"Say, this has been bugging me for a while now, but why does worshipping the Demon God turn folks into that? I mean, what's the whole point of this 'demonification' business anyway?"
Yasutaka scratched his head, and Mani-hime answered him plainly.
"The magic systems we normally use only work because a god grants us the blessing to use them. Take me, for instance. I'm Spider-folk, so I can use the onmyō arts. But the Flow Arts that come from the Fish King, the qigong arts from the Dragon King, the Sacred Hymn from the Bird King, the Transformation Arts from the Beast King? None of those are open to me. Not one."
"Wait, seriously? I didn't know that!"
"You... didn't know that?"
Mōha stared at his startled friend with plain exasperation.
"Only humans get to use every system there is. Us half-breeds are stuck with one apiece. The only reason I can work the onmyō arts is because I'm a priestess of the Insect King. A priest of the Dragon King, in turn, gets the qigong arts. Really, all these techniques started out as fragments of divine miracles."
"Huh... never knew that."
"Me neither, come to think of it."
Both men admitted it without a shred of shame.
Yasutaka had another question.
"So why can anybody use hōjutsu, then?"
"Hōjutsu belongs to the Buddha King Shakyamuni. He's the god of wisdom, and wisdom he hands out to every race without favor. That's the one art nobody's shut out of."
"Huh."
"For what it's worth, the onmyō arts and the qigong arts people talk about today were both born from mixing those older systems with hōjutsu. That's why you don't need to be a priest to use them."
"I see."
There were, it seemed, a great many tangled little rules to this business.
"Basically, the Insect King, who made the Insect-folk, blesses all of us Insect-folk equally. But take the supreme twin sovereigns of sun and moon, Lord Tendō and Lord Kagedō, or the Three Realms Gods, Lord Sky, Lord Earth, and Lord Sea. Their priests can work the prayer arts of that lineage too, even if the priest happens to be a half-breed. You follow?"
"Sure, that tracks... oh! Oh, I get it now!"
Yasutaka clapped his hands together, struck by sudden understanding.
"So worshipping the Demon God lets you use whatever magic system belongs to that particular breed of demon-folk!"
"Exactly. Say I became a Yōjin. I'd still be a priestess of the Insect King, but now I'd also be a priestess of the Demon God at the same time. Both arts at once, and stronger for it."
"Huh, I see, I see..."
Yasutaka nodded along, satisfied.
That was when something occurred to Mōha.
"But hang on, then why's worshipping the Demon God forbidden? If it just makes you stronger, what's the harm?"
Every last cult of the Demon God stood outlawed throughout this world, and there was good reason for it.
"Because the whole point of the Demon God is to steal this world out from under us."
"Steal it?"
"That's right."
Mani-hime's answer came out bitter.
"Put simply, they're evil gods from some other realm who just want this world for themselves. They mean to drive out the gods who already live here and remake everything to suit them. Which means every single soul already living here is nothing but an obstacle."
"So it's a straight-up massacre, huh!"
Mōha went pale at the sheer horror of it.
"The reason the power they hand out is so much greater than what other gods offer is simple: they want to throw this world into chaos so they can slip in and expand their own following while everyone's distracted. If all you want is to seize a world, of course you'd arm the malcontents in it with something dangerous."
"So it's like handing expensive, deadly weapons to rebels in an enemy country."
"That's exactly it."
Mani-hime said it as calmly as if she were remarking on the weather.
"King Drought and King Parch, who wiped out the Fish-folk Civilization, are the clearest example. The Desert God, Sabara, decided that every living thing was just an obstacle to his own servants, the Kibutsu, so he set about turning the whole world into a desert where no one could live. Because to a god of clockwork demons, humans aren't worth a single thing."
"What a terrifying god."
Mōha actually shuddered.
"They dried up the seas precisely because water is what life needs to grow. That's how much of an obstacle we are to them."
"That's just... completely selfish."
Yasutaka felt a chill at how casually ruthless it all was.
"So then, I wonder which Demon God Kōen ended up worshipping."
"I couldn't tell you that. Do you even know what kind of demon he turned into?"
Put on the spot, Yasutaka's face soured.
"Beats me. How would I even find that out?"
"I don't know the details either, but if a Demon King, one of that god's own servants, has really come back to life, I think we ought to know how to deal with it."
"Yeah, that's fair enough."
Yasutaka nodded, convinced.
"Speaking of which, wasn't our next job for the Fire, Arson, and Demon Suppression Bureau?"
"Right. Taking down that thief gang, the Anakonda, if I remember."
"Should I ask Lord Onihei about it?"
"He won't tell you himself, most likely. But one of his men probably would."
Mōha answered while picking at his teeth with a toothpick.
Mani-hime opened her mouth to say something, but Yasutaka beat her to it.
"You can't tag along on this one, by the way."
"Why not!"
"Because we're doing reconnaissance on the gang too. It's going to be a pretty long job."
"Ugh..."
Mani-hime groaned in protest, but Mōha laughed it off.
"Don't worry. It's men only over at the Bureau, and this time we're going in with a big group, so there's not much danger."
"Exactly. When it comes to bringing down a whole gang of robbers, even the Shogunal Authority gets fired up about it."
In an age of peace, chances to show off real skill were rare, so cracking down on bandits was where a man could shine, and everyone threw themselves into it with real enthusiasm. A chance to bag a notorious head was worth the effort.
"So here's the plan: tomorrow you stay home, but why not take the day to see the sights around Edo? Plenty worth looking at."
"Fine, fine..."
Mani-hime puffed out her cheeks and grudgingly gave in.