Chapter 26

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Ironically enough, the lantern seemed to be fleeing towards the run down temple, where Shouma had met the kaii before. Now he understood why Tendou insisted on waiting there. His employer saw this coming.

Now that he thought about it, there was no way that the Mikoshi Nyuudou, who hated people, would just manifest itself in such a crowded place. Even if the kaii had no other choice to, it would probably go to a place where there were no humans at all.

The lantern was way faster than one would have expected. It was not that he couldn’t keep up with it, but it wasn’t a speed which would let him easily obtain it either.

Subaru, who was still sitting on Shouma’s shoulder, peered at the boy.

“Do you want me to catch it? It’s easier that way, right?”

Shouma thought for a moment, then shook his head slightly.

“Yes, it’s easier, but I think this is something I need to do on my own to make it worth my while.”

“Do you think so?”

“I guess.”

Subaru made an agreeable sound.

Shouma would gladly ask his companion for help if he could, but as Tendou said, it was a match between him and the Mikoshi Nyuudou. As far as possible, no one else should be allowed to get in.

In the meantime, he continued to close the distance between himself and the lantern.

Finally, on the way to the temple, in a slightly open area, he cornered the bouncing item.

The Mikoshi Nyuudou suddenly appeared on the scene as if protecting the lantern which hid behind a tree.

“…Excellent”

A low voice, not angry but mortifying enough could be heard from it.

Shouma nudged closer.

“The game is already over, Mikoshi Nyuudou.”

“No, not yet.”

The kaii began to grow larger and larger, eventually swelling to a size that was five times taller than that of the boy before him.

“Eh? Whaat? But why?”

“There was no rule that I could not interfere.”

“Yeah?”

Shouma couldn’t hide his trembling. There was certainly no such rule, but he didn’t hear anything about things such as interfering in a game like this before.

The Mikoshi Nyuudou swung his arm down towards Shouma.

“Hoi!”

He could narrowly avoid the sudden attack. Even the trees behind him were knocked down by its fist. That strength was no less than monstrous.

“Wai-Wait a little, please! It’s not against the rules, but still, it’s not even in the rules!”

“Shut up!”

One more swing. The fists that came out from right to left snapped the trees one after another. Birds rustled, deers jumped and ran away.

All this uproar made the hustle and bustle of the festival become noisier in a slightly different way. One could even hear some people asking “Is it thunder?” amongst the crowd.

(This is not good, if I don’t do something…)

Feeling that his life was now truly in danger, Shouma let the sweat slide down on the side of his face.

“Hoi! Mikoshi Nyuudou! That’s enough!!”

The one who complained now was Subaru, still on Shouma’s shoulder, but the Mikoshi Nyuudou merely glanced at the little kaii and shook its fist down at them again.

Shouma was barely able to evade it, but the ground gouged him. A flying stone hit him in the cheek and tore open his skin.

“-Uh!”

“Shut up! I’m the one in charge!”

“Well then…”

The voice sounded dignified. It came from the direction of the Mikoshi Nyuudou. Looking up, one could easily see that there was someone over the Mikoshi Nyuudou’s head.

“And there is no rule that says I can’t interfere, right?”

Above the kaii’s head was Tendou.

His usual good-natured smile now looked kind of bewitching, as his face had been showered in the moonlight from overhead. Casting a shadow on the top of the kaii’s face, Tendou stepped with a rough thump on the Mikoshi Nyuudou’s head.

“Although Shouma made all these honest and serious efforts to confront you, you shouldn’t just ruin it with your shameless backtalk. Good grief!”

Tendou opened the Collected Records on the spot.

“Shiranui” [1]

The moment the man muttered that, water flooded from underneath the Mikoshi Nyuudou’s feet, followed by small floating flames. In the blink of an eye, those flames enveloped the body of the giant kaii. Of course, engulfing Tendou on top of it as well.

“Uwaaaahh!”

Screaming, the Mikoshi Nyuudou writhed in pain. Its body slowly becoming smaller.

With a light movement, Tendou landed near Shouma and opened the book in his hands again.

“Shouki” [2]

The next moment, a group of small demons appeared. Dozens of small creatures, each carrying weapons, such as swords or hoes.

Tendou pointed at the Mikoshi Nyuudou with his long finger as if he was designating it. No emotion was visible on his face.

“Go”

The ferocious group rushed towards the Mikoshi Nyuudou. When the blades of the small demon’s ripped through the kaii’s body mercilessly, Shouma suddenly came to his senses.

“Wait, wait a little bit, please! Tendou-san!”

“Hmm?”

“I’ll do it by myself! Make them withdraw! Please, make that dangerous mass recede!”

“I’ll get rid of them if that’s what you want, but I’m sure the Mikoshi Nyuudou will try to somehow hinder this wager again, is that alright?”

“Well, then that’s just the way it is, there is nothing I can do about it!”

The Mikoshi Nyuudou was about half of its size. The fresh wounds all over its body were painful, as it was probably still tired from the attack from Fuyuka earlier.

Tendou closed the book. Then, the fire that had enveloped the Mikoshi Nyuudou’s body was extinguished and the figures of the small demons also dissipated.

After that the kaii stood up. It was still more than twice the size of Shouma. The boy knew he had no chance of winning with the normal course of events.

“Mikoshi Nyuudou! From now on, let’s make this match fair and square! I’ll crush that lantern! You just try to defend it! How about it?”

“…If you think you can do it, just give it a try!”

Shouma broke into a run. Being ridiculously naive as he is, he just wanted to go straight for it.

“Foolish human.”

Perhaps with an intention to try and catch him, the Mikoshi Nyuudou extended its hand.

“-Uh!”

“Haa!”

Shouma slid underneath its thighs. Beneath its feet, which had been in the water earlier, the earth was muddy and adequately slippery.

As if cutting through the muddy water, Shouma advanced and came around behind the kaii.

Then, he eventually found the lantern he was looking for, resting behind the tree.

“One, two…!”

“Stooop!”

Shouma crashed the lantern with his foot. In that moment, the Mikoshi Nyuudou also popped and returned to its original human size.

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Translator’s Notes:

[1] 不知火 ‘unknown/mysterious fire’ Small, bluish fireballs which are floating above the sea, in the shores of Kyushu and usually appear around the end of July. At midnight, only one fireball would first appear in the quiet darkness of the sea. Soon there would be two, three, and then their number would increase until the floating flames could be seen even several miles away. The people of the past believed the small flames were the manifestation of Ryuujin, a dragon, who was the kami (god) of the sea. On these days, it was forbidden to go out fishing.

[2] 小鬼 ‘small demon’ It is a small, oni-like creature usually with red skin. There is hardly any information or sources of the Shouki, but there is one legend which tells of a confrontation between this yokai and a spirit. According to it, when Hojo Tokimasa ruled over Japan, a little demon appeared in his dreams and tried to kill him. He tried various means to kill the creature but to no avail. One night, a man appeared in his dreams telling the man that it was the spirit of the sword Tokimasa carried and if the sword would be purified, it could kill the demon which tormented him. Tokimasa cleansed the sword and the next night cast the figure of a demon next to a brazier. Later he saw that the shadow of the sword, still on the floor, cut through the shadow of the demon, which never showed itself again in the dreams of Hojo Tokimasa. (example)

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