Chapter 77 The Kidnapper
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
I stood up without a sound.
The karakasa woman lay sprawled on the tatami, her gaze distant and unfocused. She had clawed at the woven mats in her daze, tumbling sideways; deep scratches marred the rush grass, with brittle straw fragments snagged in her fingernails.
She resembled someone overwhelmed by a potent elixir. Truth be told, a man’s essence can act like a lingering intoxicant, binding a woman’s vitality in euphoric thrall for seasons to come.
”Uh… Ah….”
Traces of spent passion seeped from her core, blending with the faint crimson of her initiation into a viscous, shadowed fluid that adhered to the taut curves of her thighs. Observing closely, her form was sculpted with generous allure, honed yet plush in ways absent from my Imperial Guards’ ranks.
Silently, I edged away from the warehouse’s shadowed rear, advancing inch by cautious inch toward the chamber’s exit.
Escape the room—that’s the plan.
Rescue lingers absent. Perhaps my furtive entry into this storage den severed the link. No witnesses marked my path. Or, akin to captives in a bandit’s lair, the perimeter might already pulse with encircled saviors.
”…Carefully. Stay calm.”
If I stepped on something, they’d notice. Psionic Power users have superhuman hearing. They can pick up sounds at volumes I can’t even hear, like wild animals.
The warehouse was littered with fish baskets, carrying baskets, hand luggage, and wooden soy sauce containers like buckets. If I stepped on or tripped over them, I’d surely be found.
I’m breathing minimally. I feel like a mouse afraid of a cat, moving slowly.
But just as I was a breath away from the door, I was grabbed from behind in a bear hug.
”Where do you think you’re going?”
”N-no, stop!”
I was embraced by a soft body.
”Let go!”
”You can’t win against me. Struggling is useless. Be good. I won’t hurt you.”
She wasn’t violent, but she was strong, and I couldn’t escape at all. I screamed and struggled with all my might.
But it was useless. Soon, a cloth napkin was stuffed into my mouth.
And I was taken back to the depths of the warehouse.
Even though I was restrained, it was done with consideration for my body, never in a way that would injure me or leave marks on my skin.
”Ngu. Nnn!”
I scratched and bit through the cloth with all my might. But it was no use.
Damn it. It’s no good.
She knew I tried to escape. I thought I had made her lose consciousness. I underestimated the recovery power of a Psionic Power user.
My whole body was wrapped tightly in hemp cloth. First, I was wrapped in a soft undergarment from the warehouse, and then doubly restrained with hemp cloth.
I felt like a mummy. I was laid on the tatami like an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, unable to move.
”Is this… a terminal?”
The karakasa woman was rummaging through my discarded clothes.
A communication device, still in a call, emerged from the sleeve of the clothes she picked up.
”Is this number… the call duration? I wondered when you noticed, but I never thought it was from the very beginning. You are a terrifying person.”
The crushed terminal fell silent.
With an electronic sound, the call was cut off.
”If that’s the case, then I am truly beyond saving.”
The karakasa woman wore a troubled expression.
Surprisingly, she showed no regret or resentment. I saw no will to take revenge on me, and instead, she seemed a little sad.
I have no intention of transforming into Trash-san anymore.
She idly twirled the ends of her lightly curled hair, her melancholic gaze unfocused.
”But I must fulfill my purpose. Even if it costs my life…”
Frankly, I was worried.
I was caught again, unable to escape. What was the point of all the effort I put into that act?
Did she sense my anxiety?
Her narrow eyes gazed at me, slowly filling with pain.
I was the one tied up and lying there, yet she looked more pitiful, like a victim. It didn’t make sense.
”You saw what happened in the dungeon, didn’t you? It’s alright, don’t be scared. The oni girl and I have different masters. I won’t end up looking like that.”
She was trying to reassure me.
Then she let out a lonely, self-deprecating voice.
”Psionic Power users like us in Isumi Town are creepy, aren’t we?”
She spoke self-deprecatingly.
Was she talking about aberration-type Psionic Power users in general?
She wasn’t aberration-type. But some people might shun Psionic Powers that change one’s form.
However, it wasn’t about appearance. Being confined with a mature female who made one feel her sexuality like this would make an ordinary male enraged or feel immense fear. It didn’t apply to me, though.
But I was scared too.
I remembered her and the oni woman next to her surrounding my loved ones.
I wanted to save them if they were alive, no matter what I had to sacrifice. But if even one finger was broken, I felt I would spill everything, no matter how important.
I remained bound and trembling in fear.
”…But to males, this Psionic Power might seem like a foul, defiling yokai.”
The karakasa woman’s voice held a hollow, empty sadness in her standing posture.
Then she murmured.
”I have lived bound my whole life. Anyone would do. I wanted to be someone else. But… it’s fine now.”
Suddenly, she seemed like a very small child.
The karakasa woman, in her birthday suit, rummaged through the warehouse. From a corner where rain gear and straw capes hung on nails, she found an old umbrella. It was full of holes like a rain-soaked paper sliding door, with oil paper clinging to the frame.
”Good. My luck hasn’t run out yet.”
Was this the property of townspeople? I had never seen it in this town before.
Umbrellas have an old origin. Especially folding umbrellas became popular in the late Edo period, around the 1850s. Umbrellas themselves were often made as home crafts from the early Edo period, so it wasn’t a mystery for one to be left abandoned in a town warehouse.
”It’s still usable… Here goes.”
The umbrella, full of holes, opened.
Scraps and dust flew. It must not have been opened for a long time. She carefully brushed them away with her hands, and we cast a single shadow under the same umbrella.
Then, something mysterious happened.
All strength left my body, and my consciousness suddenly faded. It was a chilling sensation, like being stripped naked and having my entire body examined.
The next moment, a boy was in front of me.
He was a boy of about ten years old. He had unhealthy dark circles under his eyes, was very thin, and had a pale, fragile aura.
He was a beautiful child with dark hair and well-defined features. Males in this world, like females, are often good-looking humans.
”…”
I was so surprised I forgot to breathe.
The boy who suddenly appeared folded the used bat umbrella and leaned it against a nearby hemp brazier.
”I violated a male and imitated him. I’ll surely go to hell.”
I was there.
The me in front of me had the same voice.
I felt a chill run down my spine.
What is this? Perfect transformation. I was surprised she could become a fake Trash-san, but I never thought she could even turn into a man.
She can transform into the person who entered that umbrella.
This can be misused endlessly.
How much damage could she cause by deceiving those around me, pretending to be me?
This was the real goal.
To infiltrate the town as me. Then she could assassinate or spy as much as she wanted.
”N, nn!! Ngga! Guh!”
I struggled desperately against sleepiness.
My strength was gone, but I tried hard to bite through the cloth napkin.
I didn’t care if my body got hurt. If this person tried to deceive and hurt someone in Kujukuri Town with acting, it would surely be my Imperial Guard first.
”Nnnh! …!”
But this person doesn’t know me. She probably doesn’t know the truth of my Psionic Power. Unless Trash-san leaked information, but at least for now, she doesn’t seem to know.
Should I use it to my advantage instead?
If I joyfully tried to fool everyone, she could fly to Maggot-san or Cult Slut-san and inform them in one go. Even if she transformed into someone else and tried to escape again, she couldn’t escape my Psionic Power’s mental list. Even if she became another person, using Psionic Power should allow me to fly to the real person.
My Psionic Power is the counter to this Psionic Power user.
Still, this method is inhumane.
By my learned common sense, in this world, using such means to mock a male like this would not just earn anger. Between women, any cruelty could be justified, but that is precisely why male sexual relations are a sacred and inviolable domain.
What she was doing was like a murderer who wore the peeled skin of a noble’s beloved son to kill family members.
If caught, not only her clan and associates would be massacred, but the entire town that gave the order could be involved and slaughtered.
Does she and her hometown not understand this?
No, perhaps it’s still within the scope of a fight between women.
I don’t know. But the moment she involved me this far, there was no turning back. We had passed the point of no return.
It’s foolish to assume I would be targeted. That’s why this situation exists.
Even if I don’t want to believe it, does she intend to erase all evidence after using me for something?
However, the karakasa woman in front of me still showed no hostility towards me.
”Please don’t be so scared.”
”Ngu, gu… mmm.”
”You just need to come to Isumi Town for a little while. I won’t hurt you. So please stop struggling.”
The person with my face spoke in a calm tone. It sounded like she had realized something, or perhaps given up.
Yet, she seemed to think it wasn’t a bad thing.
”I wanted to be happy. My dream has come true. I probably can’t return to town, but I’m very happy.”
The boy smiled sadly.
”I don’t want to be anyone else anymore. Because you let me, just as I am, hold you.”
I couldn’t understand what the person in front of me was saying.
It felt mysterious.
I was there, but a male should be there. It was different from when she transformed into a female. There was a slight sense of incongruity.
When she impersonated Trash-san, her words and actions were different, but her aura was perfect. Now, that was missing.
Certainly, the form was that of a perfect boy. But when I saw this boy speak, for some reason, I didn’t feel like a male was talking.
I felt none of the casual, faint closeness or rivalry that comes from talking to someone of the same sex.
It didn’t bother me much.
But for females, it would cause an incredibly strong sense of incongruity.
It felt like something uniquely male, something that could shake their souls with a single word or action, something female charm could never replicate, was lacking.
This won’t work.
It’s not logic. For a moment, maybe, but this transformation couldn’t fool anyone for long. Against townspeople, it might pass, but against the noble family females and Imperial Guards who interact with males daily, it might be exposed in just a few minutes.
This is just a hunch, but it’s close to a certainty. I suspect someone like Maggot-san would see through it in two or three words.
She—no, this boy—put me inside a large luggage.
The top of a wooden box, like a giant tsuzura, opened wide with a snap.
I was stuffed inside, and my consciousness gradually faded.
”I know it’s impossible to tell you to relax. I’m sorry for doing this. I have no other choice in Isumi Town now.”
The boy wearing my clothes was flawless in appearance.
”I’m sorry… Let me hold you one more time.”
Saying this, the boy wrapped his arms around me.
It felt strange. The feeling of thin arms and legs came through the cloth. It was me, but not me. It was male in form, but felt female. Yet not a girl, and not a boy as the form suggested.
For the first time, I saw my own face clearly.
I know someone who makes expressions like this. Someone who has resolved to die and fulfill their duty.
Soon, the box was locked. In the darkness, the boy’s voice came from outside the box.
”Hey, is anyone there!?”
The sound of the room door being flung open.
”Help me, there was a strange woman. She disappeared somewhere. Hurry, someone come!”
Ah, that must be the karakasa woman who transformed into me speaking. My voice sounded a little lower than usual when heard from another’s mouth.
In response, I heard the hurried voices of various females.
They must have been waiting around the door. They didn’t rush in for my safety, but they were nearby the whole time.
I was getting sleepier and sleepier. I tried to hold on, but my stamina had been drained by that Psionic Power. I tried to project my consciousness to Maggot-san, but my concentration was scattering.
And my consciousness dissolved into darkness.
* * *
”…It hurts.”
I heard a scraping sound.
The sound of paper rubbing together and a biting cold were all I could perceive.
I also heard the sound of snow being crunched underfoot. After a while, I realized someone was stepping on snow. It reminded me of winter days in my childhood. On cold dawns, I often played by stepping on the snow.
”It’s cold and dark. Where is this? It’s pitch black.”
But no one answered.
At some point, the cloth in my mouth was removed, and the clothes binding me disappeared, leaving me feeling soft cotton against my skin.
It felt as if I had been placed inside a down futon.
How much time had passed since then? My joints were stiff from being in the same position, but I had no other injuries. My wrists, grabbed by the karakasa woman, still ached.
As I was confused, the movement stopped.
In the darkness, while I was stirring, I heard the voices of two adult women from somewhere.
”What about the others?”
A loud, hoarse voice. It sounded dry and cracked, perhaps from years of cold. It was a voice I had never heard before.
I held my breath and listened.
”Everything has been accomplished.”
The replying voice was also rough.
The tone was somewhat younger, and her breathing was ragged. Perhaps she suffered from a lung disease; her voice was like a croaking frog. She coughed softly with a raspy breath. She sounded weak for some reason.
”There were over thirty of them! Are you the only one left? And what about Neiko-sama? Where is she?”
The first hoarse voice shouted.
The angry shout made the darkness where I was seem to tremble slightly. It was cold and sharp. It felt like it seeped into my skin.
I couldn’t sense anyone else.
The two women continued their conversation without reservation.
There was no wind sound around, and no sign of anyone passing, so I didn’t know where I was.
At least it wasn’t in a town where I had to worry about being overheard.
”She transformed alone, jumped out to attract attention, and that was it.”
When the younger woman said this, there was a pause.
”What… She must be the last direct descendant of the noble family’s Imperial Guard. The direct line since the country of Awa has finally ended?”
”If you bestow your favor, Neiko-sama will find fulfillment in her duty.”
At those words, the deeper voice let out a growl. She sounded extremely surprised.
”I heard she was unmarried. If you force yourself upon her, you won’t even pass the gate of beasts.”
”But it doesn’t seem that way.”
”Then the rumors were true?”
”The current matter was handled well without personal bias.”
”Indeed. I will keep it firmly in my heart. But it’s an enviable story.”
”Well, yes.”
I heard the two women laugh.
It was vulgar, yet somehow refreshing, like the atmosphere between close friends of the same sex.
Their speech suggested a hierarchy, but their familiarity was evident.
”So, what about the main person?”
”She has been brought into the tsuzura.”
With that, the younger voice became even more clouded. Her cough worsened.
It sounded like breathing was a struggle.
What on earth was happening?
As I wondered, I heard the sound of metal scraping. It was like the cool ringing of bells. A very cold tone.
”Does the wound hurt? Do you need the final blow?”
”No mercy for the villain who kidnapped the lord.”
”Don’t say that. Pain must be hard.”
”Then I will accept your words. You have cared for me since I was young. Please be well.”
Hearing these parting words, I pushed up the lid of where I was.
My body hurt, but I was not restrained. The cotton that had wrapped me spilled out of the tsuzura with a soft pop.
When I got out, I saw it was a tsuzura woven with bamboo sticks. Outside the box stood a woman with a short knife, and another woman in a loose robe, covered in blood, with a bleeding wound on her neck.
Both were much younger than I expected.
The neck wound looked fresh, as if it had just happened.
It seemed she had sustained a fatal wound before this, as most of her robe was already stained dark red.
”Cold… It’s snowing.”
The tsuzura that had held me no longer had a lock.
Emerging like a head from a large box, I was met by an older sister of the kidnapper, enduring the pain of her wounds, and a female slightly older than her.
”Ah, the tsuzura. Ah…”
”Hey, hey, where’s the key? Didn’t you lock it? Don’t show the lord such an unsightly sight. Hurry and hide somewhere and die!”
The two looked at me and were startled.
The older sister with the short knife said this, and the one with the bleeding neck quickly turned her back and tried to disappear into the snowy path.
The lightly falling snow was stained red bit by bit.
”S-excuse me. Please forgive me.”
”Go already!”
”Ah. Ahh. Stay well! Please take this lord and convey our plight.”
”Just go, you’ve always been so ill-timed since long ago!”
I jumped out of the cotton that enveloped me and stepped into the snow.
Cold. My soles felt like they would freeze. I was wearing only a silk robe, nothing else.
It was old fabric. But it had been carefully maintained and was spotless. Silk, in terms of townspeople’s property, would be decades of earnings. For some reason, that thought crossed my mind.
”Where is this place?”
I was standing outdoors.
A lonely beast path along the coast.
Sparse, tall reeds swayed in the wind. From afar, the desolate sound of waves could be heard.
The pine trees still bore green leaves, with small crowns of powder snow on their tops, looking cute.
It was mid-February. The coldest season on the Pacific side.
The sea breeze that blew was humid and felt like it pierced my skin.
This was likely somewhere along the Kujukuri coastline.
Compared to the cold wind from the mountains, the sea breeze was slightly warmer and more humid.
There was no sophisticated windbreak forest, suggesting it was a poor region on the southern part of the Boso Peninsula, where development was slow.
Further south than Kujukuri Town.
The southernmost tip of Kanto. The region containing Isumi Town and Kamogawa Town. A poor, remote area where only small fish could be caught.
”Wait. Older sister, don’t go.”
What kind of feeling was this? Before I knew it, I had called out to the dying woman.
She was an accomplice of the one who kidnapped me. They had done terrible things to my Imperial Guard. I had no reason to sympathize.
But my mouth moved on its own.
”…Are you going to die?”
I ignored the surprised reactions of the two and approached the older sister who was losing the essence of life from her neck.
Bright red blood was staining the snow moment by moment.
”Are you going to die right now?”
It was scary to approach someone with a severe injury.
But I pulled her sleeve and stopped her.
My hand gained more red spots from the drops of her blood.
Startled, she unconsciously pressed her neck with her hand. But the bleeding didn’t stop.
”Y-yes. I committed an unforgivable act.”
A drowning gasp came from her throat, mixed with blood.
”Is that for kidnapping me?”
”Yes. The others have already fallen in pursuit. Your anger is justified, but perhaps with this… No, the mastermind of this scheme speaks selfishly.”
”…I see.”
I held her, not caring about the stains.
The older sister’s clothes were grimy and dirty, her hair smelled of fish and smoke, and the warm blood was unpleasant to my nose.
But it didn’t bother me much.
If anything, I felt guilty that the silk robe she had prepared for me was ruined.
”The pain seems to be disappearing.”
The older sister was crying.
In the snow falling from the gray sky, she held me gently to her chest.
Something cold ran down her cheek. But it soon mixed with blood and stains, and I couldn’t tell.
Gradually, tremors spread through her body. It wasn’t from the cold.
”I’m scared. I don’t want to die. Please help me.”
”It’s alright. When you are reborn, you will surely go to a world where there are equal numbers of men and women. And you will surely live more easily than now.”
”That story is a lie.”
She didn’t reply after that. The medical treatment I wore like a charm wasn’t here.
She collapsed with a slither and fell to the ground. Her pale face muttered something, and she remained motionless, clinging to my waist.
”No. This is true.”
Even if I taught her, there was no reply. She never spoke again.
…It’s not the time for me to cry.
The rescue failed, and I was kidnapped. I had lost consciousness and was apparently far from Kujukuri Town.
And these people must be the culprits. I couldn’t see the karakasa woman called Neiko, but she must have been the decoy. She must have confused the Imperial Guards and townspeople with my transformed likeness.
Kujukuri Town, unlike other towns, is a dungeon about sixty kilometers long from north to south, with countless ground doors along the line. Therefore, security is concentrated in the northern town where the noble family and males live. Unlike the north town, which strictly checks passage at each door, the south town is less vigilant.
Because the checks of townspeople entering and leaving the mixed south town were missed, other collaborators who had infiltrated the town must have been hiding.
Seeing that I was carried out in the tsuzura like this, they must have taken me out by sacrificing victims while taking advantage of the confusion.
How many people died for this? I heard them mention thirty earlier.
”…She died. Women really die so easily. Just as everyone said.”
I slowly laid the head of the unknown older sister, who had breathed her last, on the ground.
And I closed her eyes.
She looked like she had just turned thirty. Her nutrition was poor, her voice was hoarse, her skin was cracked, and her cheeks were sunken. She was a thin beauty.
”What a luxurious worry. To sympathize with townspeople I have no connection with. When nothing comes back.”
I was told it was strange to constantly feel heartbroken.
I realized my emotions were gradually dulling and drying up. It felt dry and empty, like a lonely wind blowing in my heart.
I didn’t know if that was good or bad.
I clasped my hands for the female whose cheeks were wet with tears and blood.
”I’m sorry, older sister. I’m not as shocked when people die anymore. I don’t feel as sad as before.”
It couldn’t be helped. I couldn’t do anything for this person I didn’t know.
I didn’t even know her name, let alone how to offer condolences or prayers.
”…More than that, I need to contact Maggot-san immediately.”
I was kidnapped. I don’t know the purpose, but I won’t allow it.
I need to determine my current location immediately and ask the town for rescue. They must be concerned.
Besides, as I checked my mental list, I had a premonition about Trash-san.
I can probably fly to her now. I intuitively knew that the feeling of rejection from her was gone, and I could send my consciousness body to her using Psionic Power.
This is the best news for me.
Thank goodness. Trash-san was alive. Now I can understand their situation.
”Your Lordship… W-why do you offer such merciful hands…?”
Still, the one I need to prioritize now is the other female in front of me.
She was staring at me with disbelief.
”I’m sorry for soiling your fine weaving.”
”N-no. Please don’t worry about such a thing. I apologize for my rudeness.”
She immediately bowed her forehead to the ground and apologized.
She was trembling in conversation with a noble male. She seemed terribly afraid of being scolded by me.
I am weak and can be kidnapped alone, yet she was completely intimidated and trembling.
It had been a long time since I truly felt that this was that kind of world. I had almost forgotten because I rarely got angry at females.
”Don’t worry about it. More importantly, where is this and who are you?”
”More importantly, please return to the basket first. Your feet look so painful I cannot bear to see.”
I lifted one leg and looked at the sole. My skin was cut from the gravel under the snow.
Then she let out a scream. Even though she was a townsperson who should hate me, her response was very polite.
”There’s blood.”
”Eek… P-please, return to the basket…. I beg you.”
”Yes, well, I understand.”
However, if I returned to town, I would have medical treatment, so a small wound like this wouldn’t leave a mark. It’s different from a stomach wound.
I was being carried on a small street leading to Isumi Town. It seemed I had been kidnapped by the townspeople after all.
On the way, I was handed over to some elderly women. They seemed to be from a high-ranking noble family in the town. Along the way, I also joined up with people who appeared to be townspeople.
They didn’t seem to be Psionic Power users. Just ordinary humans.
I heard many stories.
Trash-san and the other two were still imprisoned, being kept alive as hostages.
This was the best news for me. The other two besides Trash-san were in different locations, and their safety was still unknown.
I suppressed the urge to run. I couldn’t calm down at all. I wanted to see their faces soon.
There were several reasons why I behaved myself and accepted their guidance: first, I was surrounded by many adult females. Second, if I ran away, I would freeze to death before reaching town.
And the terrifying oni woman was apparently waiting nearby, maintaining a distance that allowed her to come to me at any time.
When I heard she couldn’t show her face out of shame, I thought it was a joke.
I was moved from the tsuzura to a lord’s palanquin, the kind I usually use. My skin, unaccustomed to leaving town, was so delicate that even dry grass by the roadside in winter could leave red lines.
What happened after that was too horrific to witness.
Until then, I hadn’t understood how terrible the environment of a poor and weak town was.
Even so, there was not only tragedy, but also warm human interaction among the people.
Notes:
• Psionic Power – Mental energy concept in Chapter 35’s lecture. Trash-san teaches it to strengthen the protagonist’s mind after dungeon ordeals.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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