As we skimmed through more of Yukino’s memories, we saw Konjiro proposing to her in first person, so it looked like he was proposing to a camera recording him. It was hard for me to not cringe at this scene since it’s like I was the one being proposed to. His proposal to Yukino wasn’t much different, if not colder than it was with Toshino. Though Yukino wasn’t happy with how this engagement turned out, it seems that she was willing to take what she could get.
After that proposal, there were brief instances of Toshino putting Konjiro through the same psychological trauma due to the exposure of gore from her dissection projects. This led him to going on dates with Yukino more to forget what he saw than to get closer to her. No matter the reason behind those dates, Yukino seemed somewhat thankful to her sister for giving her those opportunities.
Despite the circumstances behind the engagement, Yukino was still putting much effort into her training as both a wife, as well as a Shrine Priestess with her magic and bow. I’m pretty sure some of the upper-class women in medieval Japan were also going through a similar training to become fitting wives for their feudal lords. I have mixed feelings about learning this practice as a modern Japanese man now, but all I can say to Yukino in this case is that I respected her perseverance despite the bleakness of her situation. I could only imagine how different a woman she would be if Konjiro paid more attention to her throughout the day, but it seemed he was more narrow-minded and focused on maintaining the Kitstune-Clan’s lineage.
A few years into this estranged engagement later, the three of them gave up their default classes and became Clerics with the help of the Immortals’ Monument that was in the church of their village. Apparently, unlike us humans and more human-like sapients who have the Brawler class as our default, the Werebeasts have a different default class called the ‘Beast’ class, according to Sue when I asked her about it later. Depending on what clan they come from, they have a different set of skills to learn as they level up the Beast class before deciding to change into a novice class like Thief and Mage.
Incidentally, the Beastmen, who are part of the Demi-Kin, also share the default Beast class. Unlike the Werebeasts, the Beastmen race only have animal ears and tails to identify them as such, which makes them more ‘human’ in appearance, both females and males alike. Cases like Konjiro, who has a fox head and more beastly limbs as a male is what makes him and others the Werebeasts of the Demon-Kin. I’m going off tangent from Yukino’s life story, but I just found this weird similarity between Beastmen and Werebeasts pretty interesting.
Anyway, Konjiro, Yukino, and Toshino approached their training as Clerics in their own ways within the next couple years to become Shrine Priests/Priestesses. Konjiro and Yukino relied mostly on the more ‘traditionalist’ approach and trained their classes through private studies, with their instructors supervising them when they go out hunting Monsters for field experience. Toshino, on the other hand, didn’t change much from her original approach of study and research in [Holy Magic] and relied on dissections. The only difference here is that Toshino graduated from Large Rats and other ‘small’ Monsters to bigger, more dangerous ones. Her approach of ‘battling’ them was more mutilating than I expected, as well as something I used on an enemy in the past.
Unlike her sister and fiance, Tohino would fight her enemies with offensive magics and knives, a fighting style that Ninjas like Ren were more likely to use than Shrine Priestesses. She’d whittle the Monsters down little by little until near the brink of death, then use [Holy Magic] on those same creatures and heal their wounds before repeating the process. It was a crazy strategy that would put the fighter in danger, but it seemed Toshino learned to make a sick game out of it in the process. It got to the point where the Monsters she fought feared her and tried to run away, but that only got Toshino more into it and made her ‘fights’ into games of tag. Because of all the blood the Monsters lost, though, they couldn’t run away for long with the severe lack of energy, and I guess that was when Toshino would finally put them out of their misery. I had to admit that I pitied those poor Monsters unlucky enough to meet such cruel fates.
Through this method, Toshino may not gain as much EXP to level up from killing Monsters like Konjiro and Yukino would, but the proficiency in her magic and knives would increase by leaps and bounds. Considering how many Large Rats and other small Monsters she’s killed before then, though, it makes me wonder if she was already too strong for the bigger Monsters when she started her Shrine Priestess training. If that were the case, then learning and honing skills are the only things she could do. As long as they help her further her research into [Holy Magic], then she’ll do what’s necessary to make it happen, and she’ll have fun doing it, too, even if it freaked out her marriage partners with her gory mess that came with it.
As I watched Toshino fight at a young age in Yukino’s memories, I was conflicted. While I respected the latter’s work ethics, I should be concerned, much less repulsed over the former’s mental state due to the approach in her ‘research’. That’s what I thought I should be feeling, if I was a normal person. However, I only grew more weirdly interested in this budding psychopath. Maybe it was how she was following her passion for research, despite the opposing opinions around her, that made me give her more of my attention. Her work/research ethics are questionable, but at least she has enough understanding in morals to know there are lines that shouldn’t be crossed. Those were my thoughts, anyway.
It wasn’t until the three of them checked in on their progress in becoming Shrine Priest/Priestesses that I was getting some idea of what happened to Toshino.
~~
“Th-That’s … impossible. Are you sure you’re seeing that correctly, Toshino?” an older male Kitsune, who looked like a Shrine Priest that managed the church they were all in, asked, “Your progress up to now has been astounding, I can’t believe that you’re not actually ready to become a Shrine Priestess yet.”
Toshino, who was now around junior high school age at this time, nodded, “I’m not lying to ya, gramps, I can’t select ‘Shrine Priestess’ as my Advanced Class, and I’ve trained the necessary skills at the required levels I could reach as a Cleric to make it happen … no, not just that, but surpassed them, too. Also, I can’t level up as a Cleric anymore, either.”
“What do you mean you … can’t?” Konjiro asked in disbelief.
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“So, I’ve actually reached the level required to be promoted a while ago, right?” Toshino explained, “I thought I couldn’t level up more than that, but the last big Monster I defeated turned out to net me more EXP than I thought and had me break past LV 100. When I checked my progress after that, I thought, ‘huh, that’s weird, wonder if I need to level up further than that to become a Shrine Priestess?’ So by that point, I visited the nearest dungeon as an adventurer in my offtime and leveled up further. At first it was to see how much longer until I could be promoted into a Shrine Priestess, but I just forgot it later on and kept going to see how far I could actually go. At some point, I earned this ‘Peak of Clerics’ title when I leveled up to 200 and couldn’t go any further.”
“LEVEL 200?!” Konjiro and Yukino yelled.
“Th-The P-Peak of Clerics?! You really reached the highest a Cleric could go?! At your age?!” the old Shrine Priest asked.
“I’ve even cleared the dungeon a few times, too,” Toshino said nonchalantly, “Once the small-fry became a waste of time, I used [Stealth] that I learned before becoming a Cleric and just snuck my way through to the lower levels and fought stronger Monsters that way. It wasn’t hard, really, especially when I brought enough tools and rations to last me a while down there. The adventurers who frequented it gave me some helpful advice, too, after I showed them who was superior, anyway, but it all turned into a fascinating learning experience, and I acquired plenty of funds for my research as a result of it. After I got to my max level, though, it seemed any EXP I got from that point was accumulated until I got promoted into an Advanced Class, where all that will be transferred over. I spent my off time learning and honing more skills during that time.”
“Th-This has never happened before,” the Shrine Priest said while patting the buckets of sweat away with a handkerchief, “A Tenko, unable to be promoted into a Shrine Priestess? Even after reaching the Peak of Clerics where one could be promoted into any Advanced Class in the Cleric line, ignoring the requirements to reach them? Are you sure you can’t be promoted into a Priestess, at the least?”
“The only Advanced Class I can get promoted into as a Cleric is a Templar,” Toshino answered.
“A TEMPLAR?!” the other three in the church yelled.
“I’ve looked into it beforehand, and I must say, the class is quite intriguing,” Toshino said, ignoring the others’ shock, “A Templar’s way of fighting seems up my alley, and some of its skills could really help make my research more efficient. I don’t know why I’m unable to be promoted into the other Advanced Classes from the Cleric line, but isn’t it fine for me to become a—”
“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” the Shrine Priest yelled, surprising the three young Kitsunes, “Templars are really Assassins hired by churches, and us Kitsunes, especially Tenkos like you and Konjiro, are not such savage Werebeasts to stoop down to such a level! If you take that class, you'll surely drag our clan through the mud! I forbid you to—!"
"Hey, random question, gramps, but Father Kenju passed away in his sleep not too long ago, right?" Toshino interrupted, "And Father Tenka was the only other candidate to become Head Bishop of this church before he mysteriously disappeared, correct? With both of them gone, you were left to take the spot of Head Bishop, right?"
"... Where are you going with this, Toshino?" the old Kitsune asked suspiciously.
"I was just thinking how odd it was when, after acquiring a peculiar ability from clearing the dungeon, that I'm able to see a red 2 above your head, and with both of those names listed when I inspected it," Toshino answered.
The church fell into silence.
"Hey, hey, gramps, does being Head Bishop mean you could do what you want with any of the practitioners who work under you?" Toshino then asked like a curious child, "Sounds like a big deal, right? I guess I can understand why you'd remove the competition to take that spot for yourself."
"You—!"
Before the Shrine Priest could speak any further, Toshino suddenly blinked out of existence. In the next moment, she reappeared behind the old Kitsune, pulled his head up by the graying hairs, and held a well-crafted, sharpened dagger against his neck.
"Hey, gramps, if I get promoted into a Shrine Maiden, I'd be the most powerful Tenko in the Clan, right? If I kill you here after that, won't that make me the next Head Bishop?" Toshino asked with uncanny childlike innocence, "That might be the easiest for both of us, since I'll make sure your death is swift. Buuuuut, seeing how the other villagers will find out their newly-appointed Head Bishop got his position with red hands sounds more entertaining. Since I've passed all the necessary tests, they'll no doubt appoint me as Head Bishop for outing a sinful traitor."
"What … do you want?" the old Kitsune asked, graying and aging by the second from pure fear, with a dark stain growing on the crotch of his robes, "Money? Privileges? I'll give you whatever you want, just please … spare me."
“All I’ve wanted is to be left alone to do my research in [Holy Magic], but your Tenko traditions and other crap I don’t care about are interfering with my studies, and it seems like becoming a Templar will cause more problems for me, so here’s what’s going to happen. You’ll let me get promoted into Templar, make sure everyone in the village knows I've been promoted into a Shrine Priestess successfully, let me do my research as I please after that, and pretend we never had this conversation. I could care less if a serial killer ends up becoming a Head Bishop, so you can do whatever you wish to keep your position, but just remember this: I know you’ve taken two lives already, and with each one you take from here on, I’ll know in an instant who it was that you killed the moment I see you. If you so much as try anything funny to keep my mouth shut, I’ll shut yours first before you know it … permanently, and I’ll make sure to desecrate your grave by telling everyone all the people you’ve killed. Do you understand, gramps?”
“D-Done! I’ll comply! You can do whatever you wish as a ‘Shrine Priestess’, I give my permission as Head Bishop! Everyone in the village will know of your amazing prowess as a Shrine Priestess, I’ll make sure that news is spread! You may research [Holy Magic] or whatever to your heart’s content!” the old Kitsune said quickly in a panic.
“Now that’s more like it! Thanks, gramps!” Toshino exclaimed before pulling away her dagger and quickly moved back to the spot she was previously in with a bright, innocent smile on her face, “Let’s get started on that promotion, shall we? Oh! And before I forget!”
Suddenly, Toshino zipped in front of Yukino and Konjiro in an instant. The two witnesses were trembling in place.
“It should go without saying that what you saw here stays between us, as well, even gramps’ murders,” Toshino said, “I’d hate to snuff my marriage partners just to keep an old fart’s secret, you know? With that said, I’ll be counting on you when we work together moving forward! Kikikikiki!”
With Toshino’s peculiarly manic laugh echoing through the church halls, everyone in the room now understood a little of the young research-addicted Kitsune’s true strength, and with her promotion into a Templar, she’d only grow ever stronger from there.
Those of us who were watching this memory were getting an idea as to why Toshino wasn’t with Yukino and Konjiro anymore, but that still left with what became of her.
We would find out shortly just what happened to Toshino, but there was one thing I knew for sure after watching her life up to now: the Kitsune Clan aren’t as proud and ‘noble’ Werebeasts as they were making themselves out to be. If the Human nobles in Padimon are as corrupt as what I’ve read in fiction, then the upper class Humans and Demons may have more in common than they would care to admit.