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

Hitting a woman isn’t his style, yet that guy took a punch to the face and slumped forward.

Uh!?

Yeah, that must hurt.

Hagiwara had never committed murder, but if you think about it, she does deal with beings far more dangerous than humans.

If you ask which is more dangerous, fighting a tiger or a person, unless the person has a weapon, fighting a tiger is way more hazardous.

The real issue is that right now, a fight broke out.

No, technically, it’s true that the fight is the reason for everything.

Whoa!?

Koko’s eyes were wide as she watched the situation unfold.

I could make a good impression on her because I had given her food during our first meeting. She was the one who used to sneak around, scared of people, only eating when no one was around.

Now she could finally distinguish between humans who threaten her and those who don’t.

And at least among our group here, there were no kids who would hurt her. I didn’t even think that Koko wasn’t human.

And now, we had gotten into a scuffle with such a crew, and now we were actually fighting.

“Koko, wait a minute. It’s okay.”

I grabbed Koko’s shoulder and gently shook her.

“It’s okay?”

“It’s okay. Nobody’s going to get hurt—”

Just as I was speaking, a bit of pain shot through my head, and my vision whipped up towards the sky.

In an instant, I was wondering what had just happened, but it felt like someone had grabbed my hair from behind and yanked on it.

I couldn’t tell if they intended to pull me into the fight or if it was just a random grab as they fell.

But there was only one clear outcome from that act.

They pulled my hair back, and of course, I didn’t have the strength to keep my balance against a guy’s weight, so I fell backward, my head tilted towards the sky.

“Kotone?”

Koko looked at me with her eyes wide open.

The hand I had on her shoulder fell away—

“Koko, no!”

“Eek!?”

Just as I shrieked, the force pulling my hair vanished in an instant, accompanied by a scream.

I flopped onto the sandy beach. Luckily, it didn’t hurt too much. After all, the ground was just sand.

My back felt damp. It wasn’t just sweat. It was more sticky than that—a sensation of some liquid I often felt.

I quickly sat up and brushed my hand through my hair.

Thick red liquid oozed out.

Everyone was frozen, staring at me.

On the other hand, I looked at Koko.

It didn’t seem like Koko ‘moved’ her body.

No, her body is… well, a body. It just looks like part of her is fur or ‘hair’ because the shape shifts at will.

I wasn’t sure how much her body could change, but even if she could only change as much as me…

“What, what the heck!? What’s going on!?”

I turned to look back.

The guy was clutching his hand.

Red blood was gushing down.

His hands had several cuts like the kind you might get from flipping a page and accidentally cutting yourself. Each wound didn’t look very big, but since they were small cuts all over, they seemed to convey an unspeakable pain, as if his arms and legs had been torn apart.

Of course, it looked like there was quite a bit of blood for just a paper cut.

Still, I’m glad he didn’t get cut badly. I was at least relieved about that.

“……”

I glanced at Koko.

The hair tie that had been holding my hair was lying in half on the ground.

For now… for now, I needed a hospital.

I quickly rummaged through the plastic bag I had dropped and found the zipper bag inside. It contained my wallet and phone.

I hurriedly pulled out my phone and dialed 119.

I could hear the guy wailing like a banshee in the background.

*

In a situation where blood was definitely spilled, we found it hard to feel like having any more fun.

The police did show up, and thanks to eyewitness accounts, it turned out the guys had started the trouble. Above all, it seemed that the fact that Sota had punched instead of me just pulling the guy down by his hair left a much larger impression.

Upon seeing Koko’s state, the police became ever more serious.

“N-no… that’s not it… I didn’t know!”

… I gazed slightly forlornly at the two of them as they headed toward the police station.

Of course, nothing like a razor blade was found around. My body may have had some blood on it, but the cause remained unknown. The police probably thought the guy just scraped himself on a nearby rock or something…

Who knows? No matter how much you scrape your skin on a stone, you don’t get such clean cuts.

Aside from a few slightly larger wounds, I figured the small cuts on the guy’s hand wouldn’t leave significant scars. That’s what I wanted to believe.

For the moment, we returned to the room.

The ice cream we brought back had melted away in the aftermath, and I didn’t feel like eating anything, so I left it as is.

No, first, we had to sort out this situation.
Wanting to calm down a bit, I returned to the room we were using with Koko and Yuuki by my side.

All three of us were still in our swimwear. We hadn’t changed clothes since entering the room.

“… Koko.”

The first to speak was Yuuki.

“Koko, did you…?”

I nodded at Yuuki. He put a hand over his mouth lightly.

From the start, Yuuki had known I was linked to the social circle, since he referred to me as his twin.

Now, he must have realized that I could use similar questionable powers, too.

… Both of us being treated as failures. In some sense, Koko was treated far worse than me, but I had no intention of sharing that story.

Whether Koko has human blood mixed in or not, I no longer thought of killing or abandoning her. Living together had built some attachment, I suppose. It hadn’t even been a month, but having two other breathing beings in my room brought me more comfort than I’d expected.

Plus, Koko is nice. She listens well. It’s just that her training hasn’t been thorough yet.

I wasn’t sure how Yuuki interpreted my attitude, but he plopped down on a chair in the room. Still covering his mouth with both hands, he looked at us.

Though he harbored many misconceptions, it seems he was not overly concerned about Koko injuring someone.

After all, as long as it wasn’t a serious injury, those who reported it had said there was nothing serious to worry about.

“……”

After calming my mind a little, I faced Koko and stared at her intently.

Koko had watched me closely. She had seen my expression over time, and that’s probably why her face now expressed considerable tension.

“… Koko.”

“Kotone.”

“You can’t do that to people.”

“Why?”

That’s a good question. I pondered for a moment.

In fact, the reason is simple: it was agreed upon that it’s a bad thing. No matter how much the other party started it, killing someone is not an option.

Once a line is crossed, you tend to cross lines lower than that one next time. Repeating that cycle eventually collapses your moral compass.

Usually, when that happens, someone gets punished in the end. Whether it’s an individual or a state system, it applies fairly to everyone. Although not everyone is in such a position.

And even Koko might become a risk.

In this country, there are people like Miura’s father, and such individuals are organized as well.

At least Yuuki didn’t treat Koko as something non-human right now, but who knows what might happen if history repeats itself several times.

“… I’m sad.”

Putting all of that into summary, I spoke to Koko.

“What happened today… was dangerous.”

“Dangerous?”

“If it had gone wrong, your hand could have gotten chopped off.”

Thank goodness Koko was surprised enough to control her strength when I yelled; otherwise, I fear her hand would have been chopped into pieces like McDonald’s fries. If that happened, the police wouldn’t have reached that conclusion that it was ‘scraped on a stone.’

“Then, people might… try to take you away.”

I held Koko’s hands.

“So, next time, don’t do that. I can protect you, but hurting others is…”

Koko gazed at me quietly.

Did she understand?

“Okay.”

“Got it?”

“Okay!”

Seeing Koko respond like that made me sigh in relief.

Perhaps it was too hasty to bring her out right away?

No, but eventually, it was something that needed to be experienced. Perhaps it’s better that she’s gone through it like this now.

If the group I saw in the light novel is accurate, there’s actually a group out hunting for such purposes.

In the story, after being beaten up by female companions and Sota, the conversation was much more blunt and crude. If our conversation stretched long enough, I probably would have heard much rougher and more direct words.

“… Do I have to keep that promise?”

Looking at Koko nodding up and down, I awkwardly opened my arms and hugged her.

Woohoo!

Koko shrieked joyfully.

I finally understood why Yuuki was constantly fidgeting with Koko. She was warm and soft.

Sniff.

When I turned around to the sound of sniffling, I saw Yuuki with watery eyes looking at me.

…

Um…

I want to say something, but I couldn’t find the words.

I scratched my head softly, letting out a small sigh.

*

Eventually, the morning passed like that.

We all gathered in the room, silently watching TV while munching on leftover snacks from yesterday.

Hagiwara was wearing an expression that suggested she had a million questions to ask but couldn’t bring herself to.

Even though we had talked about it last night, I still seemed a bit uncomfortable.

Shii, Sasaki, and Nakahara… were almost like ordinary people. Among the three of them, Sasaki’s blood was like a special medicine for hunting yōkai, but in this world, only one person knew that.

The trio didn’t quite understand what had transpired. They probably were thinking along the lines of the police. Some things seemed off, but since they couldn’t logically explain the strange parts, they leaned on the reality.

That couldn’t be helped. After all, how many people really believe in the existence of yōkai in the world?

… Still, after a few hours of that, the atmosphere stabilized a bit, and I felt like having fun again—

“… There are so many clouds in the sky.”

About an hour before lunchtime, the sky suddenly started filling with clouds.

Sure enough, the sky had been blue in the morning, and I never would have imagined it would cover so quickly.

“Could it rain?”

Nakahara said with a very worried expression.

“…”

I silently looked up at the sky.

There would probably be breaking news on TV soon— a typhoon was approaching.

It’s relatively small compared to others…

… But thinking about it this way, it’s funny.

That Raijuu guy goes around with a typhoon, huh? Isn’t a typhoon more about wind or water?

Does lightning even have to come down when it doesn’t rain?

… Anyway.

So, this is it now.

Yuuki didn’t bring a sword here. Since he was a kid with a clear line between work and fun, he probably wanted to make sure he could have real leisure time.

That’s why he borrows Hagiwara’s right here.

Of course, according to the world’s setting, yōkai can only be defeated with Yuuki’s sword, ‘Mumei.’ Those who attack yōkai from the church usually use exorcisms rather than solely relying on sword cuts.

So, Yuuki borrows Sasaki’s blood.

He lightly cuts the tip of his finger with the sword and, with the blood from the very tip, he smears it just enough to connect with the yōkai, finishing it off with just one timing of an attack.

If that’s the case, I had been thinking about something too.

Wouldn’t it solve things if I made two swords using my blood and lent one to Yuuki?

“Don’t worry.”

While I was zoning out, Yuuki smiled and said.

“It should stop soon.”

Right. It will stop soon.

That’s what happened in the original work. After taking care of the Raijuu, the protagonist and heroine had fun.

… I wonder if I could finish this one without needing a hospital this time.

I had a few ideas in mind, and I thought I would seize this opportunity to experiment.

*

Swoosh—

Outside, the rain was pouring down.

Of course, we couldn’t go out and play.

Instead, we were all gathered in the room, wrapped in our blankets.

“Ugh, no way, we can’t just skip this time after coming all the way here!”

Nakahara’s outcry led us to huddle together tightly in the air-conditioned room.

Since it was summer, the plan was to share scary stories with one another.

However, I wasn’t able to focus much on scary stories. I had been fixated on the thunder coming from outside since earlier.

I need to catch that Raijuu, chat with the church people, and settle the delicate peace treaty between Yuuki and Hagiwara. That was the outline of the story.

That treaty wasn’t just about not fighting madly over Sasaki.

It was also a temporary resolution for the power struggle between Yuuki’s shrine and the church.

Hagiwara, after all, believed in the Catholic faith, but she’s also Japanese. No matter what, she wouldn’t hate the country she was born and raised in. Also, realizing the need for cooperation after noticing the premonitions of the Hyakki Yagyō alongside the Raijuu.

The timing of the Hyakki Yagyō would be next year. At least that problem could be shelved until then. Among the parts of the story I read, it was one of the most essential events, so I remembered it fairly clearly.

“So… that guy ended up never returning. What do you think?”

“… Not very scary.”

Hagiwara chimed in with a remark against Nakahara’s story.

I thought the same thing.

I enjoyed ghost stories, but I wasn’t impressed by ones that just talked about how a ghost had some grudge or something like that.

If it’s going to be scary, I would prefer that the identity of the opponent be unknown. I mean, don’t you just hate it when it starts and ends abruptly with no context? I liked those kinds of ghost stories.

In that regard, it was the worst that the ghost’s protagonist was a yōkai.

It’s not like I didn’t think of that; now I was the one hunting that monster.

Besides, the Raijuu—

Flash.

As I remembered the characteristics of the Raijuu, a light flashed outside the window.

And then, a cold shiver ran down my spine.

I shot up from my seat.

At the same time, a few others also stood up.

One was Yuuki. That was only natural, as he was also in a position to hunt yōkai.

The other was Koko.

She got up, apparently startled, just like when I looked at Kuro.

“… What’s wrong?”

Hagiwara asked us, her voice full of caution.

‘Of all people,’ the three most suspicious individuals stood up at the same time, so it was understandable that Hagiwara reacted that way.

But it seemed Hagiwara didn’t sense anything in particular.

And—

I caught Sasaki’s gaze.

Sasaki was shaking slightly.

“… Just a moment, I’m going to check something in the room.”

I said that.

“To the room? All of a sudden?”

Hagiwara questioned me.

Shii and Nakahara looked at me with fairly dazed expressions too.

“I suddenly remembered something I need to check.”

“Uh….”

Sasaki let out a somewhat dumbfounded sound but soon gave us a slight smile.

“Alright, see you later.”

I nodded and looked over at Yuuki. He gave no significant reaction but merely said,

“I’ll go with you for a bit too.”

That’s all he said.

“Koko, stay here and wait.”

“Wait?”

Koko blinked, looking back at me.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“…”

Was it because of the feeling I sensed a little earlier? Koko looked at me with a somewhat wary expression.

When she learned things, she preferred to learn what she wanted first, giving her a bit of a free-spirited nature, but I never thought of her as particularly dim-witted. She just liked to follow her animalistic instincts over the rationality of humans.

It seemed like it was time to be cautious for Koko.

But I couldn’t exactly tell her it’s dangerous in front of others.

I pondered for a moment.

“It would be better for Koko to wait.”

So, that’s what I said.

Koko contemplated for a moment but then sat back down slowly.

“Okay.”

I released a small sigh.

“… I’ll be right back.”

“Okay, okay…”

“See you soon!”

Sasaki and Nakahara let us go without further questioning. After all, there was no reason to stop us.

“Are you really going to the room?”

“… Yeah.”

Hagiwara narrowed her eyes a bit and looked at me. Yuuki answered sharply to Hagiwara, who wasn’t especially trusting.

“Y-you guys, be careful…”

Shii seemed a bit tense as well.

Ah, right, that’s true.

The reason Shii had called me here was that Nakahara and Hagiwara were a bit too close to Sasaki, making her feel uneasy.

She called me to her side, but then I ended up leaving the group.

“I’ll be back soon. Koko, can you stay next to Shii for a moment?”

“Okay.”

Koko got back up and headed over to the bed where Shii was sitting. I could see the black hair tie on the tips of Koko’s hair. It was one I had brought as a spare.

The red hair tie had snapped earlier. By the way, it wasn’t made out of Koko’s flesh. It seemed Yuuki had gifted it. He’d come up with the idea while we were on the train, so it must have been given then.

I pulled my gaze from her hair tie and spoke.

“Well then, I’ll be right back.”

Waving at my party as we bid farewell, I left the room with Yuuki.

“… You felt it too, huh?”

As soon as we stepped out of the room, Yuuki whispered softly.

“Yeah.”

“… What the heck, coming on this trip and ending up with this?”

Yuuki complained, scratching his head.

“For now… let’s find a way to resolve this quickly.”

Now, I must have looked like a perfect ally.

That’s a good sign.

I nodded and quickened my pace, walking alongside Yuuki.

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