CH 36

A Punishment like Selling the Information of the Guy Who Was Talking About the Name of the Group

It really happened suddenly.

The entire platform of the uninhabited station is suddenly engulfed in flames, and everything in Kisaragi station burns away in an instant, as if the wallpaper had been set on fire.

But even though the flames were tremendous, neither Suzu-nee nor I felt any heat at all.

Instead, it was strangely warm and even comforting.

"W-What is this?"

"Oh~, this is this is... Now they've opened a lid they shouldn't have..."

When Suzu-nee laughed at the advice she had just given to me, I heard a rather villainous shout from beyond the vanishing station.

[GIEEEEEEEEEEE! ?? Hot Hot HOOOOT!!]

And then, with a crunching sound, "it" fell right in front of us.

It's a little demon, or should I say brat...... A small black old man with simple clothes and a single horn...... that's what he looks like.

The guy had black smoke coming from all over his body, and he was out of breath.

"It... It was dangerous... what was that woman...? I thought I was going to be erased (killed)... "

"………… Hey, you"

[!? Ha!?]

The little old man who had been mumbling freaked out at the sound of my voice and went completely stiff.

There is no leisure in his appearance, and he looks like a defeated soldier who has lost everything and has been left behind on the battlefield....

No matter how I think about it, this guy is...

"Suzu-nee... Is this guy, by any chance?"

I asked her, just to be sure, and Suzu-nee nodded strongly.

"This is the body of the dream demon that possessed Amane's dream. Originally, a dream demon is an entity that steals the mental state of the person it possesses and stimulates their trauma to give them nightmares, so it's a small fry with no real power of its own"

"Hmm..."

"He got hit by Amane's wrath, now that she's got her dream back and she's fighting back... He sacrificed all of his powers to escape, and that was all he could do... Isn't that the case?"

[HI-HIIIIIIH!?]

Just because we glared at him, the little old man "dream demon" slumped down and backed away...

It's hard to believe that this is the same person who was attacking us in such a disgusting way, playing it safe.

Impatiently, he made a kind of hole in the space... He's probably trying to escape from this dream, but with a light swing of my sword, the exit he was about to open disappears.

In addition, Suzu-nee stomped on the head of the dumbfounded "dream demon".

...... Be glad it wasn't high heels.

"......... Do you think we'll let you go?"

[BUGIIIII!?]

I couldn't tell if it was a scream or a sob, but an inexplicable sound escaped from the dream demon pressed against the ground. Rather than feeling pity for the dreamer, all I could think of was, "That's a dirty sound".

"Gobe!?]

In addition, Suzu-nee kicked the dream demon in the face, and it flew headfirst into the air right in front of me.

He raised his head and I smiled at him with my sword in my hand, and then he rubbed his head on the ground and started to dogeza.

[I am sorry! It was my bad!! I will leave her dream quietly! I'm not going after humans anymore!! That's why...]

And then the pathetic begging for life begins... I wonder... I'm beyond amazed at the templated attitude so far, it makes me angry.

Against such a pathetic small fry...

However……

"I feel like if I keep letting my emotions get the better of me, I'm going to end up just as bad as this little guy."

"Hey!? Don’t tell me... You'll let him go!?"

As soon as I squeezed out an irritated voice, the dream demon who had been begging for his life looked up and his face lit up as if he had found hope. Suzu-nee, on the other hand, protests in dissatisfaction.

"You... You're too soft! Originally, dream demons only took a little of the life force from people through dreams, or in other words, they never let people die so as not to ruin their feeding grounds... And yet, this guy is a sinner who violated the inviolability of his race without a second thought!!"

When she glared at him, the dream demon rubbed his head again and started begging for his life.

"I will never attack people again... I promise you with my life..."

"The promises of a dream demon are not to be trusted. A dream demon who has tasted the life force of humans will always do the same thing again!"

I agree with the opinion of Suzu-nee, who protested with a fierce look on her face... To be clear, I agree with her completely.

I mean... no matter how many times he apologized or whatever... this guy was going to try to kill... joyfully... Kanzaki Amane... My childhood friend!!

I carelessly rolled up the Dream Book in my hand with my current emotions ...... and opened it to a certain one page.

"Suzu-nee ......... There are other victims of the incident that he did this time, aren't there? It's not right for us to condemn him alone without them. I think it's against the rules ……I am……"

And on the page that opened, "a certain name" appeared in the magic circle... Suzu-nee's expression clearly tensed up when she saw this.

"Ah... You... Don’t tell me..."

"Running away in death is not something ............ anyone would allow. ........... "

"......... I see, he's got the second wrath... haha"

Turning around, Suzu-nee gave a sympathetic look to the dream demon.

"?? Ha? What on earth??]

To the dream demon, who didn't understand what Suzu-nee was feeling sorry for, I slammed the open page of my "Dream Book" down.

*

TATAN TATAN... TATAN TATAN...

When he came to himself, the nameless dream demon was on the train.

He looked around in panic and saw no sign of the person who had threatened his existence earlier.

It appears that he really was let off the hook... Thinking so, the dream demon let out a breath of relief.

[Haa~, It seems that I've been saved... I've lost all the nightmare power I had stored up, but I think I'll give it up as the price of my salvation... However......]

The dream demon's expression instantly turned into a smirk, probably from the relief of being saved.

[They're just human kids after all~. If you appeal to their feelings and act a little, they'll let you off the hook~. It can't be helped to let things cool down for a while...]

Finally, the dream demon, who was described as the smallest old man in the dream, opened his big mouth and started laughing.

[Hyahahahaha! Who~ will stop!! There's no way I'm going to be able to be satisfied with just a little mental energy, after knowing the taste of humanity's matured fear of death and despair!!]

The dream demon laughs alone in the deserted train, without a hint of remorse as he loudly proclaims his desires.

TATAN TATAN... TATAN TATAN...

But the train just keeps running, regardless of the dream demon.

[But... what the hell is this train? It looks a lot like the train in the story I was showing the humans...]

Just as he realized that the scene was the same as the one he had been "shown", an announcement suddenly began to play.

『Thank you for riding with us... We will continue our journey to the last station, "Death". We will soon arrive at Sliced Raw Fish ~ Sliced Raw Fish ~ 』

[Ha? What the hell is that ...... or rather, what the hell is this place?]

As if to answer the murmur of the only dream demon on the deserted train, an announcement in a business tone begins to flow from the speakers.

『'What is that’, what an unexpected. You have told them my name many times... Would it be correct to say that I am the real thing?』

[Eh? Ha...... the real thing?]

The dream demon himself had successfully performed the curse many times by taking advantage of a well-known Japanese urban legend because it was convenient for his "triple curse killing" ritual.

But he had never encountered anything that claimed to be "the real thing" before, and he thought it was just a kind of ghost story, one of those scary stories.

But the announcements continue, leaving the confused dream demon...

It was supposed to be a matter-of-fact business tone, but ...... it was clearly exuding anger.

『We who call ourselves urban legends and ghost stories pride ourselves on creating fear through our stories. Therefore, it is forbidden for us to harm or frighten the customers in any way other than through "our stories"...』

[N-No... that is...]

『Not to mention... You have failed to strike fear into the hearts of our customers while speaking in the name of "Monkey Dream"... It's the same thing as smearing our name... Our railroad is very upset about the situation... 』

At that moment, the doors that were supposed to lead to the next car opened both front and back.

And... Along with something that has all kinds of blades, something that is huge with no gaps and no idea what kind of structure or design it has, but something familiar that is a mixer, appears.

[Hi-Hiih!? The real Monkey Dream!? Why is something like that in existence!!]

The dream demon couldn’t stand up by the future that is about to happen to him.

He couldn't understand everything that was happening to him.

『That person took the trouble to call us. And he said to us... ‘You can do whatever you want... Unlike humans, dream demons don't die easily, so you should take care of him as long as they don't die...’ 』

At that point, the dream demon finally understood.

The man who he thought he was a soft-hearted for letting himself off the hook in that situation... He was the one who was most angry with him.

The punishment that ends in extinction (death) is so lukewarm that he "calls" for an existence that will cause intense and prolonged pain.

『Now~... You're not a person, so it probably won't be over in three times... How many stations will it take to reach the end of the line... We are very much looking forward to it... 』

[He... Help... Help me, pleeeease!!]

In the face of a looming nightmare that he had no control over, the dream demon finally regretted his actions.

Really... It's really too late for that...

[If it's a dream... WAKE ME UUUUUUUP!! GYAAAAAAA!!]

TATAN TATAN... TATAN TATAN...

As long as the dream demon is alive, he will never be able to wake up (escape) from the dream world, and his perpetual train journey has begun.