Chapter 365: Monsters in the Dark
In the village surrounded by thick greenery, Shirou stood by a stove built outside the small shed near the cowpen. He held a ladle, stirring a ceramic pot over the fire, where fragrant white rice porridge was simmering.
There were nursing cows in the village pen that provided fresh milk. Once boiled and mixed with the rice porridge, it became Tasuke's breakfast.
"Ya-ya~!" The little infant ate bite after bite, laughing happily.
Shirou also gave a bowl of the extra to Atsu, leaving a white "milk mustache" trace around her mouth.
"Hah! Grandpa, the milk is so yummy~!" the little girl said, looking up at Shirou with a smile.
"Wipe your mouth before you talk," Shirou said amusedly, dabbing away the milk residue for her.
"Speaking of which, isn't the Princess drinking any porridge?" Atsu asked curiously.
Shirou had sprinkled chopped green onions into the porridge meant for the adults, and the aroma filled the air. However, the girl with the sensitive nose remained unmoved. She was still curled up in the corner of the wall, drawing circles on the ground and doing nothing, seemingly not yet recovered from the "blow" of the previous night.
"What's wrong? Princess?" "Ya-ya?"
Atsu and Tasuke looked at Kiyohime with concern. "Does your tummy hurt?"
"Ugh... no." Kiyohime shook her head while hiding in the corner, but she looked far from fine.
"Alright, stop sulking in the corner. Come, have some porridge." Shirou scooped a bowl and held it out to Kiyohime, along with some side dishes—vegetables from the "Big Sister's" garden and a small jar of pickled radish from another villager. These were gifts from the villagers in exchange for the repairs Shirou had done yesterday.
Because he had indeed gone a bit overboard the night before, Shirou felt somewhat guilty, so he was trying to appease her with good food.
Kiyohime smelled the fragrance and looked up. She hesitated for a moment, but the thought that this was a "breakfast of love" personally made by Shirou overcame her. She took the bowl into her hands; the warm porridge nourished her body, feeling as warm as being held in the man's arms.
Being cared for so tenderly, the girl immediately broke into a smile through her lingering tears. "Thank you~!"
"The Princess smiled~!" "Ya-ya~!" "Does your tummy not hurt anymore?" Atsu asked kindly.
Holding the bowl, Kiyohime replied with a smile, "I'm all better now, little Atsu, little Tasuke. It's just that my 'Happy Family Plan' is unexpectedly difficult! But! I, Kiyohime, will never give up!" She balled her hand into a tiny fist, her fighting spirit reignited. Behind her, literal flames seemed to manifest, burning fiercely.
.
.
.
After breakfast, a refreshed Shirou went out to find a spot to build a permanent home. He discovered a clearing in a small grove a few hundred meters from the village, which was perfect. As long as he set up a boundary, the magical beasts from outside wouldn't be able to enter.
With the help of the villagers, trees were felled and a two-story wooden house was erected. Thick thatch was laid on the eaves to provide shelter from sun and rain. Finally, the gaps between the logs were plastered with insect-proof and wind-proof mud and coated with tree oil, making it ready for habitation.
Next to the main house, a smaller shed was built to serve as Shirou's forge. Inside the house, he used a saw to cut timber into various pieces of furniture, chairs, and tables.
In less than three days, Shirou officially moved into the house. That evening, the villagers came over to celebrate.
Once the banquet was over and the villagers were sent off, Shirou began to draw strange carvings and magic circles on the path leading to the house.
"Shirou, what are you doing?" Kiyohime asked curiously.
"I'm laying down a bounded field. Unless it's someone from the village or someone with significant power, they won't be able to find the path to this place," Shirou explained. While not a world-class specialist, his training at the Clock Tower had made him a more than qualified magus. Combined with the memories of his other self, he was capable of a great many things.
This forge, in particular, was like a magus's workshop to him. Thus, a two-story thatched wooden house and a forge became the safest protection for the children—and their warmest home.
Of course, Kiyohime, who refused to leave, stayed too. The extra room on the second floor was prepared for her.
Life here was a bit modest, but peaceful. Children of this era were easy to satisfy; as long as there was porridge and milk, Atsu and Tasuke were always smiling. Kiyohime still had her occasional outbursts, but Shirou suppressed them without hesitation. When she was free,
she helped the "Big Sister" with weaving, trading her needlework for supplies to help with the household.
Shirou settled into the village, working as a blacksmith. He mended tools, sharpened scissors and kitchen knives, and forged pots and pans. In exchange, the farmers brought dried vegetables like pickled radishes, fresh produce from the fields, and fish caught from the stream. The village cows and goats provided nutritious milk, and the children's complexions soon became ruddy and healthy.
Shirou was quite satisfied with this. Even in such an era, he believed proper nutrition was essential for a child's growth. He required Atsu to do whatever chores she was capable of, while he handled the supervision and teaching. Though he was strict, Atsu was very obedient. Being naturally dexterous, she quickly learned how to wash clothes and cook.
Under Shirou's tutelage, her simple country cooking improved rapidly. While modest, it was skillfully prepared, and the rustic flavors soon earned the family's unanimous praise. She became excellent at boiling porridge and frying eggs. For more complex dishes like pan-seared fish or roasted meat, Shirou still managed the heat to ensure it wasn't charred or overcooked.
As the saying goes: if a girl knows how to make miso soup, she will always find a way to survive. Under Shirou's guidance, Atsu was developing into a multi-talented homemaker.
As for income, it came from trading with the peddlers who occasionally visited the village. Shirou would invite them in for tea and casually gather news about the surrounding provinces.
"Yes, I've received the custom-ordered tools. Here is the remaining commission." The merchant bowed, holding a small coin purse above his head with both hands.
"Thank you." Shirou bowed in return and took the small cloth bag filled with oban and koban coins. He stood up, gave it a quick glance to confirm the amount, and tucked it away.
The merchant was a squinty-eyed man in his fifties. He was a traveling peddler who used a donkey cart to bring goods from the city to sell in small villages, while buying mountain produce and medicinal herbs to sell back in the city. He basically made a living through simple arbitrage.
Through the village chief's introduction, Shirou did business with this merchant. It started with small items like kitchen knives, daggers, and wakizashi.
"Mr. Shirou is truly young and capable. The tools you forge are highly praised; someone even wants to commission a uchigatana. Next time I come, I'd like double the volume plus two uchigatana. Can we use the steel ingots and premium charcoal I brought this time as the deposit?" the merchant asked with a squinty smile.
"I understand. We'll do it that way," Shirou nodded and agreed. It was good for him too; he needed to save up a significant amount of money for the two children.
Though his initial intention was simply to raise them, Shirou eventually expanded his plan to include Atsu's dowry and the money for Tasuke to marry and build his own house.
"Alright, alright, now that the business is done, sit down and have some tea," the village chief called out.
"Of course, brother," the merchant agreed, sitting down with Shirou inside the house.
"Has anything major happened outside recently?" the village chief asked.
"I heard the Shimabara Rebellion was suppressed very quickly. Compared to the previous crushing defeat, one wonders if a fight even happened," the merchant said.
"Well, with someone like Yagyu Tajima-no-Kami leading the army, the result was decided from the start," the chief remarked.
"Old man, has anything strange happened nearby?" Shirou asked.
"Ah, the matter you asked me to watch for. Yes, several more villages to the east have vanished overnight. Osaka, Sagami... perhaps even Kyoto isn't safe anymore." The merchant frowned as if recalling a terrible image, then sighed and shook his head.
"So it really is like that," Shirou's brow furrowed.
"First it was the southeast, now it's the east. Isn't it getting closer to here?" the chief said worriedly.
"No, this place is very remote. Even bandits likely wouldn't find it," Shirou comforted the chief, though he had already made up his mind to investigate the surrounding areas and finish the village's perimeter boundary as soon as possible.
.
.
.
That night, after Atsu and Tasuke had fallen asleep, Shirou quietly slipped out of the village and headed east. He began investigating the destroyed settlements. Their geographical locations seemed to be getting closer to Shimousa compared to when he first arrived.
The villages emitted a foul, rotting stench. The surroundings were desolate; like the villages he had seen before, corpses littered the ground, and the blood-stained earth gave off an eerie black mist.
"Roar!!!" The black bloodstains on the ground let out a howl. Demonic wolves and boars crawled out from beneath the earth, shaking their bodies and staring at Shirou with blood-red eyes.
Is this why the villages were destroyed? Shirou wondered. Holding his self-forged katana, Myojin-giri, he struck. The black-mist-formed wild dogs, leopards, and birds would simply regrow their bodies—even their heads—after being severed.
"Graaaah!" The monsters pounced again.
No matter how many times he swung his blade, their numbers didn't decrease. Shirou used his blade to knock away a leaping black demon dog. He cleared the surrounding monsters over and over, but he couldn't wipe them out; wave after wave emerged.
Eventually, under the black smoke, the monsters merged into a giant python with sharp fangs. Shirou recognized this snake; it was the same type of serpent monster that had gone berserk from the body of that poor kunoichi during the battle with Sasaki Kojirou and the bandits.
Shirou projected a massive stone axe-blade and immediately activated his Noble Phantasm!
"—Nine Lives (Shooting the Hundred Heads)!"
This was the essence of the martial arts displayed by the Greek hero Heracles when facing the Lernaean Hydra during his Twelve Labors. It possessed extraordinary lethality against serpent-type monsters; even the Hydra, which could infinitely regenerate as long as one head remained, could not escape the end of death.
The serpent's head was severed in a single strike, then shredded into fragments by a frenzy of slashes. This time, the monster crashed to the ground, its headless body twitching in agony before lying still.
With the serpent slain, silence returned. The strange monsters did not reappear, and the nearby villages were saved for now. Peace returned, but beneath the surface, the undercurrents were surging; things were far from over.
.
.
.
A few days later, a blue figure quietly walked toward the village entrance, heading for the small thatched cottage where the blacksmith lived.
At that moment, Kiyohime, who was weaving with the "Big Sister," twitched her nose. Her expression turned wary. "Hmph! Why do I smell a vixen?!"
When she walked back to the cottage, she happened to lock eyes with a blue-robed dancer who was about to sneak inside.
"Rice-pot!!! Why are you here?" Tamamo-no-Mae cried out in shock. Wasn't this the Princess of Shimousa?
"Ssss-hiss~!" Kiyohime made a threatening sound like a small animal guarding its territory.
"Rice-pot!"
The two made various meaningless sounds, like wild animals growling to show dominance when threatened. Kiyohime held a folding fan, while Tamamo-no-Mae held a colorful one.
Kiyohime silently pulled out a black orb bomb; on the other side, Tamamo-no-Mae produced a talisman with flame patterns.
"Wait! No fighting here! Do you want to burn down the house and the forest?!" Shirou walked up from behind, picked both of them up like two small animals, and carried them toward the house.
"Ah, darling, you're back~!" The lifted Kiyohime turned her head and said to Shirou with a giggle.
"Darling?! You're the Princess of Shimousa, aren't you? Why do you seem so close? Shirou?" Tamamo-no-Mae screamed, looking at Shirou and then at the girl in disbelief.
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting