CH 45

”That’s odd, she’s not here either. What about you, Saito-sama?”

“I can’t see her either. I don’t have a clue.”

“Sigh….”

And thus, all people who went to this place were currently searching for One-Tailed, a youkai that seems to have escaped somewhere.

The lady of Togami Family, and black-clothes bodyguards and I were running around in the forest to follow her footsteps.

We came to the shrine where this One-Tailed was sealed, but the seal had already broken and the youkai had been released into the world.

Apparently, the young lady knew that the seal had been weakened, but she didn’t expect it to have been broken already.

From this point onwards, the Togami family will make an excuse, but it seems that they made the mistake of thinking that One-Tailed is the weakest among the great youkai, the nine-tailed family. After all, if it weren’t for them not tightly controlling it, she couldn’t escape on her own.

Of course, it can be understandable due influence of Nine-Tails which caused the seal to weaken, so it was right to make decision to defeat her right now, but it seems that we were too late.

It reasonable to think that she has already gone somewhere.

“I think we should make a plan first.”

“Yes, we certainly won’t get anywhere with this. Let’s take a break.”

Saying that, she asked the black-clothes bodyguards to prepare a portable chair for her to take a break.

Oh, those black-clothes guards are really reliable.

Not only did they anticipate that the young lady they served was tired and resting, but they also quickly held out the chair at the right time when she wanted to sit down.

There was no hesitation in their movements, it was truly wonderful.

The other black-clothed guards also seem to be preparing tea and snacks as well, doing their best to make sure that she can take a break without any inconvenience.

Huh~ So this is the level of a servant serving the Togami family?

Maybe the quality of each one of them is better than the Earl Garhart’s.

Of course, the other world side is overwhelming in terms of combat power, but the difference in caring is more pronounced on this side.

”Well, I guess I’ll eat some onigiri from the convenience store and take a break as well.”

I pick up the onigiri I took out of the dimensional storage, peel off the plastic and bring it to my mouth.

I carry it, but it’s not chewy.

“………Huh?”

What’s going on?

Somehow, the onigiri has disappeared.

I look around, but there is no sign of a dropped rice ball anywhere.

……..I’m not sure, but there’s no way around it if it’s disappeared.

I took out the other onigiri from the dimensional storage and this time, while staring at the onigiri carefully, I brought it to my mouth.

Then──

”(Soooo…)”

What happened then?

A hole appeared in the empty space and a small child’s hand reached out and grabbed my precious tuna mayo (120 yen including tax).

And yes, the onigiri be dragged into the hole.

“That’s crazy…”

“………Ugwuaa!?”

In order to protect the onigiri that was about to be dragged into the hole, I grabbed the child’s hand as it was being pulled back and started dragging it out in the opposite direction.

Sweet, you’re too sweet, onigiri thief.

I don’t know who you are, but if you want tuna mayo, buy it yourself!

“These onigiri are mine! If you take food from someone, you’re a thief! Do you understand the weight of these words!”

“Nuh-uh! For God’s sake, for God’s sake, share the food with me! I’ve just come out of the seal and the human city has been transformed and there are no animals or fruit in the forest! I’m going to starve to death if I don’t it!”

…What, sealed?

“Didn’t you say you just got out of the seal?”

I took a closer look at the child I had dragged out, and I saw fox ears protruding from her brown hair, and a fluffy tail hanging helplessly from his ass.

Don’t tell me this girl is……..

”……………………….What? Saito-sama, please stand back! She’s a youkai! And she’s probably the One-Tailed Fox we are targeting! The most powerful form of warding art, the Iron Prison!”

“My onigiri…..! Oh no, the Onmyouji, Onmyouji is here!”

I didn’t think it was possible, but it seemed to be a true one-tailed fox.

It’s just that, even if she don’t use such a warding technique, this girl probably doesn’t have the power to escape.

There is no fruit, let alone a food to eat, and it’s obvious that she’s wandering around here and is on the verge of starving to death.

Well, I don’t know what will do once she regain her strength, but as expected, beating down this weak child youkai with all the strength one can muster is somehow……..like bullying a weak thing.

I mean, she was really scared, after realized that Togami-san is an Onmyouji.

Maybe she’s been traumatized because she was sealed.

From what I’ve heard, she was the weakest of her family.

“Saito-sama, please leave quickly! Despite taking the form of a young girl, the youkai is endowed with unusual strength and deceptive wisdom!”

“No, what you’re saying!”

Although I didn’t let go of my hand that I had grabbed to keep her from escaping, I did a ‘stealing magic’ for a moment to test the youkai’s resistance, and it succeeded without a moment’s hesitation.

I’m afraid she would die if I steal it any more, but I think that probably this one-tailed fox, this youkai, isn’t my match, even if she has regained her power completely.

”For God’s sake! For God’s sake, please don’t kill me! I’m sorry I misbehaved so long ago! That was only because I was afraid of my mother, and I had no choice but to follow orders!”

“You fox of a b*tch! Trying to elicit sympathy from Saito-sama like that…! So smart!”

“No! That’s not true!!”

I can understand what they have to say very well.

I can understand the argument of One-Tailed, a youkai who worked under a powerful boss, and was hired like a horse for her life, and I can also understand the argument of Kuroko Togami, that she’s too wicked to ask for forgiveness after all the bad behavior she’s done.

Now, what is to be done?

…….Oh, come to think of it, there is one solution.

“Well, if this girl isn’t allowed here, I’ll expel her from Japan while she’s still weak. Yes, let’s do this.”

“What do you mean, Saito-sama?”

The young lady wondered what I just said, but the point is this:

I’ll take the One-Tailed home, store her in the dimensional storage as the loot, and take her to another world.

This way, she can escape from her powerful and treacherous boss, Nine-Tails, and it’s impossible for her to do anything bad in Japan anymore.

Even if she was lying and plotting to deceive me, her reliable boss is already far away in another world.

It’s a perfect plan, let’s go with it.

The question is whether or not the creature will be able to fit in the dimensional storage, but it’s probably not a problem.

That’s because the rice ball didn’t rot, and the fact that it didn’t rot means that time is standing still.

Furthermore, the fact that time is standing still means that there is no danger inside the dimensional storage, whether or not it affects her body.

Hmm, no holes anywhere.

“I can use a special seal, or rather power to repel, but I can only do it at home. I will do execute her, so it would be helpful if you can trust me and leave it to me here.”

“But, but…”

“The point is so she doesn’t do bad things anymore right? Then this shouldn’t be a problem. Of course, until then, I will not release the restraint and leave it in a debilitated state.”

Kuroko Togami seemed to think about it for a while, looking at me and One-Tailed, which no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t escape from my hands, and muttered a word, “I understand.”

It seems that I managed to gain her trust.

In time, I’ll make up for this debt by destroying other small-fry youkais.