[Part 4/4]
After refusing my gratitude, Sarujirou gets down to business. He understood well what it meant for me to come here every time with my things.
"I've been entrusted with the task of monitoring Namahage."
Sarujirou's eyes widened in recognition. "Namahage? I've heard of it. It's an easy job, isn't it?"
It seemed that Sarujirou also knew about Namahage, a youkai. Well, this is the usual reaction.
"I hope so."
"Is something bothering you?"
"Well, I'm also here to protect them."
Shishui, who was in charge of the servants, gave me instructions regarding that point in secret. There were three amateur exorcists, including the protagonist, and I was supposed to be their assistant for safety and security reasons. The problem is... that even the premise of safety and security is uncertain.
"I see. So? What kind of thing do you want me to make? I can't prepare anything too grandiose since you're running out of time and I don't want to be stared at again."
Sarujirou was right, and the departure was scheduled for four days later. The number of items we could prepare was limited so that we wouldn't attract unwanted attention.
But that's all right. I didn't intend to do anything too big for this case. Though Namahage is not the kind of tricky case that I can handle easily.
Anyway, it's the same kind of problem as Youbo (youkai mother). It's a sh*tty losing event... no, it's a worse one. It makes the protagonist feel terrible from the beginning. But at the same time, it is not difficult to avoid the tragedy depending on the way we handle it. ...Maybe?
"Well, what I want is..."
And I'll ask Sarujirou for it. It's not hard to prepare, but I needed to prepare the equipment for the job at hand for this event...
* * *
"I'm sorry to bother you. Do you mind?"
While the servant struggled to come up with a plan to overcome the impending crisis, the Princess Cherry Blossom entered a room.
"Hehehe, my, my, sorry to inconvenience you. I'll prepare a cup of tea. What kind of snack would you like?"
At the top of the dimly-lit room filled with the smell of sweet incense, the owner of the room... Kochou declared. Her voice as sweet and seductive as the overwhelming aroma that filled the dark and musty space.
"No need, I don't intend to stay long," the guest's reply was curt and cold. However, knowing how tricky the master of this room is, and the effect of this incense, the second princess of Onitsuki's cold reply is quite natural. For the exorcists of the Northern Region, it was already common sense not to eat or drink anything prepared by her.
"I know why you came... it's about him, isn't it?" Kochou sneered.
"Strictly speaking, that and more," Aoi drawled lazily. "The last time you failed to do so, but you're back to... your old tricks again."
The monitoring mission of the Namahage... was originally a task that could be easily completed by just assigning a few new exorcists to assist. And yet...
"You see, it's a big deal. Is that why you liked that child so much? You can switch, but if you cut him off entirely, I won't forgive you." Aoi warned her in a relaxed manner, but with a hint of murderousness in it. From Aoi's perspective, it was acceptable for the venomous woman who leaned on the past despite her age to stop aiming for him, but she would not allow her to stop defending him for the same reason. After all, she knows too much about him. If necessary, Aoi was ready to physically restrain her grandmother in front of her.
"Heh-heh, don't worry, don't worry. I don't have that kind of interest. This child is special of course, but it's not like that."
Kochou denied her granddaughter's concerns while laughing provocatively. In fact, Kochou was not interested in the lust between women.
"I can't be convinced by something like that. ...I mean, you're so indecent."
Aoi cursed while hiding her mouth with an opened fan. She frowned and looked down with disdain at the half-naked figure lying on her grandmother's lap.
"Ah...❤️ Oh, I'm...?❤️"
The child dressed in pure princess attire was indifferent to the surroundings as if 'he' was addicted to opium. Or, more accurately, the child was unaware of the surroundings.
The bosom was exposed, sweat and flushed white skin were observed as if the child had been drunk. The child appeared to be in a trance, hallucinating, and drool pathetically fell from the mouth. The drool extended like silver threads, falling onto the child's chest, then sliding down his waist in a gentle slope. The white skin had been smeared with the slimy fluid...
"Oh goodness, how disgraceful. ...Just like a baby. Don't you think you're embarrassing yourself in front of him?"
Watching the pitiful sight of the child falling to her knees, Kochou laughed uncomfortably and scooped up the dripped drool with her white fish-like fingers, tracing them from her waist to his chest.
"Huh...? ❤️Hi...ahh......? ❤️"
The former child shakes and convulses like a cow whose throat has been cut for draining blood. Seeing this figure, Aoi despises her more and more.
"I wonder if this one is really helpful? I'm sorry, but I don't trust it."
If it was a daughter of some merchant family who wants to be humiliated and beaten down by some trampling on her dignity, this child's role is different. This child is not here for the purpose of entertainment.
This child is an insurance policy to keep him in this world in case of emergency, a disposable tool. Just like a rag used to clean up the filth on the floor or paper used to throw away the discharged desire. A consumable, but paradoxically, Aoi was concerned with the quality of the product.
With the child's flesh, child's soul, child's dignity, child's purity, her beloved could be brought back to the world of human beings. But if it's disposable, that's why Aoi can't help but doubt the effectiveness of this second-hand product. Would such a secondhand item, and in such a condition, really be useful on the big day?
"How cruel of you to say that," Kochou exclaimed, a tone of disappointment in her voice. "Poor thing. It may be secondhand, but the original quality is good, you know?"
"Nn, uh…❤️ Aah... ❤️…?" the child mumbled, clearly confused by the situation.
Kochou pats the child's head as if she were soothing a baby. The child tilts his head and accepts the patting in bewilderment and accepts it.
"…Why are you glaring at me?" Kochou demanded, irritation clear in her voice. "Besides, he can't stay on your property forever, right? And isn't it better than being forced to take a dangerous job?"
"Is that why you let him in?" Aoi retorted, her tone skeptical.
"You don't like it?" Kochou asked. "If you have a better idea, I'm all ears?"
"......"
The granddaughter is silent at her grandmother's words. Indeed, it was impossible to keep the beloved person locked up in one's own territory forever. Yun-shoku servant has no time for such things. Then it would not be a mistake to strike first. Besides, now that the man (her father) had woken up, it would be difficult for Aoi to stick to her own opinion unilaterally in the general assemblies.
"Besides, there's nothing wrong with that newcomer and him having a closer relationship, is there?" Kochou continued, attempting to change the subject. "It's better to have many allies, isn't it?"
"Get along, huh?" Aoi grumbled, clearly uncomfortable with the idea.
"Are you jealous?" Kochou teased, a hint of mischief in her voice.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," Aoi admitted, her tone bitter. "That's how a woman is."
Regarding matters of love, friendship among girls is fleeting... and so is friendship among boys. It's natural to want to be the only one your beloved looks at.
"Aoi..." Kochou began, before trailing off.
"Don't worry," Aoi interrupted, eager to change the subject. "I'm a sensible woman. Unlike those driven by such emotions," she added.
The teasing words remind the second princess of her older sister to who she reluctantly shares half of the blood.
Yes, it is all because of that woman. His current suffering is all because of her. Because of her selfishness.
"I'm different."
Coolly and resolutely, she asserts her position and her love, which Aoi knows to be madness due to her parents' actions. But Aoi is sure that her love is much deeper than her father's, her mother's, her sister's, and so on. She is different from those who act without thinking things through...
"So it doesn't matter who he's friends with. If he wants, I can arrange the place for him."
Because of her madness, Aoi could tolerate him even if he turned his attention to other people.
"......"
"Okay. Let's put this matter to rest for now. I hope... you'll be of some help to him, no matter how it turns out, won't you?"
Aoi glanced at the 'former boy' as she turned on her heel. ...The boy himself was unclear if he had been spoken to, and continued to drool while stunned.
"I'll also take out insurance separately from you. Is that OK with you?" Aoi declared, remembering something. Kochou responded to her granddaughter's comment with a smile. With a pale face, Aoi glared at her grandmother with a cold gaze. Then, she went to the exit of the room again. She didn't want to smell this overly sweet scent anymore...
"...hehe, scary girl."
Kochou smiled wryly at her granddaughter's back and continued to whisper in the boy's ear. Her words, which were also an incantation, hinted at the fate that awaited the child. The path that a shrine maiden who appeased and comforted a monster would take, the intense storms of shame, humiliation, and rape that she would receive as a human sacrifice... But what appeared on the child's face as he listened was not fear, but rather...
"Don't worry, you're pure, innocent, and chaste. So just relax and leave everything to him when the time comes."
"Leave it to big, bro? ...Hehehe❤️Big bro (aniki)...❤️"
The murmuring that escaped the 'boy's' mouth in a delirium-like manner as Kochou stroked his cheek was filled with an overwhelming sense of bliss. The former boy writhed and trembled as if melting, looking up at Kochou with a happy expression. What kind of hallucination was he seeing in his mind was not something that could be thought of now.
"......"
Then, Kochou reached out her hand towards the boy's groin area, and gently smiled as she understood his feelings.
She smiled gently, like she was doting on a pet...
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