"Nice look in your eyes. I like it. Yokoyama, the pliers." The woman wound the whip around Igarashi Amaha, then glanced at his tightly clenched fists. Taking the pliers offered by the man in black, she spoke again. "Pry his hand open for me."
"Yes, young lady."
The man in black walked up to Igarashi Amaha and neatly removed a brooch from his chest.
Whoosh! Squelch!
With a rush of displaced air, the brooch drove squarely into the back of Igarashi Amaha's right hand.
"Aaaah!!!"
Demon's Despair multiplied the pain of his flesh being pierced, and Igarashi Amaha let out an agonized roar, his right hand flying open.
That was exactly the effect Sato wanted to see. Seeing this, the man in black drove in five more pins, firmly pinning down all five of his fingers.
Pale-faced, Igarashi Amaha glanced at his fingers, then at the pliers in the woman's hand, a suspicion forming in his mind. That, huh... She really knows how to torture someone...
Click, click!!
The woman walked over to him in her high heels. Holding the pliers in her left hand, she slowly clamped them around his fingernail, then reached out with her right, her expression tender as she lovingly stroked Igarashi Amaha's face.
"Hey, you'll remember me for the rest of your life, won't you...?"
Squelch!
The woman suddenly gave a vicious yank with her right hand.
Igarashi Amaha's body shuddered violently, but he made no sound, save for a muffled grunt.
With a sick expression, the woman raised her right hand and waved it in front of Igarashi Amaha. "It's still dripping blood. Won't you look up?"
Igarashi Amaha struggled to raise his head. Looking at the still-dripping pliers right before his eyes, he managed to tug at the corners of his mouth. "My... Igarashi Amaha's... fingernail... is pretty, isn't it... Heh heh..."
The woman's mocking expression froze, then darkened. "Igarashi, Igarashi. Every last one of you really is so irritating."
The woman seemed to have lost her composure somewhat. No longer keeping up her elegant manner, she picked up the pliers and began tearing out Igarashi Amaha's fingernails one by one.
With Demon's Despair amplifying the pain, Igarashi Amaha passed out at the third nail, so naturally he had no idea what happened afterward.
An unknown amount of time passed before he felt as though someone was kneading his face however they pleased. He slowly opened his eyes. The woman was gone, and the one fiddling with his face was Aoki Akawa, who kept muttering things about how to eat it and how to stuff it in.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Holding a Grade 4 Cursed Spirit, Aoki Akawa froze at the weak voice, then became overjoyed. "You scared me to death! I thought you'd died."
"Don't worry. I won't die before that Grade 1 Cursed Spirit is fully digested..."
Yes, even though a full half month had passed, that Grade 1 Cursed Spirit still had not been fully digested. The reason was simple: Igarashi Amaha's current body was not yet capable of quickly enduring all the feedback a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit brought, and this energy could constantly repair his body and increase his cursed energy.
"So, back to the point, what were you trying to do to my face? Have all these years still not worn away your sexual urges?"
Igarashi Amaha raised his eyes to Aoki Akawa and asked in a level tone.
Hearing this, Aoki Akawa curled his lips into a smile. "You little... I thought you'd lose the will to live. Turns out you're pretty tough." He raised his hand and waved the Grade 4 Cursed Spirit he was holding, then continued, "Here, I found this for you. I thought eating it would help you recover."
Igarashi Amaha felt momentarily dazed at those words. Is this... kindness...? This is the first time I've felt it since coming to this world.
He struggled to pull the corners of his mouth into a smile. "Who do you think I am? I won't lose the will to live that easily. Besides, I haven't had a proper look at this world yet."
"You really know how to play with people's minds, though. You noticed right at the start that this woman seemed to have some history with the Igarashi Clan, didn't you?" Aoki Akawa dragged the chain on his ankle a little, sat on the ground, and began chatting.
Igarashi Amaha looked at Aoki Akawa in surprise, marveling at his keen insight.
Noticing Igarashi Amaha's gaze, Aoki Akawa waved a hand and said irritably, "Stop looking at me like that. Get on with it."
Igarashi Amaha chuckled, not denying it. "What else? Did you really think I'd provoke her in that situation just to court death? I'm not that stupid."
Then he sighed in relief and continued, "Luckily, I won the gamble. She lost her composure and stopped torturing me with that playful attitude, wrapping things up hastily instead. Otherwise, I would've really suffered."
"Don't celebrate yet. You're still tied up there, which means she believed what that monkey said-that you can recover from your injuries. She'll be back." Aoki Akawa ruthlessly threw cold water on him.
"I know. But all I can do now is wait. I estimate this Blood Claw can only hold a Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer. Once I reach Grade 2, I'll be able to get out."
Hearing this, Aoki Akawa laughed in exasperation. "You make it sound so easy. Grade 2, no less. How long do you think you can hold out? A month? Half a year? The Cursed Spirits here alone can't possibly get you to Grade 2 in a short time. What will you do then?"
"They will," Igarashi Amaha said with a serious, certain expression.
Disappointment began to show on Aoki Akawa's face. "I thought you were smart. Turns out you're an idiot too." With that, he began getting up, preparing to give up on Igarashi Amaha.
"Don't forget, that monkey received a huge sum of money."
"Tch, so what? What does that have to do with y... Wait!! Don't tell me!!!" As Aoki Akawa walked, he suddenly froze in place, then spun around, his voice growing more excited than ever before.
"That's right. What do you think that monkey will do with money?" Igarashi Amaha smiled as he watched Aoki Akawa lose his composure.
Excitement gradually filled Aoki Akawa's eyes. "He'll... buy women!!??"
"Exactly. From what I've observed over the past few years, quite a few women in the village were bought through illegal channels. It's already become the norm. Every few years, they receive a substantial sum from an unknown source, and then they buy another batch of women. Those women will be our way to quickly escape our current situation."
In Kitano Village, far from the city, the law had long since become powerless. For years, the village chief had obtained money through illegal means, then used it to buy large numbers of young women. After buying them, he imprisoned them in his own home. He would "enjoy" them first, then sell them cheaply to the villagers. Those who could not endure it and chose suicide had their organs removed and sold at high prices, with the proceeds funding the cycle all over again.
Thus, an evil ecosystem took shape. This was also why Igarashi Amaha insisted on staying here. When he first witnessed these problems, he had already sworn a solemn oath: if he did not kill them, he would not be worthy of being human.
The purchased women would develop fear, resentment, and despair, and those emotions would form Cursed Spirits, one after another.
Please support me in any way you can. I'd be endlessly grateful.