Volume 2 - CH 37

Chapter 2-.37. Zenki-village

The dawn has come.

I stayed awake for a day, but I didn't feel sleepy at all.

In my current condition, I may be able to stay up all night for about three days like what Uchikage did.

Everyone got up, had breakfast, and then continued their journey.

When the princess woke up in the morning, she seemed to make a noise because I wasn't by her side …….

This princess really needs a lot of attention.

What are you going to do if I'm gone …….

Well, just like that, I'm on the princess's shoulder, which is my fixed position.

I was asked by those two people last night to babysit her.

Alright, let's see what's going to happen..

"White snake-sama, princess, my lady. We can see it."

The castle was standing that looked like it was made from stone surrounded by trees in the direction that Tenda pointed.

The castle town spreads out beyond the water bridge gate, and there are many waterways.

Even across the castle town, you can see that the size of the castle and the size of the stone wall are ridiculously large.

Ichikuni Ichijo castle …… It was a place with such an image. (*Google it if you want to know about it, literally 1600'ish castle in japan)

And completely with Japanese architecture.

The castle is based on black color.

The number of castle towers is large and it can be spotted very easily from the combination with the white color of the stone wall.

The castle watchtowers look like it had 5 or 6 floor

It also has Karahafu* built in it, the form and the expression of the height of the formalism may be the same as in old Japan. *(Gable with a peculiar Japanese architecture, also like a caste status.)

However, unlike the castle pictured in the book, trees are intentionally planted to hide the castle.

The castle I saw in the previous life had few trees so that anyone could see the castle from the outside, but this one is the opposite.

According to one theory somewhere, trees were planted to hide the castle.

However, it seems that there were various opinions that allies would not be able to see the enemy, but ... Isn't it the castle tower for that purpose?

You might think it's the purpose for the tower, but I heard the guy who made this rarely holds an army meeting at the castle tower or actually climbs and commands the siege battle.

Mostly just to show his prestige, power, and military power?

I've heard the only one that has functionality usable is the warehouse, but ...

The one who is familiar with this area is the elderly, so I don't know the details.

There is a vast field outside the castle town, and we are walking there now.

The road is a little narrow, but if you are in a horse-drawn carriage, you can pass it without problem.

The onis in the field also waved their hands and greeted us as soon as they saw us.

Though, they are surprised to see me.

I'm used to it already.

"White snake-sama. This is Zenki-village. It's quiet because we haven't entered the castle area yet, but the outside of the castle is amazing!"

The princess happily explained to me.

Although it is quiet, there are also small huts and fine houses where farmers live.

From my point of view, I don't think it's such a lonely place.

Above all, there are many onis in the fields.

It seems that there are some woodcutters, and there are rivers, and there are onis who are building small ships.

It's completely different from the oni village I had in mind.

"Oh !? Is that you, Tenda! What's wrong!"

There was an oni that came up from the field while talking with a loud voice.

His kimono is tied with a sash and is easy to work with.

It has the same red horns as Tenda, and looks like Uchikage somehow.

It may be their relative because he calls Tenda so casually.

"It's been a long time, Den-sama."

"Huh! You're getting bigger again since the last time! What happened today?"

"It's a little complicated story."

When he was called out, he smiled, but at the same time as he started talking, he got a terribly serious look.

It seems that the oni called Den also noticed Tenda's atmosphere, and decided to listen to the story seriously by tightening his sullen expression.

"What happened"

"These are the survivors of our village."

"... I'll report to Raiki-sama right away. I'll go ahead and explain the situation. You guys are tired from the trip, please take a rest. You no need to worry because the inn will be prepared at the castle. Only you, Uchikage, Hisui, and Shimu are allowed to meet Raiki-sama. The others should take a rest. "

"Alright. Can the White snake-sama come with us?"

"White snake-sama? What are you saying? Do you still believe in that old folklo ── I understand. I'll tell you the story including that. Oi, you guys ! "

""Sir! Leave it to us ""

This oni who is called Den understands the situation very quickly.

Well, that would be better for us, so it's good.

Den left the place to others, and he immediately ran to the castle.

He disappeared suddenly on the way, but it must be me just seeing things.

"Everyone. Please endure it a little bit more. Let's go."

We are heading towards the castle.  The onis don't seem very tired, but that's just from the outside.

Actually, their mind and body are already tattered.

Like what Tenda said, they should take a rest as soon as possible.

We go through the fields and enter the castle town.

We stopped once in front of the main gate of the castle town, but it seemed that Den had told the guard about us, so we were able to pass without any problem.

The gate guard who is in charge is a big oni, I was frightened for a moment.

His height is twice of Tenda's

He is scary.

If he is equipped with a spiked bludgeon.

It was a perfect match for the oni I imagined.

When we entered the castle town, we came out on a narrow street.

This area seems to be a place with many cheap inns, and it is a little shabby.

When we went to the right and left without any hesitation in a place like a maze, we were able to get out to a big street immediately.

If it was just me, I would definitely be lost.

Various shops were lined up on the main street.

There are also many onis.

Starting with a kimono boutique, there are other stalls selling rice, miso, gold goods, weapon smith, etc., and I felt as if I had traveled back in time to the Edo period.

The princess's eyesight fell to the food stalls menacingly, probably because she hadn't had a decent meal lately.

The owner of the food stall is also a little scared.

Stop it, you need help.

Oh, there is a store that sells white snakes stuffed animals.

Isn't it very similar to me?

Therefore, no one was surprised or called out even when we entered a place with such a large number of people.

Maybe the current princess is seen as a child who bought a common white snake stuffed animal.

I think it's a good thing that we won't be stopped because of my existence.

By the way, what is Den from this our aide perspective?

I want to ask something.

I drew a figure with [Infinite Water Manipulation] to imitate Den's appearance, and put a question mark next to it.

The princess seemed to understand immediately, and she asked Tenda.

"Tenda. White snake-sama is asking who is Den."

"Den-sama? That person is my father's older brother."

Aah, I see.

That's why his face looked a little like Uchikage.

The thing is that Tenda has a face like his father.

"He is a very amazing person, though he looks like that. Although he is a vassal of Raiki-sama, who is a lord of this place, his role is cultivating fields with the people of this village in order to teach the agricultural techniques he has cultivated. I heard that he's fired because he seems to have tired from his job as a vassal. "

Den is a vassal?

He's a vassal, but he's cultivating the fields ... he's a great guy.

But isn't he really just don't want to work as a vassal?

He had a body type that liked to move around.

He doesn't seem suitable for a desk job.

I understand that a civilization would be better to have about one vassal.

It is not easy to listen to the voices of the people in the village by one person. (* Ie. Only head village without vassal)

There are quite a lot of people who are hard to control and won't listen to the head village demands..

Although if someone was able to manage the place, and that person didn't listen to the voice of the people, they wouldn't get the problem solved in one place.

He wouldn't be in that degree if he didn't work hard and didn't do his best at his job.

"But when he really wants to take care of something he'll be able to take care of it before anything else, that's why I'm really grateful for that."

When talking, it seemed that we had already come to the front of the castle gate.

Taken by a soldier in front of the castle gate, I, Tenda, the princess, Uchikage, and Shimu enter the castle.

It seems that other people will be taken to the inn.

There are various trees growing in the castle, but I get the impression that they are in good condition.

We climb the stairs made of stone and walk to the place where the castle owner, Raiki's place

This fortified palace is really vast.

We walked from there to here, but it took quite a while.

The road is not complicated, but there are many gates and many clever gimmicks were found.

At the gate, it was always designed so that horizontal arrows could be hung from the left and right.

It's a castle that requires a lot of manpower, but ... does this place have a large number of troops?

Otherwise, if it is made this way, a thin place will also be created.

From my point of view, this castle seems to be a castle that you can enter but hard to conquer. It's designed that way.

Of course, I didn't think about how to snuck in...

After the long walk.

Finally, we arrived at the place where the flatland palace is located.

This is also a very large palace.

There was the third enceinte on it, and it seemed that the innermost palace was there.

That place is probably the place where the Great Hall sleeps.

"This way"

A young oni will guide us.

The etiquette seems to be different from my previous life, but his behavior was so beautiful that I didn't see any waste movement.

When we followed him, he stopped in front of one sliding door and called out while standing.

"Raiki-sama, Den-sama. Tenda-sama's party has come."

"Get in"

I heard the voice of a person who was called sounds very intimidating.

The young oni opens the sliding door with one hand and then urges us to enter.

When we went inside, I saw something like a white paper, and it was something I had seen in my previous life.

There was a good figure of Den and an old man writing something with a brush.

He wore a gorgeous haori with bamboo on it, with two white horns extending from his forehead.

His body seems to be thin, and his hands are so thin that he might break if he puts a little effort into it.

However, his eyes were full of power and his gaze was very sharp.

This person, who is very dignified because it goes well with Japanese clothes, is probably Raiki.

“………… sit down”

A low voice urged us to sit on the cushion.

Everyone sat on the cushion uniformly after giving a light bow.