Sleeping with the Enemy? (1)
“How is it that not a single carriage has passed us by?”
For that very reason, we were now on our third straight day of trudging along on foot.
It had already been two full weeks since we took down the Underground Kingdom’s great bandits and the Yakuza.
Had every last carriage driver starved to death or something?
“We’re near the borderlands, so the rumors probably spread slowly. They might all be watching each other, waiting. People don’t come until they’re sure it’s actually safe.”
Fair enough. It would be pretty ridiculous for a taxi driver to hear the war was over and immediately start taking fares again.
“Tch.”
There was one more thing grinding my gears besides that.
Whirr-clank. Whirr-clank.
That godawful mechanical noise.
I’d ignored it because it was so slow, but the thing had been closing the distance little by little even while our party slept.
Time to deal with it.
I checked Muka’s line of sight, slipped a little behind, and pressed in close to Orphe.
“W-what? What is it?”
Orphe startled and stepped back.
Her reaction was pure rookie.
“Orphe. Ever since we left Goldon, that scrap heap has been following us.”
“Scrap heap? The metal human?”
“Yeah. I’m thinking of chasing it off. Can you keep an eye on Muka for me?”
“Would Muka even listen to me?”
That one I honestly didn’t know.
“What are you two doing back there~? Getting all lovey-dovey~?!”
Our whispered conversation had gone on too long; Muka’s interest was piqued. Her meddling skill was straight-up SSS-rank.
“Diana’s right here, you know! You can’t do that~!”
Diana? A brilliant idea flashed through my mind.
A scheme only I, Shin Nobin, could pull off.
“Whoops? My foot slipped—ah!”
I pretended to lose my balance and ‘lightly’ hooked Diana’s leg.
“Eek!”
“Oh no~! Are you okay~?”
Muka hurried over to support Diana, who had ‘lightly’ fallen and ‘lightly’ scraped her knee.
It was only ‘lightly,’ so it absolutely did not count as child abuse.
“Uuu…”
Diana’s face crumpled. But a yokai couldn’t actually shed tears.
“This looks serious. Don’t worry—I’ll go find some medicinal herbs. Muka, you take care of Diana’s wound! See you later!”
I made my escape at once.
Diana! I’m sorry! I’ll feed you tons of delicious food later to make up for it!
She’s a yokai, so the scrape’ll heal in no time!
“Wow…”
Orphe’s awed murmur drifted from behind me.
Watch and learn, kid.
This is what a professional looks like.
“Nin-nin.”
I jogged at a leisurely pace until I was out of Muka’s sight, then poured on the speed.
Hop! Hop!
A few leaps with the Ninja Earth-Shrinking Technique and there it was.
“You really wanna die? Why do you keep tagging along like some lost puppy?”
Normally a runaway ninja was supposed to kill yokai on sight, no questions asked.
But after Lamina’s case, I’d decided that ones who’d been enslaved or humanized didn’t necessarily need to die.
Why had I spared this one?
Because it seemed quick on the uptake—like it had already taken Human Lessons 101.
Betraying my goodwill like this, though? Not cool.
“This is your last warning. I let you live, so get lost quietly.”
[There seems to be a misunderstanding between us. I am not an enemy. I wish to establish amicable relations.]
“Whatever. What’s that thing in your hand?”
The scrap heap was holding a bulging sack. Please don’t let it be a homemade bomb.
[I gathered plants rich in nutrients along the way. Eat them together. They are abundant in nourishment. Especially beneficial for the dragon-kin child.]
The sack it held out was piled high with all sorts of vegetables.
“….”
Having just given Diana a ‘light’ shove, I felt a twinge of guilt.
“Thanks for this, cyber-yokai. Why go this far?”
Its heart seemed to be in the right place, so I accepted the bribe.
They looked tasty; I’d eat about half myself.
This body’s original owner, Candidate 567, was still growing, after all.
Probably.
[Yokai… so you truly are an Earthling. Bearer of an Earthling’s soul. I am not a yokai, but a member of the Gogmagog race. My people stood with the Hero against the Watchmen. Therefore we are not enemies. One could even call us comrades.]
Claiming it wasn’t a yokai.
Bringing vegetables for Diana’s sake made the claim a little more believable.
Yokai had no capacity for consideration or altruism; they simply couldn’t act like this.
Had my threat to kill it made me prejudiced?
It had explained that its brain was damaged.
Let’s just chalk it up to temporary dementia from living too long.
My own grandfather used to claim the voice of the devil Satan rang in his ears and scribbled graffiti all over the house.
Waking up one morning to find my entire room painted red had been a bit of a shock.
I couldn’t be bothered to deal with it, so I just went back to sleep.
Most of the screaming came from my little sister.
“Fine. Let’s say you’re not a yokai for now.”
Heroes and Watchmen meant nothing to me and I honestly wasn’t curious, so I let it slide.
“Still doesn’t make us comrades. How do you even know about Earth?”
[Knowledge input by the Hero is stored within me. Even with my memories damaged, the knowledge remains intact. I possess no information on the present continent, however.]
Knowledge? Information?
“You know about TreeWiki?”
[Earth’s collective-intelligence encyclopedia. A similar function is built into me. Our race shares knowledge.]
“Then you are a comrade.”
Sudden spike in favorability.
Lately Orphe’s exposition-dump skill had been falling off.
Not her fault.
Just that too many weird things kept happening even by this world’s standards.
Could this scrap heap become my isekai TreeWiki?
[You consider me a comrade? Fortunate. I have business with you and the blue-haired girl. I wish to join your party.]
Even cut into six pieces it wouldn’t die, so it could buy plenty of time while civilians evacuated, right?
Comrade. I’d keep an eye on it, but for now I’d allow it. A few questions first.
“Answer my questions first. How’d you follow us all the way here?”
[I operate on stored solar energy. Unlike ordinary living beings, I require neither rest nor sleep. I simply kept walking, tracking your footprints.]
An eco-friendly robot with tracking functions.
“How’d you wake up underground? No sun down there.”
[One of your party members touched my external temporary power source. It was not originally mine, but after long ages—]
“Stop. I get the idea.”
So that was what Diana stepped on.
It said it was ancient, so maybe…
“You know Delamion?”
[Delamion. One of the great warriors of the dragon-kin. According to stored knowledge, he too was a comrade who stood against the Watchmen. Does he still live?]
“Not anymore. I killed him.”
[What? Why?]
“Because he was a yokai who practiced cannibalism with the residents of a yokai village.”
[Cannibalism? The dragon-kin? Confusing. What happened while I was inactive to cause such a thing?]
This bastard kept answering questions with more questions.
“Dunno. Ask Orphe or find a book.”
It pondered for a moment.
[May I join your party?]
“Sure.”
A TreeWiki that never slept or rested.
That was precious labor power.
[I am aware you dislike questions. May I ask just one more?]
“Go ahead.”
[The Gogmagog race can sense souls through a second sight. Two Watchman souls are bound to you. What method did you use?]
Two entities? Was it calling those Spirit-Torture yokai Watchmen?
“They crawled into my brain, so I killed them.”
Something about a palace or whatever—the situation had been so chaotic I barely remembered.
Honestly, the weird ones were the guys who kept running their mouths mid-fight.
[Incomprehensible. That the Watchmen have begun interfering again, and that someone has harvested their souls… Yet… perhaps… you may be the solution.]
It was muttering like crazy.
“Questions are over. Follow me.”
The scrap heap was wearing an iron mask of unknown origin and a large robe.
Its voice sounded human enough, so no problem. We could just introduce it as someone covering face and body because of injuries, right?
I returned to the party.
“Say hello. An old friend of mine. I ran into him by chance while looking for herbs. Funny enough, he was carrying a ton of medicinal plants and vegetables. Perfect for Diana. He’ll be traveling with us from now on. When he was little, the villagers beat him half to death in a group assault, so his body and face are all smashed up. Let’s not get curious about what he looks like.”
Perfect explanation.
Asking about or mentioning scars left by bullying, ostracism, and group violence was an insult to the victim’s dignity. Any normal person would know better than to pry.
The word ‘assault’ reminded me of the kid who used to smear me as a ‘psycho’ back in the day.
I had been destructive and violent then, so I hadn’t taken that kind of insult lying down.
Jimin, how’ve you been?
Still thanking Buddha that those five teeth bought you your life?
You could’ve died that day, you know.
Anyway, school violence is never okay.
[Pleased to meet you.]
The scrap heap gave the party a small wave of one hand.
The motion was a bit slower than an ordinary adult male’s, but not alien.
I shot Orphe and Diana a quick look. Their slight nods told me they’d gotten the message.
“Nice to meet you~! I’m Muka~! What’s your name~?”
Even Muka, whose social skills were weirdly excellent, was no problem.
[Name…]
Ah, right—it had said its brain damage made it forget its name.
I’d have to invent one. TreeWiki plus robot…
“This guy’s name is Tribo.”
[Correct. I look forward to working with you.]
“Yes~! Mr. Tribo~! To celebrate becoming friends, shall I sing you a song~?!”
“If you don’t want to watch me lose my mind, let’s save that for later.”
“Mr. Robin’s secretly such a prude~! Alrighty~!”
That devil’s tongue of hers could trigger murderous impulses.
Was Muka one of the daughters of the Sixth Heaven Demon King who interfered with Buddha’s enlightenment?
Trudge, trudge.
After the introductions were done, we walked hard.
According to the childlike scribble of a map Muka carried, a village should appear soon.
We planned to rest there first and look into hiring a carriage.
Walking all the way to Neo-Solitron on two legs would be pure insanity.
Whirr-clank. Whirr-clank.
It was driving me up the wall.
“Orphe. You hear a weird noise? Like a whirr-clank?”
“No?”
Only I could hear it? Was my hearing just too good?
Sadly, in the land of the blind, the two-eyed man was the one who suffered.
— Welcome! Friendly Evergreen Village is just ahead!
Finally.
“A signpost~! We’re almost there~!”
“Let’s split up once we’re in the village. I’d prefer we don’t act like we know each other.”
“Yes~! Take it easy and rest~!”
Just as we were about to end this torturous journey—
“Halt!”
Three women in red armor blocked our path.
Had they been waiting in this alley the whole time?
I hadn’t heard a single distinctive sound.
“Robin. They’re the knight order under the direct command of the Flowing Sword King.”
Orphe’s eyes sharpened.