The Most Suspicious One
A chilling killing intent that had no effect on me zeroed in on my neck. The man looked ready to cut us down at any moment. Without shifting my gaze, I whispered to Sis.
"Seems like it's because of you, Sis."
"Ugh... sorry. I didn't think he'd recognize me. I figured his brain would be totally empty after falling for a yokai's charm."
That made sense logically. In a world overrun by yokai, they said the three things you had to be most careful of were kids, the elderly, and women.
But two kids suddenly appearing in the middle of the forest at night? Being on guard was the right call.
Soon, others who heard the man's shout surrounded us, all of them readying swords and spells.
"Let that child go right now, you monster!"
"...?"
The razor-sharp sword tip wasn't pointed at 4-cheok Sis. It was aimed squarely at my forehead.
I turned to the side in bewilderment. 4-cheok Sis had her eyes wide open in disbelief too.
"Me?"
When I pointed at my own face with my finger, the man twisted his expression in disgust.
"Yeah! You're the most out-of-place thing in this forest! Don't even try lying!"
Out-of-place? Me?
I glanced at Sis, who didn't fit the part at all, and she was covering her mouth, desperately holding back laughter. Feeling wronged, I subtly pointed at her with my finger and asked again.
"No, mister... not me, it's this one over here..."
"Shut up! You think you can fool us just by taking human form?!"
Agreements erupted from all around. My excuse only seemed to rile them up more, making their auras even fiercer.
I locked eyes with the man and quietly asked Sis,
"Sis, what's going on here...?"
"Heh heh. Looks like they've fallen deep under Lannancy's charm. They can accept yokai without any aversion now."
Sis explained it like this: Their brains, ensnared by the charm, had a broken filter for recognizing yokai. So the real yokai—4-cheok Sis—was seen as just a poor little girl wandering the forest alone at this hour.
Meanwhile, I was an ordinary boy, so I didn't benefit from the broken filter.
My pristine appearance probably didn't help either. Clean clothes, average human boy looks. No way a normal kid like that would be in the heart of a yokai-infested forest at night.
So the conclusion was obvious.
'That guy's a yokai wearing human skin!'
I scratched my head. These were the first people I'd met since running away from home. I wanted to leave a good impression if possible.
"Can't you talk them into letting us go, Sis?"
I whispered to her. She lifted the corner of her mouth in a menacing grin.
"We could just eat them all. What's the problem?"
Shouldn't have asked. Her eyes darkened to black. But the people were still watching my every move.
'Ugh.'
It was a powder keg ready to blow.
That's when it happened.
"What's going on...?"
Lannancy, who had been sitting by the campfire, staggered over toward us. She froze when she saw us—or rather, when she saw 4-cheok Sis next to me.
"...Hic."
Her eyes trembled like aspen leaves. 4-cheok Sis leisurely waved at her and smacked her lips.
"Hi?"
Lannancy had no time to respond to the greeting. Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly as the tremor spread from her eyes throughout her body.
"Th-that thing...! There's no way something like that could be in this forest...!"
Lannancy backed away. Her companions blocked her path and shouted,
"Miss! We'll protect you!"
"Judging by the features, it looks like a Doppelganger-type yokai! Could that little girl be the sister you've been looking for?"
Their sword tips stayed fixed on me.
Normally, encountering an unknown yokai in the forest at night meant running away. Even if you won, the blood and noise would attract more. But the charmed group lacked the brains for that judgment.
"You idiots... it's not that boy, it's the one next to him...!"
She squeezed out the words, but instinctual fear made her voice crawl.
'What if she fights all six of them?'
She was in a state where she'd constrained her life force to heighten her charm ability alone. Zero combat power.
All six men had their vitality drained by her, leaving them too weak to fight properly.
Now look at our side.
Even normally, an 8-cheok ghost like her could rip apart a healthy adult man. And now, after devouring kin to raise her realm? Plus her trait of growing stronger against those who've seen her face. Everyone here had.
'They're all dead.'
Lannancy's face went deathly pale. Her already sickly complexion turned corpse-like. 4-cheok Sis tossed a casual remark her way.
"You think your puppets can protect you?"
"Hic! Hic!"
Lannancy's hiccups worsened. Reacting to the fear, Sis's mouth split up to her ears.
Crack. Creak.
Sis's small frame began growing in an instant, nearing 8-cheok.
Her grotesquely stretching shadow engulfed the surroundings, but the charmed ones didn't sense anything off.
"Ku hu hut! Dinner time."
As Sis raised her claws to charge—
I grabbed her hand.
"Sis."
"Yeah?"
Her movement halted for a moment. She erased the irritation from being interrupted mid-meal and looked down at me. Her torn mouth had already returned to normal.
"What's up?"
"Do we have to kill the humans too?"
She tilted her head.
"You want to let them live?"
"Yeah. They're the first people I've met since leaving home... Feels wrong to part ways like this."
It wasn't some sense of justice. I just missed people. Living people, not ones on the dinner table.
And if possible, I wanted a ride on that carriage.
Sis looked down at me for a moment, then shrugged.
"If that's what you want. Fine, I'll just eat that one."
Her finger pointed straight at Lannancy. The instant it did—
Thud thud!
Lannancy came sprinting over and clung to my arm.
"L-Little bro!"
"...Pardon?"
"I found you at last! My lost little brother! It's me, your big sis!"
Lannancy screamed desperately.
I couldn't understand why she was latching onto me.
'Does she think 4-cheok Sis is wary of me?'
We were just traveling together because our interests aligned. Not some master-servant thing. But in Lannancy's eyes, it seemed like winning me over would save her.
'Well, since 4-cheok Sis treats me like a little brother, it's not entirely wrong.'
The sudden development brought silence to the forest. The people reacted first.
"L-Little brother?"
"So that boy is the one you've been looking for...?"
"Is he really your brother, miss? He might be a yokai."
"Yes! My little brother!"
The killing intent faded from their eyes, replaced by relief.
"Thank goodness... really, thank goodness!"
"We found him! We can finally get out of this damn forest!"
They sheathed their swords and spells, cheering. Some even teared up in emotion. They hurried toward the carriage to pack up.
But the tension between the remaining one person and two yokai didn't ease.
The now-8-cheok Sis murmured accusingly.
"...Sis?"
Her eyes narrowed unpleasantly. She tilted her head sideways.
"Who... whose sis?"
"Hic!"
Lannancy desperately avoided her gaze and clung to me. I looked at the baffled girl with her arms around me.
"Please... please just say yes...!"
She whispered in a mosquito-like voice. The moment our eyes met, hers gleamed strangely. I felt like a feather was settling over my head.
'Is this the charm?'
I waited to see if anything changed, but nothing happened.
'Just like 4-cheok Sis said, it doesn't work on me.'
Maybe I stared too intently while lost in thought.
"Wh-why isn't the charm... N-no way, are you the type with strong mental resistance?"
Lannancy muttered in total defeat.
"I'll do anything! Money, jewels, whatever you want...! Please...!"
Her eyes shone even brighter. In her panic, she was blurting out anything.
'Anything I want?'
The charm didn't seem to work, as Sis said, but her offer was tempting.
I glanced back at the carriage.
'I can just ask to bring 4-cheok Sis along too.'
If Lannancy died, the charm would break. Sane people would never let 4-cheok Sis ride.
'Hate to part ways with her like this.'
I looked back at Lannancy. Tears now welled up in her eyes. Maybe because she was a fairy yokai first, she seemed pretty emotional.
I decided to play along.
"Yeah, you're my big sis."
"What...?"
"Phew...!"
At my words, Sis shrank from 8-cheok back to 4-cheok.
"You..."
She looked incredulous as she pried Lannancy off me and dragged me to the side. Lannancy watched with a triumphant expression, like she'd won.
"You serious?"
With a worried face, 4-cheok Sis placed her hands on both my cheeks.
Squeeze.
Her cold hands pressed in.
"...That one's your sis? Not me? Answer carefully."
"Of course neither of you is my real sis. I'm an only child."
Sis's eyes widened, then she sighed in relief and released the pressure on my cheeks.
"Don't scare me like that. Thought you'd been charmed. I knew you wouldn't, but still."
"Just playing along. Better if they're charmed so we can ride the carriage together."
"You..."
For some reason, 4-cheok Sis looked deeply moved.
"Got it. I'll hold back till we reach the nearest city..."
She nodded in agreement.
"Little bro! Come here! Don't hang around that girl!"
Lannancy beckoned impatiently. When 4-cheok Sis glared, she started hiccuping again.
As I approached, Lannancy grinned and said to 4-cheok Sis,
"Wh-what now? Your precious toy... hic! Is in m-my hands now? If you try to eat me, I'll tell him to kill himself! S-so don't, don't try anything!"
Stammering from fear but still saying her piece.
'Do fairies have multiple lives or something?'
The thought crossed my mind.
"G-got it? My little minion's minion!"
4-cheok Sis replied with a chilling smile.
"Yeah. Sure. Hope we get to the city soon."
I looked at Lannancy with a worried expression.