I harvested timber from the forest near the Village of the Great Tree and set to work carving a statue of the Raccoon Dog God with the Universal Farming Tool.
I had thrown myself into the task with a clear mind, but what emerged was a classic Shigaraki-style tanuki. It was exactly what people imagine when they think of those ornaments: the one with the massive "jewels."
I had a feeling it might happen, but I didn't expect it to turn out so perfectly traditional. It was wearing a straw hat, clutching a sake bottle, and even holding a passbook.
I wondered if this was really okay. Well, for now, I would show it to them and see what they thought.
I asked the lizardmen to help me transport the statue of the Raccoon Dog God to the mountain northeast of Village Five, where the shrine was located.
"That's... quite suggestive," Pon remarked.
For the record, Pon is male—a drone. Because of that, he didn't blush, but his gaze was firmly fixed on the statue's crotch.
Yeah, I suppose the jewels are a bit much after all. However, there is actually a meaning behind their size.
"Is it for the prosperity of one's descendants?" Pon asked.
"No, it's for money luck. The bigger they are, the better."
By the way, one of the other raccoon dogs with Pon was female, and she was blushing furiously.
"A size impossible in reality... and it's fully visible... oh my..."
I sighed. "Let's put an apron on it to cover things up."
"Yes, let's do that," Pon agreed.
"Is there anything else that needs fixing? If you want actual pottery instead of a wood carving, I can look into it."
"No, since we have never actually seen the god ourselves, there's nothing we can really criticize. We aren't picky about the material, either. I think it's perfect as it is."
"I see."
Well then, for the time being, we would enshrine this as a substitute for the true object of worship. Incidentally, the Silver Fox Race praised it, saying it had a certain charm and felt very approachable.
While I was at the shrine, I decided to check on how the Silver Fox Race was settling in. About ten days had passed since they arrived. I wondered if they had grown accustomed to the environment yet.
As it turned out, the Silver Fox Race was living together in a single apartment building. The Red Foxes, Black Foxes, and the Round-faced Foxes—the raccoon dogs—were all with them. I had worried they were just being modest, but they explained that they felt more at ease when they were close to their companions.
I see. And just to be sure, I checked if the foxes who couldn't take human form were living there too. The inside of the building was a veritable fox paradise. No matter where I looked, there were foxes. Occasionally, I spotted a raccoon dog or someone in human form.
I wondered if they were okay not being in the mountains, but they seemed to feel safer here. It did look a bit cramped, though. If they were fine with it, that was what mattered. If their numbers grew and it became too small, they could always move into the next building. That was a conversation for the future.
For now, managing the remaining fifteen vacant apartment buildings seemed like it would be quite a chore.
"Hm?"
Apparently, they were already using the kitchens and outhouses of the neighboring building. Well, there were quite a lot of them, after all. I didn't mind. I told them to let Yoko know if they needed more hands for maintenance.
"And what's this board at the entrance?"
"A sign?"
Since they had named the building they were using "First Fox Manor" and the one next door "Second Fox Manor," they were planning to hang up signs. I thought that was a nice touch.
A short distance away from the apartments, there was a large bathhouse and a changing room. I had considered providing a bath for each building, but we had settled on this communal style to save on fuel costs. It felt like a neighborhood sento, which wasn't bad at all. It was properly divided into men's and women's sections, too.
However, I had harbored a doubt as to whether the Silver Fox Race would actually enjoy bathing.
"It's a blessing for washing away the beastly scent," one of them said.
"The water is nice and warm, so no one dislikes it."
"The children love it, too."
The foxes coming out of the bath seemed quite pleased. It was good to see them making use of it. Keeping the water fresh would be a lot of work, but I told them to keep up with it.
"Yes, we'll do our best!"
Good, good. But it was winter, after all. I warned them to dry off properly and keep warm so they wouldn't catch a cold.
Next, I moved to the worship hall, the haiden. This was the place for offering prayers toward the main hall located further up the mountainside. The offertory box would be placed in front of this hall, and the interior was intended to be used for rituals. Currently, it was empty, mostly because we weren't sure what was needed yet.
The hall was designed so that when the large doors at the back were opened, you had a clear view of the main hall on the mountain. It was quite a spectacular sight—something to be proud of. To ensure this view, the worship hall had been built as a raised-floor structure, making it taller than the surrounding buildings. In my original miniature model, it had been a simple one-story building like the housing, but the main hall wouldn't have been visible that way. The workers had made the executive decision to change it on-site. I had told them they were free to make such adjustments, so there was no problem.
However, I realized it would be inconvenient for people to have to climb the stairs just to toss a coin into the offertory box. I decided we should place the box at the bottom of the stairs instead. If we added a small roof to protect it from the rain, it would be fine. I'd have to ask Ria about it later.
From there, I went to the sanctuary building next to the worship hall. It was a massive structure. The interior was divided into small rooms, but they were only placed on one side of the corridor. This followed Niz's suggestion; she believed that if the rooms faced each other like in a dormitory, the gods wouldn't be able to relax. As a result, the wall opposite the rooms could be used for extra decoration, making the space feel much more open. It wasn't a bad idea. We would just have to be careful that the decorations didn't spill over into the neighboring deity's space.
I walked through the rooms, looking at the spaces for the Snake God, the Tiger God, the Monkey God, the Elephant God, the Cow God, and the Goat God. There weren't many decorations yet, but it was still interesting to see.
Then there was the Dragon God. Since this deity was part of the twelve zodiac signs, I had consulted Dos about it. I asked him if there actually was a "Dragon God." His answer was a bit ambiguous. He explained that since dragons were created by gods, they were a type of divine being themselves. They could be treated as gods, but since they lived on the earth, they weren't strictly gods in the heavenly sense. I didn't quite follow the logic.
When I asked if it was okay to enshrine one, Dos said it was fine. The problem was that we didn't have anything to serve as the object of worship. When I asked him for suggestions, he told me I should just carve something myself.
So I did, but perhaps because I was thinking about the zodiac, I didn't carve Western-style dragons like Dos and the others. Instead, I carved statues of Eastern-style dragons—serpentine creatures with limbs. In fact, I made five of them: one in the center, surrounded by four others representing the cardinal directions. All five had their mouths agape in a terrifying, furious roar. It felt like a piece of work the Universal Farming Tool had put a tremendous amount of energy into. They were incredibly imposing. I wondered if the tool was actually acquainted with them.
Anyway, when I showed these five Eastern dragon statues to Dos, his knees buckled. He was so shocked he thought they were real. Apparently, there used to be dragons that looked like that in ancient times—belonging to the generation that Dos still couldn't stand up to. He even said Raimeiren would likely be terrified. Was Raimeiren's grandmother really that scary? Interesting.
"So, is it okay to use these as the object of worship?" I asked.
"Y-yes... it's fine..." Dos stammered.
He gave his approval, but I noticed that throughout the entire conversation, he never once looked the statues in the eye. They must have been a dead ringer for someone he knew.
When I finally went to see them after the Silver Fox Race had finished the installation, I was surprised. The Dragon God's room was the only one that was fully decorated. It seemed Dos and Raimeiren had ordered their family and subordinates to get it done. It was incredibly lavish—so much so that the rooms next to it looked plain by comparison. I also noticed a row of items that looked extremely valuable, even to my amateur eyes.
Apparently, several members of the Devil Race had been stationed there as guards. That was reassuring, but I wondered if the Silver Fox Race minded their presence.
"Is it okay?" I asked. "Are you getting along?"
"Oh, yes. We're on good enough terms to share meals."
"Really?" I had heard the Silver Fox Race tended to be wary of other species.
"Well, once it was explained that they were subordinates of the Village Head's father-in-law, they accepted them."
That was good to hear. Apparently, they had still been a bit on edge for the first few days, but things had settled down. With worshippers of various races expected to visit in the future, it was good that the foxes weren't being overly hostile. Yoko seemed to be keeping a strict eye on them as well, so it shouldn't be a problem. That was one less thing to worry about for the shrine's operation.
"Hm? Is that a worshipper?"
No, it was Draim. Guided by the Silver Fox Race, he approached us.
"So the Village Head is here as well? I heard there were statues of our ancestors here, so I brought some votive off—UGYAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
Draim caught sight of the statues and promptly fainted.
When he finally came to a bit later, he told me that seeing them had brought back traumatic memories of being scolded by Raimeiren's grandmother. Was it really enough to make him scream like that?
"It was definitely enough," he insisted.
He also warned me that Graffaloon, Hakuren, and Giral would likely have the same reaction, so I should probably keep them away.
I nodded in understanding, but when I looked to the side, I saw Giral already approaching to see the statues.
...I was too late.