[Part 4/4]
When it comes to humans, it's one thing, but when dealing with youkai, even amateurs like these rural soldiers are still government officials. There have been cases in the original and related works, as well as in actual cases that I have experienced so far, where people have foolishly spread a kind of curse like a contagious disease, or erased the traces of youkai. From the standpoint of working directly on site, I couldn't help but complain a little.
"...Well, complaining won't solve anything"
With that complaint out of the way, I went through each unoccupied house to see if the owners are still living there.
As far as I could tell, there was no blood inside the house. There was no evidence of a fire either. This was a little strange. If they had been attacked suddenly, it would not have been strange for someone to have been killed inside, and it would not have been strange for a fire in the kitchen or hearth to lead to a fire.
"According to the report, they were mostly dying outside, weren't they?"
So, it was probably not a surprise attack. They must have noticed the presence of the Namahage just before and tried to get away hastily, only to be caught. But...
"I can't get my head around this...!"
Staring at the remaining traces and pressing my lips together, I contemplate. Something didn't add up. How should I put it, I felt something was off...!?
"Tsk...?!"
Just then, I swung my spear behind me. Simultaneously, with a thud, something black was hit by the hilt of the spear. It was a blow strengthened by spiritual power, so it bounced a couple of times before being slammed into the snow field.
However, the attackers were not just one.
"These guys... are human-faced dogs...!!"
I spit out at the sight of a couple of youkai dogs with sickeningly big smiles on their faces staring back at me.
These monsters, whose origin is an urban legend, are troublesome and at the same time easy to deal with small youkai.
The troublesome aspect is probably due to their bite causing infection among their own kind. They are mentioned in the original urban legend, perhaps in connection with rabies. Like kappa, the human-faced dog infects opponents with the same monster by biting. At first glance, it sounds like a scary existence. However...!
"Eat this...!!!" I shout and throw flash bombs at them.
The human-faced dogs that were about to leap at me all at once are scared when they recognize it... and immediately after their bodies convulsed with a loud explosion and strong light, their faces still sporting an ecstatic smile.
"Hello, die!!"
'Yelp!!?'
At the same time, I closed the distance, stabbed a monster to death with a thrust of my spear, and then swung my spear to break the neck of another monster approaching from the side.
'Grrrr!!'
"You're disgusting!"
After throwing a dog that had been impaled and was still wriggling, I hit another monster that was approaching ne from behind. The human-faced dog died and its body fell onto the snowy plain. Before checking to make sure, I ran forward.
'Grr…!!?'
Then, as the dog with its twisted smile and face hit into its falling companions, I jumped up and kicked the bottom of my iron-soled wooden clogs down on its head, crushing the skull in.
'Yelp!!'
"Oops, it was a surprise attack…"
It was the first dog that I had blown up that attacked me aggressively, sticking out its tongue and showering saliva from behind, more as a stylistic gesture than anything else. I turned and swung the hidden teguruma in my sleeve, throwing it like it was hurling a ball. The sharp silver thread connected to the wheel penetrated the smiley face of the dog with a bruise from the side, and in the next moment, it was split in half and died instantly. Even in death, it still had a good smile. These guys would really be suited for customer service, seriously...
“Are there…any others?”
I look around, wary. However, when I see that there are no more monsters in the vicinity, I let out a small sigh and glance at the ones I've just killed.
Compared to a kappa, a human-faced dog is much easier. Unlike kappa, which are cunning and share thinking processes, dogs have only the intelligence and physical ability of a dog, and their infection is limited to direct bites, so even if you have thick leather, their fangs can be prevented quite easily. Even if infected, secondary infection is seldom seen unless there is significant close contact.
Most importantly, as set in the rules, "human-faced dog" is weak against stimuli such as light and sound, to the extent that even ordinary people shouting can temporarily stop their movement and make them feel scared. This characteristic was probably inspired by the symptoms of rabies. The cheap charms monopolized by the Imperial Court are also effective in their own way.
In the original game, these creatures were considered weak and easy to defeat as long as you knew how to deal with them; however, if you didn't, they could kill you in one hit, regardless of your level. Specifically, if a character did not have a certain level of armor, a single bite attack from them would result in the character dying from poison. Even if the armor was below a certain level, it could be defeated easily by using a flashbomb or similar device first, as it would be confused and would not attack.
"However... the corpses were buried, right? so how did they come here?"
Because of their characteristics, the human-faced dogs have have been making friends with wild dogs, lone travelers, and merchants, and there are quite a few of them, but surprisingly, they are not the kind of creature I would actively encounter while working as a servant.
They are very weak against external stimuli such as sound and light, so that they are often frightened and avoid one or two people. The only exception would be when they are gathering around fresh corpses, much like hyenas...
"I haven't found any corpses of the villagers yet..."
In all these searches, no bodies or parts of bodies have been found. I am sure that the official army that came here earlier definitely took care of the corpses. Even if some parts of the bodies were missed, they might be buried under the snow. So, it was unclear why such a large number of creatures had gathered.
"...but before I can deal with these creatures, I need to find Iruka and the other."
Even if they were not around me, it was quite possible that they were headed for Iruka and the others. Before disposing of any monsters' corpses, I got on my horse and headed towards Iruka's location.
As expected, Iruka and the other had also encountered the human-faced dogs. When I joined them, they had already killed two of them, their dead bodies smashed into pieces on the ground... or, to be more accurate, crushed vigorously. Iruka's bandaged right arm is holding a blood-soaked broadaxe.
...Sheesh, she doesn't hold back. She swung that thing pretty hard.
"Are you two alright?"
"We're fine. What about you? You didn't get bitten by these guys, did you?"
I turned my body towards Iruka and answered her question. Iruka whistled.
"Well, you're doing pretty well. And I'm fine, just like this. If I roar a little, they'll stop right away. Killing them is a piece of cake."
It seems that Iruka, a half-youkai wolf who can even emit shock waves with a high volume roar, found it easy to deal with human-faced dogs. I look at Shirou for confirmation. Shirou responds with a small nod. It seemed that Iruka was not trying to hide anything.
"Let's bury these guys for now."
I took a hoe and a circular saw from the load on the horse and put the dead bodies of the human-faced dogs that Iruka had dealt with on the hoe.
We couldn't dig a deep hole with so many bodies, so for now, we decided to bury them under the snow and put up an arrow to mark the spot. I planned to visit the spot again after the snow had melted and burn the bodies.
After spending half an hour disposing of the bodies and half an hour on an additional search of the village which didn't yield much result, we left as planned, albeit disappointed. We also had our lunch while traveling.
Given that we didn't have the luxury of time to start a fire, our lunch consisted of dried meat, dried potatoes, and dried persimmons. We made sure to get enough salt and sugar to stay hydrated. We had also boiled some water earlier in the morning to make a rice porridge, and we drank the remaining hot soup from the boiled water using a gourd ladle. It was already warm, but it was better than cold water.
"Chew properly and don't forget to drink water. Here, Shiro. If you don't have any, drink mine," I said, noting her rushed eating.
"Ah, yes. Thank you very much," Shiro replied, her voice soft and grateful.
Shiro seemed at a loss because her portion of hot soup in a small gourd ladle had run out, so I offered her a third of my own remaining portion with a nod. She accepted it and drank it, then returned it to me. As she returns it, I put my gourd ladle back on my hip. There was no fuss about indirect kissing or anything. Unfortunately, in this world and at this time, such innocence was not considered enough to make a fuss about. Getting drinking water on the road was a matter of life and death.
"Will we make it in time…?"
I muttered, glancing at the sky. The sky is overcast and snow is falling silently. Dense clouds hang low, and snow falls gently and quietly. We must find our way to a hut or a station near Mt. Hitaka before night falls.
It seems the search operation will take longer than expected...
'It' is a step into an abandoned village that has turned into a wreck.
'Aaaa......'
It looks around twice, thrice, and exhale deeply. The breath it exhales freezes and billows out white smoke due to the frigid atmosphere.
Its eyes narrow as it gaze upon them, the small group 'it' can barely see in the distant mountain path.
A small group of people pulling horses with supernatural power and those mixed with youkai energy.
'......'
After staring at the distance for a while, it changed direction and headed towards a corner of the recently filled village. A small pile of wood from the damaged village poking up like a gravestone. It digs its way through the muddy and snowy ground. And when it finds the skeletons of strange-looking dogs, the village is soon filled with sound of tearing flesh and bone crunching.
The time the sound rang out was not so long, and the silence, tranquility, and serenity immediately returned to the snowfield…
'......'
After a while, it begins to move again. It starts to walk, as if it were following the footprints that remain faintly on the snowfield, keeping its eyes on their figures that can only be seen in the far distance.
And then, in a momentary snowstorm, their footprints and even its footprints and shadows, were completely erased, as if they were just winter illusions...
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