"You... you..."
Hinako Shimizu's mouth opened and closed, her earlier fury dissolving into stunned disbelief.
"You're a fox spirit — how do you know this? This is modern geology! Aren't you supposed to only know mystical nonsense, rituals, talismans, and incantations?"
She found it hard to accept that she, a modern woman, apparently knew less than some ancient relic.
The Nine-Tailed Black Fox swept its huge, fluffy tail, and droplets of water rolled off its black fur onto the lake's surface, spreading small ripples.
"Times change. Only fools cling to the old ways. Humanity keeps advancing — how could we yokai afford not to understand our own way of existing? Otherwise we'd vanish into the dust of history sooner or later."
Hinako Shimizu had nothing to say to that, and could only change the subject — or rather, get back to the point.
"So then, what is the method of the seal?"
Hinako Shimizu demanded coldly.
"Once every eight years, a living sacrifice must be offered. Only this can quiet the wrath beneath the water."
The Nine-Tailed Black Fox spoke without the slightest hurry.
"A living sacrifice? So it really is human sacrifice, just as Shu and Mr. Ultraseven said."
Hearing this, Hinako Shimizu's eyes turned instantly sharp.
Culture and tradition could wait. What mattered now was deciding whether this thing deserved to die.
And clearly — something that had already accepted living sacrifice was beyond redemption.
"The offering's blood is drained completely and mixed with sake brewed eight times over. The offering's body has its organs removed, is packed with chewed rice, and sewn shut. It is then left in darkness until the scent of sake seeps out."
The Nine-Tailed Black Fox spoke unhurriedly, its voice calm to the point of horror, as if Hinako Shimizu's fury meant nothing to it at all.
"Then it is dressed and adorned, clothed in a bride's finery. The offering is placed upon a boat of reeds and sent out onto the lake, staining the water crimson with blood-wine. Only then can the offering sink to the lake bottom and, for a time, still the wrath below."
BOOM!!!
Before the words had even finished, Hinako Shimizu's right fist was already swinging forward!
Her crimson iron fist, wrapped in a blaze of fury, plunged down like a falling meteor toward the Nine-Tailed Black Fox's arrogant head!
The force of the punch tore the air apart, carving a deep trench across the lake's surface as water exploded outward on both sides!
But just as the fist was about to connect with that thick black fur, the Nine-Tailed Black Fox's nine tails gave the slightest flick.
That massive body slid across the water's surface like melting shadow, silently gliding more than ten meters away.
The punch slammed into the water instead, blasting a column of spray skyward. Countless ripples spread wildly in every direction, ring after ring, until they vanished into the boundless darkness beyond.
"Oh my, my, Hinako, whatever is this about?"
The Nine-Tailed Black Fox stood steady several meters away, its nine great fluffy black tails swaying gently behind it, its cool blue-green slitted eyes carrying a hint of feigned confusion.
"This old one was merely answering your question, telling you the truth you wanted to know, plain and unvarnished. And for that I get struck?"
Something like a smile stretched across that fox face — though to any onlooker, it would only have seemed bone-chilling.
"You're provoking me!"
Hinako Shimizu's face showed no expression, but her whole body radiated fierce rage.
"Provoking you?"
The Nine-Tailed Black Fox seemed to have heard the greatest joke in the world, its smile deepening on that fox face.
"This old one merely stated a fact. Those offerings — their sacrifice was necessary. Because of them, the water dragon has never broken free of its seal, has never brought ruin upon Ebisugaoka, has never poisoned this land. You ought to honor them. Their sacrifice was noble, was it not?"
It paused, its blue-green slitted eyes fixed unblinking on Hinako Shimizu.
"Those women — their lives bought peace for this entire land, so that far more people would not die needlessly. Their sacrifice had worth."
Hinako Shimizu's body went rigid.
Her lips moved, wanting to say something, but she found her throat blocked, as if something were lodged there, unable to force out even a single word.
Noble?
Those women who had been spirited away, who had been skinned alive, had their hearts torn out, been bled dry — noble?
And yet, if those women had not been sacrificed... the water dragon would break its seal, Ebisugaoka would be poisoned, and far more people would die.
"Would you sacrifice the people of Ebisugaoka for the sake of those offerings? Sacrifice even more people, Hinako?"
The Nine-Tailed Black Fox's voice rose again, and this time, that hoarse voice carried something almost hypnotic.
"Why not reach an understanding with us? Turn a blind eye, let the rituals continue as they have. The water dragon keeps sleeping, Ebisugaoka stays at peace — isn't that the best outcome for everyone?"
Hinako Shimizu stood rooted to the spot, unmoving.
Her mind was a tangle of confusion.
No — not confusion. Hesitation. Or rather, she simply couldn't speak. No matter what answer she might give, the words wouldn't come.
Wiping out the fox spirits, wiping out the Tsuneki family — that was, without question, the righteous thing to do.
But then who would suppress the water dragon? What would become of Ebisugaoka? Innocent people would die because of it, would lose everything because of it.
Yet not wiping out the fox spirits, not wiping out the Tsuneki family, letting the ritual continue, sacrificing one woman every eight years to buy peace for a whole region — she couldn't accept that either!
The two choices flipped over and over in Hinako Shimizu's mind, and she could not decide between them.
If only she knew nothing — if only she didn't even understand the principle behind the water dragon's existence — she could have struck down the Nine-Tailed Black Fox without a shred of hesitation, and worried about sealing the dragon afterward.
But now that she understood how the water dragon's existence actually worked, she could no longer deceive herself. Wiping out the fox spirits would inevitably bring death and ruin to Ebisugaoka and the surrounding region — and it would be death caused by her own choice.
If only she didn't know any of this. Then she could have fought without a trace of doubt.
"Why hesitate? Didn't Ultraseven himself say something similar? To protect the many, sometimes sacrifices must be made."
The Nine-Tailed Black Fox's voice rose once more, unhurried, its nine tails swaying gently behind it — like a beast already savoring its prey, licking its claws at leisure.
Hinako Shimizu's body stayed frozen in place, not moving an inch.
The Nine-Tailed Black Fox hadn't laid a hand on her, and yet its words alone carried a weight heavy enough to steal her breath.
Hinako Shimizu knew exactly what the Nine-Tailed Black Fox was referring to. In Ultraman Leo, in the episode where the Leo Brothers fought the Monster Brothers, Leo had chosen not to transform right away in order to help a child escape danger — instead, he'd first taken the child to the hospital to make sure they were safe before joining the battle. As a result, MAC suffered devastating losses.
She now faced that very same dilemma.
Sacrifice one life to guarantee the safety of the many — or sacrifice the safety of the many to save one life?
This trolley problem — Ultraseven had already given his answer to it, on the set of Ultraman Leo.
____
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