eager looks on the little ones' faces—especially Klee, who was so adorable—Yae Miko simply couldn't refuse.
She had no choice but to give a nod.
In an instant, the girls all happily gathered in front of Yae Miko and reached out their hands.
"Wuwa, even though they're wet, they're so wonderful!"
"Sister Miko, why do you have so many tails?"
"So fluffy! Just like Dodoco!"
Yae Miko said with a smile: "A fox spirit who has awakened intelligence grows one tail every hundred years."
"Since I awakened my intelligence, I've already lived more than five hundred years, so naturally I have five tails."
In truth, the number of tails represented not only age but also power.
It was just that Yae Miko didn't say so out loud.
"All right, all right, it's time to demonstrate the youkai art. As for touching the tails, let's leave that for next time."
Saying this, she put her tails away.
The girls didn't beg for more either—after all, they'd already had their fill of fun.
Yae Miko spoke up: "This technique can let your point of view fly up into the sky and look down over the surrounding environment."
"Like this...."
As she spoke, she placed her hand on Collei's forehead.
Collei immediately let out a cry of surprise: "It's true! I can actually see our courtyard from the sky!"
Eula and Amber were very curious too.
"Collei, what exactly does it look like!?"
"Sister Miko, can you let us give it a try too?"
Seeing Amber and Eula both looking eager to try, Yae Miko's beautiful eyes brimmed with approval: "Seeing as you keep calling me Big Sister with every breath, I'll indulge you."
With that, she stretched out her tails.
The long tails coiled around the slender waists of the two little beauties.
The next moment, Amber and Eula simultaneously beheld a marvelous sight.
"Aooh~! This—this feeling! It's just like flying in the sky!"
Eula also let out an exclamation: "If I could master this skill, then from now on whenever there's an ambush around, I'd be able to spot it with ease!"
"Hm? Wait a moment, this is... what is this——!?"
She suddenly noticed that next door to her, there was a very embarrassing scene!
At this very moment, Amber and Collei discovered the situation next door too!
Right over on the other side, in Ye Xi's hot spring.
Such a seductive scene left the girls red in the face and ears.
"M-Master!?"
Amber felt utterly bashful inside: "Is it—is it really all right for us to be watching like this?"
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