In no particular hurry, Sū ěr chatted idly with Think while watching Taiko slowly regain his ability to speak as he clutched a cup of hot tea.
"Taiko, you didn't forget, did you? You haven't answered my original question yet." Just like in the previous world, the children here shed their innocence early. When Sū ěr spoke to Taiko, he didn't go out of his way to treat him like a child.
"Question?" Taiko asked back, puzzled. However, his memory was exceptionally good, and he soon remembered what Sū ěr was referring to. "Oh! Right! I met Shin while working outside the city. He looked lonely all by himself, so I asked him to join me. We're partners now!"
So you basically got yourself an Oni as free labor?
That was Sū ěr first thought. Even if Shin looked malnourished, he was still an Oni. Even if he hadn't fully transitioned into a yokai like Hoderi [Huǒ zhào], his physical constitution was still incredible. He was a natural at manual labor.
However, considering how Shin was nodding in agreement as Taiko spoke, perhaps this could be called a "mutually beneficial" arrangement.
But that wasn't what Sū ěr wanted to know.
"Where is Hoderi?" Sū ěr suddenly pulled back his smile and asked Shin sternly.
Compared to the Shin he had seen in the underground Oni city, this brat looked very somber now—or rather, very withdrawn. He lacked the cheerful energy he'd had when he greeted Sū ěr group without a hint of stage fright and pestered Hoderi.
Sū ěr believed that the relationship between Hoderi and this brat was genuine, so what had happened? He looked like he'd been abandoned.
"Hoderi... Uncle Hoderi, he..." Shin hesitated, his words catching in his throat. His expression made Sū ěr think the tall Oni had been caught and killed by that pitch-black Tamamo-no-Mae while leading the survivors off the battlefield.
Wait, this feeling?
Sū ěr suddenly turned his head toward the door of his small house.
"As for the matter regarding Hoderi... please allow me to answer that myself." There were no soundproofing measures; if one listened carefully at the door, the voices inside could always be heard. Likewise, the sounds outside were audible.
The door opened. The tall Oni gave a respectful bow before stooping to enter the room. Sū ěr scanned the fearful gazes of the people outside staring at the Oni before closing the door again. It seemed word of the events over there had already spread.
Without using space-expansion magic, Sū ěr temporary lodgings felt cramped with so many people inside. Given Hoderi height—which made him taller than the roof while standing outside—he had to hunch his body over.
Not minding, Hoderi simply sat cross-legged on the floor, just like Shin beside him.
"...I don't really want to get involved in your mess, but let's hear it. What is all this about?" Sū ěr looked Hoderi up and down, his tone unfriendly. In front of Hoderi, his gaze repeatedly drifted over Taiko.
Instead of rushing to speak, Hoderi prostrated himself on the ground in a manner contrary to his large, powerful frame. Even though it was a bit elaborate, he completed the full ritual of respect before sitting upright again.
"Although I have no proof, I must ask you to believe that I had absolutely no prior knowledge that you resided here. Likewise, Shin meeting Taiko was by no means an intentional arrangement of mine. All of this is truly just a coincidence." As if fearing Sū ěr wouldn't believe him, Hoderi prostrated himself again, looking as if he wouldn't rise until Sū ěr believed him.
Naturally, this only made Sū ěr more irritated.
"Get up first."
"Please—"
"I said get up!!"
"...Understood." Seeing Sū ěr anger, Hoderi obeyed and sat straight, despite not quite understanding where the fury came from. "As you have likely seen, Shin horns are distorted, and his strength is far weaker than that of Oni his age. Plus... in short, it is for these obvious reasons that Shin is incredibly isolated within the Oni tribe, even with me by his side."
The massive Oni gave a bitter smile, like an aging father. However, Sū ěr could never forget the scene on that battlefield where Hoderi confronted Tamamo-no-Mae. He had worn that same "driven to desperation" smile right before plunging his claws into her soft belly.
Perhaps because the big fox's friendly reaction had left a positive first impression, Sū ěr found it difficult to face Hoderi without a sense of malice—even though, strictly speaking, Hoderi was the one they had met first.
"After being able to move freely on the surface world, Shin was quickly cast aside. To me, the fact that he has found a playmate like this is already a great comfort." Not knowing what Sū ěr was thinking behind his expressionless face, Hoderi simply sighed repeatedly.
He really did seem like an old father—at least on the surface.
"And what about that Nine-Tailed Fox? I remember she left with you at the end." Sū ěr nodded, temporarily moving past the matter of Shin to ask about the fox. He hadn't forgotten Think previous suggestion.
"You were watching then?" Hoderi asked back in surprise. At the mention of the fox that had turned black, he looked like he had a massive headache. "The Nine-Tailed Fox... was that really a Nine-Tailed Fox?"
"If I could turn back time, I would never have agreed to Izumo's proposal. I would have even helped Tamamo survive the siege." He voiced his regret without hesitation, then, feeling that mere words couldn't prove his resolve, Hoderi turned halfway and removed his upper garment.
Several massive scars were located just below his ribs on his back—obvious claw marks, one wide and two narrow, with deep indentations. Though healed, the lost flesh had not been replenished. Hoderi words revealed that, like Sū ěr, he didn't believe the yokai who later claimed to be Tamamo-no-Mae was actually her.
"She was clearly a newly born yokai, but in terms of the application of power, she was already at a level equal to mine. Just as I thought I had lost her, she ambushed me from the shadows... just as I had ambushed Tamamo," Hoderi said self-deprecatingly, not avoiding his own past actions. "Although I managed to wound her with the help of the others, if my reactions had been a moment slower, my internal organs would have been ripped out."
"So the situation is that she fled wounded, and you can't find her either?" Ignoring Hoderi injuries, Sū ěr followed up.