CH 95.4

I intervene to prevent her from escalating the situation through physical force. Things couldn't get any worse than they already are. The surroundings are filled with a tense and ominous atmosphere...

"..."

In the midst of that silence, Hikorokurō is the first to move. He slowly approaches us.

"...!"

"Don't come any closer!! What are you planning to do?!"

Iruka and Shiro both become wary of the approaching Hikorokurō. Shiro, in particular, directs a sharp gaze at him and emits obvious anger. Before I can try to calm her down, Hikorokurō, who squats down right in front of me, opens his mouth.

"The arrowheads are designed to pierce through. The crossbows we use in the corps prioritize armor-piercing capabilities for human targets, rather than being specifically for yokai. Poison? Don't worry, we don't use that when making threats."

Ignoring Shiro's hostile gaze, Hikorokurō calmly explains. Then, looking at my wound, he continues.

"Do you want me to pull out the arrow?... But seriously, you're still a monster. Dodging it is one thing, but it's a crossbow with armor-piercing arrowheads. Why didn't it pass through your hand?"

"If you're surprised by this much... you're useless! My boss would have just grabbed it with one hand!"

In fact, Gorilla-sama would have done it normally, throwing it back and literally pulverizing the opponent.

"Seriously? Unbelievable... Alright, I'll pull it out!"

"Yeah, come on! ...Ugh, gahh!!?"

With Hikorokurō's declaration, intense pain assails me, and dark red blood gushes out, along with the bloody arrow being pulled out. Iruka proceeds to disinfect the area, while Shiro tearfully wraps a cloth around it as a makeshift bandage. Naturally, the cloth quickly turns red... Ew, gross.

"Hey, Hikorokurō!? What the hell are you doing? You're not treating these guys, right..."

"You're being annoying, Gonta! Besides..."

Scolding the spear bearer, Hikorokurō heads toward the crossbowmen. And one by one, he delivers blows.

"Ouch!"

"Ugh, what the hell are you doing!?"

"What the hell am I doing?! You shot without permission, scaredy-cat! Thanks to you, it's a complete mess! Are you saying you want to fight those monsters called Namahage by yourselves? Huh?!"

As Hikorokurō shouts such insults at the confused crossbowmen, they become unable to respond. Then, they glances at us briefly, their eyes avoiding us with a complex expression.

On the side, with a click of the tongue at their attitude, Hikorokurō rests the sword he had been holding on his shoulder and looks at us. He then declares indignantly,

"...Yeah. You're right. It's frustrating, but we can't handle this alone. It seems we have no choice but to rely on your help for now. You b*stards!!"

Kicking the snow at his feet, Hikorokurō reluctantly accepts the unpleasant reality. Then he says to us:

"Try to deceive me next time. I won't hesitate to smash your head in without any questions asked."

"That's fine... but... gahh... are you okay with this? Haah... haah... I thought I might lose a finger or something?"

In reality, considering the mess we made, I had prepared myself for something like that. Well, for Shiro, it would be within an acceptable range, but still.

"Do you think I'd waste time on something pointless like that right before facing a monster? Besides, that injury is probably worse than losing a finger. ...And, are you guys satisfied now? For now, let's call it even. I don't think they're the kind of people who seek revenge just because some strangers died, right?"

Hikorokurō glances at my left hand, still dripping fresh blood despite the effort to stop it, and shouts at his comrades. The remaining three exchange glances... one reluctantly, and one with a bitter expression, respond to his words.

"That seems to be the case. You should be grateful."

"Well, it's... fortunate, I guess."

Enduring the pain, I give a wry smile and rise with the support of Iruka and Shiro.

"I'm sorry for the rush, but we don't have much time. If you have a plan, explain it to us clearly."

"Right... In that case, we'll need a map. Shiro, prepare a map in the tent."

"Yes, yes!"

In response to my instructions, Shiro jumps up with a pale face and rushes off. I silently apologize inwardly for showing her something terrifying. From Shiro's perspective, I must have seemed like I would vomit, or that she was going to be killed, or have a sword pointed at her throat. She was clearly the victim here. After this commotion is over, I'll have to apologize.

...If we can survive until then.

"Heh... Iruka, take me to the tent."

"...Yeah."

Thinking about what lies ahead, I chuckle coldly, and Iruka reluctantly but calmly responds to my request by lending me her shoulder. I silently grumble to myself that it would be nice if she were always this obedient and serious. And then...

"Old man, can I count on your cooperation as well?"

'...'

Without a word, the hummingbird responds to my request by calmly perching on my shoulder. I narrow my eyes.

(A schemer, huh?)

I silently praise the hummingbird in my mind. I don't believe for a second that the commotion that broke the silent standoff earlier was a mere coincidence.

I did see it for sure. In that moment, I saw the illusion cast upon the crossbowmen through the hummingbird's eyes... Well, the exorcists are truly psychopaths, after all.

(Well, whatever. I managed to get through that situation with my injured left hand.)

At worst, there was a possibility that I would receive some kind of penalty in Shiro's place. It wasn't exactly pleasant in terms of curses or ethics. After all, I'm not a perfect person either. At this moment, I would willingly accept this level of harm.

"Alright, let's go."

With this, we've settled things for now, and in silence, we head towards the tent along with Hikorokurō's voice.

'Kekeke, it's turning into quite an interesting development, isn't it? ...Well, since you raised the difficulty level yourself, I'll give it passing marks this time, shall I?'

...Unfortunately, no one noticed the sinister laughter of the demon (oni) in the darkness of the night.

* * *

"That's it."

In the 13th year of Emperor Seiri's reign, on the early morning of the 9th day of the 12th month, from a slightly elevated hill that offered a panoramic view, he, Kamui, finally caught sight of the capital of Hieda County with his naked eyes. As his gaze fixed upon it, a smile spread across his face. Then, as if remembering something, he quickly glanced behind him for a few moments, on guard.

"Too bad, it seems they didn't make it in time."

Well, if that's the case, it means less work for him, and his superiors have anticipated such possibilities, so there shouldn't be any issues. But above all else...

"...But it really is troublesome. Why is it that these Earth Mother Goddess lineage folks always act so freely?"

Just beside him, Kamui sighed with exasperation as he observed Yamanba, wearing a smile, playing with several villagers and merchants they happened to encounter on the outskirts of the capital city. Kamui felt no sympathy or interest in the resounding horrifying screams or the fate of those people. All he had to consider was how to handle the job request from his superiors and how to get this Yamanba monster motivated.

...In that case, there's no choice but to proceed.

"It's just a prelude until that moody lady takes the stage. Well, I didn't want to keep this monster around forever anyway."

Muttering such things, Kamui activated his ability. A dark shadow extended from the ground beneath him. Then he uttered, "Release the burden," and let it go.

"Now, it's your turn, you little brats. It also affects my performance evaluation. Go wild as much as you can, will you?"

Nonchalantly, or perhaps irresponsibly, Kamui goaded the hundreds of monsters that emerged from the shadows...

Brief truth

Old Man: "It seems like it will take some time, so let's provoke a little explosion. Well, I'll make sure it doesn't hit the mark perfectly."

Oni: "What's that? Boring. I'll change it to a direct hit course."

Old Man: "..."

Note: If the protagonist's actions are disliked by the demon, there will be a forced bad ending by the Blue Demon.