15 Days
I headed for the annex Shibata had come out of. Knowing he'd emerged from it, the place no longer looked like any ordinary outbuilding. The shrine maiden might even be inside.
A mess in here, for all how clean it looked from the outside.
The interior was a shambles. Broken decorative fragments and trash lay scattered everywhere. Bloodstains showed here and there. A large bed sat in one corner. It was clear Shibata had been living here.
As I looked around, I narrowed my eyes. Instinct was telling me something was here.
Might as well open every door in the place.
The door beside the bed was the right one. Stepping through, I found another door beyond it.
A steel door. No handle. A card key was required to open it—state-of-the-art security that had no business in a shrine. I rapped the iron door with the back of my hand, then stepped back.
Not breaking that. Going to need a card key.
I went back and started tearing the annex apart. This was the place Shibata had been guarding. There was a chance his card key was still around.
I was right.
I found the card key nestled carefully inside Shibata's desk. Taking it, I approached the steel door. A soft beep, and the door opened.
I went in.
There were people. White lab coats, masks over their faces.
"Who are you—ghhhk!"
I killed the researchers the moment I saw them.
There weren't many. Only four in total. After finishing them all, I slowly surveyed the room.
So this is a lab. And I can tell what they were researching, too.
One room was packed with specimens. Dismembered human bodies. Corpses with swollen, bloated skin.
They'd clearly been running human experiments.
Shibata must have been the successful product.
I searched the lab down to the last corner. No shrine maiden.
Leaving the lab, I moved deeper into the shrine, walking carefully, alert for enemies that might come from anywhere.
I found a corpse. Black clothes.
…Not one of mine. I never even made it this far. Cause of death… throat cut with a blade.
And not a long blade like the Japanese sword I was carrying. Judging by the wound, it was a knife-length weapon.
Hagawa Ryoko. She killed this one.
I pressed further in. A few more bodies appeared. Same clean kills as the first. No signs of a fight—assassination, no question.
A ninja, all right.
I walked on, impressed by Hagawa Ryoko's skill.
A wooden door came into view, something about it carrying a quiet dignity. I didn't approach carelessly. I fixed my eyes on it and sharpened my senses. Presence inside.
Too clumsy to be an ambush.
If the point had been a surprise attack, they would have erased every trace of their presence.
The corpses outside. The presence within.
Looks like it's already over. Nakagami Risa and Hagawa Ryoko did better than I expected.
I opened the wooden door without hesitation.
A wide chamber lit by candles. High ceiling, an altar at the center. On the altar lay a painting covered in intricate patterns—probably a symbol of the mountain god this shrine worshipped.
What mattered wasn't the altar. It was the three beauties standing in front of it.
Two of them were women who had already been in my arms. Nakagami Risa and Hagawa Ryoko. They stood there boldly, blood spattered on their clothes, a hatchet in one hand and a dagger in the other.
Between them, forced to her knees, sat another woman.
Even under their threat she hadn't lost her composure. Dressed in shrine maiden robes, she looked straight at me with deep, steady eyes.
The mastermind of Ookaruma Village. The shrine maiden of this place. Kaminoyama Kagura.
"You're here? Later than I expected."
Nakagami Risa spoke. The corner of her mouth was trembling—like she was holding something back. Looking closer, it wasn't just her mouth. Her whole body was shaking faintly. I stared openly at her lower half, at her crotch. She was wearing hot pants, and a dark stain showed at the center.
Got off on the killing. Looks like she came a few times already… and she's right on the edge again.
Nakagami Risa seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the situation.
"…Why are you alone?"
Hagawa Ryoko asked me.
"Mori-senpai, Fudo-senpai, and Nebata-senpai are dead. That modified human wasn't anything ordinary."
"……Kyoshiro?"
"Wada ran."
"…Wada ran? Don't lie to me. Wada would never do that."
"I told you the truth. Whether you believe it is up to you."
"……As long as Wada's safe, that's enough."
I tilted my head at Hagawa Ryoko's words. Her reaction was weaker than I'd expected. I'd thought she'd at least lash out hard, even if she didn't attack me.
I walked toward them.
"Second time we've met, right?"
The shrine maiden was still calm.
"Yes. I didn't expect we'd meet again under circumstances like these. I am Kaminoyama Kagura, shrine maiden of Ookaruma Shrine."
"Seong Yujin. A Chosenjin."
Hagawa Ryoko flinched. She was the one who called me Chosenjin at every opportunity. When I glanced at her, she looked away.
"You're Korean."
"Isn't Chosenjin the same thing?"
"Joseon is a nation that no longer exists. I hold no prejudice against Korea. I would prefer you not misunderstand me, Seong-nim."
"No prejudice against people, you mean. Because under you, everyone is equal."
"……."
The shrine maiden didn't deny it.
"Seong-nim. There is something I am curious about. May I ask?"
"What?"
"Your true identity. I investigated the members of the Japan Festival Study Circle as thoroughly as possible—to minimize variables and keep the village under control. Your background was ordinary. Father a section chief at a major corporation, mother a full-time housewife, younger sister a middle school student. Nothing unusual in your upbringing either. But the Seong-nim I experienced firsthand… possessed combat ability I would not believe even if told you were a special agent of the Korean government. What exactly are you?"
She really wanted to know.
Fair enough. My existence had completely shattered her plans.
"I'm an ordinary university student."
"…Is that a joke? A very unamusing one."
"An ordinary university student who likes women."
"……."
Right in front of the shrine maiden's face, I stripped until I was naked.
My cock stood rigid, flaunting itself inches from her nose. I could feel her breath on it. Her expression didn't change, but her breathing roughened slightly.
"…You intend to violate me."
"A beauty like you right in front of me… my cock stood up hard. You made it angry, so take responsibility."
"I have already requested external support. When the sun rises, the yakuza I have partnered with will enter the village fully armed."
"And?"
"…Even if you try to leave the mountain now, it is already surrounded. There is only one way for any of you to return home alive."
"What's that?"
"End it here. And forget everything that happened in this village. Nothing happened here. Everything you saw was a midsummer night's dream. You and I have no connection. We never met."
"Too many people died. Mori-senpai's face—he was the circle president—still floats in front of my eyes…. Every time I see the empty space he left, I think today's going to come back to me."
I couldn't even remember Mori Masahiro's face. Right now all I could see was the shrine maiden's clean, composed features. At the thought of taking her, a clear bead of precum gathered at the tip of my cock.
"…As a gesture of apology, I will give each of you one billion yen."
One billion yen.
Roughly ten billion won in Korean money.
An enormous sum.
The way she throws that number out without blinking… the business must be huge. The Japanese government is probably involved too.
I looked at the two women on either side of her.
This was a quest world. I wouldn't care if she offered a hundred trillion instead of ten billion. But they were different.
"Risa-senpai. What do you think?"
"Honestly, it's tempting. One billion is huge. But… this woman can command yakuza. What if she sends them after us later to kill us? If we're dead, the billion doesn't mean shit."
"I swear it. The moment you accept my proposal, the matter ends. I will never retaliate against any of you."
The shrine maiden spoke firmly. Her clean, calm voice inspired trust almost against your will.
That delivery was a technique in its own right.
"Ryoko. You?"
I used her name. Hagawa Ryoko only frowned as she answered.
"There's no other way. Even if we have the upper hand right now… if the yakuza come for revenge, we're finished."
"So we take the shrine maiden's offer?"
"…You decide. You're not ordinary."
"Ryoko's right. You decide, Yujin. I'll go with whatever you choose."
The shrine maiden's previously composed eyes wavered. One of her aims had clearly been to sow division with money. Split opinions, and she could buy time. What she hadn't anticipated was their personalities.
Hagawa Ryoko didn't like stepping forward directly. True to a ninja, she preferred working from behind. Handing me the decision was part of that—and she didn't care much about money either.
Nakagami Risa didn't care much about money either. What excited her wasn't cash—it was raw slaughter. She was currently hooked on me. She would want to stay with me going forward.
"We want safety. Accepting your proposal blindly is too dangerous. We can't take it."
"…I see. Do you intend to report what happened in the village and call for outside help? I will be ruined, of course. But you will die as well. The yakuza will arrive before any help does."
"What if we take you hostage?"
"The yakuza are not fools. They will kill me and cut the tail. They will clean you up as well, of course. And they will retaliate against your families. That is the kind of people they are."
"A threat, huh. Scary."
I grinned and shoved my cock into her mouth. She had just been about to speak, so it slid right in.
"Mmmp?!"
The shrine maiden jerked her head back at once and spat it out. Brief as it was, I clearly felt her soft lips and wet tongue.
She spat onto the floor with a look of pure disgust. My precum was probably mixed in.
"Is this your choice? Very well. Let us all go to hell together. If you thought I would beg you for my life… you are badly mistaken."
"Don't get the wrong idea. That was just a joke."
I gave my cock a lazy shake. Nakagami Risa swallowed hard. Hagawa Ryoko watched me in silence, eyes narrowed.
"I don't like the options on the table, so I'm making a new one."
"……I will hear it."
"Let us in on the business you're running."