Yamiyo no Hotaru

Volume 5 Epilogue

"Hey... is this slide door opened enough?"

　"Yeah, it's a little damp but if you open it too wide, the rain will come in. Anyway, it's kind of stylish, isn't it?

　While the rain was pouring down heavily, I was lying on the floor instructing Shirowakamaru to open the sliding door halfway. The boy follows my instruction and moves the sliding door...

　Now, it was the third day of the Minazuki month (June), the spring had passed and the early summer was approaching. Heavy rain had been falling on the northern region, making the humidity high and the air steamy. It is no exception, even though Kizuki's residence has been turned into a stray house. So, it was necessary to open the sliding door for ventilation.

　"Thanks for your help. Oh, yes. Do you want some of this? Magoroku brought it earlier."

　I pointed to a wooden candy box with sugar candy in it. The sugar that Magoroku and the others cooked for visiting us as well as for a snack was expensive, so he used honey instead of sugar for sweetness, but it was quite a good flavor.

　"It's not like I am hungry..."

　Shirowakamaru muttered to himself, and the next moment his stomach rumbled a little. The boy's face droops in embarrassment. I laugh and defend him.

　"You're growing up, too. So don't hold back. Eat when you can."

　"...I got it."

　The boy, who has been looking at me blankly for a while, reaches for the candy box with a sour look on his face.

　Then, with a crackling sound, the room was filled with the sound of small, gurgling noise. The taste of the candy was probably not too far off his taste buds. Well, though sweetened sugar is relatively suitable for common people, the sweet taste itself is a luxury in this world.

　For a while, the only sound in the room is Shirowakamaru taking a bite of the Karinto mixed with the sound of rain. After a few bites, Shirowakamaru suddenly stops reaching for the candy box.

　"...I wonder how long you'll be confined here?"

　"Well. At any rate, it's doubtful that we'll be able to stay here in one piece for much longer."

　Shirowakamaru, who has been staring at the torrential rain outside, mutters with a grim expression on his face, to which I reply with a self-deprecating smile. After answering, I laugh even harder. The reason is that I am surprised at my own remark.

　Young hag... or Kizuko Kochou, I was lying on the floor in one of the rooms occupied by her. For nearly a week since I came back to this house, that is all I've been doing.

　I knew the reason for this. Confinement.

　In a sense, it was natural. I guessed that the confinement was to pursue my hidden secrets, such as the unknown effect of the Tsuchigumo curse, the observation to see if the monster blood flowing in me would not run wild again, and moreover, the existence of Matsushige's shikigami and the Matagama. In fact, this room is sealed with charms at the four corners, and I am locked in an invisible boundary. And during this time, the adviser visited me several times and asked me some questions. Strangely enough, most of them seemed irrelevant and inappropriate for an interrogation...

　Moreover, there is one mysterious thing. The fact that I, who could hardly get up from the paralyzing poison of the spider youkai monsters and the muscle pain caused by the burden of transforming into a youkai monster, had been confined in a room of the residence built on the premises of the adviser, instead of the hut that had been assigned to me. It was really a strange thing. Even if I had to accept the situation a hundred percent, it would at least be in the place where my Lord, Gorilla-sama, lives. Or a cell in the basement of the residence. That way, I could be monitored in safely. So, why...?