Chapter 45

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“You truly resemble him. Annoyingly so.” Said Amanojaku, while bathing in the constant gaze of Shouma’s glare.

“To Nurarihyon, huh?”

“And here I was, thinking that you didn’t know anything about it, but I see you do.”

That was the first time a smile appeared on Amanojaku’s face.

Apparently, old stories seemed to be to his liking.

Shouma only answered this since the Tofu Boy – Tarou, told him before that he “looked just exactly like Nurarihyon”, but it seemed there really was something behind it.

The sound of biting his back teeth echoed in the air.

“Even though he was a human, he lived as a kaii, that annoying bastard even sealed me, a revered kaii, in that book of his!”

“Is that Nurarihyon, the one who Tendou-san calls as his ’master’?”

“Ah, yes. That bastard is a kaii, yet still, he longed for a human life. That’s why he called that human, with a kaii’s name, his master. Well, that meddling master of his is already dead now.”

Shouma realized once more, that Tendou was not who he thought to be, his employer was a kaii.

He had been aware of it since Amanojaku called Tendou ‘Shuten-Douji’ but when he was confronted with the truth this plainly, he had no choice but to finally accept it.

(No matter how I look at it, he looks like a human being…)

However, his employer never once called himself a ’human’. Even when he created the borderline between humans and kaii, in front of Shouma, he always put himself on the side of the kaii.

Shouma felt a touch of loneliness along with some outrageousness at that time, but now he understood that it was a natural line for Tendou to draw.

“Do you know about the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons?”

After some reminiscing about the distant past, Amanojaku seemed to become a bit more talkative.

Shouma leniently shook his head. He heard of it before, but he couldn’t make much of it.

“The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons is also known as the ’Walking Calamity’. People will be cursed just by looking at it, and if they were to touch us, they are sure to die. It’s the big parade of the kaii.”

Amanojaku was smiling happily. His face was more repugnant, rather than creepy.

“So, Shouma, what do you think is the best way to control a herd of animals?”

“Well…”

“A bait is needed to lure them in. I’ll use you as this bait to carry out the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. Make a path with your blood, and before long the great march of the kaii will be complete!”

The hairs on Shouma’s body stood on end.

“I think you already know this, but there’s no point in summoning any more of your kaii friends. I don’t care even if it’s Shuten-Douji, they are no match for me. You would just constrain them to substitute for nothing.”

Shouma bit his lower lip as he glared at Amanojaku. Whatever he took from that, he narrowed his eyes gently.

“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. It would be a shame to use you all up in one go.”

“I’m glad for your consideration.”

“Though, it’s still a little early for the day of the dog [1], the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons will take place tomorrow. Until then, you’ll just have to struggle on.”

Amanojaku said so and quietly disappeared, leaving through the door.

—

“What? Shouma-san had been kidnapped?”

After hearing what strange things happened that night, Fuyuka’s voice turned over.

Fuyuka and Tendou were in the office, along with Subaru, who was lying on the desk.

It seemed even sitting was painful for the little kaii. The fur covering his body had turned a little red, which was probably the blood that got stuck to him, as he got blown to the fence.

Thanks to the Kappa’s elixir, his wounds had closed up, but the damage still seemed to be there. The reason Subaru has not returned to the book was because he was worried about the kidnapped Shouma.

“What are you going to do now that he’s been kidnapped? Do you know where he is?”

Fuyuka spoke in a high-pitched voice, which was unlike her. The girl seemed to be impatient and was loitering restlessly around the office.

Tendou, on the other hand, remained dreadfully calm.

“I’m not going to do anything. I don’t even know where he could be. It seems Amanojaku is trying to use Shouma to start the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, but he threatened to kill Shouma if I somehow got in the way. It’s really out of my hands.”

“The Hyakkiyagyou!? Isn’t that horrible enough? To bring up such a thing would mean…”

“Yes, a lot of people are going to get embroiled into this, some of them may even die.”

Fuyuka gave a reproachful look at Tendou, who spit his words unconcernedly.

“Tendou-san! So you plan to just stand there and watch, doing nothing?”

“Don’t you understand, that if I make a move now, Shouma will surely be killed?”

“That may be true, but…”

Fuyuka stomped her feet on the ground in frustration. Her nails dug into the palm of her hand turning it slightly red.

Wanting to do something but being unable to do so, it was the same feeling for Tendou.

“Hey, Tendou-san, don’t you have something up your sleeve?”

“Something up…”

Muttering profoundly, Tendou turned his attention to the window.

—–

Translator’s Notes:

[1] In the old days, the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons took place on specific days in every month.

January and February: Day of the Rat

March and April: Day of the Ox

May and June: Day of the Snake

July and August: Day of the Dog

September and October: Day of the Sheep

November and December: Day of the Dragon

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This translation is hosted by Nocturne Translations.

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