Mob Yandere

[Part 1/4]

A small hut was placed in the center of the underground garden they had been led to.

I ignored the sounds of the commotion and the roars behind me, bursting through the door without even bothering to open it properly.

I kicked it open and stomped inside with my bare feet.

The inside of the hut was just as simple as its exterior.

There were some desks, some research equipment, some experimental tools, and some things for making potions.

That was all.

But that was a lie.

"...Here it is!!"

Using my sharp senses, I sensed something strange and turned my gaze there.

If I ripped up the tatami mats roughly, I could see it.

It was a hidden door made of iron.

I opened the heavy door.

I descended into the hut's basement.

I went down the ladder, down, down, down.

The noise that had been echoing from above had disappeared somewhere along the way.

An astonishing silence filled the dimly lit world....

After a while, when my sense of time had become blurry, I finally reached the bottom and stepped off the ladder.

I put my feet on the floor and checked my surroundings.

In an instant, I felt a sense of familiarity with the scene.

I knew this.

I had seen something similar to this before.

To be specific, I witnessed it during the Tsuchigumo incident.

Spiritual Vein overflowing with rich, fragrant, and abundant energy.

And the sparkling stone pillars that were soaked in it, probably to the point of saturation.

What I saw before was jade, but this is probably agate '(＾∀＾) No doubt about it—that's sparkling!'...Hey, don't you say things like "close to broadcast" now.

Just shut up and keep staring.

(Well...)

The glittering pillars, or more accurately, the agate-colored wildflowers intertwined with them.

This must be an agate raw material.

It's beautiful... But if you look closely, the purity doesn't seem to be very high.

With a closer look, it's clear.

There are differences in color and texture in places.

It looks like there are pieces of quartz and jade mixed in.

It's more like a rock pillar with a higher agate content, but no matter what, it's incomparable to the high-purity jade pillar that the fool spider had prepared before.

Of course, that's not something that can be fooled.

The problem is that there is something like this here...

"...?"

'(´･ω･) Hmm?'

And immediately afterwards, my consciousness turned to an existence lie at the root of the agate pillar.

My first impression was that it was a mummy.

It was the only way to describe the dry, withered skin of the thing, which was sitting deeply in a simple chair.

Its arms and legs were thin and skinny.

Its stomach was sunken too, making me wonder if its insides were empty.

Plus, tubes were stuck all over its body, and it was moving them around in a vine-like way, sticking them in and out, here and there.

Following the vine-like tubes, they led to a carnelian pillar, or maybe the ceiling....

"What is this...?"

'（´ﾟдﾟ｀) NO WAY! THAT'S SO CRAZY!?'

That was my first words, and I wasn't really looking for an answer.

So, I was shocked by the voice that came right after.

"So, you are..."

"W-what...!!? Who the heck are you?"

'(゜ﾛ゜;ﾉ)ﾉ OH NOOOO!'

It has a response and a question I blurted out reflexively.

The thing in front of me started moving its mouth, its facial muscles, while cracking its dry skin.

The eyeballs stuck in its sunken eye sockets were staring at me, and it was creepy.

I couldn't help but think of a certain mummy movie.

Ignoring the stupid spider's screams, I was confused and wary.

I got ready to fight.

Because I didn't know who or what it was.

As if it could see what I was thinking, the mummy-like doll relaxed its mouth and introduced itself.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Juuyaku Ichishen, the head of the Juuyaku family. ...I am the first of them. Although it will be a short time, I hope you will remember me."

"Juuyaku Ichishen...I see, so that's how it is."

'(´･ω･) I DON'T REALLY GET IT... (＾∀＾) BUT I STILL DON'T GET IT!'

I was confused along with the spider for a moment at the mummy's introduction, but in a few seconds, I understood what it meant.

I understood its true identity.

If the explanation of the Juuyaku Ichishen group was correct, those things were just imitations no matter what.

They just processed the souls harvested from the "ranch" and crammed them into cultivated bodies, twisting and implanting memories.

Then, it makes sense that there is an origin...the original source, the original.

Hey, you got it, stupid spider?

"Huh. You put imitations made by sacrificing others in the front lines, while your real body is in a safe zone, huh?"

I said it with a lot of sarcasm, and it was partly because I was feeling emotional.

It was a complaint about what I had learned about the actions of the Juuyaku so far.

And it shouldn't have been a misdirected insult.

This guy had done that much.

He had piled up that many sacrifices.

That was a harsh reality.

"...Those guys have been improved a lot during the culturing process. They're different from this fragile, natural flesh. Their lifespan is much, much longer. I've already handed over most of the duties to them."

It was a really, really calm reply to my accusation.

It was straightforward, but it was just an explanation, and I couldn't see any more emotion than that.

At the same time, from our conversation so far, I had a feeling that this Mummy was looking for a conversation....

"...That's not really an answer, is it? Why are you here?"

"It's a waste to use the cultured flesh for this kind of purpose. If the individual's performance is not a problem, it's efficient to use unnecessary items, isn't it?"

Saying such a thing, the Mummy looked up at the ceiling, at the pillar that stretched up.

I was also drawn to it, and I did the same... Hmm, I see.

"A trigger for the Spirit-Deficit Detonation. And you're the detonator, huh?"

'(´･ω･) Hmm, so that's what an old man is...'

"You're right. It's the last service of an old, useless geezer. ...Guh, unngh... It's an easy job, just sitting in a chair."

The groaning sound in the middle was because a huge syringe was hammered into the back of his head by the mechanism moved by the vine dolls.

Some kind of medicine was being injected, and accordingly, the Mummy's body convulsed, his breathing became rough, his eyes widened, but it quickly subsided.

"Don't be surprised. It's just regular maintenance. Please, rest assured."

"Maintenance, huh. ...You know what's going on upstairs, right? Do you really think I can feel at ease?"

'(´･ω･) Papa says that the time limit is approaching...'

I felt a slight tremor.

I'm checking with Ichishen how much he understands the current situation.

Because his way of speaking felt somehow relaxed.

Even though we're in a race against time.

"Of course. ...The Evil Goddess has been unleashed from the seal, hasn't she? I have received the report."

"And you have the nerve to relax? Don't you have any sense of danger? Are your brain cells working properly?"

I make relentless pursuit.

Could it be that his thinking has become dull because of age and body modifications?

It's certainly possible for the words coming out of his mouth to be disconnected from his thoughts.

"...Your doubts are reasonable. But you should know that since we brought that monster here, we've of course prepared the safest measures just in case."

"Is that this self-destruct button?"

"It's supposed to be the ultimate means for erasing secrets, you see."

"It could be."

'(≧▽≦) It's like a fireworks show, huh!'

A low vibration hums through the floor.

Then—silence. A deep, deep sigh.

Jokes that are too casual and imprudent echo in my skull, making my shoulders tense.

And I point out my doubts again.

"So why don't we just blow it all up then? Why are you still alive like this? It's not like you're scared of dying at the last minute, right?"

I tossed out the words with a mix of distaste, thinking back on everything I've seen so far.

Yet, Juuyaku Ichishen's expression didn't change a bit from those words.

And perhaps deep down, he... that's just how it is.

"...The Spiritual Vein of this land is never of good quality. And it took about 30 years to form this setup, which can only be found here. It doesn't even come close to the jade pillar you saw in the Northern region before."

Therefore, blowing it up here will only scatter the mountain, that's all.

It won't deal a fatal blow to the evil goddess status.

It would be a waste of shots.

As it is now.

"So that's why I'm here, huh?"

"That seems to be the case."

"It's not like I drew the short straw or anything."

'(o´: ∀: )o I'm always happy-happy, y'know!'

"Not that I care."

I hang my dissatisfaction over the head's plan.

This isn't a joke.

The problems they caused should be solved by them... like a boomerang.

Maybe if I had kept my hands off this family, this situation wouldn't have happened.

I should have been napping all this time.

I understand.

I get it.

Bastard!

"I get the plan, but... it's a bold move. There's a chance the other side won't move as we expect them to."

Again, I spat out my disgust.

The principles of a god's actions are wildly strange, it's like a well-intentioned mummy.

Is it surprisingly irresponsible?

"Haha, hah. You worry too much. Everything is proceeding as planned. Besides... this is more of a good opportunity, don't you think? It should help with your ambition, your scheme within. At least, that's how it looks from the perspective of that evil goddess."

"...What do you mean?"

Puzzled, I asked him a question.

The mummy observed me and snickered.

It was as if he was looking at something amusing.

That was the most emotional he had been during our conversation so far.

There was a rumbling from the ground.

Ichishen answered without even trying to hide it.

"As you may know... a god is something that exists as a 'face' towards the world. They're not in the present. They're not in the future or the past. Or rather, they're always living in the world at the same time."

Pure godhood is close to a concept.

It's a crystal of will that defines and changes the world.

It's a law with self-awareness tied together by faith and fear.

Laws don't change.

Therefore, a god will continue to exist forever.

They're in the present, the future, the past, and even in parallel worlds.

That's how they define themselves.

That's why in god-slaying, you degrade a god and make them fall.

You knock them down from a law to just a monster... and that wasn't an exception for the Earth Mother Goddess.

Yes.

It's not an exception.