Chapter 34

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As Miki had said, there really was a cave behind the rocky shore. There was a large side hole that seemed to cut through the cliffs. It’s roof was too high for Shouma to reach. It was quite deep, so much so that a person could easily get lost in it.

In fact, even if Shouma tried hard to strain his eyes, he could not see anything but darkness.

The hole was on the other side of the secluded cliff, so no one could have seen it from just standing on the beach. It was even more strangulated because of the high cliffs that covered the area. This was probably the other reason why there have been so many accidents in the water.

“So this is where Tendou-san and Miki-san…”

The water level was higher than before, and Shouma’s sandals were getting stuck in the water. The sea water hadn’t flooded the inside of the cave yet, but now that it was here, it was only a matter of time.

Shouma peered into the cave.

“Tendou-san! Miki-san!”

Just as he called out to his employer and the girl, something passed just beside him with a gust of wind. Then that something hit a large rock that stood near the entrance of the cave. There was a thump which was immediately followed by a pitiful-like sound.

He looked at the rock fearfully, and saw Tendou half sitting, half lying there. His body was sticking to the rock with his back against it, his head facing down.

“Tendou-san!?”

Shouma’s voice came out instinctively which made the other turn over then accidentally tumble down.

Tendou coughed violently as he tried to stand up.

“Damn, what a boisterous kaii…eh Shouma? Why are you here? I thought I properly asked you to go home…”

“I came because I was worried about you, Tendou-san! But now that’s not important. There is blood! Blood!”

Tendou wiped the blood from the edge of his mouth.

Even though he had been sent flying straight against the rock with quite a lot of vigor, that seemed to be the only wound he got. The head of his nose was red, so it seemed that someone or something might have hit him in the face.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine, but just wondering why you came here…Then what was the point of sending you…”

Tendou shook his head in exasperation.

His tone was gentle, even though he had flown against a rock some moments ago. This seemed to be proof that he truly hadn’t received any fatal injuries.

Shouma felt relieved.

From the depths of the cave, where Tendou had come flying out, an echo shook the earth, as if something stepped firmly on the ground. Then, out of the darkness, came a huge bull’s head with big, round eyes bulging out.

“What…an ox?”

“That’s not an ox… look at it a bit more closely.”

The next thing Shouma saw was the foreleg. But those were not those of an ox. Those were sharp and pointed, claw-like forefeet. Every time those pointed-like feet stepped on the ground, the rocks on the foothold couldn’t bear its weight and cracked.

The ox’s body looked like a giant spider’s. It had a large, round and squishy body, with six knobby legs that were unique to insects. Two large horns stood out from its head.

The grotesque shape of the creature left Shouma feeling lost for words.

The two staring eyes were like an unlit tunnel in the middle of the night. It sent cold chills down Shouma’s spine.

“It’s a ferocious kaii, called the Gyuuki. [1] It appears mainly on the sea-coasts, it kills and devours people it catches on the beach.

“Devour people?”

“Yes, most of the victims of drowning accidents that occurred around there are probably in its stomach. Basically, these creatures swallow their prey whole but the gastric acid of the Gyuuki is quite strong. I don’t think any of them survived it.”

As if to confirm Tendou’s words, a penetrating, rotten smell came from the giant creature.

Shouma unintentionally masked his face with his hand. The putrid odour was so strong that it made him want to vomit.

Tendou glanced at the pale face of Shouma and sighed.

“That’s why I earnestly didn’t want you to get involved this time…”

The tone of his voice now was more remorseful than dismayed. Tendou probably didn’t want Shouma to meet this kaii.

The boy then wiped his mouth and looked up, as if he had noticed something.

“But where is Miki-san?”

“Hmm?”

“Tendou-san. What happened to Miki-san?”

“Oh, the girl…She’s over there.”

Tendu pointed next to the Gyuuki. There was Miki’s white face floating in the air.

“Miki-san!”

Tendou pulled Shouma’s arm to stop him, who was about to run out to the girl without a second thought. Shouma raised his voice.

“What are you doing!? We have to help her, quickly!”

“Shouma, calm down a bit.”

“What are you…”

“Just calm down”

At Tendou’s words Shouma fought back the urge to jump out of his grasp so he just stayed where he was. Then, he gasped at the sight of the Miki who slowly appeared before them.

Albeit her human-like head, she had turned into a snake. Her green scales glittered and reflected the light as she slithered on the ground.

Her cute ponytail was untied and her wet, black hair stuck to her face.

No emotion could be seen on her face.

“The girl is a Nure-onna. [2] A kaii that is often talked about in the same breath as the Gyuuki. She appears on seashores in human form and hands over the baby she’s holding to a person, then calls out for the Gyuuki. It’s said that when one holds the baby, it gradually becomes heavier and heavier and even if the one holding it wants to let go of the infant, one wouldn’t be able to. To put it simply, that kaii has the role of bringing food to the Gyuuki.”

“So, Miki-san is a partner of the Gyuuki?”

Shouma sounded as if he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

However, Tendou nodded his head as if to cancel out any hope Shouma might have left.

“Yes it seems. This time too, she played the same role in luring curious young people to this place by telling them lies about the existence of a haunted ghost spot.”

“But how…”

“There is no such thing as a haunted place here. I did my research before I came.”

In other words, Tendou must have thought Miki was suspicious when she mentioned the haunted place.

“Also, Shouma, you said it to me yourself. Yoshino-san only hired men for the part-time job this summer because of what happened last year. Not to mention, I thought it was slightly strange that she hired a girl who wasn’t even used to this type of work at a beach house. She must have used some kind of hypnotic method to manipulate Yoshino-san and the others while blended in with the part-timers.”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

While the girl constantly apologized, tears slid down on Miki’s emotionless face. Then she scythed down the two of them with her long tail.

“Gu!”

“Uh”

Their two bodies flew through the air as if they were sliding through on the tail of the kaii.

Still in mid-air, Tendou opened the Collected Records.

“Ten!” [3]

In that moment, a bunch of small, weasel-like creatures appeared, and in the blink of an eye it transformed itself into a cushion that could catch the two plummeting men.

Shouma and Tendou fell to the rocky ground with a whop.

It was a painful snap, but the only impact of the fall they felt was the dive into the cushion.

When the Ten realised that both of them were safe, it unraveled the transformation and quickly returned to the book.

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Translator’s Notes:

[1] 牛鬼 ‘ox demon’ This merciless and cruel yokai mostly lives nearby great bodies of water, but there are cases when these creatures dare to approach near villages and kill all the citizens. In other reading, the Ushi Oni has some other variants regarding it’s features, some have spider-like bodies, while others have a cat’s or an ox’s body but with the head of an oni. (example)

[2] 濡女 ‘wet woman’ This serpent-like yokai, although there are two variants as to whether to have forearms or not, is a vampiric creature, that likes to use simple brute force or tricking their prey with their babies, to later on suck the blood out of the victim. (example)

[3] 貂 / 鼬 ‘marten or weasel’ Just like other animals, both the martens and weasels have the ability to become yokai after a certain age. These creatures are the most skilled in transformation and tend to make some ruckus where they appear. They are much more skilled and clever than foxes or tanukis, and are considered as unlucky, so people rightfully fear and despise them. Sometimes at night the Ten’s assemble in the streets of small towns and jump on each other’s shoulders, making giant fires and whirlwinds while doing so. (example)

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