Chapter 1184 – Day 15
We cautiously exited the mansion.
“Heeik…”
Nevata Noriko, a plain-looking woman with short, bobbed hair and glasses, covered her mouth with both hands. The front of the mansion was littered with corpses.
Ignoring the bodies, we scanned our surroundings and headed towards the shrine. We didn’t encounter a single villager on the way to the stairs leading up to the shrine.
I looked up at the stairs from the bottom.
They were daunting.
It was too dark to see the top of the stairs. Whether it was an optical illusion or not, it felt as if the stairs continued infinitely.
“Climbing these stairs is no easy task. It’ll take at least five minutes. If they start shooting from up there… just imagining it is terrifying.”
Mori Masahiro’s words made everyone in the circle shudder. But there was no other way. Going up to the shrine by a different path than the stairs? Climbing the mountain without a paved path would be difficult. What could be done in five minutes could take over an hour.
We slowly climbed the stairs. If we went too fast, we’d tire quickly. Fortunately, there were no attacks while we were climbing.
‘Shibata. That monster is definitely at the shrine, right?’
Honestly, I wasn’t very confident.
I couldn’t use Complete Recovery right now.
Blood pills? I had them, but taking too many could kill me due to the side effects. I had no intention of dying with Shibata. If I died, the quest would fail. The quest had to succeed.
The top of the stairs came into view. I, who was leading the way, stopped. Fortunately, there were no enemies lying in ambush at the top of the stairs.
“Let’s come up with a plan.”
“A plan?”
“It’s nothing grand. There will definitely be enemies when we get up there. They might have guns, so confronting them head-on isn’t a good idea. So…”
I looked at both sides of the stairs. There was sloping ground and trees. It was quite steep, but if we climbed up… we could reach the shrine without using the stairs. The destination was already close.
“I see. You’re saying we should move through a side path.”
“Yes. We should split up. Mori-senpai, Fudo-senpai, and Nevata-senpai, and Wada will go up the stairs as is.”
“…Nakagami and Haga will go around the side of the stairs? The personnel arrangement seems a bit odd?”
“No. This is right. They’ll be most wary of me and Mori-senpai, and if there are too few people, they’ll find that strange. If there aren’t any ambushes on the stairs… I want Nakagami-senpai and Haga to move as a separate unit and capture the shrine maiden.”
“Wait a minute, Sung! Isn’t it too dangerous for Nakagami-senpai and Haga?!”
Wada Kyoshiro flared up. He glanced at Haga Ryoko, so he must be worried about her. Haga Ryoko, on the other hand, was listening to me without any objections.
“Not bad.”
Nakagami Risa said. Holding her hatchet, she curled her lips while looking at Haga Ryoko.
“It’s like a mission a ninja would get. Right? Ryoko?”
“…Nakagami-senpai. I’m not a ninja. And please don’t call me by my first name.”
“It’s okay between us. You can call me by my first name too.”
“……”
Wada Kyoshiro stared back and forth between Nakagami Risa and Haga Ryoko with wide eyes. He seemed curious about when they had become so close. I couldn’t say that it was because the three of us had been naked together.
“Anyway, you don’t have any complaints about this plan, do you?”
Nakagami Risa asked Haga Ryoko. Haga Ryoko, fiddling with the dagger hidden in her clothes, nodded.
“Whether it’s reasonable or not… it’s unsettling to gather and break through head-on.”
“Since it’s decided, we’ll move as Yujin says.”
They walked into the mountains beside the stairs.
They would do well. At least, they had no hesitation in killing people. Nakagami Risa’s skills were a bit unreliable, but with Haga Ryoko, who was from a ninja family, it would be fine.
“…Sung. You seem to have gotten close to Ryoko.”
Wada Kyoshiro said to me.
“Me, close to Haga? What are you mistaken about?”
“It’s not a mistake. Ryoko… she’s been watching you. I can tell, even if others can’t.”
Was he perceptive?
Or did he know Haga Ryoko’s habits or quirks as a childhood friend?
Either way, I didn’t have time to talk to Wada Kyoshiro here.
“Let’s talk later. Now is not the time for such talk.”
“…Okay.”
We arrived at the entrance of the shrine.
It was called a torii, wasn’t it? A large red gate welcomed us. We passed through the torii and walked along the stone path to the shrine.
The shrine was quiet. There was no one around. Only the sounds of insects echoed from all directions. The overall atmosphere was eerie.
I frowned as I looked at the shrine buildings. There were several buildings.
“Where do you think the shrine maiden is?”
I asked Mori Masahiro. He had been to the shrine during festivals.
“…I don’t know either. The shrine is so big, there are many places for the shrine maiden to hide. I think she might be in the inner quarters.”
“Not the main hall?”
“When I looked around yesterday, the main hall was a building for rituals. It’s not a place where people stay.”
“…Well, we’ll find out where she is if we wander around slowly.”
“It’s concerning that there aren’t many people around. They might be lying in ambush.”
“……”
I had a rough idea.
This village was already finished. The shrine maiden, who controlled the village and used it as a drug factory, would have a lot to take care of.
‘And she even sent people to kill me. Those guys died by my hand instead.’
The shrine maiden must be very busy right now.
We searched the shrine here and there. There was nothing special.
It was when we were leaving the main hall without any results.
Clang!
With a rough sound, the door of the detached building opened. A huge man appeared through the small door.
A disproportionately large upper body compared to his lower body, and black clothes that covered even his face.
It was Shibata.
“W-what, what is that monster!”
Wada Kyoshiro was shocked. He unconsciously tensed up and pointed his baseball bat at Shibata.
“…It seems like that monster Sung was talking about. I was half-doubtful when I heard about it… but seeing it in person makes my legs tremble even more.”
Mori Masahiro, holding his spear, glared at Shibata.
“We have to fight that monster?”
“W-what should we do?!”
Fudo Jun and Nevata Noriko were flustered and trembled with fear.
Shibata, the object of their fear, didn’t pay attention to them and only looked at me. I couldn’t see his exact gaze because his face was covered with cloth, but I intuitively knew that he was watching me.
“You! Why are you still alive!”
Shibata’s voice was trembling. I grinned. He was hiding it with an angry voice, but he was afraid of me. I looked at Shibata’s right arm. The right arm I had cut off was attached. If you looked closely, his arm was stitched together with thick wire.
That alone wouldn’t be enough to reattach an arm. His right arm was limp. It was clear that he couldn’t move it.
“Where is the shrine maiden.”
“…The shrine maiden told me to kill you. I’ll kill you.”
Shibata started running.
His speed was slower than when I first saw him. But it wasn’t a speed to be ignored.
“Scatter! Scatter and kill him!”
I said, jumping back with my Japanese swords in both hands. Shibata was openly targeting me.
I had predicted the fight with Shibata, and I had already told the circle members.
I drew Shibata’s attention, and Mori Masahiro and Wada Kyoshiro attacked Shibata from behind.
“Annoying!”
Thud, thud thud!
Shibata swung his left arm and rampaged.
He picked up a statue that was decorating the shrine and threw it. The first victim hit by the statue was, absurdly, Nevata Noriko, who was hiding in the farthest place.
“Kyaaaaaaak!”
Thwack.
She couldn’t avoid the flying statue and her head was crushed, killing her.
“You bastard…!”
Fudo Jun, who was next to Nevata Noriko, threw five knives at Shibata. Two missed, but three hit. Two were stuck in his back, and one was stuck in his head.
The knives that were stuck pushed themselves out and fell to the floor. Thanks to that, the cloth covering Shibata’s head fell off. Shibata’s exposed face was disgusting. His two red eyes looked like they were about to pop out, his jaw was bent in an S-shape, and the center of his forehead was protruding like a horn.
His face was as inhuman as his physique.
“You, you…!!”
Shibata turned his body and shouted at Fudo Jun. What was absurd was that even though a knife had been stuck in his head, he was moving as if nothing had happened.
‘Is he really a monster? …No, that can’t be. This guy’s eyes are messed up. He’s high on drugs. He’s not crying blood… he must have taken blood pills.’
Shibata started running towards Fudo Jun. Fudo Jun was surprised and tried to run away, but tripped over a rock and fell.
“I’ll crush that head of yours!!”
Shibata grabbed Fudo Jun’s head with his left hand. With a thud! Blood and brain matter flowed from his left hand.
While Shibata was killing Fudo Jun, I secretly approached and slashed his right thigh. I couldn’t cut it completely. His thigh muscles were as tough as his upper body.
‘But I succeeded in making him limp.’
Shibata turned around.
“My leg!!”
“Where is the shrine maiden.”
“Die!!”
I hurriedly backed away to avoid his attack. Shibata started targeting me again. Maybe it was because I took away his mobility. He wasn’t as threatening as before.
“Mori-senpai! Wada! Just keep your distance! If we keep our distance, we can hunt him easily!”
“Hunt…! That monster is still a human!”
“I like Sung’s words. Is someone who crushes a human’s head with his hand a human?!”
Mori Masahiro and Wada Kyoshiro actively engaged in the fight. They were furious at the deaths of two circle members.
“Uaaaaaaaah!!”
Shibata screamed and went berserk. We continued the fight, maintaining a certain distance from the monster who had lost his mobility.
Thud!
And finally, Shibata collapsed.
I ran to the fallen monster and shoved my sword into his eye socket. The monster trembled and then died. The tedious fight was over.
Thud.
Mori Masahiro sat down. His left arm, which had been hit by Shibata’s attack during the fight, was horribly broken. I approached him and checked his arm.
“Mori-senpai… honestly, this arm is hopeless.”
“…I’m grateful to be alive. If he hadn’t weakened… I would have lost my life, not just my arm.”
“Can you stand up?”
“My legs are fine, so I can walk. But I want to rest a little.”
“Why don’t you rest forever?”
“What…? Keok?!”
I stabbed Mori Masahiro’s chest with my sword. I felt the sensation of piercing his heart in my hand.
“I didn’t like you acting like a senior. Die.”
He was a guy I brought along to fight Shibata. Now that Shibata was dead, Mori Masahiro was no longer needed. And Wada Kyoshiro would be killed here for the same reason. If Wada Kyoshiro died, Haga Ryoko would be mine.
“Sung!!!”
Wada Kyoshiro shouted and ran towards me, swinging his dented baseball bat.
I dodged the baseball bat and swung my sword. The sword cut through Wada Kyoshiro’s torso. But it was shallow. I didn’t feel like I had cut through his intestines.
Thwack!
The baseball bat that I had dodged hit my side. The trajectory had changed midway.
“…Not bad?”
I raised my sword to finish him off. Wada Kyoshiro threw his bat at me and ran away. I tried to chase him, but the throbbing pain in my side stopped me. I touched my side and clicked my tongue. I lifted my clothes to check my side and saw a dark bruise.
Wada Kyoshiro had escaped into the mountains in a flash. It was too late to chase him.
