NOVEL NEXT Chapter 414
What if my life is tightly bound to some plot?
This world resembles a novel, after all.
Could it be that someone is setting up the pieces every time I start to relax, just to hinder my happiness?
That being I met every time I was on the brink of death always spoke to me gently, as if they were fascinated by me, almost like they cared for me.
But each time I heard that voice, I had my doubts.
This strange being that called me “Your Honor” and referred to itself as “she.”
That being said it was enjoying the anticipation of me talking to it, writhing within chaos.
I’m not quite sure what that chaos signifies. Is it referring to the me that came from another world?
When it comes to chaos creeping in, there is something infamous that comes to mind, but calling myself that being sounded a bit strange.
I am a person. Probably, I am a person.
…….
But, mixed in like Koko, I wasn’t entirely human.
Was I told to be happy?
I didn’t know what that being thought while looking at me, but I thought it would be so, even if it didn’t say it.
Unlike my previous life, I wanted to protect myself.
Yuka stood next to me.
She had briefly gone into the room and quickly pulled out a knife. I guess bringing a knife to places like this is a sign of professionalism.
“…I didn’t think I’d end up using a knife in a place like this.”
Yuka said as she drew the blade.
The chills had grown much stronger. Beyond the sea—something was coming.
“People.”
“We just need to go in first and handle it. It’s not easy to lure people into a nest.”
Yuka looked my way. Her face was calm.
It wasn’t as if she was unaffected. Yuka had fought and got hurt too. No matter how accustomed one becomes, pain is still pain.
Hiding the pain and pretending to be okay, and becoming so used to the pain that you take it for granted.
It’s hard to say which is more tragic, but neither is normal.
Even this moment where we should be happy.
“Let’s go.”
Yuka said calmly. I nodded and walked alongside her.
The people playing around in the night didn’t bother looking our way. They seemed to be having fun, laughing and chatting away.
Cars passed by casually on the roadside, and some houses still had their lights on.
Even within the flow of everyone’s daily life, there was something lurking beyond.
Scrape, scrape, stepping onto the sand, Yuka raised her sword.
That sword, reflecting the moonlight as it cut through the air, was beautiful.
*
Blood was sprinkled on the sandy shore.
A huge octopus leg twitched on the ground. It was not easily killed.
As I momentarily got lost in other thoughts, something brushed past my arm. Blood flowed, but I didn’t mind it, since it was to be expected.
The octopus’s leg, having tasted my blood, retracted. Was it really that unpleasant?
I sliced my hand with the knife. Coating the blade with blood, I charged toward the retracting leg.
I didn’t have the training skills of Yuka or the abilities that exceeded human perception like Koko, but I was capable of chasing down something that was fleeing.
The feeling of the knife sinking into flesh wasn’t pleasant.
A spike shot out from between the suckers and pricked me, but since I knew I would heal quickly, I didn’t give it much thought. It hurt a bit.
“Kotoné!”
Yuka was calling my name.
Ah. Right.
Actually, I didn’t feel all too great. I usually didn’t wear rain gear. And I made an effort not to bleed this much.
Squinting at the pain, I pulled the knife down and tilted my head in confusion.
Why was I doing this?
I… didn’t know. It wasn’t something I’d do under normal circumstances—
“……”
Kagami’s face floated into my mind. It wasn’t far from here.
Ah, I see. That was the reason. I didn’t want this to reach Kagami.
I had done it before. When I first met Kosuzu, I had used a broken toy to make a wound on my neck for intimidation.
And when I was bitten by that bear-like creature, I sent Mako first.
Was I simply accustomed to dying? Having died once already? Or was it because that was what I did in my previous life?
I pulled the knife out, gasping for breath as I looked at the sea.
The tentacles resembled an octopus’s legs, but they kept coming, endlessly rising from the sea.
How happy was I?
How could I be happy? I felt happy when I was with Kagami, when I laughed and chatted with my friends, when I petted Koko’s head. This was not happiness.
I didn’t want this.
But still, I moved toward those things.
Yeah. It felt somewhat familiar. If what was rippling in front of me was fire instead of a tentacle, it seemed somewhat similar.
Why do I do it? My little brother once asked.
Because the fire truck was so cool, I wanted to ride one since I was a child.
The sight of jumping into the flames dressed in a firefighter uniform looked like a hero. The schoolteacher also mentioned several times to always be grateful.
All that was before I even thought of taking that job.
The reason I didn’t stop after starting was—
—who else would do it if not me?
Yeah.
That was probably the reason.
Yuka dashed toward me. A few tentacles were cut off by her knife. But even Yuka didn’t seem to have anticipated this situation.
I tilted my head. Had I ever encountered something like this in a novel?
Probably not. Then this incident wouldn’t have gone unmentioned. People must have died. Yuka was a person who dealt with yōkai, so this would have been discussed as an incident. It wouldn’t be something that would come up in the prologue.
So, this was probably my fault. I didn’t know how it was my fault, but it was.
I swung my knife, but this time it just barely passed through a tentacle. It seemed that all the blood had been washed away. After slashing several times.
Once more, I felt the knife skim over my hand.
Yuka grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
“Kotoné, let’s go…!”
“……”
“If we run away, can we live?”
“……”
Yuka’s words stuck in her throat.
“What about the people?”
“Kotoné.”
“Yuka. You go first. Take Mom and everyone else and run away as far as you can.”
“What?”
Yuka’s eyes widened at my words. Was it strange for me to say this?
It probably was. I hadn’t been with Yuka for long. Unlike Yuka, who had lived in this world since a very young age, I was a bit different.
But somehow, I felt I understood a bit.
That being that tasted my blood didn’t seem to want to come near me. It didn’t crawl over the sand coated in my blood, even though it wasn’t afraid of Yuka’s sword that easily cut tentacles.
So, I felt I could somehow hold it off. I didn’t know what would happen in the end, but…
“……”
Yuka looked at me with her mouth slightly open, then grit her teeth and swung her knife. The tentacle that was about to lash out at her was cut vertically and drooped. Though it didn’t stop writhing.
“I don’t want to.”
Yuka said.
“I do.”
And then, she added that phrase.
“Let’s try to hold it off somehow. Well, someone will realize it. It seems like some experts are already here.”
Yuka said that and readjusted her grip on the knife.
“…Then let’s do it this way.”
I raised the knife and placed its tip on my wrist.
I didn’t plan to die from excessive bleeding. After all, cutting and severing arteries like this was almost impossible; I just… needed a bit more blood.
When Yuka saw me cutting my wrist, her expression turned blank.
…….
This was a method Sota also used. It wasn’t as drastic as this, but well, I recovered from wounds quickly, so this much was fine.
I swung my arm, splattering blood. I heard an eerie sound that was hard to express in words, and I saw the tentacles flinch momentarily, retreating.
Not all of them, but at least those where my droplets of blood had landed.
“I can’t block them completely, but for now, we’ll push them back.”
“You….”
Yuka muttered as she looked at me, shaking her head.
“…You, let’s talk when this is over.”
Her words made her sound like a counselor, and Yuka readjusted her grip on the knife.
Hmm. Somehow, Yuka saying things like that felt scarier than the tentacles.
Alright.
How long can I hold on?
With that thought in mind, I turned my gaze toward the beach.
It was still far from dawn.