Johnny Arrives

"That's it? What a weakling! Apart from being disgusting, you're completely useless."

Hidan was still mocking it mercilessly.

After all, a creature as weak as the one he'd just fought didn't even deserve to be called a "monster."

It was trash!

Shinji also felt something was off when he heard that. If it had only been a [Grade 3 Cursed Spirit], the guards sent by the Land of Grass shouldn't have suffered such a crushing defeat.

Yet the fact remained that they hadn't even managed to send word back. It looked as though they had all been wiped out.

So what had gone wrong?

Shinji glanced at Hidan and suddenly remembered something. They might have fallen into a trap in their thinking.

Although that old man had kept insisting there were monsters eating people, he'd never said there was only one!

There was no way a mere [Grade 3 Cursed Spirit] could have turned this lawless place into the dead zone it was now.

In other words, there were very likely more, stronger cursed spirits lurking here.

Grade 2 Cursed Spirits, or Grade 1 Cursed Spirits?

Or even the most terrifying of all... Special Grade Cursed Spirits?

Shinji felt his teeth ache. This should have been an utterly ordinary mission. How had it suddenly become such a headache?

He considered leaving right then, but couldn't bear to give up the [cursed soul points] practically within his grasp.

Besides... it was probably too late for them to leave now.

So many days had passed, yet neither the Land of Grass nor the Jashin Cult had received any information about the "monsters." They hadn't even known these damned things existed. That meant one thing.

The monsters had made this place their hunting grounds. Humans could come in, but none could leave!

Anyone who tried to escape would immediately be caught and eaten.

Shinji had a nagging feeling that his deductions were already close to the truth.

"It looks like tonight won't be quiet."

In the cellar of a house.

"Mommy, I'm hungry..."

"Be good and hold on a little longer. Daddy will be back with food soon."

In the darkness, a mother and daughter huddled together in a corner for warmth, covered by a tattered blanket.

For fear of attracting a monster to their door, they didn't even dare light a candle.

If they hadn't been starving beyond endurance, the woman's husband would never have risked going out to look for food.

But more than an hour had passed since he'd left, well beyond the time they'd agreed on. The woman couldn't help fearing the worst.

Whether the man had abandoned them and fled alone or been caught and eaten by a monster, she and her daughter wouldn't be able to survive on their own.

Misery showed on the woman's face. Gently stroking her daughter's hair with her right hand, she softly told a fairy tale she'd already repeated hundreds of times, distracting her daughter as though that could ease her hunger.

After a while, the story came to an end once more.

Her daughter suddenly looked up and asked with innocent eyes, "Will a hero really come riding a white horse and defeat the evil monsters?"

"Of course he will!"

Her mother answered with absolute conviction, as though she were trying to reassure herself as well.

"Then... does a white horse taste good?"

Faced with her daughter's innocent yet heartbreaking question, her mother could only give a helpless smile. "A white horse is for riding, not eating. It's the hero's companion."

Hearing that the white horse couldn't be eaten, the girl's face immediately fell. Then she asked, "Does that mean if we become the hero's companions too, we won't get eaten?"

"Mommy, I don't want to be eaten. Can I go find the hero...?"

The woman's heart suddenly trembled. She hugged her daughter tight, her face filled with guilt and fear.

She blamed herself for being useless, for being unable to give her daughter enough to eat.

And she was terrified of losing her.

After all, fairy tales were lies. No passing hero would come riding a white horse and wielding a sword to slay every monster and save them.

Yet her daughter innocently believed that becoming the hero's companion would keep her from being eaten. How bitterly ironic!

Just as the woman could no longer hold back her tears, a sound came from overhead. Someone was moving the wooden board covering the cellar entrance.

The woman started, then whispered in a trembling voice mingled with joy and anxiety, "Runichi, is that you, Runichi?"

"Yes, it's me. I'm back, and I found plenty of food. Wait for me. I'll be right down..."

"It's Daddy!"

Hearing her father's voice and his promise of food, the little girl immediately beamed and wriggled out of her mother's arms.

But the woman suddenly snatched her daughter back as though she'd gone mad, then used the timber they'd kept ready in the cellar to brace the exit tightly shut.

"Mommy, what are you doing? It's Daddy! Daddy's back, and he brought yummy food."

"Quiet! That's not your daddy. It's a monster!"

The woman spoke through clenched teeth, keeping her voice low. When she turned back, tears were already streaming down her face.

Though the monster outside was a convincing imitation, without even the slightest flaw in its voice, she and her husband had agreed on a secret code long ago.

Runichi wasn't her husband's real name at all. She'd only been testing whoever was outside, but he'd answered without hesitation, as though he had no memory of the coded response they were supposed to exchange.

So, painful as it was, the woman had no choice but to take a chance if she wanted to save herself and her daughter.

Thump, thump! Thump, thump!

Something began pounding on the wooden board overhead, but the braced door wouldn't open.

Then the voice came again. "Why won't it open? It's me, Runichi! Hurry and let me in. I found lots of food."

The woman didn't answer. She huddled in the corner with her daughter held tightly against her, covering the girl's mouth to avoid attracting any more attention. She prayed the monster would leave on its own once it realized it couldn't get in.

When the "person" above received no reply for a long while, he began another performance.

"Who are you people? No, don't take my things! That's my food, my water!"

A little while later...

"Quick! Hurry and let me in! There's... there's a monster! A monster's coming!"

"Please, let me in."

Perhaps because she heard that her father was in danger, the girl immediately began struggling desperately, wanting to let him inside.

But the woman found an immense burst of strength. No matter how her daughter struggled, even when she bit her, she refused to let go.

At last, the sounds outside gradually died away. The monster seemed to have left.

The moment the woman relaxed, her daughter slipped free and pushed hard against the timber, trying to let her father in.

The woman hurried over to stop her.

Just then, a cracking sound suddenly came from above their heads.

The woman looked up and felt as though she'd plunged into an icehouse, a chill shuddering through her whole body!

At some point, a sharp weapon had split a gap in the wooden board over the entrance. A terrifying, greedy eye was now staring fixedly at them through it.

"Found you, food~"