"You have been purchased by our family. From now on, you will live and work for us."
It was a dream I'd had a long ti ago. That was over ten years ago. And it was kind of a bad mory.
What had I done wrong? Was it that I couldn't hide my spiritual power well enough? Or was it that I had been acting so wise because of my reincarnation? No, it must have been a mistake to have been reborn in this world in the first place.
I was reborn in the world of a ga that I knew so well... and although I was excited for the first few days when I realized it, I soon ca to realize the reality. This world is too harsh to live in. And it is too malicious.
Moreover, when I realized that I had no so-called cheat ability, it turned into despair. In this world where I could die without being involved in the story, I worked desperately to train my spiritual power, which was too weak and fragile to be a benefit from reincarnation, and to be able to manipulate it completely. Spiritual power is not only a power to fight against Youkai but also a sll of a feast for them. If it isn't strong enough to fight, or even if it is halfway there, it will only make them kill , so I trained hard to suppress and hide my spiritual power.
Seriously... it was very hard work. The setting of 'Firefly of the Dark Night (Yamiyo no Hotaru)' is inspired by Northern Japan or Hokuriku region, so the winters are harsh. And I was born in a cold village in a barren land. With three brothers and sisters under , children are a precious labor force.
At that ti, by the ti I can rember my previous life, I'd been hoeing with my stomach growling, shoveling snow, weaving sandals, and using all the precious ti I have left to suppress my spiritual power. These were the days when all I could think about was the imdiate future. The few tis I had fun were when I was taking care of my little brother or sister, or even the other younger children in the village. I told them fairy tales about stories I knew from a previous life and taught them simple reading, writing, and arithtic. The children were pure, and they admired without question. It's a shaful thing to say now, but it was one of my few pastis to feel superior in this way.
However, it was then that I was in a situation. One day, well-dressed visitors arrived in the village. The village chief, who usually demanded a heavy tribute and ordered us to do chores, took one look at us as we bowed our heads in desperation. But then, I gasped. Imdiately, I felt a rush of spiritual power that overflowed my body.
It made nauseous imdiately. No, at that ti, I vomited. I was hit by too much spiritual power and fell down, and I just vomited like a drunken person. Even though there was not much in my stomach, I vomited even though there was only gastric juice. My head was headachy like a drunken man, my vision was shaking, and my consciousness was fading away. The voices around were also fading away, and it was difficult to understand what the sounds ant. I just felt like I was drowning on the land...
However, I knew that the village chief yelled at and took out a whip. I thought I was going to be whipped... but then the visitor stopped the chief. And the mont I looked up and saw the figure saw the look in his eyes, I knew for sure. I knew my power was exposed. Or rather, that I'd been observed. Now that I think about it, it must have been a kind of eye technique.
After that, there was so conversation with the village chief and my parents, and I was taken away by the visitors without a word of explanation as they handed the money over to my parent and the village chief. Seeing this, my little brother and sister chased after with tears in their eyes, but they were being held back by my parents. That was the last ti I rember seeing my family.
After that, my mory is hazy. But I do rember that they asked so questions as they took away.
They took on horseback and I rode with them over the mountains for days. I rember that they made take off my rags and put on brand new clothes at an inn town along the way.
From that point on, my mory is again hazy, but I rember going through the gate of the Kizuki family's residence, which I had seen in the ga. Then, I was led by the hand down the corridor and brought to the entrance of the room.
As soon as the sliding door was opened, it took my breath away in two ways. First, because of her beauty, and second, because I had been swept along, and before I knew it, I found myself trapped in a ditch from which I could not escape.
"You know what, boy? Take care of that little horsey girl. And be very careful. If you're smart for your age, you'll be able to handle her well, won't you? You might even hit it off with her, being of the sa peasant blood."
The grown-up man turns on his heel, leaving standing there. But I still stare at the girl inside the room dumbfounded, but I can't stay like that forever, so I look at her again.
"What? Do you have a problem with ? Who are you? Just what are you?"
Her words were unbelievably foul for soone who lived in the house of the Kizuki family, a famous family of exorcists. She sounded like a country farr's child. Because in fact, I've seen many such children in my village. No, more than that...
"...? What? Don't just stand there staring at for a long ti."
The beautiful dark-haired girl looked at with rough words and an annoyed expression on her face, but she was wearing a kimono that was heavily disheveled, and she did not put her hair up in a bun or comb her hair. And from her eyes, I could see a clear hostility. But I realized...
"I'm sorry, I just thought you were so cute."
Well, since we were both only children in appearance, I would spit out such a blunt remark and throw it away without a second thought. However, the girl who has a low tolerance even in the ga is surprised by such a single word, and she looks a little embarrassed and shy. Behind her childish smile, I was thinking coldly, "She's a childish girl, isn't she?"
"Umm... as the grown-up said before, I'm going to be your caretaker. So, nice to et you. My na is..."
At that mont, I must have been full of ideas. Maybe I was filled with resentnt from the hard life I'd led. So I approached her without thinking twice, hoping to get a taste of her sweet juices.
But, it was a big mistake. I should not have made such an unprofessional and uncharacteristically greedy move. Seriously, it was a terrible and irreversible mistake...
*
"Oh? You're awake? Should I say good morning? Oops...?"
I woke up from a bad dream, and almost on reflex, I thrust my spear into the demon that was looking into my face. Of course, the demon avoids it by a hair's breadth, as I should have expected.
"That's terrible. Why should I get speared by a spear so soon after you wake up?"
"It's more than enough that you're a demon. You used sleeping potions, didn't you?"
I ask, looking back at my sowhat hazy mory.
"Oh. You rembered? Well, well, you don't have to thank , okay? You didn't even eat, so you must at least get so sleep to keep your strength up, okay?"
I can't help but raise an eyebrow at the monster who says this so self-satisfiedly. It would be far worse for my ntal health to sleep unprotected in front of her. Because it shouldn't be okay, should it? She should be eating , right?
I check my fingers, nose, ears, etc. to make sure I haven't been "nibbled", and the demon shrugs her shoulders.
"You're as careful as usual. Why is it that you don't trust ?"
"Who would trust a demon?"
I say this with a reproachful tone, and look up at the sky through the hole in the cave. And it seems there's no fog.
"Well, I gave that one a kick yesterday to adjust the difficulty level. Maybe that one still crouching in pain."
"I knew it was you who made that sound and whispered at during the battle yesterday."
That thunderous roar during the battle, followed by a sudden weakening of the fog, was this girl ssing with after all.
(Still, the youkai is still alive after getting kicked by this girl? It seems we're dealing with a Great Youkai. And the candidates for the owner of the fog are limited...)
"Well, at least that one didn't look like a person and didn't move well. Rather, it was so slow that that one's minions had to carry it."
"......"
"Hey, hey, don't doubt , okay? Even a demon who is a liar doesn't lie all the ti."
I look away from the monster, who is laughing and deceiving , and narrow down the list. Fortunately, I had read several books on Youkai from the gorilla princess on a whim, so the candidates ca up imdiately.
"Is that clam the best candidate?"
If it had a body, used fog illusion, had no human form, and moved slowly, the most likely candidate was that monster.
"Shin/shen (蜃)"... a giant clam, from which the word mirage is derived, is a monster that has been told down through the ages in the past lives, and in the ga "Firefly of the Dark Night (Yamiyo no Hotaru)" it appears as a kind of Youkai. In the original ga, this big and powerful Youkai tornts the main character by showing him hallucinations of his dead family mbers.
I don't know if it is the sa individual or not, but it is lucky anyway. It's not that powerful in direct combat. It's probably not that mature, judging from that fog yesterday. And it must be very weak if it has been kicked once by the demon in front of .
(Given Kizuki Ayaka's character, even if it is a servant, like , she would not leave there if she is not sure that I am dead. So there are so ways to defeat it.)
In yesterday's battle, her movents lacked precision, probably due to nervousness. I have accompanied her in her work several tis, but at that ti she was accompanied by another exorcist who was older than her... Well, in the ga, she had been indecisive, but now she was on her first solo mission, so it would be so. Even with that in mind, this extermination will not be so tough.
"First, I'll join up with the others... Huh!?"
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