I Don't Want to Be a Valkyrie

In the forest, monster corpses lay scattered across the ground, their red blood splattered over the grass...

A young woman dressed in an elaborate kimono sat on the ground with her legs tucked beneath her like a W. She stared at something ahead with fear in her eyes—more precisely, she gazed at another girl standing there, holding a long sword and wearing a bloodthirsty expression. This second girl had long pink hair.

Two long ears protruded from this girl's head, indicating that she wasn't human. Yet she wore a sacred Shinto shrine maiden outfit, albeit one that was quite revealing...

The girl couldn't understand why she'd encountered such terrifying monsters after returning from Kyoto. It wasn't even dark yet... There was still time before dusk.

And yet, so many monsters had appeared...

All the samurai protecting her were killed. Thanks to their efforts, the girl managed to escape until now.

But how could an ordinary person—especially a delicate young girl—outrun these creatures? In the end, they caught up with her.

Now... although the monster is dead, a more powerful half-monster has emerged. She doesn't know what it will do with her.

However... compared to being eaten by the previous horrifying monster, just being consumed by this "beautiful" half-monster seems almost acceptable.

If it's only one half-monster, there might be a chance for her remains to stay relatively intact...

The thoughts of the girl in traditional Japanese attire remained a mystery to the beautiful half-demon shrine maiden. However, at this moment... Yae Sakura (from now on, I'll use her future title to avoid awkwardness!) discovered a way to earn crystals.

Earlier, a message had appeared in Yae Sakura's ear:

First monster slain

Reward: 10 Crystals

Crystals! These were crucial for Yae Sakura because she'd brought along her account from years of playing the game. She wasn't lacking weapons, gear, or gold coins.

What she did lack was crystals.

She needed 2,400 crystals to unlock the next world, but... before that... she had to complete all the main storyline quests.

Without finishing those, even having enough crystals wouldn't allow her to move on.

Moreover, crystals could also be used to enhance her own strength, not just open new worlds.

Her current character, the Gyakushin Miko, was already max level, ready to graduate. But most other characters weren't close to graduating!

Take Herrscher of the Void, Kiana, which she'd just drawn; it was only level 1.

After all, fully graduated characters were rare.

With enough crystals, new characters could instantly reach maximum level...

So crystals were crucial.

There was also a chance that by killing monsters for the first time, Yae Sakura had gained more information.

She really could return to her original world, as long as she unlocked all the Valkyries...

To unlock new Valkyries, she needed to open new worlds. Each new world would randomly unlock one Valkyrie, and in that world, she'd have to live using the abilities of the new Valkyrie.

How many Valkyries were there in total?

Just counting the minimum number for Yae Sakura herself made three, and other characters had several too.

Over such a long period, Yae Sakura wasn't sure if she could endure it all. But when she thought about her precious smile, no matter what, she had to go back home!

Her smile couldn't be given to anyone else.

However, there was some good news: Once she unlocked all the Valkyries and returned to her original world, only an hour would have passed there.

In other words... her smile wouldn't be cheapened by others!

It was important to note that her smile actually... wasn't genuine.

(TL Note: Man really likes his sister...)

The first Valkyrie I unlocked was the max-level Gyakushin Miko—a lucky break!

If it had been level 1 Kiana instead, that would've been a real headache!

To avoid being helpless when I became Kiana, I decided to earn some more crystals now.

Crystals were versatile—they could upgrade my level or buy Valkyrie fragments. The initial Kiana was just an S-rank Valkyrie anyway.

With this thought, Yae Sakura snapped back to reality and looked at the frightened girl in traditional Japanese attire standing not far away.

She wore a fancy kimono, likely made from fine silk—it was quite beautiful.

In this era, someone dressed so well couldn't be ordinary. She must have been either rich or a noble lady.

Yae Sakura strolled over to the girl in the kimono. The girl kept her head down, afraid to look at Yae Sakura, and trembled slightly—clearly terrified of her.

"You're really scared of me?" Yae Sakura asked as she put away her spiritual blade and looked down at the girl... She's still very pretty, Yae Sakura noted, not much different from my own reflection.

Looks about thirteen years old.

But in this era, thirteen is considered adulthood!

"I-I'm not brave enough!"

Hearing Yae Sakura's voice, the girl in traditional Japanese attire seemed startled and hastily denied it.

"Stand up when you talk!"

Although she knew this was Inuyasha's world, she wasn't sure exactly when or where they were. Having someone introduce themselves would be perfect.

"...Yes, Monster Lady!" The girl fell silent for a moment before cautiously standing up, but... still kept her head firmly down, as if trying to bury it in her chest.

"Look at me!" Yae Sakura continued coldly.

The girl remained silent.

Despite Yae Sakura's commanding tone, the girl kept her head bowed, too afraid to look at her.

"Do I look scary?" The girl's behavior puzzled Yae Sakura. She was currently in Yae's form, who was so cute... How could anyone be afraid of that?

Are you even human?

Afraid of such a adorable fox-eared girl?

"N-no... not scary at all... Monster Lord," the girl in traditional dress stammered. "You're very pretty!" Despite her words, she kept her head down.

Yae Sakura reached out and gently lifted the girl's chin...

Upon closer inspection, she was even more beautiful than Yae had first thought...

"What's your name?"

"Na... Natsuki-Hime..." The girl seemed a bit flustered with Yae holding her chin. After a moment of hesitation, she replied.

"Natsuki Hime?"

So you're the legendary Natsuki Hime?

"Hime? Are you a princess?"

The title "Hime" wasn't used by just anyone; it usually referred to princesses. However, in Tōei, the daughters of castle lords were also called princesses and could use the Hime title. To distinguish between the Emperor's daughters and those of ordinary nobles or castle lords, the Emperor's daughters were known as Naishinnō—Imperial Princesses.