The whole afternoon was marked by searching and sorting through information about the mountain nearby. What was I looking for? Well, some clue as to what I might possibly be facing, and I found it in one of the many documents kept in a personal file cabinet of Izayoi's.
"About 4 decades ago an old monk passed through these lands and with him he brought the statues of two ogres. He was looking for a place with good karma, at the same time away from society for the repose of these creatures. The site suggested by the villagers was the rocky mountain, as this is a death trap for anyone and would prevent any disturbance to their eternal rest."
"Quite normal for these things to happen."
Now both Saya and I, found ourselves inside one of the guest rooms in Izayoi's house. This one is about as simple as it gets, barely having the amenities needed for day to day living, though thanks to the small size, it doesn't create a feeling of emptiness and the candles bring a touch of warmth to the affair.
"Is it common to leave sealed beings lying around?"
"In my vast experience I have seen a little bit of everything. Completely sealed beings, half dead, savages, civilized people hunting for sport and many more. It's a fairly common thing for people in these parts to get eaten every so often."
Finishing speaking, Saya lets out a clearly exaggerated sigh, then begins to slowly float towards the hilt of Misty Fang.
By the way, I must get a belt, no if I'm in Japan I guess it'll be an owa-obi, but that means traditional clothing... Better leave this for the future.
"Here...here, I bring your food."
Watching the sliding door open from the other side of the hallway, I notice a burly middle-aged man, most likely a hunter if those scars are true, but he's shaking like a leaf in the wind and looking around frantically.
Failing to calm down, even after a few seconds, he lets out a hoarse voice and throws a sack into the room, then runs off down the corridors.
"How bold, he could have called to warn. Besides, what is this? Maybe it's the raw ingredients, very unprofessional of him."
"Are you going to keep ignoring the whining little fox?"
Yes, out of that sack comes some whimpering and every now and then it moves in a strange way, even if you close your eyes a bit you might consider that it looks like a person in fetal form.
"He called me Christopher, stop calling me a fox at once!"
"Yes, but no. It's simpler to call you by your race than by that name!"
I was starting to get angry, though maybe it's just a method of self-defense, you know, to ignore the whining and hair I can see from inside the sack.
Worst of all wasn't that, but Saya's traitor finished speaking and stepped into the sword sheath, leaving the whole problem in my hands.
"Saya, Saya, come out of there - don't hide!"
"Ump, umpm."
"Oh god, if you're there, tell me. what do I do in this situation?"
Throwing the sword to the side, due to the fact that I have accepted that Saya has sold me out. I start walking with slow steps towards the sack, which has been quite a bit more active since I said he won't call me a fox.
"Easy, calm down, and don't move while I get you out of there."
"Umgp, um, u..... "
My words sounded like those of a dirty old man, but that ability Saya called charm activated again and her struggling begins to calm down completely. After confirming that the charm had taken effect on her, she quickly advanced until she reached her side and I began to remove her from the sack.
Who was inside was a girl of approximately 6 to 8 years old, her hands were tied and she was blindfolded. Her hair was a shade of black tied in a pink bun, she had fair skin and was wearing an orange yukata with white circles tied with a red cloth at the waist.
"OK, all done. Now get up and take off the blindfold when I tell you, at the same time you will leave this trance state."
Speaking like a full hypnotist, I removed the ropes from her hands and feet, before moving an appropriate distance away from the girl, thus giving her that last command.
She follows the orders to the letter, getting up in a leisurely manner and standing still waiting for my signal.
"Ahem, ahem. now."
My words of uncertainty ended the charm, causing her dreamy eyes to regain their reasoning in a few moments.
First her eyes began to twitch, followed by sweat trickling down her face, then came the goose bumps and to finish she began to open her mouth as if to scream.
"Stop, stop, calm down and let's talk... Please?"
"No, no, you're not going to eat me?"
Her innocent eyes were full of unshed tears, every now and then she sucks her boogers to prevent them from falling and with her left hand she silences the hiccups emerging from her mouth.
All this is making me feel pretty bad... But it's not my fault! Well a little bit because of the miscommunication with Izayoi, OK yes it's largely my fault.
"No way would I do that. Look I don't have any giant horns, tails or teeth to be a monster and if I were one. would I have to convince you that I'm not?"
Asking the last question with an exaggeratedly serious tone, she smiled and held up my hands to show that I don't have claws or fangs, all to get the girl to calm down at once.
"But, sniff, but your hair is weird and you followed me when I started running, even if you're not a monster, you're a dangerous person, sniff."
Now I understand when they say that words hurt more than a gun, that hurts a lot, but I must say that it is the right education for this time and place.
"It's not weird, it's just different because I come from so far away. About the chase, it was because I was excited to see another person."
"That from far away, my mother says that when she tells stories to my younger siblings, are you lying to me?"
What's with this critical thinking on your part, not that we are in a village in the middle of nowhere and consequently everyone must be uneducated... This talk goes on for a long time.