The Bride Of The Sacred Forest God
Chapters 1. The Painful Meeting

On the night of the full moon at that time, visible torches lit up accompanied by many residents who went to a forest.

Among the long troupe walking that night, a girl with a dirty face and shabby clothes walked in the middle of the entourage with her hands tied.

“I don't care about your fate after this, but this is already a mutual decision.” said a man to the poor girl

“Even if Aragaki-sama kills you though, it's no big deal. As long as the village is safe from its rampage, we do not care about the fate that plagues you after this.”

“Heh! You should be thankful that when you die, we don't have to throw your body into the river! Let the demons eat your body until it is not left.”

“...” the girl fell silent

By trying to hold back her tears, she tried not to retaliate.

After entering the forest a little deeper, the group saw a figure who had been waiting. They are two teenage boys with fox ears and tails called Youko.

“They came.” said one of the youko

The group who saw the fox demon figure immediately knelt respectfully. Including the poor girl. With a feeling of fear he knelt down while lowering his head.

A village elder greeted the two demons.

“We...we from Kamakura, would like to give a presentation to the Ruler of Higashi no Mori.”

One of the demons asked.

“Where is he now?”

“He is here. Hey, come quickly!” the elder's orders. Two grown men forcibly pulled the girl's hand and threw her in front of the two demons.

Seeing a dirty shabby figure in very unfit clothes made one of the fox demons look annoyed.

“Hah? This it? His offering? You guys are trying to test Aragaki-sama's patience huh?”

Seeing the sharp look from the golden eyes that lit up at night made all the villagers afraid.

“Ka–we are sorry! But, we can only give him to Aragaki-sama. She was just an orphan girl who brought disaster to our village. Because none of us want it, so we think we can–”

“Can give ‘sampah’ to our master, so? You forgot that all these traditions started because of your own ancestors who broke the agreement with Aragaki-sama?!” snarled one of the fox's demons

“We're sorry!”

The girl was silent and held back her tears, but no one knew that in her heart she was already crying.

“In the end, none of them will save me. Maybe this is my fate.”

The fox demon spoke again.

“During this ‘bride’ candidate that you gave it is completely useless. And now, you're giving trash to our master. How dare you insult her like this. If you are tired of living, you should say it clearly!”

“Nagi, stop it.”

“Let them understand how despicable and low they are!”

“We are sorry, we can only give him to Aragaki-sama!” said the elder while prostrating in fear

The other residents prostrated themselves asking for forgiveness from the two demons while continuing to say an apology from his mouth.

One of the other demons said “Stop that. We understand. The agreement remains a covenant. He will be brought to the front of Nushi-sama.”

“Te–thank you very much, Youko-sama.”

“Now leave this place. The lips of the forest can be tainted with the dirty human scent of all of you” he said with cold, burning eyes

Hearing that, the entire group started running out of the forest leaving the poor girl alone.

In the forest at night, the girl ended up with only two fox demons standing before her.

“Oi, man! Tell me what's your name?”

“Nagi, do not say rudely to the candidate ‘bride’ Nushi-sama!”

“Huh!”

The girl looked at the two and tried to open her mouth.

“Re–Reda.”

“Reda-sama. Maybe it's not that important but let us introduce ourselves. We are Youko, the guardian of Higashi no Mori's forest. My name is Ginko and this is Nagi. We will take you to where Nushi-sama is.”

The poor girl just kept quiet. He didn't really care about it because he knew what fate lay ahead of him at this moment. It will not be far from death.

After a brief introduction by the fox demon, Reda stood up and followed the two.

They went deeper into the forest until they saw a large torii gate in orangeish red.

“It was the entrance into the forest of Higashi no Mori. After getting inside there, Reda-sama can no longer go out without Nushi-sama's permission. That will be your new home.”

Reda said nothing. He followed the two demons into the gate and when he entered it, Reda was surprised by what was inside.

A large village that is very crowded at night with lanterns and paper lights along the way. There are many demons that walk like human villages. An alien sight that Reda has never seen in a lifetime.

“There is a village in the forest?”

“Welcome to Higashi no Mori. From today on, this place is your home. Come, please pass here.”

Reda endured her fear and walked behind the two fox demons. Along the way, Reda looked to her right and left.

A fox demon named Nagi took two steps back and told her “Note your step. You are still human, after all. If you're off guard, you'll probably be eaten by them before you get to Aragaki-sama's place.”

“What do demons really eat humans? But I dare not ask them.”

“Nagi, stop scaring him.”

“I just warned him not to fate the same as he died yesterday.”

“Burn?” Reda asked slowly

“Nothing." Nagi walked back leaving him behind

That cold speech made Reda not so surprised. He already knew that every sacrifice called the candidate of ‘bride’ in his village was an offering for the village protector. Of course the designation ‘bride’ is just a sweetener.

In reality, the 'bride' candidate was the one who was banished to be given to the demon.

Along the way, many eyes were looking at the three. More precisely, they all looked and stared coldly at Reda. Some demons were even clearly talking about it.

“Suffering once.”

“This environment is getting dirty because of them.”

“See her clothes it is. How disgusting.”

“Why can they only give trash to Nushi-sama? You dirty creatures!”

The poor girl just accepted all the ridicule in silence. Not only ridicule, but rotten eggs and vegetables were ‘welcome him’.

There was no defense from the two demons in front of him. They just walked in front of him despite knowing what happened to the girl.

“I must be strong. After death, all this pain will go away. I should be able to hold on a little more.”

Trying to strengthen himself, Reda walked over while continuing to receive the egg throw at him. The shabby clothes were increasingly looking unworthy and the fishy smell began to smell strong. The two fox demons in front of him were even faster so their distance was now a long way away.

After passing through the village, they arrived at a large door with high walls and trees inside.

“We get to.” The word fox demon is named Ginko

“It..”.

Nagi, the other fox demon spoke in a very slender tone to Reda.

“You! Just stay away from us and Aragaki-sama when we arrive. Your body is fishy and disgusting. Remember that!”

“I...understand.” Reda can only surrender without retaliating

As soon as the door was opened, a straight path was seen with many lanterns on the side of the road. They walked past a large garden with a pond and a large cherry blossom tree in the corner.

The beautiful pink flower petals that flew in the wind, making Reda feel that this place is very beautiful.

The two fox demons stopped in front of an enormous cherry blossom tree.

Reda looked at the figure of the black-haired handsome young man with beautiful golden eyes and a beautiful white hairy tail.

“Nagi, Ginko, you guys have returned.” he said

The sound was so beautiful and soft. Like drugging and hypnotizing, Reda blushed to see the handsome figure under the cherry blossoms.

“We're back, Aragaki-sama.”

“We're back, Nushi-sama.”

The two demons kneeled in respect to him. Reda stood up and sculpted because of the idle figure.

“What is Aragaki-sama? Is it true that he was the protector of our village all this time? That beautiful and amazing figure is truly enchanting.” praise Reda in heart

But when Reda was still silent without saying anything, suddenly a wind attack caused his body to crash far enough to fall to the ground.

“Aaa!”

The pain all over his body made him unable to hold back his tears.

“What was that?” he wondered in his heart

The handsome figure he admired turned into a figure full of anger with a terrifying aura around him.

“Junk.” That was one word that was issued by him. Reda was shocked to hear it.

The tears that came out from the pain on his body were not comparable to the pain in his heart. Aragaki continued her words.

“I hate humans and until anytime I will still hate you guys.”

“...” Reda is silent

“Dirty creatures that have ruined the trust I have. Your fate will be like any other trash. Nagi, Ginko..”.

“Ya?”

“Bring that trash away from before me.”

“Good.”

Both of them immediately brought Reda away from Aragaki's face.

Without saying anything, Reda felt that her existence was so low that wherever she was, no one wanted her to live.

****