Tsudzura: ……Now then, although it required rather minimal effort, I suppose this incident has been resolved.
Senba: No, Tsudzura-sama. The oni I was pursuing is still at large.
Tsudzura: Oh no, that business is over with, Uzuki-san. Am I wrong?
Senba: ……No, it is as you say.
Tsudzura: In that case, Uzuki-san, you may return to the duties you have attended to until now.
Senba: Understood.
Kei: ……?
Now that I think of it, the boy from that picture that Uzuki-san was chasing was also an oni, and he’s probably somewhere in the region, but…
To think that she’d say, “that’s done with,” is that her taking pains to keep me uninvolved with oni any further than I am already?
Tsudzura: Now then, next is concerning how we should deal with Sakuya-san and Kei-oneesan, so…
Kei: ……Eh?
Tsudzura: In short, the Onikiribe is something that does not exist on the surface. The easiest way to explain is that it is a secret society.
Kei: Secret……
Not to mention, they employ such incredibly unlawful methods as swinging katana around, and slaying people who, appearing as people on the surface, are actually people become oni (kinda complicated…).
Tsudzura: Thus, seeing as you have learned of our organization’s secrets…
Kei: …………
Generally, in instances like these, you’re either promised death or a welcome into their fold.
Tsudzura: Not to mention the fact that I am destined to become such a VIP as the Onikiri no Kashira, to whom other evil leaders pale in comparison~!
Shaking her head as if to say “which is why this cannot be avoided,” Tsudzura-chan sidles close to me.
Tsudzura: Because I am as I am, my methods may be questionable, but many violent people exist in this organization, therefore…
With an air to imply that even if I escape, someone will probably come to seal my lips, Tsudzura-chan cuts off my path of escape.
But, after all she went through, trying to protect me——
Tsudzura: For the time being——
Tsudzura: I am going to erase your memory, at least——
Tsudzura-chan’s palm is thrust out, facing me.
Tsudzura: Please return to the town you came from, Kei-oneesan. Allow me to say, as one who experienced it, you will not find there anything so disgusting as a blood feud among kin.
Kei: Eh!? What do you——
Irises shining with a bestial light seal me fast in mid-movement.
Red——
The red of a sunset——
All light that shines beyond it fades into obscurity. As if it had expired, only the dark of night remains in its place.
Night——
The time of sleep——
As the flow of time changes, my heart as well, slows into an unprotected, relaxed state. Almost as if I’m bundled in a futon, set adrift upon a niche of dreams.
And then, Tsudzura-chan’s voice—— the voice of Tsudzura-chan, releasing the power of the kotodama god——
Tsudzura: Goodbye.
—dyes itself into my head.
Its sound shakes the foundations of something in my center, peels something away, and erects something else in its place.
Everything as a dream—— unto a frail memory that I’ll forget upon waking——