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

I’m not someone who hasn’t done any research on the main story so far.

There were indeed hints in the original work. However, it had been a long time since I had spent time in this world, and it was also long ago that I read that novel in my previous life, which is the problem.

Moreover, I never got to see the conclusion of that novel. Unlike web novels or webtoons that are steadily serialized online with a set release schedule, or regularly published works in Japan that become popular on the internet despite not being formally released in Korea, light novels often have irregular release cycles.

Sometimes two or three volumes come out in a year, and some works are lucky if they get a single volume.

The work I was reading was initially being regularly published in Korea while the volume count was gradually stacking up, but as time passed, the serialization speed slowed down, and the popularity of the light novel itself dwindled, eventually causing the official release schedule to fall behind the original novel’s publication.

No matter how passionately you love a story, after a few months, you stop thinking about searching for it. So, I didn’t even know if the original novel had reached its conclusion or not.

For now, I just occasionally took the time to search for any murder cases that I could remember within the scope of my research.

I didn’t tell anyone else.

Kagami already had too many worries. These days, whenever she saw me change clothes after a fight, she would have this expression like she’d reached some kind of enlightenment. She just hugged me tightly when I came back home and patted my back.

I could consider telling Miura-san… but in that case, things might take a strange turn.

What if the target I had in mind was different? What if I failed to catch the very entity I should have caught?

I can’t be sure whether it was mentioned in the original novel or if it’s just something I can’t remember, but for now, I don’t know the name of the female student from Hanagawa High School who was killed by that “man-eating demon.”

That empty space could have been filled with anyone’s name that I knew.

So I didn’t want to turn the “power” surrounding me in an uncertain direction. For the same reason, I also didn’t tell Yuka.

“Koto Ne—”

“Wow, what’s going on!?”

Yuka called out to me in shock, but her voice was drowned out by Kaoru’s.

“When did the coin move? I didn’t even notice it!”

Kaoru suddenly stood up from her seat, beaming at me.

“Koto Ne, you have talent!?”

“No, if you think about it logically, surely one of us must have moved it.”

Izumi, who had been watching from the side, spoke up.

Pretending to not be very interested, she must have ended up joining our little group unnoticed.

“No, that can’t be! Koto Ne, did you perhaps move the coin?”

It moved, but not by me.

It’s true that it moved because of me. But I had no intention of admitting that.

“See? I didn’t do it.”

When Kaoru said that upon seeing me shake my head, Izumi let out a deep sigh and rubbed her forehead.

“Then, it must have been you who moved it.”

“I don’t lie about things like this.”

Kaoru had a look of disbelief on her face.

“And everyone here was looking at the coin, right? Didn’t you see it move all of a sudden?”

“Your finger moved suddenly too.”

“No, no it didn’t!”

Kaoru looked extremely confused and aggrieved, a rare expression since we met, and directed it at Izumi.

I felt a bit guilty, but there was nothing I could do.

“Koto Ne.”

While Kaoru and Izumi were bickering, Yuka gently grabbed my arm and called for me.

Yuka’s dark eyes gazed at me intently.

“……”

Um.

I suspect this is going to be a big issue.

*

For some reason, the atmosphere got chaotic, so we decided to head back home.

Well, it was chaotic, but it wasn’t like we were having a huge fight or anything. Izumi and Kaoru’s fussing around was quite normal.

However, Yuka and Koko’s vibes were a bit different.

Koko stared at me with a look of surprise, while Yuka looked thoughtful as she gazed at me.

The other kids seemed to pick up on this strange atmosphere too.

Everyone in our club knew that Yuka sometimes acted as a shaman. Even if they hadn’t seen it directly, casual conversation while spending time together in the afternoon often led to stories about the past.

So, it seemed a bit concerning that Yuka, who grew up in a shrine and helped out with shrine duties, reacted to it. It’s something that elementary and middle schoolers do, but it’s not often you see someone really responding to it seriously.

For now, I just brushed off the kids’ interest by saying Yuka was just playfully messing around.

Well, it was a “brush-off,” but that’s just how it appears from the perspective of those of us directly involved. For someone who knows nothing, it would seem quite normal. Not many people believe they could actually summon youkai or spirits like that.

“……”

Somehow, it felt like Yuuki’s gaze on me had become a bit thin, but fortunately, for the moment I could slip away like this.

But not being able to escape from Yuka was a whole different problem.

On the train ride back home, Yuka kept staring at me intently.

That chilling sensation is what I feel when there’s a youkai nearby, or when I sense a nest of youkai’s territory.

Only a very few humans possess the instinct inherited from their ancestors to recognize threats beyond humanity.

And though it was just for a moment, I had somehow created something nest-like within the literature club room. For others, it would have been merely a fleeting moment, but Yuka definitely sensed it.

We quietly reached the station without any particular conversation—

“Let’s talk for a minute.”

Yuka said that and headed towards her apartment.

Yeah, well.

This was actually the best place to have such a discussion. It would just be the three of us: Yuka, Koko, and me.

My house is a typical Japanese-style home, located among other similar houses.

In contrast, Yuka’s apartment is a bit elevated and more like a mansion, located closer to a commercial area than to a residential area.

“……”

There was no conversation in the elevator as we went up.

It wasn’t that we were too scared someone else would get on, but rather, we both had expressions of not knowing what to say.

As we entered Yuka’s apartment,

“Sit down.”

Yuka said that and brought out some teacups, tea, and snacks from the kitchen.

She clanged the things onto the table in front of Koko and me.

Normally, Koko would have already picked something up while exclaiming “How elegant!” but—

“Uuuh?”

In reality, even Koko just tilted her head and stared at me, showing none of her usual appearance, which was a bit perplexing.

“Huuh.”

Facing the two of us from across the table, Yuka let out a long breath before opening her mouth.

“……Are you going to tell me?”

“……”

Actually, on the way there, I was seriously pondering what kind of excuse to come up with. I had several lies prepared to say.

But hearing Yuka say that made me decide to just drop it all.

Sure, if it was only a short time after meeting. If I had only recently been reincarnated here and knew Yuka only as a character, then it would be one thing.

In that case, I might have hidden some things.

However, Yuka had been a friend I had known for several years, a comrade I had fought alongside many times and risked my life with.

It might have been better if I hadn’t been exposed, but since it was out now, it could not be helped. After all, it was a story that would have to come out sooner or later.

“I don’t really know much either, even if I tell you. Is that alright?”

“It’s fine.”

At her response, I nodded and slowly began to recount the things I had experienced, along with the strange occurrences within my body.

“……”

Yuka listened silently until I finished, and Koko also listened to my story without saying a word.

After I finished, there was a long silence, and then Yuka finally spoke.

“I see.”

That was all she said.

Koko, who sat next to me, leaned closer.

When it came to unfortunate matters, Koko was incomparable to me, but right now, it seemed she just wanted to comfort me.

“Do you understand something?”

As I patted Koko’s back while speaking, Yuka briefly fell into thought again before shaking her head.

“There are rituals to summon such beings. However, there are probably very few beings that can come forth like that… so freely.”

“……”

“So, the being that’s following you isn’t just something you can overlook as if it’s nothing.”

I knew that.

It was easy to associate it with something abnormal.

“I—”

Yuka seemed to want to say something but then closed her mouth.

Then she shook her head and looked at me seriously, saying,

“Let’s keep this a secret from others.”

There must be various reasons for that.

If Yuka were to inform her father or grandfather, the government would eventually find out too.

I just nodded in silence and sipped the remaining tea in my cup.

The tea was a bit bitter.

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