Yamiyo no Hotaru

Chapter 45

In the 12th year of the reign of Emperor Seirei, on the sixth day of the month of Uzuki[1], which was the first day of summer according to nijūshi sekki[2].

　In a corner of the northern part of Fusō-kuni, where there were many graveyards, a figure was seen.

　He looked like a monk because of his appearance, standing in a mound filled with dead travelers, beggars, and vagrants who died without relatives. The man walking with an umbrella and an indistinct face tinkled a bell and prayed silently.

　As time went on, the darkness of the night gradually deepened. Thick clouds hid the moonlight, casting shadows on the uninhabited mound. And then they appeared.

　Where in the world did they come from? They appeared from beyond the graves, from the shadows, from the gaps in the messy vegetation. Some of them looked like insects, some like birds, some like animals, some like plants, some like human beings, some like non-living things, and even some like a mixture of several beings. And all of them had a distinctly horrifying atmosphere and a poisonous miasma.

　These were youkai... evil beings outside the realm of human reason, who was out to take revenge on others.

　They surrounded the monk who silently rang the bell in the darkness and closed the distance between them. After having eaten the hunters, lumberjacks of the nearby forests, the grave robbers, and the children from the city who wandered into this place to test their courage, the youkai now attack this one more poor human being today. And today, it was a feast. After all, he is a monk, and a spiritual one at that. Surely, after killing this human, the youkai will begin an even more gruesome cannibalistic feast for his flesh.

　In this way, they will eat each other and concentrate their youkai energy, and youkai will rise to higher and higher levels, transforming themselves into one higher being. This is their instinct, their true nature. It is the meaning of their existence.

　Now, in the dark night, words of taunts ring out over and over again. They sounded mean and wicked as if they were the most despicable, mean, and evil voices ever heard. It is the cry of youkai's rottenness.

　Still unaware of what is going on, the monk just keeps ringing the bell. And then youkai leap out from behind him...

　"You guys usually come from behind, huh?"

　The next moment, I, who was dressed as a monk, swung my spear, which I had hidden in my bosom to dispel them.

　'Roarrr!!?'

　Several small youkai, about the size of a bulldog, was cut down by the tip of my spear. I then quickly lunged forward, holding my spear at the throat of a human-faced deer that was charging toward me. With a swift and powerful thrust, I impaled the deer's throat, bringing it down to the ground with the force of my own weight.

　'Bleat!!?'

　With a startled expression on its face, the deer burst out a tentacle from its jaw, which was opened so wide that its jaws were ripped open but I evaded the blow by bending my neck. In the end, the deer's face was cut in half from the bottom and it died.

　"I didn't think this level of disguise would fool them. It seems that youkai here are a bunch of idiots more than I thought."

　I throw away my umbrella. At the same time, the other youkai braced themselves as if in alarm. They seem to have realized that I am not a monk, and that I am not just going to be eaten. The moonlight shines on me and youkai as the clouds pass by and the moonlight shines on us again. If youkai had poor night vision, they would have finally recognized me.

　I was a servant disguised as a monk, with a spear in my hand and a mask on my face that served both as a countermeasure against eye technique and as a cheek protector... a Hannya mask in the shape of a demon (oni), which means the leader of the servants.