Chapter 108: The Night Parade of One Hundred Yokai

Once the performance ended, the Yokai Festival began.

With the people watching their march as if it were a parade, the yokai formed a procession and set off to traverse the entire city.

[Here! Come here! Don't go anywhere else, just follow my lead!]

Of course, since I couldn't just let the yokai roam by themselves, I asked the Dark Spiritualist to head to the forefront of the procession and lead them.

Although the Dark Spiritualist was not visible to the people, as long as the yokai could see her, it didn't matter.

The yokai relished all the attention they were receiving, whether it was wonder, astonishment, laughter out of fascination, or curses due to disgust.

Feeling delighted, the yokai voluntarily joined the procession while enjoying the attention from the people's gazes.

It was truly a night dedicated for the yokai.

The sight of numerous yokai wandering at night could only be described using the Japanese idiom, 'The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.'

"Excuse me, Soul Whisperer."

As I was seeing off the procession of yokai from a place where most people had already departed, Owen approached me.

"The performance just now... "

"It was your grandfather, Oster Valtany. I only helped fulfill his request to let you hear his final performance, and he has returned to sleep."

I didn't know how to play the piano at all, but becoming a pianist, even if it was just for a brief moment, was quite an impressive experience.

"As expected...."

Owen, who seemed to have expected this answer as he knew my abilities, responded calmly.

I then asked the boy.

"So, what did you learn?"

"...."

"Oster sat down in front of the piano once again to remind you about the joy of performing. Even after death, his skills seem not to have rusted at all."

"That's right, my grandfather was really... amazing."

It wouldn't be accurate to call it a phenomenon of 'reflecting on one's original nature',1 as Oster was already dead.

Regardless, his performance before returning to eternal rest was truly intense and explosive as it was still able to instill deep emotions and anticipation for the festival, not only in the yokai but in the people as well.

"In the end, I still failed to do it."

Soaking in sadness, Owen slumped over. So, I shared my thoughts with the boy who had been questioning his own abilities since the last time.

"Why do you think you and Oster came to possess such abilities?"

Owen said that he had always possessed the ability as he played the piano with his grandfather, but it was different for Oster.

One day, as he was playing the piano, those yokai appeared out of nowhere. They said they received comfort from him and disappeared.

Eventually, one could argue that the suddenly acquired ability, like a strange work of fate, had an unclear origin.

"I feel like I might know why the two of you came to possess such abilities."

"Huh?"

Owen looked at me in surprise, as if seeking an answer. However, if I did so, the boy would never experience any personal growth.

For instance, on witnessing how his grandfather comforted the yokai, he naturally assumed that was the only correct answer.

If I were to give him the answer as if he were consulting a cheat sheet, he would once again live with tunnel vision, thinking he had found the only correct solution.

"Watch the procession closely. Towards the end of the festival, if it is you, you should very well be able to figure out the reason."

"If it is me...?"

"Yes, if it is you."

After unnecessarily stroking his head once, I turned away.

Findenai and Illuania were waiting for us some distance away, but I had another place I needed to visit.

"What? Are you not coming with us?"

"If you have some other business, we can help you."

"It is fine. It is not a big deal. I will just go alone."

Upon hearing those words, Illuania nodded in understanding, but Findenai grinned mischievously while making provocative remarks.

"Hunting for girls? Well, with how you look right now, there won't be any woman who won't fall for you."

"Oh my! That old habit of yours, again...?"

At Findenai's words, Illuania immediately covered her mouth in surprise.

"So, are you going to tap people on the elbow and say, 'Do you know the Soul Whisperer? Yeah, that person is me'?"

"That's too old-fashioned. Nowadays, there are other ways...."

Suddenly, the two started babbling about how I should pick-up girls efficiently.

I let out a deep sigh as irritation began to surge within me. Hearing that, Illuania jumped in surprise and apologized. However, Findenai just shrugged her shoulders.

"Geez, you really can't take a joke well. Alright, we'll take our leave. Just call us if you need us."

"....Try to stay near the front side of the procession if possible."

"Huh? Okay, got it."

Findenai led Illuania and Owen towards the festival procession.

She realized I wanted to pursue something by myself and didn't insist on sticking together, but at times, I just wished she would keep quiet and go along.

She always adds unnecessary remarks.

That might be a characteristic of Findenai, but regardless, she talked too much.

"Phew."

The festival had begun. The yokai were enjoying themselves and showing off to their heart's content. Meanwhile, Owen followed them from behind to gain enlightenment.

Now, I just had one thing left to do.

The one coveting Owen's abilities.

It was time to find the villain who had attempted to forcefully make Owen theirs by ordering the loan sharks to drag him away.

* * *

Boom!

The door to Bolfras' office bent like a bow, and then it broke, crashing to the ground.

Inside the dark room.

As I entered with a blue flame in my hand, I could see a person's face emerge from the darkness, as they swung their club at me.

Naturally, the tip of that club was unable to reach me and just struck the air. When I emitted a blue mana flame, the room immediately brightened. The loan sharks waiting to attack me flew and crashed to the ground.

Despite my lack of combat experience, I definitely wouldn't be overwhelmed by mere thugs.

"Agh!"

"M-my tailbone! It feels like it's broken!"

"Argh! She said all we needed to do was launch a surprise attack on him!"

Watching them writhing and groaning in agony, their contorted movements made them look like caterpillars.

I had just intended to interrogate the thugs. However, they suddenly came at me with such flashy moves.

Grrrr!

A bizarre howl came from the outside. Four-legged beasts were running towards me while drooling.

"Were these thugs simply bait?"

Did the opponent anticipate my arrival and set a trap in advance? Did they plan to lure me into the office by using the thugs as bait and then hunt me down?

Monstrous two-headed dogs entered the room.

The fight itself was rather straightforward.

I just cast basic protective spells on myself and shot flames at the hellhounds2 charging at me.

Since the flames were made of mana, there wasn't much risk of a fire spreading.

However, the hellhounds kept pouring in endlessly.

"W-wait! I'm on your side!"

"Crazy mutts! I said stop biting me!"

"You crazy bitch of a Dark Mage! This is why you shouldn't trust them!"

The loan sharks who had ambushed me turned into lumps of meat as they fell prey to the hellhounds.

There was no need to spare them either, so I moved my hand indifferently and sighed while glancing out the window.

"Is this just an attempt to buy time?"

Despite the intense appearance, it was an utterly futile battle. The situation clearly showed that the perpetrator only intended to keep me captive here.

However, how could I simply let myself be trapped in here without being able to escape from those dogs?

Therefore, I gathered mana again.

I was intentionally trying to gain practical combat experience without manipulating souls. However, this battle wasn't like the repetitive hunting3 for monsters in the game; this was simply tedious labor.

"I am breaking through."

I awakened the souls of the hellhounds, who were burnt to death by my flames.

Even though I did it with the help of Lemegeton, I was still someone who had controlled the soul of a Demon soul before.

Therefore, even without Lemegeton's help, I could forcefully command the souls of the dead demonic monsters.

Grrrrrroooohhhh!

[Kraaaaaaaah!]

Transparent-looking hellhounds sprung up from amidst the corpses.

Living and dead hellhounds clashed and tore at each other.

It was a frenzy of madness as they latched onto each other's napes without caring for their own bodies.

Is the opponent a Monstrumancer?

I felt a profound sense of unease rise within me as I watched the hellhounds, which had been trained well enough to follow my orders without any hesitation, even though I had just killed them.

To them, my action of ending their lives seemed inconsequential.

It was akin to observing emotionless entities, meticulously trained to identify their current master and cater to their needs accordingly.

This illustrated the nature of demonic monsters, shaped and conditioned through a life of suffering.

Just as a typical Necromancer subdued evil spirits by inflicting torment upon them, Monstrumancers controlled the minds of demonic monsters, quelling their instincts through excruciating agony.

Nevertheless, these hellhounds would never die even when they got bitten. Even if they died, they would rise again like zombies.

While the individual ghost hellhounds might lack strength compared to living ones, the numbers on my side kept increasing.

Eventually, as the number of ghost hellhounds increased, all the living ones turned into cold corpses.

The office floor and corridor were covered in a sea of hellhound corpses.

Every time I stepped forward, blood spurted out as if I were squeezing water from a sponge.

I exited Bolfras' office on the second floor, as the blood gradually dripped down from the stairs to the surroundings.

It seemed like someone had called the guards upon seeing the eerie sight.

When I looked up, I met the gaze of a woman who was giggling while peering down from a rooftop in the distance.

When she waved her hand in greeting, I could see her wearing a familiar robe.

"As expected, she is from Dante."

Apart from me, Dante was the only organization in the Kingdom filled with skilled Dark Mages.

Given the Monstrumancer's level, I naturally assumed she was affiliated with Dante.

The woman with crimson hair vanished into the building as if suggesting we should play tag.

However, I wasn't pleased with her method of inviting me to chase after her by wagging her tail like that.

"Chase after her."

I released the souls of the hellhounds that were still bound to me.

Countless hellhounds, now translucent ghosts, began to fly into the air, rushing towards their former master like the reindeers of Santa Claus.