CHAPTER 68: plans

We followed Shuten Doji into the castle.

Now and then an Oni would follow us with hunger in their eyes.

It appeared that the senses of the Oni's were the same as that of a human. otherwise, they would have noticed me since the illusion only covered sight.

Eventually we reached a gigantic hall with a large table. The oni smiled, for as best as he could with his tusks.

It was a dark wide grin, much like I would do when I'm trying to scare someone or right before I kill them.

I didn't trust his grin due to that.

He asked us to sit down at the table while he would ask the kooks to prepare a meal. We would talk after that.

Thus, that is what we did. We sat down at the table and waited for the Oni to come back.

It didn't take long before that happened. Though I was surprised to see that the kook kame with him with the food on a plate.

I could already smell why the Oni had that grin on his face when he let us in.

The scent of blood filled my nostrils. It was human blood.

The food had barely been prepared so that we could clearly see what it was that they were serving. The Oni had done this to see how we would react for his own amusement.

But we had to stay until night for the plan to work. Therefore, we had to accept the 'meal' that the Oni's had presented us. Afterall, it would be an insult to the host to refuse this offer.

And if we insulted the host, we would be kicked out at least. It was just a sick joke from Shuten Doji.

I saw the horror in the eyes of Raiko, Yorimitsu and Oiwa.

("If just one of us eats the food, it should be fine, right?")

For now, this was my best bet. I had eaten the souls of human's multiple times now. the body was just the vessel to contain the mind and soul, so it shouldn't be much worse to eat that than to eat the soul. Afterall, the human in it had already left the world of the living. This was just a chunk of flesh in the form of a human.

When the food was placed on the table Shuten Doji also sat down to stare at us with an evil grin. But much to is surprise. I, although hesitantly at first, stared to eat it.

Shuten Doji was shocked and asked why I did that.

In his eyes I looked human due to my illusion magic. So, he saw a human eating another human.

I looked him in his eyes and said without hesitation. "Our sect has taught us to accept any gift given with good intentions. Even if you don't like it."

Shuten Doji felt ashamed of his 'test'. He had expected that none of his guest would accept the meal and he would have a good reason to have fun killing them.

"I apologise for my shameful act. You no longer have to worry while you're in my castle. There is nothing false in the word of Oni's."

From his reaction I could deduce that the Oni had more of his humanity left than that I had. What made sense in a weird way.

Oiwa made use of this opportunity to hand the Oni the wine. After taking a sip first to show that it wasn't poisoned. But I knew that the only reason why it didn't affect her was because she was human.

Shuten Doji, who was known for being an alcoholic gratefully accepted the wine.

Due to the magic nature of this remarkable wine, the Oni got drunk rather quick. While he was still somewhat sane, I asked him about his strongest, wisest, and most loyal subject. I had to know that for my plan that I hadn't discussed with the rest of the group. For it to work out I also had to take care of the corps. But I would worry about that later.

When he was thus far drunk, he started to ramble on about how he became known as Shuten Doji.

Apparently, he grew up in a mountain temple, training to become a priest. But he never followed the rules and drank a lot. He was violent and loved to play pranks on others, even if they ended up being hurt in the proses.

One night during the winter festival. He put on a mask to scare the other people. But when he wanted to take it off in the morning, he realised that it had somehow fused with his skin.

When he looked for help everyone refused. Mocking him and reminding him about what kind of person he had been to them. with boiling blood, he left the temple. And in isolation his hatred and anger only grew and grew.

More Oni's joined him, admiring him for his strength.

Soon enough he had an entire army of Oni's and became feared in the area surrounding his lair.

When he was finished with his story, he guided us to where we could sleep. It would be an isolated place in the castle, much like we had hoped. But it wasn't like he had another option. Because there was no telling if the other Oni's would leave us alone if we got a normal room.

I was truly glad that Shuten Doji finally decided to lead us to a room. I had no idea for how much longer I could hold my magic and if I slipped up it would alarm the other Oni's and ruin our entire plan.

While the ithers followed the Oni, I slipped away for a moment and wandered through the castle. I had to make sure that at least the wisest of his subjects saw me.

When I found him, I made sure to only let him get a glimpse of me running past him.

After that I re-joined the group as if nothing happened to follow the Oni where he would have no backup from his subordinates.

He stumbled through the hallways. Almost too weak to properly walk and to drunk to notice that. But I knew that this vulnerable state wouldn't last long. And if we tried to rush, it would alarm the other Oni's. this purely depended on luck.

When we reached our Schamber, the Oni was already beginning to sober up. We couldn't waste time at this point.

When the humans drew their weapons Shuten Doji was starting to realise what was going on. Hate burned in his eyes as he made himself ready to ward of the attack.