Ch.227Riding with Taiga (5)

“Hopohopoho…..”

The eight-foot ghost stood blocking the mountain keeper’s path.

“M-Mountain Keeper sir!! What’s going on?!”

I shouted loudly.

“I have no choice. I have my circumstances too.”

The mountain keeper said.

“Is that… enough reason to kill someone?”

I asked.

The YouTuber’s headless corpse collapsed like a crumbling structure. Could it be… the people who went missing before met the same fate? I couldn’t help but suspect it.

“Yeah. Of course.”

The mountain keeper said with a smile.

“This mountain, you see, has recently been immortalized on the internet. As an adultery hotspot… People started talking about this beautiful mountain however they pleased!!”

The mountain keeper shouted angrily.

“No matter what I did… I couldn’t erase the stigma of being an adultery site. I even heard people saying to be suspicious if their wives or husbands went to Mount Shiroishi!!”

The mountain keeper yelled.

“Ah… I see.”

Shit. This guy reeks of insanity… similar to that mountain hermit from before. I was starting to get the picture.

“I!!! Got divorced because my wife had an affair!! She’s the one who cheated, but I’m the one who had to pay alimony!!! Damn it all!!!! I came home early one day and caught her in the middle of an intense ‘training session’ with her fitness instructor in our bed!!! Huh?!!”

The mountain keeper raged.

Right. The darkness of modern society. There’s a reason people say not to get married.

“I have trauma from the word ‘adultery’!!! When I heard stories about adultery, I couldn’t contain my anger!!”

The mountain keeper said with a maniacal smile, holding something up.

It was a controller from a classic 8-bit gaming console. But it was covered with talismans stuck all over it.

“N-No!! That’s it!! That’s what he’s using to control the eight-foot ghost!!”

At that moment, Saeko shouted.

“What? With that thing?”

He’s completely lost it. For real.

“To prevent the word ‘adultery’ from being associated with this mountain… I had to cover up its reputation as an adultery spot with something more impactful.”

The mountain keeper shouted.

“If people go missing… if ghosts appear… then the adultery reputation will be forgotten!! Better to be known as a haunted spot!!! That doesn’t trigger my trauma!!!”

The mountain keeper yelled loudly.

“He’s just a crazy bastard!!!!”

It was the mountain hermit from before!!! Shit. Does living isolated in the mountains for too long turn everyone like this?!!

“Anyway, I happened to have an exorcist license. A Class 1 standard, no less.”

The mountain keeper waved the game controller.

“I succeeded in awakening and commanding an evil spirit sleeping in this mountain.”

The mountain keeper laughed.

“Exorcists… are more common than I thought.”

I muttered.

“In today’s recession, you have no choice. You need to get various certifications. Exorcist is quite popular. You get extra points when applying for jobs at temples and shrines.”

Saeko said.

“Maybe I should get one too?”

Taiga muttered.

“It might suit Taiga.”

A delinquent working part-time as a shrine maiden… that’s a hit! I want to see Taiga in shrine maiden attire!! A proper shrine maiden outfit with surprisingly trashy underwear underneath! I could already devour three bowls of rice just thinking about it.

“That doll over there… must be some Class 2 trash. You can’t stop me with that.”

The mountain keeper said with a smile.

Yep. There’s definitely a Class 1 superiority complex among exorcists. Just like with driver’s licenses.

“Ugh…!! I can’t let such a dangerous ghost roam free!!”

Saeko immediately pulled something out of her pocket. It was also a game controller.

Click!

And she took out something like a cylindrical game console, also covered with talismans.

Beep!

Saeko plugged the controller into the wired connection.

“B-Buy me some time!! It takes a while for me to summon my divine servant!!”

Saeko shouted.

A small indicator light appeared on the console’s terminal.

‘Charging: 4 percent’

“That’s too slow!!!!!”

I shouted loudly. Talk about terrible user experience!!!

“I-If that ghost gets loose, it’ll be really dangerous!!! Do something!! The fate of Emoshita depends on you!”

Saeko frantically operated the console with her doll hands.

“No choice then… Taiga!!! Let’s go!!”

I immediately shouted toward Taiga.

“Heh. This kind of date works for me too!!”

Taiga picked up a thick branch from nearby.

Shit. The problem was we had no weapons. As a swordsman, my combat power drops significantly without a weapon. They say a master doesn’t choose their weapon, but weapon advantage is definitely a thing.

In the end, I had only one thing to rely on.

It was already past 11 PM. Psychorobo time. Plus, we were in Emoshita. Home ground advantage.

“Come forth!!! Pinocchio!!!”

I raised my hand immediately.

“New Pinocchio appears!!!”

Pinocchio, covered in silver slime, made a grand entrance.

He posed like an ace monster coming out… but in appearance, he was just a tuner. He looked like something that would be discarded after a synchro summon.

Anyway. In this situation, Pinocchio was the only weapon I could use.

“Come forth!! Fenrir!!!”

Seeing that I had summoned my psychorobo, Taiga immediately summoned Fenrir.

“Awoooo!!!”

Fenrir leaped out with a powerful howl.

“T-This is… a spirit body? You also have exorcist potential…!”

Saeko looked surprised.

“Don’t be shocked at every little thing!! I’ll explain later!! Just focus on operating your console!!”

I shouted loudly. Don’t chat, troll!!!

“Hopohopoho…..”

The eight-foot ghost looked at the psychorobo with wary eyes.

No. To be precise, it was only looking at Fenrir. Pinocchio was completely ignored. Even the eight-foot ghost recognized him as cannon fodder. Well done, Pinocchio!!!

“Hmph. I thought you weren’t ordinary high schoolers… but that won’t be enough to stop my eight-foot ghost!!!”

The mountain keeper enthusiastically operated his controller.

Whoosh-!!

The eight-foot ghost immediately rushed toward Taiga.

“Woof!! Woof!!!”

Fenrir immediately jumped high.

Clang-!

The ghost’s long claws and Fenrir’s claws clashed.

“Pinocchio!!! You and I are going for the main body!!”

I shouted.

It was division of labor. While Taiga kept the ghost busy, I would target the mountain keeper.

“Yes!! Master!! Leave it to me!”

Pinocchio seemed unable to contain his excitement at the chance to be useful for once. Look, his nose was already starting to get erect.

“First, try to elongate your body!!”

I shouted loudly. I needed him to transform into something weapon-like.

Pinocchio, having inherited Geruruk’s will, could transform his body like slime. Of course… not quite as well as I’d hoped, but the fact that he could do it at all was important.

“Yes sir!!”

Pinocchio began transforming the slime covering his body.

Strrretch……

With a weak sound, Pinocchio’s body slowly extended. At about the speed of falling phlegm.

“T-This is my limit!!”

Pinocchio shouted.

“Alright… good job.”

Pinocchio had transformed into a silver rod about the size of a small club. Just barely usable as a weapon.

“Good!!! Let’s go then!!”

I immediately grabbed the Pinocchio sword.

Whoosh-!

Right after, I rushed toward the mountain keeper.

“Ha!!! You’ve got sense!! Going for the controller, are you?!!”

The mountain keeper laughed and quickly operated his console.

“Hopohopoho…!!”

The eight-foot ghost stopped fighting with Fenrir and tried to block me. It seemed determined to protect its controller first.

“Shota!! Watch out!!”

Taiga shouted loudly.

However, my physical abilities were in top form.

“Hyah!!”

I immediately slid and rolled between the ghost’s legs. Its long limbs actually made it easy to pass through.

Whoosh-!!!

Simultaneously, I scraped the ground hard with my sword as I closed the distance to the mountain keeper.

Fwoooosh-!!!!

The Pinocchio sword burst into flames. This was one of my techniques, the Blazing Slash. With such a poor weapon, I needed to add fire to increase the damage.

“Hot hot hot hot!!!”

Even though he was fire-resistant, Pinocchio could still feel the heat. His body vibrated tremendously.

However, I realized Pinocchio sword’s advantage. Pinocchio’s body was solid. He had resistance to all elements. A little fire wouldn’t damage his durability.

Even the famous Tomato Sword would bend immediately if set on fire. In that respect, the Pinocchio sword had an advantage. To use a Biohazard X 4 Remake analogy, it was like an infinite durability knife. The damage was poor, but the infinite durability compensated for all its shortcomings.

Pinocchio is useful!!!

“The sword suddenly caught fire…!”

The mountain keeper backed away in confusion. He was surprisingly quick to react. Throwing away the controller, he immediately grabbed a hand axe.

But he was still an ordinary person who hadn’t learned swordsmanship. I dove inside the axe’s trajectory and swung the Pinocchio sword upward.

“Hyaaaah!!!”

I swung the flaming Pinocchio sword.

Fwoooosh-!!!!!

The Pinocchio sword’s slash struck the mountain keeper’s chest directly.

Crack-!!

The clear sensation of breaking ribs transmitted through my wrist.

Fwoooosh-!!

Then, the scorching heat enveloped the mountain keeper.

“Aaaaargh!! Hot!! Hot!!!!”

The mountain keeper rolled on the ground, groaning.

“This is the end!!!”

Next is the face!! I’ll cook that face to medium rare!!!

Crack-!!

My follow-up attack hit the mountain keeper’s face directly.

Crack-!!

“Kyaaaaaaah!!!”

Unable to withstand the scorching heat on his face, the mountain keeper immediately retired.

Thud-!!

The mountain keeper fell with his eyes rolled back. Of course, I didn’t take his life.

With this… is the eight-foot ghost neutralized?

However, I realized my thinking was wrong.

“Hopohopoho…..!!”

The eight-foot ghost was smiling eerily, as if it had been waiting for this moment.

Shit… something doesn’t feel right.

“Hey! When are you summoning your divine servant?!”

I shouted toward Saeko.

“Divine servant download… 9 percent!!!”

Saeko shouted.

Shit!! That’s ridiculously slow!!!

It seemed this wouldn’t be an easy fight after all.