Toasteful: Chapter 140, Part 3

　[Part 3/4]

　His convulsing body had fallen at the edge of the boundary. His lower half, from the thighs down, was on the other side of the boundary. Countless Youkai were pressed against the invisible wall, staring at us with malevolent eyes, sneering.

　The Youkai grabbed the leader's lower half while sneering.

　"Help... me... ple...ease...!!"

　He was pulled with a squelching sound, and his body was partially dragged onto the other side of the boundary. He frantically tried to crawl back, clawing at the ground.

　...His arms were injured from our earlier fight, and they were bleeding. Naturally, he had no strength.

　"Please... help me... don't... let me die...!!"

　Breathing heavily, I looked towards him as he begged with tears on his face, being dragged closer, his fingers torn, screams rising.

　"Please, please!! Don't abandon me...!!"

　"Is that... even...?"

　I hesitated. Should I help this man, who had no trace of gratitude, who would likely die if not helped? Should I save a man who, if rescued, would only be a burden? Hypocrisy, morality, and calculation swirled in my mind.

　"Please... plea...se... don't... let me... die...!!"

　"Wha...!?"

　In response to his mournful plea, I had already started running towards him. But I was too late.

　"Now, pull..."

　"Wai..."

　The moment he said that, his body was quickly pulled onto the other side of the boundary. A momentary scream leaked through from the other side of the wall, then it was immediately drowned out by a sound of something being torn apart.

　"Ah..."

　I looked up at the empty space, towards the other side of the boundary. Countless black, grotesque creatures were laughing maliciously and staring at us. Flesh and blood were not what the boundary separated. The dark, viscous liquid was spreading on our side, seeping into the earth.

　"..."

　After a few moments of silence, I stood up. I turned on my heel. I picked up the young girl who had been left behind on the spot, still half-naked.

　"Ah...?"

　"If you don't want to die, stay quiet and don't make a fuss. ...Got it?"

　I warned Loli Gorilla-sama firmly by her ear and looked at Hisame. She had been well-educated; without anyone telling her, she was keeping an eye on our surroundings. She pointed to a corner of the deep forest—the direction with fewer Youkai.

　"Hisame, I'm sorry, but go on ahead. Can you make it?"

　"...Understood!"

　While keeping an eye on the front, Hisame advanced cautiously. Holding the silent princess, I followed her, shaking off the unpleasant feeling that I couldn't quite understand.

　For now, to save those we could still save, to avoid regret, I began running through the depths of the forest...

　...

　"Hmm, she managed to escape quite successfully. Well, it's to be expected."

　"After all, laborers like them are only at this level. Let's move on to the next phase."

　"Well, if we follow the instructions of the head servant... Yes, let's proceed"

　"Well, well, to think you'd set up a trap like that? Really, you humans are wicked."

　"Then, I'll contact you again later..."

* * *

　The escape had gone remarkably well. The reason was clear. It was the boundary.

　It was like a trap for catching fish. They had been drawn towards the human presence through the narrow gaps in the boundary, and most of them had ended up getting trapped inside.

　Monsters had their own cunning. Those Youkai who had entered the gaps in the boundary recklessly hadn't even considered the idea of returning to the same place once they'd gone beyond. They had only sought to break through the boundary by slamming their bodies against it. Youkai that hadn't entered the boundary in the first place couldn't proceed straight towards us either. Hence, the number of Youkai blocking our path was limited.

　The poison coursing through Loli Gorilla-sama's body, in a way, worked to our advantage. The paralysis from the poison had spread throughout her body, affecting the spiritual energy flowing through her system and even the metabolic processes generating it. As a result, her internal spiritual energy was significantly lower than it would have been at its peak, and there was no uncontrolled overflow.

　In other words, in this place teeming with spiritual energy, the current Onitsuki Aoi wasn't emitting the kind of pheromones that would attract countless youkai as she might have without the poison. This turned out to be quite fortunate; otherwise, our escape would not have lasted even two hours.

　"The problem is just that..."

　I sighed while hiding in a corner of the deep forest, where I had found a small lateral cave entrance. It wasn't the worst of situations, but it was bad enough.

　"Senpai, I'm back!"

　"Good, get inside quickly!"

　Hisame, who had been on reconnaissance duty, returned. I hastily pulled her in, and we both checked our surroundings. There was no obvious sign of pursuit. I joined her in hiding inside the cave.

　"How is it out there?"

　"I spotted five medium youkai in the vicinity, and two great youkai. Among them, the two medium youkai seem to be preoccupied with something else."

　"Again, huh..."

　I shrugged, as it was something we often encountered. However, the concentration of high-ranking youkai in the area seemed unusual given the limited area Hisame had explored.

　"The duration of the talisman won't be long, but I hope they'll move away soon."

　My gaze was fixed on the symbol attached to the entrance of the cave, which had the characters "潜" written in a clear, skilled hand. It was a hidden curse-tool talisman that Sarujirou had given me.

　Regular exorcists often use arrows and talismans crafted from spiritual wood that has absorbed ample spiritual energy. These materials have a higher affinity for spiritual arts and provide a more sustained source of power for curse tools compared to regular wood or paper. It's somewhat akin to a battery.

　Naturally, higher-quality spiritual wood enhances the effectiveness further. In the Onitsuki family, we spare no expense in procuring top-notch spiritual wood and its processed forms for our exorcists. The symbol before me was made from leftover scraps of spiritual paper used in creating talismans, and it was highly effective. It didn't require more spiritual energy than necessary for activation, but it relied entirely on the energy contained within the symbol.

　The estimated duration of continuous activation was likely only about half a hours, maybe less. These were mass-produced items with no standardized performance, as warned by Sarujirou. I had been given a total of eight, and I had already activated the third one since hiding here.

　In other words, we had a maximum of around four hours of safe hiding time here—after that, we would have no choice but to relocate to an area with protective boundaries.

　...The nearest safe zone was an hour's away by running from our current location.

　"At the very least, I hope the great youkai will move away."

　"Yes. If they start pursuing us, we won't be able to escape."

　Both of us scratched our heads. Let me say it again: it wasn't the worst of situations. But it was certainly a dire one.

　"Someone, please, come over here!"

　As we're both fretting, a child's voice called out from the depths of the cave. Hisame and I exchanged glances.

　"What do you think?"

　"Most likely..."

　Hisame answered my whispered question.

　"I see. In that case, you should go instead of me."

　"Yes, that's probably best."

　Hisame headed deeper into the cave. After a while, I heard the sound of flowing water. The intermittent noise echoed in the cave, and I remained silent to maintain perfect composure. Closing my ears? In this situation, blocking any of my senses would be suicidal.

　"Hmm? Back already? ...Princess?"

　The sound of water ceased, and Hisame returned a little while later. She carried the peach-colored princess on her back, Onitsuki Aoi. Blushing and staring intently at me, the loli Gorilla-sama questioned me with a trembling tone.

　"Hey, you didn't heard it now, right... servant? You had your ears blocked until a moment ago, didn't you?"

　Her question was almost accusatory and quite forceful. I responded calmly as ever.

　"Well, I was listening intently to the surrounding sounds, including the water, for security purposes."

　Princess's reaction to my reply? For now, I needed to make sure we weren't detected by the youkai.

　Hisame scolded me, and I truly needed to reflect on my actions...

　...

　"Ugh, this is so frustrating!! Why do I have to go through all this...!!"

　The incident with picking flowers had temporarily calmed her down, but now, deep within the cave, the loli princess vented her frustrations. She was irritated, unhappy, needlessly energetic, and vocal about it all.

　The events, including the laborers' forest carnival and the youkai's feast, had only been narrowly avoided thanks to some quick thinking on the part of the "Loli Gorilla," Onitsuki Aoi. Her thoughts seemed to have taken an unexpected turn from what I initially feared.

　I had feared that she might develop a distrust of men, go mad, or become apathetic, following the storyline. However, in a sense, she hadn't changed much from her previous self.

　"I shouldn't be staying in such a filthy cave like this!! And these clothes, ugh, I hate them!! My precious kimono!"

　The current state of her attire had become a relentless source of complaint for the Loli Gorilla-sama. It was indeed a display of her selfishness, but considering she had always accepted extravagance as the norm, her perspective was somewhat understandable. I couldn't agree with her, though.

　"Besides!! I don't know who or by what means deceived Father...!! It's truly, absolutely infuriating!! To think they could sever the deep bond between Father and me with such a pitiful third-rate scheme!! Well, in the end, it's just a shallow, third-rate plot!!"

　She declared that no one could possibly deceive her with something like this. It seemed that Loli Gorilla-sama interpreted the attempt to frame her as something other than her father's conspiracy. Someone pretending to be her father had pulled the strings, and the laborers had been manipulated through memory alterations or something similar. Perhaps my excuses during her rescue had something to do with it. Did I mess up?

　"I mean, isn't it obvious? Father has no reason to eliminate me, right? I'm different from that woman... I have a good family background, talent, and I dine with Father every day and have conversations with him. It's different from living separately like my elder sister!"

　Onitsuki Aoi continued to speak, addressing my inner turmoil. She discussed the mysterious aspects and irrationalities of the recent conspiracy.

　"First of all, if they were trying to frame me, why would they assign me to such an important mission? Father, being a man of great cunning, should have seen the potential consequences of failure! Yes, even other family members should have recognized this danger... Ah, but my elder sister's faction might do something foolish in a desperate attempt to turn the tables. And there are other families too, like Miyataka. They seem suspicious."

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