Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 326: Withered Oni in the Well (3)

Dragon Raja 3

Chisei remembered—it was the day of the annual Miko Festival at Kadotori Shrine, the most profitable event for the shrine.

The story of Kadotori Shrine’s founding was said to involve a white deer that transformed into a shrine maiden. A hunter had caught a white deer in the mountains, and just as he was about to kill it for meat, the deer spoke in human language, asking him to free her, promising that once she transformed into a woman, she would serve him. The hunter untied the deer, and it really did transform into a radiant woman. The hunter was captivated by her beauty and wanted to marry her. The woman, who had been the white deer, told him that becoming his wife would only bring pleasure in this lifetime, but if he agreed to build a shrine with her, she would not only marry him but also guarantee him ten lifetimes of peace and happiness. The hunter was moved and spent twenty years building the shrine with her. On the day the shrine was completed, the still-young and beautiful woman walked into the fire and immolated herself. She said, “I am a spirit of this mountain, and I thank the hunter and the people of this town for treating me kindly. I wish to protect this town for ten lifetimes, but I must offer myself as a sacrifice to do so. I’m sorry I couldn’t become your wife.” The hunter became the first head priest of Kadotori Shrine, and the shrine flourished ever since. Because of this beautiful story, Kadotori Shrine also had a whole set of training courses for shrine maidens. Many parents who wanted their daughters to learn traditional culture would send them to the mountains for a week of shrine maiden training. During that week, the girls would live like ancient shrine maidens, and one of the routines was to carry lanterns around the town at night, offering prayers.

Chisei realized that this was trouble. Even though patrols had been strengthened, the potential victims had suddenly multiplied, and in this situation, he couldn’t track every target.

He moved silently across the rooftop, heightening his senses of hearing and smell. The dragon blood coursing through his veins made his senses several times, if not dozens of times, sharper than a human’s, but the heavy rain reduced his range of detection. In the quiet night, the clearest sound was the playful chatter of the apprentice shrine maidens inside Kadotori Shrine. This group of high school girls from the city wasn’t used to the mountain’s stillness, and they never seemed to sleep at night. The priest had cleared out the large hall behind the shrine and neatly arranged dozens of futons for the girls to experience what it was like to sleep on tatami mats, just like ancient shrine maidens. Instead, the girls were using this as an excuse to roughhouse inside.

Recalling the list of missing girls, Chisei was startled to find that all the missing ones were among the most beautiful in the school. The Death Servitor only targeted the most stunningly attractive girls. He suddenly realized that the Death Servitor would certainly act tonight, because the town had suddenly been flooded with so many beautiful girls from the city. After preying on the town’s beauties, how could it pass up this new feast? The greed and possessiveness brought by dragon blood would make it careless. Its target would undoubtedly be the apprentice shrine maidens. But that was also the most heavily guarded area. The police had stationed heavily armed officers at the front and back of the shrine.

Chisei avoided the police’s notice and climbed onto the shrine’s roof, lying flat on the tiles and covering himself with his black Execution Bureau coat, guarding the core area. If the Death Servitor appeared, it would face an ambush from both him and the police.

The world was filled with the sound of rain, along with the girls’ shrill laughter. Even for city girls, they were being far too noisy. Something didn’t feel right to Chisei. He lifted a tile to look down and saw that all the apprentice shrine maidens had gathered around one girl, clenching their fists in excitement and shouting.

The girl was extraordinarily beautiful. Though she had the height of a child, her figure was as seductive as an adult woman’s. She wore the red and white robes of a shrine maiden, her chest thrust out and her hips swaying as she danced. The sheer allure of her movements left Chisei momentarily entranced.

She was singing an ancient song in a clear voice, the melody twisting and turning like an intoxicating haze. Chisei vaguely remembered that the song was from the famous kabuki play Narukami, one of the most seductive works in theater history. It told the story of a monk, “Narukami Shonin,” who sealed away the Dragon God in a cave on Mount Kitayama, causing a great drought across the land. The Heavenly Court then sent the incomparable beauty “Princess Taema of the Clouds” to seduce Narukami Shonin. She gave him wine laced with aphrodisiacs and used her charms to tempt him. Even the once-disciplined Narukami Shonin couldn’t resist touching her body and fell into depravity. Once Narukami had lost his power, Princess Taema cut the rope binding the Dragon God, freeing him, and rain poured from the heavens.

The reason this play is a famous kabuki masterpiece isn’t because of its spectacular storyline, but due to the allure of the onnagata (male actors playing female roles). The actor playing Princess Taema is a man, but he must portray a woman’s sensual seduction, a kind of transcendent, unreal charm that surpasses even real women—a breathtaking, otherworldly allure.

The dancing girl lightly embraced and kissed the other girls around her, treating them as if they were Narukami Shonin. Every girl she kissed had a dazed look in her eyes, as if they were immersed in a deep, beautiful dream. Chisei didn’t want to keep watching. This false, indulgent display of sensuality seemed too exaggerated for these underage girls. Yet, he couldn’t help but keep watching—there was an inexplicable, eerie strangeness in this seductive scene. The girls were too entranced by Princess Taema, reminding him of the European folktale about the man with the flute. When the piper played, the children of the town couldn’t help but follow his music, dancing in line out of the town, never to return. Eventually, the mountain split open, and the piper led the children inside, the mountain closing behind them. Their parents never saw their children again.

Why were these girls so entranced by someone of the same sex?

At this point, the girls were holding hands, dancing around Princess Taema, kissing one another with affectionate expressions. Princess Taema twirled and sang as the girls reached out to grab her clothes and hair. Princess Taema’s hairpin was pulled out, her white robes torn away, leaving her only in a scarlet skirt. Her body gleamed like jade, and her loose, flowing hair shone as black as lacquer. She pulled the most beautiful apprentice shrine maiden into her arms, kissing her lips and blowing wisps of white smoke into her mouth.

By now, Chisei could no longer look away, because he realized that the bewitchingly beautiful Princess Taema was a man! His body was tall and muscular, with a man’s build. A man more alluring than the girls had infiltrated Kadotori Shrine!

Princess Taema held the girl close, bending down. The girl trembled slightly in his arms, as if they were sharing a French kiss… but Chisei clearly saw drops of blood dripping onto the tatami.

Princess Taema had killed the girl, biting down on a sharp blade hidden in his mouth.

Screams pierced through the sound of the rain. Someone had noticed something was wrong with the long kiss. Princess Taema’s bloodstained mouth glistened as he glanced seductively around. In that moment, Chisei finally saw his face… and then the lights went out, plunging everything into darkness. There was the sound of gunfire as police officers began to close in from all sides, beams of light cutting through the rain. The police had cut the power, worried that the criminal might be armed, but they didn’t realize they were up against a monster that could see in the dark.

In the darkness, a pair of crimson-gold eyes gleamed. A blade of blue light fell from the sky. From the moment the first scream rang out to the second Chisei broke through the roof and descended, only a second had passed. His Kumogiri blade swept in a heart-shaped pattern, executing a flawless fourth form, holding nothing back.

Kumogiri sliced through a human body, blood gushing out, flowing down his coat. Chisei hadn’t hit Princess Taema—Princess Taema had grabbed a girl and used her as a shield. Chisei’s blade cut right through her.

Series Navigation

<< Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 325: Withered Oni in the Well (2)Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 327: Withered Oni in the Well (4) >>