Although there were some detours, I finally arrived at the oni village.Excited, I went to the gate and was stopped by a firm voice.
The owner of the voice slowly descended to my position from above. I didn’t notice her at all. Was she standing on top of the gate?
“A demonic aura is leaking from all over your body. There’s no way I will let you pass the gate.”
Her voice was like that of a grown woman, but the person in front of me was a girl shorter than me, wearing a black kimono.She was looking at me with a very sharp gaze. I don’t know why, but she seems to be very wary of me.
“That’s unusual. Especially for Kokuyo, the gatekeeper to say that much.”
In contrast to her confusion, Meguru said this in a light tone.She’s been in the oni village for quite a while now, so it’s no surprise that she knows her.
I wonder if Kokuyo{Obsidian} is her actual name, that’s a name very fitting for her since she’s a girl with beautiful black hair.
“Yes, I’ve been keeping an eye on the village because there was a sign of youki{demonic aura} I could not ignore. Do you know each other?”“That’s right, she’s Kohaku apprentice.”“What?”
The girl froze for a moment and then turned her gaze to me.She observed me from the tip of my hair to my toe, then she lost herself in a moment of thought and nodded as if she was convinced of something.She then relaxed her guard.\n
“…so that’s how it is? That’s reasonable.”
Wait, since when did I become Kohaku apprentice?And that one word is enough to convince you?I’m not sure what [youki] means in the first place. Does she mean I’m a cheerful… youkai? Umm, well… oni is a type of youkai; I wonder if she meant it like that. {tln, also cheerful youkai is a word play}
“Pardon me for my rudeness. I’m Kokuyo. I heard about you from Kohaku-sama.”“My name is Sukuna. Nice to meet you.”“Sukuna, welcome to the oni village, and let me welcome you as our new friends.”
The sharp gaze she had earlier was completely gone, and Kokuyo welcomed me with a warm expression.
“Sukuna, did you come here to find a way to break the curse?”“Yes, that’s right.”
☆====.
Now it was around three o’clock in the afternoon.After somewhat avoiding unnecessary trouble, I walked through the oni village guided by Kokuyo.I just realized now, but… everyone seems to dislike my polite language, don’t they? It’s not that I want to speak stiffly either, and I’ve been using only polite language when I was working as a part-timer.I’m glad she didn’t mind it, though.
By the way, I parted ways with Meguru at the entrance of the village because she wanted to go report her quest.I can only thank Meguru for guiding me here, but when I told her that, she laughed and said, “You’ve given me more than enough just by defeating that boss.”I had a hunch that I’d be around this village for a while, and I hope we can fight together again in the future.
And by the way, the reason why Kokuyo is with me is because of the curse that is eating away my entire body. \nThe erosion of the Kishin. A something I gained as a side-effect of having used a dead skill, this curse greatly restricts the use of status and skills.Apparently, this curse is spreading [youki] that Kokuyo mentioned earlier to a frightening degree.Especially to oni folk, this curse will give them terrible pressure that will affect my surrounding daily activities.
“That’s probably the reason why you weren’t attacked by any monsters on your way here. The monsters in the vicinity of this village are very sensitive to magical energy.”“I see. So the cause of the change is me.”
Was it a good or bad thing?Well, it’s good that I don’t have to be vigilant about any anomalies that will happen anymore. If something like true dragon attacking again, it would be really bad.Let’s return to the topic at hand; currently, there’s nothing I can do about this curse, and it’s doesn’t seem that they will ban me from the village.Even so, there was a possibility that it would cause stress to the residents, so Kokuyo suggested that I get a bracelet called the [Hozuki Armband]{Oni’s light armband} that would suppress the youki.
She said that it would suppress the youki to the point where I could walk around without causing any problem in the village.
She also adds that she has no idea how to break the curse.
“In the first place, information about Kishin herself is a sensitive subject in this village. But the old-timers of the village may know something about it…”“Well, I hope to at least some kind of clues.”“You are also blessed by Kishin. And I’ve heard that the equipment you wear is proof that you defeated the red wolf, and above all, the curse is the power of the Kishin herself. I’m sure the village chief will be kind to you.”“I do hope so.”
Just in case, I’m currently equipping a title that will increase the affection of the oni tribe NPCs.I still don’t know if it is effective or not, and the village’s residents still stare at me because of my youki… I wish I could get better sooner since I don’t want to be treated like something weird.But even if I equip the bracelet, it cannot completely stop this leaking, but it will considerably reduce the flow of youki.
From what I see, Kokuyo is someone who’s earned the trust of villagers. The residents’ faces twitched when they saw me, but then they looked relieved when they saw Kokuyo next to me, so my title may not mean too much right now.She is only about 130cm tall, but her presence is immeasurable. \nI think I have blabbered a little bit too long, but… what I want to say is… it’s troublesome to change native words since it will change their meaning too much. So I will leave youkai as youkai.