Mob Yandere

[Part 2/6]

For Fusō-kuni, defending the Center region and the capital was a top priority.

However, abandoning the local areas entirely was unthinkable.

Unlike before, the development in all directions was on a massive scale, and the economic ties were strong.

It was impractical.

This was the reason they had sent a team to deal with the Kappa.

The withdrawal of so many forces from the capital stirred up concern.

Most of the noble families disagreed with sending more exorcists away from the city.

Half of them were motivated by fear, while the other half by cold calculation.

On the other hand, there were many who criticized this decision, claiming to be the "reasonable" ones.

The Minister of the Left was viewed as a symbol of virtue, highly regarded by the public.

In Fusō, he was undoubtedly the most trusted leader by the people.

Everyone viewed him favorably and trusted him, even if he had the tendency to act in strange, deviant ways when faced with certain situations...

The trust he had built up was incomparable.

No one could have predicted betrayal.

There was no one who doubted him, and...

I had no choice but to go along with it.

Am I wasting the knowledge from the original work? Unfortunately, this isn't really the issue at hand.

No matter how far I go, I'm still a Household Member Coordinator, not someone with the social trust of a Minister (Daijin).

What I said doesn't matter.

What matters is who said it.

If I carelessly spread it around, I'll end up being rejected by everyone and probably erased.

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There's nothing I can do about it.

Assassinating the Minister of the Left? That's pointless, since he'd just take over someone else's body, and even if I killed his whole family, it wouldn't solve anything.

Besides, I'd probably just get counter-attacked.

He's proven to be absurdly strong in the original story.

...I remember the princess clinging to my feet, soaking wet.

With that miserable smile, begging for favor...

If it's her, maybe she'd follow my ridiculous fantasy...

She's the ultimate wild card.

I could definitely kill her.

But I can't guarantee what happens afterward, and she's not someone I can just easily discard as a trump card.

I shouldn't think about it that way.

Before I can do anything about it, I'm assigned a new task like the other second- and third-rate exorcists.

I'm told to hunt down the small youkai that have been appearing in the Center region...

"That's why you should die!!"

'Aahh!!?'

I swing my spear.

A small beast-type youkai, I strike its throat artery in one blow, causing a fatal wound.

Ignoring the writhing creature, I turn around.

A bird-type youkai charges at me, and I break its beak and neck with a punch.

Wrapping myself in my cloak to protect against the flames, the special cloak made of Tengu feathers shields me completely from the fire.

"You lizard!!"

Huge reptiles spit fire at me.

I swing my Teguruma to deal with them.

If I had used a spear, the slime on their bodies might have deflected it, but the threads of my weapon, sharper than blades, slice through their tough muscles the moment they touch.

'Milky's... it tastes like my mom!!'

A giant bear-like mass, like an oversized baby, emerges from the bushes.

Its huge black eyes and blood-smeared jaws open wide, letting out a strange beastly scream.

"Intermediate youkai!!"

This is a rare monster in the Center region.

I could fight it, but I can't hide my surprise.

Even so, my body starts moving, preparing to kill it...

The baby-like monster suddenly plays with its hands, and I feel like I'm trapped in an invisible giant's grip.

This is bad, I must've let my guard down!.

'Give me a hug, mama!!'

I try to escape, but before I can, the monster charges at me with terrifying speed, crawling on all fours.

I click my tongue and get ready to stab with my Tantō...

"Tomobe-kun, watch out...!!"

From the side, Tamaki cuts off one of the baby's arms.

The severed arm floats in the air, spraying blood.

Her swordsmanship is flawless, and Tamaki smiles confidently.

'Hey, you're my opponent!!'

I throw myself into a kick, knocking the baby youkai off balance.

It falls next to Tamaki, and the next attack comes.

"Time to sleep!!"

Iruka swings her weapon down on the youkai's oversized head, easily smashing it.

Blood splatters everywhere, and Iruka looks back.

"Hey, Tamaki. You good?"

Iruka grins confidently, and her wild, heroic appearance makes Tamaki freeze in awe for a moment.

"Ah, y-yeah. Thanks!"

"Heh, no big deal. I just took the best part, that's all."

As Iruka wipes the blood from her weapon, she looks at me with a meaningful glance.

I know what she's trying to get me to say.

"...I'll make a note of it. The young lady too, she was saved. I almost got caught off guard myself."

"Yes, we need to support each other, right? ...What about you, Iruka? Is there anyone else?"

Tamaki answers with a bitter smile and looks around.

Iruka, with his wolf-like ears twitching, crouches down to listen to the surroundings, using all his senses to search.

"...Nothing within a 500-step radius. I think we're done for now."

Iruka concludes, and I nod with Tamaki, signaling to our backup crew to begin cleaning up the bodies.

* * *

"Medium youkai 1, small youkai 14, young youkai 20... wow. I didn't expect to find such a big group of youkai in the Center region. This is the largest number I've seen in the areas we've visited so far."

As I rested, watching the local villagers and servants clean up the youkai bodies, the servant squad leader, Inaba, sighed and reported. The total number was 35 bodies. Even though most were weak, it was still a huge amount for the Center region, known for being safe.

"Looks like you can find dust if you search hard enough. I wonder if the local lords were slacking off. Well, if you're far from the main roads, they might not patrol often."

"That's possible. This doesn't seem to be a busy road."

The exorcists in the Center region weren't weak, but after handling several extermination missions, I started to feel that they weren't very motivated.

In the Northern region, regular patrols were expected.

Sometimes, places deep in the woods, where not many people visited, hadn't been checked for years.

This time, it was the same.

We were dealing with extermination in a lonely area, two days' walk from a town that had been losing popularity.

...Well, on the other hand, if this was the result of such careless management, it could be proof that the Center region is still safer than it looks.

In the Northern region, if you leave an area alone for too long, you'll have small to intermediate youkai showing up everywhere.

"The lack of help from the locals is surprising too. In the Northern region, people would volunteer to help fight youkai, even without a reward..."

Inaba seemed really shocked by this.