CH 4.2

For the note, it is surprisingly difficult to kill even a "small Youkai" with a single blow using ordinary weapons. Therefore, it is a common practice to strengthen a weapon or body by pouring spiritual power into it. In my case, I do not strengthen the whole weapon or the whole body, but only the necessary parts such as the handle or the edge of the weapon, or the joints and muscles of the body by instantaneously pouring spiritual power into them, which is not my original idea but the original main character's idea.

"Ayaka-sama, there are too many enemies than expected. I think we should evacuate."

I throw two kunai from my pocket, which hit the head of a big rat that was trying to jump on us in the fog, and smashed its skull. These rats were a mass of germs, and their bites and scratches would cause infection and trouble later on.

"But in this fog...!!"

"Tsk, I forgot...!"

I click my tongue. This fog is made up of youkai energy that probably makes people lose their sense of direction... So, no matter how much we run away as long as this fog is there...!!

'Oh, are you in trouble? I can't help it, I don't want you to die here. So, I'll adjust the difficulty level a little for you.'

A moment later, I heard a whispering, amused, yet sticky voice in my ear. This voice sounded familiar to me.

At the same time, a rumbling sound echoed in the distance, and instantly the thick fog began to fade away.

"Eh!? What was that sound...!?"

"This is... the fog has weakened! Everyone, let’s retreat from here while protecting Ayaka-sama...!"

The sudden noise confuses the exorcist, but I order my colleagues to evacuate the area. Naturally, the leader of the group is me, the one with the most fighting strength among the surviving servants.

'Roarrrrr!!!'

However, out of the light fog came a leaping tiger... no, it’s not a tiger. It was a huge monster cat that could easily have been mistaken for a tiger. Tigers are only found on the continent.

"Tsk!!"

Fortunately, the fog has thinned out. If the fog had remained thick, I wouldn't have been able to react. So, I could catch the monster's attack with the hilt of my spear. But it was one step short and the monster tries to crush me with its weight. Damn...!

"Don't you dare!!"

At this moment, I used my right hand to blind the monster in front of me. Just for this kind of situation, I extended the nails of my index and middle fingers. I poured spiritual power into the tips of the nails to make them harder and smashed the eyeballs of the monster cat.

For a moment, I was relieved, but then a quick weasel, a monkey, and a frog, the other "small Youkai," came around behind me. They jump on me at almost the same time...

"Watch out!!"

At the same time as that cry, the heads of the monsters, which consisted of weasels and monkeys, splattered. Ayaka's arrow struck them from a distance away. But...

"Ah..."

The third shot, perhaps out of impatience, just passed right by a frog the size of a big dog.

'Shaa!!'

But, I could deflect a high-speed tongue strike with my spear, and I succeeded in preventing my head from being crushed. However, it could not be deflected completely, and my left shoulder was slashed off. Although the black robes worn by the servants are woven with threads woven with spiritual power and covered with a simple protective spell, they are only mass-produced items and are better than nothing.

"Don't show your disgusting tongue...!!"

I spun my spear and severed the tongue extending from above. But then, with a strange cry, the frog creature spits something purple out of its large mouth. The color of the spit tells me it's a bad one.

"Ggh...!?"

I quickly take off my black robe and use it as a shield to protect myself from the liquid. As expected, the black robe covered with the purple liquid melted in a flash.

"Don't spit that filthy thing out too...!!"

I stabbed the monster frog in the mouth with my spear and killed it. However, there was a presence behind me. I turn around and fling my spear to the side. At the same time, a huge mantis scythe slices thinly across my chest. But I returned it with a flash of the spear slices up and down through the mantis's body.

"Haa, haah, damn it...!?"

The dying mantis looks in the direction from which its allies have retreated. It was a thin mist, but no shadow could be seen. Maybe I can find them by looking for their footprints... but there seems to be no time to look at the ground carefully.

"Everyone, you have to run away with Ayaka-sama...!"

There's no way a single servant like me can handle all the monsters that keep coming. So, I take out a flashbang filled with gunpowder from my pocket and throw it into the oncoming crowd of monsters.

With a loud flash and explosion, I run out. The flashbang is not very deadly, but the loud noise and light temporarily confuse the monsters. But that's only possible against small fry. Against the higher-ranked monsters, it's not even enough to slow them down...

Still, I run desperately through the fog, clutching my wounds. Of course, it doesn't feel good. But I was sure that the monsters would give priority to me because of the smell of blood and my isolation. So I had to run to get as much distance as possible. I ran as fast as I could without making a sound with my legs and lungs filled with spiritual power.

Desperately, so desperately... I guess that's why the visibility was obscured by the fog. No, I couldn't think that far at this point, but I guess the main reason was "that"...

"Haah, hahhh... Whoaa!"

The next moment, I sprained my foot on a tree root and fell down into a vertical cave which I realized I had come too far...

－ －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

"Fortunately or unfortunately... bad luck is good, huh? This situation..."

I muttered to myself as I was half-naked in a dark cave, trying to stop the bleeding in the wounds on my shoulder and chest.

I could have fallen into the cave and died, but luckily there was a lake at the bottom of the cave. Once there, the smell of my blood and sweat was gone, and I fled to the back of the cave without leaving the ground and decided to camp among the rocks. I made no fire, and the only light I could see was the starlight from the ceiling of the cave.

"Ouch... sh*t, don't get infected, would you? There's no such thing as penicillin these days."

The wound is washed, disinfected, and covered with a cloth. This is all the treatment available today. Although medical technology is supposed to be advanced to a greater extent than it is in the present age, perhaps because of the presence of monsters, it is meaningless without goods. No, there is no reason to devote so many medical resources to disposable servants.

"Well, that's how I've survived until today."

I mutter to myself as I look at my body, which is covered with scars. Even though I have a half knowledge of my previous life, there is a big difference between having medical knowledge and not having medical knowledge. Thanks to this knowledge, I have been able to survive even though I have been injured almost to death several times. Of course, this is not only the medical knowledge, but also the understanding of spiritual power and techniques, the abilities and characteristics of the monsters, and the relationships among the Kizuki family members. After all, the servants are under strict control of information, and it is difficult to obtain accurate information.

"The fog is getting thinner and thinner..."

The fog, which was probably the work of a monster, is clearing up, probably because it is nighttime, but that is not the only reason. The sound during the battle, that creepy whisper in my ear, and my knowledge of the original story... the answer is easy to find if I only have the time and the mental capacity to think calmly.

"...Shall I sleep?"

I sewed back on the light white clothes I had put on under my black robe... though they were already stained reddish-black... as a first aid measure, and then, with my spear in my hand, I put my back against a rock, spread salt around me to create a simple boundary, and closed my eyes...

*

At three o'clock in the morning, the time when the monsters are the most fierce and powerful of the day, it appeared.

A black fog. Or perhaps a miasma. It slipped easily through the boundaries that the servants had set up, corroding and disabling the salt that protected them from the evil air.

And when the black miasma finds the servant, it gradually solidifies in one place, creating a shadow that resembles a human silhouette.

'......'

For a few seconds, the shadow stares at the sleeping servant, and then it begins to walk slowly. When it comes in front of the servant, the shadow approaches the servant's face and starts to walk...

"....What are you trying to do, monster?"

I ask, thrusting the blade of my spear at the shadow's neck. I thought this monster would come to me after I fell asleep, considering its personality.

'Oh, come on, isn't that terrible? I was just about to give you a medicine of my own making...'

The shadow that emits black Youkai energy speaks in a boyish tone. Though its tone is friendly, the words of a monster are not to be trusted in the first place, especially this one, if people in this world know who this monster is, they will either run away or try to kill it. Unless someone is a very famous exorcist, they will be beaten back and eaten.

And, as I know the original game of this world, my distrust is even stronger. So why is this monster coming close to me, whose taste is not its taste? If it's only the ring finger of my left hand, you can eat it now. But, please, will you stay away from me forever?

"Isn’t that a terrible thing to say? I'm not here to eat you. Let's be more friendly to each other."

The shadows condense together, take on a distinctly human shape, and begin to take on color.

It was a beautiful blue woman. She had long blue hair and blue eyes as well and was dressed in priest's clothes designed to look like a mendicant monk. However, the color of the dye is blue. She wears a bamboo hat on her head to hide her origin. She is as tall as a large man and has thin features, but her bosom is moderately curved. From the in-game stills, she is probably neither big nor poor, but beautiful. And although I won't say this, what stands out the most is the huge anchor she carries on her back...

"What the hell are you talking about? Haven't you been eating enough of them?"

I turn unfriendly with my spear at the ready. Anyone would have done so, considering her past behavior, and her crazy personality would have preferred it. I can't tell how many first-time players have been seduced by her friendly attitude and treated her as a heroine, only to have the game end with the death of the hero.

"Well, well, anyway, aren't you hungry? I only have a handful of rice, but I'm carrying it with me. Won't you eat with me? It's not the brown rice you servants always eat, it's Ginshari (cooked white rice)."

With a smile, the woman sits down in front of me naturally. Then she takes off her bamboo hat. From her head, I could see two thick, scarred horns curving up from her head.

"Here, eat up. I have a plum paste, kelp, and bonito too. It’s delicious, you know. Oh, are you thirsty, too? I have a water bottle ready for you."

Seriously… this cowardly, sneaky, arrogant, selfish, and crazy creature declared with a comfortable, good-natured smile?

And for the note, this ‘Calamity Youkai’ is called Aoko the Red-haired Blue Demon (Akagami Aoko Douji)... Her name was so infamous in the capital that the emperor himself had issued an imperial order to defeat her. Moreover, her misdeeds and misbehaviors had made her the most hated of all the game fans.