Yamiyo no Hotaru

Chapter 90

　The beginner quest "Namahage surveillance mission" doesn't really have many choices that will lead to the player's death.

　Rather, this event can be said to exist not to take the life of the pure protagonist, but to taint their beautiful mentality with cruel and ugly reality.

　It is only at the last minute of the mission that the protagonist discovers a shortage of food and supplies in the village. This happened because Genba Neko, the cats that are known as unofficial mascots at construction sites in Japan, caused the villagers to leave. This wasn't the only issue though. The government officials were also careless and didn't do their work properly.

　It was reported that Namahage was lost just before the surveillance was taken over from the exorcists' family, but in fact, the shikigami sent by the surveillance government officials were scattered, and the discovery was delayed for a long time because the surveillance official did not share their sight.

　This was a failure of the surveillance that had become routine, but nobody seemed to be worried that it would be discovered soon. The only one who panicked was the protagonist, and even that is laughed at by those around them as being nervous due to being in their first mission. The protagonist, who lost all their family and friends only a month ago, must have been hurt a lot by this treatment.

　Even the villagers themselves were victims of the normalcy bias. The villagers were used to evacuating every few years for two centuries. Over time, they stopped taking it seriously, even though it was still dangerous.

　It's understandable if you think about it. Evacuation in the harsh winter of the Northern region is not an easy task, especially if you don't have enough clothing, food, and shelter. Especially for the villages directly passed through by Namahage, there seems to have been a growing sense of foolishness about evacuating just to be cautious, even though it has never set foot on the grounds of their village.

　At first, the three-day evacuation was reduced to two days, then to one day, and eventually the evacuation itself was stopped because Namahage had never actually entered the village.

　In return, in exchange for turning a blind eye to the embezzlement of three days' worth of emergency food, firewood, and blankets by conspiring with the officials, the villagers also received the benefit of a special tax exemption for that year, as compensation for their evacuation. There were even villages that were treated as as emergency evacuation sites even though they were not located near any evacuation routes. Of course, the supplies designated for evacuation were pocketed by the corrupt officials, and the villagers were left to receive the tax benefit. Was this a fair deal for everyone involved?

　Well, in reality, Namahage deviated from the evacuation route this time and several villages were annihilated without realizing what was happening. And when the time comes to evacuate, there are no supplies in the storehouse, and the protagonist is forced to make a choice in an extreme situation.

　One option is to evacuate the villagers in this harsh winter with no supplies.

　Another option is to abandon the villagers as it is impossible to help them anymore.

　A final option is to fight Namahage, saying that if evacuation is impossible, he will stop it... These are the three choices. Note that the third option leads to an immediate bad ending, in which the 'bad' protagonist is harshly beaten and killed while crying, regretting, calling the names of his family, and seeking help. Even the most seasoned fans of the game find difficult to bear, thanks to the voice actor's impressive performance.

　The first forced evacuation or option became the Hakkoda mountain incident. Don't underestimate snow country. The evacuation, which was carried out under threat, failed miserably due to the blizzard. The sight of children freezing to death and villagers becoming silent one by one while grumbling with resentment fills the protagonist with despair. The protagonist? Thanks to his spiritual power, the protagonist is conscious and full of vitality! ...So, he cried with despair. His voice actor truly impressive.