Mountain Frog

That was a huge, slightly plump frog. He had only one large eye on his head, two curved black horns, and many withered yellow flowers and plants growing on his back. Although an amphibian, his robust physique had many characteristics of a beast.

A frog yokai? And one that can talk!

Looking at the large frog who had suddenly spoken to her, Miketsu first turned to glance at the guards still in the distance. Due to the far distance, it seemed they hadn't heard what the frog had just said.

"Is there anything wrong with sympathizing with the innocent and the weak?" Miketsu whispered as she approached the frog's cage.

"Eh... perhaps there's nothing wrong... but I think that's at least sympathy between one's own kind. You're an Onmyoji, you pity yokai?" the frog continued, seemingly very surprised by Miketsu, dressed in her kariginu, having done those things.

"Yokai are vastly different, and so are humans. It's not impossible for an Onmyoji to sympathize with yokai, is it?" Miketsu smiled faintly, then continued speaking to the frog.

"Hmm... perhaps you have a point. Maybe the humans in Heian-kyo are different from those in Kanto. We don't have humans like you there."

"Kanto?"

"That's my hometown... no, or rather, the hometown of all the yokai imprisoned here. We were all captured by human samurai and Onmyoji and brought here," the frog said, scanning the other cages.

"What did you do to get caught? Attacked humans?"

"We didn't! Most of us here didn't! We were just living alone in the forest; those humans came looking for us!" The frog reacted somewhat strongly to Miketsu's words.

Hearing him, Miketsu paused slightly, then frowned.

"Please tell me more about your situation..."

After this, Miketsu learned that the frog yokai before her was named Mountain Frog, a yokai born and living in the mountains and forests. Like most of the yokai in this prison, they were active in the vast wilderness of Kanto.

In Kanto, there was a very powerful human noble clan called the Taira Clan. Unlike the Onmyoji families of Heian-kyo, the Taira Clan's Onmyojutsu lineage was weak. They were a samurai family who relied on a large number of spiritual tools, elixirs, and talismans to arm themselves. To obtain more talismans, elixirs, and spiritual tools from the Onmyoji families of Heian-kyo, they extensively captured yokai and transported them to Heian-kyo for exchange.

For the Taira Clan, their capture of yokai was not to defend against yokai attacks on humans, but to continuously enhance their own strength. Whether yokai attacked humans or not was irrelevant to them; as long as they could be captured and exchanged for supplies, that was enough. Almost all the yokai imprisoned here were hermits living in the forests. For them, being transported to Heian-kyo meant being forcibly enslaved as shikigami or becoming materials for alchemy and crafting.

"So... those guys' own territory clearly has many places frequently attacked by yokai, with people dying every day, yet they don't specifically subjugate and capture those truly attacking yokai. Instead, they organize groups to go into the mountains and capture us in large numbers..." Mountain Frog continued, his tone filled with resentment and helplessness.

"They don't subjugate yokai attacking their own territory, but instead massively capture you? Why is that?" Hearing Mountain Frog's words, Miketsu was curious. Is that how a lord acts?

"Because it's faster that way. The attacked villages are too scattered, and one outing can at most only catch one yokai. It's far less than organizing people to go into the mountains once and catching many. Moreover, yokai that attack humans are usually very cunning, not as easy to deal with as us," Mountain Frog complained indignantly to Miketsu, and his words clearly piqued Miketsu's interest.

According to Mountain Frog, the Taira Clan's main objective was intriguing. Generally speaking, the purpose of human demon slayers in acquiring power is to better protect the human realm. However, the Taira Clan's goal was to desperately obtain more spiritual tools, talismans, and medicines to further enhance their strength, and then go on to capture more yokai to exchange for resources, completely neglecting their own people in their territory. This was completely putting the cart before the horse.

These Taira people were desperately increasing their military might, but this increase was not intended to protect their territory or fight against the demon realm. So what exactly was their purpose?

"Oh, and one more thing. Those guys caught some treasure from somewhere and transported it to Heian-kyo with us. They even put it in a big iron box, covered it with cloth, and guarded it tightly all the way. When they first arrived in this city, it was kept with us, but before you came, I don't know where they moved it. From their demeanor, they didn't even want you Onmyoji from Heian-kyo to know about its existence," Mountain Frog finally whispered, revealing new information to Miketsu. His attitude made Miketsu somewhat curious.

"Thank you for the information... but why are you telling me so much? Are you hoping I'll let you go?" Miketsu said calmly, looking at Mountain Frog in the cage.

"No, no, I don't have that hope. Although you are different from them, you are still human. Releasing us would be betraying your own kind, which would make you an outcast. I don't expect you to go that far for us simply out of sympathy.

"From another perspective, even if you released us here, what then? We are chronically weak and have no combat power; we can't escape... And I know how strong the Taira samurai are. Even if we were in good condition, and with an Onmyoji like you, the chances of victory would still be very slim. So, don't waste your effort..." Mountain Frog finished, his eyes filled with helplessness.

"The reason I'm telling you all this is simply because you're not from the Taira Clan; you're an Onmyoji from Heian-kyo. Many things the Taira Clan does are hidden from Heian-kyo. I just want to get some final revenge on the Taira Clan..." As he spoke, Mountain Frog looked sadly at the ceiling.

"I have no expectations for my future. I just hope that little one, abandoned in the forest, is safe and sound..."

Looking at the silent Mountain Frog, Miketsu remained quiet, her mind swirling with various thoughts.

...

Leaving the dungeon, Miketsu returned alone to the mansion. She entered the room prepared specifically for her, closed the door, and sat cross-legged on the tatami mat.

"Tsuruha, it seems this mission we've accepted isn't so simple..."

"Indeed, Lady Uka is right... Although we can't fully trust that frog yokai's words, these Taira samurai don't seem very trustworthy either..."

"Heh, then let's see what these samurai are hiding..."

As she spoke, Miketsu took several very small, folded paper cranes from her sleeve...