69 - 80% of people don't know about the god enshrined in the shrine (Patreon)

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There is a small shrine near my school. According to the rumor, it's a well-established shrine with a priest, but unfortunately, perhaps because it's located in the countryside, its appearance can’t be said to be anything but poor.

But as long as it functioned as a shrine, it’d arouse my interest. It’s unclear who is enshrined there, but I wanted to try meeting them.
That's why I take Hiuri along and go to the shrine on our day off. The signboard is faded, so I can't tell the name of the shrine.

“Can we really meet a god?”
“I can meet them, but... I don't know if Hiuri will be able to meet them. But it's probably okay.”
“Are you planning to leave me alone?”
“It won’t even take one second from your side, so it’ll be okay.”

I want to go meet Uka-san someday to thank her about Muu. At that time, I want to be with Hiuri.
To that end, we’re going to experiment with this god whose name I don’t even know. We might get punished, but I don't want Hiuri to be unable to come when I go to Uka-san's place, so we have no choice.

“Oya, visitors?”
“So you really exist, priest-san...”
“Yes, I actually exist.”

As soon as we entered the shrine, the priest found us. He seemed to be cleaning the temple grounds.
Although the shrine is wide because it’s in the countryside, the facilities are old and it truly looks like a shrine. In that sense, we may be able to feel a solemn atmosphere here.

“What kind of shrine is this?”
“This is Jijo Shrine, a shrine that enshrines Ookuninushi no kami.”
“Ookuninushi...”

I feel like I heard it when I looked up gods before... I think it's the same god that is enshrined at Izumo-taisha.
To think that this kind of shrine enshrines the same god...

“He's not only the god of nation-building, but also the god of agriculture. And around here, he's believed to be the god who stabilizes the land.”
“I see, so it has a proper meaning.”

This shrine probably remains because such beliefs have continued all this time.

“Feel free to pray”

After saying that, the priest disappeared into the building. It looks like a warehouse, but I wonder what kind of building it is.
Anyway, I bring Hiuri and come to the front of the prayer box. How much should I put in...

“I'm not particularly looking for a favor right now...”
“Isn't 100 yen okay? If you have any problem with it, let’s ask the god directly.”
“Hiuri is so daring even though you haven’t met a god yet.”

I take out a 100 yen coin from my wallet and throw it into the offering box. I heard the sound of coins hitting each other inside the box, so maybe there were more visitors than I expected?

“If we pray, we’ll be sent away, right?”
“That's the case with me. I close my eyes and when I open them, I'm in god’s place. Maybe it’s better if Hiuri is a little closer to me.”
“Hmm, then I'll grab your clothes.”

Two bows and two claps... Normally, you should do one bow after praying, but in my case it takes a long time to get there.

After bowing twice, I close my eyes, I look up and open my eyes to find myself in a white space. As expected, even at such a small shrine, it seems like I’ll be transported to a god’s place.
When I look to my side, Hiuri is there. It seems Hiuri can come here after all.

“Hiuri, we’re here.”
“...So it seems.”

Hiuri has a somewhat strange look on her face. I wonder what’s wrong.

“I'm Hiuri from the dream side.”
“Ah, I see. If this is a phenomenon similar to sleeping, then the Hiuri will come with the consciousness of the dream side, huh?”
“Looks like it. I'll look lonely in real life, so be prepared.”
“I see...”

Just as Hiuri is unable to remember the happenings in the dream world at night, she will also be unable to remember the happenings in the gods’ world. How should I put it, I feel sorry for her.

“Kyun!”
“So Muu is here too.”
“It seems like Muu is attached to my spirit. That’s why it follows me to places like this.”

When I come to this world, Muu usually appears at my feet. And it cries to let us know.

When I look over the surroundings, there is nothing here. There is not even a bush nearby like at Uka-san's place. Now then, where do we go to meet god?

“Kyun Kyun!”
“Seems like it’s over there.”

Muu cries and steps forward.
It seems Muu is walking in front of us to guide us. I wonder if it also has god-detecting abilities.

“It looks like he’s over there.”
“Let’s try going there.”

We advance through the white space as Muu guides us.
God's space is different from my dream, so I can't make anything appear, so the only thing I can do while advancing is talk.

Well, we can spend as much time as we want just talking.

“Time doesn’t pass in real life, right?”
“It seems so. That is if this is a space similar to Uka-san's.”
“Then maybe the me in real life won’t feel lonely...”
“But I don't think Hiuri in real life can go here...”
“Then she might feel lonely.”

I had no idea how far we had walked since it was a white space, but after a while we could see a shrine in this white space.
I wonder if that’s Ookuninushi-san’s shrine.

Muu climbs the stairs and goes into the shrine.

“I wonder if Muu is okay.”
“Even if it looks like that, it’s a divine beast, so I think it's okay.”

As we were about to enter the shrine, we heard footsteps coming from inside the shrine.

“Ooh, to think I’d have visitors in a place like this, how rare.”

He is a large man, dressed like someone from the Jomon period that appears in textbooks. And, in his hand, he is grabbing Muu.

“Uka’s fox came here, so I thought that girl was here, but to think it’s a human.”
“Please excuse us.”

Unlike Uka-san, he speaks standard Japanese. So their appearances and way of speaking can be completely different depending on the god...* (T/N: uka-san speaks kinda old fashioned. I don’t know how to sound like that, so I use the standard way.)

“That’s because even among gods, people are different!”
“Ah right, you can read minds.”

He answered the words in my heart before I spoke them. Like Uka-san, it seems Ookuninushi-san can also read minds.

“Mu, that's wrong. Even gods can't read minds. We’re just predicting what people are thinking based on our senses. Of course, Uka is the same.”
“Oh, is that how it is?”
“Uka has a habit of putting on airs after all, so it's no wonder.”

How should I put it, my image of gods is breaking down bit by bit. I wonder what the priest would think if he knew about this.

“Hey, don't talk about things that only the two of us know.”
“Sorry, sorry. You're Ookuninushi-san, right?”
“Aah, that's right. It's been a long time, so please call me Ooku-san.”
“No, that's a bit...”

Suddenly he felt like he was an enemy character from an RPG. As expected, I can't really call god that.* (T/N: Ooku-san = Orc-san.)

“And you guys are?”
“Umm... I'm a bit of a special person, so I came to see you for a bit.”

If you ask us what we are... what are we? It's not like we do any particular research or have any specialized knowledge... If I had to say, I'd say we’re tourists.

“So it’s not like you’re Uka’s messenger.”
“Uka-san left that child with us. She said it would be good for us.”
“Hmm... certainly, it seems like it's good for you guys.”

Ookuninushi-san lowers Muu. Muu then runs towards us and hides in Hiuri's shadow.
Apparently, being caught by Ookuninushi-san was scary.

“So it seems you don’t have any particular business.”
“Let’s see... we just want to see if we can meet God, I guess.”
“Hahaha! Am I an experimental subject?”

Ookuninushi-san laughs cheerfully. Somehow, he seems frank, or rather, it feels like we’re talking to a normal person.

“You guys, what are your names?”
“I’m Nakano Kazuki.”
“Sakura Hiuri.”
“Fumu, I’ll remember it.”

I thought that Hiuri's words were lacking in vigor, so I glanced over at her and saw that she looked a little pale somehow.

“Are you okay, Hiuri?”
“Rather, why is Kazuki-kun acting so calm?”

Is there something that I don’t feel?

For the time being, I have her hold Muu in her arms as a tranquilizer. Then she seemed to calm down a little.

“Kazuki, you should stop bringing that girl along when you meet gods.”
“Is that how it is?”
“Yeah. Her soul, unlike yours, seems to be weaker. It will end up vanishing in gods’ authority.”

Come to think of it, Uka-san also said that Hiuri's environment is a little different from mine...

“I’ll give you this, so you better go back quickly.”

Ookuninushi-san throws something at us. When I grab it, I see it’s a small bell.

“That’s a bell that echoes purity. I'm sure it will calm down her spirit. I, who has had many wives, said it, so there's no mistake.”
“Thank you very much.”

It's a very beautiful colored bell. When I ring it as a test, the sound is indeed very beautiful.

When I look up, Ookuninushi-san is no longer there, and Hiuri's complexion has calmed down.
At the same time as I am feeling relieved, Muu’s cry echoes.

“Kyuuuuuuuun!!”

......

Before I knew it, I was back in front of the original shrine. I thought about it last time, but I wonder if Muu has the power to return us to this world.
At that time with Uka-san, I was moved by another god though...

When I raise my face, Hiuri also raises her face. I'm sorry for not being thoughtful enough... right as I was thinking that,

“...So that’s a god.”
“You remember?”

For some reason, Hiuri remembered what happened in the dream. To be precise, she seems to remember Ookuninushi. As expected, you can’t forget the figure of a god.

“Let's go home. I was a little scared.”

After saying that, Hiuri hugged my arms. She’s too close...  but it seems true that Hiuri is scared.

I guess I'll be alone when I pay my respects to Uka-san.

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