Chapter 9: The Oracle.

Translated and Edited by: luccayn.

Common Honorifics:
-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.
-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.
-chan: A common suffix among people you’re close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it’s cutesy and childlike.
-senpai: A common suffix and noun used to address or refer to one’s older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club.

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The three of us froze as soon as we got to my personal belongings, which were thrown in the garden. Sure, my sister was right in saying they were there, but… I didn’t think they literally flung it out the window, scattered all over the garden.

I looked up at the small window on the second floor, where one of them probably threw my stuff from. It made me sadder to see things I’ve cherished get despised and neglected than to have something done to me directly. Each and every last one of those things had a place in my heart.

“I can feel they’re trying to make you feel as bad as possible…”

“I don’t know if I should say this, but she’s a rabid animal…”

The girls behind me, too, looked around the garden and muttered so. Their faces were scrunched, and contorted in frustration, almost as if they were in pain.

“Mister! Let’s just pick your stuff up and get back to the shrine! You can do whatever you want to that place!”

“Thinking about it, it might’ve been a blessing to get kicked out. You would’ve never been happy staying in this hellhole.”

They comforted me with soft smiles… It’s a strange feeling, really.

Up until now, through every year of my life, no one has ever been there for me in my grief. I had been fired, kicked out of my house, and scorned off my precious things, and yet… Yet, I felt something warm grow inside me, tender and gentle, as they said their words.

I felt so happy I could cry at a push.

As I tried to desperately hold back these tears and be grateful for the first kind words ever directed at me, I noticed them fidgeting. Curious, I followed their gaze only to meet my underwear scattered all over the grass.

I’m particularly fond of cold colors, and I don’t think they are rare by any means. Nevertheless, the two approached my undergarments with unsteady steps and observed it intently as they got closer.

“They’re man-panties… I’ve never seen one in person before, and I’d never realized how pervy and dirty they were…”

“W, wow… Amazing… Did they throw these away as well? Are they idiots? If they sold it out there, they could rake in millions!”

They rushed to grab them, but couldn’t since they were ethereal and transparent beings. The way they tried to get ahold of my garments reminded me of a dog trying to dig up the dirt.

“S**t! I can’t grab it! Please, give me a miracle! A miracle!”

“Aaargh! How heartless! The sacred treasure is right in front of me and I can’t touch it! How tantalizing! Bastards!”

I wish I could have a second to just feel honestly grateful… Urgh, stop with the “man-panties” thing and give me back my tears, I thought to myself.

Ignoring their mourns, I gathered all my personal belongings. Fortunately, it hadn’t rained, so there was very little dirt stuck to my things overall. A slight brushing off would be enough to clean everything. Also, the alarm clock didn’t break… Its tiny hand was also working fine, which is a relief.

My wig and glasses, which I stopped using since a while ago, were also fine. I could just throw them away, but they held a special place in my heart. I’ll just keep them in a safe place.

I also found the jersey I couldn’t wash after this morning’s incident. It was covered in miso soup and smelled iffy, so maybe I should just go and wash it in the park.

“I see they didn’t just yeet your stuff out the window, but also threw sewage on them,” the black-haired goddess approached my side after giving up on my underwear. “All of this makes me feel horrible… Can I set this house on fire, please?” She muttered grimly at the sight of my soiled jersey.

I had thought about this earlier, but the raven-haired girl’s angry face was so picturesque, one couldn’t help but admire it. Such ire only accentuated her beauty, so if I stopped being careful, I would just keep staring.

The truth, after all, was that my sister was the one who threw stuff at me, but I didn’t want to worsen my family’s impression even more.

“Oh? So you just had a slip of hand? In that case, it’s fine. I thought for a second there that your b*tch sister did something bad to you again,” hearing my fake story, she turned with a kind smile on her face.

Sister… A god has officially branded you a b*tch. Repent.

“Oh-ho? You’re a careless one, aren’t you? If you don’t wash the grime right away, it will be difficult to remove it later, you know?” She warned me with a gentle smirk.

I don’t like to be thought of as a slacker, so I argued that I just didn’t get around to doing the laundry since I was busy cleaning up after myself during breakfast.

“I see, so mister does housework too… That’s rare for a man. You’re not going to tell me you did all the hard work back there, right?” Cat face gave up on grabbing my underpants and joined in the conversation. She was quite persistent with getting ahold of it though, so it took a while.

I looked at where they had been just a few minutes earlier and saw that the underwear they had been obsessing over had been left untouched… So you didn’t get it after all, huh?

“I did it all, yes,” I answered. “There’s no way they would share the work with me.”

“A-ha, I had a hunch… W, well, it’s good that you’re at least able to do housework, yeah? Does that mean you can also cook? What’s your specialty?” She had an ear-to-ear grin as she slid close and wrapped her arms around my waist, looking up at me with upturned eyes.

This cat-like girl understood her weapons and was cute and brusque with her gestures. She was so adorable, in fact, that even if she was hairy, she wouldn’t lose her charm. Perhaps seeing her mischief, the black-haired goddess might try something too…

Hey, you’re beautiful too, okay? Stop staring at your friend while biting your thumb in frustration.

“Y, you’re not thinking about hair or something, right?!”

Cat-face asked me that question with a sharp glint in her eyes, so I evaded that topic while returning to her question. “I’m good at Japanese cuisine in general.”

The two cheered at my words.

“Japanese food?! We love it so much we’d rather have it once than anything else three times!”

Are you planning on eating a buffet or something?

“M, mister! When you settle down, and, erm, feel better, can you cook us a home-made meal… Please?”

“But you can’t touch stuff, right? How will you eat?”

“I, it’ll be fine! It’s all right! As long as you present it as an offering, we can touch it too!”

Oh… So if I make an offering to the two, they can touch and eat my food?

“I don’t mind, sure,” I answered.

“Yay~! I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it! My dreams are coming true!”

“Well done, Tama-san!”

“Right? Praise me, praise me more!”

But is the food I’m going to make good enough? I told them not to get their hopes up as I watched them dance with joy.

“I can’t do that! My heart won’t stop dancing inside me!” Cat face kept dancing

“I’ll lick every grain of rice and slurp every drop of juice! …Hmm, just imagining it makes me overflow with faith! FAITH!”

“If your hands touch it, even dirt will taste good, mister!”

“Tama-san… there will be no dirt. You’re trying too hard to earn points with him, you know? How would soil taste good… No, actually, it might.”

“Right?!”

Nope. No way. That stuff is inorganic, isn’t it?

“In any case, I promised I’d cook something proper once my life’s back on track. Oh, and please, don’t just throw it away if it’s not good.“

“Oh? I would never throw it away. Even if there were leftovers, I would lick the plate clean with room to spare!”

“…Dear, has someone ever disposed of a dish you’ve made?” The black-haired girl’s face twitched as if she had just realized something.

S**t. I slipped. I’ve had my meals thrown away basically daily, so I ended up saying that without thinking… I didn’t want to show any more of my family’s behavior, so I covered it up by saying, “Haha, no way.”

“Hmmm…” The two looked intently at me.

What’s with your eyes? Do you think I’m lying? —I mean, I am, but even so…

Shaking off their suspicion, I finished collecting my luggage into my Boston bag.

“Come to think of it, are your savings fine?”

Oh yeah, my savings. I had them hidden inside of this bag, so looking inside, I took out a plastic bag with the money inside, dangling it to hear the scraping of coins.

“That’s a lot of change.”

“That’s because the amount of money I can save in a month is about 2,000 yen (20-ish USD). I saved steadily and diligently.”

“I didn’t realize you were saving in cash. Since you mentioned savings, I thought you meant deposit money,” the dark-haired one muttered curiously. “Why is that? I don’t think there were any specific conditions for opening an account.”

“Honestly, I don’t know why my application didn’t go through. They kept sending it back to me every time, so just gave up.”

“Oh… You mean…”

“It’s not just his relatives, I see…”

They seemed to realize something and didn’t ask me any more questions.

There’s no use in obsessing over something I had no answer to, so they just wanted me to check my savings before doing anything else. There were about 100,000 yen (A bit less than 1k USD) inside. For the time being, I’ll have to live on that money.

Thus, I opened the bag to see what I had…

“…W, what?”

“What’s wrong? You seem upset,” the cat one said, but her voice didn’t reach my ears.

W, why? Last month, there was a hundred thousand yen inside, for sure… Even a quick glance revealed an unusually small amount of 1,000 yen bills. In total, there were only 10,000 inside that bag.

“Are you alright, mister? You look like a ghost…”

S**t, s**t, s**t, s**t…

Did I lose it? Have I dropped it somewhere? Is it still inside my old room? In any case, I don’t want to ring the interphone again, and if it’s not in there, I’m royally screwed.

But… That’s the only place I can think of.

“Something is wrong. Shu-chan, can you gaze into it?”

“I am doing just that… I see. Do you have any flashy women in your family?”

—No, the plastic bag was closed when I pulled it out of the bag. There was little chance that it was dropped. Then… Then, where is the rest of my money…?

“Dear! Listen to me!”

As I stood there, frozen with the plastic bag in my hands, the black-haired goddess shouted a wake-up call.

“Eh? Sorry, what?”

“Darling, do you have a friend or a relative with her hair put to the side, blonde, and that wears heavy makeup?” She signaled some characteristics with her hands.

“Blonde, hair on the side, and heavy make-up… That’s my sister. What happened?”

“She was the one who took your money.”

“…What?”

“Ah… His money was stolen. Your family sucks, man! On one hand, you have a violent fiend, on the other, a filthy burglar! Ack, I feel so sorry for you I might just start crying…” Cat-faced chimed in.

“Crazy as we are, we still have more common sense than they do.”

Completely dumbfounded, the two said their two cents. However, that wasn’t my immediate concern.

“My sister took my money? How do you know? Do you have proof?”

“Oh, dearie. I told you about our faith powers when we were walking here, haven’t I?”

“You did. It’s the power that grows when you are pleased with something, right?”

“And do you remember when I told you that miracles could be performed depending on how much faith we had?”

As I crouched down with a barren plastic bag, she huddled down to meet my gaze. Then, without waiting for a response, she kept going.

“I used a miracle after seeing you were frozen at the sight of your money. I gazed to find out why you were so shocked.”

“…So, you found out it was my sister after using such a miracle?”

“Yes. She took exactly 90,000 yen. This crime was committed eight days ago.”

“T, that much detail… S, sorry, I don’t wish to offend you, but are you sure about that? I, I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but I can’t just take a word for it…”

Her face bore a deep sadness as she looked into my eyes.

“You… You are still able to believe in them after all this? You really care for your family, don’t you…? I just hope you can understand what I see if only a little…” She muttered so with a fragile voice as if it was fading into small pieces.

The cat-like one talked in her crumbling stead. “Shu-chan’s miracle is called the oracle, a power used to know all sorts of things she wishes. In other words, as long as she has the faith to use it, she can know just about anything with certainty.”

She crouched down to my level along with her friend, and I couldn’t help but notice her ample bosom squish with the action. It was inevitable, I swear.

“What she said is true because she gazed at what happened. Despite everything, we’re still gods, you know? I’m sure deep down you realize we aren’t lying to you,” her face was filled with compassion.

I… don’t think they’re mistaken. She told me what happened in detail, even describing my other sister, whom she had never seen in person before. There’s no way the two would blame it on someone they don’t even know exists.

They would also have no merit in doing so, and it wasn’t a necessity either.

“I just… I just wanted something to be a mistake in all of this…”

The two didn’t answer my call to nothingness, and a heavy air soon followed… What’s this? I never thought I would be so pathetic.

After a few moments, I stood up with a smile on my face, trying to dispel the hefty vibe.

“Oh well! I have 10,000 yen at least, so I’ll be able to live for a week! And, erm, you said I could live at the shrine, right? I’ll take your word for it, so please don’t take them back.”

I then tied the plastic bag and chucked it inside the Boston. It would be disrespectful to the girls if I kept dilly-dallying, so I’ll just pack my stuff so we can get going.

“You’re really kind, mister… Really,” the cat-like goddess muttered as I talked about the future, though she was still sad over it all.

“O, oh, by the way, would it be possible to know why I’m so hated with your oracle powers?” I tried to change the subject.

“Speaking of which, Shu-chan, what else did you see while you were gazing at his sister? Don’t tell me you forgot about it~”

“What are you on about? I was curious, so of course I gazed into it.”

They both were back on track. I’m glad.

“The only thing I could read was that she was in ‘unusual discomfort and frustration.’”

“Discomfort, huh? Menstruation maybe?”

“Menopause even?”

“Menstruation, sure, but not menopause. She’s in her 20s. Regardless, don’t you know the cause for her discomfort?”

“Eh… If I had a bit more faith, I could follow it up with causes and effects, but as I’m currently in rehab, I can’t do it. I’m sorry.”

“No, no, don’t apologize.”

“I’m just sure the three of us will live happily together, so we’ll get enough faith in time! In any case, let’s go and find out the cause!”

“That’s true,” I agreed with her. “Let’s think about what we’re going to do in the near future.”

“Mhm. First, we need to make a living… Do you want to sell off some treasures in the shrine?”

“I wonder if that thing is worth something… Actually, would humans even see value in it? Oh, I remember seeing some silver in that other thing, so why don’t we sell that?”

“I don’t think silver will amount to much. Let’s go through the treasury later… It would be easier if ‘the respectable one’ was here at a time like this.”

“Yeah. Speaking of which, what have they been doing lately?”

“Not sure.”

As they began to talk about what to do from now on, I suddenly had a question.

“You didn’t gaze at me, right? So, apparently, the reason they don’t like me isn’t me? What did the oracle say?”

“I didn’t check you since I didn’t think it’d be necessary.”

“What, why?”

“I know we’ve only known each other for a short time, but I don’t think you’ve done any wrong to deserve anything. I am sure the problem comes from the women’s side,” she paused. “Hmm, for example, if the reason they hate you is something vague like you just pissing them off, it’s totally something to do with their shitty way of thinking. So, even if I gaze at you, I can only bear witness to the results, which would only come down to you not being to blame.”

“If there was anything wrong with you, mister, I would’ve told Shu-chan to examine you. I couldn’t find anything though. Quite the opposite, really.”

Don’t praise me too much… Ugh, this is embarrassing.

“Even then, can you gaze at me for a bit? Maybe there’ll be a lead or something like that.”

“You have a point… Can you do it, Shu-chan?”

“Okay, I got it,” the black-haired goddess stood in front of me and our eyes met each other. Then, her sclera began to turn crimson as her gaze intensified. I wonder if that’s how this process always goes.

Oh, my reflection is so tiny…

As I thought about useless, tiny things, her eyes suddenly shot wide open. She was visibly disconcerted.

I saw a bead of sweat tickle down her face as she looked incredulous.

“What did you see?” Catface prodded with a nervous expression at the sight of her friend’s scare. Her tone was unusually low.

“N, now I understand… I get why you’re so hated by women…”

She suppressed her agitation, took a heavy breath, and said:

“You are cursed.”

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