When Fujimaru Ritsuka woke up—
"Ugh..."
It hurt—
It was not just one place; so many parts of his body hurt.
Even the slightest movement sent pain coursing through his entire body, but after pausing for a moment, Fujimaru Ritsuka still struggled to open his eyes.
This was—
Where?
It was so dark. Was it still nighttime?
Wait, that was fire, wasn't it?
So it was not dark because night had fallen. He had no idea what time it was, but more importantly, was he inside a cave?
Ah, beside the campfire. That was... a shadow?
Whose shadow?
Fujimaru Ritsuka was a little dazed.
Thinking back on what had happened, he had been heading up the mountain path toward the place where the duel had been arranged, when they had suddenly been ambushed by transformed monsters.
During the battle—
At that thought, Fujimaru Ritsuka shuddered.
Shuten Douji had attacked.
While Sakumura, Musashi, and Senji Muramasa had all been focused on fighting, poisonous sake capable of melting everything had come flooding in like a deluge—
Sakumura had first saved Musashi, then turned to save the others, but during that time—
Shuten Douji had ridden a great serpent down from the mountain, and while the serpent entangled Musashi—
So that phantom beside the campfire—
"Oh my, good morning. You're awake?"
In practically an instant, the shadow beside the campfire appeared before Fujimaru Ritsuka. It was that beautiful face of the demon ogre.
Smiling sweetly, Shuten Douji extended a finger and raised Fujimaru Ritsuka's chin, feeling him tremble.
"You—"
Fujimaru Ritsuka's expression turned fierce as he struggled desperately to fight back.
"Oh my, don't move, okay?"
"You struggled quite hard when I brought you here. To be safe, I was a little rough with you, so—if you move around carelessly, it'll hurt a