''You red-robed demon, stop.''

'Hmm?

　We took a detour, but we finally arrived at the demon village.
　I was about to pass through the gate, excited to enter, when I was stopped by a calm voice.
　The voice came from above. The voice landed in front of me at a strangely slow speed. I hadn't noticed it at all, but was it on top of the gate?

'An uncanny specter leaked from his body. We can't let you into our village.

　The voice alone sounded like a calm woman, but the owner of the voice was a girl much shorter than me, dressed in a black kimono.
　She was looking at me with a very sharp gaze. I don't know why, but she seems to be very wary of me.

'Kuroyosan?　That's unusual, that you're the gatekeeper.

　In contrast to her appearance, Meguru-san said in a light tone.
　She has been in the village for a while, so it's not surprising that she is an acquaintance of Mr. Meguru.
　I wonder if her name is Kuroyo. I guess you could say that her name represents her body, and she is a girl with strikingly clear black hair.

'Meguru-san. Yes, I've been keeping an eye on the village since there was a specter that I couldn't ignore. Do you know her?

'Yes, I do. She's the disciple of Master Amber.

'What?'

　The girl froze for a moment, then turned her gaze to me.
　She carefully looked at her entire body from top to bottom, made a little gesture of consideration, and then nodded as if convinced of something and let her guard down.

'...... That's, that's. It's reasonable.

　What, am I treated as Amber's apprentice in this village?
　And that one word is enough to convince you?
　I'm not sure what a "youki" is, anyway. Youki...... Youki?　I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not.

I'm sorry. My name is Obsidian, and I've heard about you from Amber.

'I'm Sukuna.

I'll call you Sukuna. Welcome to the home of the demons. We welcome our new friends with open arms.

　The sharp gaze that she had just given me was completely gone, and the girl who called herself Kuroyo said this with a calm expression.


☆☆




'I see, you've come to this village to look for clues to unlock the spell, haven't you, Sukuna-san?

'Yes, that's right.

　It was about three o'clock in the afternoon.
　I had managed to avoid a potential quarrel, and was walking through the demon village with Kuroyagi.
　Lately, everyone seems to hate my polite language. It's not that I want to speak stiffly either, but I'm sure I've been using only polite language most of my life.
　It's nice to be able to be natural, though.

　I left Meguru at the entrance of the village, because I wanted to report my quest.
　When I told him that, he laughed and said, "You've been helping me more than my equal just by helping me with the bosses.
　I have a feeling that I'll be working around this village for a while, and I hope we can fight together again.

　Aside from that, the reason why Kuroyagi is taking the trouble to take me away is because of the curse that is eating away at my entire body.
　Erosion of the demon god. It's a side effect of using a dead skill, a curse that severely restricts your status and skill usage.
　It seems that this curse is spreading the 'youki' that Kuroyagi mentioned earlier to a frightening degree.
　It seems that this curse is spreading the 'youki' that Kuroyoki mentioned earlier to a terrifying degree. It is emitting such tremendous pressure that even a demon tribe member can feel it and it will interfere with their daily lives.

'That's probably the reason why we weren't attacked by any monsters on the way. The monsters in the vicinity of this village are very sensitive to demonic energy.

'I see. So the cause of the change is me.

　Was that good or bad?
　Well, it's good that I don't have to be vigilant about strange things anymore. It would be terrible if we were attacked by something like a true dragon again.

　Back to the topic at hand, there's nothing I can do about this curse, but it's not a situation where I'll be banned from the demon village.
　Even so, there was a possibility that it would cause stress to the residents, so Kuroyomi suggested that I get a bracelet that would suppress the release of demonic energy, called the "Demon Lamp Bracelet".
　It is said that if you wear it, the demonic energy will be suppressed to the extent that you will have no problem walking around the village.

'I don't have any idea how to lift the spell. In the first place, information about the demon gods themselves is subject to control in this village. If you're an old-timer in the village, you might know something about it. ......'

'Hmm, well, I'm hoping I can find some clues.

'You are also blessed by the demon gods. I've heard that the equipment you wear is proof that you defeated the Red Wolf, and above all, that curse is the very power of the demon gods. I'm sure he will be very kind to us, including the village chief.

'I hope so.

　To tell the truth, I'm currently setting titles that increase the sensitivity of the demon tribe and NPCs.
　I'm not sure what it is yet, but it's a "demonic spirit" that makes the residents of my village look at me like I'm ...... dangerous, so I thought it would be nice if I could make it a little better.

　The effect was that I went from being a yokai-soaked bastard to a bastard in many ways.
　The residents looked at me and their faces twitched, and then they looked at Kuroyoku next to me and looked relieved, so it might mean that it doesn't matter how I change my title.

　By the way, it seems that Kuroyou is very trusted by the people of this village.
　Most of the people on the street are greeting or bailing out to her, and she is also accepting them with a calm attitude.
　Although she is only about 130cm tall, her presence is immeasurably large.
　We know from Amber's example that looks and age don't match in the demon tribe, but maybe Kuroyo is much, much older than Amber.



'By the way, I heard that Ms. Sukuna inherited the demon dance from Master Amber.

'Oh, yes. Yes, but...

'Not long ago, Master Amber made a rare visit home. On that occasion, he told me with great joy that he had taken his first apprentice. We were very surprised to see her, who had been fighting alone without even showing any sign of it.

　Her words were filled with compassion, like a parent watching over a child. We could feel that she cared about Amber.
　As I recall, Amber had been expelled from the demon village once.
　She was banished from the demon village once because she forgot herself in anger and destroyed half of the village.
　Eventually, they reconciled and are now traveling the outside world in search of the key to unlock the demon god's seal.
　And after identifying many demon tribes, we, the players, who are travelers from other countries, have found the key.

　I was in the city of beginnings during the event, but I think that was only to protect the people.
　I don't know anything about what Amber is usually doing.

'Hey, Obsidian. Amber is a princess of the demon tribe, isn't she?

'Yes, that's correct. To be more precise, she is a descendant of a family called the Miko clan, which is a direct descendant of the demon gods. He is truly a man of noble blood.

　I see, so he's literally a child of God with God's blood.

'He has been naughty since he was a child. ......Hmm, it was I who taught Master Amber how to fight.

'Well, ...... then, from my point of view, Kuroiyo is the Grand Master.

'Sukuna-san is my grandson. Master Amber was the first of my students to reach the end of the ceremony and receive the title of Master Instructor. He was my disciple for a short period of time, about five years. ...... He comes to see me from time to time. It's always cute to have an apprentice, isn't it?

　Talking about Amber, Obsidian is smiling really happily. It must be a great joy to have a pupil that you have loved so much still remember to show their face.

　Oni no Mai's arts are learned based on her muscle strength. If we simply consider the setting, it is inevitable that Amber, whose level-up bonuses are all based on her strength, will be the fastest to master the Onimai.

　However, it seems that this is not necessarily the case for the last ceremony.
　In fact, although we know the muscle strength values that can be acquired up to the "Type 5 Doji no Kata," we still don't know how to acquire the final form.
　As Amber said before. The final ceremony is a mirror of life, right?
　It seems that Amber's end-of-life ceremony is a one-hit kill by utilizing her immense strength value, but what kind of technique does Kuroyoku have?　I was a little curious about that.

'This is the village chief's residence.

　Kuroyô's voice made me jump.
　I realized that I had walked quite a distance from the gate, and had arrived in front of the gate of a large mansion.

'The village head, huh? ......'

　The chief who controls this demon village.


　I was very much looking forward to meeting him to see what he was like.