The Osaki Hachiman Shrine, its predecessor was the Chinjufu Hachiman-gu founded by Sakanoue no Tamuramaro in the Heian period in Mizusawa City, Iwate Prefecture.
In the 12th year of the Keicho era, it was relocated to Sendai by the lord of the Sendai domain, Date Masamune, and named Osaki Hachiman-gu. After the Meiji era, its name was changed to Osaki Hachiman Shrine.
This shrine has been revered by successive lords of the Sendai domain and the residents of Sendai as a place of prayer to eliminate calamities, avert misfortune, bring good fortune, and ensure victory and safe childbirth.
Within the main hall is enshrined the guardian deity of the Futai-shin custom worshipped in the Sendai region, and it is especially respected by people born in the years of the Dog and the Boar.
At this moment, the night was deep. The worshippers had long since dispersed.
Accompanying the ancient shrine as it sank into the darkness of the night were no longer just the whispers of the breeze and the ancient trees, but more the faint mechanical hums, like the breathing of a sick beast, wafting from within and without the city....
The innermost dark Japanese-style room of the shrine, adjacent to a thousand-year-old sacred tree encircled by a massive shimenawa rope, seemed especially eerie and gloomy.
Inside the room, a middle-aged man with long black hair, wearing a kimono with subtle patterns, idly playing with a jade talisman in his hand, was surveying the talisman and several other people before him with a pair of strange eyes.
"Your Holiness..."
A shrewd-looking, obese man fingering prayer beads respectfully bowed to the talisman-holding man in the superior seat, then deferentially pushed forward a register filled with names.
"These are the troublesome ones from the dyeing factory who are unappreciative, inciting trouble, and colluding with journalists..."
"May I trouble Your Holiness to deliver divine punishment... make them vanish quietly. That would be beneficial for both of us...."
Hearing this, the talisman-holding man called Your Holiness was taken aback, then coldly spoke:
"What, another list? The last one hasn't even been settled yet."
He picked up the register and casually tossed it onto a low table nearby, his tone slightly dissatisfied. "Do you take me for your dog? Just circling around your problems all day?"
"No, no! Your Holiness, please forgive me! It's just that rice prices have soared recently, and these lowlifes are having a hard time. They cause me trouble all day, so I..."
"Hey! Sasaki, what kind of talk is that? Haven't you profited from the rice price hike? And you're complaining about it?!"
The man rebuking him was Nakajima Ichiro, a titan of the rice trade. Beside him, several other men with flickering eyes were Takahashi from the money exchange, Shingo from the ready-made clothing store, and Morii from the real estate agency.
Gathered in this small Japanese-style room were individuals who could almost represent the conglomerates behind them, capital forces capable of controlling most of Sendai City.
However, among them, Sasaki of the Dyeing and Weaving Company was the most greedy.
Morii nodded. "Nakajima-dono is right. Sasaki, this is already the fourth time this month you've requested His Holiness's intervention! Don't you have any other management methods besides killing!"
"Why don't you just concede some profits! You're so stingy even I can't stand it. Steady and long-term is the proper way..." Takahashi from the money exchange said coldly and sarcastically, not even looking at him.
Listening to their bickering, the Divine Official's mind grew irritated. He simply closed his eyes and rested, waiting for them to argue to a conclusion.
Crack...
A faint sense of shattering came from the Divine Official's hand, making his brow twitch.
He looked down and saw that the jade talisman he had been playing with had suddenly shattered without warning, along with the aura contained within it also dispersed completely.
'Hmm?' The Divine Official frowned deeply, checking the other three talismans in his pocket and finding them normal.
'Someone destroyed my Blood Demon Art?' The Divine Official was somewhat surprised, his half-open eyes rolling uneasily, revealing the patterns and numbers within.
[Lower - Two]
That's right, he was not a divine official at all.
But rather one of the Twelve Kizuki, Lower Rank Two, Rokuro!
The jade talismans in Rokuro's hand were actually the true main body of his Blood Demon Art, Shadow Puppet.
Shadow Puppets could act independently of his body, going to nearby villages to hunt for prey according to his will. This had once been an important guarantee for his survival, as he was timid and cautious by nature.
But he soon discovered that rather than relying on Shadow Puppets to catch humans for him to eat... it was better to cooperate with some self-serving ambitious people.
He could do some dirty work for them, and they would directly prepare food for him.
From robbery and theft, to hired killings, and finally, by chance, becoming a Divine Official at the Osaki Hachiman Shrine....
Although the turn of events was beyond Rokuro's expectations, things were indeed going more and more smoothly.
Moreover, the Shadow Puppets didn't just kill… they could also absorb the victim's life force, thereby nourishing him.
Even if discovered by Demon Slayers, it wouldn't affect him. This deal was a win-win no matter how you looked at it.
Later, he was noticed by that lord and became one of the Twelve Kizuki, tasked by that lord to create chaos and disaster in the Tohoku region, keeping those annoying Demon Slayers run ragged.
But now, his Blood Demon Art had been broken by someone....
'Either they saw through the weakness of the Shadow Puppet, or they used pure force to tear apart the demonic aura I left inside it...' Rokuro judged quickly, already unable to focus on the discussions of these greedy merchants in the room.
If it was the former, it was fine. If it was the latter... that meant he had been targeted by a Hashira. That was not good news...
'Should I run? Move to another area?'
Thinking carefully, he had indeed been a bit too conspicuous lately.
The escalating unrest in Sendai City was partly his doing, and he had also killed three Demon Slayers who came to investigate the abnormality. Perhaps he had already been exposed.
'Tch... I should have just hidden. I shouldn't have clashed with those Demon Slayers just to kill those lowlife workers!'
"Your Holiness? Your Holiness?"
"What! Idiot!"
Irritated by someone constantly calling him, Rokuro's anger instantly surged. He glared viciously at the incessantly chattering Sasaki.
The other party was, after all, a greedy human merchant. Shaken by Rokuro's roar, with demonic aura churning, he was so frightened he collapsed on the floor. Even the expressions of the other merchants changed repeatedly.
Seeing the fear in their eyes, Rokuro's originally irritable mood actually morbidly calmed down a bit.
'Yes... that's right, fear me... I'm not some small fry...'
He composed himself, recovering his calm and leisurely demeanor:
"My apologies, my apologies. I was remembering something angering.... So, have you decided?"
"....Yes, Your Holiness," Sasaki respectfully prostrated himself, his voice even trembling slightly. "Putting everything else aside, we would like to ask Your Holiness to first kill one person..."
"Name?"
"Harada Chuichi!"
Just mentioning this name made Sasaki's teeth itch with hatred, his eyes full of venom.
"This damned laborer! He must have learned some perverse trends from those Russian rebels! He's been advocating rebellion in my factory!"
"The sarcastic poems he writes in those Red publications, [Our Lives Have Already Seen the Light], are simply absurd! Saying workers can also seize power! He's not just causing trouble for me, but for all of Sendai!"
The other merchant leaders also nodded, expressing the same view.
Takahashi added, "These days, that Harada fellow has gathered quite a few radicals. Even some cabinet ministers are starting to find it unacceptable... Your Holiness, if you can eliminate Harada, we will certainly provide you with the most generous offerings!"
"...I want two-thirds of it now!"
Before their prostrations were even finished, Rokuro spoke up first.
He rolled his demonic eyes, looking displeased at Sasaki and the others:
"For the last batch, plus this Harada, I want my payment first before I work!"
"....Around sixteen young girls, no fewer than twenty of them. You can divide them amongst yourselves!"
The color drained from Sasaki's face instantly. The fingers fingering his prayer beads froze. Nakajima's fleshy face twitched. Shingo and Takahashi unconsciously held their breath, staring at Rokuro in disbelief.
Twenty! That was twenty human lives!
Although they treated the lower-class commoners no differently than livestock, and had handed over offerings before-
But twenty at once... even they were somewhat daunted.
"Well... Your Holiness... this might be..."
"Thirty!" Rokuro's voice was cold and resolute, his gaze growing increasingly dangerous.
"Fine! Fine! We'll figure something out!"
Well-versed in business ways, they understood that this was the best terms they would get… any further delay would only make things worse. So they hurriedly agreed to Rokuro's demand.
And Rokuro wasn't acting tough without reason. He knew that cooperation required building trust and taking a long-term view.
But there might be a Hashira outside... he was thinking of fleeing... so he might as well squeeze them one last time before leaving....
Rokuro leaned casually in the superior seat, throwing away the shattered jade talisman, and once again made a demand that uneased them:
"Three days. I'll give you three days."
"If the offerings aren't delivered in three days...."
Rokuro revealed a mouthful of gleaming sharp fangs, sweeping his gaze over the ashen-faced capitalists, and said word by word:
"....I'll go to each of your homes, one by one!"