Chapter 12: Strange Yokai
Honestly, even in his previous life, Hikigaya wasn't a big fan of insects—especially the ones with shells. Everyone is made of meat covering bones; why do you have to be bones covering meat? It's just non-conformist.
Hikigaya stole a glance. Among the insect-shaped yokai stockpiled in the garden mansion, the vast majority were actually of the "Brute" lineage. Generally, Japanese yokai can be categorized into five types: Water, Fire, Wind, Dark, and Brute.
Water types are represented by Kappa and Yuki-onna; Fire types are rare; Wind types are represented by Kamaitachi and Mautengu; the Dark type is the most common, while the Brute type is the rarest. Usually, in any yokai army, the Dark type should be the mainstay, supplemented by Water and Wind, then Fire, and finally a few scattered Brutes.
Not only are they rare, but the Brute lineage is generally weak. Facing other types that can use sorcery, they usually get bullied. Of course, there are no absolutes; the Brute lineage can produce powerful individuals, but the probability is pathetically low.
Yet, what Hikigaya saw was that in this garden mansion, Brute-type yokai made up more than half the population.
Thinking about it, it was somewhat understandable. Modern Japan's population has increased tenfold compared to ancient times. Setting aside temples, even the number of local shrines has increased. Consequently, yokai who can use sorcery find it easier to receive "incense" (faith/offerings) than their ancestors. As a result, among the yokai who still choose to be part of the Oni tribe, the proportion of Brutes has naturally increased significantly.
"Good grief... this is a bunch of unemployed—no, jobless yokai," Hikigaya lamented. He felt a slight twinge of sympathy for these Brutes.
Sympathy aside, since he had spotted them, he might as well take a look. After all, the owner of that dark cursed power was no small fry; they might very well be the mastermind behind this whole incident.
Hikigaya transformed into a brilliant bolt of lightning, wrapped around Tamamo-no-Mae, and streaked all the way to the front gate of the garden mansion.
When he materialized, the rolling black fog that originally occupied the entire area suddenly parted layer by layer. Amidst low growls, the yokai hidden in the fog retreated like a tide—some burrowed into the earth, some turned back into the mansion, and others merged into the black mist and dissipated with it.
"This is a decent formation." The fact that the yokai were so orderly took Hikigaya by surprise. It was actually quite hilarious; the yokai were apparently more organized than the Japanese sorcerers in Hikigaya's memory. This was awkward—you call them ghosts/demons, yet the demons have better discipline than you.
"Of course! Hachiman, don't have such a prejudice against yokai. For example, the fox spirits under my command are all very well-behaved," Tamamo-no-Mae said.
"Fine, let's go inside and take a look."
Hikigaya remained non-committal and walked in with Tamamo. Since a large group of yokai had been crouching there, some traces remained despite their retreat. Following the path through the garden, Hikigaya and Tamamo walked all the way to the front door of the residence.
Hikigaya originally intended to just push the door open, but he quickly sensed something unusual and switched to knocking. After a moment, the door opened, revealing a girl dressed in a maid uniform.
She wasn't a yokai. There were actually humans in this house! And more than one. With just a glance, Hikigaya could confirm this girl was an ordinary person in every sense—someone completely unaware that the supernatural existed in this world.
Seeing Hikigaya, the girl looked very surprised. Not because she knew him, but...
"Hello, may I ask who you are looking for?" The girl was quite shy; she seemed like a student working part-time.
"I've come to visit the master of this house," Hikigaya said.
"Eh? Are you a friend of the Young Lady?" The girl was astonished. She had assumed the wealthy young lady living here was a perpetual shut-in. Even though this shut-in liked to wear sailor uniforms and silk stockings and had a penchant for eating pig liver and duck liver—basically, she only liked eating livers. The girl didn't understand that palate at all; didn't she get tired of eating that stuff every day? The logic of the rich was truly incomprehensible.
Though, she had to admit that the shut-in lady was indeed breathtakingly beautiful. Thinking of this, the girl instinctively looked at Tamamo-no-Mae.
'This older sister is also so pretty. How can there be people this beautiful?'
As expected, beautiful people know other beautiful people. It was truly enviable. The secretly envious girl was entirely unaware that if her current state weren't abnormal, she wouldn't have just felt Tamamo was "pretty" upon seeing her.
Although the occupant of this place hadn't lifted a finger to harm her or the other servants—and from a certain perspective, was even protecting them—they had long been affected by cursed power. A major illness in the future would be the bare minimum. That is, if they hadn't encountered Hikigaya Hachiman.
"That's right. Please lead the way," Hikigaya decided not to waste his breath. The girl before him was clearly in a daze, though she hadn't noticed it herself. her brain was no longer capable of reacting properly to anomalies.
"Alright, please follow me." Sure enough, upon hearing Hikigaya's request, the girl didn't find anything wrong with it. She simply opened the door and welcomed the two into the mansion.
Despite the thick demonic aura, the house was actually quite nice. The entrance opened into the kind of grand hall and staircase common in movies and TV shows. However, all the windows were covered with curtains, leaving the mansion very dimly lit.
The girl led them to the second floor and stopped, turning to say: "The Young Lady is still resting. Why don't you two wait in the guest room?"
"Her brain really is broken..."
Hikigaya had already finished observing the mansion on the way up. He could only say that the person living here was a strange yokai. There were about thirty-some servants in the mansion in total, all in the same state as this girl.
Aside from that, every nook and cranny was stuffed with yokai. Just to mention one thing: behind the curtain right behind Hikigaya, a whole string of yokai was hanging. The way they were hung up was quite funny, and they were quite ugly too.
But there was an abnormal harmony between these thirty-plus servants and the yokai. Wherever a servant walked, the yokai would scatter; once she passed, they would roll back. This was clearly not out of the yokai's own volition. Hikigaya saw a long-snake yokai that didn't move out of the way in time due to "traffic," and was hit directly on the head by a servant's mop. It was so angry it flailed its claws behind the servant's back for a good while.
But it still didn't touch a single hair on that servant. The reason could only lie with the "Young Lady" here.
Waiting was impossible. Although he was quite free and didn't have much ill will toward this "Young Lady" so far, she was clearly already awake, so why the hell should he wait?
Thus, he ignored the girl's words, gave Tamamo-no-Mae a quick instruction, and went straight upstairs. The girl acted as if she didn't see him; as soon as Hikigaya left, she looked at Tamamo in a daze for a second, then went back to work as if nothing had happened.
As for whether those yokai would do anything to Tamamo-no-Mae, Hikigaya wasn't worried at all. Although Tamamo had restrained her power, how could a yokai fail to sense that she was a "Big Boss"? Notice how the yokai along the way had all ducked far away the moment they saw him and Tamamo.
Hikigaya reached the third floor. The hallway here was much emptier because there wasn't a single servant. There were also very few room doors. Hikigaya scanned the area, his gaze landing on the second door. Through the door, he could sense a very powerful life force.
But this life force was strange, because there was also a scent belonging to an ordinary human inside. Oh, right—and a very weak scent that also belonged to a yokai.
Hikigaya stepped forward, reached out, and pushed open the door.
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting