Chapter 377

"Thank you very much for taking us in at this time." After leaving the four people with a bad mood aside, Yagen Toushirou sat on the ground and thanked the old woman who was willing to open the door to accept the unknown lodgers in the middle of the night. "May I ask why no one would accept travelers at night?"

"Haha, it looks like you are guests from big cities." The old woman chuckled as she poured hot water into the teacup. The heat evaporated a light floral scent. "Our small place is different from big cities, so I don't think the guests will believe the crazy talk of an old woman like me. Please have a good night's rest, and then leave as if nothing happened."

In the silence, Yagen Toushirou heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed.

"Okay." Yagen Toushirou glanced at the contents of the teacup and gave each of the other four a cup. "We'll go to the guest room to rest after we finish drinking."

"Wisteria?"

"Maybe it's a local specialty." Yagen Toushirou spoke up, cutting off his colleague's inappropriate curiosity. "It has a very nice aroma. You can try making tea with wisteria flowers when you go back."

After they walked far enough, Yagen Toushirou, who was walking behind, heard some unusual sounds with the help of his short sword's extraordinary reconnaissance.

"Great! If we drink the tea made from wisteria flowers, those five people will no longer be ghosts!"

"Yaken?" The two katana warriors walking in front frowned and turned to look at the short sword standing at the end.

"Nothing." Yagen Toushirou shook his head and returned to his companions. "Let's rest today. We will leave here after tomorrow morning."

——Of course, they did not randomly choose a family to stay at. From the very beginning, they knocked on the door with the intention of obtaining some intelligence here.

But from the beginning, Yagen Toushirou, who took over the diplomatic work because of his stable spirit, had a huge change of 180 degrees in his attitude - so that even if the two former masters didn't want to talk, the two katanas accompanying them realized that something beyond their expectations was happening.

"...Whatever happens, let's wait until tomorrow, Hasebe." Yagen Toushirou sighed and shooed his companions into the guest room in a very tough manner. "There are many dangers hidden in the dark, so we should go to sleep."

"Because it's dangerous, shouldn't we——"

"Shut up, Hasebe." The spiritual power in Yaken Toushirou's hand gathered into the shape of a short sword, pressing against Hasebe's throat. "It's safe here - at least for now. I don't think you would have thought of this."

——They chose this house because the wisteria pattern painted on the door was different from that of other houses.

The wisteria flowers that filled the entire house after entering proved to them that this place was different from others - and the wisteria tea seemed like some special detection method...

"Go to sleep, Okiri." Oda Nobunaga hugged his knees and sat down by the wall, saying the first words after the quarrel with his male self, "Yakuken's judgment is correct. The information here is definitely not something we can access."

"We can ask those two executioners to investigate later."

"?"

"I once thought you were just an ordinary, normal person." Yagen Toushirou swung the short sword in his hand, turned around, closed the door to block the moonlight, blew out the oil lamp, took off his glasses, and got into bed like an ordinary person. "In the rumors, you are an innovator who vigorously dispels superstition, but the fact is not so."

"The proof is that you chose me—but you are different now."

"We got this special skill because of the rumors." Lord Nobunaga met Oda Nobunaga's eyes in the dark, "In addition to the favorable bonus in attack..."

"It will also automatically expel mysterious beings."

On the other hand, Abe Haruaki, who is doing well as an Onmyoji in ordinary society, receives a strange commission.

"Such a big show..." Abe Haruaki stood in the corner of the magnificent mansion with his arms folded, looking at the many guards hired by the same client. "What kind of people would make a wealthy man who prides himself on being 'civilized' ask for help from a so-called 'superstitious liar'?"

Unlike the countryside, the city is a city that never sleeps and is brightly lit until late at night - and then, Abe Haruaki saw a large group of mini-smartphones rushing into this luxurious villa under the glow of neon lights.

"Let me count..." Abe Haruaki used Yin Yang Jutsu to clean up the mini letters that were still pouring out, while distinguishing the types of these mini letters, "Mini letters, gold and silver mini letters, giant letters, gold and silver giant letters, Shinsengumi, mini letter tanks, letter UFOs... gold and silver giant god super mechanical letters, Al letter, Wei letter, Ku letter, Medus letter, Medei letter, Ha letter, Hera letter..."

"Aren't all the mini letters here!!!"

"No... Does the Mini-Message have the function of automatically reassembling after being destroyed?"

In a corner, a mini letter of unknown type that had just been destroyed by the Yin-Yang technique began to wriggle from a pile of waste and returned to its original appearance.

"…A new variant with this unique feature?" Abe Haruaki frowned in thought, but his thoughts were soon interrupted by a shrill scream.

Abe Haruaki immediately turned his head to look in the direction where the scream came from, and his body stiffened as he saw a scene that could be called hell - the client and most of the other guards were swallowed up by the mini-letters like a wave, and blood oozed out from the gaps between the densely packed mini-letters. Until the last mini-letter disappeared, all that was left in this once magnificent mansion was a pool of blood and several white skeletons.

"So that's how it is. No wonder it's a large anomaly that threatens the foundation of human rights." Abe Haruaki covered his eyes, smiled helplessly, and planned the next course of action. "Well, let's exchange information with the other two parties first."

The speed of transportation in Japan during the Taisho period was not very fast, and Abe Haruaki chose to exchange information face to face after everyone gathered together, so that until the winter came, Okita-kun and Okita-san were still staying in a family in the mountains with three knives - this family had six children, and after the father, who was the head of the family, passed away, it was the eldest son who made a living by selling charcoal.

"...Don't say that. My brother and I also like children." Ms. Okita smiled and sent the two children who were surrounding her to listen to stories into the room which was slightly warmer than the outside. She accompanied the older woman to look at the path leading down the mountain. "Besides, with such a reliable brother around, they will definitely grow up to be excellent adults."

"It's getting dark." Ichimonji Norimune emerged from the house holding a fan and reminded Miss Okita and the lady who took them in, "The child might have been taken in by a family at the foot of the mountain. After all, it's not safe for a child of this age to go up the mountain alone in the evening."

"How about this?" Okita-kun, who was left in the house because she looked even worse than Miss Okita, smiled and advised the older woman, "He must be worried about his mother and brothers and sisters, so you have to take good care of yourself. If you are really worried, how about just following the custom over there and leaving a light on for him in the dark?"

"In our country, if we want to wait for a person who has left home to return home, we will light a lamp for him - as long as the light is not extinguished, the person who has left home will definitely come back."

——O light of Chaldea, may you once again become a signpost for travelers, and point the way forward for the final savior.

——O light of Chaldea, may you once again become a signpost for travelers, showing the way home for wanderers.

Then, in the forest under the night sky, a small light was lit.

At the same time, the young man who was staying overnight with the old man at the foot of the mountain heard a warning that sounded almost like a legendary story.

"From a long, long time ago, cannibals would appear after the sun went down - so don't go out at night." The old man made a blanket for the boy, "Go to sleep after eating, and get up early tomorrow and go back."

Miss Okita and Mr. Okita, who were staying overnight in the mountains, waited until the family who took them in fell asleep before they once again got out of their warm beds.

"Anting, Kiyomitsu, Kikuichimonji, the enemy is coming."

Compared to Abe Haruaki, who had no idea what strange things had sneaked into the mini letter, the Okita Group and the Oda Group, who had exchanged information with each other earlier, knew very well that there was a kind of creature in this world that could pose a threat to human safety - the so-called man-eating ghost.

Wisteria flowers are poisonous to cannibals, so they can be used to identify them to a certain extent; houses with wisteria patterns seem to be the bases of some organization that fights against cannibals, but they are also open to the public and will protect travelers who are unaware of the existence of cannibals and ordinary people who are persecuted by evil spirits.

The ogre can heal itself no matter how many pieces it is cut into, and it seems to have no weaknesses - but after a long battle, the Okita Group finally found a more effective solution.

They are the "Heroic Spirits" of the dead, and they do not get tired from fighting, so - during a battle that dragged on for too long, Okita-kun and Okita-san discovered that sunlight can kill cannibals.

Sunlight - this may be the only fatal weakness of the cannibal.

"Today is the same as before. We will win if we can hold out until the sun rises." The Heroic Spirit Armor instantly replaced the daily clothes of the two Sabers. The silver blades reflected a cold light under the moonlight. "Since we have encountered danger in front of us, we can't just ignore it."

"Well then, Captain of the Shinsengumi 1st Division, Okita Souji - attack!"

It was not until the morning sun rose that the black mist with a smell of blood that had been surging around the house finally dissipated reluctantly - Okita-kun and Okita-san sheathed their swords one after another, took off their Heroic Spirit armor and prepared to go back into the house to pretend that they had a good night's sleep, but they didn't expect that the host they were staying with didn't sleep at all last night.

"Pfft, this is really troublesome." Ichimonji Norimune, who was standing closest to the intersection, laughed.

"Shut up! You old bastard!!!"

"Well, this isn't an unsolvable problem." With blood still on her face, Ms. Okita smiled and held out her hand to the family in the morning light. "We will take you to a safe place and find your brother who came down the mountain yesterday. But can you please keep our story a secret?"

"After all... it's never a good thing for a dead person to reappear in this world, right?"