Chapter 317 - Fourth and Fifth Time

I was a human guy the fourth time I transmigrated.

This body was created by Evil God’s curse, so naturally I didn't have a family.

When I checked my status board —

Status: Cursed (Circle of Transmigration: 3 Rounds Remaining)

Was what it said.

Then, that meant I had been successful in dying so far.

[Successfully dying] felt so weird.

Well that’s fine.

What bothered me was that I could now read the occupation for some reason.

Up to now, all the words had been unintelligible except for the status condition.

My occupation was a Spirit Summoner.

I could summon spirits and have them work for me.

Why only now…?

I tried to come up with answers to that, but to no avail.

Since I could summon spirits, then might as well use that ability then.

What kind of spirit would appear?

Ordinary Spirit Summoners could automatically conjure summoning circles just by chanting.

However, being the Level 1 Sage that I was, I couldn’t do that, so I developed my own magic process, and I drew magic circles myself.

Because I had that habit, I ended up drawing a magic circle using my own magic, as usual.

Apparently, it was possible to summon spirits that were stronger if the magic circle had been drawn entirely with one’s own mana, rather than conjuring one from chanting.

The one who appeared was a water spirit.

Her ranking was probably medium.

However, she had a hidden potential to be at par with that of a Spirit King.

And why did I know?

That’s because she’s the daughter of the Celestial Spirit King.

“I’m Mei, a spirit of water.”

The spirit I summoned was Mei.

The sister of Fire Spirit Mai, and one of my wives.

Approximately one month had passed since I was cursed with the transmigration cycle curse.

I was happy to see the face of my wife after so long.

Right now, my face is different from Halt, and it was around a hundred years before we met that Mei had her first summoning.

She hadn’t been contracted to anyone else after me.

In short, this was Mei’s first summoning contract.

…Eh?

Mei did tell me about her first summoning, and she said that something went wrong…or did she?

I was the first summoner of Mai, but was Mei’s second. Mei’s first was this guy.

Still, this guy was technically me, so Mei’s first time was also me.

Fu, fufufu. I was a bit happy.

“Master, what do you wish for me to do?”

“Eh, ah…”

Oh no. I didn’t think of anything.

Hmm, what to do?

“Mei, can you morph into a human?”

“It is possible.”

“Then, morph for me, please.”

I wanted to see her usual self, not her spirit body.

“...As you command.”

The water encircling Mei gathered around her before vanishing.

Once all of the water converged, Mei’s familiar appearance came into view.

Her spirit body was beautiful, but I prefer her humanized body more.

“Mei!”

“—!?”

It’s been a while since I last saw my wife, so I couldn’t bear it anymore.

And so, I mistakenly hugged her.

“Mei, I’m —”

Halt.

I was about to say that, but bloodlust suddenly came from above me.

“Don’t you dare lay a hand on my daughter!!”

The Spirit Summoner’s body was obliterated in a flash with the Celestial Spirit king’s all-out attack.

—***—

“...I get it now. So that’s what happened.”

I remembered Mei’s story.

She had been attacked by the summoner on her first summoning, and she lost all interest after that.

She also told me then that her father, the Celestial Spirit King, punished that summoner severely.

It was actually total annihilation, not punishment, though…

In short, I was the person who assaulted her.

Mei, I’m so sorry for making you go through an unpleasant experience like that.

Although it’s thanks to that that my fourth death happened.

I also transmigrated as a human guy the next time around.

I found myself in a bamboo thicket somewhere.

There was only one place in this world where bamboo-like plants grew, and that’s Faunost, the hometown of Youko and Kikyou.

That’s the reason why I knew I was in Faunost.

I walked through the bamboo forest. After a while, I saw a shrine-like place located in the distance.

I didn't have any particular goal, so I decided to just continue heading towards that shrine.

Drops of fresh blood yet to dry up dotted the road up to the shrine.

Is there somebody injured inside the shrine?

I walked a little faster.

As I drew closer, I realized that the shrine was quite old. It looked as if people hadn’t been into this place for a long time.

An injured person was hiding in the deserted shrine.

I didn’t have frozen status now, so should I make a run for it?

Such thoughts passed through my head for a minute, when I recalled that it didn’t really matter since I was fine dying, after all.

If the injured someone became wary of me and killed me off, then that would be for the best.

I decided to enter the shrine.

And inside —

“K-Kikyou?!”

Youko’s mother, Kikyou, was lying on the floor, her entire body covered in blood.

“Oy, Kikyou! Are you okay?!”

“........”

She had a pulse, but she was unconscious.

When I checked her, I found a huge cut on her abdomen. I could sense a curse-like something from her wound, and it seemed that it was preventing the release of Kikyou’s mana.

Nine-tailed foxes were known for their strong vitality.

She would be saved as long as I managed to do something about this wound.

I couldn’t use [Heal] in this body.

Besides, she’s afflicted by a curse, so it wouldn't work with just [Heal].

Fortunately, there were medicinal herbs that could heal, as well as break curses and heal the wounds, growing here on Faunost.

I happened to know the way to search for those medicinal herbs.

“Kikyou, just hang in there. I will definitely save you.”

──＊＊＊──

“Hmm….”

It was the following day after Halt found the wounded Kikyou. She woke up on the floor of the shrine.

Halt found the medicinal herbs, and succeeded in finding Kikyou’s cure.

“No, I had been… by the adventurer…”

She had teleported near the area where the people lived, when an adventurer spotted and attacked her.

Unfortunately for her, that adventurer carried weapons of exorcism.

Kikyou had almost reached the perfect body as a nine-tailed fox, but she was powerless in the face of the weapons of exorcism, which were said to be effective against demons and monsters.

She managed to run away from the adventurer, but she couldn’t block the wound inflicted to her. She lost blood, and her physical strength had been depleted. She was barely hanging on for dear life, then she fainted after reaching the shrine.

“Oh. You’re awake?”

“ —?!”

Halt was carrying several fruits as he came closer.

The current Kikyou didn’t have a single inkling about Halt.

“Here, can you eat?”

Halt split the fruits, but she didn’t make any move to take them.

She had just been attacked by a human adventurer and had almost died.

She didn’t have any desire to get the food offered by a stranger.

— That’s if she was an ordinary girl.

“Did you heal this concubine?”

“Yeah. These fruits can restore physical strength, so eat up.”

“U-Uhm…T-Thanks.”

Kikyou felt that this guy in front of her could be trusted, so she decided to accept the fruits from Halt and eat it.

“...Tasty.”

“What a relief. There’s a lot more, so eat as much as you can. You can also suck my mana if it’s just a little bit.

“What? Y-You, don’t tell me —”

“Yup. I already knew that you’re a Nine-tailed Fox. And also the fact that you haven’t hurt anyone.”

Kikyou instantly raised her guard up, but she couldn’t sense any intent to fight from Halt at all. There were no signs of this situation being a trap, either, so she decided to focus on recovering her strength first.

One week passed after that.

Halt tended to Kikyou and brought her food and medicinal herbs until her wounds healed.

From his perspective, it was only a natural thing to do for one’s wife, but Kikyou took it differently. She thought she was the reason for his actions.

For humans, nine-tailed foxes were monsters, nothing else.

This man was willing to go through such lengths for her, a monster, so Kikyou believed that she had unwittingly seduced this man.

She had to repay the favor that had been given to her.

However, Kikyou didn’t have anything that she could give to Halt at this point in time.

Except for a certain thing.

And that’s —

“O-Oy, wait, Kikyou!”

Halt had been truly seduced by Kikyou this time, and he couldn’t move at all.

Halt didn’t have his frozen status immunity, so there was no way he could resist the seduction of a nine-tailed fox, considered to be of the highest caliber among the demon tribe.

He was sprawled on the floor of the Shrine, with Kikyou on top and straddling him.

“I’m afraid I cannot wait. This is the only thing I can give you in return for the favor of saving this concubine’s life.”

“N-No way —”

“I am proud to say that my ability to pleasure men far exceeds that of a succubus. Ahm, but, well… I don’t have any actual experience to speak of.”

Halt couldn’t help but find Kikyou’s shy demeanor adorable.

“This concubine will do her best. Please thoroughly enjoy this to your heart’s content.”