The sun in the sky had gradually set, the moon quietly rose, and night had fallen. Torches in Fangshan Castle were lit one by one, illuminating the mountain town in the darkness.
"Phew..."
Temporarily ending her conversation with Itsumaden, Miketsu let out a long breath. A faint worry appeared on her face.
After learning about these yokai and Itsumaden's situation, Miketsu had decided in her heart to help them. With the divine virtue of Inari Okami integrated into her character, she found herself unable to accept such tragedies unfolding before her. Her previous words to Itsumaden were essentially a promise to that effect.
Although she had decided to help them, the question now was how? The other party were humans, so she probably couldn't act as recklessly as before. More importantly, she was currently in human form, and direct intervention would cause many problems.
It would be best to resolve this matter discreetly.
Just as Miketsu was pondering what to do, another paper crane she had spread throughout Fangshan Castle detected an anomaly, drawing Miketsu's attention.
"It's... them?"
...
The arrival of night heightened the vigilance of the samurai and soldiers in Fangshan Castle. Holding torches, they patrolled the Lord's Residence and the city's perimeter, guarding against anything suspicious. Even the lax outsiders from Heian-kyo were now invigorated, knowing that the probability of yokai attacks would greatly increase after nightfall.
"Hmm~ hmm-hmm~ hmm~ hmm~ We're going to find Mr. Frog~ Doo-roo-roo~"
The cheerful Miss Yamausagi hummed a tune, taking small steps, skipping forward. She strutted boldly past numerous guards, occasionally making a funny face at a guard diligently standing watch.
"Hey, hey, slow down, you! And stop singing, what if they hear us?!" Standing behind Yamausagi, the tanuki Tamamura called out anxiously, one of his hands currently holding Yamausagi's.
"Haha, don't worry, Tamamura, my ability wouldn't be broken by such a tiny sound..." Behind Tamamura was Nura Rihyon, who was now smiling as he slowly spoke to the two in front. Tamamura's other hand was holding his.
And so, Nura Rihyon, Tamamura, and Yamausagi, arranged from tallest to shortest, held hands. Led by Yamausagi, they ran forward, making a ruckus as they moved among the many guards of Fangshan Castle. Yet, not a single samurai or guard looked at them directly, clearly a result of Nura Rihyon's ability.
"So, do you really know where your Mr. Frog is?" The tanuki, being pulled by Yamausagi, asked, sweating from his forehead as he looked at Yamausagi, who was happily running.
"Of course I know! It's a special understanding between me and Mr. Frog, you wouldn't get it."
Yamausagi said confidently, pointing in a direction.
"Come on, come on~ Yamausagi has a hunch Mr. Frog is this way!"
With that, Yamausagi led the two behind her, dashing forward. Before long, they ran into a dead end.
"Oh dear, that doesn't seem right, but it's okay! Let's go to the next place!"
Faced with the dead end, Yamausagi completely ignored the expressions of those behind her, and pulling the tanuki's hand, she set off for the next location.
"This way, this way~"
"Hmm... no..."
"Then it must be this way~"
"Oh dear, it's a high cliff, let's go the other way~"
...
Observing the trio running all over the city through her paper crane, Miketsu wiped the sweat from her forehead, silently complaining.
What are these guys doing? Sightseeing?
Although she was complaining, Miketsu still understood their purpose from their words: they were here to rescue someone, a Mr. Frog.
Could it be the one imprisoned in the dungeon?!
As soon as she thought of this, Miketsu immediately had an idea. She could perhaps guide them to rescue him, and then perhaps rescue Itsumaden as well.
That Nura Rihyon's ability was simply a divine tool for sneaking around, and judging by his appearance, he could even share his ability through contact. Could there be any better jailbreakers than them?
Thinking this, Miketsu immediately acted, controlling the paper crane to fly away.
...
At a mountain path intersection in front of Fangshan Castle's Lord's Residence, the trio, who had been running around for dozens of minutes, were now standing or sitting, some looking bewildered, others panting.
"Huff... huff... huff... Are, are you sure you really know the way?" The tanuki asked, sitting on the ground and panting.
"Hmm... hmm... I think I know, and then again, I don't. Yamausagi needs to think about it carefully..." Yamausagi looked around, left and right. After several dead ends, she finally didn't run off immediately.
"You better figure it out! We only brought you because you said you knew where your Mr. Frog was!" The tanuki said indignantly. Yamausagi replied, "Big tanuki, don't make noise, Yamausagi is thinking... hmm... Eh!"
Just then, Yamausagi's eyes suddenly lit up. Her gaze caught a paper crane gracefully fluttering in the air not far away. The paper crane, seemingly noticing Yamausagi's gaze, immediately circled once and flew away, taking Yamausagi's curiosity with it.
"Over there! Over there!"
"Hey, slow down, little granny..."
"It seems Miss Yamausagi has sensed a new location again. Let's hope this time it's correct."
Towards the direction the paper crane flew, Yamausagi, pulling the tanuki and Nura Rihyon, cheerfully ran off. The latter, though caught off guard, tried their best to keep up.
And so, the paper crane led the highly curious Yamausagi all the way, entering the Lord's Residence, going underground, and finally reaching the dungeon.
"Thi-this is..."
Seeing the cages around them holding many yokai, the tanuki stood frozen in place, while Nura Rihyon beside him burst out laughing.
"Hahaha, it seems our Miss Yamausagi does know the way after all."
Nura Rihyon and the tanuki were both captivated by their surroundings, while Yamausagi continued to search for the paper crane that had led her there. After curiously looking around, she saw a familiar figure.
"Ah! It's Mr. Frog!"
...
The Yamausagi trio ran wildly all over Fangshan Castle, but due to Nura Rihyon's ability, not a single guard or samurai discovered their presence. They all remained at their posts, either diligently performing their duties or joking around, guarding against unknown entities that might emerge from the dark mountains.
"Ugh-ah-ah..." At the outer defenses of Fangshan Castle, a soldier on a watchtower yawned deeply, blinking away the hazy tears in his eyes.
"Hiss... what the hell... why did it suddenly get so cold?" The soldier shivered and complained, feeling that the surrounding temperature had dropped strangely. It shouldn't be this cold at night during this season.
Enduring the sudden chill around him for a moment, the soldier cast his gaze into the distance, continuing to look at the dark mountains.
"Hmm?" Just then, the soldier seemed to see something. He rubbed his eyes, then leaned out to look into the distance, his expression gradually changing from confusion to terror. His original drowsiness vanished without a trace.
The soldier quickly grabbed the iron rod beside him, but due to his excessive nervousness, he accidentally knocked it to the ground. He quickly picked it up, then prepared to forcefully strike the alarm bell beside him.
A sharp cry shrieked from the sky. A black, six-eyed giant bird plummeted down, its sharp talons seizing the entire watchtower. Under immense kinetic energy, the fragile wooden watchtower was crushed in an instant, along with the soldier inside who hadn't even managed to ring the alarm bell.
Seeing the collapsed watchtower, the soldiers who had been chatting by the fire on the ground suddenly sprang up. One grabbed his spear and shouted loudly.
"Enemy attack!!"
An ear-splitting roar drowned out the soldier's voice. The tall wooden wall collapsed with a crash, burying many soldiers beneath it. The shouting soldier, having dodged the falling timber, turned back in shock. A three-meter-tall Skull-Patterned Giant Bear, with skull-like patterns on its chest, stared at him with crimson eyes. A massive bear paw was already raised high, ready to strike with immense force.
Smash!
Head separated from body, blood splattered. The soldier's corpse fell before the Skull-Patterned Giant Bear, but the bear didn't spare it a glance. It roared towards the Lord's Residence on the distant mountaintop, then advanced step by step.
Behind the Skull-Patterned Giant Bear, countless figures with glowing crimson eyes shrieked and roared, then collectively continued their assault on the human fortress ahead.
On the six-eyed giant bird, Minamoto no Yorimitsu watched everything on the ground with satisfaction.
"Go, go, my little darlings, everything in front of you is your enemy, all your food...
"Slaughter this city! Whether human or yokai, nothing here has any value except Itsumaden. Everyone, except Itsumaden, must die..."
Rate on N.U.
