novel- ??? @ The One Who Covers Up a God (2)
| ← Ch.14 | Ch.16 → |
Thank you for falling for this so wonderfully.
But you can never survive in this world if that is all you have.
"If you really want to kill me, you either have to place the routes of the curses so I cannot calculate them or send in an overwhelming amount of curses like the Illness Magic User does. Get it now?"
"Bshbh!? Grgrh!! Gbhghchghrhbhjfbhfhjbhchbhrhfjdhcyehfhgyfjchhdfy!!!???"
"Those were some horrible curses and they have been running nonstop this whole time. The excess power has been building up like a bowstring being drawn. Let's just say it won't even leave behind a corpse."
I began removing the cheap magic charms attached to my body while paying no heed to Saijou-chan who had been sucked up down to the last drop of blood.
Wait, this is bad. If I take these off, I'll be naked. Um... Let's see. Oh. There's a blanket in the backseat of this ugly car. A gun too.
Now then...
It's Hishigami Mai-san's turn now.
My job would have been so much easier if defeating a smalltime villain like her was enough to bring an end to this incident.
Part 11 (Hishigami Mai)
I retrieved the Deadly Dragon Princess Shikigami I had released as decoy information needed to convince the enemy I had really lost. I then returned her to her "original world".
Hmm, I did a nice job of destroying her. I need to make sure to fix her later.
From what I had caught a glimpse of while pretending to be controlled, it seemed that Shikigami had taken a liking to that detective. I had commanded her to stick with him, but she had gone farther than that. It was possible he had lured her in with her favorite food.
I had already resuscitated the detective, my sister, and Jinnai Shinobu-kun, so their lives were not in danger.
They arrived wanting an explanation, but I still had other things to do. I opened the trunk to Saijou-chan's ugly foreign car.
Inside I found...
Ohh, what's this!? They're so cute!!
"Bwahh!! Wh-what is going on!? Why would you suddenly lock us in here!?"
"It is too hot in here! Especially with this Umbrella in here too!!... Wait. Who are you? Wh-why are your eyes glittering as you stare at us!?"
The Umbrella and Lantern who each had a single comical eye were shouting about something or other.
Oh, how wonderful.
It's the same as with that Sunekosuri. It scares me how I lose all self control when I see these cute harmless Youkai.
As I watched the Umbrella and Lantern hurry back to their home, I said, "Now then. Time for the real problem."
"What? I thought you defeated the person behind this. Did they get away???"
People sometimes made that mistake when I did not even leave a corpse behind.
But that was not the issue here.
"I pretended to have my body controlled to enter the organization named Akki Rasetsu. From what I saw and heard, it seems they were being supported by someone."
"You mean like a patron?" asked my sister.
"No, nothing so well-defined. More like someone who was observing Saijou from afar and secretly eliminated any dangerous elements that might have gotten in Akki Rasetsu's way. Akki Rasetsu probably had no idea this was happening."
I doubted a group too dimwitted to notice the threat I posed could have detected "them".
The detective frowned and said, "What does this 'someone' want to do?"
"I don't know, but they definitely thought Akki Rasetsu's project would benefit them. They snuck in this far for some clear objective, so they are not going to remain silent now. To be blunt, they will likely attack this Intellectual Village in place of Akki Rasetsu." I glanced around the area."Northeast, west, and south-southwest. Somewhere between 700 and 1000 meters away. I sense a few people watching us."
"What?"
Jinnai Shinobu narrowed his eyes and stared into the distance to answer his question, but that careless action only made me sigh.
"It's no use trying to see them from here. If you turn such obvious focus in their direction, they will hide. And if you do spot them, they might blow a hole right through the center of your body with a sniper rifle, so be careful."
"..."
"Do you have any guesses as to who they are?" asked my sister.
"They seem like soldiers to me. From the way the unit is deployed and the way they hide themselves, I would guess SAS. I could narrow it down further if I could intercept their transmissions."
Jinnai Shinobu looked confused.
"What's SAS? Some kind of space defense force?"
"They are a British unit. However, they are seen as the standard for special forces, so plenty of other countries emulate them. They even have official lectures for the troops of countries allied with England, so this alone is not enough to know what organization is behind this."
Of course, this was connected to the occult, so it was unlikely that this SAS-style special forces unit would be our only enemy. My guess was this enemy was on the level of an entire nation and so they could freely use special forces to support their project.
The detective sighed and said, "What are they doing here? If we figure out who they are and learn what they are after, could we use that to fight them off?"
"That is what I'm about to try."
With that offhanded comment, I pulled out a device that looked like a cross between a cell phone and a radio.
It was my usual satellite phone.
My little sister frowned and said, "Who are you going to contact with that?"
"Hyakki Yakou, of course. They have the most information of this sort."
Part 12 (???)
Hafuri, the girl of about ten who was the current head of Hyakki Yakou, sighed when she answered the phone. The tearoom in the flying wing cruising at an altitude of 9000 meters was still enough for that slight movement of air to be seen as a definite flow in the room's atmosphere.
"I had thought it was odd for it to be suggested to destroy the living environment of Noukotsu Village by disseminating hydrogen sulfide and making it look like a volcanic eruption. It seemed too forceful to simply put an end to Akki Rasetsu's project to take control of any Youkai in Japan. I did not like the idea of slaughtering those innocent villagers when it is our role to protect them."
"Hmm."
"That means a few of the 100 officers that took part in the meeting may have realized who is hidden behind this incident."
"Do you have any guesses who that might be? It should be someone who can freely use SAS-style special forces."
"A witch most likely, " replied Hafuri.
"That's what I thought. That is the most likely option for a foreign force. The real question is what type of witch is it?"
"Not a European or American one. They would have no reason to attack Japan. They confiscated most of our documents when we lost the war long ago. With all that detailed information, they would have no reason to sneak in and try to steal any data now."
"So it's a witch from somewhere else?"
"Witches have scattered all over the world, but we can narrow it down quite a bit since she is using SAS-style special forces.... And there just so happens to be one major country not in Europe or America with special forces based on the SAS."
"I see."
Hafuri scratched her chin with the same small hand holding the phone receiver. The main problem was that some of the 100 officers knew about this. And that they had brought forward that ridiculous plan to destroy the Intellectual Village in response.
"The 100 officers may have chosen a rather forceful method of eliminating this person behind Akki Rasetsu, " she said.
"No, we need to assume the worst goes much deeper than that."
"What do you mean?
"Hyakki Yakou's meetings with the 100 officers are not contained to the flying wing, right? They use the internet and speak without showing their face. That prevents others from influencing their opinion, right?"
"Yes."
"Then it is possible some of the real officers have already been killed and replaced with someone else entirely. Perhaps they are the ones behind Akki Rasetsu and they are having Hyakki Yakou take action to ensure their plan progresses smoothly. You lost a lot of the commanders in the confusion of that coup d'etat recently and had to replace them, so it wouldn't have been that hard to take advantage of the situation."
"True." Hafuri gave a slight nod."We have special software that can remove their anonymous state. The 100 officers do not know about it. We will use it to investigate this."
"This is a group that uses decoys on top of decoys to hide their identity, so that alone may not be enough."
"Then what do you say we should do?"
"Lay a much flashier trap. I'll help you with that."
"What should we do first?"
"For now, approve the plan to destroy Noukotsu Village. I'll fill you in on the rest after you do."
Part 13 (Jinnai Shinobu)
We left the foreign car used by the person from an underground group called Akki Rasetsu and walked back to my thatch-roof house. It seemed the Hishigami sisters intended to use it as their home base for the moment. Mai was only wearing a blanket for some reason, so she borrowed a yukata. The way she wore it still did not leave much to the imagination, though.
Just as I was hoping everything was settled, Hishigami Mai told us something unbelievable.
"What!? You had her give the go ahead for a project to slaughter everyone in the village!?"
"Don't get so upset. This is a trap. We can't fight back until we uncover the enemy. We must be defeated if we want to eliminate every enemy from this Intellectual Village, right? You just have to turn a blind eye to the slight risks involved."
"So who is this enemy?"
"A witch strongly influenced by western methods. Probably an Australian one."
"Why would someone like that do this? Is she trying to steal brand name fruit seeds from the Intellectual Village?"
"What they want is something more occult, " replied Hishigami Mai offhandedly.
She then grabbed the remote control for the television at one end of the Japanese-style living room and turned it on. She changed the channel to an afternoon talk show.
"Australia's circular farms are having a large effect on the grains market, but recent cyclones and an outbreak of locusts has caused serious damage to their wheat crop. This has caused unrest to spread through the futures market and..."
"Come to think of it, they were talking about this on the quiz show rerun the Yuki Onna was watching. What about it?" I asked.
"Natural disasters and outbreaks of pests are stereotypical forms for divine punishment. Even Japan's ancient documents record several such incidents. With these incidents causing great damage in Australia, it is not too surprising that some have decided to put together a countermeasure."
"What does that have to do with Japan?"
"Australia is part of the new world just like America. But that is technically just what the Europeans decided to call it after they destroyed the cultures that already existed there. This of course angered the native god of the slighted land. This situation could easily lead to natural disasters, but the Australian government that ignored the older culture for so long has no idea how to pacify this god. After all, they have no scriptures to act as a manual." Hishigami Mai spun the TV remote around in her hand."Akki Rasetsu, the organization I was dealing with, was looking for a method to control Youkai and gods. This Australian witch may have thought she could use that, but I think that was just a digression. Her true goal lies elsewhere."
"... ?"
"It's simple. Witches worship demons to borrow their power.... So what exactly are demons? There are two types: the pure species of demons and the altered forms of gods from other religions that have been registered as 'evil gods' by the world's largest religion which uses the cross as its symbol. Witch rituals come from those old religions as well. In that case..."
Nothing she was saying really clicked in my mind.
The expression on my face must have made that clear.
Hishigami Mai winked and gave me a further hint.
"They are especially skilled at twisting polytheistic religions. And what structure is created by the gods of this country?"
"You don't mean..."
"It's a stereotypical situation. A witch that wishes to use a god for her own purposes would find Shinto or Buddhism to be almost irresistible. That said, the process of turning a god into a usable demon does weaken the god a fair bit."
"So this witch's group wants to reconstruct a god of this country into the form known as a 'demon'? So this is just like a Package where people build a Youkai into a system that makes use of one of that Youkai's properties?"
"Exactly. That is why they want to slaughter everyone in the Intellectual Village by disseminating hydrogen sulfide disguised as volcanic gases. The most common reason for the downfall of gods the world over is the destruction of the land they rule over. By devastating an area of land within Japan, the witch's group can affect the god in that area."
"... But is it really that easy?"
"Old gods will naturally change into fairies and Youkai with the passage of the era. And that is especially true for polytheistic gods. That is why gods are enshrined in large temples and shrines to ensure they do not change form. But regardless of how difficult the method is, these are still gods we are talking about. They are the largest pillars supporting their cultures. If they fall, it could even cause damage to diplomatic relations." Hishigami Mai shrugged."Once a god has been turned into a demon, it can be used to suppress the old god wreaking havoc in Australia out of anger.... That will simply cause even more friction with the ancient culture, but the government only wants to protect the current system of society from further economic damage. They feel this is worth the risk. If they did not feel the situation was that dire, I doubt they would have ever contacted this witch in the first place."
"That explains the government's reasons. What about the witch?"
"The witch has something else to gain from this. And we can use that as a trap."
Part 14 (Hishigami Mai)
This village would soon become a battlefield.
However, the flow of time in the thatch-roof house felt so slow you would never have guessed it. A Zashiki Warashi with excessively large breasts was flying a small toy modeled after an autogyro around the room to chase after a Yuki Onna who was running all over the place to avoid it. A Keseran Pasaran that looked like a white furball was floating around near the ceiling. It was curiously trying to approach the autogyro, but it could not keep up with the toy's speed.
The scene made it seem ridiculous to bring up the terms "Hyakki Yakou" or "agent".
What I saw before me was likely something I could never obtain as long as I immediately chose brute force as a means of resolving Youkai-related problems.
But then I spotted a familiar face among the Youkai.
The Youkai seemed to notice me as well and walked over. It was a white Nekomata that was overflowing with elegance.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I'd rather know why you are here. Is this the territory of a former ace of Inga Ouhou?"
Inga Ouhou had been a revenge group with three Itako leading it. They would give form to the residual thoughts of the dead to hear their voices and punish their murderers. I believe the organization came about due to displeasure with the current laws that disallowed Youkai testimony or evidence obtained via paranormal means from use in court.... But then the three Itako had started accepting money to freely alter what the dead told them. At that point, they became nothing more than an assassin group.
The Nekomata's master had been killed due to that cheating despite being a top member of Inga Ouhou. When I had been sent in to resolve some issues Hyakki Yakou was having with them, the two of us had destroyed the entire organization in just over two weeks.
I was left with one primary question.
"You have enough power to destroy an entire organization, so are you not going to use that power to help Jinnai Shinobu-kun?"
"I try not to rely on my power too much. My direct power is no more than that of a Doberman. I merely have the added bonus of being able to transform into the person I bite to death."
That was why she did not fight her enemies head on. Instead, she would sneak into a group of enemies and slowly cause more and more victims. Her strategy was perfect for destroying a large organization from within by spreading doubt and suspicion. I quite liked her means of fighting.
"But the strength of a Doberman seems reliable enough for a normal high school student who can only arm himself with a bat or box cutter. Plus, blades and handguns are not enough to kill you."
"There was a recent commotion in which a small lost boy fell into a flood control reservoir. He is the kind of idiot who jumped right into the water to search for that boy, but he still had no intention of involving the Yuki Onna or myself."
"..."
"But it does not seem he has some admirable goal in it such as preventing any danger from approaching his 'family'. He has no problem running to the Zashiki Warashi for help.... Basically, it is an issue of degree. If he asked a deadly Youkai like the Yuki Onna or me for help, things would get a bit messy. And once things get messy, there is no guarantee it can be neatly cleaned up." Despite looking like a cat, the Nekomata formed an obvious smile as she spoke."His reasons are nothing more than the irrational stubbornness of a child, but that does not mean it is always okay to make such a mess by sending in something like me. That is the way I see it. And so I will remain the cute pet that soothes the family. I will fool no one and I will kill no one. Understand?"
Having said that, the Nekomata walked off somewhere else. On her way, she chased after the light of a pen-shaped laser pointer Jinnai Shinobu was holding. She gave several cat punches to an empty wall.
Chehh...
I meaninglessly felt as if I had lost. I thought I had met a fellow killer for the first time in a while, but now I felt like I had spotted an old classmate pushing a stroller with her husband.
I grabbed a broom leaning against the wall, walked out into the hallway, and banged the handle against the ceiling partially to release my anger.
"Hey!! I know the Succubus from the European Security Force is up there!! If you want to live, start cooperating!!"
I then heard a lot of banging that was clearly not coming from the broom. It almost seemed like the attic was shaking.
You idiot. Did you really think Hyakki Yakou didn't know you were here? The young lady has only been overlooking you out of respect for Jinnai Shinobu who did so much to quell Hyakki Yakou's internal strife at that hotel in Fuuka Village.
The best thing to use against a western witch was a western demon.
With the final piece gathered, it was finally time to set the trap and settle this.
Part 15 (Jinnai Shinobu)
The final battle began smoothly.
It began with a comment by the glamorous Zashiki Warashi who was walking around using my smartphone as a music player as usual.
"Shinobu, you just got an email about an active volcano warning. Do you know what that means?"
"... That's it!! That's the camouflage warning on the notification network!!"
Even if it was only a decoy warning to make the hydrogen sulfide look like volcanic gases, it was a complete joke. They had obviously timed it so no one would make it out in time even with a car. And if we did move faster than expected, the SAS-style special forces would obviously do something to handle it.
Hishigami Mai brought her large satellite phone to her ear.
"This is going just as expected. Young lady, you're flying right over us, right? Jump down at the last second before the hydrogen sulfide is disseminated!!"
I walked out to the thatch-roof house's porch, put on my beach sandals, and walked out into the large yard. I looked up into the blue sky and spotted a large V-shaped passenger plane called a flying wing. Several smaller planes were flying around it to protect it.
Something was dropped from the flying wing.
At first I thought it was a bomb, but it was not. It was a girl wearing a kimono and a parachute.
Hishigami Mai had run outside with me and she now shouted into the satellite phone.
"Okay, good! Any member of Hyakki Yakou that puts the bloodline first will work to protect your life no matter what. In other words, they will do whatever they can to stop the hydrogen sulfide plan so you will not be killed. But the members of the Australian witch's group mixed into the 100 officers will not care about that. The ones who insist on continuing with the plan are our enemies. Have all of them restrained!!"
I heard a low rumbling noise.
It did not belong to a gasoline engine. It was the engine sound effect added to electric cars as a safety measure.
It came from my grandfather's light truck, but my uncle was the one sitting in the driver's seat.
"Hey! The truck's ready!!"
"Understood. Everyone get in!! The witch's group will have noticed the young lady floating down. She is the leader of Japan's largest Youkai organization. Plus, she has plenty of information from ancient books. I don't know where the witch's group is hiding in the village, but they will jump at the chance to take her hostage. They will definitely want some of Hyakki Yakou's documents as supplementary material for their project to control a god!!"
I was worried, so I spoke up without thinking.
"Hey!! What exactly is a witch!?"
"Instead of using a Package that builds a Youkai's power into a system, they bring a portion of a demon's power into themselves. While a Youkai might be able to handle one, a witch's powers are incredibly effective against humans. And as much of an oddity as I may be, I have not left the category of a 'human'. In a direct fight, we would probably be fairly evenly matched."
As I said before, my uncle was sitting in the light truck's driver's seat. The twintailed girl was in the passenger seat. Those were the only two seats, so Hishigami Mai and I climbed into the back of the truck.
"Okay, let's end this. Let's crush the witch's group that will have gotten greedy and gathered at the young lady's landing spot!!"
Part 16 (Jinnai Shinobu)
My uncle drove the electric truck down the narrow farm road with rice paddies on either side. The twintailed girl in the passenger seat followed the path of the parachute with binoculars.
"Oh, dear.... She's being blown away! She's going to end up on the mountain at this rate, detective!!"
"That's better than landing on a private farm. If she gets caught on one of the high voltage nets to keep out intruders, it's all over."
It was all I could manage to hunker down enough so as not to be thrown out of the truck as it bounced around.
Hishigami Mai seemed perfectly calm next to me. She hummed while pulling a handgun with a suppressor out from the chest of her yukata.
"Hey, can we really handle this entire witch's group at once like this?"
"Leave it to me. If I am right, they will almost certainly fall for this trap. They are an annoying force to handle head on, but as long as... you do not... face them... head... on..."
"?"
I frowned as I started having difficulty hearing her.
I then smelled a sweet aroma.
And just as the light truck turned onto the mountain road to pursue the parachute...
I suddenly lost all feeling from my surroundings.
The next thing I knew, I was wrapped in some kind of fog. I looked around while standing. And then something else occurred to me. Why was I standing? I had been hunkered down in the back of the truck to make sure I was not thrown out.
Where was I?
Had I been dragged out of that truck racing along well above the speed limit?
Who had managed that without harming me at all?
"It is a simple magic circle. It is not even worth calling a barrier, " said a female voice."Now, if you were able to predict I would head toward an even better target if one appeared, why did you not realize I would change my target again if one even more important than Hyakki Yakou's leader showed up?
Eh?
You can't mean...
"This was all to attack me!?"
I was not given enough time to take action based on the caution welling up in my chest.
Something moved with tremendous speed, ripped apart the thick fog, and forcefully grabbed my collar.
Yes. This "something" had a hand and five fingers with which to grab at me.
"Gah... ghhh... !?"
I was lifted up. My legs dangled down in midair. It may have just been the excessive thickness of the fog, but that motion was all it took for the ground to disappear from view below me.
However, the sight that lay before me was so strange that I did not particularly care about being lifted up.
What had grabbed me was a giant tree.
However, it had countless arms stretching out in place of branches, hands blooming in place of flowers, long, narrow legs wriggling along the ground in place of roots, and smooth woman's skin in place of bark.
Someone was leaning up against the creepy trunk that curved like a woman's waist.
This person was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman wearing a simple shirt, a miniskirt, and a raincoat despite the weather. The look in her eyes was hidden by the wide brim of her hat. The various individual items could be bought anywhere, but the silhouette they all created together reminded me of an existence I had seen in picture books.
Namely, a witch.
"Horrible, isn't it? I'm sure you understand the general situation, but unlike European witches, we live in an environment that makes using traditional demons difficult. I had no choice but to take the methods used to turn old gods into evil gods and use them to turn a Japanese Youkai into a demon. That was enough to force some magic out of it."
"This is... a Youkai... ?"
I could feel my face stiffening as I looked at the grotesque tree before me. I had lived in this Intellectual Village for a long time, but I had never seen a monster like this. Nor had I ever heard of one from my grandparents.
But the blonde-haired, blue-eyed witch smoothly said, "Yes. Haven't you heard of a Furutsubaki?"
"That's a Japanese camellia tree that has built up great power over the years. They can transform into a girl, but they don't turn into something this messed up!!"
"No, they don't. Japanese Packages simply borrow the skills of Youkai, but Western witches distort the physical body of their object of worship into something else entirely. We give them a form much easier for a human to use."
"You're... kidding..."
"About what? What is needed to efficiently control an existence that exceeds humanity is not flexible negotiation skills or plentiful offerings. You need to remake their hardware into a form that must do what a human tells it to."
An unpleasant feeling ran down my spine.
I had subconsciously decided Packages that assisted in crimes were horrible, but this went well beyond that. This was the same as deciding to give someone 20 eyeballs in order to more efficiently extract tears from them. Just how much suffering and humiliation did one endure while having one's face and form twisted in order to wring out every last drop of power?
This was the symbol of a culture.
This was overwriting and covering up a paranormal existence.
Was this why witches had been shunned throughout history?
Even as that lifelike arm grabbed at my collar so tightly I had trouble breathing, I forced out a few words.
"Why are you... targeting me... ?"
"I said I prepared this because I had no other choice, remember? It all comes down to that. I do not care about the economic damage the Australian government is so concerned about. I want to make a contract with a powerful being and borrow its power. I was originally planning to turn an old god into a demon and borrow that, but I found something much more interesting in this Intellectual Village. Something even more interesting than a manual on turning gods into demons or the leader of Hyakki Yakou."
"You... don't mean..."
I immediately thought of the secret base in the attic.
This witch was actually after...
"A Succubus. She is a traditional European demon. Compared to a forcibly distorted local god, she is much more certain and holds much less danger of causing any problems with my rituals. Would you choose the genuine item or an emulation? That is what this comes down to."
"Then why didn't you directly target our house? As soon as Hishigami Mai left, you could have easily abducted the Succubus!!"
"No, that wouldn't work. Remember when that Succubus arrived? She used a delivery service, right?"
"How do you know that?"
"I have some of my people in the highest levels of Hyakki Yakou."
I was not sure that totally explained it, but it was possible Hyakki Yakou really did know everything that had happened.
"The package label functioned as a sort of contract. The package was sent to Jinnai Shinobu, so the Succubus inside became your possession. But you could say that was the same as her taking you hostage. If anyone wants to damage or abduct the Succubus, they must first kill you. She predicted that Hyakki Yakou's leader would be unable to eliminate the normal person who she owed a debt to thanks to the coup d'etat, so she used that condition as a shield."
"..."
That goddamn demon!! I'm seriously going to punch her after this is over!!
"Anyway, you are in the way of any new contract with that Succubus, so I need you to die. I will retrieve the Succubus afterwards. And of course, I will slaughter anyone who gets in my way."
Not good.
Not good, not good!!
I had been worried ever since someone like this entered the Intellectual Village, but now she was targeting my house.
But what could I do? That creepy "branch" was still holding me up in the air by my collar. Was there anything a normal high school boy armed with only his wits could hope to do against a witch who Hishigami Mai had said she would be evenly matched against?
Her eyes were covered by the wide brim of her hat, but the witch's lips twisted into a smile.
"Oh, and do not think Hishigami Mai will come to save you. The magic circle isolates this space. I mixed in the oil of the Furutsubaki to pour demonic power into a ceremony that defines the scope of a temple using incense, but it should be enough. At the very least, no one will be able to break in for 12 hours and it has been made so no one will even notice anyway."
"Wait... a second..."
"I didn't really need to go this far to kill a single amateur, but I want to keep this information away from Hishigami Mai until I have secured the Succubus. I am not going to take my time and kill you over 12 hours, so do not worry."
"That's not what I meant, " I muttered."If this is really so secure, then who is that behind you?"
"?"
The witch looked confused and turned around.
And she found...
Part 17 (Succubus)
Now then, time for the true protagonist to make an appearance.
Oh, nice. Not bad getting western black magic to run this well using a Japanese Youkai.
Then again, it's a bit like seeing an American's idea of a ninja boy.
The witch leaning up against the hideous tree frowned when she saw me.
"... How did you get here?"
"Is it really that surprising? Isolating a space using incense sounds good and all, but you basically used the exact same structure as a ceremonial ground for summoning a demon. None of this does a single thing to keep a demon out. I didn't even have to try."
"So you know what I am about to do?"
"Let's just say I came here because I knew."
My master, Jinnai Shinobu-chan, then began kicking his legs around and shouting while being held in midair by the Furutsubaki's branch.
"Stop!! Don't worry about me! Apparently she's more powerful than Hishigami Mai!! You came to my house to escape from people like that, right? Then don't try to fight her!!"
Oh?
I had not expected him to try to cover for me. It almost made me feel sorry for binding him with that contract as insurance against Hyakki Yakou.
However...
He seemed to have overlooked the fact that I had never said I was there to save him.
"So, Miss Witch. When do you plan on making this new contract?"
"Eh... ?" said a surprised voice.
It did not belong to the witch; it was my master's.
"As soon as I kill him."
"Then I suggest you do so quickly. You should not underestimate Hyakki Yakou's tracking skills. I do not know what route you plan to use, but you do not want your way back to Australia to be blocked, do you?"
"... You have no attachment to him?"
"This was just a temporary home. Blending into a culture that actually has witches should make things a lot easier. If I have a chance to leave the country, I need to take it. Especially now that Hyakki Yakou and Hishigami Mai have reached this village. That is what I truly think."
My master looked so dumbfounded he may have forgotten he was dangling in midair and having trouble breathing.
As a demon, it was quite an exciting expression to see.
"What... ? Eh? Why... ?"
"Did you think we were family? Come on now, master. You may know I am Succubus, but you do not actually know my personal name."
"That is an important factor in making contracts, so that is not surprising. A demon will not reveal her name unless she truly trusts someone, " added the witch as if to rub salt in the wound.
But...
"Miss Witch, Miss Witch. If you know your history of the witch hunts, you should be fairly suspicious of any wonderful opportunity that practically falls in your lap."
"Your point?"
"I will prove to you that I am telling the truth. I will kill him myself."
"..."
With the sound of a bat being swung, my master was thrown to my feet. He began coughing, but more confusion could be seen in his eyes than suffering.
But that did not change what I had to do.
"How about a riddle, master? Question 1: What is this in my hand?"
"An... ice pick?"
"I am glad your family likes its alcohol so much. I was surprised they drink both eastern and western varieties. Now, Question 2: What will happen if I stab it into your gut?"
"..."
Well, I doubt many people would be able to calmly answer that question.
Luckily, he was able to see the answer firsthand.
I stabbed it right in.
Part 18 (Jinnai Shinobu)
"Cough!? Cough!! Cough cough!! Cough cough cough!?"
"Now then. As there is no saving him, let's hurry up and make this contract. Do you have everything prepared?"
The ice pick sticking out of my body seemed to cause my brain to numb over more than it did fill me with pain.
The difference between what I thought my body should look like and what I saw before my eyes caused a fundamental error in my thought process.
I'm going to die?
I'm going to die so simply and easily?
"Do not worry about that. More importantly, there is one piece of information I must know first: Your true name. To form a contract with you, I must know your personal name. Simply knowing you belong to the Succubus species is not enough."
"Hm. About that, " said the Succubus with a troubled expression.
She was no longer looking at me. She was acting like I was not even there, like I was no longer human. The way I had been cast aside like a piece of rotting meat told me all too well what my fate would be.
"Unlike in Hollywood movies, demons are not free to be as evil as they wish. I cannot reveal my name in this situation. My contract with my temporary master, Jinnai Shinobu, still remains."
"Even though you stabbed him in the gut?"
"Yes, even though." The western European Succubus shrugged."Making a contract with a demon is like walking across a dangerous tightrope. The slightest opening in your method of using the demon can easily lead to the demon killing you."
"And that is what happened here?"
"However, if a demon betrays their old master and reveals the information needed to create a new contract despite the old contract still existing, they will simply be breaking the old contract. I have no pretext for acting freely, so I will be unable to remain in this world if I disobey those rules."
"That boy has been fatally wounded. Can't we just wait until he dies?"
"The contract between a human and a demon does not end upon the human's death. After all, the demon is usually trying to obtain the human's soul after death."
"Then how can I make the new contract? I need your name to perform the ritual."
"It is simple." The Succubus raised her index finger."I am afraid of breaking my contract by teaching you my name. However, it is often shown in fairy tales that demons are weakened when a human learns their name against their wishes."
"What do you mean?"
"I stabbed Jinnai Shinobu to act as bait. Some Youkai act automatically upon sensing danger to their family. Not that anything can be done now that he has been fatally wounded."
Some sort of form slowly appeared beyond the extremely thick fog.
It was a glamorous female Zashiki Warashi with long black hair and a red yukata.
She held some small piece of paper in her hand.
It was the summer greeting postcard that had come by airmail.
The witch frowned.
"A demon like you is one thing, but how did this Japanese Youkai enter my magic circle?"
"My name is connected to me. If she travelled along the line connecting it to me, she can travel through this fog."
The Zashiki Warashi looked different from normal.
I had never seen that good-for-nothing Youkai looking quite so expressionless.
"Where is Shinobu?"
"It is too late."
"Then maybe I should just hold onto this."
"We can just take it. Go ahead, Miss Witch."
With the sound of a whip cracking, one of the Furutsubaki's arm-like branches shot through the air and snatched the postcard from the Zashiki Warashi's hand.
The witch looked down at the white, heavily-decorated writing.
What? But that's...
"Hm. A simple numerical replacement."
"So have you stolen a look at my name? Then let us get this contract over with. What will you do about the temple for the ceremony?"
"We can use this. Not the Furutsubaki itself though. It is said a wooden pestle or mallet can transform into a human form. A lot can be done with the oil of the tree."
"Oh? So you didn't just scatter it around as incense to create this ceremonial ground. You also drank it to remake your body."
"What is needed to summon a demon and make a contract is a temple to draw a set flow of power into, a protective circle for the witch, and a summoning circle to call in and fix the target in place."
"What were you going to use for that last one?"
"This."
"A pocket watch?"
"It can also be used as machine oil."
"This does not seem to have anything to do with time. Do its gears create a precise combination of circles that you pass the Youkai's... no, the demon's power through with the oil?" continued the Succubus.
I had no idea how dangerous the amount of blood I had lost was.
"Then let us begin."
"Do we need a written contract?"
"No, with this much preparation, a verbal contract should be enough. And it would be a pain to calculate out all the values while writing it out in the alphabet. More importantly, are you sure you want to make a contract with me?"
"Why would I not?"
"A Succubus may be a traditional demon, but we are not all that powerful."
"If I recklessly tried for something beyond my ability, I would simply destroy myself. You should know that better than anyone."
"I see. Fine, then."
"Then..."
"Yes, let's get started."
My consciousness wavered.
A ringing in my ears exploded in my head every so often like the crashing of waves. I could not hear their voices properly.
"... ng... w...... ed......... f......... ri...... b............... s............... h............... gh...... s......... e......"
No obvious light or noise exploded out.
No pentagrams or hexagrams appeared.
It simply felt like the situation had begun to roll down a hill. I felt a "flow" that no one would be able to stop once it started. Some sinister power seemed to be pushing us in that direction.
"This is a story from 1403 in a small walled city that relied on trade, " said the Succubus suddenly. She was not looking at me. I could not tell if she was trying to speak to me."My old master was a court scholar who produced high-class horses for royals and nobles.... He had originally been a magician that more broadly worked with living creatures and their souls, but he was required to produce more obvious results in order to earn a living." The Succubus spoke amid the fog, amid the ceremonial ground created by the witch."My old master specialized in getting animals to breed. One day, the king came to him with a request. He wanted a means of treating infertility. Whether the king left behind an heir or not could directly influence the rise or fall of nations in that time, so it was a major issue." The Succubus spoke amid that sweet aroma, amid the spell-chanting of that witch who had built a protective magic circle throughout her entire body by taking the oil of that Japanese camellia tree into her own body."My old master tried every method available to him, but none of those 'normal' methods were of any use. He had nowhere left to turn. That was when he learned that an Incubus and a Succubus are actually the same existence and the Incubus attacks women using the sperm taken by the Succubus. He attempted to use that as a means of resolving the king's troubles.... And he was taken to be executed two weeks later." The Succubus spoke as that dark ritual continued, as she claimed victory using that pocket watch given the power of the Furutsubaki in the form of machine oil."Officially, he was blamed for borrowing the power of a demon, but... in reality, it had more to do with certain influential groups that did not want the king to have an heir. And so my old master was burned at the stake. I was unsure what to do, so as an emergency measure, I stored just his soul in my womb to prevent it from deteriorating."
That was her reason. A simple high school student like me had no way of knowing if it was possible or not. Was it possible because she was a Succubus that ruled over dreams and mating? Or was it possible because of the skills and knowledge of this "old master" she spoke of?
However...
I still did not know what result this "reason" would produce.
That lack of knowledge disturbed me.
She had taken control of the international European agency known as the European Security Force, she had picked a fight with Hyakki Yakou, and now she was trying to make a comeback in Australia. To go that far, the Succubus had to have some sort of powerful vision for the future within her.
And one step of her plan was about to come to an end.
The contract between demon and witch was about to be completed.
"For the above reasons, the veil of great ignorance shall occasionally prove that the door of unknown possibilities stands open. By intentionally twisting the structure of a former goddess of fertility and the shrine maidens that followed her, I shall connect a twisted power to myself. The witch Marguerite Steinhols and the demon Tselika Wien Alpha Chelydia Lumidrier now enter into an honest connection that crosses this honest world."
The instant she stood on that new stage, the Succubus narrowed her eyes with deep emotion.
She then muttered a few words to me where I lay collapsed on the ground.
"Well, it may be hopeless for a demon to hope to be right... but was this perhaps wrong of me?"
"... How should I know?" I spat back, but I was not sure if I actually managed to get the words out.
Dammit.
Normally after being betrayed and surprised like this, more resentful words would well up within me, but surprisingly, nothing came.
"That isn't something you should ask me, " I said."But if you felt any hesitation toward accepting this, maybe you should try a different method next time."
I did not know how she had interpreted my words, but it seemed the Succubus smiled slightly.
And then...
The upper body of the witch who had given the name Marguerite Steinhols suddenly lurched forward.
"Gh... gh... ?"
With her body doubled over, the witch brought her right hand to her mouth. A dark red liquid spilled from between her fingers.
"Wh-what? The ritual did not fail. I completed the contract with the demon. So what went wrong... !?"
"Hm, I wonder what it could have been?" said the Succubus.
The witch looked over at her and then her body froze in place. A smile filled with much more obvious evil than before could now be seen on the Succubus's face.
It was as if she was looking at some prey she had caught in a trap.
"The ice pick... That's it! The ice pick! Unlike a normal blade, the wound is small. You could easily stab it into him without hitting any organs or arteries!! That means you-... !!"
"Of course. I am my master's pawn. Really, you should have noticed something was up when I left the ice pick inside him. I did that to make sure he did not bleed too much."
"So you decided to stay with your temporary household. Ghbh!? But the contract was a success. Did you forget that I can now order you to finish off Jinnai Shinobu!?"
The witch swung her right hand and completed a complex and detailed motion with her fingers.
However...
"Nothing... happened?"
"Looks that way."
"It can't be... Was there some defect in the ritual? No, the ritual itself succeeded. I can feel I have entered into a contract with a demon!! So why do I have no connection with you!? What demon am I connected to!?"
"As you know, you need a demon's true name to enter into a contract with it." The Succubus clapped her hands together in front of her face and tilted her head. She continued speaking with that mocking gesture and a mocking smile."But do you have any way to check if that is actually my name?"
"What... ?"
Marguerite looked down at the postcard in her hand.
She was double checking the string of numbers on it representing a name.
But...
"Unlike the side with the picture, the side of the summer greeting postcard with the writing is heavily decorated, right?" The Zashiki Warashi finally spoke up to answer this simple question."I covered it with quick-drying glue and sprayed flour on it. I then rewrote the original text but with the sender and receiver fields reversed. Surely you are smart enough to understand what that means."
"You were tricked into thinking another demon's name was mine. That is what happened. The real question is whether a witch who thought a Succubus would be a nice, safe option will be able to control a great demon that just barely did not rank on the level of a demon that symbolizes one of the seven deadly sins."
"Ahh!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!"
She let out a tremendous cry.
And then a rumbling noise drowned out even that cry.
I doubted it was just due to my hazy mind that I did not know what was happening. I focused my entire mind on averting my gaze from something I must not see. I could instinctually tell this was something I was not meant to see. I was so weak I did not want anyone or anything to view me as an enemy, so the great intimidating atmosphere that ruled the entire area for a short while almost seemed a blessing.
Something had failed.
And as a result, something had happened to the witch.
Finally, I suddenly realized I was lying face up on the midsummer mountain road. The fog was gone. The witch who had produced the fog was also gone. Everything was back to normal. Everything except for an old Japanese camellia tree growing unnaturally above the asphalt.
The Zashiki Warashi and Succubus stood nearby.
Those members of the occult had easily deceived that witch who had fully used the intellect that was a human's greatest weapon.
While leaning up against the Japanese camellia tree, the Succubus smiled and said, "She is not dead. Demons wish to make human souls their personal possessions, so we make sure not to destroy those souls. Of course, she will probably be begging for her life after spending 5 minutes in the same place as that monster."
"... Why?"
"Are you asking why I saved you?" said that demon so readily so as to not let me imagine just what was whirling around within her heart."That is what I asked about before. With my goal so close at hand, was it wrong of me to do this?"
Part 19 (Uchimaku Hayabusa)
The parachute fell and a kimono-wearing girl of about 10 was caught in the tree branches. We brought her into the back of the light truck and fled as quickly as we could. However, the SAS-style special forces Mai had mentioned never came. I had no idea what was happening.
And...
At some point, Shinobu had disappeared from the back of the truck. I was extremely worried about him, but Mai just kept saying I would know where he was soon enough.
It seemed she had used him in one of those traps or conspiracies she loved so much, but that only made me more worried.
Currently, Mai was talking with someone over her satellite phone.
"Yes, yes. Oh, so it worked? Right, right. So you haven't killed them. Then get the names of the rest of the witch's group from them. Once we have that list, we will overlook you as promised. Your wanted status within Hyakki Yakou will be removed."
I glanced into the rearview mirror and asked, "Who are you talking with?"
"You don't want to know, " said the mystery freak from the passenger seat.
After hanging up, Mai began speaking with the girl of about 10.
"What about the special forces acting on the witch's behalf?"
"Hyakki Yakou controls the sky here. We have eight Generation 4. 5 and Generation 5 fighters. They are multirole fighters, so they can easily attack ground targets. I doubt even a pro can stand up to them with only rifles and shoulder-fired missiles. They should quickly retreat across the mountain."
"We should have the witch's list before long. We can use that to at least handle anyone within Japan."
"The ones that have taken root in Australia will be harder to eliminate, but we will apply as much pressure as we can."
"This has worn down Hyakki Yakou's 100 officers once more. Why don't you use that to force it through?"
"Conflicts between organizations are not that simple. But I suppose all we need to do is prepare a situation in which the Australian government will abandon the witch's group."
"Do you have any ideas how to do that?"
"Australia's large scale circular farms are having problems with cyclones and insect outbreaks, so what if we help them properly pacify this god? Instead of trying to turn a god into a demon, we can help them honor and revere the god."
"I see. Once they have another way, the government will lose any reason to cover for the witch."
"An excessive supply lowers the value of things. We call this the North Wind and the Sun method."
This girl who was talking about things just as dangerous as Hishigami Mai was frightening me to the point of feeling chilled, but who was she?
"Don't worry about it, " said Hishigami Mai when she saw me glancing nervously in their direction."This is all over. Once we return to that thatch-roof house, everyone can go back to their peaceful everyday lives."
Part 20 (Jinnai Shinobu)
If only it really could have ended there.
Unfortunately, the world was not that kind.
I had vodka splashed on my stomach and a huge piece of gauze wrapped around it. After receiving that love-filled Succubus-style first aid, I somehow made it back home.
The Nekomata immediately said, "Your father wishes to speak with you. I think he wants to lecture you."
"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!"
While I was receiving that lecture (that included a fist or two), it seemed the situation continued to develop. My uncle, the twintailed girl, Hishigami Mai, and the kimono-wearing girl had used a large transport helicopter prepared by Hyakki Yakou to quickly leave Noukotsu Village.
"They said a helicopter is the most relaxing."
"S-so what? I don't see how that could be true."
Also, that kimono-wearing girl and Hishigami Mai were one thing, but why had my uncle left on the helicopter prepared by Hyakki Yakou? I guessed he must have been very busy with his work.
That evening, I chased around the Succubus a bit after she said going to the hospital would do nothing to help. I then had that Okinawa-born thing call out to me from the yard.
"I am Shisa."
"Hm? What happened to your friend? That Kijimuna thing."
"He is fighting with the Furutsubaki over his place in the yard. I was surprised when a second Furutsubaki suddenly appeared."
Well, it would have been a nuisance if it had stayed on that asphalt mountain road.
I followed the Shisa's gaze and expected to find some trees moving around violently, but instead found three small kimono-wearing children fighting. It seemed to be a traditional competition to see whose Youkai transformation ability was the best.
"I had the Yuki Onna make it snow and made a snowman and igloo. I have no regrets. If I do not return soon, my family may grow worried."
"I see. They aren't going to think the decoration on their house's roof was stolen, are they?"
The Shisa ignored my worries and called out to the Kijimuna still fighting in the yard. The Youkai ran over to the Shisa while still in the form of a small child.
The Shisa said, "Goodbye. Visit us if you are ever in Okinawa."
I watched the Shisa and Kijimuna walk away. With the sunset behind them, it was a somehow lonely scene.
The Succubus (now wearing a T-shirt) called out from behind me.
"Having somewhere to return to sure is nice."
"You may be trying to make it sound nostalgic, but I don't want to let something as dangerous as you back into the European Security Force."
"Heh heh heh. I will take that to mean you want me all to yourself."
We chatted as we returned to the Japanese-style living room.
"Are you really okay with this?" I asked.
"With what?"
"Well... I'm glad you saved me, but didn't you want a large country filled with plenty of witches where you could do whatever you wanted?"
"Given their situation, it was not a very attractive invitation."
"Come to think of it, I understand how the witch's group knew you were here due to having people inside Hyakki Yakou, but how did you know what was going on in Australia? You've been in the attic the whole time."
"Oh, that. I am the demon that controlled the European Security Force. I constructed a defensive network for any potential enemies from various areas of the world: North America, South America, the Far East, Eastern Europe, etc. In the process, I had them investigate Australia because it holds the most influence in Oceania.... Anyway, due to various circumstances, Europe and North America have no reason to want the occult techniques of Japan, so I figured it was probably Australia this time."
"Hm. So why was it not an attractive invitation?"
"They had taken on various burdens to make up for how far they had fallen behind." The Succubus waved her arrow-shaped tail back and forth."For example, this witch used a Furutsubaki she had turned into a demon. But where did she get the Youkai?"
"Eh? Once she arrived in Japan, I would assume."
"She would not have made it in time. Remaking a paranormal existence may sound simple enough, but even at the quickest, it takes three years. If she had been hiding in Japan that long, Hyakki Yakou would have noticed."
"But Japanese Youkai can only be found in Japan."
"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" The Succubus grinned."Have you heard of the International Plantation Project that uses circular farms and plant factories in Australia's deserts? It's famous enough to even be used on quiz shows."
"I saw it on that rerun you and the Yuki Onna were watching. What about it?"
"Each individual farm has a special environment prepared for it so that it can produce the special crops of another country, but that is just a front. Preparing a special environment sounds innocent enough, but what if that 'environment' included aspects of the occult?"
"You don't mean..."
"Just think of them as the occult version of Chinatown or Little Tokyo. The Furutsubaki was likely forcibly brought over from Japan to be replanted and then grown on one of those farms in the desert. They make a farm for each Youkai or fairy and regulate the environment specifically for them.... Although, this occasionally causes some bugs and they transform into some strange UMA or crop circle." The Succubus gave a simple smile."It seems Hyakki Yakou mistakenly viewed the natural disasters as the anger of the land's god, but that is not what is happening. Gathering convenient parts of the occult such as fairies, Youkai, and spirits from around the world and preparing a spiritual foundation for them has created conflicts and repeated accidental activations that have ultimately led to the natural disasters."
This was not the same as a carefully-regulated Intellectual Village. That was artificial land that Youkai would find uncomfortable. When I imagined those circular farms spread out across the desert, it gave me a horribly cramped impression.
"That country's government wanted the blessings of sacred land, but their techniques could not keep up with their desires. This was like something unpleasant beginning to live in a church or temple that had fallen into disarray due to lack of maintenance."
An inescapable prison.
A demon that could not leave the magic circle that summoned it.
That was what the idea made me think of.
"For a demon like me, it may have been like inviting me into a birdcage. I would have a decent living environment and plenty of food, but nothing else. Now do you see why it did not sound like much fun? With that little freedom, I doubt I would have a chance to achieve my goal.... But with such a heavy blow to their grains market and the failure of the witch's project, their government will likely run crying to Hyakki Yakou to quickly fix it all for them."
"..."
Her goal.
Had what the Succubus said after stabbing me with the ice pick been true? Or had that been nothing more than another act to ensure the witch named Marguerite Steinhols let down her guard?
Also...
If she was going to deceive that witch, couldn't it have been after killing me? For example, she could have pretended to go to Australia but disappeared after leaving Japan. After escaping Hyakki Yakou, she could have created a new kingdom like the European Security Force.
"Do you find it strange?"
"... Um."
As a demon, she may have been good at noticing negative emotions because the Succubus seemed to have read my doubts from my expression alone.
She then said, "My old master spoke a few words just before he was burned at the stake. I am merely obeying them."
"What did he say?"
"I will keep that a secret. It is not often you find something more important than a contract." The Succubus grinned."Well, I just wanted to lay the trap at the time, but it would have left a bad taste in my mouth if I killed you after those words."
At that point, the glamorous Zashiki Warashi entered the room. She must have been playing video games in my room because she still had the 3D goggles on.
"Everything has smelled very Western today."
"Oh, is that so? Well, whether Japanese, Chinese, or Western, it can kill me just the same."
"I was talking about dinner. Something seemed off, so I peeked into the kitchen. As usual, your mother has been stirring a pot for hours creating some kind of sauce."
"Not good!! That isn't Western; it's a new invention! And her inventions have never turned out well!!"
"... Yes. And I think she has started to suspect she has left the path leading to a success. But she seems to be desperately hoping she can fix it by adding more seasonings. I am going to force my way past this even if I have to insist that I will simply make myself a sandwich for dinner."
"Simply? I can't even imagine you making a sandwich, you good-for-nothing Youkai. And from what you've said, she has grown desperate to not waste all the effort she's put into this. I doubt she'll listen to what we say when she gets this stubborn."
"In a case like this, it is more effective to place out the proper ingredients without the target noticing and wait for the target to notice on her own. Now then, leave this to the demon who specializes in temptation."
And so a human, a Youkai, and a demon began putting together a strategy to avoid that night's crisis.
It may have seemed a complete waste, but we did not see it that way. No matter who it was putting their heads together, an "incident" of this level was just perfect.
In fact...
Those gigantic incidents we had been dealing with before were what did not belong.
Notes
1. ↑ Noukotsu refers to the process of placing someone's cremated remains into a funerary urn.
2. ↑ In Japan, putting out filled plastic water bottles is thought to keep stray cats away.
| ← Ch. 14 | Ch. 16 → |