I Became the Final Subjugation Target of That Era’s Light Novel

After that, there were no particular incidents for a while.

I couldn’t relax, though. After all, I knew well what Yuka was up to.

Even after having that conversation, Kagami treated me just like usual, and Dad was no different. I also intentionally didn’t bring up anything out of the ordinary and lived a normal life.

But, you know, even so, I didn’t really think that nothing would happen forever.

“Kurosawa.”

“I told you to call me Koto Ne.”

“……”

When I got home after school, Yuka was waiting for me.

She had a somewhat complicated expression. I guess it was because Kagami and Dad were standing next to her.

If I had to tell some parents that their daughter was going to fight for her life from now on, I’d end up with a hole in my stomach.

There was also the uncle who drove us here, besides Yuka.

Yuka was wearing the same school uniform she wore last time.

In the original illustrations, she always wore a black sailor uniform when in school attire. It felt a bit fresh. Well, I suppose the memory of the original is still stuck in my mind.

“Koto Ne.”

Kagami called out to me.

Although we had that kind of conversation last time, it seemed she still didn’t want to send me into such a place. As a mother, that’s completely understandable.

“……”

I walked over to Kagami without saying a word and hugged her.

She gently patted my back without saying anything and gave me a tight squeeze.

After a few minutes of that, Kagami let me go and handed me my bag.

“I’ll be back.”

“Yes, I’ll be waiting.”

Kagami brushed my hair a few times and then hesitantly pulled her hand back.

When I looked over at Dad, he nodded too.

I took a slight breath and turned to Yuka, who was staring at me silently.

“Let’s go.”

“……Okay.”

Yuka replied with a somewhat complex expression.

*

“Yōkai can be dangerous, even the weakest ones.”

As we drove to our work location, Yuka explained that.

“There are even smaller and weaker-looking ones than us. Think about a child full of malice, running around with a knife.”

I had heard that comparison before.

I wasn’t sure if I read it in another manga or light novel, or if it was from Tokyo Slayers, but the majority of yōkai in this world are indeed beings with malice toward living humans, so that’s probably not wrong.

“I get it.”

“……Well, I heard you’ve already encountered some.”

Yuka wasn’t being as sharp as she usually was with Sota in the original.

After all, Yuka was a tsundere character. She must have been trying to hide her feelings, but she didn’t act the same way towards everyone around her.

“……What are you laughing about?”

Yuka asked, as if she couldn’t believe it.

Oh, I laughed? Looks like I unconsciously let a chuckle slip.

I quickly covered my mouth, and Yuka exhaled deeply.

She looked like she had a lot to say but was holding back. It seemed she thought explaining to someone she hadn’t directly encountered wouldn’t have much meaning.

“Today, it’s going to be me fighting anyway, and you’re just going along to learn…”

Then suddenly, Yuka blinked and had a spaced-out expression.

Her gaze swept from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

“But, what about your weapon?”

“A weapon?”

When I tilted my head, Yuka swept her hand over her face.

Then she glared at the driver’s seat as if she wanted to argue about something, sighed deeply, and crossed her arms.

“I told you, didn’t I? Yōkai are all dangerous. You need at least something to fight with, like a weapon, right? You said you encountered one before. How did you survive then?”

I passed out and woke up to find the bear had vanished without a trace.

No matter how I explained that, Yuka seemed like she wouldn’t accept it, so I just shook my head as if I didn’t know.

Yuka wiped her face with her hand again.

I felt a bit sorry.

It seemed I had become an amateur getting involved in a professional’s work.

It’s not solely my fault, though.

In the end, Yuka didn’t say a word until we arrived at the scene. I also kept quiet, making sure not to stir things up.

*

In the original story, characters like Yuka could instinctively sense yōkai when they got close.

Most yōkai nest in reality. Those that come from another world cannot simply exist here without causing a stir.

Those nests start small at first, but as the yōkai’s power grows, they expand more and more.

Yōkai lure humans into their nests, sometimes even consuming them. In the early episodes of the story, there was a tale of a serial killer and signs of cannibalism. It was actually the work of a yōkai that ate people.

…At the school Sota attends, the very school I want to go to, there had been victims too. It was Yuka fighting that yōkai to save Sota and Shii that kickstarted the main story of the novel.

Can I help those people? In the original, they were just unnamed extras, but in this world, they are beings with lives of their own.

Thinking like this, some might call it arrogance—

“……”

However, I couldn’t finish that thought.

At some point, I felt an eerie chill creeping up my spine.

It felt as if my body was sensing something and warning me. Trying to escape danger.

“……So it seems you didn’t lie about driving off the yōkai.”

Yuka remarked, looking at my expression.

The car came to a stop.

Yuka got out first, then I opened the opposite door and followed her.

The car we arrived in was a medium-sized black sedan. It felt like we had driven for almost two hours, so we must have come quite a distance.

“If things had gone as they should, someone else would have been responsible for this area.”

I didn’t know the details, but maybe the incidents had erupted simultaneously in multiple places, forcing Yuka into action.

Well, if there were that many people, it would seem a bit strange that she had never really made proper friends due to constantly transferring schools.

“Stay close behind me.”

Yuka said.

“Otherwise, it might really become dangerous.”

As we headed close to a spot where tall grass grew, Yuka said that and drew her sword from its sheath.

The blade reflected the colors of the sunset beautifully.

Yuka lightly swung the sword, slicing through the space. I guess that’s a proper way to describe it.

She was about to enter the yōkai’s nest.

*

When it comes to kappa, honestly, they don’t really seem that scary.

It looks like a person inside a turtle shell on its back. Its height wasn’t much different from that of a child, just as Yuka mentioned.

With a beak on its mouth—well, so in typical manga, it’s drawn more comically.

But seeing something like that in person felt, how should I say it, somewhat different.

Well, I could hear my body freaking out with alarm …

Why is it that even if someone’s wrapped up and looks ridiculous, when you come across them alone in a dark alley at night, people say it’s incredibly frightening?

An old wrinkled man in a turtle shell costume was glaring at me with a look of wanting to kill.

He had a severed human hand in his mouth.

There were several of them.

The shells didn’t seem very tough. Or perhaps Yuka’s sword was doing a good job of cleaving through the yōkai?

Even though the appearance was terrible, the sounds coming from them sounded mixed, like screams intertwined with laughter.

There wasn’t just one kappa.

Even after Yuka sliced through about three of them, several still remained.

“……”

A fight, huh.

Here and now, Yuka could deal with everything by herself. In fact, having me moving around behind her would only be a hindrance.

However, no matter how skilled Yuka was—

Thud!

She couldn’t fight without getting hurt. Seeing as she made it this far without serious injuries, perhaps they weren’t too severe, but still.

“……You……”

Yuka turned to look at me, her expression a bit shocked.

“Kya!?”

The kappa that was lunging toward Yuka had a look of disbelief.

It wasn’t just confusion from having its target blocked; it likely had seen people bleed before.

Was it surprised that I blocked Yuka? Maybe. Compared to yōkai claws, a human arm would be little more than tissue paper.

But somehow, it was more than that—

“What’s that smell!?”

Seeing my blood, the yōkai exclaimed.

Then it hurriedly backed away.

Hmm.

I didn’t smell anything particular.

…

Right, Sota also sometimes helped Yuka like this.

Maybe I’m part of that lineage too.

I raised my hand slightly. A drop of blood was falling from a razor-thin wound on my arm.

When I flicked my hand to sprinkle blood around, the yōkai hastily recoiled and cried out.

So, that’s it.

I was starting to get an idea of how to react in this situation.

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