Please to Kitsune-sama!

After all was said and done… Inari eventually gave in, and it was decided that Yasuno would accompany her on the next day’s dungeon visit.

Well, she was taking care of the dungeon reservations too, so perhaps it wasn’t such a bad deal.

Also, Inari had managed to call the secretary chief Aoyama—using the phone she had only just learned to operate—and lodged a complaint. As a result, Yasuno got scolded and cried. She’d apparently have to submit a report about the whole ordeal when she got back. But that’s beside the point.

“Your bath is ready.”

“Oh, the bath is ready, hm.”

Now that she’d learned how to use it, Inari was practically a master of modern civilization—Super Inari, capable of even using a modern bath.

She could even handle the shower. Her ears lay flat to avoid getting water in them, but it tickled all the same.

“Fufufu… A single press of a finger, and the bath doth heat itself. Verily, what an age we live in! Clean, spacious, and beautiful—such change is welcome indeed.”

Inari had never really used a proper bath before. Not that she needed to. In the past, when people still lived in the village, she had no reason—or right—to use theirs. And once the place was abandoned, the only option was to fill the old tub with water using her divine power and heat it manually.

But once it was officially hers, the experience became something else entirely.

Now, there was no hesitation. No restraint. She could enjoy the bath from the bottom of her heart.

“Ahhh, this is bliss… Oh, now that I think of it, I have those so-called bath additives too. To think one can enjoy famous hot springs from the comfort of one’s own home… Wait, what is this red stuff…? The water’s turning red!? What nonsense is this—did they base it on the Blood Pond Hell? Who exactly is this product meant for!?”

Someone had apparently left behind a “novelty” bath set in Inari’s house—one of those quirky gift sets that became popular after dungeons became a regular part of life. Perhaps meant as a joke. Still, it smelled faintly of roses and actually wasn’t bad, so whoever made it clearly knew where to draw the line.

“This green one’s called Slime Swamp, blue is the Sea of R’lyeh, and the purple is the Witch’s Cauldron…? Who in the world would buy this sort of thing…”

Apparently, quite a few people, actually. There were always folks who got a kick out of that kind of thing.

Anyway, after soaking in a bath big enough to stretch her legs—and nearly causing a few disasters in the process—Inari stepped out refreshed, just in time to hear the rice cooker’s happy little jingle.

“Now then, how long has it been since I last had rice? Not that I need to eat to survive, mind thee… Wait a moment. Come to think of it… I’ve never eaten rice outside of offerings, nor have I ever had freshly cooked rice…”

She stared at the fluffy, steaming pot of two cups’ worth of rice, humming thoughtfully. Before long, she had prepared her evening meal.

A big bowl of white rice, with her main dish being salted rice balls—perfectly triangular and neatly wrapped in seaweed. A meal that was, quite literally, all rice.

“Ahh, it doth look delicious! First, I shall shovel down the plain white rice… Mmm! Exquisite! Simply divine! Freshly cooked rice is this good—this good!?”

She teared up as she bit into the rice ball. The firm, salty flavor spread through her mouth and taught her the joy of rice. That subtle sweetness from the grains, matched with the salt—and somehow, the texture of the seaweed brought it all together.

It might not be the most balanced meal, but Inari was ready to declare it a complete culinary masterpiece.

“…Delicious. The warmth of the rice, the salt, and the harmony of the seaweed bring me joy… Oh, Great Ninigi-no-Mikoto, it is through thee that I now know the blessing of rice… Well, I’ve never met thee, but still!”

With her mood soaring, Inari polished off the rice in no time. Nutritionally speaking, the meal was appalling—but that didn’t matter. She wasn’t human, so anything she ate simply turned into energy within her. No issues there.

After cleaning the dishes and brushing her teeth—not that she had to brush them, but she did so anyway in the spirit of fitting into the modern world—Inari was ready for bed.

She gave her shrine maiden outfit a light pat, and poof, it transformed into pajamas printed with a little fox design.

This outfit, of course, was no ordinary garment. It was a divine item capable of changing shape at will. It just hadn’t been worth using that feature until now.

Wrinkling wasn’t a concern, and she only changed it now because she felt like it.

No practical reason. But that was fine—some things didn’t need one.

“Fufu… Sleeping in fluffy pajamas on a soft, clean bed… To think the day would come that I would experience this.”

She once thought she would simply fade away, vanishing alongside the decaying ruins of her village.

But here she was now—bathing, eating, lying in bed in a home of her own.

If she went back in time and told her old self, “One day, this shall be your life,” she wouldn’t have believed it.

And yet, this was reality.

Climbing into bed, pulling the covers over herself, closing her eyes—

Inari drifted quietly into the world of dreams.

==============================

Trivia:

Ninigi-no-Mikoto is a heavenly deity (a Tenson, or divine grandchild) sent down from the heavens to rule over the earthly realm (Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni) by Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. He is considered the grandfather of Emperor Jimmu, the legendary first emperor of Japan.