The Twenty-Second Night: Tsumakari ~ Chimimōryō

(TL/N: Chimimōryō is a term that refers to monsters of the mountains and monsters of the rivers. For more information you can search google, i won't post image because ugly image make the novel unfap-able)

Once again, it was time to resume the duties of being a shrine maiden for my wife, Tsumakari.

It seems that requests have piled up a bit during our brief break. However, even though there are times when they increase periodically, is it really common to receive so many requests for Tsumakari?

"No, this year seems to be particularly busy due to the change in leadership," my father-in-law answers.

"Why is that?" I ask with doubt.

Apparently, this year is a good one for yokai (supernatural creatures). My wife's popularity as a Tsumakari priestess is high and requests are pouring in.

"...Is my wife selling wine or something?"

Anyway, there was apparently a task on hand where a number of youkai needed to be dealt with all at once.

"When you say 'everything at once,' do you mean like multiple yokai combined into one entity like Seven Children?"

"It's different from that...it's more like background."

"Background?"

According to my father-in-law's explanation, these are unnamed yokai who decorate the background as fillers during events such as Hyakki Yagyo (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons), which require large numbers of yokai. They have the appearance of yokai but lack their own name and anecdotes or stories associated with them - they're essentially "unborn" yokai or "mob" yokai living in the background.

"If we were going to give them names then 'Chimimōryō' would be appropriate. If we entertain them well enough then we should be able to satisfy most demands from 'the other side' and reduce some of our workload."

"I've been wondering...do individual requests for tsumakari come directly from clients themselves or through representatives on their behalf?"

"As for that...the identity of those who bring in tsumakari requests is unknown; we don't even know their names or what they look like. They simply convey the will of 'the other side'...it's like a kind of thought form. Of course, we can feel that there is a powerful force behind this will and it's possible to consider them as strong yokai who can gather others together. However, I have also hypothesized that they may be an existence similar to the 'collective consciousness' of yokai."

"Collective consciousness...like a group mind?"

"That's about right...except for those who are established on our side as species, most yokai are considered to have some degree of individuality. It could be said that they're part of a larger entity which has manifested in three-dimensional reality."

It sounds philosophical or science-fiction-like now.

I forgot to mention earlier but my father-in-law does research on yokai in addition to his family business.

"...Otherwise, it would be almost meaningless since we wouldn't understand the principles behind the actions of these creatures - things like shaking houses or making azuki beans dance around without any explanation. Well, there's no proof and it's more like intuition but..."

The conversation has gone off track quite a bit.

"Negotiations with 'the other side' are conducted through channeling communication; contact is made while in a half-asleep state and usually initiated from their end. I'm doing it now but eventually you'll take over," he says.

Hmm...from what I've heard so far, I doubt if we'll ever understand what these yokai are thinking or how they choose each other.

"...Actually, negotiations are more like this. They present us with a few demands to choose from, we make some concessions and meet their requests to a certain extent, then the demands stop...until they start up again after a while. That's generally how it goes. The other side usually has the upper hand.

Well, they do seem to consider our feelings as well though...But really, there is still so much we don't understand about "tsumakari". Even why we have to go through with it in the first place is a mystery.

Supposedly it's for gathering information on humans through tsumakari and reevaluating how humans perceive us youkai. But even that hasn't been proven yet.

Before that though, there's also a theory that tsumakari originated from offering women as sacrifices to youkai in order to avoid disaster or seek blessings..."

Normally my father-in-law is calm and hardly noticeable but when it comes to youkai his expression becomes lively and he becomes talkative.

Anyway, I'm worried not only about tsumakari but also about my wife since she has acted as if nothing happened since then - just like before the incident with Maa-kun. Of course that's fine too but I can't help feeling suspicious...

"Was what she told me at that time and her actions all genuine?"

In other words did she realize my secret desire of wanting someone else to sleep with my wife and respond accordingly by saying those things? It's doubtful...

Of course if my wife were actually cheating on me for my sake then I should welcome it but even so something would feel off. Is this really considered cheating?

There's an old saying: "If one imitates madness while running down the main road, one will become mad." If one imitates infidelity repeatedly does that mean eventually it will become real? If you behave like a cheater, then you are a cheater. To worry about whether that cheating is real or not is a perversion to the extreme.

And if she continue to imitate cheating, it may eventually become her true feelings.

Is that something to be happy about or to be sad about? In the end, it all comes down to what I really want.

"I want to see my wife with another man."

"I don't want to lose my wife."

These are conflicting emotions. In the end, I'm just a more troublesome person than my wife.

But well, there's no point in worrying any further. It's fine to enjoy life and embrace it as it is without worrying about whether or not it's genuine. That's the best way.

After all, she loves me and is such a wonderful wife that she even goes so far as to cheat on me...

And just when I was lost in thought like that, my father-in-law continued speaking:

"...So this time since there are quite a few cases and at our daughter's request we've decided to temporarily bring back Misao into active duty."

"Huh?"

"So please take care of her along with our daughter."

He said this nonchalantly but...my father-in-law seems like an even scarier person than I thought.

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My wife and Misao-san were sitting on the futon in front of me. Both of them were sitting upright, as if posing for a picture. They sat with their backs straight, adjusting their hair with their hands.

They had already taken off their clothes in preparation for the upcoming debauchery. They looked beautiful like two plaster statues placed side by side, and their large breasts were dazzling.

As I thought about the women who had slept with me before being violated by monsters, a shiver ran down my spine.

Both of them wore talismans around their necks that hung down to emphasize the size of their breasts. The talismans were meant to suppress negative energy, and they had prepared them as a precaution against multiple partners. However, it was said that sensitivity decreased due to this suppression.

Was it like using condoms during sex? Well, there was no choice but to endure it since they were just mobs for the monsters.

However...

It was quite erotic how the talisman hanging from their necks looked like price tags - although it was inappropriate to think so.

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Author: [Work was busy, so I had to irregularly submit it. Even so, the overall contribution level seems to have increased too much...]