[Part 2/4]
(No, there's no way I can make it in time.)
There was a distance of at least fifty steps between me and Aoi, and naturally, the distance between her and the captors was not even a tenth of that. If I rushed in now, she would be killed before I could retrieve her. It would be foolish to recklessly charge in.
Fortunately, it appeared they didn't plan to harm her immediately. However, it might be more dangerous to make them anxious by attempting a rescue... right?
(But... Are they talking?)
I squinted from a distance and observed their movements through the gaps in the bushes. The princess and the man were facing each other in a condescending manner. Their mouths were moving. They were having a conversation... Although, it was difficult to describe the atmosphere as harmonious.
"What the heck, is..."
"Hey!! servant!! Come out!! I bet you can't stop bleeding from a little girl's hole, right?! Huh?"
If I try to observe more closely, what comes out is a rough voice. It was a warning in a loud voice, a provocation, and a temptation.
"I'll give you a chance. A huge lifesaving measure to turn the tables on the brink of the cliff! If you're a man, show some guts and come out quickly!!"
The words unleashed were blatant provocations, and the one who unleashed them was one of the culprits. However, there was no choice but to resist, and they surely understood that. That's why they carefully selected their words and shouted them to irritate my nerves.
"Or are you going to wait slowly again as you lose everything in the bushes? Oh, you cowardly and spineless person!! Is that how you've survived until now!?"
The head of the Onitsuki family servant groups, Onitsuki Junshuuro Takaragen, spoke very rudely and mocked the miserable coward who was hiding...
"Phew. Is this what it is? ... But it's pitiful. Huh? Princess?"
After loudly spewing a series of insults, the head of the servant group leaned his spear on his shoulder in a bored manner. It was a mocking and unsympathetic call. His youthful and refined appearance twisted with evil.
"...What do you want?"
"Don't play dumb, princess. I know full well how tough it is. I never expected you to choose him. Honestly, it took me by surprise too."
The princess's discerning eyes saw through the truth in his words. She smirked slightly at this fact. She secretly praised the servant who had been given a hard time by this uncouth man.
"Princess, you've been abandoned by your only ally since coming here. It's quite a blow to your young heart. Oh yes, truly pitiful."
"..."
Aoi fell into silence in response to the man's insult. And seeing the princess not speaking up, the man continued.
"How about it? Shall I, presumptuously, comfort you in your heartache? Fortunately, I know how to treat women well. ...I don't think it's a bad deal, do you?"
The man who said that squatted down and rudely touched Aoi's shoulder, touched her collarbone, and tried to reach his hand underneath... Aoi shook her body and rejected any further contact.
"Don't touch me. Know your place, you lowly servant."
With a gaze that looked down on the other person, Aoi glared at him. A gaze that completely looked down on the other person. In response, the man laughed out loud and forcefully grabbed Aoi's delicate neck.
"Ugh, guh...!?"
"Don't act all high and mighty, you pitiful brat. You think you can make those disgusting youkai like dogs and play with them? Even though you've been toyed with by those stinking servants!!"
A mocking threat. He tightened his grip on her neck so strongly that it felt like she was being suffocated. The strength of his arm, enhanced by spiritual power, constricted the blood flow, causing Aoi's face to turn pale. She struggled to breathe. Her eyes trembled. Yet, even as she glared angrily and resisted with her last bit of will, the strength in his arm increased even further, causing her resistance to dissipate like melting snow in the scorching sunlight.
"Haha. You've become quite an adorable face, haven't you?"
While relentlessly strangling the neck of a young child, Junshuuro Takaragen declared. There was no hesitation of conscience. He was never that kind of person to begin with. He was far from being someone who cherished women and children, especially Onitsuki Aoi.
"You're so cheeky. Acting like that as a mere girl. Who do you think you are? You should understand your place as a girl."
It was truly unpleasant. Why were the women and children around him all such annoying people? Thanks to them, he was constantly drawing the short end of the stick. The only ones who still had some cuteness were those who understood their position properly, like "that person."
"Well, that's over now. You've become a disgraceful brat who's gone rotten. And after you go home... Haha. It's exciting, isn't it?"
"W-Wait...!!"
"Oh? Hahaha, my bad, my bad. I forgot. Did I strangle you by the neck, I wonder?"
The head, who had been making calculations for what would come after this mission, chuckled cheerfully at Aoi's painful screams. He found it truly delightful. He even thought about making it his entertainment. It was clearly in bad taste.
"What a nice expression, huh? It's much better than being all tsundere. Come on, put in a little more effort..."
"Head of servant group, please refrain. It is not in the plan to assassinate the princess 'now'."
The act of Junshuuro Takaragen, who was trying to exert enough force to break her neck, was stopped by a sticky, deep voice. Junshuuro Takaragen clicked his tongue and let go of his hand. Aoi, who had collapsed to the ground, coughed violently.
"I apologize, I apologize. I got a little carried away."
"I will show maximum understanding for your preferences, but this is a mission. Please restrain yourself. ...Once everything is over, the head of the family will reward you to the fullest for your work."
"Well, well, that will be something to look forward to..."
The more the person said it, the more the head of the servant group seemed to have low expectations.
"...I will keep an eye on the princess."
Upon the suggestion of the medic and a nod, the crippled Ebisu-faced men forced Aoi, who was sitting on the ground, to get up and mercilessly bound her with ropes.
However, this is...
"Haah, haah. It's not just a mask, huh?"
While bound, the second princess glanced at the dripping red drops from between the medic's mask and his face. However, without showing any surprise, she gasped for breath and desperately pretended to remain calm as she murmured.
"You have given an excellent answer, princess!"
The medic's tone of voice in response was cheerful. He seemed pleased. He even seemed like a child introducing his own treasure. Aoi scorned his reaction as being too inappropriate for the situation.
"Princess, do you know about the kame-mushi?" (T/L Note: Stink bug)
"Well, yes, I do. They're quite troublesome during autumn. Could it be...?"
With a tight grip that ignored even the convulsions, Aoi slightly exhaled, and even so, she answered while adjusting her breath. As she answered, she suddenly realized the possible identity and felt thoroughly disgusted by the thought.
"Five generations ago, the former head of the clan ordered an interesting bug youkai from the southern region for research purposes. The original species had a habit of combining various species to disguise themselves as humans. It seems that it was in charge of the face area."
"Shigeyashu-dono, huh. Just like the straw dolls and bone condiments, their hobbies are truly distasteful."
Aoi responded with a slightly off-topic reply to the medic's explanation. It seems that her ancestors, who seemed to be engrossed in garden design, certainly created a splendid garden, but their aesthetic sense associated with it was a failure. The eerie grass dolls and bone condiments are the same, but how did they manage to import such a strange bug... The medic smiled at Aoi's reaction.
"The breeding of this human-faced bug is quite difficult. It took several generations to change its appearance to the point where it resembles a face when you look closely. Oh dear, when they attached it as a mask without even realizing, it was a great reward for years of hard work."
"And once it awakens, it parasitizes the host, right? Controlling it with some kind of curse tool... is that it?"
"..."
The frog-faced medic didn't answer Aoi's speculation. His smile was the answer. And...
"Even old junk can be put to use. I think it would be fine to do the same to the others, don't you think? Anyway... Oh, it's coming, it's coming!"
Even though the head of servant group was not called into the conversation between the two, the impulsive head who blurted out without thinking immediately stopped.
In the presence of the eagerly awaited entertainment, the fate of a bunch of nobodies is just a trivial matter.
"Oh my, oh my. Such a solemn expression again, huh?"
"..."
Aoi said nothing in response to the medic's comment. She just continued to stare and all she could do was continue to gaze at the figure of a young man, with a cheap spear in hand, facing an overwhelmingly powerful opponent...
"Princess...!?"
Witnessing the slender neck of a young child being squeezed by hands, I tried to rush forward. But I was stopped by someone pulling on my sleeve.
When I turned around, Hisame was leaning against a tree. Desperately catching her breath, she directed a gaze that was difficult to describe at me.
"It's okay. But the bleeding... hasn't stopped yet. However, just wait a little longer."
Glancing at the red puddle continuing to seep into her chest, I reassured her. It was far from complete hemostasis. Perhaps a blood vessel had been cut? No matter how much pressure I applied with the cloth to the wound, it only served as a temporary measure.
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