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

Yuka already knew to some extent how Koko could change her body.

When fighting an opponent, she actively utilized her hair, so she had seen that even if her whole body got crushed inside a car, she could still return to her original form.

So when Koko tightly grabbed Yuka and entered the building, Yuka was taken aback.

What kind of movement was that? It was too fast for her eyes to catch.

Moreover, it wasn’t easy to move. The part Koko had tightly held would probably have a bruise by tomorrow.

“Here?”

Koko asked, and Yuka silently handed her a wet handkerchief. With one piece, she covered her mouth. Koko tilted her head, following suit, but she seemed to not fully understand why she was doing it.

Should she teach her how to escape a burning house later?

…Not right now, though.

Looking at the situation, the inside seemed much more serious. Even on the lower floor, she could already feel the heat. The visibility was hazy because of the smoke.

Her eyes stung a little.

Was it really right to go down to where Koto Ne would be in this situation? If she tried to save one person and ended up killing two, what kind of tragedy would that be?

But—

Koko was staring at Yuka intently.

…In a situation where she had already brought Koko here, there was no way she could make such a choice.

“Let’s go.”

Yuka said that, confirming that Koko nodded her head.

Then she found the way. This was familiar. It was something she had been training for since her childhood, and she had continued it even after becoming an adult.

“…….”

The place they arrived at was one where the heat could be felt even beyond the ceiling.

It would surely be much hotter on the other side.

Koto Ne had gone to save someone in such a place and come back up.

What could possibly drive Koto Ne to move like that?

She had clearly been a child abused since her early years. As much as she didn’t want to say it, it was said that many children inherit their parents’ violent tendencies.

Yet Koto Ne acted completely differently, as if she wanted to learn nothing of that from her mother.

More than Yuka, who made saving people her job.

Yuka bit her lip.

“Yuka?”

Koko tilted her head.

“……No, I’m fine. It’s nothing.”

Yuka said that to avoid giving Koko anxiety as she drew the knife she had slung over her shoulder.

As she lifted the cloth, a plain black scabbard was revealed.

When she pulled the sword from its sheath, there was a shiiing sound.

With that sword, Yuka effortlessly cut through the ceiling.

Seeing the air split, Yuka shouted.

“Let’s go, Koko.”

“Okay!”

Koko answered, her eyes shining.

Could she feel Koto Ne’s energy?

It was nonsensical to ease the tension in such a situation—but just for a brief moment, Yuka found herself smiling softly.

*

“Kugh…!”

The cat was nimble.

Moreover, it even had fire burning on its back. If it had only been enough to avoid injury when touched, that wouldn’t have been a big problem. But now, it was a situation where they had to avoid the contact entirely.

It wasn’t surprising that Yuka had thought more than she could handle.

One of its legs was half severed and bent in a strange direction, but to be in a confined space with a gigantic cat while simultaneously trying to protect herself from falling was incredibly challenging.

“Ugh…!”

Koko was also attacking the cat. But she seemed to be immunized against the ‘heat.’

She had squealed in shock when her hair got cut, too.

In the end, rather than attacking from both sides or the front and back, they shaped their assaults frontally against the opponent.

Had Hacha realized this? The fire attached to its body was actively used. The flames that were on its back slowly spread forward and were now almost consuming its whole body. The burns in certain areas dissolved along with the fire, erasing some of its wounds.

It was a grotesque sight.

Using the flames on its body and showing no sign of pain, Hacha didn’t retain a single hair where the fire had burned. The burn marks that appeared were visibly agonizing.

It was as though it had been cursed to never escape from that state.

Moreover, even in this space, which initially had no fire, the more the cat rampaged, the more it spread.

The curtains hanging by the window, the carpet on the floor, and even the sofa that had already caught fire.

The longer they stayed in this place, the more the space for those kids would gradually disappear.

Well, the space where I was lying would disappear too.

“Ugh.”

I moved my body as much as possible and crawled to the corner of the room.

And slowly, I raised my hand to look at my wrist.

“What? You’ve been watching this whole time. If so, speak up.”

“I was contemplating your words. If we skip over one question, I believe I won’t be able to sleep properly tonight.”

Not being able to sleep properly, coming from a being like that.

“Is there no way to open my head and check?”

“I’d say that’s arbitrary; I’m not interested in making a puzzle. However—”

Nirlas whispered.

“If the puzzle piece was wrong from the beginning, there’s no reason to forcibly fit it together.”

But what should be done?

“The only puzzle piece I could provide you is this.”

Clang!

“KYAAAH!”

“Ha!”

Koko sacrificed her hair to attack Hacha. There were quite deep wounds, and Hacha seemed to suffer pain, but Koko looked even more pained.

There was a smell of burnt flesh. I couldn’t tell if it was emanating from the corpse sitting on the sofa, which had barely remained intact, or from Hacha engulfed in flames, or from Koko, who had gotten burned just moments ago.

Yuka slashed the cat’s belly with her knife. But the cat appeared unconcerned with the wound and tried to fall right over Yuka. She quickly rolled her body to evade it.

If they took their time, would they have the advantage?

It seemed plausible that the two could definitely catch Hacha.

However.

…Then what about our return to reality?

By now, had the fire department arrived? No, even if they said they would arrive, it didn’t mean the fire would be put out immediately. It was already spreading across nearly the entire floor. If things went wrong, it could take several hours.

Considering the possibility that they hadn’t arrived yet…

What if the reality building crumbled up in flames? Yuka and Koko might get hurt. If lucky, they might safely reach the ground, but if not…

“If you truly are such an ordinary person, I have one more question to ask.”

“…….”

I thought for a moment.

“I can’t give that for free.”

At my words, Nirlas chuckled softly.

“I see, we’re on the same wavelength since I don’t like lies. If you tell me what you want, I’ll grant it.”

“……I want to help those kids.”

“You really stick to that thought till the end.”

Nirlas remarked with an even more excited voice.

“Then, I’ll pose a question.”

“……Ugh.”

Blood drained from my body.

My left hand raised, palm up as if holding something, and blood slowly rose from the wound.

It collected in one place, forming a certain shape.

But it was a little larger than I remembered.

“If you truly are an ordinary human, I’m curious why you aren’t losing your mind in this situation.”

Well, because I’ve seen it all before—many times.

At a glance, it might seem peaceful, but in the country that could claim to have the best safety in the world, people died every day. In all sorts of ways.

I see several people getting hit by cars a few times a year. Many of them die. If unlucky, you might be assigned to an accident-prone area.

People die just because they were there at the wrong time.

There was a time when I walked into a burning house and found a child dying from a knife wound. The caller was the one wielding the knife. The child had escaped, waiting for the fire department, and was rescued and taken to the ER.

There’s no X-ray vision to see inside one’s bones like cartoons, but there are large sparks. Those sparks are hot enough to ignite clothes and hair.

That person had to hang there without being able to scream until the electricity was turned off, waiting for us to lower it down. Their family couldn’t even recognize them.

People die too easily.

I’ve seen it happen more times than I can count.

Whether my senses had dulled or I was pretending to be numb, I wasn’t quite sure. I just… felt like that.

“If so, I’m curious why you do such things.”

Hmm.

You said there was only one question.

But it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t wear out my mouth to speak either. How about I answer one as a bonus?

At first, I regretted it.

The dream I had held onto since childhood had just turned to solid rock and stuck. The red fire truck was cool, but it would only be magnificent for a day or two.

As I continued, I began to just think this way.

In such circumstances—

“Who else but me?”

When my little brother asked, I had answered that way.

After losing everything, there was nothing I could do. Just as I had said, I wanted to live like that.

“Hmm.”

After hearing my answer, Nirlas remained silent for a while.

“Though it isn’t the answer I hoped for, it’s still an answer.”

With that, a thunk echoed as something fell into my hand, made of my own blood.

“Then, see you next time. Although your answer isn’t enough, those who solve the riddle have to endure, don’t you think?”

Right.

I hope I get to know when it gets solved.

After Nirlas said that, my left wrist wound closed.

I was still covered in blood. Thinking that all the blood covering me was mine, I honestly wondered how I was still alive. Even if I had some foreign power, it didn’t seem plausible that I could spew this much blood and still be fine.

I staggered and stood up. I saw two people pushed against the wall, fighting while facing toward me.

I stepped forward unsteadily.

“Koto Ne?!”

The first to notice was Koko, of course.

“Koto Ne, wait, it’s dangerous—”

Yuka, who was about to urgently shout to me while following behind, froze for a moment, noticing what I was holding and my expression.

What I held was a somewhat thick, cylindrical object. It was red and shiny, probably because it was made from my blood.

Inside it, some liquid was fully packed.

There are extinguishers you activate by removing a safety pin and squeezing, but it’s easier to forget the order or get confused when someone’s too hurried.

In front of flames, a moment of panic can decide life or death.

So a throwaway fire extinguisher, easy to store at home, designed to pull out and use on instinct, was made.

What I held now was the special fire extinguisher whose contents were my blood.

“KRRR?”

Before Hacha could move upon seeing me, my hand had already started moving.

The cylindrical fire extinguisher slipped from my grip, smashing against Hacha’s head and shattering.

As my blood spilled out, Hacha screamed,

“Kuhah!?”

and began rampaging madly.

My blood stank a bit.

Moreover, the flames engulfing Hacha’s body mysteriously extinguished. A grotesque face emerged, skin melted and disfigured.

Though the fire had only gone out partially, it was still raging nearly everywhere else besides its head and neck.

But that was enough.

Kaboom!

A long, black skewer pierced through Hacha from its lower jaw to its nose. It stretched out, preventing Hacha from opening or closing its mouth properly.

And that skewer twisted at the top, forming a T-shape.

“Guhak!?”

With strong force, Hacha’s jaw was dragged down. Its body, which had been standing as if it were a bear, was pulled downwards.

Though Hacha raised its arms to try and slice it off—

“No, you can’t do that.”

Yuka was already moving.

In the blink of an eye, she rushed beside Hacha and swung her weapon from above.

“…….”

After the sword cleanly passed through, Hacha momentarily stopped moving, doing nothing.

But soon enough—

Slump.

It fell down, its head still lodged in Koko’s extended hair.

“Let’s go!”

Yuka shouted, not even pausing to celebrate or catch her breath, darting out toward Koko.

She held my arm tightly, dragging me along, and shouted to Koko.

“Koko! We need to go back the way we came! The nest is going to collapse soon!”

“Okay!”

Ah, right.

It was indeed true. The nest starts crumbling right after a Yōkai dies. I had seen it last time.

And in the current situation, if they remained still—

We would all be thrown into flames. Though it wasn’t visible here, in reality, the fire would be blazing bright.

Koko held tightly to both Yuka and me.

And…

Oh, wait.

If I continued like this, I felt like I might get seasick.

*

“Ugh.”

I still didn’t let out anything I had inside.

Cough, cough.

I coughed, but.

I probably had the most experience entering a building in such situations, yet I was the one coughing the most among them all because of the thick smoke.

Small siren sounds came from the window.

The fire department seemed to be arriving now.

Where had they been and what had they been doing to arrive so late? Well, there’s no point in complaining now.

Hacha had been caught. Now there would be no more trouble with Sasaki and Shii. They had even rescued the child who had nearly died inside.

“What’s with that relieved expression?”

Yuka asked as she awkwardly held onto my arm, putting it around her shoulders.

Ugh. I really wanted to just lie down for a bit. Can’t we just wait for the fire department to come up? Or maybe I can ask Koko for help again…

“Ugh!”

Koko puffed her cheeks and glared at me.

It was entirely not a scary expression.

But the fact that Koko was mad at me was what mattered more. Had Koko ever shown me such an attitude before?

It was good that emotions were becoming more varied… but—

“I’m asking why you look relieved.”

“…….”

At Yuka’s voice, I stopped thinking.

Come to think of it, my body was covered in blood. All from me. It wasn’t that I had sustained any significant injuries, but just looking at the amount of blood I had lost, my life was hanging by a thread.

…If Yuka ended up making a scene here, all of it would be my fault.

Moreover, Koko was already weeping quietly.

Even while crying, she was lifting my arm up.

I slipped down between the two girls.

“Ah!?”

Just then, a fire department member coming up the stairs was startled.

I was naturally carried out as they picked me up.

Both Yuka and Koko were bundled as ‘victims,’ covered with a blanket as they were loaded into the same ambulance as me.

The rescuer with us kept asking about how we were feeling, but sorry, I had nothing to say.

Searching through my body, I couldn’t find an injury that would have caused this much blood loss.

“……Yuka, Koko. I feel a bit sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

Even after getting into the vehicle, Yuka, whose attitude had calmed down somewhat, spoke.

“I’m fine too. We’ll be by your side.”

That was comforting to hear.

I looked up at Koko one last time. Koko looked at me and sniffled, wiping her tears with her sleeve.

“…….”

The last emotion I felt before dozing off was guilt.

*

When I opened my eyes, it was a situation similar to the last time.

I was lying on a hospital bed, and Yuka sat nearby, keeping a protective watch over me with bloodshot eyes.

And beside me was Koko, curled up in a ball.

…Could she have calmed down? Or was it just that one person’s presence made it impossible for her to stay away?

When I placed my hand on Koko’s back, Yuka opened her mouth.

“Koko cried for a long time after you disappeared. She didn’t know what to do.”

“…….”

“Was it just because I told her not to? Well, I don’t think so.”

Looking at Yuka, she sighed deeply and rubbed the back of her neck.

Then she said, looking at me,

“Koko is slowly starting to realize what normal is.”

“Ah….”

“So, it’s like this. If you had continued to obey what you told her not to do, Koko would have followed right after you to find you. Just like when we traveled last time.”

“…….”

“But now Koko knows. After being with us, she understands that her body is different from ours. That there are things she can do, but we can’t.”

“Is that so?”

Yuka, who came up with that thought, suddenly reminded me of my own perspective.

“Koko seems to enjoy school life. Isn’t that right?”

“……Yes.”

She liked mingling with kids, having her head patted by them affectionately, receiving bread from Kaoru in the Literature Club room, and having Ikeda readily bring out snacks.

“At first, I thought I would just follow what you said.”

Yuka shrugged her shoulders.

“But when I sat here and thought it over, it seemed like it went beyond that.”

“…….”

“If you do that in front of me, it’s fine. As long as I’m watching you, whatever you say, I will help you.”

“……Okay.”

“But in front of Koko, don’t do that. At least explain it properly. Make her understand and find another way. After you left, you didn’t see what Koko went through.”

“……I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not you who should apologize… let it go.”

“…….”

That’s right.

Thinking back, I had only focused on myself after my younger sibling died; I hadn’t even considered what my sibling thought about me.

“Get some good rest. Tomorrow’s the Sports Festival.”

When I looked at Yuka, she furrowed her brows.

“What? Were you planning not to go? After practicing so much?”

“Uh….”

“I know you’re not the type to skip school just because of this accident.”

Yuka said with a slight smile.

However, there was still bloodshot in her eyes.

“…….”

“So sleep well. Tomorrow, you’ll have to run excitingly, right? You’re in the cheerleading team?”

“Okay…….”

Somehow, my much younger sister felt much more mature.

I stroked Koko’s head once more, who was still asleep.

Koko, with such thoughts…

….

It might not be the right time to say such things, but honestly, I was feeling joy.

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