Аннотация: Yuto explains to the Kashi gang what he wants from them. Treasure inspection in the cave. Return to the city.
Chapter 111
You'll find out what a difficult day is by comparison. Until now, I was sure that the most difficult day was the day of the first trip "into the forest." Yeah, right now. I'm not having any luck with this "forest", or vice versa, I'm lucky, as you can see: here, I found ten more "problems" on my neck.
To be honest, the number of events per unit of time has simply gone through the roof: moreover, if the trip to the yokai camp itself is in the category of "unnecessarily risky, but within the norm," then the battle itself is beyond good and evil. It's a good thing that I simply didn't have time to think before deciding. And get scared. Or make a reasonable decision. Because the sensible solution is not to engage in combat under any circumstances. The Yokai from the slopes of the mountains, with all due respect to them, were, if you think about it with your head, an insufficient argument. But when there is no time to think, I have to act on my feelings, fortunately, I was not deceived by them. But, enough self-reflection. We managed to win, now we need to be able to take advantage of the fruits of victory. Of the thirteen participating "locals", ten agreed to accept vassalage, fortunately, the second leader agreed to the procedure immediately after the Corpse Eater, and the "losses" were a "trifle" from the number of the team. Well, that's good. And so, if someone had told me that in one day I would "earn" a dozen vassals, I probably would have laughed for a long time. Thanks to Kashi, whose motives I haven't fully understood yet, I've got into my team not only those who agree to take the oath, but also those with the appropriate character set, yokai. That is, the willingness to follow the leader, even if they don't really understand the meaning of the action. Very good!
The ritual was quite routine: fainting from overload perfectly "wrote off" the inhibitory behavior when applying the "ferry", while I was meditating, feeling for the necessary "vectors" in the nervous system of the next sworn in. The Devourer voiced the text of the oath very much on the subject: my ancestors developed an excellent example of an NLP scheme: it adjusts both the recipient and the receiver to the desired mood. And they also made sure that she was "on the radar." Thanks to this, I did not sit in a puddle, responding to such a generous offer, "I'm sorry, but I do not know how." Of course, on the one hand, the fact that I was practicing not only an experimental (for me) technique, which, in case of failure, would destroy a significant part of consciousness and the second signaling system on intelligent allies, smacked of madness and betrayal at the same time ... But. I definitely didn't have anyone else to train with, and secondly, I was still able to help them in battle, although that doesn't excuse me... Let's go and forget! And so, when the last "small" yokai went through the oath, and those who remained with me "waved their hand" to those who left, who decided to sail independently without the patronage of the "big three" and under the control of Amakawa (words like "traitors fucking" were perhaps the most polite that the "sides" exchanged), I Finally, I was able to think about the sacramental "and what's next?"
Chapter 112.
And then it was definitely worth making an offer, which Mizuchi and I came here with at the beginning of such a long day... By the way, it's not even two o'clock in the afternoon, so all the active actions took a little more than two hours. Looking around the room, I realized that no "revelations" were expected from me at all: the yokai were glad that they had gotten off so easily, and that now they could safely sit out those few hours in a protected cave until a couple of Tsuchimikado operatives got tired of combing the neighborhood. But questions, of course, will arise. I waited until Shizuka returned to the cave to voice my thoughts in front of everyone, but when I came across her sour expression, I decided to find out what was going on first.
"Our weapons were found, you know! It did not melt after processing, only melted slightly. And from this distance, I couldn't destroy it."
Oops! A puncture. On the other hand, the top layer of ice has "frozen off" after all, and no one will find our interesting "fingers" on the shaft and handle. Interestingly, the fact that ice, to put it mildly, has an unusual secondary arrangement of molecules, will it be discovered? And what will they think of the author of the blade and the spear? For example, I would hurry to get out of an area where there is a mizuchi capable of knocking water into comet ice. But come on. Everyone's here, can we still talk?:
"Ladies and gentlemen, Attention, while we are forced to linger under the arches of the cave, I want to tell you how I see our further interaction and describe how I would like to help arrange your future life."
It probably looks funny - an uneven row of sitting men, two women - and a teenager standing in front of them, intently "broadcasting". I forced all the Yokai to change their appearance to a human one, in order to avoid, so to speak. Whether the mindset changes due to a change in shape or not, but the motor skills definitely change, which means that the chance of "missing" in the ferry increases... Fuck it, fuck it!
"First of all, as I understand it, you all would like to get to know the human world better in order to gain some experience, am I right? Great. Then the suggestion is this: thanks to my clan technique, I can make your auras completely undetectable, which Mizuchi and I, who are present here, have already checked. And if you really integrate into the city, then it's better not to live in a park or under a bridge - with the risk of detection by ordinary police or problems with the population: a house or apartments would be better suited, right? The facial expressions of the interlocutors changed from lazily attentive to focused and then naively enthusiastic. I already felt like a politician, once again promising universal happiness from the rostrum, immediately after the elections, of course... until he came across a mocking look from a Hawk-nosed man. However, he remained silent anyway.
"As you probably know, to live in apartments and houses, you need to pay rent to their owners, and it would also be nice to eat normal food and receive other social services. And for that, I suggest you... to work as construction workers or road workers for a while. Qualifications are almost not required there - there is enough strength and desire to work, so you can... Khem!"
Then I naturally fell into a precipitate - after the words "work a little", the already joyful faces lit up with admiring smiles.
"Ah," said one of the Yokai girls from the Devourer's team, "we can play real people! And they'll also give you money for all sorts of goodies!"
The Death Eater forced a smile, spreading his arms, while the Hawk-Nosed Man couldn't help but hold his face with his palm. And completely in vain. Naivety is not something that lasts long in human society. In two months they'll be making fun of themselves. But at least it's clear why these comrades went for Kashi - the infantilism is impressive! Okay, now for the finishing blow.
"Entering the society of people is the task of the next month or two. After about this time, the Tsuchimikado clan will withdraw their fighters from the city police and remove them, and we will take their former territory under our control. That's why you need to get to know people's lives in as much detail as possible."
Huh! And the Japanese and those masquerading as them are also called "narrow-eyed"! Anime and elves are nervously smoking on the sidelines!
Chapter 112
After circling the battlefield for about an hour, Tsuchimikado's agents set fire to the remains of the killed yokai with some kind of technique, joining them with several corpses of scavengers that had not decomposed on the spot, who did not have enough instincts (or were just so hungry) to get away when the police mages approached. After waiting for this entire installation in the "horror" genre to burn out, the flames that were trying to spread to the trees were thoroughly extinguished - and finally dumped.
While Mizuchi carefully watched them from afar, I answered the questions of the yokai hiding in the cave from my squad now. And there were just a lot of questions: from the stupidest to the unexpectedly relevant ones that I hadn't even thought about yet. I answered everything: it doesn't matter if someone doesn't understand the realities of Japanese society yet. It's not so difficult to "drive into" them, especially if you don't immediately try to look like an academic and speak at some kind of debate... although, for example, if something like this happened to a Corpse Eater, I would still think who would "play out" his role better - him or a real academic. After all, an active age combined with an active intellect is a terrible combination in its effectiveness. And surely there are other yokai who have reached great heights in human society: it cannot be that there is no other "perfect" disguise other than the "ferry" one... and you can get it one way or another.
I tried to put into the heads of my now vassals, with all the persuasiveness I could, an understanding of what I expected specifically from them: not blind obedience, not worship, and not service from beginning to end: I needed employees. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say "comrades", but I really hoped that battles like today's senseless massacre would be avoided... and that, if necessary, it will not be "meat" who will fight, but specialists like Mizuchi and Houk-nose. Although I understood that this was a utopia, because if a "wave" of Yokays found out about the departure of the police from the city, a commotion would begin... and we still need to do something about it... and hopefully not in two weeks, anyway.
I specified a period of two months with a margin, given the delay in information about the security situation inside the policy beyond its borders, but then the patrols will have to be assembled "on a live thread," which obviously will not add efficiency... Because even Hiroe has problems with this when there is no specific goal, but an analysis of the situation is required. Things are not so smooth with the "three strongest" either, the infantile Shizuka and the pacifist Kashi are a great example of how a person is suitable for a leader according to the "formula"... yokai can't become one for internal reasons (he just doesn't want to). And when a patient doesn't want to go to the morgue, medicine is powerless...
"They went back to the city, I followed them to the car, you know." It is the Goddess of Rivers who has returned to the cave.
I grimaced inwardly: it's easy to talk, but now I have to work again.
"Gentlemen and ladies! And now, please, choose a set of clothes for yourself to wear in the city, and I will process them. Yes, any of them. No, Mi, an evening dress is great, but it's not what people understand by the term "casual wear," so ask Rinko. Rinko. Rinko! And what does "how cool" mean, she's not going to go to the construction site in it! And there are no fitting rooms here! Okay, okay, I'm going to block another piece of the magic shaft, but don't look at me LIKE that..."
"Hello, Hiroe?" I got out of the cave. "Hi. Yes, the negotiations have already been held, and even successfully, I will tell you everything at home. I didn't call because there was no reception, and they agreed to our terms right away. And that's it! Wait, we'll be there by five or six..."
"Dear Kashi, this passport cannot be used... No, I agree that it's probably not expired, and it's convenient, but... Look at the photo! IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT!" And this is us gutting the warehouse of things in the cave that the Yokai have stolen over the past twenty years, which is pretty smart when you think about it. After making sure that there are no mago police or any of the free exorcists.
There were also curiosities: apparently, the technique of influencing consciousness really "clears the brain", because it cannot be explained by a banal lack of curiosity that things from a box with "valuable objects", as soon as they were removed, were immediately expropriated by Kuzaki and two female spirits who had already sung with her. Well, yes, well, beautiful jewelry... and even a part of it is over a hundred years old (thanks to the Kashi reference book). But that's not a reason to grab them with a happy squeal, put them on and refuse to take them off? The voice of reason, ow!
As a result, apart from the same train in which we were traveling to the city, no one went with us - the contents of the cave suddenly became too valuable: something in terms of money that no one had previously followed, and something increased dramatically in price, having received from me a "ferry" to disguise magic. In addition, when a girl of the same age as my "childhood friends" appears in my house (and not a bit of a lie - I was friends with at least Himari, let the first one to throw a stone at me be the one who says that yokai are not my "childhood friends") it looks completely normal and innocent, but if an adult man shows up with me, and even cooler - a few, they can call the police... Fuck it, fuck it, I've had enough for today.
..After "catching" the evening bus, the three of us took our seats, two facing each other. Rinko unceremoniously took a seat next to me, which Mizuchi was clearly aiming at, and suddenly wrapped her arms around my shoulder and hugged me... A second later, a soft snore was heard! So we were driving: a sleeping swordswoman exhausted from impressions, who killed her first enemy today, a yokai of water, who received from me an incomprehensible "gift" in a dream (but guesses appeared) and your humble servant - with a bruise on half my back, dizzy and full of confusion in my thoughts.
And something tells me that there will be many such "eventful" days now!