Yamiyo no Hotaru

Chapter 8

"You stink. You should take a bath right now."

That was the first thing gorilla princess said to me when I reported my return on my knees in front of her room after being summoned as soon as I got back.

...Seriously, isn't it too much to ask? I mean, I did wash my body in the river several times on the way back, you know? Besides, I had to keep my body clean to prevent my injuries from festering, so I was very careful about hygiene.

"Oh my? I don't mean that in a sarcastic way. After all, you smelled really bad."

There, I hear the sliding door open slightly. I gulped but kept my head down. The reason? Well, it would be natural if I could see warm air leaking through the gap of the sliding door, and her bare white feet looking well-circumscribed in her shriveled kimono.

What I'm trying to say is... this girl is in the process of changing after taking a bath. She's probably wearing only a haori or something like that. Or rather, it's a morning bath. What a luxury.

"Princess, I don't mean to offend you, but I don't think it's right for you to open the sliding door and talk to me in such an appearance."

Mainly because it makes me look worse.

"Oh my, what do you mean by such an appearance? Do you have eyes on your head?"

The girl giggles and lets out a nasty, taunting laugh. No, a gorilla.

"Don't worry. I've prepared a means to get rid of them. So, no one could see me change my clothes because I'm using my own shikigami instead of a maid to do so. But you really stink. You stink, you smell like a filthy bitch."

The last part of her tone was truly unpleasant, as if she had smelled a garbage heap. But then... suddenly, I saw her fingers move from the shadowy movement on the floor.

The next moment, a blue-white flame bursts out right next to my face. Then, with a flick, two charred shikigami fall to the floor and float into my sight. They twitch and move like living creatures, but in the end, they are completely charred and lose their power.

"This is..."

"You can't even detect such a simple concealment technique? Although I don't ask a servant like you to be involved in a war with her, I don't want that filthy thing up in my room."

Who put this on me, most likely Kizuki Hina, but she is not the kind of person who would use such a technique. So someone from the faction who pushes her is the one who did it? No, the two sisters, Hina and Aoi, are the two strongest candidates now, although there are other candidates as well. But then, can I deny the possibility that a preliminary candidate of the second line might have put these on me? However, this Gorilla princess has identified these shikigamis belong to sis (anego-sama) (or its faction)...

"Princess, please accept my apologies. It's my fault."

"Yes, I know."

Gorilla princess accepts my apology as a matter of course. Well, that's true, but don't you want to defend it?

"Anyway, don't worry. I don't expect that much from you right now. So, I can at least teach you the basics of how to detect concealment. Of course, you won't get a second chance."

She giggles, and smiles again, this time with a happy, self-deprecating smile. In other words, I'm the one who will be burned if I fail the next time after she teaches me. Well, she is a very kind princess. D*mn it!

"....Thank you very much, Princess."

Anyway, I'm not a child to be sarcastic directly with my mouth, though in my heart, so I'll just show my formal gratitude without heart. Unlike other people, the servants are expected to wear out their skills, so they do not have many opportunities to learn this kind of technique, and therefore, the information is strictly controlled. Then, if I don't seize an opportunity like this to get in with the higher-ups, there's nothing I can do. In that sense, the guidance of the gorilla princess, who was far superior in talent, even if it was just for fun or whimsy, was as valuable to me as gold.