"Speaking of which, a cat with two tails? Is that some kind of Inazuma-specific youkai?"
Little Eula looked somewhat puzzled.
Back when the old man had suddenly decided to raise a cat, she had already been curious. At first, she thought it was just an ordinary cat with a bit of human-like intelligence, but she never expected it to actually grow a second tail.
"I know. It's a soul-calming cat. It's said to be the miraculous cat that accompanies the Shura Anyakonsen-shou and is responsible for cleansing impurities."
Little Ayaka provided the answer.
This response was perfectly fine—because it was the official answer decided upon by the head of the Kamisato Clan.
However, it wasn't the correct answer.
"The two-tailed bakeneko is indeed one of Inazuma's great youkai. It is said to possess supernatural abilities, such as manipulating the forces of yin and yang. It can bring good fortune or take lives; it can also beckon and control corpses. And after death, it can even turn into a vengeful spirit to seek revenge."
This explanation came from Miyuki of the Grand Narukami Shrine.
"So powerful?"
Little Eula seemed a little surprised.
When Kirara usually rolled around in her arms, there was no sign at all that the cat had such capabilities.
"Mm… I don't actually know the specifics. These are just legends passed down within the shrine."
Miyuki wasn't particularly rigid when it came to things handed down among shrine maidens—otherwise she wouldn't have agreed to let Kuki Shinobu abandon the shrine maiden profession.
Little Eula fell silent.
Shura Anyakonsen-shou soul-calming cat… the functions seemed to fit just right. Was this something the old man had anticipated?
Thinking about the old man's usual carefree, easy-to-read demeanor—he only put on an act when it was absolutely necessary…
It was probably just a coincidence, right?
Yes, that's right. It really was just a coincidence. Truly.
At that moment, the old man was teaching Kirara some "feline virtue" education.
"Kirara, even though I don't know when you'll be able to take human form, you absolutely must remember this once you do! Humans are a species that wears clothes!"
Cat Kirara looked at the old man, her tail(s) naturally resting on the ground behind her. Clearly, she was listening very attentively.
Then, after teaching for a while, the old man suddenly realized he still hadn't finished processing today's documents…
"Never mind. Kirara, you should go follow Miyuki to learn about human knowledge instead. The old man here is just too busy."
The old man, now a busy adult, felt a slight wave of exhaustion.
He had thought that since he didn't need to go practice moves against the Maguu Kenki tonight, he could finally relax and write in peace.
He hadn't expected to end up spending the evening on work instead.
"Da-wang~"
Kirara tilted her head up and called out once, then smoothly slipped out the door.
The old man watched cat Kirara leave and fell into thought.
Come to think of it, Kirara still shouldn't be able to speak yet, right?
Could Miyuki understand Kirara's fox-like meowing?
As the old man had expected, it wasn't long before Kirara came trotting back—with paper and a brush held in her mouth.
Seeing this scene, the old man couldn't help but burst out laughing.
He then took the paper and brush and wrote down his speculations about Kirara eventually being able to take human form. At the same time, he asked Miyuki and little Kuki Shinobu to take Kirara and teach her some common sense about human society.
As for why he chose Miyuki and Kuki Shinobu to look after cat Kirara…
Well, among everyone present, the ones with the most free time were little Kuki Shinobu and her older sister Miyuki.
The rest—the Kamisato family, little Eula, little Sara—were all busy handling government affairs.
Inazuma was still in the phase of severe personnel shortages. Capable people were practically being split in two to get everything done.
Fortunately, Miyuki's role was to attend to the gods, so this fell squarely within her professional domain. There was no issue with her teaching cat Kirara.
And little Kuki Shinobu happened to be studying technology at the moment—having Kirara tag along to learn more about it wouldn't hurt either.