But the ones I'm interested in are Shuten-dōji, Ibaraki-dōji, the Great Tengu, Tamamo-no-Mae, Enmusubi Fire, the Vampire Princess, Aoandon…" He ticked the names off on his fingers.
Not necessarily because they were all powerful—those were just the ones he remembered.
In fact… they might not even really exist. Some of them could've just been made up by a game.
"…I see," Maro gave a small smile.
To be able to name so many off the top of his head… Lord Cyr must know a fair bit about this place.
At the very least, he wasn't completely clueless like Maro was.
That… was reassuring.
If the master had some understanding of this world, then Maro could rest easier.
"I believe they must each have some exceptional traits," Maro said softly.
That's why they'd made an impression on his lord.
"You could say that," Cyr nodded, agreeing.
At the very least, their names were interesting enough to stick in his memory.
As he was thinking this, suddenly—a human head peeked out beside Maro.
Just the head, attached to a neck, with no body in sight.
It was just… floating there.
"…" Maro stared at the grinning head for a solid second. Just when it thought it had successfully scared him and was beginning to smirk smugly—
—he drew his blade and stabbed it straight through the neck without hesitation.
The floating head was instantly skewered by an ice-forged sword.
"A Flying Head Barbarian. They like to scare people at night by popping their heads out. There are also tales saying they eat humans and are especially vicious," Cyr narrated as he looked down at the head on the ground.
He knew a bit about them because similar creatures were recorded in other folklores.
"They say at night their heads fly off, and by day they return to the body. If the head doesn't make it back by morning, the body dies," Cyr continued.
"I see. As expected of you, my lord—you're so knowledgeable," Maro said admiringly, then without pause, encased the head in a giant block of ice.
The kind that wouldn't melt for hours.
Clearly, he had no intention of letting the head return. His killing intent was obvious.
"There shouldn't be any more trouble tonight. Time to sleep." Cyr yawned and returned to the tent, where a fluffy white tiger lay dejectedly, serving as his mattress.
Cyr lay down on it without a second thought. He figured his titles were finally proving useful.
He had unequipped titles like Dragonslayer and Massacrer of Ten Thousand—the kind that radiated bloodlust—and replaced them with ones like Miracle Healer, titles that made him seem kind-hearted and helpful.
And what do you know—the Flayed Ghost and the Flying Head Barbarian had both shown up.
Surely tomorrow, the little monsters wouldn't go out of their way to avoid him anymore.
---
Because the Flayed Ghost had torn his tent to shreds, Maro didn't sleep in it that night. Instead, he silently sat outside Cyr's tent, feeding the firewood all through the night.
By morning, he had already prepared hot water and breakfast for Cyr.
Even in this rough and primitive era, Cyr lived in comfort and leisure—like he was on vacation.
Because of that, he decided to stop obsessing over how the system had stolen all his money.
Back in the Hunter World, he'd had hundreds of billions of Jenny. The system had claimed it could be converted into local currency here.
But the moment he asked for the exchange, the system said the money was gone.
Apparently, bringing Maro and Sora over had consumed too much energy, and the money had all been used as "service fees."
Damn scammer.
Cyr cursed in his mind while brushing his teeth.
The system remained as silent as the grave.
"Let's go." Once everything was ready, they set off again on their… sightseeing trip—er, journey to Kyoto.
Japan wasn't a large country—at their pace, if they really gave it their all, they could reach their destination fairly quickly.
But instead, they were just strolling along at a leisurely, sightseeing pace.
The farmers they encountered along the way all seemed to have the same goals: fishing, hunting, and farming.
The fish were tiny things that didn't even look like they had a couple ounces of meat. The most they ever caught hunting were pheasants, field mice, or rabbits, none of which looked particularly plump.
As the sun set, villagers returning from a day of labor walked home in small groups.
A woman—hair pinned up, wearing dark clothes, staggering under the weight of a cloth bundle in her arms—seemed to be carrying a child and walked unsteadily.
She accidentally bumped into Maro's shoulder.
Maro glanced down at the shoes on her feet and frowned, as if he'd been infected by some filth. He immediately started slapping his shoulder furiously and said coldly, "Get lost."
He seemed to be growing increasingly cold—or perhaps… less human?
"I'm sorry, my lord…"
"Forgive me…" The woman's frail body swayed like a willow in the wind.
She had a beautiful face, but strangely, none of the villagers nearby seemed to notice.
"Would you hold my baby for a moment?" she asked softly—but she was looking at Cyr.
She hadn't asked the golden-haired figure next to him—clearly a follower. And who lets a follower do something in front of their master, after all?
Besides… for some reason, she just felt the white-haired boy seemed kind-hearted.
Cyr glanced at the title he was wearing—one no one else could see—and nearly laughed out loud.
Perfect. So this is what the title's for.
The yokai had mistaken him for a good person and came to mess with him!
"Ah, of course," the white-haired boy said cheerfully, reaching out to take the cloth bundle containing the supposed baby.
Just as the woman's lips curled into a smile—a spark suddenly flared to life in front of her.
"Ah, seems like my hand was too warm and accidentally set it on fire," the white-haired boy smiled, holding the so-called baby bundle in one hand.
It was the bundle that was now on fire.
Strangely, there was no sound of a baby crying.
Instead, tiny black spiders crawled out of the burning bundle, only to be dragged back by some unseen force.
The fire crackled and burned through the mass of black spiders, and the woman before him suddenly showed a face twisted in hatred.
"My baby…"
"You killed my baby…" she shrieked, her clothes tearing apart as she returned to her true form.
A creature—human upper body, spider lower body.
A jorōgumo, also known as a spider bride.
The nearby villagers' first reaction to this scene was—run.
They screamed and fled without hesitation.
Their movements were practiced and skilled.
Living in a world filled with yōkai and cursed spirits, where it wasn't uncommon to stumble upon scenes of monsters killing people, they had learned how to escape quickly and efficiently.
"No rush, no rush. I'll let you reunite with your family soon enough," the white-haired boy said kindly.
In the blink of an eye, the jorōgumo's legs were severed one by one. Her body, losing support, collapsed to the ground—then it too was sliced apart.
"A jorōgumo—there are tales that she disguises herself as a beautiful woman to lure men into her web, then kills and eats them after three days."
"There's also a tale where she disguises herself as a woman carrying a baby and asks someone to hold it—but the bundle is actually filled with baby spiders."
"Well, I suppose it's fair enough to say these spiders are your children." Cyr nodded thoughtfully.
They had encountered the second kind of jorōgumo legend.
"Hope your family reunion goes well," he said, snapping his fingers.
In an instant, a great blaze consumed the jorōgumo's remains.
°°°
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