Chapter 37: The Antagonist
Chapter 37: The Antagonist
After reading the bloodstained letter, Huitzi left the yadoya and went to meet with Kokushibo.
Soloctis was peacefully sleeping in his arms. It was still morning, and there had already been a lot of action, so the baby was tired.
On the way, Huitzi noticed a gathering of samurai near the yadoya.
'Looks like they've discovered the murder that happened at the yadoya. Let's hope no one suspects a man fully cloaked, carrying a child in his arms, and wearing a straw hat. Haha,' Huitzi chuckled internally, knowing he was probably the most suspicious person in town.
"Hey you, stop right there," one of the samurai noticed him, their armor gleaming in the sunlight.
"Hello, sir. What do you need from me?" Huitzi responded politely.
"A crime happened nearby. You'll need to come with us for questioning!"
Huitzi considered this order for a moment.
'Of course they would want to investigate me. How can I get out of this? I can't expose myself to the sun, and it's not impossible that they might use Soloctis against me to get a confession.'
"A crime? What crime happened around here?" Huitzi tried to buy time.
"I'm not at liberty to share that information. Now, come with us."
'What bad luck. Kokushibo can't save me here because he doesn't have a straw hat and can't leave the stall. What a stroke of luck, huh?'
"Sir, I'm-"
"Are you resisting interrogation?" The samurai's words caught the attention of two others, who began to approach Huitzi from behind.
Huitzi noticed their hands firmly gripping their katanas.
"Look, officer, I'm with the Demon Slayer Corps. I'm here because I received reports of possible oni activity."
"Onis? Haha, do you think we'd believe in that myth?" One of the samurai behind Huitzi sneered.
"If you don't believe me, that's fine, but if I'm not mistaken, the crime you're investigating is likely the work of onis."
"Enough of this nonsense. Come with us," the leading samurai was getting irritated and drew his sword.
"Then go ahead and check. The crime scene probably had a lot of deaths and is a terrifying sight. Just verify it."
"Takeshi, according to the reports, it does match," the third person spoke up.
"And if this is just a ruse?" Takeshi still didn't trust Huitzi.
"Look, Officer Takeshi, you can tie me up and take me to the crime scene. You'll see I'm not the culprit."
"Alright, restrain him," Takeshi ordered.
When the two samurai moved to restrain Huitzi, he infected them with the flesh sprout. Upon infection, the two samurai had a slight spasm in their heads.
Then, the two samurai stopped moving.
"Hey, Katsuro, Haruki, what's wrong with you? Restrain him," Takeshi ordered, but Katsuro and Haruki looked at each other and then drew their swords.
"What are you doing?" Takeshi also drew his sword, sensing something was terribly wrong, sweat dripping from his brow.
Katsuro and Haruki then advanced toward their companion, Takeshi.
Huitzi, seeing the conflict begin, walked slowly toward Kokushibo's stall.
As he walked, Huitzi heard the sound of clashing swords, and over time, more and more people gathered to watch the commotion. This served perfectly for Huitzi to blend in and hide.
After some time, Huitzi heard a scream of pain, fury, and lamentation. Huitzi smiled slightly as he looked at the sleeping Soloctis in his arms.
POV Haruki
This morning, there was a massacre at a yadoya on the outskirts of the village.
"Hey Takeshi, what do you think happened at the yadoya?" I asked the oldest in the group.
"Probably a killer from another village. It's been happening a lot lately; someone shows up, and out of nowhere, a bunch of people die," Takeshi replied.
"I heard from my grandfather that this is the devil's doing. He said there are demons on earth, and they eat human flesh to become stronger," Katsuro chimed in.
"Katsuro, the only demons that exist are humans themselves. I didn't know you believed in such legends," Takeshi teased Katsuro lightly.
"I don't believe in them, but I'd rather not tempt fate," Katsuro retorted.
As we laughed at the interaction, Takeshi noticed a strange man walking through the streets. He was dressed in a black cloak and hat, holding a baby in his arms.
"Hey, go on ahead. I'm going to talk to that man," Takeshi said and went to speak with him.
We were about to leave when we heard Takeshi shout, "Are you resisting interrogation?"
Hearing this, Katsuro and I moved toward the person, hands on our swords, ready to draw them.
He started talking about onis and something about the Demon Slayer Corps.
When I heard that, I looked at Katsuro, who was also looking at me.
We heard him talk about how onis leave a horrible crime scene, which matched perfectly with what we were told. More importantly, it also matched what the elders said about demons. Seeing this, I decided to intervene.
"Takeshi, according to the reports, it does match."
Takeshi still seemed suspicious, but the suspect suggested we tie him up. Takeshi accepted the proposal, so we took out our ropes and moved to restrain him.
I was going to take the baby from his arms, and Katsuro would restrain the suspect, but at that moment, something entered our bodies, and we suddenly lost control of them.
When I glanced at the man in the black cloak, I saw something terrifying.
'Horns,' this person had horns on his forehead. Combined with this strange situation, it made me think of a horrifying theory.
'He… he's a demon.'
Then Katsuro and I drew our swords and attacked Takeshi.
I tried to control my body, but nothing worked. I was trapped, watching my body move on its own.
He kept shouting for us to stop and get ahold of ourselves. He tried—he tried so hard not to kill us—but the more it happened, the sadder I became.
I'm sure Katsuro felt the same.
Our fight dragged on for a few moments, and in the process, we ended up injuring some civilians.
Fighting against two people, Takeshi was slowly getting the worse of it. If he didn't kill us, he would be the one to die.
But I couldn't even speak. I couldn't beg for my death. I wanted to—I wanted to tell him to kill me. I screamed in my mind, but nothing happened.
I don't know when it happened, but I was crying. I saw that Katsuro was too. I had never seen this man cry, and now he was breaking down in tears.
Takeshi looked at us both. He saw it—I'm sure he saw—the despair in our eyes.
He then started crying as well, but his grip on the sword was as firm as ever. With a quick slash, my vision started spinning in the sky. I felt so relieved when I saw my and Katsuro's headless bodies. But before darkness covered my vision, I heard Takeshi speak.
"I promise you both that I won't rest until I kill that demon," Takeshi shouted with fury and lament.
Author's Note:
There are two ways to control people with the flesh sprout. The first is straightforward—you directly control the body, which is what was used here.
The second way is by manipulating the electrical impulses in the neural network. This causes the person to have hallucinations, and the user can even control their thoughts. The disadvantage is that it's much harder to do than the first.
One more thing—I didn't expect this development, seriously. Because of a single dice roll, Soloctis was kidnapped, which caused deaths at the yadoya. These deaths led to an investigation, the encounter with a suspect led to this confrontation, and now we have an antagonist in the series. Who could have expected this development just from a single bad roll? But I'm happy with it, and I think I might be the first writer to be surprised by the direction of their own story.
End of the Chapter.