Ch.27Chapter 4. Where People Live (6)

The Nue is a yokai that looks like a random mix of animals from the Chinese zodiac. It could be described as an Eastern version of a chimera, and most people would probably agree with that comparison.

The Nue in the netherworld was the same.

I think I once read somewhere that it makes a “hyo, hyo” sound when it cries, and those who hear it fall ill. I probably read it on Wikipedia while searching for information, though I’m not certain.

It has tiger legs and a monkey head. It has a raccoon’s body and a tail with a snake’s head attached to it.

And that disharmonious appearance was far more grotesque and frightening than I had imagined.

“You who hide in names, imitating others’ forms without possessing your own body.”

Yuka Yuuki placed her left hand on her waist and extended her sword straight out to the right.

That line was so beautiful that I was momentarily captivated.

This was the first time I’d seen Yuuki draw her sword. Naturally, it was also my first time seeing the blade.

The edge, so sharp it could be described as white rather than merely shining, had withstood the passage of time without losing its ability to cut. Surely, even if I didn’t know the sword’s true nature, I would have felt it could cut something not of this world.

And—I instinctively knew.

That sword could even cut a god.

…And me as well—

“If you return to your place, I will not cut you. Abandon your greed and return to where you belong.”

But the Nue didn’t look frightened at all. Why? Was it not afraid even after seeing the sword?

“…Kut-chan?”

As my legs trembled uncontrollably, Kaoru Kaneko asked me with concern.

I was cold.

Not because I was caught in the rain, not because my body was wet. Rather, something more fundamental was rising from within me.

Like a chill coming from my very bones.

The whistling sound was heard again.

Something crawled out from the gap. Something invisible. But both Kaneko and I could tell that something was there.

“You mimic well the sound that leads souls to the netherworld.”

Yuuki moved her left hand and took out a yellow paper from her waist. Black characters were scrawled messily on the white paper.

The paper seemed to have been treated with some kind of sizing, as it didn’t get wet easily despite the rain.

Blue fire ignited at the end of the charm, and when Yuuki released it upward, the paper quickly burned to ash, leaving only small sparks.

Those small sparks fluttered without being swept away by the wind and rain. It was a strange sight.

The sparks floated gently and lit each of the twelve directional charms Yuuki had prepared.

When the charm near us caught fire, the salt burned with a blue flame.

And then Yuuki moved.

She momentarily put strength in her legs, then closed in on the Nue in an instant, leaving only red and white traces behind as she thrust her sword forward.

The sound of two metals colliding rang out. Seeing the Nue’s hand raised, it must have deflected Yuuki’s sword.

Yuuki wasn’t flustered at all.

She struck down with her sword again, and it was deflected again.

“Hup!”

As the Nue’s other hand moved quickly, Yuuki swiftly ducked. A few strands of her hair that were trying to escape downward after her body were cut off by those claws.

The gleam of the blade was beautiful.

“Beautiful…”

Kaneko was also murmuring that without realizing it.

“Grrrr…”

As things weren’t going its way, the Nue bared its teeth and made such a sound. Was that its original voice?

The Nue quickly jumped to the side, creating distance between itself and Yuuki. In that moment, Yuuki quickly put her left hand to her waist and took out another charm. Once again, she threw the charm with its blue fire toward the gap to the netherworld from which the Nue had emerged.

A scream was heard. It wasn’t Yuuki’s.

It was like the chilling scream of something trying to come out but being blocked.

The Nue opened its mouth and shouted.

That sound—

It was a monkey’s cry. Well, it would be difficult to imagine it making any sound other than a monkey’s.

Perhaps angry that its hiding place, where it had been waiting for prey, was now blocked, the Nue struck the ground several times with its hands and screamed like an angry monkey.

Yuuki didn’t bother to respond and darted toward the Nue again.

And then,

Whee— Ho—

…That sound was heard again.

“…Ah.”

The sound was coming from the gap that was about to close.

A beak was protruding from the small remaining gap. This time, the whistling sound was coming from there.

Just as the Nue had done earlier. This time too, the beak tore through the empty space.

And what emerged was another Nue (鵼) with a similarly mixed appearance. A bird with a chicken’s head and wings, a tiger’s skin, a monkey’s head, a snake’s tail, and a dog’s legs. This one also had a jumbled appearance of zodiac animals.

Nue (鵺) and Nue (鵼).

There wasn’t just one.

“Tch.”

I heard Yuuki click her tongue.

The second Nue spread its wings and flew up into the sky.

As it was about to drop directly onto Yuuki’s head, it suddenly fell toward the ground midway.

A large arrow was lodged in its neck.

The person standing in the direction from which the arrow had come was Yuuki’s grandfather. He was holding a bow much larger than his upper body.

He too was wearing red pants below and a white garment above. What he had at his waist was a quiver.

He drew another arrow and nocked it to his bow.

“Keeeeek!”

The Nue screamed.

While everyone’s attention was on the Nue that had fallen to the ground, Yuuki had slashed the belly of the Nue she was facing. Red blood flowed. So yokai bleed red blood too.

Well, I had seen it last time as well.

“Keeek!”

The Nue that had fallen to the ground made a similar sound. The grotesque yokai with a primate head but nothing primate-like below the neck quickly got up.

Drip, drip, red blood flowed along the arrow lodged in its neck. The white fletching was quickly soaked with blood.

“Keeek!”

The grandfather didn’t say anything and shot his arrow at the Nue.

I was… anxious.

No, I wasn’t anxious because I thought I might die. Rather, I felt like I should be playing some role here but wasn’t.

I am, after all, an outsider who fell into a light novel.

Shouldn’t I be doing something like other transmigrators? At the very least, shouldn’t I jump in to help Yuuki like Sasaki, the original protagonist, would have?

But there was nothing I could do.

In fact, if I interfered unnecessarily, the situation might get worse.

Even after receiving so much help.

“Hmm.”

The Nue dodged the arrow shot by the grandfather by jumping to the side.

The Nue absolutely refused to enter the barrier Yuuki had prepared. Was there some instinctual awareness?

Instead—

“No!?”

The grandfather shouted as he saw the Nue’s movement.

The bird-like Nue seemed to have realized it was no match for either Yuuki or the grandfather.

Since it also had the form of a four-legged beast, it thoroughly utilized that, running around the barrier.

Realizing that we were at the end of its path, Yuuki turned her body, but—

“Keek!”

Right beside her was the other Nue.

It was bleeding from its belly, but it was a predator twice the size of a human. If one were hit by its carelessly swung arm, it would be fortunate to only break something.

Yuuki threw herself toward the ground. The attack barely missed, slicing through the air.

The Nue immediately dug its opposite claw into the ground. Then it pushed toward Yuuki. The sound of the ground being deeply gouged reached us. Like cutting a log with a circular saw, the Nue dug deep into the sandy field as it rushed toward Yuuki.

…I’m becoming a burden.

My heart beat faster.

If I hadn’t been here, if they hadn’t had to come all the way here, this might not have happened—

Yuuki rose from the ground and rolled to the side. Her pristine white miko outfit instantly became covered in dirt.

But the Nue didn’t stop. It wasn’t that it couldn’t control its momentum.

The Nue pulled its front paws out of the ground, as if scooping up soil.

No, not “as if.” It actually scooped up soil.

The thick clump of soil flew through the air and—

“Oh no!”

The grandfather exclaimed. At the same time, the soil fell onto the charm placed in the Ox direction.

The blue flame that had been burning was covered.

Was the fire… extinguished?

But whether it was extinguished or not, it was clear even to my untrained eyes that something had gone seriously wrong.

When the fire of the Ox direction charm went out, the flames of the adjacent Rat and Tiger direction charms began to weaken. As if counting down.

And those flames were connected to the salt circle where Kaneko and I were standing.

The grandfather immediately started running. He was probably trying to intercept the Nue that was running toward us as quickly as possible.

But the winged Nue moved cunningly.

When the grandfather started running, it leaped forward, placing us between itself and the grandfather. In a position where we might also be hit if the bow was shot carelessly.

I had to do something.

If I just stood there, I would truly end up being nothing but a burden.

What I could do—

Suddenly, my thoughts went to Kaneko’s pocket.

“…Senior Kaneko!”

I shouted as I jumped into Kaneko’s arms.

“Kut-chan?”

Kaneko caught me with ease.

“Kut-chan, it’s okay. Surely—”

Kaneko’s eyes widened as she embraced me, trying to comfort me.

“…Kut-chan?”

But I already had a knife in my hand. While embracing Kaneko’s waist, I had taken out the knife from her pocket.

Click.

The sound of the blade being extended was heard. Kaneko hurriedly tried to push me away from her body, but by then I had already placed the blade against my wrist.

When Kaneko roughly pushed me back, my arm came loose from her waist. And with that force, my wrist was cut.

“Kut-chan!?”

Naturally, when I separated from Kaneko’s body, blood was slowly flowing from my wrist.

Kaneko reached out toward me and—

Time did not stop.

My left hand rose as if holding something up. The long cut on my wrist tore into an eye shape. The pentagram drawn on my wrist turned red with blood, and the bloody tears flowing from the eye on my wrist flowed toward the air.

A red sword.

I grabbed its hilt before it was even fully formed.

“…Kut-chan…?”

Kaneko asked as if unable to understand the situation.

“…What I mentioned earlier.”

That’s all I said. In truth, even though it was limited to my wrist, tearing the wound vertically and horizontally to make an eye shape was an incredibly painful act.

It wasn’t something I particularly wanted to do.

Moreover, I had just torn open a wound that was already bleeding profusely. The blood that was already flowing now flowed even more vigorously. To the point where I might really die.

…This is truly a reliable suicide method, I thought for a moment.

Well, I had no intention of dying.

I pressed my left wrist firmly against my waist. I needed to keep bleeding to use this ability, but I still needed to endure as much as possible.

I raised the knife with one hand.

The Nue, which had been running straight toward us, hesitated for a moment when it saw what I was holding.

But seeing my face contorted with pain and the blood gushing from my left wrist, it seemed to think this was manageable.

That makes sense.

With enough vitality to survive an arrow to the neck, it would naturally think it could easily handle someone like me. Perhaps it thought it could devour me in one bite.

…You’re wrong.

I didn’t want to die.

I had just made that house livable. At the very least… I wanted to enjoy it a little.

Thinking that, I swung my bleeding left hand.

Drop by drop, red blood sprayed into the air. It was only about as forceful as splashing water.

Still, it was fortunate that the rain had weakened. Thanks to that, my blood could reach the Nue as it leaped toward us.

“Keek!?”

The Nue let out such a cry and hastily fell to the ground.

Yes, the Jikininki had tasted my blood and immediately spat me out. While my blood might not be powerful enough to kill, it seems to cause extreme discomfort to yokai.

What exactly is my blood? It’s definitely not just human blood.

With such thoughts, I slowly moved forward.

Holding the red sword in one hand, extended to the side like I was imitating Yuuki.

I ran.

The Nue soon regained its composure.

Its large, round monkey eyes alternated between looking at my face and the knife I was holding.

Soon, baring its teeth, the monkey shouted “Keek!” Blood was on its teeth. Probably blood that had refluxed through the esophagus due to the arrow in its neck.

The Nue… doesn’t seem scared. Perhaps it thought something terribly smelly and unpleasant was rushing toward it and decided to get rid of it quickly.

The Nue leaped toward me again.

This time too, I swung my hand to spray blood, but the Nue didn’t bother to avoid my blood this time. It made an extremely displeased expression when the blood touched its body, but that was all.

Well, I had anticipated that.

Anyway, it wouldn’t be able to kill me.

“Miss Kurosawa!”

The old man’s voice urgently called me from behind. I also heard the creaking sound of a bowstring being drawn. But it was already too late.

The Nue’s mouth bit into my shoulder.

“Bweh.”

The Nue made such a sound. It didn’t think about removing its teeth from my shoulder, but its eyes right in front of me shook violently.

“Is it that unpleasant?”

People don’t seem to think so. I guess I’m destined to be unpopular with yokai.

Before the excruciating pain could consume my brain, I moved my left arm that was inside the Nue’s mouth and firmly grabbed its tongue.

“Keeeee!”

The Nue’s mouth opened. As the fangs that had punctured my body were removed, blood gushed out from there too. It was getting hard to breathe. Maybe my heart had been pierced?

Whatever the principle, I didn’t die.

Something acidic and iron-like rose up my esophagus, but I ignored it.

I ignored it and moved my right hand.

“Why, doesn’t it cut in one go?”

The monkey eyes, wide with surprise.

I firmly grabbed the tongue, pulled it, and moved my right hand.

Thud.

The red knife penetrated the soft spot under the monkey’s jaw. The blade that pierced through the lower jaw was clearly visible. The blade went through the root of the tongue I was pulling and penetrated all the way to the palate.

But it wasn’t long enough to pierce the brain.

“Ueek! Ueeee!”

So noisy.

I forcibly twisted and pulled out the knife. The blade seemed to be as sharp as Yuuki’s Muname, as it came out quite easily.

The Nue was desperately trying to get away from me. Its raccoon-like feet clawed at me several times. My school uniform was quickly torn to shreds.

Grabbing the punctured part of the tongue and pulling it, I stabbed the sword into the Nue’s palate again.

The Nue closed its mouth. Or at least tried to. As a result, several more holes were made in both my arms.

Despite losing blood, my eyes were wide open with pain. Is that fortunate?

The Nue moved its mouth like that several times before cutting off its own tongue.

I threw aside the punctured tongue I was holding.

And ran toward the Nue again.

Thwack!

Another arrow lodged in the Nue’s neck.

The Nue’s legs buckled.

I ran to the Nue and brought down the sword gripped in both hands. A crack formed in the Nue’s right eye, and through that gap, some transparent vitreous humor or whatever it was, some transparent and sticky substance flowed out.

Seeing the Nue’s head collapse to the side, I raised my sword and thrust it with all my might into the Nue’s head, where the brain should be.

Do yokai have vital organs too? Well, since they come from another world, they might just be treated as beasts there.

The Nue stretched out all four legs, trembled, and then went limp.

“Haa… haa… haa…”

It all happened in an instant.

The smell of blood was overwhelming. It seemed to be coming from both the Nue and me. Probably a mix of both. It was such a strong iron smell that it made me nauseous.

I knelt on the ground.

“Kut-chan!”

An almost screaming voice was heard.

I saw Kaneko’s face as she ran to me. Ah, it seems I was already lying on the ground.

“Ah, aah…! Wh-what should I do!?”

She covered the holes in my body with both hands, but when blood gushed from another hole, she instinctively removed her hands to cover that hole. But of course, blood flowed out again from where she had removed her hands.

In a situation like this, where someone has multiple wounds all over, simple pressure doesn’t help. There are holes everywhere anyway.

“…It’s okay,”

“I’ll, I’ll help you! I’ll help, so…!”

Hmm.

I think I’ll be okay.

Come to think of it, I had already nearly died from excessive bleeding once before.

Wait, am I really going to die?

Did I make the wrong choice then?

I thought with a hazy mind.

Kaneko’s voice gradually faded away. It seemed like the grandfather’s and Yuuki’s voices were also mixed in, but I couldn’t distinguish them well.

“Indeed, a foolish choice.”

And in that situation, as if watching for the right timing, someone intervened.

“But this time, you’ve certainly given your ‘life.’ Having received an offering from you, I should bestow a favor in return.”

A giggling sound was heard.

“You’ll be fine. It would be good for you to sleep deeply now…”

Yes, that would be good.

I felt very, very sleepy.