The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village Volume 1, 1: Regarding Jinnai Shinobu

Volu 1, Chapter 1: Regarding Jinnai Shinobu

Part 1

The large residence with a thatched roof looked more like the set for a period piece than sowhere anyone actually lived. As I opened the front door, my eyes t with a burglar young enough to still get away with being a freeter.

“Eh? Wait...you!?”

As my heart jumped up into my throat, I reached for the umbrella stand and grabbed a wooden sword that had been bought as a souvenir in Kyoto.

“What the hell happened to our ho security!?”

I shouted out louder than necessary more to gain control of my panicking heart than anything. When I swung up the sword with relative seriousness, the burglar managed to unfreeze his body and move. His body readied to flee. With loud footsteps, he shot out onto the open porch and then into the unnecessarily large yard.

The burglar tripped over a stone in the yard and fell flat on his face. Wallets and an ornantal bear spilled out of the backpack he wore. He hesitated over whether he should pick them up, but he finally decided to give priority to flight.

My overall small granny must have finally noticed the ruckus because she headed out to the porch. She slled of incense, so she must have been cleaning the Buddhist altar.

“What is it, Shinobu? Did a stray cat get in?”

“It was a burglar. Honestly, what happened to our house’s sensors?”

“Sorry. Your granny likes a nice breeze, so I had a window open. That shut off the switch.”

“No, I’m not blaming you. And when I say ‘sensors’, I’m not really talking about the security company either.”

“All the agricultural products in these Intellectual Villages are brand nas, so we get so many thieves. I was left speechless when I heard a bunch of grapes costs 30,000 yen.”

“Yeah, but the junmai daiginjo dad and the others make in the facility out back is at least 50,000 yen a cup, right?”

The burglar had spilled his spoils across the yard, but granny checked inside to make sure nothing else was taken. Burglars had started to steal even the solar panels on the roof, so it could be a real pain.

anwhile, I put the Kyoto souvenir back in the umbrella stand and decided I might as well report it to the police with my smartphone. It likely wasn’t going to do any good. The village’s police stations were incredibly short on officers and they rarely answered the call from the 110 operator due to either listening to music with headphones during the day or sleeping at their posts at night. Also, they could hardly stand up to a real ard group of thieves. If people actually believed the police could do anything, they wouldn’t exactly pay the security companies so much out of their own pockets, now would they?

When I finished with that process that I had decided I “might as well” do, I walked across the wooden floor of the hallway and further back into the residence.

The thatched roof house had no redeeming value outside of its age, but it did have a few points in its favor.

One of those was the real Zashiki Warashi that lived inside.

“Honestly, isn’t it a Zashiki Warashi’s job to protect the house and keep this kind of thing from happening?” I muttered as I arrived at a door.

Without knocking on the sliding door (can you even knock on sliding doors?), I forcefully opened it and shouted at the top of my voice.

“You, Zashiki Warashi!! Quit slacking off and do your job!!”

But the Zashiki Warashi in question was not there.

After staring into the empty room for a second, I headed for a new destination. I knew where she likely was if she was not there. It was possible she was out (even if she was a Zashiki Warashi), but that was highly unlikely in the middle of a sumr day as hot as this one. She would only bother to go out for a walk early in the morning or in the evening.

It may have been the case for all Zashiki Warashis, but there was one characteristic that the one in our house definitely had. Due to this characteristic, I knew one place that had either the highest or second highest appearance rate for her.

That place was my room.

“...That damn indoor Youkai.”

This ti there was no reason to knock or say anything. I grabbed the handle of the sliding door to my room and forcefully slid it to the side.

“You’re getting careless, Zashiki Warashi. How the hell did you overlook a burglar!?”

The Zashiki Warashi that had entered my room without permission glanced over at . She was a black-haired beauty that looked perfect in a red yukata. The Youkai’s body proportions were much too glamorous to be called a “child”.

She was wearing special goggles for a 3D movie.

She was holding a wireless controller and controlling a character displayed on the big screen.

For an instant...

Just an instant...

My body froze up despite the fact that I knew this was what Youkai were really like. A single word took control of my mind. On an impulse, I opened my mouth and shouted.

“Appearances!! You need to keep up appearances as a Youkai!! The culture of Youkai is part of this country’s traditional arts! Do you want to lose that!?”

“Yeah, but isn’t that idea of Youkai just taken from manga and ani? Youkai are supposed to blend into the background of each passing era. The idea of the ‘good old’ Youkai that fit into the ‘good old days’ is nothing more than a recent trend. There’s no real reason for us to stay exactly the sa.”

“Yes, but a Zashiki Warashi is supposed to bring fortune to the house it lives in as well as drive out burglars and such.”

“I don’t wanna do that!!”

The glamorous Zashiki Warashi removed the goggles, took a pause in the video ga, and then turned to face while still sitting cross-legged.

The hem of her yukata was flipped up and the white of her thighs stabbed into my eyes, but she did not seem to mind.

“I would rather you didn’t shove all the battling onto us Zashiki Warashi! I am completely confident I would lose spectacularly to another Youkai and even to a human if they were Onmyouji class!!”

“This is the 21st century, so I doubt that profession even exists anymore. Also, if this was so Onmyou master thief or sothing else straight from a light novel, I think he would steal things in a more fantastical way, you damn Youkai.”

“Also, if I did more Zashiki Warashi-like things, wouldn’t you actually get mad at ?”

“You an sneak into my futon and straddle with no warning in the middle of the night?”

That was apparently a characteristic of all Zashiki Warashis, and it would have been fine if she looked like the stereotypical Zashiki Warashi. However, when it was done by one whose bust exceeded 90 cm, it was more than an adolescent boy knew how to deal with. Rather than feel lucky, I would feel a shock rush through my body like my heart was jumping up and breaking my ribs.

The dynamite body Zashiki Warashi was completely unaware of all this, so she casually changed the subject.

“More importantly, you went to the Sanatorium, didn’t you? The sweets shop is on the way. I assu you at least bought so popsicles on your way back. Can I count on at least that much?”

“Shut up. Huh? They’re gone... Oh, when I grabbed the wooden sword, I...”

I headed back to the front entrance, but not to treat the Zashiki Warashi. I simply did not want the popsicles I had bought to lt before anyone could eat them. The box of 10 popsicles was indeed lying on the floor. I had dropped them when I reached for the wooden sword to deal with the burglar.

I returned to the room with the Zashiki Warashi and she imdiately pulled a soda-flavored popsicle from the box. I received no thanks whatsoever. However...

“Nnnn!! Air conditioning isn’t bad, but you just can’t beat cooling down from within.”

“Your smiles at tis like this really do fit the ‘child’ part.”

She ignored my comnt. As a Youkai who was as old as the house, she may have seen it as the nonsense of a human child.

“Speaking of the Sanatorium, did Madoka say anything troubleso?”

“...She’s more or less troubleso through and through, but she was extra troubleso today.”

“If it’s that bad, I think I’ll plug my ears right now.”

“No, you’re listening to this. I’m getting you involved in this even if I have to force you.”

Part 2

The reason I had gone out into the heat during sumr break was to head to a facility known as the Sanatorium so I could visit an acquaintance nad Madoka.

However, Madoka did not have so horrible illness.

She was simply a classmate of mine.

As the old-fashioned word “sanatorium” suggests, it was simply ant to add to the atmosphere of the Intellectual Village just like the thatched roof of my house. The facility had nothing to do with tuberculosis, ntal illness, or anything else dical. The Intellectual Village created a brand-na image of the “good old days”, and the Sanatorium was sothing like an attraction.

I had no idea why the rich would pay so much money just to be hospitalized there despite having nothing wrong with them. But then, taking a trial tour of the JSDF had beco a popular ans of dieting, so businesses had been created around providing strange ways of staying healthy.

Since it was targeted towards rich people with odd tastes, the price was of course ridiculously high.

My classmate Madoka-chan had a rich enough family, but she herself was a super high school girl who did day trading herself.

They must have been focusing on providing the expected image, because the waiting room had overly strict ans of preventing escape installed in place.

“Hello, how are things outside?” Asked a girl in a thin surgical gown with a smile so lively I doubted anyone could be healthier than her.

“Peaceful...other than the off-season Yuki Onna I t at the bus stop. Y’know, I’m not going to have interesting things happen to all the ti.”

“But it’s sumr break for students.”

“A perfectly healthy girl who chooses to hole up in this dical facility has no right to say that.”

“That doesn’t stop from saying it,” said Madoka.

I was there simply because I was the class president. To be blunt, Madoka was a problem child. She did not get along well with her parents and she found no enjoynt in school. No actual abuse or bullying had occurred, but she was still definitely isolating herself.

Our horoom teacher preferred to avoid all conflict, so the job of checking on her periodically had been thrust onto even though it was sumr break.

“Are you doing your howork?”

“That really has no impact from soone who hasn’t done his howork either.”

“I won’t deny that, but I’m just trying to start a conversation. If I don’t find sothing to talk about, the conversation isn’t going to last long. I’ve been looking after you since April and I still don’t even know what kind of food you like.”

“If we have nothing to talk about, I can teach you how to make money.”

“That’s the thing about you. You can make all the money you need on your own, so you never rely on anyone. And so you feel no need to et anyone halfway. Is that why you’ve isolated yourself despite having no real reason to?”

“You say that, but what do you want to do? Should I throw 30 billion yen into the train station trash just to get along with everyone? Or should I force troubleso tasks on others for the sake of communication even though I don’t need anything done? You know, sothing like ‘Hey, you over there. I’ll give you 5 billion yen, so use it to make double that.’ Actually, I think that would be enough to put a normal high school student in the ntal hospital.”

“Yeah, probably,” I replied offhand.

Unfortunately, my role was rely to talk with Madoka, not to resolve her problems. Why would I go that far? It isn’t like class president is a paying job.

“By the way, so guys in suits have been walking around. Who are they? Did you hire so kind of service again?”

“They aren’t here for . I haven’t lived that long yet.”

“?”

“They’re inheritance agents.” Madoka lightly waved her slender index finger around. “As you know, the Sanatorium focuses more on creating the right mood than on any actual function. The only people here are either health enthusiasts like or old people who have gotten sick of making money in so filthy city so they simply want to live out their last days peacefully surrounded by the beauty of nature.”

“And what are those sothing-or-other agents here for?”

“I don’t really know. The reasons differ from person to person. So do not want to give their family their inheritance. So want to give their inheritance to their mistress rather than their wife. So want to give everything to their grandchild while not leaving a single yen for their son.”

I can’t say what my expression was at that mont, but Madoka had a mischievous look in her eyes as she stared straight at .

She had a way of livening up when it ca to talk of money.

“All of them have their reasons for leaving their families and coming to the Sanatorium, so it isn’t surprising that these inheritance agents are so common here.”

“Being rich must be tough...” I muttered without thinking.

rely by living in an Intellectual Village, I may have qualified as rich, but my allowance was no greater than that of a normal kid, so it never seed that way to .

“It could be a lot worse than that.” Madoka grinned. “A while ago, there was a rumor that anyone who entered a certain room here would die. A certain rich old man actually had his family enthusiastically try to throw him into that room.”

“...Seriously?”

“Seriously. I thought it might have sothing to do with Youkai and a Package, but it must not since nothing ever ca of it. Or maybe the assembly simply hadn’t been completed.”

I didn’t like the sound of the terms she used.

Feeling weary, I replied, “If you’re going to talk about dangerous things, at least keep it within the realm of things relating to my position as the class president...”

“What are you talking about? If you haven’t brought any interesting stories, my only option is to laugh at your tragedy. So I’ll take this opportunity to tell you sothing.”

“Myahhhh myahhh!! I’m not listening!!

“You ntioned that you t an off-season Yuki Onna on the way, didn’t you? You’re probably in a lot of trouble thanks to that. Why is it that Youkai always seem to hide when the reporters for a spiritual TV show arrive, but they always show themselves at the worst possible ti for you?”

“Don’t ask !”

“Is there so kind of sll only Youkai can detect? Maybe it has sothing to do with the sake your family makes.”

“My old man treats that Zashiki Warashi like she’s so great king of fear he needs to tremble before while my uncle is known for only getting teased by her.”

“But the fact remains that they both have a high encounter rate with her, right? Just like with that Yuki Onna, you always seem to run across the ones that you could have easily gone without running across and that it is quite dangerous to et.”

She seed to be truly enjoying herself.

As if in contrast to my weariness, Madoka’s face lit up as she added, “What I was talking about before barely counts as dangerous compared to you and that Yuki Onna. But now that you’ve run across her, you’re likely already involved and nothing I say will change it.”

Part 3

The red yukata-wearing Zashiki Warashi rolled over, opened a laptop lying on the tatami mats, and began browsing a video sharing site.

“I get it, I get it. Things took a dangerous turn and soone is trying to kill you. That has nothing to do with . O-Ohhhhhh!! A panda videooooo!!”

“How cold-hearted can you be!?”

“I already told you not to expect any Youkai battles out of . I’m basically a child, rember? I’m not suited toward ridiculous battles like the Shichinin Misaki or the Hyakki Yakou where they scatter curses everywhere and slaughter anyone they run across.”

“Surely there are other ways you can help! Also, that ga system and that computer are mine! A Youkai can’t make a contract with the provider. If I die, you can’t access those video sharing sites!!”

“Chehh...”

It seed that was the only aspect of this that bothered her. The adult-like Zashiki Warashi turned away from the video of a fluffy panda and faced once more.

“So now you’re negotiating with Youkai. It’s disappointing how much of your innocence you’ve lost. You used to have such bright, pure eyes.”

“You need to stop trying to get by on seniority when you’re cornered.”

“You were cutest when I would give you a bath every day or when I would help you change in the pool changing room.”

“I said stop it!! We humans have no way to win when it cos to seniority!!”

“I really didn’t know what to do when you would grab onto my swimsuit and tug the entire ti because you were afraid of getting lost. The problem was that you didn’t an anything by it.”

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!” I scread as my soul was torn down from the inside.

She had had that glamorous body since before my grandfather was born. Those things seed so risqué when I thought back on them!!

“So is soone really trying to kill you?”

“Unfortunately.”

“What’s the reason this ti?” Asked the Zashiki Warashi as she rolled over and her pure white legs were exposed from the disheveled hem of her yukata. “You live in an Intellectual Village not a large city, so running into Youkai is not exactly rare. Especially for you, Shinobu. On that trip to the beach to swim, you got a love letter from a rmaid.”

“...Yeah, and afterwards I was almost dragged down to the bottom of the ocean.”

“Did you do anything to make that Yuki Onna try to haunt you and kill you? Like ntioning that story of a Yuki Onna sparing the man she married.”

“No.” I shook my head. “That’s not it.”

Part 4

After what Madoka had told , I was of course on my guard.

On the way back from the Sanatorium, I trudged down the mountain road because I was too cheap to pay for the bus fare. Due to thickly grown trees casting too much of a shadow, the area contained none of the solar panels that changed angle like sunflowers. Instead, a small waterway ran alongside the road with a great number of small hydroelectric water wheel generators running off of the natural water that was 300 yen a liter. Even sothing like that had been carefully calculated out with fluid chanics to ensure the shape and width kept fallen leaves from clogging up the waterway.

I may have been on my guard, but I had overlooked one obvious fact. The mountain road was the only road back, so I would naturally pass by a certain bus stop near a sharp curve. And if the Yuki Onna I had t before was still standing there, I would of course run into her again.

“...I really am an idiot...”

“So we et again. Hee hee hee... Perhaps this is destiny. So, how about you try marrying ?”

She looked to be around 13. She had long, pale blue hair and wore a pure white kimono that could easily be mistaken for burial clothes. An odd cracking noise of unknown origin seed to co from the intentionally old-fashioned bus station bench. The plastic materials may have been undergoing so kind of change due to being frozen.

“...Yukinko was it?”

“I am a Yuki Onna. A Yuki Onna is the representative example of a beautiful Youkai. Please do not confuse a woman of deadly beauty such as myself with one of those brats that like to play with snow. Also, let’s get married.”

“A flat-chested Yuki Onna like you should probably just switch bodies with a certain large-breasted Zashiki Warashi I know.”

As I spoke, I could see a warning light flashing inside my head. I could also feel a definite change in temperature as I backed away from her.

eting a Yuki Onna could lead to death.

Unlike the Zashiki Warashi at my house, the Yuki Onna was a Youkai that had killing humans as a primary characteristic. Just as a Zashiki Warashi was known to climb into your futon in the middle of the night and straddle you, a Yuki Onna would kill soone simply because she was a Yuki Onna.

To be blunt, she was more dangerous than so ferocious pet an irresponsible owner had abandoned.

I sorted through a few conditions in my head.

Most people probably know the story of the Yuki Onna more on the level of a picture book or old story rather than as a Youkai tale. And that was the extent of my knowledge as well.

Two n were stranded on a snowy mountain in winter and a Yuki Onna killed the older man. She let the younger man go, but made him promise to never tell anyone what happened. Later, the man married a certain woman and ended up carelessly telling her the story of the Yuki Onna. However, it turned out the woman he married really was the Yuki Onna.

Looking at the story at face value makes the Yuki Onna look rather fickle, but if she had been planning to marry the younger man from the beginning, she actually seems much more ticulous. The story featured several promises both obvious and hidden. For example, if the younger man had married so other woman before the Yuki Onna appeared to him in disguise, she might have bared her fangs at him then.

Since old stories often have morals, one theory states that the Yuki Onna could represent the horrors of a mountain during winter and the marriage promise could represent proper mountain climbing knowledge. With the proper knowledge, a mountain can be enjoyably majestic, but it bares its fangs if you are careless.

But enough about explanations created by city scholars who have never seen a real Youkai.

The problem was that the existence that represented the horrors of a mountain during winter was leisurely sitting on a bench in front of . Naturally, this was a situation where the conditions could possibly cause her to imdiately bare her fangs at .

I was in a dangerous position.

I decided the best way to avoid carelessly stepping on any landmines would be to not make any promises to her whatsoever. There were so Youkai that you would die from just by seeing it, so it could have been worse.

“...So why is a Yuki Onna like you out in this hot midsumr weather?”

“Will you promise to marry if I tell you?”

“No, I won’t. And isn’t that rushing things a bit? You can barely even say we’ve t.”

That marriage request was likely a trigger that made her attack. She would ask anyone who t certain requirents to marry her. Any of those who agreed would be bound by promises and frozen to death. I could hardly take her seriously. She was taking marriage too lightly. It was light as air.

The little Yuki Onna looked at with spiteful eyes.

“If you do not promise to marry right here and now, I will make sure you die...”

“Geh!? You prepared two paths to attack!?”

If I don’t make that ridiculous promise, I’ll be killed, but if I do make it, she’ll bind with promises and kill ? Could the characteristics of a Yuki Onna be any worse!?

“I-I’m a minor...”

“Only by human rules. According to Youkai rules, even a verbal promise is enough. So let us get married. Marriage now.”

“I like the human way!! And I don’t think I would last even a day if I was thrown out into the snowy plains you co from!!”

“Then promise to marry as soon as you are of marrying age according to the Japanese Constitution.”

“Too bad! The Japanese Constitution does not recognize marriage between humans and Youkai, so it’ll never be possible!”

Customarily, Youkai were treated as sothing similar to humans, but there was no actual legal basis to that. They could not even sign a cell phone contract.

The Yuki Onna tilted her head to the side and said, “So you’re saying it can’t happen unless the Japanese Constitution is revised for so reason? Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh.”

Geh. Not good. I doubt the law will change anyti soon, but I’m afraid of having her co after in 50 years saying I’ve broken my promise. She’ll look exactly the sa in 1000 years, so it’s completely possible.

“I won’t even discuss marrying soone whose na I don’t even know.”

“I am #58902385Ra4.”

Shit, she’s serious. That was her national registration number that no one uses anymore, wasn’t it!?

“B-but I also need to know at least one weakness of soone before I’ll discuss marrying them.”

“I do not like cicadas or concrete dams.”

“Take this! Min-min[1] bomber!!”

“Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

I grabbed a cicada from a nearby tree and threw it at her. The Yuki Onna fell off the bus stop bench and ran off. I didn’t get a good look at her face, but I had a feeling she was crying.

Hmm.

Good thing she was an idiot.

That was one way of driving away a Youkai.

What mattered most was that I had managed not to promise her anything.

“I don’t rember hearing that Yuki Onna don’t like cicadas. Was that a personal weakness rather than one of the entire race?”

With a quizzical look on my face, I started back down the mountain road.

I had made it past the first threat after Madoka’s warning, so I can’t deny that I let my guard down a bit.

However, I would not have been able to avoid what ca next even if I had been on my guard.

Imdiately afterwards, soone suddenly shot in the chest with a hunting rifle.

Part 5

The Zashiki Warashi in the bright red yukata rolled over and her glossy hair spread out across the tatami mats.

With a bored look on her face, she said, “I call bullshit on that. If you really had been shot, you wouldn’t have co back ho.”

“Okay, fine. I exaggerated a bit. I wasn’t actually shot through the heart.”

“You actually do well in school, but you don’t look like it at all, so try not to say things in such a stupid way.”’

Thanks to that, my nickna was “Intellectual Yakuza”.

But anyway...

“I don’t want to be called stupid by such a good-for-nothing Youkai. And nothing you say sounds remotely Youkai-like anymore. You should be saying things that sound like they are filled with significance and make you sound like you have vast experience from having lived since before the dawn of civilization, not checking the tis of net concerts every day!”

“Oh? Would you rather have a debate regarding the range of random numbers X that relates to the frequency with which Youkai appear?”

“Don’t bring up one of the top 10 unsolved problems of the 21st century!! Also, you’re a Youkai, so doesn’t that give you too much of an advantage?”

“You’re saying I should know everything about Youkai just because I am one? How naïve. Shinobu, can you give the random number range for the genes that determine if a human is male or female as well as explain when, where, and how those genes are expressed?”

“Nhh...”

“There are just things we don’t know. We just live as we are. Neither of us are scholars and we can live perfectly fine without knowing why we were born,” said the Zashiki Warashi with a thin smile. “Also, comnts that sound full of significance or ancient experience are not really all that valuable. All of that only sounds so impressive because the differences between modern language and archaic language make things take longer to understand. That so-called significance is nothing more than what you see every day. If you said it in modern language, you would just be describing things everyone already knows. What value is there in forcing those things into old, formal language?”

I got the feeling the conversation would never make progress if I didn’t just give in there.

“...Can we get this conversation back on track?”

“I’d rather digress so more.”

“Why are you such a pain in the ass, you Zashiki Warashi!?”

“Oh, that’s another thing. I’d like to complain about being referred to simply as ‘Zashiki Warashi’. I don’t like how I was given a personal na and yet no one uses it. It feels like I have a stack of business cards that never grows any smaller.”

Don’t act like you know what you’re talking about when you’ve never worked for a business.

“What was your number again?”

“No, not the number string the governnt gave . Did you forget my personal na is Yukari?”

“...Is it? Well, no point in rembering that. Zashiki Warashi gets the point across well enough.”

“What if there are two other Zashiki Warashi standing on either side of ?”

“In that case, good-for-nothing Zashiki Warashi or indoor Zashiki Warashi should work.”

“...”

Still smiling, the black-haired Zashiki Warashi that looked good in the bright red yukata fell silent.

And then she suddenly pinched my right nipple.

“Ky-kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

My entire body started to tremble.

Wh-what!? Is so unexplored door beginning to open!?

“...People’s nas are important, aren’t they?”

“Wait, stop...Ayayaya, don’t twist!!”

“Aren’t they?”

“Ahh, ahh!! Yes, they certainly are, Yukari-sama!!”

“Fine then.”

With that strange approval, she finally removed her fingers from that protuberance of my body.

While trying to catch my breath I said, “C-can we...Can we finally...get back to the main topic?”

“I still want to digress so more...”

“No, thank you!! Let’s bring this back!! We’re backing up!!”

I had no idea how far off topic we would get if I let that Zashiki Warashi maintain control of the conversation any longer. Despite how I look, I try to be at least a bit on the S side of things! I had no intention of seeing those as two sides of the sa coin and therefore developing in both directions, so my only option was to forcefully regain control.

“O-okay...How far did I get?”

“The difference in sensitivity between the right one and left one.”

“No!! Oh, I rember! I was shot by a hunting rifle!!”

That was when she had called bullshit.

However...

“The truth of the matter is that soone really did fire one at .”

“Who? The Yuki Onna?”

“Soone. I don’t know who, but a human. I was shot at by a human. Only a human would go to the effort of specifically using a hunting rifle. They were clearly being cautious of the laws.”

“I suppose. In this Intellectual Village where a bunch of grapes costs 30,000 yen, the extermination of harmful animals like crows and boars is an everyday event. It’s true that even if the gunshot of a hunting rifle is heard throughout the village, no one will think so dangerous incident has occurred.”

That was what made rural areas so scary.

Normally, people would assu sothing was horribly wrong just by hearing a gunshot. However, the norm here was a bit different. The fact that no one would be surprised to see soone wandering around with a gun makes you wonder if the village was even part of Japan.

“So who was it? Did you happen to catch the Chinese mafia burying a mutilated corpse?”

“They wouldn’t bury soone in an area where nature is so highly maintained.”

“Then who was it?” asked the Zashiki Warashi.

I sighed and then answered.

“An inheritance agent.”

Part 6

My first thought upon hearing the gunshot of the hunting rifle was that soone was dealing with so dangerous animal. The sound hurt my ears aning it was nearby, but I was in the mountain. A hunter working nearby was not too surprising.

It was so things other than the gunshot that seed strange.

First of all, there was an electric car driving up the mountain road. Intellectual Village was an incarnation of the ecological and health booms, so that in itself was not too strange. However, it was unusual for the engine sound effect, ant to warn those who could not see it, to be deactivated. This ant it was approaching silently.

Second of all, the back window of the electric car was open and a man wearing a suit was leaning out and holding a hunting rifle. I had never heard of a hunter shooting from within a car, and soone pursuing a dangerous animal would not be wearing a suit. Hunters always walked through the mountains and wore bright orange vests. This was to reduce the danger of being confused for a bear and shot by a fellow hunter.

Third of all, a portion of the bus stop bench next to shattered along with the gunshot.

The shot had not rely mistakenly gone my way.

The man was clearly aiming for !

“...!?”

Who?

Why?

There was of course a reason I had been able to start moving before answering the questions that appeared in my mind.

This was because I could not properly imagine what kind of destruction a hunting rifle could do. Even if it had shattered a bench right in front of , I could not imagine how much pain I would feel if it pierced my own flesh.

If it had been a knife or a tal bat, I would have been able to clearly imagine the pain and therefore would have frozen up in fear.

The hunting rifle’s power was simply so great that the silently approaching electric car seed more intimidating. Since I felt the road was dangerous, I looked past the guardrail on the sharp curve of the mountain road and felt fear grab at my heart due to the 5 ter drop there.

The fact that the danger was so great actually gave a way out.

I did not give a single thought to whether I could actually escape the hunting rifle by jumping from that small cliff.

Instead, I leaned over the guardrail simply in order to avoid the car headed my way.

I did not exactly jump.

I lost my balance and fell rolling down the 70 degree slope before I had a chance to ntally prepare myself.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

My vision spun around and around and around.

Dull pain tore across my entire body.

My breathing stopped.

A stinging pain spread across every inch of my skin.

As I rolled down, I broke the branches of short thickets and the sll of the grass I was crushing gained a dark red iron-like scent to it. It didn’t feel like I had broken any bones, but I had no strength. My breathing was erratic. It reminded of the body blow I had received in a punishnt ga once. I had overdone it. The pain and suffering was so great that I completely forgot about the hunting rifle and the electric car.

Reality was forced back into my mind by an explosive noise from overhead.

It was the sound of the double-barreled hunting rifle being fired once more.

You’re not letting off the hook after I fell down a cliff!? I’m just a high school boy. I can’t think of anything I’ve done that would warrant going this far!!

“Dammit...!!”

At any rate, my only option is to find so cover and make a run for it!!

I dragged my aching body along and frantically started rustling through the underbrush and making my way between trees. That was when I realized it. If the man had taken ti and aid at , he would have hit . He had lost sight of , and that previous shot had been to see if I would react.

I had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.

The noise I made as I moved had to have given away my position.

I could feel myself paling, but what was done was done.

I guess I have no choice but to run to safety!!

The suited attacker would be hesitant to jump down from that height. However, he would eventually work up his resolve. I had to get as much distance as I could in that ti.

Normally thinking, I could not escape from soone who had a hunting rifle by running. However, it was too soon to give up. The Type 32 from Yasuda Firearms the attacker was using was a shotgun. It was the sa one the old man next door used. Compared to a standard rifle type, it had a short range. On top of that, the area was filled with high class Japanese cypress trees. The more distance I got, the denser the cover between us would be. From 40 to 50 ters would be the deadliest range. Once I made it 100 ters away, I would likely survive even if I was hit.

I may have been completely wrong about that.

That may have just been the mistaken reckoning of an amateur high school boy.

But whether I was wrong or not, that hopeful view kept from freezing up.

I ran through the trees and trampled the underbrush while pulling out my cell phone. I could only hope for the bare minimum of functionality as even the lens of its cara was broken. (I had a smartphone too, but the Zashiki Warashi usually swiped it to use as a music player.) The nice thing about an Intellectual Village was that you got three bars of signal even in the mountains. For an instant, I was worried they could track using it, but I decided it wasn’t worth worrying about. After all, the attacker was close enough to actually see .

However, I did not call 110. Rescue would never make it in ti. The ones who would take action first if I reported it would be the small police departnt in the village. Only one old man would be there at that ti. If that old man was enough of an elite soldier to handle this situation, the people making high class fruits would not pay so much to hire ard security guards.

I made the call without hesitation.

My classmate answered with a voice lively enough to put the school sports teams to sha.

“What is it? Did you forget sothing?”

“Madoka-san. I have sothing I’d like to ask you!”

“I haven’t done the sumr howork if that’s what it’s about.”

The thunderous roar of a gunshot rang out nearby. The dull sound of bark being ripped from trees continued afterwards. I ran on with the belief that my groundless, hopeful view was accurate. I had no choice but to believe it even if it was groundless. If I had let my fear catch up to , I would have frozen up. And so I thought only about the convenient things that would allow to survive. I fled. As I did so, I shouted into the phone half in desperation.

“You said eting that Yuki Onna was dangerous!!”

“Right, right.”

“Well, you didn’t know anything about those inheritance agents being even more dangerous, did you!?”

“Wow, Shinobu-kun. So you’ve already figured that much out.”

“I’ll fucking kill you!! Why didn’t you tell that from the beginning!?”

I heard the sound of flowing water and grimaced. If there was a river, the trees acting as my cover would thin out. The danger of being shot would increase. However, there was no stopping my legs. I knew it was dangerous, but I had no choice but to continue straight on.

Whether she knew my situation or not, Madoka’s voice was utterly indifferent as she said, “Eh? But I was hoping for a good story. It would’ve been a complete waste to tell you that beforehand.”

“...!!”

Thank you for the courage to live on☆

I’m gonna survive this no matter what so I can give you a good punch!!

“Inheritance agents advertise their services as ‘successfully transferring the client’s inheritance to the client’s person of choice regardless of the legal order’. I guess you could think of them as a group of lawyers that are a bit more active than most. I explained that much here at the Sanatorium.”

“They wouldn’t be carrying around a hunting rifle if they were a proper business! I’m guessing there’s so darker aspect to this!”

“The problem lies in their thod of transferring the inheritance. Doing so while ignoring the legal order would normally be impossible. That ans the client cannot give everything directly to their grandchild while skipping over their son. They know that would be stopped by the courts.”

The trees ended.

I stopped without thinking and found a small river and rocky riverside. Both together were about 30 ters across. However, I would not be able to keep up my usual pace across those hard rocks and in the water. But if I hung around, the attacker would catch up and shoot .

“The clients first transfer their assets to the inheritance agent. This is a donation of assets rather than an inheritance. Sending it to so third person at that point is no different than a company giving it to a specific individual, so it can be given to a grandson or mistress or whoever else. The amount given is less due to a donation tax having to be paid twice. However, the inheritance agent can make back the amount lost through investnts.”

“You an like that day trading you love so much?”

“When it’s related to an Intellectual Village, they can also deal in high quality agriculture futures.”

The sound of soone moving through the underbrush and branches gradually approached.

I had no ti to hesitate.

I knew it was dangerous, but I charged out onto the rocky river bank.

“If they succeeded in that, they wouldn’t be wandering around with a hunting rifle. So did their investnts fail and now they’ve lost the assets they’re supposed to hand over?”

“No, they never had any intentions of giving those assets to the specified person. After being legally given those assets, they just keep them for themselves.”

“Then they’re just a bunch of con artists!!

“Exactly. However, they make hundreds of millions if not billions of yen per job. With that much money on the line, they’ll be willing to get rid of soone who has beco inconvenient.”

I ran across the river bank covered in round rocks and then charged into the small river. The flow was stronger than I had expected. I continued forward while making sure my feet weren’t taken out from under .

Don’t co.

Don’t co.

Don’t co.

If that man with the hunting rifle from that corrupt lawyer group made his way out of the trees, it was almost certain he would shoot in the back.

“Okay, I get that they have a reason to kill soone. But why !? I don’t have any evidence of their dishonesty and I never chanced across anything incriminating!!”

I had seen those inheritance agents going back and forth within the Sanatorium, so had I seen anything dangerous there? I couldn’t think of anything. I couldn’t think of a single thing I could have seen that would warrant shooting with a hunting rifle and disposing of my body sowhere.

“Wait. Wait!!”

“What?” replied Madoka.

“What’s the connection here?”

The water filling my shoes felt quite uncomfortable. I couldn’t believe that people in the cities put a 300 yen price tag on a liter of the stuff. Even so, I continued on. I made it across the small river and started running across the smooth stones once more.

“You said the Yuki Onna was dangerous, right? Is there so connection between her and the inheritance agents!?”

“That’s exactly what I was saying.”

“!?”

A rustling ca from a thicket on the other side of the clear stream from .

At about the sa mont, I made it across the rocky bank and charged into the trees of the forest.

I felt the gunshot reverberate in my stomach more than I heard it. Wild birds took flight all around .

I had just barely made it.

But there was no guarantee I would make it next ti.

Crossing the river had slowed my pace down by too much. I had sohow managed to hide in a thicket, but I was too close. The density of the trees around was too low to act as proper cover.

A lead bullet would reach .

However, I had a ans of victory.

In the old days, rivers were often used as borders between lands. The simplest example is probably the borders of a prefecture or a city.

Private property was no exception.

And in an Intellectual Village where the agriculture was of such high quality that a bunch of grapes cost 30,000 yen, people made sure to have security networks that could protect their crops.

I only had to raise one hand.

The instant it was caught by the infrared sensor, sothing happened.

Sothing rose up in a straight line to block my path.

It was a wire security net with high voltage electricity running through it.

It was likely ant to keep out both dangerous animals and thieves. The beasts would continue on and be roasted, but a human would notice the danger and step back.

To make sure that the humans did not escape, a similar high voltage net rose up behind on the rocky river bank. I was surrounded by the net walls.

I heard the slight static of speakers installed in the area being powered on.

They were most likely set to play a recording when the intruder was concluded to be human since nothing was “roasted”.

“Beyond this point is a mandarin orange orchard owned by Tanaka Farms. Entry of all unauthorized personnel is forbidden. mbers of security are being dispatched, but Tanaka Farms is not liable for any harm done by the high voltage current before you. I repeat...”

I heard the sound of soone walking through a thicket.

The suited man carrying a hunting rifle appeared.

However, he had heard the announcent too. He had to know the unrelated security guards would be arriving before long. Even if he killed there, he did not have ti to retrieve the body and dispose of all traces of the cri.

We glared at each other for a few seconds.

Finally, the suited man slowly backed away while still aiming the hunting rifle at . He then clicked his tongue and ran off.

It may have been due to being surrounded by those high voltage nets, but the cell phone connection had ended.

While waiting for rescue to arrive on that mountain, I muttered quietly to myself.

“...A Package, hm?”

Part 7

The Zashiki Warashi in the bright red yukata spoke with her cheeks stuffed full of the ohagi my overall small granny had brought us.

“Fi’m funfry. (I’m hungry).”

“What kind of starving character are you? And could you actually listen to my story?”

“I wonder why people fall for scams,” she said in a tone that made it sound like a Youkai would never fall for one.

She then brought another ohagi to her mouth. She was still lying down, so it was rather rude.

“It’s so obvious that’s dangerous from the mont you have to hand your money over to soone else temporarily. It’s not like you can demand your money back after giving it to them.”

“The ideal situation for a con artist is not so proper thod that no one would find suspicious. They prefer sothing that looks good at the ti and seems worth it even if it is a bit risky. That bit is what clouds over people’s rational decision making ability.”

“So sothing like a chance at being one of the clever winners in life?”

“Or they say they’re giving you so special advice because you were one of the lucky few to be chosen.”

My words put an oddly bewitching smile on the Zashiki Warashi’s face.

“So the desire to give your inheritance to soone other than your proper family is an attractive enough opportunity to cloud people’s judgnt?”

Admittedly, that left a bad taste in my mouth too, but I would have preferred she did not look at like I was the representative of humanity’s evil intentions.

“But from what you’ve said, they’re just a group of con artists.”

“Yes, and from how smoothly Madoka was able to explain it all, people must be beginning to catch on to their M.O. It’s probably at the stage where people just need so proof.”

“It’s that Yuki Onna that Madoka ntioned that catches my interest,” she said. “Since you spotting her developed into that hunting rifle attack, that Yuki Onna must be an important factor to those inheritance agents. Which ans...”

“Which ans it might have sothing to do with a Package.”

Part 8

After the middle-aged man who nad himself the head of Tanaka Farms drove in his electric-powered light truck to the sweets shop at the base of the mountain, I called Madoka at the Sanatorium once more.

“Ah ha! The connection ended so suddenly I thought you had died?”

“Well, I’m glad you’re delighted enough to let your character blur like crazy. But prepare yourself, I’m gonna give you quite the spanking later.”

“I think your character is getting a bit blurred too, Shinobu-kun. Anyway, do you still need sothing?”

“It’s about these inheritance agents,” I said quickly. “If you knew they had sothing to do with that Yuki Onna, then I assu sothing must have happened in the Sanatorium. Tell .”

“Hmm? I have a good idea about what’s going on, but I have no proof,” replied Madoka with no hesitation. “Rember how I told you there was a room here where anyone who stayed in it would die?”

“Yeah.”

“It was actually never determined which room that was. There are a few theories, but who knows which – if any – of them are correct.”

“But for a rumor like that to get started, sothing strange must have happened. Sothing that would suggest the involvent of a Yuki Onna.”

“Yes. It was nothing more than so old n and won getting frostbite in the middle of sumr, though.”

“...Is that even possible?”

“You can ignore all ecological issues and freely set the air conditioning here and people are often bedridden, so yes. A cool breeze may have been blown onto one part of their skin continually for hours and hours. However, once it happened 4 or 5 tis, sothing else was clearly going on. The Sanatorium is both an attraction and in the service industry. Having incidents like that continue would hurt the image of their brand, so it seems the workers were a bit panicked.”

“But this rumor cald down.”

“Yes, but the cause was never actually determined. If this was being maliciously done by soone, they must have completely stopped.”

“And you think this was the inheritance agents?”

“They were already coming and going when the frostbite scares occurred, but I haven’t seen any clear link between them. However, the old n and won who got frostbite all had imnse fortunes. They were certainly the type the inheritance agents would want to target.”

“One question. You said the inheritance agents were coming and going at the ti of the frostbite scares. Were there any victims of their scam in the Sanatorium during that ti?”

“You’re quite perceptive.” It sounded like Madoka was smiling on the other side of the phone. “There were no victims at the ti. From what I could tell, they had approached a few tempting marks, but did not manage to get any money from them. ...However, their scam grew quite bountiful once the frostbite scare had died down. I haven’t actually spoken with any of the victims though.”

“I knew it,” I muttered without thinking.

That left one possibility.

“The initial frostbite scares were tests for a Package. After they fine-tuned the power and the breadth of conditions, they began the real scam.”

“A Package...” said Madoka.

“A criminal system put together by humans using the characteristics and conditions of Youkai. It’s the stereotypical form for cases of spiritual harm.”

A cash card that can draw out an unlimited amount of money. A knife that can kill any number of people without the criminal ever getting caught.

Normally thinking, those items were impossibilities that could never exist in reality. However, that sort of thing could be achieved by cleverly mixing in the powers of those who were not normal.

The specific item seen on the surface was just the tip of the iceberg.

When the large gears of a Youkai and a criminal organization ca together to form a massive perfect cri system, it was known as a Package.

Think of items like the Uchide no Kozuchi seen in old stories or the bullets created with demonic powers spoken of in a famous opera. Now, imagine such things could be put together as “items without form” as a ans of committing fraud.

The worst part was that the Youkai used to put it together had no idea they were committing cris or causing people problems.

A Yuki Onna would kill you if you spoke of being spared and would then disguise herself as a woman and marry you. A group of con n would very much want the use of that compulsion through promises. And since she would kill anyone who told, they had a ans of avoiding anyone taking legal action against them.

The real problem was that the Yuki Onna’s promises revolved around the idea of marriage.

If they were free to switch out the marriage part, they could use it to force any kind of unfair financial contract on people.

“How did they get the people to make the promise?” I groaned. “Those frostbite scares must have been due to the promises failing. Or perhaps the people refused to promise. They might have been bringing the Yuki Onna directly into the Sanatorium at that ti. But the inheritance agents must have thought of a different way of handling it once the frostbite scares suddenly stopped.”

“Are you about to ask if I can think of anything likely?”

“Oh, you’re an esper!”

“Sorry, but I can’t think of anything!”

“Damn you!!”

I felt like crushing my cell phone in my grip, but my vision of the situation was not clear enough to know exactly what I wanted her to find. It may have been wrong of to expect any results from Madoka when I could not even give her proper instructions.

I had no choice.

“I think I’ll head back to the Sanatorium. Will I make it in ti for standard visiting hours?”

“Wait, wait. Shinobu-kun, weren’t you targeted by a hunting rifle?”

“That’s why I want to end this as quickly as possible. I’d rather not still have one of those targeting while I walk down a dark path at night.”

“I see. Well, you’ll likely get here in ti. If there are any problems, I can use my status as a regular custor to vouch for you. Also, you should probably use the bus next ti. And not one that stops at every stop. One of the expensive nonstop ones. If you don’t have to stop on that mountain road, you’ll be at less risk. That won’t completely eliminate the risk of attack, though.”

“I’ll do that. ...Actually, are you safe there?”

“The Sanatorium is filled with the wealthy, so its security is top notch. And if things are dangerous here, you’ll be attacked before you leave.”

“Thanks for that unpleasant bit of evidence.”

I ended the call.

This was not just a group of con n that targeted old people. With the situation growing more and more dangerous, I wearily turned around and headed back along the mountain road I had just co down from.

I was heading right back into the clutches of death.

Part 9

Packages had one major problem.

“Bon bobon bon bobobobon bonsai!”

“Don’t lose interest, Zashiki Warashi!! My story isn’t over yet!!”

As she ignored , the Zashiki Warashi humd, adjusted the position of the ultraviolet light emitting a bluish-white light, and used a dropper to add nutrients to a clear pot filled with a watery substance. A bonsai itself did match the yukata-wearing Youkai, but the overall SF feel to it all did not match at all.

Incidentally, I have my suspicions that this hobby of hers is why my grandfather has taken such a liking to her despite her being utterly worthless.

“Well, the farther along you get, the less it seems to concern . How about you just submit this to one of those online question sites?”

“I just can’t trust the know-it-alls that write answers to those things...”

And don’t get off topic.

Can you keep ignoring when I bring out these puppy dog eyes?

“...Wh-what’s wrong, Shinobu? You’ve got the sa look in your eyes as a snake eyeing its prey. Have your sexual urges as a teenager finally gotten the better of you?”

“Enough of this. Can we please just get back to my story?”

“Hmm. So this Package gets people to transfer ownership of their assets by using the promises of a Yuki Onna?” The Zashiki Warashi in the bright red yukata finally turned back to after finishing with her SF bonsai. “If they’ve developed this into a Package, are these inheritance agents ultimately after you-know-what?”

“Since they’re still coming and going to and from the Sanatorium even after so suspicions, it’s entirely possible.”

“Exporting the Package...”

Yes.

A Package was a criminal plan put together by humans and constructed from the special characteristics and conditions of Youkai. Once one was established, the plan and thodology could be sold as a product. It was the sa as how a thod of fraud would spread throughout the country.

Naturally, society would grow distorted if these things spread.

This would go well beyond just the Sanatorium.

This was different from soone owning the one and only Uchide no Kozuchi. Packages rely used the powers of Youkai and were created by humans. As long as the person had the desire to complete one and the techniques and materials needed to construct it, anyone could create it. For better or for worse.

“It seems the inheritance agents have already ripped off so wealthy old folks. They’ve made a killing. They may be at the stage where they are planning to sell their Package to an even larger criminal organization in order to change their identities and disappear.”

During the frostbite scares, the inheritance agents had started to fail in their scam and that exposed them to a serious risk. That had likely not been part of their plan. It was possible their ultimate objective had already shifted from “make tons of money” to “escape safely”.

“If a flaw is found in their Package after they sell it, the large criminal organization could very well try to hunt them down. They might be staying at the Sanatorium despite the risk so they can continue to carefully debug it,” said the Zashiki Warashi.

“It’s also possible the large criminal organization sent them to the Sanatorium to assemble the Package in the first place...No, that’s unlikely. If it had all just been testing, they wouldn’t have had to target actual rich people.”

“Hmm. So the inheritance agents thought it was possible you had noticed the connection between the scams at the Sanatorium and the Yuki Onna, so they ca to get rid of you. They wouldn’t want any interference that could alter the essentials of their Package before they complete it.”

“Precisely.”

“...This is sounding more and more dangerous. Now we have so large criminal organization involved too. From the way this sounds, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear about a nightti shootout at a wharf.”

“I know, right?”

“And a deadly Yuki Onna is involved, too. Since the marks they can’t get money from are getting frozen to death, they might be able to cause an intentional failure and use the Yuki Onna offensively. This is a combination of an organization, guns, and the supernatural. I wonder if the local police can handle this.”

“That’s why I’m consulting you, you good-for-nothing Zashiki Warashi. Honestly, why did I have to et that Yuki Onna at the worst possible ti?”

“If you have so huge battle awaiting you, there’s no place for there. Bon bobon bobobobobon bonsai!”

“I told you not to lose interest!!”

Part 10

I used an electric bus to return to the Sanatorium.

The n in suits were busy preparing their scam inside and they looked shocked to see . However, the ard guards directly hired by the wealthy occupants of the Sanatorium would act if the n pulled out a hunting rifle there. They trembled, but they were unable to do anything to as I passed by them.

“Madoka.”

“Hey, there.”

I t up with my classmate once more in that waiting room that had strict security that was not visible at first glance.

“You ntioned divulging the details of the Package using the Yuki Onna, but what exactly are you going to investigate? Just so you know, it will be difficult to ask anyone here questions. The Sanatorium is like a hotel for the eccentric and wealthy, so no one speaks with their neighbors. My word only has any sway over the workers here, so don’t count on being able to do anything.”

“I don’t think I’ll need that.” I shook my hand in the air. “The main gist of this Package has to do with promises. If you tell anyone she spared you, she’ll kill you, but she also disguises herself as a woman and cos to marry you. They use that double setup to get people to transfer their assets over.”

The marriage in this context did not refer to a legal state that required a marriage registration. It was a verbal promise of marriage that acted as the Yuki Onna’s trigger to attack. In other words, it was not the marriage itself that was important. It was the promise of marriage. For that reason, the marriage that seed at the center of it all could be replaced with sothing else.

“It sounds ideal, doesn’t it? After setting up a defensive line by preventing the person from telling anyone about the group of con artists, they close in with their ridiculous deal. And if you refuse, you receive a penalty. By cleverly altering the characteristics and conditions of a Yuki Onna, they can create a model case of massive fraud that will never co to light.”

“But wouldn’t that lead to a lot of people dying?” I frowned. “If they just tell people they will have complete control over their assets and insist there is nothing fishy about it, anyone who agreed would have to be quite an idiot. Anyone with half a brain would find it suspicious. And it seems the inheritance agents did fail initially.”

“But if you refuse to promise, you get killed, right? Then...”

“Then you would expect so people to have refused and died. So people would not believe that a Yuki Onna was really involved.”

“Ah,” said Madoka suddenly.

She must have realized sothing.

“The frostbite scares,” I said. “Most likely, they originally either used the Yuki Onna directly or the agents brought the deal directly to the old people. And they failed. The old people very nearly died from the penalty. It seems they managed to avoid any deaths by ssing with the characteristics and conditions of the Yuki Onna to a certain extent, but it was still too powerful.”

“And so the inheritance agents gave up on that thod.”

“They began to use a thod of getting people to make the promise that would not raise any questions. If you don’t feel any hesitation to make the promise, the old people need not die due to the penalty. That initial entrance is the problem. After the marks are caught in the Yuki Onna’s promise, the agents are free to do as they please.”

“Is there a way to do that?” Madoka seed skeptical. “The inheritance agents clearly aren’t all that skilled at talking people into things. Even with the Yuki Onna involved, they managed to screw this up during those frostbite scares. No matter how much help a poor talker gets, they’re never going to be perfect.”

“True. That’s why they don’t do it through talk. The targets don’t even know they’ve made the promise.”

“...?”

“I saw this thod in a Package I ran across before.” I paused for a second. “You can make soone promise sothing by hiding it amid the user agreent for free software. No one reads it, but you can’t use the software unless you agree. The promise is hidden in the long text.”

“You don’t an...”

“You have one here, right?” I looked around. “The Sanatorium must have a resident agreent. Do you rember looking through it? If they added a clause in it to have people make a promise with so strange Youkai, it would be too convenient for these people.”

Apparently, the original resident agreent was kept at the Sanatorium’s front desk. Madoka may have had no influence with the other residents, but she had enough pull with the workers to allow to look through that telephone book-like resident agreent.

–While Party A is using the facilities managed by Party B, Party A is obligated to always disclose and explain any objects brought within the facilities.

–While Party A is using the facilities managed by Party B, Party B will do its best to care for Party A’s possessions. However, this is an endeavor, not an obligation. As such, any loss of or damage to Part A’s possessions while using the facilities managed by Party B do not produce any liability for Party B whatsoever.

–While Party A is using the facilities managed by Party B, Party A is obligated to treat appropriately the equipnt and fixtures managed by Party B. If Party A is negligent in this obligation and Party B’s equipnt or fixtures experience damage, Party A must compensate for the entire cost of repairs or replacent.

“...Why are legal agreents and contracts always written with such stiff language?”

“It’s so you’ll miss what it ans while skimming through it. Look, how is this fair? If a resident’s wallet is lost, the institution isn’t responsible, but if sothing in here is damaged, the resident has to pay for it.”

“But I don’t see any sign of anything related to the Yuki Onna.”

The part saying “any loss of or damage to Party A’s possessions while using the facilities managed by Party B do not produce any liability for Party B whatsoever” was certainly unfair, but it lacked sothing that would be needed for the Yuki Onna to take the target’s assets.

“Did we misread it?”

“No...” I thought for a bit. “Even if they rewrote the entire original here at the front desk, that would cause everyone in the Sanatorium to fall under the Yuki Onna scam. And that includes you, Madoka. However, I haven’t heard anything about them making that much money.”

“So you’re saying the Sanatorium resident agreent theory was a dead end?”

“They have to have resident agreents other than this one. This place is a “sanatorium” in na only. It’s actually a hotel for strange, eccentric people.”

Yes.

At the ti of the frostbite scares, the inheritance agents had changed their thods rather than continuing on. They must not have wanted the panic to spread any further than it had to. Even if it would make a lot of money, the possibility of drawing suspicion from the police would grow if they dragged the entire Sanatorium into it. As such, success had not seed likely. It was almost as if the group of con artists had recoiled from the possibility that, if worse ca to worst, everyone in the Sanatorium could have ended up frozen to death.

That was why the inheritance agents had worked to contain any damages that they might create.

Their promises would be ones that only affected their specific target.

They would use a resident agreent that they could narrow down to affect only one person.

“Do the rooms here contain a booklet that introduces the Sanatorium to newcors? Instructions on using room service or the internet might be included in it. If a file like that exists, it probably includes a copy of the resident agreent.”

“Co to think of it...”

“Also, that simplified resident agreent doesn’t need to be signed or stamped with your seal. Usually, you automatically agree to its conditions just by entering the room.”

When I entered Madoka’s room, there was indeed a thick binder on a small table. As expected, the introduction to the Sanatorium included a simplified version of the resident agreent.

“If all rooms have one of these binders, they could switch out the binder in the room of their target.”

“We can’t check other resident’s rooms though.”

“Are there any rooms left empty after an unnatural departure? If you tell anyone you were spared, she kills you. Afterwards, she disguises herself as a woman and cos to marry you. Even with the Yuki Onna’s double setup, nothing is stopping people from leaving without telling anyone anything.”

“I might be able to get permission from a worker to check an empty room.”

Madoka asked a passing female worker who unlocked an empty room for us. (I had to wonder just how much pull my classmate held in that place.) We then stepped inside.

“It’s possible we were trapped in a labyrinth of promises the instant we set foot in this room. We need to be careful.”

“I will, but this is a Yuki Onna, right? I am a woman myself, after all.”

“The attack trigger just uses the word marriage, but it seems to actually be rather vague, don’t you think?”

“Perhaps. But the resident agreent in the room only applies to the person that signed a lease for the room with the facility’s owner, so it has nothing to do with us.”

I hoped she was right, but it was possible the group of con artists had changed the contents up quite a bit. It was entirely possible common knowledge did not apply.

I reached for the binder and checked within.

The text designed to make you want to go to sleep continued identically to the one at the front desk for a bit, but I started to notice so things that seed out of place.

Since the font was identical, it was hard to tell, but there were so clauses added in that I had not seen in the one at the front desk.

“This ntions a Party C in addition to the Party A and Party B.”

“Is that the Yuki Onna?”

“It might be the inheritance agents.”

The text was already written so as to make it hard to understand, but the fraud group had added further trickery on top of that. The text almost seed to get all mixed up in my head, but I sohow managed grasp the aning.

–While Party A is using the facilities managed by Party B, Party A must always respect Party A’s relationship with Party C.

–Party C views the relationship with Party A as being revised to one of transferring all financial assets.

–Party A’s losses shall be social losses and Party C must carry out all punishnts through financial actions.

–As Party C cannot legally enter into a financial contract, the aforentioned financial actions shall be carried out by the inheritance agents in her place.

“Here we go. I guess the term ‘relationship’ takes the place of marriage. It is true that the order of inheritance for assets changes when two people get married, but...”

“This part about losses probably changes the Yuki Onna’s penalty of death to one of social death through losing all of one’s money.”

“And they use the fact that Youkai can’t even sign a cell phone contract to transfer all the money over to the inheritance agents.”

To summarize:

The resident using the room containing the modified binder would automatically beco married to the Yuki Onna. The target’s assets would beco jointly owned by the target and the Yuki Onna. This essentially ant she had taken all of the target’s money.

Also, if the target refused or tried to discuss it with soone else, they would receive a financial punishnt severe enough to give them a social “death”.

Either way, a large amount of money was given to the Yuki Onna. However, the Yuki Onna could not open a bank account, so the inheritance agents would take control of the inheritance in her place.

In the end, the fraud group would have all the money.

Just with the presence of the binder, the promise was made, so the Yuki Onna’s power could be used without her actually being there.

I wondered if the Yuki Onna even understood what the current version of the Package was.

“Oh? So the target loses his inheritance whether this succeeds or fails? Then there might be so people who decide to sacrifice themselves in order to reveal what is going on.”

“The penalty is rely said to be financial, it doesn’t specify an amount. If it succeeds, the target will have all their assets taken, but if it fails and they are punished, they might end up with a severe debt.”

If the financial punishnt was severe enough to lead to the black market loans of a large criminal organization, that would fit the description of a social death.

That was a situation more frightening to humans than freezing to death on a winter mountain.

“Well, that pretty much settles it.”

“But do we have any real proof that Party C refers to the Yuki Onna?”

“I think so.”

I pointed toward one piece of text in the thick binder.

It read:

–Party C dislikes the sumr, so she hates cicadas which are a symbol of the aforentioned season.

Part 11

“Hm? I need to set sothing to record. They’re showing the Chronograph of Hell late tonight, and I don’t want to miss it.”

“Do it in your own room!! I’m recording a foreign drama, so don’t hog the tuner!!”

“...Well, it sounds like you found out how the Yuki Onna’s Package worked. At this rate, it doesn’t seem like you need at all.”

“Do you actually want to help despite all the complaining you do...?”

This one may be a pain in the ass, but does the Zashiki Warashi race as a whole want to help out their households? In that case, is her mind tsun but her instincts are dere?

Despite those hopeful thoughts of mine...

“No, I want to know why you’ve forced to listen to all this. I could have used this ti to get my character from Level 7 to Level 8.”

“I had a feeling that was it, you indoor Youkai. If you don’t listen to , I’ll send all the ga systems to Madoka’s place so you can’t play with them, dammit.”

She clung to and looked like she was about to cry.

That Youkai needed entertainnt as much as she did water or oxygen.

“But those inheritance agents were trying to export their Package to a large criminal organization in order to get help in escaping, right? Would they really leave you alone while you were trying to uncover their thods?”

“That’s the thing.” I leaned forward. “That was the biggest problem in the end.”

“It’s ironic how greedy humans can be much more frightening than Youkai.”

“In both Rokubu Goroshi and Yonaki Ishi, the villain is a human drowning in greed. In fact, Youkai and the supernatural only really co into play in order to give an ending to the story of so horrible person.”

“If karma worked as well as it does in old stories, the world would be a much nicer place,” said the Zashiki Warashi uninterestedly. “So I take it the inheritance agents finally took action.”

“Yes, they did.”

A chill ran down my spine.

I knew being frightened would not change the situation, but feelings had a way of not being controlled by reason.

The most obvious example of sothing that gave people such irrational fear was Youkai like the Zashiki Warashi or the Yuki Onna.

I was faced with human greed that would even use that fear to make a profit.

“I was in a pinch. I was in a real pinch.”

“It’s a sha that high schoolers these days have such a limited vocabulary.”

Part 12

I had a very bad feeling about sothing.

The feeling had no specific basis and I could hardly put together a counterasure from a simple premonition, so that statent was relatively aningless. However, it was sothing like being carried towards an incinerator on a slowly moving conveyer belt. The fact that you were not going to be killed imdiately made the whole thing feel all the more uncomfortable.

When we left the empty room after checking the binder, Madoka frowned and gave voice to the reason behind my unease.

“...The inheritance agents are gone.”

“Seriously?”

The situation was advancing.

Just like with cancer, it was too late by the ti the pain ca to the surface.

A young female worker was jogging down the passageway toward us.

“Kotemitsu-san, Kotemitsu-san.”

“Hey. What is it?”

Kotemitsu Madoka looked toward the female worker when her family na was called.

“I have so news that might concern your visitor.”

“Did sothing happen?”

“The bus that heads from here to the base of the mountain got a flat tire, so it will likely be running late.”

Geh.

So that’s how we’re doing this?

“Given the distance, you can likely make it to the base of the mountain by sunset on foot, but if you have plans, one of the workers can take you by car.”

“Wait, wait. Could you please give a second to think about this?”

I politely cut off the female worker, grabbed Madoka’s hand, and pulled her a bit away. There, we began speaking in private.

“That had to have been the inheritance agents. They’re planning to have ‘accidentally’ shot by a hunting rifle on my way back. That’s why they took out the bus to eliminate that hole in their plan.”

“How about you take the workers up on their offer?”

“They’d just shoot the worker too. They’ve decided to be a bit bolder in their thods. Madoka, how many inheritance agents were there coming and going to and from here?”

“Hm? I don’t rember exactly, but I think there were 10 to 20 of them.”

“Then we need to assu they might surround while all ard with hunting rifles. The mountain road is the only path back. They can just scatter broken glass over the road to stop the car and then shoot it until it’s nothing but scrap tal.”

“...How about you call in a helicopter?”

That was a rich investor for you. She thought about things on a completely different scale.

However, I shook my head.

“If one of their hunting rifles is an actual rifle rather than a shotgun, that won’t work. That would be enough to shoot through the glass or plate of a civilian helicopter.”

Intellectual Villages had plenty of advantages, but they had their inconveniences as well.

For example, the number of police officers was exceedingly low.

There was no big district police station or anything. The village just had one small station. Also, anyone there would not answer calls during the day due to listening to music with headphones and would be asleep once the sun set. The 30,000 yen bunches of grapes were enough to make any thief’s eyes shine in delight, so the police situation was pathetic. As such, Intellectual Villages relied on hired ard security guards to keep the peace rather than the country’s policen. (Although those ard security guards did commit cris themselves sotis.)

Madoka was aware of that, so she said, “Then wouldn’t it be safest to stay here in the Sanatorium? The inheritance agents have set up a trap in the mountain. Isn’t that because they do not have enough force to take on the ard guards protecting the Sanatorium?”

I appreciated her suggestion.

I really did, but...

“If nothing was done about them, I might have ended up being targeted by the Yuki Onna’s Package as well. The Sanatorium is filled with the wealthy. Everyone here has hired ard guards to protect them. If all of those guards were gathered, the inheritance agents wouldn’t be able to touch you.”

“Yeah...but I doubt that will happen.” I tilted my head to the side as I thought. “Your group might help, Madoka, but I doubt the ard guards hired by the others would go along with it. Letting stay here would bring the risk of a criminal group attacking with hunting rifles, so they’d probably just throw out of the Sanatorium.”

It was their job to protect their client, so they would not hesitate there.

Also, there was a difference between the number of guards hired by Madoka and the sum total of guards hired by all the others. If they ca into conflict, the others would win. It was possible my only options would end up being leaving the Sanatorium on my own or having all the guards gang up on and throw out.

“Then what if I send a few of my guards with you?”

“Would those salaryn really go along with sothing outside their contract like that? And even if they agreed, they would be up against 10-20 people. If all of those are ard with hunting rifles, things would not look good for us. Even if I managed to get down the mountain thanks to them, I would rather not have it be at the cost of a few people sinking into pools of blood.”

This was not just an issue of simple justice or morality.

Once a colleague had died thanks to their client’s ridiculous request, even Madoka’s guards might gang up on . They were not governnt officials or the allies of the country’s citizens. If they were thrown into an unreasonable situation, it was possible they would resort to unreasonable ans.

“Then what are you going to do? When you were attacked before, you only just barely managed to escape.”

“...Yes. I’m just a loser in the end. I was thrashing about in a panicked flight from a single man ard with a hunting rifle. This is hopeless. This isn’t so light novel. I can’t wait for an opportunity and counterattack. It just won’t work. rely surviving would be worth a Guinness World Record.”

“Don’t get that distant look in your eyes. You’re going to be attacked by 10-20 of them at once this ti, right? That isn’t a situation where you can just run through the trees and escape.”

I could not stay in the Sanatorium.

If I headed out into the mountain, I would be attacked by a group of 10-20 con artists ard with hunting rifles.

I had to get safely down off the mountain sohow, but this was as hopeless as playing a ga of soccer against a team of 11 on your own. I would just end up being surrounded. This was not a situation I could get out of with a clever plan or technique.

And even if I made it safely off the mountain, could I return to a safe sumr break?

I know I keep saying this, but they were ard with hunting rifles.

I did not want to spend the rest of my life hiding in fear of attack and it was entirely possible they would find out where I lived and attack my ho. It was clear as day what my fate would be if they charged into my house in their outdoor shoes and carrying those dangerous weapons.

I wanted to survive.

I wanted to get back to my safe everyday life.

To do that, I would need to do more than get off the mountain without the inheritance agents finding .

“...I guess I need to see this through to the end.”

“Shinobu-kun?”

“Madoka, you said you could ask favors of the workers here but not the other residents, right?”

“Y-yes. We’re all on the sa level. This is like a hotel, so there is no sense of a ‘neighborhood’. No one will even answer a knock on the door.”

“That’s fine.” I took the binder that held the simplified resident agreent from Madoka. “Could you ask a favor of the workers? I can’t pay them, but ask them if I can stay in the empty room this binder was in.”

“That could be difficult.”

“Tell them a group of thieves will attack with hunting rifles if they don’t let .”

“I’ll do my best,” said Madoka. “But a completely empty room might be too much. It would be a bit easier to get them to allow another person to stay in my room.”

“No, your room won’t cut it. To break out of this situation, I need to dive straight into the maelstrom.”

“What?”

“Also, with the investing you do, you must have various business related tools, right? Surely you don’t do it all on the computer. I’d like to borrow one of those analog tools.”

“What specifically?”

“A seal.”

It was not late at night.

Nor had all of nature in the area died out.

The sumr was chokingly hot. The trees and underbrush gave off a thick green sll. The sunbeams leaking through the gaps in the trees covering the sky were bright enough to be called healthy. The high-pitched sound of cicadas was loud enough to drown out the rustling of the wind through the branches.

The scene was perfect for a mory from a child’s picture diary.

This was the rural image that Intellectual Villages used as an attraction.

However, the situation I was in changed that world into a cruel one. That may have been how the world looked to soone heading to a cliff in order to commit suicide. I did not have the calm to spare to be moved by the scenery spreading out before . I could only view the visuals as visual information.

I tried to concentrate and I tried to pay close attention.

However, I ended up taking in even less information than usual.

Each step I took was heavy.

I felt the invisible object known as my soul being worn down.

Even if I had had an accurate map, I would probably have gotten lost in that state of mind. And I would have no idea if the map I had was accurate or not. Should I follow that sense of danger within ? Should I ignore it because it would send to my own destruction? Would I overlook so danger because I was too afraid of heading to my own destruction? The options circled around in my mind in an infinite loop. Before I knew it, that loop left uncertain about any criteria on which to base a decision. It was like I had been turned into a robotic human that could not take any complex actions.

I had no idea what I was thinking.

I could not sort out my thoughts.

I could not tell if my thoughts were coming from my true feelings or if they were due to being led astray by fear.

Ten to twenty n ard with hunting rifles lay hidden within the mountain.

Running across even one of them would put my life in danger. Fighting back against them was a dream within a dream. Even if I imdiately turned around and ran, my odds of survival were probably less than 10%. In fact, I would likely just get shot while I froze up in indecision over whether to fight or run.

And even if I did survive, the inheritance agent would contact the others and have surrounded in no ti at all. If that happened, there was no saving . Even if the mountain was a large area, there were only so many areas and routes people could easily pass through. With 10-20 people, they could cover all of those routes with so left over.

When would they co?

Where would they co from?

Even if I had had no other choice, I intensely regretted leaving the Sanatorium. I didn’t care anymore. I was fine with having those ard guards gang up on . I just wanted to take refuge in a safe building.

Just when I was about to turn back the way I had co, the hunting rifle attack began.

A great scream rang out, destroying the peace of nature.

At that ti, an inheritance agent nad Hanazono felt a trendous pressure in his stomach. He was hiding in a thicket, standing guard along the zigzagging mountain road. He held a double-barrel hunting rifle in his hands. The heat of midsumr had soaked the inside of his suit with sweat and his face looked like it had been sprayed with water. His own heavy breathing rang loud in his ears. Each and every leaf of the thicket touching his cheeks tore at his concentration. He was filled with so much fear and regret that he felt faint.

He could see the high school boy that was his target.

He pressed the hunting rifle’s stock against his shoulder to stop it from shaking. However, his entire body was shaking.

He was not afraid of the boy.

He was afraid of having to shoot another human being.

The inheritance agents had all gathered in order to make easy money.

However, the next thing they had known, this was the situation they were stuck in.

Murder was going too far astray.

They had clearly gone beyond the risk they had been willing to take. Whenever he had seen stories about robbers who had ended up killing their target on the news, he had wondered why those people did not use their heads. He would never have taken part in this criminal plan if he had known it would end with soone dead. He should have stuck with fraud he could pull off over the phone.

He felt like a sugoroku piece moving forward against his own will.

However, he would lose everything if he did not shoot.

Hanazono assud their leader, Shironaka, had prepared the hunting rifles to ensure they would act. With a knife or a tal bat, they would have hesitated. The fact that they just had to move their index finger helped to distance their minds from the fact that they were stabbing through or smashing human flesh.

If that kid had not interfered they could have ended everything so well.

It might have been going too far to take his life.

However, they could hardly just let him go and enjoy his life.

Just one finger.

He just had to move his index finger.

That kid had done sothing worth that much.

The bullet would hit on its own. What happened after he pulled the trigger was none of his business.

If the kid died, it was his own fault.

Hanazono took one deep breath.

He brought his index finger to the hunting rifle’s trigger and stared through the sight like he had seen in movies.

He just needed so montum.

He could ride that montum and squeeze his index finger.

However, a gunshot did not ring out.

The stock did not strike his shoulder from the shock of firing and a lead bullet was not fired.

“?”

Had his finger not moved? Had his muscles frozen in place out of anxiety?

With those questions in mind, Hanazono looked away from the sight and at his index finger. He saw sothing truly strange there.

His index finger had changed to a much darker color.

The portion of the finger from the 2nd joint on crumbled like dried paper clay and fell to the ground.

“Gyah.”

Soone who had experienced misfortune while mountain climbing in the winter might have witnessed sothing similar.

It was severe frostbite.

“Gyah gyah gyah gyah!? Gyah gyah gyah gyah gyah gyah gyah!!”

However, Hanazono’s life was not filled with such diverse experiences.

As if his senses had finally caught up with the strange phenonon, he swung his right arm around in intense pain. Repeated sounds of sothing dry cracking could be heard. Half his palm and three of his fingers ca clean off and flew through the air.

(What!?)

(What is going on!?)

He heard the rustling sound of sothing moving in a thicket. Was one of his comrades hidden nearby targeting the high school boy in his place? Or had they co to save him? That was what Hanazono thought, but he was wrong. When the familiar face of Murokawa erged, he was writhing in intense pain and terror. The left half of his face had changed color. It had beco a reddish-purple and one of his ears was missing.

Finally, a gunshot rang out.

However, it was not aid at the high school boy. It had been an accidental discharge. Soone had accidentally fired their rifle. Hayashida ca out from within a thicket and onto the road. His right arm broke into multiple pieces and joined the ruined scrap tal on the road. Had it been the explosive force of the bullet being fired? Or had it been purely the effects of the frostbite? It was unclear which had caused him to lose his arm.

It was not just Hanazono.

The sa thing was happening across the mountain.

Hanazono had fallen into a state of complete panic, but he finally noticed that the high school boy was holding a single binder.

Hanazono had seen an old police drama where a thick manga magazine had been used in place of a bulletproof vest, but it was clear the boy had not brought the binder for that purpose.

The inheritance agents recognized the binder.

It contained the altered version of the resident agreent put in the target’s room in their Package fraud that used the characteristics and conditions of the Yuki Onna.

“If you’re trying to manipulate a Youkai, you probably shouldn’t leave the core of your control out where anyone can get at it.”

The boy opened it.

He opened it to the page that should have held their rearranged conditions.

However, there were a few extra lines written in sloppy handwriting that Hanazono and the others did not recognize.

–Party C will ensure the safety of Jinnai Shinobu. In order to carry out the previous clause, Party C is obligated to use all of her power.

–Party C may attack preemptively while making use of her power. Upon confirming anyone or anything intending to attack in such a way that will have a negative effect on Jinnai Shinobu’s safety, Party C shall eliminate them. No consent is required to carry out enforcent of this clause.

And next to each piece of added text was a small red mark giving color to the otherwise black and white page of text.

A seal had been stamped in red ink.

To be more specific, it was a correction seal.

That mark was used to indicate that changes to a contract were made with the acknowledgnt of the one agreeing to the contract.

“Gah...”

They had been taken out because they tried to shoot.

Everyone who had tried to shoot had been taken out.

The additional clauses were almost too easy to understand. And their aning was simply overwhelming. Even if they had gathered dozens or even hundreds of people, their entire force would have been neutralized just by targeting that high school boy.

(He took control of the Package we assembled!?)

And then winter arrived.

The Youkai that symbolized the severity of nature and the rejection of the intense cold appeared amid the green of nature.

The gates of hell opened.

The high school boy tapped his own shoulder with the spine of the binder and spoke out to the n in the area.

“This is the deadly being you prepared. I’m sure you’re well aware just how dangerous she is. I’d rather not have anyone hurt more than necessary.”

“What are you doing, you idiots! Hanazono, Hayashida!! This is what we prepared the safety for!!” The voice of their leader, Shironaka, ca from the cell phone Hanazono had dropped. “The cicadas!! I’ll bring out the insect cage! If we can get that monster out of here, we can silence that kid!!”

Shironaka charged out from a thicket.

In one hand, he held the type of small insect cage children used. Normally, using that as a weapon would seem like nothing more than a bad joke. However, in the situation Hanazono and the others had assembled, it was a protective charm with almost absolute effects.

And yet...

“Gh?”

It froze over.

The insect cage frosted over in white and cracked. Next, the cicadas inside and Shironaka’s hand holding the insect cage were wrapped in the frost.

Severe frostbite changed the color of his skin, the consistency of his flesh slowly twisted, and then the location of his fingernails clearly moved out of place.

The intense pain made Shironaka try to clench his fingers, but his fingers broke off in the next instant.

“Byah byah!? Th-they ca off!! What!? They ca off! They’re gone!?”

Shironaka seed more frightened of the absurdity of that situation that should never have happened than bothered by the pain. The high school boy then opened the binder to another page.

On that page, it read:

–P?a?r?t?y? ?C? ?d?i?s?l?i?k?e?s? ?t?h?e? ?s?u?m?m?e?r?,? ?s?o? ?s?h?e? ?h?a?t?e?s? ?c?i?c?a?d?a?s? ?w?h?i?c?h? ?a?r?e? ?a? ?s?y?m?b?o?l? ?o?f? ?t?h?e? ?a?f?o?r?e?m?e?n?t?i?o?n?e?d? ?s?e?a?s?o?n?.

It had been removed.

The sole safety Hanazono and the others had prepared was gone.

Now they had no way to stop the Yuki Onna.

No one could stop her!!

“Of course I changed what you had put in there. If I had used the alterations you had made as is, I would have had all my assets taken. Before reassembling it how I wanted it, I made sure to get rid of the clauses I didn’t need. Why wouldn’t I?”

The high school boy closed the binder, tapped it against his shoulder again, and smiled.

“Now then. Will she have to deal with all of you, or will you give up on your own? I’ll leave that decision to you.”

Part 13

The Zashiki Warashi frowned.

“Oh? The point of view of that flashback scene changed partway through. Was that so kind of bug?”

“It’s not a bug. After those attempted murderers put their hands in the air and surrendered, I gathered so information from them.”

“Well, it sounds like that was all wrapped up nicely. It seems to that there isn’t anything left you need to discuss with .”

“There is, you idiot. In fact, the most dangerous thing of all is still out there. The Yuki Onna.”

“Is that simplified resident agreent still in effect? So are you going to live the rest of your life with that Yuki Onna auto-guard on?”

“I made sure to add a part saying the effects of the altered clauses go out of effect in three hours after the change, so that’s not a problem. But the thing is...” I scratched at my head. “It seems that Yuki Onna sees as a target by default without needing that resident agreent’s conditions. That’s why she asked to marry her at the bus stop in an attempt to kill . If I don’t deal with that quickly, I could end up trapped by all her questions.”

“It must be tough being a popular guy.”

“The Yuki Onna’s marriage promise is clearly just a ans of killing the target more quickly. And the double preparation shortens the process even further. Asking soone to marry her is like a magic spell to her.”

“Oh? So you’re saying Youkai can’t have human feelings of love?”

“Well, you aren’t human.”

At that point, my overall small granny knocked at the door. She had been checking to see if the burglar had stolen anything, but the size of the household made that take so ti. I had a feeling she had stopped to make so ohagi at so point, but it still would have taken so ti.

“Shinobu, about that burglar.”

“Did you find sothing missing?”

“No, the opposite. It’s very strange. We have sothing extra.”

“...Hah?”

“This.”

My granny handed a single binder.

Yes.

It was the thick binder I thought I had sent back to the Sanatorium via bike courier.

“Oh, no...” I muttered.

That burglar.

He wasn’t a burglar at all!! Did so idiot from those inheritance agents manage to get away!? And now he ca back in the very, very end with so pain in the ass revenge!!

The resident agreent in the binder had a dog-eared page.

A ball-point pen and a correction seal had been used to add a single clause.

–Party C shall return to the owner.

I heard a sound like a crack running through the building. It was the sound of sothing freezing. The local environnt was changing with the coming of sothing horrible. A chill ran down my spine.

That was no taphor or psychological state.

The physical temperature in the room dropped.

“...married...”

I heard a voice from behind .

A frail girl’s voice.

“...Let’s get married...”

O-oh, shit. Oh, shit! Oh, shit!! Oh, shit!!! Oh, shit!!!!

This was a real Youkai that had easily defeated 20 n ard with hunting rifles. And the cicada weakness the inheritance agents had prepared was gone. There was no way I could defeat her now. If she sealed my escape with promise after promise both explicit and implicit, I would eventually screw up. I had no intention of becoming a character from an old story!

“Th-that’s right! Zashiki Warashi-sama!! The ti has finally co for you to display your power as a true Youkai that protects her house and household...wait, she’s gone!! She’s completely disappeared!!”

The good-for-nothing Youkai in the bright red yukata had vanished into thin air at so point.

I doubted my granny would be of any help, so I had to do sothing myself. Luckily, I had the binder that could interfere with the Yuki Onna’s characteristics and conditions. I could use it.

–Party C shall return to the owner.

Should I draw two lines through it to erase it? No. The Yuki Onna is already here and she seed to want to kill from the beginning. Even if I get rid of the irregular conditions and bring her back to her original state, she’ll just co and kill like normal.

If I was going to do sothing, it had to be adding sothing.

If I added so text identifying “the owner” as the person who brought the binder to the Jinnai household, I could change the Yuki Onna’s target. That would also eliminate the threat of having one of the inheritance agents get away, so it was two birds with one stone. I still had the correction seal I had borrowed from Madoka in my pocket. All I had to do was...!!

“A-a-a p-p-p-pen!! I need a pen! Where is one! Shit!!”

The temperature of the room dropped drastically. It wasn’t quite as cold as a refrigerator, but it was close. I could see the leaves of the Zashiki Warashi’s SF bonsai changing color where she had left it on the floor. I had no ti. I frantically reached for the pen holder on my desk.

“Wah.”

My fingertips struck the cylindrical pen holder.

The pen holder tilted to the side.

“Wah.”

And all the writing implents inside scattered across the tatami mats. Just when I was about to the grab the pen I needed, they rolled out of my reach.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!”

Part 14 (3rd person)

The Thirty Six Stratagems cannot compare to simply running away. Simply fleeing from problems you cannot handle was the key to a long life. And I had been telling him from the beginning that he would be out of luck if he was expecting to have any kind of strange special powers.

Honestly, how is a re Zashiki Warashi supposed to defeat sothing as deadly as that?

Does he think I’m the queen of the sitting room[2] world and I have so kind of ultimate hidden skill?

“Hey, Zashiki Warashi. Want so barley tea?”

On the porch that was over 20 ters long, an old man playing tsushogi invited over. I took a cup filled with a cold drink. This old man loved board gas like go and shogi, but he did not like it when they were recreated with computers. I honestly did not understand why. For tsushogi it was easier to have the AI take care of the opponent’s moves and it saved you the ti of setting up the pieces. It seed this old man loved things to be the sa as they were in the old days. He had a hard ti of it when even Youkai were hoping for modern changes.

Well, I have no intention of finding fault with soone else’s interests and tastes.

That goes for both humans and Youkai.

“She seed to like him when they first t and then he freed her from that Package. It isn’t too surprising that she would get serious about it.”

“What are you talking about?” asked the old man.

“Hee hee hee. Love is a risky thing.”

“?”

Notes

1. ↑ Min-min is the Japanese onomatopoeia for a cicada.

2. ↑ The Zashiki of Zashiki Warashi ans “sitting room”.