Chapter 10

Ryūji Kuroki ultimately firmly rejected the Yuki-onna's request. After all, he really didn't have any doujinshi about Inari or Shuten-dōji, and he wasn't particularly interested in such things either.

Looking at the dispirited Yuki-onna, Kuroki shook his head and glanced at his phone. It was already past seven, almost eight, and it had gotten dark outside. Kuroki decided to go out and feed the creatures for the day.

Holding the small pot and a bowl, Kuroki went out through the back door of the izakaya. This was a small alley, with no one around. Drunken uncles wouldn't sleep in such places when it was cold, and because of the snow, the ground was a bit damp. However, Kuroki didn't mind and squatted beside his back door.

There was a white circle here, which didn't look strange at all, but Kuroki knew that this was the place he had specifically marked to feed the little creatures.

Kuroki opened the pot lid and poured out the brown, jelly-like substance inside into the bowl, then placed the bowl in the white circle.

Then, some tiny, insect-like sounds came, and various small yokai emerged from all directions, chirping and swarming towards the small bowl.

These little yokai were particularly small, the largest being about the size of a thumbnail, but they looked especially cute. Some were various fluffy balls, looking very adorable, while others had somewhat peculiar appearances.

However, Kuroki didn't show any disgust. He had discovered these little creatures by chance while tidying up the back alley. Over time, Kuroki had gotten used to taking care of these little things. Every time Kuchisake-onna came, Kuroki would get an emotion stick from her, then combine it with some ingredients to make this food for the often hungry little yokai.

The little yokai ate very quickly, and after they finished, they gathered around Kuroki. Snowflakes fell on them and soon melted into water.

"Once I'm done, I'll come back to feed you again." Kuroki picked up the empty bowl. He didn't expect these little yokai to understand his words, as they were more like small cats or dogs and couldn't speak.

However, these little creatures were quite resilient, so Kuroki wasn't too worried about whether they could survive the increasingly cold winter.

"Boss, are you out causing trouble again?" When Kuroki returned to the izakaya, he saw that the Yuki-onna had finished her sushi and was sitting idly on a chair.

However, she became more excited when she saw Kuroki come in.

"I'm not causing any trouble. Miss Yuki-onna, would you like to eat something else?" Kuroki started to wash the dishes and pots. Although the little yokai ate very quickly and cleanly, hygiene was still important.

After all, in the food industry, hygiene is always a top priority.

"I want to drink milk, the boss's milk is fine~" The Yuki-onna gave Kuroki a flirtatious look.

"Sorry, this is an izakaya, and I don't have milk to offer." Kuroki's mouth twitched. Really, the Yuki-onna could start flirting at any moment.

"Hmph~ Then..." The Yuki-onna hummed and was about to say something when she stopped.

"Ah, why did such a troublesome thing come?" The Yuki-onna sighed and looked towards the entrance of the izakaya.

Kuroki also looked up and saw a dark figure squeeze in. Its face was covered with countless eyes, and it had a huge mouth filled with eyes. Combined with its twisted and terrifying appearance, Kuroki immediately recognized what it was.

"A vengeful spirit?" Kuroki frowned as he watched the spirit wriggle forward, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

It wasn't that Kuroki was afraid of it. After running the izakaya for so long in a densely populated city like Tokyo, he had encountered all sorts of yokai and demons and could handle them calmly.

Even if the Eight-Headed Dragon came in one day, Kuroki could calmly pour a cup of sake and chat with it.

But there was one exception: vengeful spirits.

They had no reason, no room for conversation, and were particularly disturbing to the appetite. The reason Inari had Kuroki enshrine a shrine was to use the shrine's barrier to prevent these vengeful spirits from entering. However, this would also prevent other earthbound spirits or guardian spirits from entering, so Kuroki had never considered it.

"Boss~ Do you want me to take care of it and count it as my meal money?" The Yuki-onna swung her legs idly. This level of vengeful spirit was nothing to her.

"No need, I quite like Miss Yuki-onna's meal money, so I'll handle this vengeful spirit." Kuroki smiled and politely declined her offer, then took a baseball bat from the cabinet.

Yes, a baseball bat. This was given to Kuroki by Shuten-dōji for self-defense, and it was imbued with powerful yokai energy. Any yokai weaker than Shuten-dōji would tremble at the sight of this bat.

Then, Kuroki walked up with a smile. The two delinquents were taken by Kuchisake-onna yesterday, and now a scapegoat had finally come to let Kuroki stretch his muscles.

"Tsk, tsk, I wonder what this vengeful spirit was thinking, trying to possess the boss." Watching the violent exorcism, the Yuki-onna shook her head, but it was in line with the vengeful spirit's intelligence.

These powerful but mindless vengeful spirits, who only torment ordinary people, had no brains. If they had brains, the Yuki-onna thought, they would mark this place as an extremely dangerous area during the vengeful spirit conference and send Kuroki's photo to every vengeful spirit, telling them to run faster when they saw Kuroki.

After all, a strong human isn't scary, but a strong human with Shuten-dōji's baseball bat is very scary.