52 - Even if you don’t worship a God, if it exists, God will appear (Patreon)

RAW

There is a thin mist around my feet, and I am standing in an endless white space.
It’s not like I fell asleep while standing up, right?... Even when I tried to create something with my usual sensation, nothing came out of it, so it seems I wasn’t in the dream.

I have my wallet. I also have my smartphone... but it doesn't turn on. Apparently, there is no way to contact them.

Suddenly, I hear a sound.
When I look toward the direction of the sound of the footsteps, for some reason there is a bush there, and in front of it is a fox. ‘This is the first time I've seen a real fox’, I end up thinking something pointless.

The fox snuggles up to my feet.

“Umm, sorry, I don't have anything.”

What do foxes eat? I heard that they eat meat, so they’d probably eat raw meat if I had it with me. If this were the dream I could have created as many as I wanted...
But, the fox didn't run away even when I spoke to it, and sat down at my feet instead. It’s cute, but what should I do with it?

“Do you know where this is?”

I talk to the fox even though it’s not supposed to respond. The fox just yawns loudly and doesn’t give any answer.
I don’t know how to go back, so I’m petting the fox for now, when suddenly the fox lets out a ‘kyuun’ and runs towards the bush.

So foxes don’t cry with a ‘kon’...

I don't know why there is a bush here even though this is an empty space. But this is the only place I can investigate. I rustled the bushes, and the fox came out of the bush again.

“Nn─?”

When I look into the bush from the same height as the fox...

“A shrine...?”

Behind the bush, I can see the main shrine of Fushimi Inari Shrine, which I just prayed in. However, when I stand up and look, there is no shrine on the other side of the bush.
Apparently, you can only see it through this bush.

“I wonder if I can pass through...”

It's barely the size of a fox, so it might be difficult for me to pass through. But if there's anything I can do, I have no choice but to try it.
As I crawl forward, the fox pushes my butt from behind. I wonder if it’s helping me.
After repeatedly getting stuck in the branches of the bush, I finally crossed the bush. Other than the presence of a shrine, it's the same space as before, but well, since it's such a mysterious space, I probably shouldn't be looking for logic.

The fox is sitting at my feet. I wonder what it is, this kid.

“Maybe I should try praying...”

As I approach the main shrine, the fox follows me. Somehow, it’s like party members from games.
As for the contents of my wallet... I still have 100 yen left. There is no rattling bell here, but let's start praying.

...Please let me go back.

“Nuo-! Someone's here!”
“Eh?”

When I lift my face, there is a girl standing there. She is a girl in Japanese clothes with fox ears and a fox tail.

“How did you get in!”
“I want to know too.”

The fox that has been at my feet the whole time runs towards the girl. And then, just like he did to me, he snuggles up to the girl's feet.

“This is, did you bring him here? You can’t do that.”

The girl casually picks up the fox and scolds it. Sure, the fox pushed me on my butt, but...

“Hmm, well, okay. You're special.”
“Umm... you are...”
“I am Ukanomitama-no-Kami. You can call me Uka.”

Ukanomitama... wait, is it Inari-sama!? I feel like a god with that name is enshrined at the Inari Shrine.
Hmm, well, if the dream world exists, then I guess gods exist too...

“Uka-san, will I be able to go home safely?”
“Ooh, you're incredibly calm, huh. You'll be able to go home safely, rest assured. Incidentally, space-time is distorted here, so you don't have to worry about the passing of time.”

I don’t really get it, but it seems I’ll be okay. I always had this image of God being majestic though...

“I’m sorry for appearing before you like this.”
“Please don't read my mind.”
“This is my divine realm. I can hear the voices of your heart without doing anything.”

Divine realm... does that mean this is where Uka-san lives? Like a house.

“That’s right. Well, the house could be anything... but since the humans built it for us, we modeled this after the main shrine.”

The people at the shrine would probably be happy if they knew that... no, I guess the carpenters who built the main shrine would be happier. Well, in any case, I'm sure they’re happy that something they built for God is being recognized properly.

“By the way, that appearance...”
“This? Nice isn’t it, these fox ears. It seems to be a boom among younger kids these days.”

It's true that some people take pictures while wearing animal ears... but is it okay for God to look like that?

“I can change my appearance as much as I want. It's just that many people nowadays seem to think I look like this. If I’m not conscious of it, my appearance will match those images.”

I guess it's similar to my dream world. The way the shape changes according to the image, it's like that.

“Ah, that’s right, what I want to hear about is that dream world.”
“Do you know anything about it?”
“Rather, I want to ask because I don’t know anything.”

So, there are things that even God doesn't know... besides, I don’t understand that much about it either...

“I have heard that there are near-omniscient gods abroad. But gods in Japan are divided according to their responsibilities, so there is no omniscient god.”
“What's with those circumstances among gods...”
“Ah, that's right. It's not me who will send you back, but another god.”

This division sure is amazing... it's like a company. Come to think of it, it is said that gods also have parents, so it wouldn't be strange if they have a hierarchical relationship...

“Or rather, is it okay for you to tell me that?”
“What, even if I tell just one person, it won't have any effect. Besides, it seems like you came here only with your spirit, so when you wake up, your memory will be as vague as a dream.”

Ooh, so I’m going to have a dream that I can't remember for the first time in a while. I’m kinda looking forward to it. Lately, even when I dream, my memories remain very clear, so it didn't feel like I was asleep.
Or so I thought...

“What, You, you are able to retain the memory of your dreams?”
“Huh, is there a problem?”
“Well, it’s not really a problem if you remember it. If you are able to retain the memory of your dreams, it won't be vague even when you wake up. I'm sorry.”

...A shame.
Well, meeting a god is a precious experience, it's not something that happens often, so remembering it is not a waste, isn’t it?

“That's right. You can explain your power to the best of your understanding.”
“We won’t know anything even if I do...”
“If we’re close enough and have a conversation like this, I'll understand it to some extent.”

Ooh, God is amazing.

“Let’s see... your power is to send away only your spirit.”
“Only the spirit?”
“That is the so-called astral projection. It seems you and that girl you are with, are experiencing astral projection. But you seem to be the only one experiencing a complete astral projection.”

The reason Hiuri doesn’t retain her memories seems to be that her astral projection is not complete. I don't really get it, but maybe she only sends away half of her spirit, or something like that.

“That’s right. Because only her deep psyche is separated, she doesn’t retain her memories. But, that's exactly why it influences her decision-making and emotions.”

Hmm, I don't quite understand. In the first place, aren't the fields of the spirit and soul still unexplored?

“Next is, let’s see... After you performed the astral projection, it seems you created a pseudo divine realm. It seems like that's why you wandered in here... Well, the one that brought you all the way until this shrine was this girl though.”

The fox is still being held by Uka-san. Could it be that the fox is a sacred child who is said to be a messenger or something?

“That's right. Well, she was born a normal child though. She saw me, so I made him a messenger.”
“You are amazing.”* (T/N: probably talking to the fox.)

It must be a special fox. It certainly seems like it has high intelligence, and it even has a god-like presence... actually it doesn’t, but I feel like it has some sort of special power.
However, its appearance is no different from a normal fox.

“Well, even though it’s a messenger, it doesn't mean it has strong powers...”

It’s strictly a messenger, that’s probably it.

“But that's beside the point. What you call your dream world is unstable. For some reason it is stable now, but... be prepared for it to disappear at any moment.”

...I see. Well, I did think it would disappear someday, so that's not a problem.
In the first place, this phenomenon suddenly occurred at the beginning of this school year. I won't be surprised if it suddenly disappears.

“What, you're more calm than I thought.”
“Well, I've even been transported to this world after all.”

Although it’s called a divine realm, I’m used to places that lack any sense of reality. In such a situation, all I can do is accept what the supernatural phenomenon tells me.
I have done my fair share of inspection into the dream world, that’s why I'm used to mysterious phenomena. In other words, no matter what she says here, I won’t be surprised.

“What an interesting person you are.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, so much that I want to give you my divine protection.”

I wonder what kind of effect Uka-san's divine protection has... maybe it’s something like being liked by foxes.

“No, I'm a god of agriculture and other things, so it won’t be something like being liked by animals... Ah, that's right.”

Uka-san muttered that and let go of the fox she was holding. The fox jumped off to the ground and let out a ‘kyuun’.
Then the fox runs up to my feet. It then goes on to snuggle up to my feet.

“Let's send that child to your world.”
“Eh, is that okay?”
“Yeah. It looks like that child is attached to you too. I don’t have only one messenger after all.”

I pick up the fox and bring it in front of my eyes.
Since it’s a god’s fox, it probably won't have an Echinococcus or something like that, and Hiuri might find it cute. Having more living things in the dream world besides me and Hiuri is something to be happy about.

“There's not much it can do for you... but it might help stabilize your world a little.”
“Thank you very much.”
“It’s a messenger, so it doesn't have to eat anything, but... if you don't mind, please share the food you materialized with it. There’s nothing it can’t eat.”

I thought it would be okay if it was something from the dream world, but if it’s going to be fine no matter what it eats in the first place, maybe something like dessert would be fine? Maybe I can bring out dessert for it when I bring out Hiuri’s dessert.

“Now then... Miki! You must be watching!”

Uka-san shouted into the void.
Then, the space suddenly distorts and a man appears.

“Hoi hoi. I’ll get to carrying this guy.”
“Umm...”
“I’m a god superior to Uka.”

His appearance is that of a normal human. Even compared to Uka-san, he clearly is less god-ish.

“Come on, it's time to go back.”

The man said that while waving his arm lightly.
In that instant, I lost my consciousness.

......

“Kazuki, how long are you going to pray?”
“...Eh?”

When I look up, I’m back where I was before. Standing next to me are Tadashi and the others.

“Come on, let's move now.”
“Ye, yeah.”

As expected, my memory of that place is still clear...
It seems I have more things to talk about in the dream today.

――――

(T/N: it’s unknown if the fox is a male or a female, but because of how english works and the structure of that particular sentence, I have to assign its gender, so I choose female.

Also, Uka’s name; 宇迦之御霊神. Slightly different from the one from Wikipedia; 宇迦之御魂神.)

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