Chapter v9-epilogue-3

Chapter v9-epilogue-3

[Part 3/4]

"But, I really don't want to mess with a god ten times... guuuh!!?"

Right after criticizing myself, I kneel down. I'm gasping and groaning in pain. Damn it!! That damn spider... it didn't suck my blood!?

"Hyiii... guuuh, guuuh...!!?"

I'm forcing my rebellious body to obey. I take out a seal case (inro) from my pocket and hold its contents. A pill. A dark pill with a reddish tint. A pill for the heart.

"Guuuh...!!?"

With a sense of apology, I swallow it. It's horribly bitter and sharp. The taste makes me nauseous. But I endure it, chewing it, and swallow it whole.

It's not an option to throw up. Considering what she sacrificed, what Hina paid for this pill, I can't just get rid of it...

* * *

...For a while now, Gorilla-sama's pills have been used to suppress my youkai-ization. Surprisingly, I never really paid attention to what they were made of. I knew they used valuable and expensive ingredients, but I never bothered to dig into the specifics. So, I didn't know just how much suffering I had caused my former friend.

On the day I got this crazy task in Shiromoku-kan city, Hina came with me. That's when I found out the sacrifices she had made.

And then, facing a tough challenge of taking down a divine being hidden in treacherous mountains... The head of the family and his wife assigned me this job. They gave me the equipment I needed, but right after that, they took away the idiotic spider. They said having such a thing could attract attention, but honestly, that was just a front. In reality, it was a way to push my youkai transformation along.

There was no room for fancy talks. Killing a divine being required extreme measures, something I couldn't achieve without turning into a monster myself. It was like a death sentence. And losing the crucial child spider was like an insurance policy against failure.

Before I could even protest, the head of the family suggested there might be another way. He handed me a bunch of pills. Seeing that there were more than usual, I wasn't convinced. But effects of the pills come all at once. Still, trying to "stay rational while staying youkai" wasn't easy. It was inconvenient, and I still wasn't satisfied.

"You seem pretty confident, huh? Taking our daughter's heart and thinking it's not a big deal?"

Lady Onitsuki spilled the beans and froze me in my tracks. I didn't get it, so I looked at Hina. Her weak smile told me everything.

I felt sick to my stomach, but I fought it off. No way could I be rude like that. But I was also scared. The crazy lord Onitsuki, the guy who adored Hina wouldn't let this slide... I was afraid and ready. "Strike first and win," those words echoed in my head.

"We can talk about that later. He's the victim. He didn't do anything wrong."

Hina's voice stopped me and saved my life. After a short silence, the head of the family nodded. They told me to leave. I waited in the next room.

A couple of hours later, she came in. She talked. Said everything was fine. Her parents were convinced. The pills would keep coming.

Those things weren't the problem. All I could do was apologize. I felt bad for putting so much on Hina, for not knowing what she'd gone through, for being foolish. But she hugged me.

She talked. Said nothing is wrong. She wouldn't keep suffering because of me. If sacrificing a bit could help me, she was okay with it. She hugged me like a mother and comforted me.

I didn't get it. Even if it meant getting better, could anyone just give up their heart?

Even the closest friends... it just wasn't possible.

But at my words, she laughed softly at my doubt. She hugged me tighter. So close that I could feel her thin body against mine.

And then she whispered.

"Remember all those promises we made when we were kids?"...

Describing how I felt when I realized what she meant is tough. But one thing's for sure: she actually remembered those childhood promises. They were her lifeline, the reason she kept going. That's why she made such big sacrifices.

All for the sake of some childhood promises...

Looking around, I'm puzzled. This was the spot we were supposed to meet. It hasn't been more than two hours since we planned to meet up, so I should be in the clear.

But the ox cart is nowhere in sight. Did I mess something up? I can't help but get worried and glance around. I never know what Gorilla-sama might do if she's not happy.

"Princess... Princess!?"

In the middle of this pouring rain and darkness, I shout out. But even though I'm yelling, the rain's too loud. I keep looking, and keep searching.

"...Tomobe?"

"What!? Princess...!?"

I realize she's responding to my call and I go around to the back of the mound. Then I'm lost for words.

Right there, next to the mound, there's a girl sitting. She's getting soaked in the rain without even bothering with an umbrella. A pitiful sight. It's the princess... Onitsuki Aoi, Princess Aoi.

"Tomobe? So you're Tomobe?"

"Princess... why are you like this?"

Aoi doesn't reply to me checking. She stands up and comes over to me, like a ghost. She's staring at me like she's seeing something unbelievable.

"You came, right? You answered my plea...right?"

"Princess, where's the ox cart? Actually, forget that—why aren't you even under some shelter to avoid catching a cold in this rain?"

At first, I was thinking about how to cut ties with Aoi when I came here. Having any kind of half-hearted connection while I'm sneaking into the enemy's territory is dangerous in all sorts of ways. I was trying to figure out how to calm her down and make her give up when she's furious about losing her stuff and people. But seeing this unexpected scene makes me forget about all those plans.

Why is she doing this? Why's she looking like that? Why...why's she looking at me the way she did that day?

"Why? Why are you the same way? You'd blame me even when I'm all wet and cold?"

"Blame...that's not..."

"Then, I suppose it's fine, right?"

There was no way to put it delicately. If it were her usual self, I might have been able to offer some advice, but the atmosphere she exuded now was anything but ordinary. It was eerily intense.

"...Understood. However, you can't keep doing this forever, can you? Where's the cart, the ox cart?"

"I can't bring something like that here. After all, I sneaked here secretly. Normally, I should be confined, you know?"

"Confined..."

This time, Aoi's words leave me dumbfounded. Not many can command her to do such things. And there's also the risk of her defying that... At least, I'm not the kind of person who make her to do that.

"Why, like this...?"

"To meet you."

"For something like that...?"

"Something like that? No, it's different. There's nothing more important to me than meeting you."

Aoi's words only increase my confusion. I can't understand at all why she would say something like that.

"Let's get back soon. We can still cover this up. Considering Princess's position, it's urgent..."