Kaya-chan wa Kowakunai - Vol. 7 Ch. 44 - My daughter is not scary?

[doublesidedtape]

... nothing says that you need to consume entierely the thing...

It did, Ch 41 pg 12 (even in raws so no translation issue). Honestly it would be better if the author had just omit the "entirety" part for the ritual. Plot would work anyway if just parts of it was required.

Dark Gathering had the same issue, details wrote too specific, it tends to contradict itself afterwards with no room for ambiguity.

 

[Nekoriz]

Like I dont wanna bash kaya's mother but like come on, you tried to make a cursed child, failed and surprised that she's not normal? Like it would've been more surprising if kaya is normal 😂

 

[StormSen]

Okay...

• We haven't explicitly been told the reason for Kaya's strength. Though it might be explainable by Kaya coming very close to 'chest burst' phase, but still not hitting it.
• Umbilical cords. Minai would need two: one for Kaya and one for baby #2.
• Kaya umbilical cord: Probably Yoshi's because that look from Kaya at Mutsu looked like one of Yoshi's smiles.
• Kaya umbilical cord #2: Might be Nana's.
• Or maybe it's the other way around, since it's previously been said that the priestess eats the priestess umbilical cord, and Yoshi says that she expects Minai to eat Yoshi's umbilical cord.
• BIG PROBLEM: Number of priestess umbilical cords can only go down not up.
• Much worse for curse-wombs since each use of an umbilical cord completely consumes it with no replacement.
• Security: Umbilical cords are highest treasure in this clan. They wouldn't fail to carefully store and regularly track them.
• Possible counter: Priestess is empowered by her mother using a previous priestess' umbilical cord. The permanently 'powers up' the priestess, so the umbilical cords of all children she bears after that are also 'powered up'. Notably any males born would still provide usable umbilical cords.
• Limited number of curses. Each generation uses one generation daughter per curse. Apparently grandma's and Nana's generations each had had only one curse-womb daughter.
• Curse womb sisters should be treated extremely well and diligently raised. After all, each one is an incredibly precious and limited resource. Yes they get sacrificed at the end, but that means that they need to be alive and healthy (and brainwashed) up to that point. Which makes Minai's treatment very strange. (Supporting the speculation that grandma was intentionally doing that.)
• Why was granny terrified of "Kaya?" Why did grandma think that Kaya (or the spirit inside her) was after Nana? Yoshi was a willing sacrifice. (Though maybe her death was not as peaceful as she was promised? Or maybe Yoshi actually wasn't as willing as she seemed, and was planning her revenge while still alive? But if that were the case, then Yoshi could have cursed the family with her own death.)
• Why has Kaya been terrified of the fetus? We know that not all specters are evil (some are neutral, some are helpful). Kaya herself is a 'specter'. If it's because it's turning into dangerous curse, we've been told that only happens if the baby is held past delivery time, which would be a very short time frame (on the order of a few weeks), so it should have been fine before that. (Perhaps Kaya is just not fearful (mostly) of her own self, but is fearful of another baby like what she herself was.)
• Chie is pretty useless. Doesn't resist crazy mama grabbing Kaya away from her. (Like in previous chapter where she doesn't keep Kaya in the room with her while doing staff work (Kaya is too young to leave on her own, and in this ghost-ridden school she should be keeping Kaya with her for her own protection). (And that sort of thing has happened repeatedly in this manga.)

 

[aliasfree]

Okay...

• We haven't explicitly been told the reason for Kaya's strength. Though it might be explainable by Kaya coming very close to 'chest burst' phase, but still not hitting it.

Kaya is the result of what happens if non-psychic hands delivers the baby before it has a chance to rip itself out of Womb-sama. It's a life that is almost more phantasmal and a living curse, but is also alive and far exceeds the capabilities of a priestess. The Ebisumori never take births this far normally, but the reason for Kaya's strength is because she's a failed Hiruko-sama that was taken out of the womb before the curse could be complete.

• Umbilical cords. Minai would need two: one for Kaya and one for baby #2.
• Kaya umbilical cord: Probably Yoshi's because that look from Kaya at Mutsu looked like one of Yoshi's smiles.
• Kaya umbilical cord #2: Might be Nana's.
• Or maybe it's the other way around, since it's previously been said that the priestess eats the priestess umbilical cord, and Yoshi says that she expects Minai to eat Yoshi's umbilical cord.
• BIG PROBLEM: Number of priestess umbilical cords can only go down not up.
• Much worse for curse-wombs since each use of an umbilical cord completely consumes it with no replacement.
• Security: Umbilical cords are highest treasure in this clan. They wouldn't fail to carefully store and regularly track them.
• Possible counter: Priestess is empowered by her mother using a previous priestess' umbilical cord. The permanently 'powers up' the priestess, so the umbilical cords of all children she bears after that are also 'powered up'. Notably any males born would still provide usable umbilical cords.
• Limited number of curses. Each generation uses one generation daughter per curse. Apparently grandma's and Nana's generations each had had only one curse-womb daughter.

For Kaya, Mirai ate Yoshii's umbilical cord. It's possible she managed to get her own umbilical cord from when she had Kaya, citing religious reasons for keeping it, only to devour it and try again once Kaya had started smashing ghosts.

Curse womb sisters should be treated extremely well and diligently raised. After all, each one is an incredibly precious and limited resource. Yes they get sacrificed at the end, but that means that they need to be alive and healthy (and brainwashed) up to that point. Which makes Minai's treatment very strange. (Supporting the speculation that grandma was intentionally doing that.)

Grandma had wished for the blood sacrifice practices of the Ebisumori clan to end, so she tried to give Mirai a normal life by distancing her as much as possible from the rest of the family. Mirai was never brainwashed, but due to her alienation, her growing grudge against her own family for isolating her, and from the realization that Yoshii was used as a Womb-sama, it lall drove her beyond the point of insanity. At some point, between running away from home and marrying her husband, she had intended to use the curse to destroy the Ebisumori, but she had always intended to even when she was pregnant with Kaya-chan.

Why was granny terrified of "Kaya?" Why did grandma think that Kaya (or the spirit inside her) was after Nana? Yoshi was a willing sacrifice. (Though maybe her death was not as peaceful as she was promised? Or maybe Yoshi actually wasn't as willing as she seemed, and was planning her revenge while still alive? But if that were the case, then Yoshi could have cursed the family with her own death.)

Granny is terrified of Kaya because she's likely what a Hiruko-sama looks like, to some extent. Black skin, vacant eyes, she likely thought Mirai had gone through with the ritual and the rest of the clan was already dead, which drove her insane. Grandma had caused Yoshii to die and give birth to a Hiruko-sama, and she's the only one who knew what happened to the baby and whom it was sent after to kill. The curse only triggers once the mother dies, so it's possible Granny had literally killed Yoshii in a ritual against the last of their enemies , but Yoshii was always willing and eager to sacrifice herself because she was already deeply indoctrinated into the cult. The only remaining person who can serve as Womb-sama is Mirai and Granny knows just how much Mirai hates her family, but never realized Mirai discovered the truth behind the death of Yoshii. In which case, one must ask: How could Mirai have learned about the Cursed Womb without discovering the truth behind Yoshii's death? There aren't many books written about the curse itself.

Why has Kaya been terrified of the fetus? We know that not all specters are evil (some are neutral, some are helpful). Kaya herself is a 'specter'. If it's because it's turning into dangerous curse, we've been told that only happens if the baby is held past delivery time, which would be a very short time frame (on the order of a few weeks), so it should have been fine before that. (Perhaps Kaya is just not fearful (mostly) of her own self, but is fearful of another baby like what she herself was.)

Kaya is terrified of Hiruko-sama because it's an insanely powerful curse meant to kill people EN MASSE. Kaya's soul is a partial blend between herself and Hiruko-sama, but the actual form of the Cursed Womb releases a living, violent, and vengeful god to wreak utter death and annihilation to the enemies of the Ebisumori. Kaya can recognize just how foul the Cursed Womb really is and likely can also sense the black vengeance and maligned, evil intent coming from her own mama, hence both Mirai and Hiruko-sama taking on monstrous forms to Kaya-chan. Mirai's soul is empty while the monster in her womb is gathering curse energy and writhing in misery.

 

[StormSen]

Kaya is the result of what happens if non-psychic hands delivers the baby before it has a chance to rip itself out of Womb-sama. It's a life that is almost more phantasmal and a living curse, but is also alive and far exceeds the capabilities of a priestess. The Ebisumori never take births this far normally, but the reason for Kaya's strength is because she's a failed Hiruko-sama that was taken out of the womb before the curse could be complete.

For Kaya, Mirai ate Yoshii's umbilical cord. It's possible she managed to get her own umbilical cord from when she had Kaya, citing religious reasons for keeping it, only to devour it and try again once Kaya had started smashing ghosts.

Grandma had wished for the blood sacrifice practices of the Ebisumori clan to end, so she tried to give Mirai a normal life by distancing her as much as possible from the rest of the family. Mirai was never brainwashed, but due to her alienation, her growing grudge against her own family for isolating her, and from the realization that Yoshii was used as a Womb-sama, it lall drove her beyond the point of insanity. At some point, between running away from home and marrying her husband, she had intended to use the curse to destroy the Ebisumori, but she had always intended to even when she was pregnant with Kaya-chan.

Granny is terrified of Kaya because she's likely what a Hiruko-sama looks like, to some extent. Black skin, vacant eyes, she likely thought Mirai had gone through with the ritual and the rest of the clan was already dead, which drove her insane. Grandma had caused Yoshii to die and give birth to a Hiruko-sama, and she's the only one who knew what happened to the baby and whom it was sent after to kill. The curse only triggers once the mother dies, so it's possible Granny had literally killed Yoshii in a ritual against the last of their enemies , but Yoshii was always willing and eager to sacrifice herself because she was already deeply indoctrinated into the cult. The only remaining person who can serve as Womb-sama is Mirai and Granny knows just how much Mirai hates her family, but never realized Mirai discovered the truth behind the death of Yoshii. In which case, one must ask: How could Mirai have learned about the Cursed Womb without discovering the truth behind Yoshii's death? There aren't many books written about the curse itself.

Kaya is terrified of Hiruko-sama because it's an insanely powerful curse meant to kill people EN MASSE. Kaya's soul is a partial blend between herself and Hiruko-sama, but the actual form of the Cursed Womb releases a living, violent, and vengeful god to wreak utter death and annihilation to the enemies of the Ebisumori. Kaya can recognize just how foul the Cursed Womb really is and likely can also sense the black vengeance and maligned, evil intent coming from her own mama, hence both Mirai and Hiruko-sama taking on monstrous forms to Kaya-chan. Mirai's soul is empty while the monster in her womb is gathering curse energy and writhing in misery.

You say all of that as if it were factual, but it all looks like speculation to me.

 

[ClevrRaven]

• Umbilical cords. Minai would need two: one for Kaya and one for baby #2.
• Kaya umbilical cord: Probably Yoshi's because that look from Kaya at Mutsu looked like one of Yoshi's smiles.
• Kaya umbilical cord #2: Might be Nana's.
• Or maybe it's the other way around, since it's previously been said that the priestess eats the priestess umbilical cord, and Yoshi says that she expects Minai to eat Yoshi's umbilical cord.
• BIG PROBLEM: Number of priestess umbilical cords can only go down not up.

I don't know why you claim the math isn't mathing. 1 woman gets pregnant, consumes 1 umbilical cord for the baby to become a Hiruko-sama. Whatever happens to that baby, after the mother passes, there is still an umbilical cord, so there is net 0 changes in umbilical cords. I mean... Yoshie died, but her cord was meant for Mirai as a Womb-sama, so Yoshie's cord must have been collected, 1 cord goes into Yoshie, 1 cord comes out, net 0...

So after Kaya's birth, Kaya's own cord is what is used for the 2nd cursed womb.

 

[StormSen]

I don't know why you claim the math isn't mathing. 1 woman gets pregnant, consumes 1 umbilical cord for the baby to become a Hiruko-sama. Whatever happens to that baby, after the mother passes, there is still an umbilical cord, so there is net 0 changes in umbilical cords. I mean... Yoshie died, but her cord was meant for Mirai as a Womb-sama, so Yoshie's cord must have been collected, 1 cord goes into Yoshie, 1 cord comes out, net 0...

So after Kaya's birth, Kaya's own cord is what is used for the 2nd cursed womb.

It comes down to: 1) is there a difference between priestess cords and Hiruko cords?;

Scenario one: Only priestess to priestess cords work.

• Priestess wants to birth next priestess. She needs a cord that has the power of the god in it. So it needs to originate from a mother who was priestess. Priestess can use her own cord (the one between her priestess mother and herself).
• But what if something goes wrong with the child? Stillborn, dies young, etc.
• Now priestess can't produce a second priestess because she's already used up her single cord. And likewise her mother has no more left since her mother used her own cord to produce the current priestess.
• End of line. No more priestesses.

Scenario two: Same as above, but focusing on sisters.

• Current priestess has second child (but consuming cord, because that's already used up.)
• Now is there something special about that child's cord?
• If not, then there's no "Hiruko" cord, and there's nothing for any womb-sister to consume to create a cursed baby.
• If it is special, then it's a "potential Hiruko" cord, one from a priestess to an "ordinary" daughter. So, it can be consumed by one of the priestess' non-priestess daughters to produce a curse.
• Suppose more daughters are produced than curses are used. E.g. 5 daughters, 1st is priestess, other four are womb-daughters, but only 3 of those actually produce curses. So the generation produces 1 excess Hiruko cord, which can be stored for later use if necessary.

Interlude: Priestess cord vs Hiruko cord

• What if there's no difference between a priestess cord and a Hiruko cord? It doesn't matter if the child is becoming a new priestess, it only matters if the mother-origin of the cord is a priestess? I.e. the only difference between priestess and curse-birth is the gestation period.
• If that's the case then it solves the risk of scenario one since a cord from a second child of the previous generation can be used to create a new priestess in the current generation.
• It also strongly suggests that Kaya is a priestess just like the previous priestess'. (Although there is still the difference that her mother was not a priestess. (BTW, we know that Namu saw previous priestess as black-skinned, much like Kaya, which again strongly suggests that Kaya is just a priestess, albeit a powerful one.))

How about cords coming from non-priestess mothers?

• Mother is ordinary, so you would figure that the cords from them to their children would also be ordinary and should not have any power. (I.e. consuming them won't produce a priestess or a curse.)
• Alternatively they do have power, and you're looking a lot of potential priestess and Hiruko's (or at least Hiruko's) as new generations are born. Which we don't hear happening. Though this would spread the god-power pretty broadly, and presumably would cause problems.

That's a lot of scenarios, but as I said in my OP, the problem is resolvable in case all of cords originating from a priestess-mother are capable of producing at least a Hiruko. (Priestess mom still has to produce those excess children of course.)

 

[aliasfree]

It comes down to: 1) is there a difference between priestess cords and Hiruko cords?;

Scenario one: Only priestess to priestess cords work.

• Priestess wants to birth next priestess. She needs a cord that has the power of the god in it. So it needs to originate from a mother who was priestess. Priestess can use her own cord (the one between her priestess mother and herself).
• But what if something goes wrong with the child? Stillborn, dies young, etc.
• Now priestess can't produce a second priestess because she's already used up her single cord. And likewise her mother has no more left since her mother used her own cord to produce the current priestess.
• End of line. No more priestesses.

Scenario two: Same as above, but focusing on sisters.

• Current priestess has second child (but consuming cord, because that's already used up.)
• Now is there something special about that child's cord?
• If not, then there's no "Hiruko" cord, and there's nothing for any womb-sister to consume to create a cursed baby.
• If it is special, then it's a "potential Hiruko" cord, one from a priestess to an "ordinary" daughter. So, it can be consumed by one of the priestess' non-priestess daughters to produce a curse.
• Suppose more daughters are produced than curses are used. E.g. 5 daughters, 1st is priestess, other four are womb-daughters, but only 3 of those actually produce curses. So the generation produces 1 excess Hiruko cord, which can be stored for later use if necessary.

Interlude: Priestess cord vs Hiruko cord

• What if there's no difference between a priestess cord and a Hiruko cord? It doesn't matter if the child is becoming a new priestess, it only matters if the mother-origin of the cord is a priestess? I.e. the only difference between priestess and curse-birth is the gestation period.
• If that's the case then it solves the risk of scenario one since a cord from a second child of the previous generation can be used to create a new priestess in the current generation.
• It also strongly suggests that Kaya is a priestess just like the previous priestess'. (Although there is still the difference that her mother was not a priestess. (BTW, we know that Namu saw previous priestess as black-skinned, much like Kaya, which again strongly suggests that Kaya is just a priestess, albeit a powerful one.))

How about cords coming from non-priestess mothers?

• Mother is ordinary, so you would figure that the cords from them to their children would also be ordinary and should not have any power. (I.e. consuming them won't produce a priestess or a curse.)
• Alternatively they do have power, and you're looking a lot of potential priestess and Hiruko's (or at least Hiruko's) as new generations are born. Which we don't hear happening. Though this would spread the god-power pretty broadly, and presumably would cause problems.

That's a lot of scenarios, but as I said in my OP, the problem is resolvable in case all of cords originating from a priestess-mother are capable of producing at least a Hiruko. (Priestess mom still has to produce those excess children of course.)

There's functionally no difference between the umbilical cord of a priestess and that of Hiruko-sama. They explicitly state the process of birthing a priestess and a cursed child are the same. The only deciding differences is how long the baby gestates in the cursed womb and if the baby is delivered naturally and untouched by non-psychic hands. The longer the gestation period, the more powerful the priestess and it's always the eldest daughter who becomes a priestess. The priestess is supposed to be the one to give birth to future priestesses and Womb-samas. What Mirai did was accidentally give birth to the next generation priestess after failing to complete the ritual the first time. She never intended to live after giving birth to Kaya and thus she continued hiding from the rest of the family and never revealed she had given birth to a daughter, as it'd reveal the extent of her desire for revenge against the Ebisumori.
You don't need to devour an umbilical cord to create a Womb-sama, but you need one to create a priestess/Hiruko-sama. This is why Nana is psychic while Mirai is not. Mutsu had devoured an umbilical cord from the previous priestess to give birth to Nana, and presumably there isn't an umbilical cord for Nana to devour because Mutsu had intended to stop the sacrificial practices of the family with her kids. Mirai unfortunately discovered Yoshie's umbilical cord which is fundamentally similar to Mutsu's and thus prolonged the cycle accidentally. However, it's also possible that you only need to consume one cursed umbilical cord to create a cursed womb so that all children born from it are likely to be cursed into becoming priestesses/Hiruko-sama. The more I think about it, the less likely it's possible for Mirai to have acquired her own umbilical cord from giving birth to Kaya since she'd have been passed out and her husband knows nothing about her plan for suicidal revenge.

 

[Kaito57]

Come on, Mama !! You have every right to hate your family and to burn them down... but is it truly worth sacrificing Kaya !?