HI3: I Don't Want to Be a Valkyrie

Countless soldier remains lay haphazardly buried underground. When war struck months ago, thousands more bodies were added to the mix, left unclaimed. The resentment from their souls and the stench from their decay grew worse by the day.

Such circumstances often gave rise to powerful monsters—but not quite enough for something as formidable as the Gashadokuro.

What changed everything was when a great monster named "Shiranui" passed through. She ignited the lingering resentment and foul air with her fiery essence—the very spark of life.

That's how the mighty Gashadokuro came to be.

"Where is Shiranui now?" Yae Sakura asked eagerly. Her main quest was to defeat 15 great yokais.

"Lady Shiranui is on... one of the islands off Kyushu."

"The islands off Kyushu..." Here, "Kyushu" didn't refer to the mainland, but a region in Tōei.

"I see. Higokumaru... let's give it to Kikyō." With everything clear, they decided to have Kikyō purify it.

Yae Sakura could only fight enemies; she wasn't skilled at much else. Despite being called a miko, she was essentially a Valkyrie.

Even though Kikyō would purify it, Yae Sakura still received 50 crystals for killing the Gashadokuro—a mere 50 crystals for defeating such a powerful creature...

After purifying the Gashadokuro, the commission quest remained incomplete. Seeing the lingering miasma slowly dissipating with the monster's death, Yae Sakura realized something.

"Kikyō, can you completely cleanse this resentment and miasma?"

"I'll try," Kikyō replied, sounding uncertain.

"Hmm."

"Big Sister! Don't forget about me—I can use my fox fire to burn away the miasma too!" Higokumaru chimed in loudly, feeling left out of the conversation between Yae Sakura and Kikyō.

"Right, thanks for your help, Higokumaru."

The battlefield was thick with resentful energy. It took a whole night to completely purify all the resentment and miasma.

Of course, Kikyō did most of the purification work while Yae Sakura only had to kill monsters. Compared to Kikyō, her task was much easier.

They also earned quite a few crystals in the process.

Yae Sakura had Kikyō take out the Shikon no Tama, which attracted nearby monsters. With each swing of her blade, she could cut down dozens or even hundreds at once. It was an easy way to make money.

After purifying the battlefield, their mission for the daimyo was complete.

They rested for several hours before heading back to Maple Village.

"Kaede, are you ready?"

Yae watched as Kaede nervously held a USP45 pistol with both hands.

The USP45 was designed by H&K specifically for American military and law enforcement. It fired .45 ACP rounds, known for its accuracy and reliability.

Despite being only around ten years old, Kaede could handle the USP45 well. The gun had little recoil, and although her training talent wasn't great, she was still much better than other kids her age due to constant practice.

Using this pistol didn't burden her at all.

"I'm ready," Kaede replied, her face covered in sweat from nerves.

"Okay, let's begin!"

With that, Yae picked up a stone about the size of an egg and tossed it into the air.

Bang!

The stone was hit mid-flight by a single shot.

Yae looked at Kaede, who was breathing heavily while holding the gun. She couldn't help but be surprised—Kaede's archery skills were mediocre, yet she had such natural talent with firearms. Too bad she wasn't Kallen right now; otherwise, she could teach her the Kaslana family's gun combat techniques.

Those techniques would make dealing with enemies even easier.

"Again!"

As Yae Sakura spoke, she tossed three more stones.

Crack... Crack... Crack.

Three shots rang out, but only two rocks were hit.

"Sakura-sis, I..." Kaede stammered, looking guiltily at Yae Sakura.

"Keep going..."

-

A few minutes later, Kaede ran out of stones.

"You're still far from being a true gunpowder Miko," Yae said, looking at the young girl before her. "Keep practicing!" Although Kaede showed some talent with firearms, she was far from mastering them.

"Yes..."

Hearing this, Kaede felt disappointed. She hadn't passed the test, so she couldn't get the powerful artillery weapon that Yae had demonstrated for her.

"Still, I'll give you these two guns!"

Seeing Kaede's disappointment, Yae handed her two black pistols [M1911].

At that moment, Kaede's USP45 was an unenhanced one-star weapon, while the M1911 was a two-star weapon with an effective range of 50 meters.

"Yes, thank you, Big Sis Yae."

Looking at her new weapons, which seemed much more powerful than the one in her hand, Kaede immediately perked up.

"Keep working hard!"

Yae hadn't considered whether giving modern weapons to Kaede might cause problems. Even if it did, she'd be long gone by then.

"Big sister, dinner's ready!"

Rubbing her eyes, Higokumaru walked over to where Yae and Kaede were standing.

"Hmm, let's eat first!" Yae looked at Kaede.

"Yes."

-

It had been over two weeks since the purification battle. During this time, Yae Sakura had been busy dealing with monsters drawn by the Shikon no Tama. When she wasn't doing that, she trained herself and taught Kaede the art of gunkata.

Yae's own skills weren't exceptional, but she could still teach the basics.

"Have you packed everything? Are you ready to go to Kyushu's remote islands in search of the legendary Shiranui?" Kikyo suddenly asked while they were eating. Her voice was calm, revealing little emotion.

In Tōei, it was customary not to talk during meals. For Kikyo to speak now was already unusual.

"Mm-hmm, but before that, I need to visit another place," Yae said, ignoring the dining etiquette since Kikyo had broken the silence.

"Where?"

"The canyon where the great monster Ryūkotsusei is sealed." A few days ago, Yae learned from one of the monsters seeking the Shikon no Tama about the location where Dragon-Boned Spirit had been sealed by King Tōga.

"Ryūkotsusei?"

As a great monster from a hundred years ago and the archenemy of King Tōga, even Kikyo had heard of the Dragon-Boned Spirit.

"Yes, will Kikyō come with me?"

"Let me think about it... Are you in a hurry?" Kikyō hesitated; she needed to guard the Shikon no Tama, so staying put was best.

But she didn't want to refuse Yae Sakura's invitation either.

"It's fine if you leave in two days." There was no rush—after all, not just anyone could break Tōga-ō's seal.

"I'll let you know my decision in a couple of days..."

"That works."