The table in the small open air pavilion didn’t quite groan under the weight of sweet cakes and several pitchers of cold drinks, as well as a pot of English tea and a full tea service… but Paul did have concerns about it’s continued structural integrity. He wasn’t sure who’d laid on the provisions, but evidently they’d decided to go all out to impress. He did have a moment’s bemusement at the idea of one of the Oni carefully making the tiny cream cakes however.
“I think someone must have heard we were having important visitors… or possibly an invading army.”
Isao Kobe, Head Priest of the main Inari shrine in Kyoto, chuckled.
“It would seem so. We shall try to do justice to your hospitality.”
Paul raised an eyebrow.
“Not the first time?”
Kobe-sensei nodded, helping himself to some of the sticky buns.
“I face a constant battle with my waistline. Still, overcoming temptation is supposed to be good for the soul. Or so the Buddhists tell us.”
Paul looked thoughtful.
“And what do you say, Sensei?”
“That to refuse a host’s generosity isn’t polite, and that we are all here as guests of the gods. Although, that said, it would be impolite to indulge in gluttony too.”
Paul nodded.
“Well said.”
Miss Kiko Kobe, Isao’s niece and an expert on ancient texts, wasn’t paying attention to the conversation, but instead was openly staring at Shoko-san and Jiao who were standing discretely some distance away in their maid’s uniforms.
“I must say, their cosplay is very well done. Very convincing. Are they part of a club at school?”
Paul glanced at the two girls, and shook his head.
“I think if you were to ask, they’d tell you it wasn’t cosplay.”
“Oh?”
“No. More a matter of their outer appearance being in line with what they truly feel they are.”
“Really?”
“Yes. In fact, I’m certain that should you ask them, they’d tell you that adopting a more normal appearance, one that conforms to society’s expectations, is in fact the actual disguise.”
“How… unusual.”
Paul shrugged.
“Actually, not so much. I’m not a cosplayer myself, but I’ve talked with more than a few and that seems to be a prevailing attitude with those that stick with one particular ‘look’. Shoko identifies as a kitsune, and I am not inclined to disagree. Thus, I encourage her to be herself here, at least.”
Kobe-sensei nodded.
“It’s always been the case that sacred ground is a sanctuary for those that need it. That would be in accordance with this tradition.”
“So I thought. There are those that see being forced to conform, to appear to be ‘normal’, whether directly or because of peer-pressure, is basically a form of oppression.”
Paul sighed, and glanced at Jiao, and then over at where Yuko and Yuri lurked watchfully.
“Of course, for some, the escape from oppression and the need of sanctuary are very, very real and literal too.”
Kobe-sensei followed his gaze and looked thoughtful.
“The young ‘oni’ belongs to the same group as those sisters?”
“She’s the daughter of the clan that took them in, yes. They are all refugees though, at different times but still, very similar experiences. The clan remembers what it’s like to be homeless, persecuted, and alone in a hostile world. So, they opened their doors and their hearts to those two.”
Miss Kobe glanced over at the sisters.
“Hard to imagine anyone being able to persecute them!”
Paul shook his head.
“Individual size and strength counts for much less than numbers. Take for example the popular zombie films. One person can easily dispatch a zombie, with some difficulty they can deal with a dozen, but when they attack in the hundreds? Consider it from the protagonists perspective, there is only one or a few of you and what seems like a whole world that stands against you and your kin. You need to rest, but the threat is relentless and never ending because there are always more of them. In that case there can only be one outcome really. Fight back, and you may win, but you have to keep winning again, and again. Hide, and you will be found sooner or later. Run, and they will eventually catch up. Unless you manage to get to somewhere else, where they are not.”
Paul paused, taking a sip of tea. The topic of conversation brought up a number of very ugly memories he’d thought he’d dealt with. Shaking his head, he continued.
“This scenario is essentially the same whether it’s zombies, government troops or violent terrorist militia perusing you. Humans are pursuit predators. We have evolved to wear down prey, and we’re very good at it. We. Just. Keep. Coming. We’re like the robot in the Terminator films… and it makes no difference who or what our pray is. The only two possible outcomes are either death, or flight to some sanctuary outside of their reach.”
Miss Kobe listened, her expression growing ever more sober and pale.
“You speak as if you’ve had experience of this?”
Paul nodded.
“I’ve travelled quite a bit, before I found this place to settle down and call home. I’m old enough to have gone to Berlin when the Wall fell, and I was a young man backpacking through Yugoslavia when the war broke out. I stayed to help the best I could, and as I have something of a knack for travel and knowledge of the area, I helped people get to safety. I’m also a writer, but I listen to people, and they tell me their stories. Perhaps as way to share the burden. So, yes, I know what it’s like to a degree, personally and through shared stories.”
Kobe-sensei studied Paul thoughtfully.
“You speak like a man with a purpose, now. If it’s not impolite, might I inquire as to what?”
Paul looked at Isao for a few moments, as if weighing up something in his mind.
“You are not wrong, and I think you’ve maybe guessed at it in broad terms. But yes, I have something in mind for this unexpected inheritance. There is quite a bit of land that comes with the shrine, the entire mountain is technically part of its grounds. I have it in mind to share the peace and sanctuary I’ve found here. Would you, as a representative of your religion, have any objection to that?”
“None whatsoever, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the shrine’s use. I will say however, that the government might have something to say, if you plan to re-home refugees here.”
Paul smiled slightly.
“I have a plan in mind for that. The greatest threat we face at present is more secular and local however. There is a developer, I don’t know who exactly as I lose the thread in a maze of shell corporations. But they are trying to buy up the mountain. I suspect for mining, as most of the mountain is one big deposit of high-grade iron ore.”
“Really?!”
“Yes, there’s a workshop over there, that’s been part of the temple complex for a long time. They used to mine and refine the ore and make swords here, up until those were banned. The mine itself is still intact, and I’ve inspected it. I suspect, given the apparent age of the forges here, that’s why Inari is associated with sword-smiths.”
Miss Kobe blinked, a look of dawning realisation on her face.
“Ahhh! That explains why we could never find any sign of metal working at our temple! Because it was here!”
Paul looked an inquiry at her, and she blushed and stammered out.
“Th..the oldest records mention that Inari’s principle shrine had a forge… we thought...”
“I see, yes. I think that probably counts as circumstantial evidence for this being her home shrine, and was once her principle seat.”
Kobe-sensei nodded.
“Indeed Paul-san, it would seem so. If you can present more than circumstantial evidence, then we can of course forestall any attempt to buy these lands, in total or part, and mining would be licensed to only that which didn’t risk damaging the shrine.”
Paul shook his head.
“Kobe-sensei, I would recommend no mining at all. There is an active earthquake fault right through the heart of the mountain. Which is the other reason I think mining was stopped so long ago. The only safe way to get at the ore now would be to strip-mine the whole mountain, leaving nothing but a hole. Anything else would probably trigger the fault, almost certainly damaging the buildings above it.”
“Ah, that would require a proper geological survey to establish, but yes I think they might well agree with you. I personally would be loath to do anything to disturb the tranquillity here, and a mine would do that, no matter how limited. But powerful persons with great wealth are hard to sway and sometimes one needs to find a compromise.”
Paul shook his head.
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“A compromise in this case would defeat the object of the exercise though. I… no, it would probably be better to explain this bit afterwards.”
“Afterwards, Paul-san?”
“Sensei, you asked if I had something more than circumstantial evidence? If you are refreshed enough, I think it’s time to show you. I should warn you though, this is probably going to turn your view of the world upside down.”
Kobe-sensei smiled tolerantly.
“Lead on then. I find a good shake up is a healthy way to stay mentally flexible.”
Paul grinned.
“In which case, you’re going to end up as a mental pretzel.”
Paul led the Kobes to the main shrine. Kobe-sensei looked puzzled as they entered the Shrine, and completely perplexed as Paul walked around the altar to the back wall. Without magic, the wall was a single layer of ornately carved panels… however the convertor was running at max. Paul pushed at the panels, and the doors to the Spirit World swung wide.
Inari had promised a show, and as the doors opened a sparkling rainbow-tinted mist rolled out, and the air was filled with a faint shimmering pearlescent glow. Paul’s plain grey robes appeared to fade, the dark grey blowing away like ash in the wind, revealing shimmering white. The shape of the robes subtly changed, becoming his Herald’s robes. Paul quickly slipped the golden necklace which was his badge of office out of a pocket and put it on.
It was all mostly illusion; Inari was as yet unable to muster her full strength even though the Spirit World was more malleable to magic. But looking at the Kobes, it didn’t seem to matter. Paul stepped forward a few paces, and turned to look at them where they stood frozen, dumbfounded, on the threshold.
Miss Kobe was the first to recover, she frowned at the Herald’s badge, and then her eyes flew wide as she read the script.
She fell to one knee, bowing her head, as did her uncle after a moment’s pause.
“Oh, please do get up.”
“But, you’re a Herald!”
“And yet I’m still Paul Holmes, writer and human. Besides, you’re keeping Inari waiting.”
Kobe-sensei gasped audibly.
“S..she’s..”
“Waiting to speak to you. In person. Both of you actually. Oh, and if you’re at all worried, don’t be, you’re only visiting the Spirit World, or at least an antechamber of it.”
The Kobe’s rose hesitantly, and stumbled through the great hall. Paul had to admit, Inari had gone all out. The cedar-wood floor seemed to glow with an inner golden light. All the lanterns glimmered with fox-fire, filling the air with a warm amber luminescence. Paul had occasionally felt before that the hall was somewhat sad, a dusty remanent of faded glory. Now he saw it as it must have been at its height. The black silks that normally shrouded Inari’s throne were gone, and in their place rich reds and golds hung there.
Behind the silks, Inari sat, her radiance hardly dimmed by the gauzy silks. The aura combined with the back of her chair to hint at a fan shaped spread of fox tails, suggesting her origins. Between the aura, and the silks, Inari herself was more silhouette than revealed.
Paul carefully led the Kobes to the plush rug, scattered with floor cushions, at the base of the low dais leading up to Inari’s throne.
“Inari-sama, may I present to you Isao Kobe, Head Priest of your Kyoto shrine, and Kiko Kobe, a scholar of renown.”
Paul suspected that the silk hangings were in fact illusionary, as they vanished in a cloud of scarlet and gold butterflies.
Inari glowed. Her skin shimmered with a light just under it’s surface, that shone like the sun upon water, shimmering glittering gold, rippling in eye-mazing patterns. Her hair was plaited in a complex net, dotted with tiny gemstones, before it fell loosely down to her waist in a waterfall of ebony silk.
Kobe-sensei fell to his knees, prostrating himself. Kiko stared open-mouthed for a moment, before her eyes rolled up into her head and she fluttered downwards, loose-limbed like a string-cut puppet. Paul caught her and guided her fall down to a floor cushion, making sure she was unharmed.
Inari stood and glided down the steps, silent save for the whispering rustle of silk over soft rugs. She went and knelt in front of the prostrate priest.
“Isao-kun, look up.”
“Inari-sama!”
“Please Isao-kun, I have no need for blind obeisance. Please, look at me.”
Isao lifted his head, half fearful. Inari smiled at him, her long pale fingers like wax tapers against his square chin. Lifting his glasses away, she peered deeply into his warm brown eyes, and softly spoke.
“There’s the Isao-kun I remember!”
Isao’s brow furrowed in puzzlement.
“Forgive me.. h..have we met?”
“You were six when you first prayed to me. Truly, heartfelt, prayed. You asked me to spare the life of your puppy, to heal him, after he’d been run over. He died before you could get him to a vet. You prayed all afternoon begging me to return him, then for me to look after him in the after life.”
“How…?”
“Do you remember what your father told you?”
“Th..that the goddess hears our prayers every time. But even she is powerless to change some things.”
“Exactly. Isao, I wept with you, the entire afternoon you knelt there. Because I knew I couldn’t change Tomiso’s fate, couldn’t give him back to you. I am so sorry.”
Isao Kobe looked at her in awe.
“It is you. Truly.”
Inari smiled warmly.
“And now you believe, wholly. Good. Isao, what I am about to tell you will tax your belief. Are you ready?”
Isao nodded.
Inari smiled, somewhat sadly.
“I’m not sure you are. But, we need you Isao. All the tales, all the creatures your mother told you about in the stories, they’re real… and we need your help.”
Isao sat up, looking even more surprised, if that was possible.
“My help! But..but.. You, you’re.. a Goddess!”
Inari nodded.
“I am, I was, I will be again. But the magic was dying, nearly dead Isao, until Paul-sama answered my prayers. He has found a way to reverse the decline, to bring back the magic, and give me the power to help all those who pray to me. To give sanctuary to all those Others, all the non-humans, demi-humans, all those who are different. To save lives.”
“But, Inari-sama… why? Why would you need my help?”
Inari smiled sadly.
“Isao, even goddesses have bills to pay.”
Isao Kobe blinked at her, trying to understand. Paul who’d been making sure that Kiko recovered consciousness smoothly, came over, leaving Kiko clutching a glass of plain water as if it was a life-preserver.
“Inari-sama, perhaps if I may?”
“Please Paul-san, words are your tools, not mine.”
“As you wish, Inari. Isao-sama, what Inari is trying to say, is that although she is a goddess, her power is very, very limited at present, and the resources of this temple are no better. To put it bluntly, we’re broke, and even if we had the power to spare, magic wouldn’t fix it. We don’t have the resources to save this temple should it come to a protracted legal battle. We certainly don’t have them to carry out our plan to create a sanctuary here for those who need it.”
Kobe-sensei visibly collected himself, beginning to think about what had been said.
“Of course, the full resources of our, of your temple Inari-sama, are at your command! What ever you need, it is yours.”
“Ojisan! No!”
Paul grinned, a bit lopsided.
“That would be your niece, the level-headed practical one. Who is probably about to point out that you can’t commit your full resources without causing hardship elsewhere. Am I right Miss Kobe?”
Kiko blinked at him.
“I.. yes...how?”
“Human intuition, and a little logic. I read in the news about the Diet voting to cut back government funding, and your comment earlier about no new shrines being approved for support for some time.”
“I.. oh...”
Inari laughed.
“Now you see why I chose My Herald, Isao-kun. It’s his duty to have a grasp of reality that no god or goddess could.”
Isao nodded slowly.
“Very well Paul-sama, you must have thought this through. How can we help?”
Paul settled himself and nodded.
“I have given the matter some thought, yes. We need to break this problem down into steps. Our first major goal is to secure enough funding to build a reliable replacement power source for Inari-sama. I refer to it as mana convertor, by the way. This goal is necessary because, as Inari said, she’s basically running on fumes and without magic, she dies, or more accurately fades away. I have lashed together a prototype, but you will note, I said we need a reliable replacement source.”
Kobe-sensei nodded, his demeanour shifting so that Paul was sure he was now talking to the man who ran a large organisation, taking in millions of yen a year in donations and responsible for deciding where that funding went.
“Ok, I agree, that’s a necessary first goal. What steps do we need to take to achieve that?”
Paul grinned, and produced a pair of folders he’d left on a nearby table earlier.
“Ok, this our funding breakdown, and the step by step plan. To broadly summarise what I’m calling operation Shock & Awe, we shall convince your fellow priests, and those Ministers responsible for funding that Inari is indeed real. You’ll find a breakdown of that step in appendix A. Once that’s done, and I believe it’ll work, we present the Diet with the documentation you’ll find listed in section two, with your niece’s verification of the documents authenticity.”
Kobe-sensei, flicked through the pages until he found the summary of the documents, and his eyebrows shot up.
“Is this right? Kiko-chan?”
Kiko looked up from her own copy of the folder, and shrugged.
“I would need to see the originals, but it tallies with some records we have. The government's tax men have been collecting the rent on those properties, and we have no proof that they belong to us, to Inari-sama. Sorry. It’s only a nominal rent though, no more than a few yen a year.”
Paul grinned somewhat wolfishly.
“I draw your attention to the highlighted sub-section of the rental contract dated day 7th of the month of the rat, the year 711. The rents are only nominal, until they become delinquent. Subsequently payment is for the full amount, calculated as thirty three percent or a third of the market value of the properties per annum. The section below that also details the compound interest on non-payments. Inari is also a Goddess of business. She knew how to drive a hard bargain while my ancestors were getting ripped off by the Vikings.”
Kobe-sensei had flipped ahead to the spread sheet detailing the estimated amount owed, judging by the sudden hissed intake of breath.
“Paul-sama! There is no way the Diet will pay this.”
“I don’t expect them to, it would bankrupt the country if they did. But that’s just our opening bid, so to speak. After that, we allow them to negotiate us down.”
“Then what are you aiming for?”
“The details are in section three, but essentially, it’s start up capital. Not a grant, but a loan. In order to build our sanctuary for magical beings. I’m confident we can pay back the loan in five years if all goes well, although I plan on telling them ten just in case. I may have also padded my estimates regarding costs too, to allow for error and unexpected expenses.”
“But… how? How do you think this could actually make money?”
“Ah… well. That’s a different folder altogether. I’m still working on the details, but what I have so far figured out should ensure we’ll operate at a profit. Of course, we won’t, as we’ll be a non-profit organisation, so any net will be automatically reinvested. Suffice it to say for now however, think about the tourism possibilities once we go public on the existence of magic, and what we’re terming ‘Others’ like Shoko and Jiao.”
Kiko looked up startled.
“Wha…?! Oh, of course. That wasn’t cosplay, was it?!”
“No. And at no point did I say it was. Quite the opposite. I trust you understand the need for secrecy at present however.”
Kobe-sensei chuckled.
“I see what you meant Inari-sama. Words are his tools, and he is a craftsman.”
“Paul-sama is my trusted Herald and my loyal friend, he speaks with my voice… sometimes better than I would!”
Paul glanced at Inari, and hesitated for the barest fraction of a second. He could see the tell-tale tremor in her hands, the faint lines around the corners of her eyes, and the way her lips were a taut, flat line over her small sharp teeth. The strain of maintaining a complex set of illusions was beginning to take it’s toll on her, and extra power or not, she was reaching her limits.
Paul looked at Isao, and saw in his glance that he’d noticed the warning signs too. With a brief sketch of a nod, Paul stood.
“Inari-sama, our visitors shouldn’t tarry here too long. It has been a long journey for them, and we have over-taxed them I think. With your permission, it would be best that we withdraw to the Mortal world now, and I’ll handle whatever minor questions might remain. I’m sure Kobe-sensei will have some refinements to make to our plans, once he gets over the shock, which I will present to you tomorrow at breakfast. With your permission that is.”
“Very well, you have my permission to withdraw. Paul-san, please make sure Kiko-san has those documents.”
“Of course Inari-sama. I’ll send Shoko to tend to you in a moment.”
“Thank you, my Herald.”
Once outside Kobe-sensei quietly remarked to Paul.
“She tires easily, does she not?”
“Too easily sometimes. Although the depression she once suffered has lifted. But then if one is facing imminent extinction, I think one has a right to be depressed. But she is ... fragile, still. If she was human I would be concerned about her mental state. But she has survived more than I can imagine. She copes, and her situation is no longer hopelessly bleak, which helps.”
The priest shook his head, bemused.
“I never thought I’d find myself concerned about the mental health of Her.”
Paul pulled a wry grin, and nodded.
“Sensei, she is a living being. She has emotions, desires, and fears, the same as we do. I wouldn’t want a god or goddess who didn’t, couldn’t, feel. But that has it’s price. As I have said, I listen, and where I can, I help. And she needs our help.”
Isao lifted his hands.
“No need to convince me further Paul-sama. Speaking just as myself, I would do anything for her. Because when I was six years old, she sat with me as I cried. Even if I couldn’t see her, I knew she was there, and it was a comfort to a heart-broken younger me. I would wish she could continue to do that for others.”
Kiko spoke up.
“There is another, older name for her. Izanami-Okāsan. Mother Izanami, Izanami being Inari in the old dialects. It is said she helped create these islands and placed mankind on them, and she was as a Mother to us all.”
Paul raised an eyebrow.
“She created the Islands of Japan? If that’s so, then it was so long ago she’s forgotten, but she certainly remembers the mother part. Ask Shoko about that, although tread carefully. To the Others, we humans who’ve hunted them down throughout the ages, are the relentless, heartless monsters who bring only endless suffering and death. Even Shoko has experienced that. Her family lived in Hiroshima during the war.”
Both of the Kobes looked thoughtful at that, evidently reconsidering a lot of stories in that light, as well as his words earlier. Judging by the way Kiko went pale, she didn’t much like the new perspective.