Help! I changed the gender of the male protagonist in the yandere game

“You two, you've really done something outrageous.”

Hyakusuke looked at Yomei and Ayaka, who had deactivated their invisibility, and sighed deeply.

“Ugh~~~”

Yomei wore a miserable expression.

“............I'm sorry.”

Ayaka also wore a stiff expression, sighing softly while feeling remorse.

At this time, after the shopkeeper flew into a rage, Hyakusuke quickly stepped forward to apologize to him, claiming that if there were any losses, the Kurohimeyama clan would find a way to handle them.

“I don't care who you are, messing up my shop like this and then offering a light apology, there's no way I can just accept that.”

The shopkeeper was still furious and wouldn't accept the apology.

“Shopkeeper Kuroda, I'm really sorry, but Hyakusuke-sama is a valued guest of Chairman Renjo, so I hope you can be lenient.”

Hanae also took the opportunity to say a few good words.

“Eh... isn't that Hanae, the poster girl of Renjo Trading Company?”

The rental bookstore owner, known as Black Shop Kuroda, was a little surprised.

“Ah, does Shopkeeper Kuroda recognize me?”

“Little girl, you're quite well-known, it would be strange not to recognize you. I'm quite familiar with Chairman Renjo Senjuro, I've heard about you for a long time.”

Suddenly, the middle-aged man named Kuroda stroked his chin.

“Wait a minute... could this person be the one who saved Chairman Renjo? Kuro, Kurohimeyama family, I remember now, so you're the famous Mutsu exorcist family. I'm sorry, I was rude.”

After being angry, Kuroda quickly calmed down, putting on a merchant's smile and apologizing to Hyakusuke.

“Chairman Renjo is also my friend, and I must thank you for saving his life.”

“No, it was just a coincidence.”

“A coincidence, but it's still a life-saving grace.”

Kuroda smiled: “I was just too angry, frankly, it's not a big deal, I was just making a fuss.”

He said in a deep voice: “Let's just leave it at that for today... you don't have to worry, our shop will handle it ourselves.”

Hyakusuke didn't expect Renjo Senjuro's connections to be so useful.

“We also have a responsibility for messing up the shop like this, please let us help out and do our part.”

“Enough of that, everyone, let's help clean up first.”

Hanae also took the opportunity to say: “There are also several regular customers of the bookstore here who have volunteered to help Shopkeeper Kuroda clean up the messy bookstore.

Also, I think these two, although they did something wrong, it's not a big mistake. One of them seems to be an exorcist, why not ask her to help out and tidy up the bookshelves, so everyone can relax a bit.”

“I... I will help, please let me do it!!”

Yomei desperately raised her hand.

...

After all, she is an exorcist who can control shikigami. Yomei can be useful at this time.

She used her magic to simultaneously control several simple artificial shikigami, and began to clean the rental bookstore—these simple shikigami are invisible, coming and going without a trace, and their usual job is to serve tea and meals.

They are very suitable for transporting objects, and with these shikigami, cleaning up this messy bookstore was much easier.

“Wh-what? You... you're also a reader of Iruse Keisei-sensei?”

In the middle of cleaning, Hanae excitedly chatted with the plain-looking girl.

“Ah... this... yes, I came today to pick up the newly released publication.”

Hiiragi Hiruko said hesitantly: “As a result, that book was taken in advance.”

“Here you go.”

Hyakusuke handed the yomihon novel to her.

“...Uh, this is.”

Hiiragi Hiruko was bewildered.

“I consulted with Shopkeeper Kuroda... indeed, this book should have been reserved by you, since it's yours, I will definitely return it to you.”

Hyakusuke explained.

“Also, I was just asked by Hanae to find the book...”

“What a coincidence.”

Hanae said with a smile: “Miss Mako and I are also book lovers, so, Miss Mako, can you lend me this book to read?”

“Lend it to you?”

Hiiragi Hiruko muttered softly: “I can, I guess.”

“That's great, I don't know anyone who is willing to talk to me about Iruse Keisei-sensei's works, if there's a chance later, please chat with me...”

Hanae's tone was quite excited.

After all, it was somewhat rare for her to find a like-minded friend.

“Okay.”

Hiiragi Hiruko didn't resist too much.

She could feel Hanae's “friendly” emotions.

Hanae really wanted to chat with her more about the topics in the novel yomihon.

On the other hand, Hiiragi Hiruko herself did not hate this “friendliness”, because since she officially became a Dai-Miko, she had not even made friends of the same age.

Everyone around her regarded her as the “representative” of the lofty Tenshin Sakura Mahoraba-sama, the incarnation of a god.

For others, talking to Hiiragi Hiruko was like talking to a god; contacting her was like contacting a god... everyone around her treated her like some precious and fragile item, carefully and fearfully, daring not to be the slightest bit negligent.

She had no so-called childhood life, and in front of outsiders, she had to maintain the image of the “incarnation of a god.”

However, a miko is just a miko, and she is actually not much different from ordinary people. In the end, Hiiragi Hiruko is just a girl at a sentimental age.

“By the way, Miss Mako, where do you live?”

Hanae asked with a smile.

“Um.”

Hiiragi Hiruko's face was a little troubled.

She couldn't say that she usually stayed in the sanctuary of the Sakura Honsha, if she said that, anyone would suspect her identity.

In the end, she could only say one location.

“It's... the nearby orphanage, called Jikei-in.”

“Eh?”

Hanae was stunned for a moment, with a somewhat surprised expression.

“Miss Mako, do you really live in Jikei-in?”

“Yes.”

Hiiragi Hiruko nodded.

“I work at Jikei-in, and I also live there.”

“Is that so?”

Hanae pondered for a moment, then asked: “Then, can I visit Miss Mako today?”

“Uh? Miss Hanae, you should have heard the rumors about Jikei-in, right?”

Hiiragi Hiruko asked softly: “Because it is a place that specifically accommodates children with hanyō bloodlines, many people hate it.”

“But, I don't hate it.”

Hanae said with a happy smile.

“I want to know more about Miss Mako, and become good friends with you!”

Hiiragi Hiruko was speechless, her face flushed red.

...

Jikei-in is a well-known orphanage in Kasumi City. It houses orphans with hanyō bloodlines.

In this world, hanyō are easily discriminated against and bullied. There are constant conflicts between humans and yōkai, and even ordinary people are deeply affected by the disasters caused by yōkai.

Some yōkai are man-eaters, and humans are their main course on the menu. Attacking villages and kidnapping children and women is common.

Exorcists with strong spiritual power will actively subjugate yōkai, and this behavior is not even for the sake of “subjugating demons and protecting others.”

As long as the number of yōkai increases, more powerful individuals will be born. Powerful yōkai eat many people, which also increases their power.

Man-eating yōkai's favorite food is individuals with strong spiritual power. Exorcists know that people with their spiritual power are easily targeted by yōkai, and their flesh and blood are more attractive to yōkai. To protect themselves, taking action to weaken yōkai is a logical behavior.

The great human-yōkai war one hundred and fifty years ago, in which the demon army “Blood-Painted Six Gates” slaughtered and killed a large number of people, also led to the birth of many ferocious yōkai at that time. They formed armies, acted in groups, and wreaked havoc.

In the contemporary era, when many yōkai have been destroyed, powerful yōkai have retreated into the deep mountains and forests or avoid appearing in front of people. They know the terror of human exorcists.

Those weak yōkai act recklessly, and after invading villages and devouring more living people, they are often targeted by exorcists and destroyed.

The powerful daiyōkai are becoming more and more cunning, their whereabouts are more secretive, and they are becoming more and more adept at conspiracy and calculation. Even catching their flaws is becoming more and more difficult.

On the other hand, in this era when humans and yōkai maintain a certain balance, the existence of hanyō becomes more conspicuous in human society.

First, let me explain that two-thirds of the hanyō in this world are not born naturally, but artificially created.

It is said that in the era before the outbreak of the human-yōkai war, in order to strengthen the cannon fodder at the bottom, sorcerers deliberately used the blood of yōkai to transform mortals and people with spiritual abilities, creating soldiers with yōkai power.

Although hanyō possess the abilities of yōkai, they are still humans on the whole. Those transformed soldiers of that year are also the main source of hanyō in later generations. The descendants of these transformed people will often have offspring with bloodline manifestations.

Of course, this secret is not known to outsiders except for a few exorcists. Most people believe that giving birth to hanyō is a divine punishment, a retribution from the gods and Buddhas.

“The location is here... it's quite far from the city.”

Hiiragi Hiruko led the two to the end of this alley, to a long house.

“Before, Jikei-in was located closer to the temple, but it was protested by many locals, so it could only relocate and open this orphanage here.”

This is a relatively deserted alley, and this long house also gives people the feeling of a “gloomy atmosphere” like a haunted house.

Hiiragi Hiruko was about to push the door open when the door was pushed open forcefully with a “thump.”

“Who wants to stay in this ghostly place? Don't think about trapping me——”

A naked little girl rushed out.

“And don't think about catching me!!”

Her long hair was wet, and she ran out barefoot, her feet making a splashing sound on the ground.

However, the next second, a large hand suddenly reached out from behind the door and grabbed the little girl's arm.

“Stinky girl, what are you yelling about just taking a bath?”

The speaker was an old woman, her face was like rock, her skin was rough, and she gave people the feeling of a yōkai that had become a rock spirit. However, the old woman had no yōkai aura, so she was naturally not a yōkai.

The girl was still struggling in the old woman's hand.

“...Eh?”

Suddenly, she twisted her neck, saw the group of people walking from the alley outside the long house, and couldn't help but widen her eyes, staring straight at Hyakusuke who was walking over.

The girl, or rather, Fūraku Saki who had been “shrunk” into a girl, opened her mouth and burst out with a strange cry.

“Myaaaaaa...!”

—Young Master, why are you here!?