Chapter 56.1

Chapter 56.1

A sudden and violent thunderous boom echoed through the cave, and it was obvious what it meant.

The humans began to attack... and in response, the spider youkai monster that had been scattered throughout the vast cave began to move in unison. At the command of their lord, transmitted through the vibrations of their threads, they gather one after another toward one of the tunnels into which the humans are invading.

The spider, which is the size of a human, was also moving through the den to intercept the humans, like countless of its brethren. The next moment, however, the spider stops at the presence.

'......?'

The spider, sensing the faint presence of spiritual power with its sixth sense as a youkai, tilted its head first. It was because it was unnatural.

Spiritual energy... it is not strange to feel it. This cave is located at the edge of the spiritual vein of this land, so there is a thin spiritual atmosphere in the air. Therefore, it is not unnatural in itself. However, is this spiritual power somehow different from that of this land?

The spider slowly moves toward the source of the presence with its eight legs. The presence came from behind a membrane of spider silk threads attached to the rock surface. The spider deftly uses its paws to peel away the membrane. But then...

"Sorry, that's enough. You'll scare the brats away."

The next moment, a voice echoes from the side, and the spider tries to turn around as quickly as possible. But it was too late. The spider was grabbed from above and its face was crushed, unable to resist. It could not struggle or even wriggle.

If it had been an ordinary small knife (kogatana), it would have been neutralized so easily. However, the Dagger (tantō) with a cherry blossom pattern engraved on its handle was a little... well, quite unusual.

That pattern was a curse which seeped out of the dagger's suspiciously gleaming blade and invaded the spider's entire body. A curse that had been carefully concocted, layered, and mixed with the resentment of the many monsters who had reaped the lives of others... It bound not only the body of the target, but also the soul.

"All right, you guys. Let's drag this guy to the hiding place!"

The spider, still conscious though its body was convulsing, looked on. It was a human thrusting a dagger into itself. A man in all black with a Hannya mask. It rolled up the membrane of spider threads and commanded the smaller humans who were hiding on the other side of the membrane. Ñ00v€l--ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

"Intruders? I have to tell my friends, I have to tell my master..." But the spider's attempts are crushed. Its paralyzed and restrained body could not communicate the situation to its brethren through the vibrations of its threads, nor could it produce a pheromone-laden secretion.

The spider is dragged in like an object. The two small human figures hiding in the cave seemed to be intimidated by the sight. On the other hand, the man with a Hannya mask pulls out a dagger (tantō) that is still stuck in the spider's head.

'......!!!?'

The spider twitched again with a violent shock as he pulled it out. The dagger (tantō) is pulled out with its string hanging down. But that was not the end of it.

"Well, it's easier to drain the blood out of a spider like this when it's still fresh. ...Let's get to work quickly."

The man muttered as if he was working without any hesitation. And the spider, who did not have the wisdom to understand human language but understood the general meaning from the atmosphere, however... there was no other possible way now that its whole body was paralyzed.

Therefore, the spider would only have to spend its few remaining hours of life experiencing an indescribable hell at the hands of the human being in front of it...

...

...

After Hayama leaves the hiding place according to the plan, I capture one of the passing spider youkai monsters and process it. The purpose was to collect its bodily fluids as an improvised odor-eliminator to drown out human smells. For that purpose...

"What...? Why of all places did it have to be this color? Isn't it weird? Aren't spiders supposed to be green or something?"

I was grunting as I was cutting the spider youkai monster's belly. To tell the truth, this was unexpected.

I had prepared myself for green or blue bodily fluids. But when the time came, the color of the bodily fluid dripping from the monster's intestines betrayed the expectations of everyone present. After all...

"White, cloudy, and also unpleasantly sticky. ...Wait a minute, isn't this too explicit?"

I take one look at the viscous bodily fluids clinging to Dagger (tantō). That's crazy, right? Those guys I cut down in the woods didn't look like this, did they? And what's this smell, anyway? What's this horrible smell? Isn't this the kind of event the creator of the game had planned for!?

'....It's probably a different kind of smell. I remember reading about it in the literature. It is said that the ground spider (Tsuchigumo) can produce a household according to its role, like the queen ants. I think this is a household that mainly produces threads. As you can see, there is a fiber-like substance in the bodily fluid. So I think that this body fluid is the source of the thread.'

The bee shikigami answered in my ear. Oh, thank you for your calm explanation. But then there's a hint of disgust in your tone, right? You're not fully convincing me.

"......"

I turn my gaze from Dagger (tantō) to the boy and the girl. Shirowakamaru looks away. Well, I guess that's natural. Then the girl tilts her head, not really understanding what I'm saying. In a way, it was a blessing.

"Uh, that's right. You know, first come, first served. But I'll take responsibility. I'll be the first one to do it. ...So watch me. And, for time being, make up your mind."

With that, I look at the white bodily fluid. It was a little foamy, probably from stirring it a bit with the Dagger (tantō). By the way, it was also giving off a foul smell.

"...! Ugh, d*mn it!"

I spat out as if I had made up my mind to do so, and then I scooped up some white-colored bodily fluids with my Dagger (tantō) and smeared them on my outfit. What is this feeling!? How disgusting!!

"Ugh..."

Shirowakamaru was obviously taken aback. Stop it, don't look at me like that. I don't like it either. I mean, you do it too, don't you?

"D*mn it... Is this okay here? Here, you'd better get yourself ready."

After covering my outfit with a thick white slime to a certain extent, I twist my hand into the intestines of the dead spider and scoop up some mucus, which I offer to Shirowakamaru. Shirowakamaru stared at it, and his face became tight. I know how you feel, but please hurry up. There has been a steady stream of bodily fluids on the ground since a few minutes ago.

"......"

"Hey, are you sure? A toy like that won't do much for a small youkai, let alone a medium youkai or larger, will it?"

"It's just a dewdrop. Our techniques won't work against a kappa any more than they would against a spider. They're hiding and waiting for us. It's all right if we can get rid of them."

Uemon, sitting on a custom-made stool and fanning his face with a fan, replies.

The man who had led the raiding party in a brawl with logs in his hands before coming here was sweating profusely, perhaps from exhaustion, and was wiping it off with a hand towel. After the Rikyoshu (Researcher Group) had cleared the area, and after the scouts and the hidden group had completed their reconnaissance of the interior, they would advance to the den as the first group of the strike team.

"By the way, old man Uemon, you did a good job. I didn't know you could move like that."

Touya asked the elder of his family in pure amazement. Although Kizuki Uemon, the elder of the Kizuki clan and the head of the hidden group, had been regarded as a financier and a political strategist, Touya had not expected that this man, who was far removed from the actual battle among his family members, could be so capable.

"Hmph, no need for flattery. It's just brute force after all. I don't have any special skills. I understand that I have no tricks up my sleeve."

Uemon sniffs and dismisses him. Uemon's physical strengthening will be effective enough against the masses of youkai, or against special youkai such as kappa, for whom spiritual techniques are ineffective.

But that is all. Some of the highest-level youkai cannot be defeated by physical combat, and some of them do not have a physical body to begin with. Uemon, who has only physical means of attack, is powerless against such an opponent, and even more so against a being like a demon (oni), whose body has extraordinary robustness.

And if many of youkai have the power to kill someone at first sight, Uemon, who specializes only in strengthening his body, has many weak points. And yet, he still had to fight on the front line of defeating this den.

"If Madam Kochou is captured. I have to be at the forefront to convince others. The prestige of Kizuki is at stake."

The adviser/representative of the Kizuki delegation, who is as famous as Miyataka among the exorcists participating in the raiding party, has been taken prisoner. In order to retrieve her or only her body, Kizuki suggested that they join forces with their relatives and other families that had suffered casualties in the recent expedition to attack the den, and the raiding party eventually complied.

Some of the families who were to join the raiding party said that they would have to make new preparations, but Kizuki pushed them aside. It was only natural that Uemon, who was second in command of Kizuki's dispatch team, should take the lead. Of course, Uemon himself was concerned about his mother's safety. Therefore, it was necessary for him to do his unfamiliar work in the field.

"Anyway, I am not important. The problem is the rest of Kizuki. You must take it easy. ...But, by the way, I hear there's a problem with the servants."

"Hmm? Well... it's not that big a deal. The Yun-shoku is missing and there's some confusion about the transfer. It seems there's a hierarchy in place, so the next in charge has been decided..."

"Hmph, I guess so. He's smart in the strangest ways. I'm sure he's covered for that. He's very cunning."

Uemon sniffs grimly, and Tohya gives him a doubtful look.

"I don't know it very well, but are you acquainted with that Yun-shoku?"

"Hmm? ...Well, it was a long time ago. It's none of our business now."

Uemon's frown and the way he said something gave the impression that he didn't want to say anything more.

(I'm afraid he would have hated me if I had pursued the matter any further...)

Touya was aware that the topic of Yun-shoku had become a kind of taboo for Kizuki.

Younger generations like Touya and Ayaka do not know much about it. He only knew that to the elders of Kizuki, that servant was an object of hostility and hatred. And yet the strange thing is that he is still alive to this day, kept as a servant of Kizuki Aoi, the princess of the family, and most of all...

(...He and I have already become estranged from each other.)

Touya remembers that a former friend of his, who now belongs to a hidden group, was concerned about the man. He did not give any details, but Touya still remembered the time when he left Touya and Ayaka.

(I want you to help me if something happens, right? I think that's usually for me).

He was still a good-natured guy, Touya thought about his missing old friend. Ayaka has been searching for him throughout the expedition, but he is still missing. But... that old friend is not a fool, even if he is not a very worldly man. Nor did he seem like the kind of guy who would go down so easily.

"...I wouldn't have thought it possible, but maybe we've bumped into each other..."

"Hmm? What did you say?"

"No, I was just talking to myself."

Touya looks around, trying to fool Uemon, who has a doubtful expression on his face. At the entrance of the den, the Rikyushu (Researcher group) had returned to the ground after completing the incineration work to some extent, and the servants of each family had started to enter one after another to investigate the inside of the den and eliminate the traps. Among them were the servants of Kizuki's family. As one of the three largest families of exorcism in the northern region, it was only natural that the number of their servants was large, although they were short on manpower compared to the area under their jurisdiction. But...

"Hmm? What is that?"

Among the black-clad group, Touya recognized some strange figures. One was obviously a child, with a fox-like tail sticking out of a gap in her clothes. And the other one is a girl who is carrying a bow that is obviously too good quality for a servant, and who is looking around with a restless look on her face.

"Hey, hey, that idiot, if she's going to blend in, she'd better do it better..."

The purpose is known. She has been searching for people ever since she volunteered to accompany them on this expedition. The reason she's blending in with the servants is probably to find her as quickly as possible. But there are other ways...

"D*mn, this is a pain in the ass..."

"? Where are you going? We haven't finished checking out the servants yet, have we?"

Uemon asks Touya as he is about to leave. Exorcists are valuable, and wasting their spiritual power on a bunch of small fry is not honorable.

"Look, I'm not going that deep. I'm just going to get used to it a little bit."

With his sword on his shoulder, Touya steps into the dark cave...

* * *

"Well, well... I said to myself, 'Let's go...,' but we ran into a problem right away..."