It Doesn't Work on Me (3)
"The yokai didn't harm us and let us get this far. That must mean he's controlling them with some extraordinary power."
The old man's mutter drew varied reactions from the mercenaries.
The younger ones, spooked out of their wits, kept glancing nervously at Sariya while backing away. The sharp-eyed mercenary narrowed his gaze, flicking it between me, the yokai behind me, and back again.
"Right?"
Meanwhile, the old man clung to me like a drowning man grasping at straws, his eyes full of blind hope.
"Controlling them...?"
"Could be a high-realm yokai!"
"Nah, doesn't feel like it. My rosary's only reacting to those women."
Half right, half wrong. It was closer to my sisters just doing me a favor. I answered on impulse.
"...Yeah. I was controlling them."
My words nailed it shut. The old man crossed himself with a moved expression, and even the skeptics lowered their weapons halfway.
Awe, fear, opportunistic calculations—complicated stares crossed toward me. The group might not fully buy into blind faith, but at least I'd gotten them to pull back their blades.
That was when it happened.
Thud.
Something appeared at my feet just as I was timing a way to deflect the heavy stares.
It was a rule sheet.
"Anyway, seems the misunderstanding's cleared up. Let's take a look at this first."
I smoothly changed the subject and picked it up.
[Sweet Forest Rest Stop Guide]
Young master, we welcome your visit! This is a rest stop just for you.
1. The walls, furniture, and everything visible is a non-fattening snack. Help yourself freely.
2. If noisy sounds bother you, we'll remove them immediately.
3. Liquid dripping from the ceiling is premium aroma mist.
4. Feel free to head home with souvenirs anytime you wish.
※ P.S.: Absolutely no bringing salt into the cookie house. Violators may be forcibly expelled.
"Hm."
It was just a friendly notice. But the mood around me was like a funeral home.
"Wh-what the hell is this...?"
"It's telling us to eat people?"
"This is no ordinary rule yokai."
Faces had gone pale.
"Waaah... I don't wanna die..."
Lannancy whimpered, clinging to Sariya beside her. Sariya shoved her away, frowning.
"It's been a while since I've seen a rule sheet this dripping with malice."
"Malice?"
I reread the sheet.
Where's the malice in this?
Seeing my confusion, Sariya explained.
"The more blatant the intent in a rule sheet, the stronger the constraints' effects. In the worst case, breaking one could mean instant death."
"That bad?"
"You're seeing it too, right? Wait... you can't see it?"
She snatched my sheet with a puzzled look, stared at it long and hard, then made a fed-up face.
"...Look at mine."
I took the sheet she handed me.
...Do not eat the red syrup pie. It is an underripe guest.
...Causing a commotion may turn your body into wall material...
No matter how I squinted, there was no kindness like on mine. Just pure malice, bent on never letting entrants leave alive, as Sariya said.
"In short, eat and turn into a cookie and die, or don't and starve to death."
Sariya clicked her tongue in disgust.
"Damned if you do, damned if you don't. But we have no choice but to go in. Better to find loopholes inside than die breaking rules out here."
At her words, the group gripped their weapons with grim resolve. The rattle of spear tips cut through the forest silence.
Am I the only one it's different for?
If I had to guess why, it was probably because I melted that old woman's arm earlier.
But I can't be the only one who survives.
I stuffed the sheet in my pocket and sighed.
Even if rule yokai were kind to me, they weren't to others. If we went in like this, everyone else would end up as cookies. I hadn't even talked properly with these people yet, and I'd already grown fond of my two sisters. I didn't want to abandon them to that fate.
I slowly stepped toward the cookie house door. A sweet, sticky butter scent wafted over. As my hand touched the knob, my parents' words from the night before I ran away echoed in my mind.
That decided my runaway.
I'm a yokai's child. No one played with me growing up because I creeped them out. The ones who approached me first were neighbor kid Tommy and the elderly couple. But they all ended up as my parents' meals. Maybe I could've stopped it. Saying my parents didn't scare me would be a lie. Being used to it didn't mean I felt nothing.
The helplessness and guilt of standing by as they went on the table pushed me out of the house. I'd sworn to live normally, away from yokai. But the world wasn't that easy.
"What's wrong?"
Sariya snapped me from my thoughts.
I took in her worried gaze.
Yeah. I'm not trying to be a hero.
Not justice. Just selfish—didn't want my heart uneasy. Didn't want to see that face ruined in my dreams.
As long as the people I see are okay.
That was enough.
"I'm fine."
I flashed a light smile and flung the door wide.
"Everyone, follow me."
Stares converged. Still burdensome, but I forced my shoulders down.
"I think I know a shortcut out."
My unique rule sheet. I had to use it right.
*
Cookie house second floor, under the bed.
In the darkness, two pairs of eyes trembled. At the footsteps, Estelle from the Holy Church clamped her mouth shut, holding her breath. Beside her, young apprentice priest Kyle sweated coldly in terror.
We're all dead...
Her party had started with ten when they entered. A search team responding to a priest's report of missing villagers. Now only two remained. The rest had become cookies. Some wallpaper, some muffins on the table. Three had baked in the oven downstairs.
This was hell. Once in, no out—and the hunger hit immediately, driving you mad.
Only a few things in the house were safe; eat anything else and your body slowly turned to sugar lumps. But hunger was unbearable. In the end, comrades gnawed walls and furniture, lost reason, and turned on each other...
Estelle squeezed her eyes shut.
"Sister..."
Kyle's voice crawled out. His fingertips were already hardening like biscuits. Holy water barely held it back, but the limit loomed.
"Don't worry, Kyle."
Estelle gripped his hand tight.
"I'll... I'll figure something out."
Two ways out: Survive two weeks, or gain 3kg.
The first was impossible. The second, barely feasible.
But for the second to work, she'd have to eat comrades. Realizing that, Estelle kept a fragment of a cookie-fied comrade in her bosom.
If he eats me too, Kyle can escape.
Rule yokai weakened the more escapees. At least one had to make it out. To end this tragedy.
I wanted to be a saintess...
Her old dream. But she couldn't force sacrifice on Kyle.
Her body had more "food" than his scrawny frame. Resolve hardened, Estelle spoke.
"Kyle, listen. If I turn into a cookie—"
"S-Sister! Look there!"
Kyle yanked her hem. He pointed through the bed gap to the first-floor entrance.
"People... people are coming in!"
"What?"
More victims? Estelle peered down hurriedly. A group entered the front door. Leading them, a boy.
No spare capacity to save them too...!
As Estelle thought that.
"......Huh?"
Dumb sounds escaped both.
"Why's he...?"
The boy dashed somewhere right after entering. He stopped at a load-bearing pillar.
"No! Eating that will...!"
Estelle cried out unwittingly. Anything not rule-approved turns you to cookie on contact. Her comrades had proven it first. But the boy ate without hesitation.
"Ah..."
Estelle dropped her limp hand. Another poor lamb lost.
She turned away, clasped hands, and prayed to God.
May that boy go to a good place.
About 30 minutes passed.
"Sister."
Kyle tugged her hem again. Estelle opened her eyes. The boy must be cookie by now. Still hurt her heart.
"What is it, Kyle?"
She answered without showing it. Kyle pointed below.
"He's still eating...?"
"Pardon...?"