Chapter 103.3

Chapter 103.3

[Part 3/4]

"...Princess Hina?"

"Wha?! No, I'm sorry. I was reminded of something from the past. It's nothing. There's no problem. ...You don't need to kneel. I want to talk to you while looking into your eyes."

While maintaining silence as if her mind was elsewhere, Hina suddenly smiled as if she had returned to her senses at the second call, then let go of my shoulders. She distanced herself from me and made that request. To talk while looking into her eyes. It was the same request she made when I woke up in her room after the incident in Hotoya Village.

"Y-yes..."

"I see. Sorry. I always end up being selfish with you."

"Well..."

I responded to her proposal, feeling perplexed but having no other choice. Hina nodded amiably in response. Her reaction only deepened my confusion.

That's right. To be honest, I was confused. The atmosphere was too strange and incomprehensible. I didn't understand why she, why Hina, was here. I didn't even understand why she had such an expression or why she made such a request...

"Hehehe. There's no need to be so afraid. We used to play together a lot. Despite our respective positions... it's fine to be a little more relaxed in an empty place, right?"

I widened my eyes at Hina's words. I was dumbfounded. Fearfully, I looked at her and opened my mouth.

"P-Princess Hina? Does that mean... does your statement mean...?"

"Hehe. That's why there's no need to be afraid... I understand. In your position, you can't freely say this or that, right? It doesn't matter. I have only one thing I want to convey: I don't hold any ill will towards you. I don't have the slightest grudge against you. That's all."

"...Yes."

I kept my response short and concise to Hina's calm voice. At the same time, I felt a weight lifted from my chest, and a sense of relief washed over me.

Yes, it was something I already knew. Given Hina's personality, it was only natural. She wasn't the kind of person who would cling to childhood memories forever. However, even so...

(It's true, there's a difference when things are said clearly.)

I sighed softly, feeling relieved. I felt saved.

"Well, why are you here, sneaking around like this in the thicket? Is something wrong?"

"Um, well..."

But my relief turned into a predicament in the face of Hina's observation. I became visibly flustered. This was something that Hina, based on her character, would not immediately dispose of or seal away if the truth were spoken...

"Um..."

"Um?"

"So, um..."

"So?"

Hina's gaze, filled with curiosity, pondered. She...

"...uh, well... I was... pleasuring myself (か皮つるみ/peeling of my skin)."

In a split-second decision, a spur-of-the-moment excuse slipped out of my mouth, and I repeated the same mistake once again...

* * *

Hina and I strolled around, pretending to patrol the area around the guarded territory.

"It's quite a rich forest. It would make good farmland if it were cleared."

In response to my suggestion, Hina placed a hand on her chin, lost in thought. She considered it carefully. After stealing a glance at me, she made her decision.

"All right, understood. ...Let's begin the extermination now."

"Yes! ...Huh?"

As I agreed with Hina's declaration, I was taken aback by her immediate response. It was a lightning-fast decision, an instant judgment.

"Come, Kouyo."

"Ah..."

Frozen in shock, my thoughts came to a halt, but Hina called out, disregarding me. In the next moment, Kouyo descended straight from the sky. It appeared before us.

"...!?"

It was only natural to take a step back in fear.

It exuded a sinister and majestic aura. The golden-scaled divine dragon coiled around, encircling Hina and me multiple times.

Kouyo, the sacred dragon that the Onitsuki family had inherited for generations, an incomplete divine dragon owned by the Fusō-kuni under the exorcists' umbrella, was one and the same. I was overwhelmed by its overwhelming presence. It was awe-inspiring.

"It's the nearby lake. I'm counting on you."

Hina's words were met with a high-pitched cry from the dragon. It was a response of agreement. Hina nodded in response to the dragon's attitude as a matter of course, then stepped on the dragon's head and climbed aboard.

"What's wrong? Get on quickly."

"Huh!? W-Well... but..."

As Hina called me over while turning around, I hesitated to step forward. The sheer magnitude of the dragon's presence was overwhelming, and its gaze pierced through me directly. The slight trembling of its throat could be interpreted as a threat. I even had the impression that if I took a single step forward, it would simply devour me.

"Kouyo."

'Grrrrr...'

In response to Hina's call, which sounded almost reproachful, the dragon growled for a moment. With narrowed eyes, it fell silent.

"...He's temperamental. But it's fine now. Come."

"...I see."

I had no means to refute Hina's call once again. Fearfully, I stepped on the dragon's snout. The dragon briefly snorted in a rough manner, but that was the extent of its reaction. I held my breath, slowly lifted my other foot, and...

"Hurry up, time is of the essence."

"Whoa...!?"

Immediately after, my arm was grabbed and forcefully pulled towards Hina. As I stumbled, Hina wrapped her arms around my waist and drew me close. We were in close contact.

"He-heh, don't be so scared. Aren't you a man?"

"W-Well, I believe you are a princess, Hina-sama...?"

I responded with a tense expression to Hina's teasing words. She seemed slightly miffed.

"A princess, huh? That doesn't suit me. ...Then, what do you want to do? Should we take off? Shall I support your body?"

"No, what about clinging to one of those horns?"