Chapter 78 Isumi Town
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
I did not forget to quietly send my mind to Maggot-san and Trash-san while I sat inside the palanquin.
Maggot-san already knew I had been taken. When my mind reached her, she and some people I did not know were in a big meeting room, shouting at each other.
When I came back to my own body, the first rescue from Kujukuri Town had already failed. It seemed I had been out for a long time. Now Isumi Town and Kujukuri Town had begun talks about who would keep me.
Maggot-san and the Imperial Guards said sorry again and again. If we had not met, they might have been made to cut their bellies, so I was glad I saw them.
A male being kidnapped was almost unheard of.
Right after my phone call, all gates in Kujukuri Town were closed. But no one had thought something like this could happen. Spies dressed like town people and even a fake version of me used a moment of confusion to take me out. It was a tragedy that could only happen in the south of the town, where there were usually no gate guards.
The rule that said a male must not be pulled into war had been broken.
People in the south were angry, and even the noble families in the north were burning with rage. This had nothing to do with my Imperial Guards having a bad relationship with the town. The most important “property” of this female-led society had been stolen.
After checking the facts, the war in the north would stop for a time, and all power would move south. Even the enemies in the north—Hitachi Province and Inubou Town—would have to agree. It was the only way to keep order in society.
They said Isumi Town now had almost no hope.
Maybe even Kamogawa Town, which had pushed Isumi too hard, would be checked. Depending on how they were involved, they could be attacked without question.
No area around would step in. Even if all power moved south, no one would attack during that chance. Kujukuri Town now had a righteous reason.
I had been wrong about something.
Hurting a male was a much bigger sin than I first thought.
The little trouble I caused during the war did not matter. It was not a reason to hurt me. Many times, women were pushed into danger by a “good idea” from a high lady who knew nothing of war. It was seen as a small problem at most.
(Here, a “good idea” meant the sudden order of a company president’s wife.)
In Ichihara, the country broke apart because they hurt a male and made it look like an accident. They were now paying a heavy price while being attacked from all sides.
Breaking the rule of war and pulling a male into it was just as bad.
I could not see what was happening to Trash-san.
My mind reached him, but the place was dark and silent. It felt like his eyes and ears were covered, and he was tied up. Even when I called to him in the darkness, there was no answer. They had made sure he could not understand anything around him.
He probably did not know it was me touching him.
They seemed to think Trash-san had psionic power (mind power) to speak with people far away.
It was a place that could make anyone lose their mind, but Trash-san was strong. With a psionic user’s tough body, he would last.
Still, I wanted to free him soon.
Because they said I could see the three of them, I came to Isumi Town.
”We have arrived,” someone called from outside.
I opened the small window of the palanquin.
From what I saw, Isumi Town looked like a remote village.
Near the entrance of the town, someone was curled up on the side of the road. Even as we came close, they did not move. At first, I thought it was a dead body, but then I saw a white breath rise from their mouth.
The people with me moved the person to the side so they would not block the road.
”Is that person going to die too?” I asked.
”Yes. It seems they have a sickness of the organs,” someone answered.
”I see.”
The person was not drunk or crazy—just a sick traveler. Why were they here?
A girl in her teens looked up at me with a pale face. Each breath made a rough sound, like paper being torn.
”I am very sorry you had to see such a thing,” the guide said. “You there, go away at once. Do not come back into the town. Do not spread your sickness.”
The girl stood on her own, pulling her weak body through the snow as she walked away.
I wanted to call to her, but I stopped. I did not want her to be punished because of me, and I did not know what to say.
I was also afraid she might cry and say she did not want to die, like that other time.
In the end, I said nothing.
Isumi Town stood a little away from the coast. The town was cut into steps like rice fields on a mountain. From the road, I could see the small paths spreading like an ant nest.
Homes stood quietly among trees that blocked the sea wind. Small fields and hedges stood around them. It felt like an old farm scene.
Some houses sat alone like a scattered village. The paths were narrow, not wide enough for five people to walk side by side, but the ground was firm and easy to walk on.
Strange meat and potato-like maggots from the dungeon hung from the eaves.
The population was a little over six thousand. It was small, but much bigger than a dying village.
The town had been made by cutting into three small mountains.
”Many people have come outside, even in this cold,” I said.
Just like my visit to the south of Kujukuri, town people stood by the road with bare feet in the snow, bowing low.
We passed them while looking to the side.
”They wish to see the face of a male, I think,” the guide said. “We told them to keep quiet about your visit… I am sorry. I will send them away at once.”
”It’s fine. I don’t mind,” I said.
I walked in straw sandals and a warm under-robe. They had tried to stop me, but I wanted to walk. I could have stayed in the palanquin, but the cold under my feet helped calm me.
When I did not show a rude face, even the people hiding inside their homes came out to see me.
It was rare for town people, who feared angering a noble. But I had no Imperial Guards with me, so maybe they guessed they would not be cut down for being rude.
”We are very thankful you allow them to see you,” the guide said with a pleased look. “If they see the face of a male without a blindfold, even those who cannot live through winter will have no regrets.”
She seemed moved by my kindness.
”That’s not true. Why would seeing my face make them ready to die?” I said before I could stop myself.
”I—I am very sorry! I will bring a blindfold at once. It must trouble an unmarried man. I will also drive these people away,” she said.
”…No, sorry. It’s nothing,” I said.
I thought it was too sad that they would be happy to die just because they saw me, so the words slipped out. She must have thought I was upset.
We continued through the town.
Everyone looked in a terrible state. Clothes were full of patches, and some wore only dry grass around their bodies like wild people in old stories.
Most had skin and hair without color or life.
I spoke to the elder woman walking beside me.
”It looks like I’m very rare here. Do the males of this town not show their faces outside?” I asked.
Hundreds of people had come out. Even in Kujukuri Town, things had not gone this far just because I walked down the road.
I wondered how much they knew about why I was here.
”The noble men live with care and grace,” she said. “Some moved to other places to stay away from the war for a time…”
”So they evacuated to safer places,” I said.
It seemed the local males did not show themselves much.
More than wanting to meet them, I was curious about the husband of the ogre-like lady. If the stories about her lovers were true, she had several.
Still, males did not join war. After my kidnapping, the ones who would deal with me would be the key female officials of the town. I might never meet the men.
”So, you show me the town like this… what do you want me to do?” I asked.
”We first wish for you to see the truth as it is, and share your thoughts,” she said.
”All right. I don’t mind,” I answered in a short voice.
I did not know their purpose, but they wanted me to look around like a noble visitor.
If this was a plan to hurt me mentally, then it was working. Seeing the people here made my heart heavy.
”You will let me see the three of them after this, right?” I asked.
”I promise. I feel sorry to even ask a male for such a deal,” she said, lowering her face in pain.
She seemed to think it was rude for a woman to set terms for a male, even if we were from enemy towns. Males were to be respected above all.
”It’s fine. Please keep showing me around,” I said.
So I walked slowly, surrounded by more than ten women.
For a while, we did not enter a house. We simply walked and looked around the town.
Powdery snow rested on the thin shoulders of the town people by the road. They did not move at all, like stone statues, and only their white breath showed they were alive. It felt like I had stepped into a sad painting.
The women explained small things about the streets and homes.
I had thought they would attack me for ordering a secret mission that killed two of their psionic (mind power) users. But there was no sign of anger. My first idea—that they took me to hate me—had been completely wrong.
In fact, they treated me with great care.
I could not understand it. If not revenge, then why had they taken me?
Still, I had no reason to refuse, so I followed their words and walked.
”What is that?” I asked, stopping.
In the yard of a house, grown women poured buckets of water onto their own bodies. Why were they doing this in the cold? It was not some morning exercise.
”It is a cure to remove fleas and lice. They use sea water,” the guide said.
”Does it work?” I asked.
”Maggot dislike salt and cold. Also, people here take in the sea god’s power and stay healthy,” she said.
The women kept pouring cold water over themselves.
Skin sickness caused by parasitic maggots had hurt people for thousands of years. If this cured it, it would not have lasted so long.
Rubbing salt into the skin or using the sun to chase maggots was a folk belief that did the opposite of help. If skin was weak and touched dirty sea water, germs could enter and cause the flesh to rot. And the fleas under the skin did not die at all.
If only there was a hot spring with strong sulfur. Bathing could really help.
”Doing this must be why their lungs go bad,” I said softly.
It looked very painful. I felt cold just watching.
”Some say that… but if we chase away the bad spirit, chest pain and stomach pain will go. Sickness hates salt cleaning. Look there. Tea made with burned fish bones is good for lung sickness,” she said.
A middle-aged woman burned fish bones until black, mixed them with hot water, and gave it out. People drank it with thankful faces.
The guide and the other women seemed to truly believe it.
I felt I could not stay, but anything I said would not reach them. It was their time and their way. If I spoke now, they would laugh it off as a soft male’s pity.
And even if I stopped them, I had no other plan to offer. I did not know how to drive out maggots.
”Let’s move on,” I said.
When I urged them, they began to guide me again.
They often gave me hot water or warm small dishes as we walked. We walked for about thirty minutes, but every place felt lonely. There were no busy shops or meeting places, only small farm homes.
There were small shrines and graves for males who had died in the past. Only there, the ground was swept clean like a holy temple. The air around it felt still and pure, like a deep forest.
To pray there, one first had to wash in the river.
The people of the town were full of faith, and full of mistakes.
There was nothing I could do. They cared little about living or dying, and seemed to think that if they died, it only meant they had not earned enough virtue.
As I walked, something struck me.
”Why are there no babies?” I asked.
In Isumi Town, I had not heard a single baby crying. In this age, that sound should be everywhere.
”In the last years, newborns could not bear the cold of winter… We had no choice but to announce some orders,” she said.
”They died? All of them?” I asked.
”Some grew up, but after that, people stopped giving birth.”
I remembered that women here could choose when to become pregnant by keeping semen inside for the right time.
But that was not the point. Now that I looked, there were no elders here either.
I was scared to ask more.
”That must have been very hard,” I said.
I kept it short, but the guide denied it gently.
”No, it is nothing so great. When there is more food, people will grow in number again. It is not something a male should worry about.”
For a noble woman, this was normal. Her view of life and death was thin and noble-like.
Yes, people often died and were often born. It was normal and must be accepted.
My heart was near its limit, but I had to adapt. Like a child who learns to stand again after losing a pet, I had to grow up. Feeling deep sadness for a person’s death—especially a woman’s—was seen as strange.
I had my life, and they had theirs.
In the Great Japanese Empire, the child death rate was low compared to the world, but still, only five or six of ten lived to be adults. Half died. While I stayed in my room, this was the world outside.
But once a woman had a new child, she had no time to stay in sadness. Women always had the hope of bearing a boy. Since a family could feed only so many, a quick death meant a chance for a new child. In the past, some women pushed their bodies too hard trying to bear boys, and some did cruel things if they learned the baby was a girl…
”I just wasn’t used to it. I did not see it before. This is normal outside my town.”
It was normal for me, and it was normal for women living in this female-led society.
The people who forced Kaede-san to help because of my pressure might now be dead from hunger or sickness. They had thanked me for a brief kindness, but in the end, nothing changed.
My actions did nothing for the whole society.
I knew it, but whether I helped or not, the result was the same. And I was the one who made them do something they did not fully understand.
On the road, we stopped. The woman leading us was stuck, arguing with someone wearing a hat low over her face.
”What’s wrong?” I asked.
”Lady Hinata says she has no face to show you, and is arguing with her kin,” the guide said.
”They’re fighting? Looks like a quarrel.”
Hinata… it sounded like a given name. Who was she?
If she was known by her first name instead of a family name, then she was either a common town woman or an Imperial Guard serving a male.
Was it someone I knew? Since I had no idea, I asked honestly.
”Who is she? And why can’t she face me?”
”She is better known by another name. In this war, she is called the ogre woman,” the guide said.
”The ogre woman… so she’s right there.”
I looked at the woman arguing in the distance.
She wore a straw raincoat, hat, and wooden sandals—like a wanderer from an old tale. The skin of her hands and feet, visible through the gaps, was red. Not the light red from cold cracks, but a deep red, like an oni, a red demon.
”She is called that now, but she hates the name. Please avoid using it,” the guide said.
”So her name is Hinata.”
”Yes. She is still young and rough. It is shameful.”
I looked at the ogre woman again.
Her voice was not filled with the hateful rage I remembered. It sounded like a lively girl’s voice now.
To the guide, showing a fight between women must have felt shameful. And to me, seeing the ogre woman angry again was scary.
”Lady Hinata feels great shame for killing two of Your Lordship’s Imperial Guards in anger. She says she cannot speak with you,” the guide explained.
”Kaede-san and Kiri-san are not my Imperial Guards,” I said.
The guide looked surprised.
Since the three women from the Ichimatsu group had joined the plan, it made sense people thought they were all my Imperial Guards.
”I see. That eases my mind. Then there is no harm between you,” she said.
”Yes… good.”
Her voice sounded slightly stiff.
Losing two psionic (mind power) users at once would normally be a big loss for a male. Even if the town paid a reward for war success, losing two would hurt an exploration team badly. It was like losing two fingers.
But maybe she was more shocked that I called those women with “-san.”
”Please wait. I will bring her to you as a representative,” the guide said.
”Her? Isn’t she just a male’s Imperial Guard?”
If she were only an Imperial Guard, there would be no reason to speak with me. And I really did not want to face her. It brought back fear, and I did not know what I might do in front of her.
If I struck her, even like brushing away a mosquito, I was sure she would kill me.
”She is the town mayor’s representative, and also the commander of this war. Bringing Your Lordship here, even knowing it was wrong, was under her order.”
”I understand. Then I will meet her.”
So the ogre woman had ordered my kidnapping.
She truly carried all of the town’s expectations.
She was the strongest fighter, the war commander, and also the representative of the town mayor. And she held these roles above older noble women.
It was far too many duties for one person.
As I waited, I thought.
She seemed too young to stand in for the mayor, unless she came from a very powerful noble family. That was the only reason that made sense.
…But with a town this small, age and family might no longer matter. If someone with strong psionic power appeared, they could change who ruled.
The guide had gone to speak with them, so I talked to another woman standing beside me. She had a dark air around her.
”This town gives a lot of power to the Imperial Guards. I’ve never seen nobles trying to calm a psionic user before,” I said.
The woman, pale and widow-like, was shocked I spoke to her. Then, thinking about my words, she made a bitter face.
”Even in war, it shames us to show such a sight to you. For the women of Isumi to seem rude to elders and without respect for rank, in front of a male…”
She sounded hurt by what I said.
She then let out a soft breath, like giving up.
”The young who gain psionic power do not listen to anyone. It is sad.”
Her voice held frustration.
Maybe the town’s noble leaders had less status than psionic users and Imperial Guards. It looked like the town could not control its own Guards.
Maybe my kidnapping had been one of their wild actions. I asked her about it.
With a troubled look, and saying someone like her should not be the one to speak, she began.
”I know you cannot accept this. This matter is the will of Isumi Town, yet not our true wish.”
”What do you mean?”
She said the town had been split about how to treat me. The noble families of Isumi Town had messy inner problems. War and poverty had made everyone full of complaints, and they could not agree.
The young strong psionic users were taking several males out to houses outside the town to live with them as they pleased.
The woman spoke frankly.
”They take their own masters out of the town and keep them? That seems very serious,” I said.
That sounded like the worst problem. Imperial Guards were the hands and legs of a male, but the male himself belonged to the town. If the male was gone, then the town had lost its property.
”Do the masters not fight with them?” I asked.
”It seems not. That is good, but… women who make exploring their life come from common homes. They do not know how to care for a male,” she said.
So kidnapping-like acts were not new here. Even an Imperial Guard should be punished for such a thing. Their master should be angry.
No matter how strong the psionic user was, in the end, she would have to run to the noble family for help. They did not know how to care for a male.
Women born in the town could not manage the “quality” of males. They did not know how to handle a male’s difficult moods or avoid emotional fights that came from being disliked by them.
That was why noble families existed, and why half of the Imperial Guards came from them as the intelligence division.
The town-born Exploration Squad handled dangerous exploration and war, while the intelligence division—connected to noble families—held knowledge of how to care for males. Even if only in form, the two sides worked together.
No matter how strong a psionic user was, authority and a male’s place would always end up beside a noble family. Even if they could beat the ruling class with force, being disliked by a male meant nothing.
But in Isumi Town, that balance seemed broken.
”It seems they get along well with the males. Doesn’t that make the noble families useless?” I asked.
”As you say… I feel shame for my lack of ability,” the woman replied.
The dark-aura big sister did not deny my rude, direct words.
”Well, we’re delicate. Maybe someone there just happened to learn a good way to treat males, or maybe the personalities just matched,” I said.
Maybe their psionic users were so strong that the active division took control of the town. And by chance, they got along with their masters.
”Could that happen?”
It was a small town. I had no proof to say it was impossible. The smaller the group, the more the sword beat the pen. And I hadn’t joined many tea-party complaint sessions, so despite being a male, I didn’t actually know the normal distance between males and Imperial Guards. My only sample was the Ichimatsu trio.
Still, they had asked for my thoughts after seeing the town, so I was only thinking about it for that reason—I didn’t truly want to investigate.
A little farther away, the elegant old woman was desperately trying to persuade the red ogre. She did not back down even before that monstrous figure.
”Hinata-san… Hinata,” I repeated.
It was only me who was strange—males normally did not use honorifics when addressing women. Even so, when being polite, we used “-dono” or “-sama.”
”That Hinata person is called a cheater, right? Do you know about that?” I asked.
”A cheater… yes, I am aware.”
The woman listening to me had a faint shadow and a slightly sickly beauty.
”Outsiders hate her for it, but in truth, she has the hearts of three of the town’s males,” she admitted quietly.
Three males had given her the Oath of Fealty. Who were they? And she told me that so freely…
”Well, she’s strong and stable as a psionic user. And they truly trust her, huh,” I said.
”Oh… you already knew?”
”I saw the battlefield.”
”Oh my. That must have been terrifying.”
Her gloomy mood cleared as we spoke. She looked happy.
Whether a master–servant bond was good or bad could be seen in how useful the psionic ability was. Even so, there was a big luck factor—like a gacha. In a way, the Ichimatsu trio being all misses was rare.
But if the psionic system held together only by breaking the town’s political system, then Isumi was a strange town.
After a while, the argument there reached an end. The red ogre—Hinata, the Imperial Guard—walked toward us.
If anyone should feel awkward, it was me. She had killed her fellow psionic users because of an order I had made. She said they were her childhood friends.
In a way, we were the same. We both hated each other, and both had lost someone important. So I understood why she resented me. I felt the same.
She removed her hat, and I recognized her face immediately. Last I saw her, her body was white like a demon, but now she had returned to the red from the first time we met.
She walked straight toward me with fast, strong steps in her wooden sandals. I froze. The memory of her overwhelming presence still shook me. I wanted to hide behind the widow-like woman I’d been talking to.
The red ogre stood right before me. She looked at me with slightly suspicious eyes.
”Do not offend him,” the noble old lady whispered.
”…Yes, I know, I know. I won’t be rude. I get it,” I muttered.
The old noble woman kept scolding beside her.
Hinata brushed her aside as if waving away smoke—like scattering the scolding itself.
”I said to bring him, but… I still can’t believe such a male exists. And he’s tiny too,” Hinata said.
”How dare you speak so rudely before a male… Watch your tongue,” the old woman hissed.
”Shut it, Shizu-san. Be quiet,” Hinata shot back.
She no longer had the terrifying pressure from before. Her voice was clear, girlish, and casual. Even with a sharp tone, I felt no true anger. There was a slight boyishness to her manner. And she was very young—probably still in her teens.
”Everyone believes in superstition too much. Must’ve been seeing an illusion,” she muttered.
Pushing the old woman aside, she stepped right in front of me.
Red horns. Red skin.
She was around the high 150 cm range. Smaller than expected, with no big change in appearance. Simple and neat. Her face had no strong features—very ordinary. Shoulder-length hair. She looked like a normal girl you’d find in a school club.
Maybe because of her looks, she acted bold, yet avoided meeting my eyes head-on with a twisted little attitude.
Up close, for an adult woman she was rather petite. But the bronze-tinted red skin gave her an even more supernatural presence from this distance.
She did not bow, and with arms crossed, she spoke—an abrupt self-intro.
”I’m Hinata. Heir of the Onjuku family. Call me whatever you like. I’m serving as the town mayor’s representative.”
She said it quickly, then turned her face away.
”Nice to meet you.”
She spoke with her head turned aside.
Her greeting to an enemy town’s male was extremely simple. I started to respond. This level of casualness was rare for me too.
”I should have introduced myself first. Hinata, right. Okay, from my side—”
Well, as we were technically enemies and she held my fate, I needed to be polite.
”I won’t apologize,” she cut in.
”…Huh?”
She suddenly interrupted my words.
”I said, I won’t apologize.”
Her red-and-black sharp eyes glared at me like wrapped Valentine chocolate with teeth. Even her eye color was inhuman.
”Uh… for what?” I asked, confused.
”You were going to make a snide comment, weren’t you? Because I’m a cheater.”
”No, I— what? That came out of nowhere…”
Ignoring a male’s words, the red ogre met my eyes and declared:
”I did the right thing. I don’t care if they call me a cheating snake, or a mountain hag who steals males. I don’t care what people of Kujukuri think.”
We were one breath away from a full man-woman argument.
I had no idea what was happening.
Hinata wrinkled her nose, arms still crossed, and kept talking fast.
”My bond with my master is deep. We support each other. Outsiders could never understand. I won’t let strangers speak about us,” she said sharply.
Her tone wasn’t full hatred, but clearly she wanted to push me away.
It felt like something meant for someone else was being thrown at me instead. Hinata spoke nonstop.
”We won’t lose to people who don’t understand our feelings. No matter what they say, I won’t stop fighting for my town.”
She shut her bright red lips and glared again.
…I had no idea what she was trying to say. She appeared suddenly and just started talking. Maybe something about me irritated her, but I didn’t know what.
”I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I never mocked you,” I said.
Maybe she was building a wall before I could say anything. A male’s insult could deeply wound a woman’s heart.
Her face under the horns was tense and fiery. She kept glaring, but my weak reply seemed to disappoint her.
I had none of the temper or arrogance a male was expected to display.
”…Anyway, let’s continue the tour. You need to see the town. And later, the dungeon too,” she said.
We continued walking. Hinata was scolded heavily by the noble old woman.
Hinata wasn’t tall, but I felt a strange pressure from her—a kind of supernatural presence. With no hostility now, it simply felt like standing before something powerful. Humans could sense things wrapped in strong mystery—like seeing a lion up close at the zoo.
We viewed the town in silence. These people, their feelings, their hometown that might vanish…
Honestly, I didn’t care. I just wanted to see the three of them. I couldn’t think about others anymore. Their feelings didn’t matter to me. I was at my limit.
Snow fell around us. My stamina was gone. My mind was foggy. And I was bitter.
Eventually, they put me in a simple rickshaw. They covered me in layers of cloth to keep me warm as we moved closer to the town center.
Along the way, Hinata spoke to me several times.
”Well?” she asked.
”Well what?”
”After seeing what they eat, don’t you think anything? You’re a man, aren’t you?”
The people here didn’t eat rice, not even millet or foxtail millet.
Under her orders, a food server brought a tray and offered me a strange dried grub-like thing—red, like a small chorizo.
”That’s our staple food. Doesn’t it disgust a male?”
”Not really. I just think you’re poor,” I said.
I covered my mouth as I ate. It was probably food gathered from the dungeon—salted, dried, then grilled.
I had never been picky about food, and after seeing starving people, I no longer felt resistance. Food was just habit. If this little grub was something’s final form, I didn’t want to know—but there was no point thinking about it now.
It was sweet and rich. People said dungeon grubs tasted like cream, but this was more like squid innards or preserved fish roe—moist and intense. It clung to the tongue. In better times, it would be delicious. Like bar food—not for children.
If the town ate it, it probably wasn’t poisonous.
Maybe because a male was eating in public, more offerings came—grotesque insect meat and hairy fruits.
Each time I ate something local, the women’s attitudes softened.
So I kept doing it. If it improved their view of me and helped free the three, I would do anything.
”Heh…”
”…What now?”
”I just thought you’d be more fussy.”
Hinata still looked annoyed, her red-horned face frowning as she talked.
”This town can’t catch much fish. In winter, there’s nothing in the mountains. The fertile valley of the uncanny is held by Kamogawa Town.”
”I see.”
”And north is Kujukuri—a warm town with plenty of food.”
”What do you want from me by saying that?”
Was she trying to anger me? Or gain sympathy? A normal male would have already thrown something at her for the disrespect.
I kept the conversation going because of old habits from my previous life, but did she feel nothing? If a woman displeased a male, she suffered far worse pain in return.
There was truly nothing in the town. Many empty houses, terrible hygiene.
Hinata kept explaining.
Poverty wasn’t just shameful. It was miserable, pathetic, and turned humans into beasts. It could even rob them of the ability to feel shame.
Eventually, we arrived at an old mansion. In the large tatami guest room of the mayor’s house, injured women lay on the floor. Many had lost limbs, suffered gunshots, or burns.
Their wounds were bare or wrapped in scraps of cloth. Bandages already existed in this era, but not in this town. They didn’t even have cotton. They used boiled, dried grass, “cleansed” under sunlight, as bandages.
Either way, the treatment was filthy and careless.
”Aah… ngh…”
A girl acting as a nurse rubbed seawater-soaked grass into a wound that had just stopped bleeding.
”Gghh…!”
”Endure it, stay strong!”
The wounded woman bit her clothes to bear it. The salty “cleansed” seawater soaked into the wounds and only tortured them.
The old woman earlier said seawater purified and healed. This must have been part of that belief—absorbing the sea god’s power.
”Water…”
”Drink the medicine! You’ll live if you drink!”
”No… just water… please…”
A patient coughed after being forced to drink a strange black liquid. The caregivers were serious, desperate.
When we entered, both patients and nurses were shocked, but quickly returned to their misery. They hadn’t noticed a male was present.
”It stinks… like rot,” I whispered.
Standing behind the noble women, I held my nose, nearly vomiting. The wounds smelled foul. Even in winter, flies were buzzing. I didn’t want to stay here even a second. This was no place to show a male. Even the noble women grimaced.
Hinata spoke with anger.
”I can’t stand it. Weak towns always end up like this.”
Amid the groans, she never looked away from the suffering townspeople.
”…I’m sorry you have to see this as a male, but look at them properly. Even if they live, Kujukuri’s poison stays in their bodies for decades. Their babies are stillborn.”
Her hatred wasn’t for me—I could tell. She hated Kujukuri Town through me.
”So what?” I said.
Her words did not move me. I felt neither hatred nor sympathy.
I thought of Kaede-san. Not on purpose—the burnt smell triggered it. The memory of her gentle hand on my head returned. Always welcoming me, treating me like a beloved grandson.
She was different from most women. She had no lust, and I felt as if I’d lost someone like a beloved grandmother. Even decades from now, the roots of that grief would still be alive. The nightmares would never end.
Not that she would have wanted that for me.
”Weakness is a sin. That’s why they die.”
”What… what’s that supposed to mean?”
Hinata looked stunned by my words.
”Being born in a poor town is also unlucky. These people are just suffering for nothing because fate abandoned them.”
At that, Hinata exploded.
”Don’t be ridiculous! Then what—what’s the point of an ordinary townsfolk’s life!? Are you saying they were born just to suffer like this!?”
The fiery demon girl looked ready to bite my head off, but I ignored her.
From the way she spoke, she sided with the common-born. Still young, blessed with strong Psionic Power, maybe she began to believe in a life where no one around her would die or get hurt.
Just like I once did.
”There’s nothing. It’s meaningless. Caring only hurts you.”
”Meaningless…?”
”That’s right.”
”Th-That’s horrible… You… you—!”
Hinata’s lips trembled. She stared at me in shock—at the cold, noble-like detachment in my voice.
”Townsfolk lives have no value. If you’re unlucky, you die. No matter how hard you try, if you draw the losing lot, that’s it.”
Maybe she was hoping to expose my “true nature.” In her expression, I saw that familiar “I knew it” anger—the kind people rehearse beforehand, ready to be outraged no matter what.
I walked past the women and stepped onto the tatami among the injured. My bare feet hurt. The dried rush mat was splintered—when was the last time it was replaced?
”Excuse me. I’m going to interfere with the treatment a little.”
”Huh…? A m-male? But why are you… here?”
The young maid tending to the wounded stared in disbelief. She spoke what everyone else felt.
”Does anyone have a blade?”
I asked Hinata. She still glared at me with distrust, as if expecting me to harm someone.
”What are you planning to do to them?”
Other women hesitated too—no one seemed to have a dagger to offer.
”…Never mind. I’ll find one myself.”
I looked around. Luckily, in a storage nook, I found a small, rusty hand sickle. The handle and blade were all browned with age. When I gripped it, brown dust stained my fingers.
”W–wait, are you about to hurt a patient!?”
”No. Just venting.”
I sat beside a wounded towns-woman, sickle in hand. Her injuries were severe. Her body was bruised and swollen.
Even if I wanted to fix their treatment, I had no medical knowledge. I didn’t know how to make antibiotics—not anymore. No tools, no medicine.
The real problem wasn’t medical knowledge. Dungeon resources were far superior to most modern medicine. What this town lacked wasn’t medicine—it was money.
Even in this poverty, women still sacrificed everything for males. They didn’t do it out of pure kindness—it was instinct. They feared male resentment more than anything.
I didn’t know if that was a virtue. But to gain it, they must have thrown something away—
Perhaps concern for the lives of other women.
”W–what are you doing!?”
”Why… why would you…?”
”A m-male cutting his own hair…!”
I grabbed my black hair, and crudely cut it off. Several locks fell to the floor with a rough scrape. The noble ladies paled and screamed.
One lock would have been enough. But the blade was dull. Hair grows back anyway.
Male hair was the finest protective charm. I sat beside the wheezing woman and held her hands over her chest.
”I can’t do anything for you. So at least let me distract you.”
It was nothing special.
”Women die easily.”
And they’re born again and again.
Like trash. They’re called “grass of the people” for a reason.
”So don’t think too deeply.”
Concern was pointless. A life was worth less than the sash around my waist.
”That’s the world.”
All I could do was accept it quickly.
I placed the lock of hair inside the small pouch she was clutching. She held it tightly as if to ward off death. The fabric was crushed and rubbed so much the embroidery had faded.
”M… male… hands…?”
”Sorry for opening it without asking. I put my hair inside—it should bring you luck.”
The young woman lay on her back, face scarred. The skin of her cheek was torn. Her eyes unfocused—until she realized a male was beside her. Then her face regained life.
Inside the pouch, there wasn’t even a proper talisman. A real charm required a metal plate holding a deity. Instead, there was a worn scrap of paper and a dried plum pit.
I tied the lock of hair like a ribbon and placed it inside the little hemp bag. A piece of a male—a heavenly being dwelling temporarily in the mortal world—was far more precious than a charm said to house a god.
”This will do. Messy, but fine.”
I tied the pouch tightly to keep the blessing from escaping.
Then I guided her trembling fingers to hold it, and wrapped my hands around hers.
”May your wounds heal. May you live long, even if only modestly, and find fortune again.”
She finally came to her senses—and burst into tears. Her voice was strained. She must have been struggling to speak, confused by everything.
”It’s… too precious. I’m not worthy…”
Tears washed across her wounded face, changing color with the dried blood.
”I—I cannot accept a male’s hair…”
She spoke slowly—using the last of her strength for the sake of the male before her. But she didn’t try to save that strength for herself.
”This charm… my mother made it. We had no money for a blessing at the shrine of Lady Tamayorihime. No bell, no jewel. She only put a plum seed in its place…”
Tears fell endlessly. It must hurt. Far more than I could ever imagine. She must be terrified of dying.
I thought for a moment. Tamayorihime was a local goddess—of love and marriage. Offering required coins.
I squeezed her hands gently.
”Then may the plum deity and your mother protect you, until these scars turn into laugh-lines on your face.”
I smiled as softly as I could.
”As long as we hold hands like this, no Buddha will take you away.”
I blended in local folklore—pleasant lies with no substance. Just comfort.
”A-ah… ah…”
”It’s okay. You’ll get better.”
”You… touched me… your hands will be—”
She kept crying.
I gently stroked her head.
Male hair and seeds wouldn’t heal her. All I could ever give was comfort.
She eventually calmed down and fell into a sleep like death. I kept stroking her head. It didn’t matter if others died.
Everyone around watched in silence. The red-haired girl, who had been so confrontational, now watched silently.
Notes:
• Kaede – A female psionic explorer known as Necksplitter, is a veteran assassin and messenger of Lord Ichimatsu. Her appearance is both young and old, with gray hair streaked through black and vibrant, unlined skin. She is graceful yet carries the fatigue of a long life in war, resembling an old hunting dog. Her psionic ability is mysterious and potentially dangerous.
• Hinata – Teen, Onjuku heir; mayor’s representative and war commander; very strong psionic user; defensive about being called a cheater; ordered the kidnapping.
• Kiri – A female sniper and member of Kaede-san’s team, white-haired with sleepy eyes, wielding a disguised sniper rifle, known for her quick hands and slow speech, often joking in dire situations.
• Ichimatsu – A high-ranking figure associated with the Imperial Guard, mentioned as having spineless guards around him, with no further details provided.
• Psionic Power – Mental energy concept in Chapter 35’s lecture. Trash-san teaches it to strengthen the protagonist’s mind after dungeon ordeals.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply