#apta

Special Chapter 21

A tiny masked-youkai finds himself trapped in the horrid “Forest of Giant Feet”, where numerous youkai have been squashed to death by the giant feet that trot through the forest.

Shivering amongst the tree branches, the tiny youkai catches sight of two large youkai appearing in the distance: one with single eye, and one that looks like a bull.

As the giant feet stomps around them, the two youkai evade them nimbly, much to the tiny youkai’s surprise.

Tiny: (They got through!?) *gasp* (If I follow them…)

Holding back his shivers, the tiny youkai leaps onto the back of the one-eyed youkai.

Eventually, the two youkai leave the forest, talking about how they were directed towards a shortcut by someone named Hinoe, but found themselves in a rather rowdy forest.

The tiny youkai is still hanging onto them.

Tiny: (Just as I thought I was done for, I was able to escape thanks to them… I want to thank them somehow, but they appear to be powerful ayakashi. They might just eat someone as tiny as me…… ——But I wonder where I am? Maybe I should keep sticking to them discreetly until we get to a safe place……………)

A tiny mouse-like youkai pops out beside Tiny, staring at him in silence.

Tiny: (Hey! Are you sticking to these beings too? Seems like us little guys have our fair share of hardships, huh?) Mouse: ……

One-eyed: Well, if it’s a shortcut, we should be able to make it in time. Bull-faced: Hah~~~~ I want to finish this quickly and get back to drinking. One-eyed: Having a drink right after something troublesome always brings about a special taste. Tiny: (......I wonder where they came from? Do you have any ideas?) Mouse: …… Tiny: (You sure are a quiet guy. But, I suppose we should really be keeping quiet, or……) HIIIIII…!!!

Before they knew it, the two youkai are leaping through the air. Seeing that Mouse is starting to lose his grip, Tiny quickly grabs him. But his screams resume as the horrendous journey continues…

Tiny soon begins to notice that the two youkai are carrying some things with them; the One-eyed youkai has a gourd, while the Bull-faced youkai has a basket with him.

Tiny: ——Where do you plan to get off? Mouse: …… Tiny: ——I’m in the middle of a journey to find a peaceful place to live in. But to someone as tiny as me, everything just seems so frightening…… Mouse: *flop~~* Tiny: Ah! Again! *grab* My my, you sure are an unreliable guy. If you keep this up, you might just get thrown off. Bull-faced: Hah~~~~~ Seriously, I feel like my bones are about to break! One-eyed: I’m sure you understand our hard work! Bull-faced: This is going to cost you a lot! One-eye: That’s right, that’s right~~~ Tiny: (As I observed them, there was one more thing I noticed. Once in a while, these beings would begin muttering some complaints… As though they were speaking to someone——)

After that, they passed through numerous, strange places… and finally arrive at a peach garden. The two youkai toss the basket and the gourd aside, and begin picking peaches off the trees. Tiny and Mouse watch them as peaches are thrown into the basket one after another.

Tiny looks around him, and plucks out a peach within his reach. He tosses it into the basket.

Mouse: …… Tiny: I’m helping them as thanks for letting me ride them.

Just as Tiny continues with his next peach, he spots Mouse throwing a peach into the basket as well. One by one, the two of them toss the peaches into the basket, until…

One-eyed: ——Oh? For some reason, it looks like the fruits have multiplied———— Tiny: *GULP!* …… Bull-faced: ………. Just your imagination. One-eyed: ——Hmmm, just my imagination, huh?

[Oh man… The Mid-Ranks are just so sweet. I’m pretty sure they’ve already noticed the two tiny guys with them, and lied here so that they wouldn’t frighten them.]

They continue on their journey, with the two tiny youkai on One-eyed’s back, once again.

Tiny: Oh no! I should have gotten off at the peach garden just now… (——However, I’ve started getting curious about where these peaches are going. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been on a journey all by myself for so long. I don’t want to lea……) ………

Tiny glances over at Mouse.

Tiny: (...Maybe I could… ——invite him, to join me on my journey……)

The two large youkai continue to chat, talking about bringing the peaches to someone named Benikyouki-sama, in exchange for something else. Tiny wonders who this Benikyouki-sama is when they finally arrive at their destination.

It is a wayside shrine.

Both of the large youkai bow down towards the shrine, offering up the basket of peaches as they get on their knees.

One-eyed: Benikyouki*-sama. We’ve brought some peaches from Lull Headland, which is known as a secret village. If possible, we would like to exchange them with the beautiful white heron chick from White Willow Pond that you have captured a few days ago.

[“Benikyouki” = “Oni/Demon of the Crimson Bridge”]

Upon One-eyed’s back, Tiny shrieks to himself.

Tiny: (Hiii! Hiiiii! Isn’t Benikyouki the rumoured fearsome Oni with a violent temperament……?)

The door of the shrine slides open, and a giant hand emerges, holding a box between its thumb and index finger.

The two youkai thank Benikyouki, and rush off with the box in tow.

Bull-faced: Now! Hurry hurry~~~~ One-eyed: If we don’t hurry up, we won’t make it in time before the herons leave for their journey! Bull-faced: Hah~~~~~ Why do we have to do something so pointless~~ Seriously——

They go to a cliffside. One-eyed opens the box, and a tiny white bird flies out.

One-eyed: There. It’s time for you to return to your flock. Don’t get caught again, got it?

One-eyed: ——If you want to thank someone, please thank Natsume-sama. We were reluctant, but he’s the one that made us help you. Right, Natsume-sama? Tiny: Huh…?

The herons fly away together, enveloping them in a sea of white.

With their work finished, the two youkai merrily return to their friends.

Bull-eyed: We’re back~~~~ Hinoe: Ohh, how was it? One-eyed: It was super—— difficult! We were almost squashed by giant feet, and almost fell into a valley… So many things, really! Gourd: *bounce* *thud* Hinoe: And? Did you do what Natsume asked you to do? Did the heron manage to escape? One-eyed: Of course!

Bull-faced: It wasn’t a place where humans could enter, but Natsume-sama said that he would like to see it through the end, so we had to put him in a form that other ayakashi wouldn’t notice in order for him to come with us. It was so stressful! Hah~~~~~ So tired~~~~~ Tiny: *sneak…* …… *shy…* ——Could it be… You’re that “Natsume-sama”...? …You have friends like that…?

Gourd: Hey, Mid-Ranks! Are we back!? I never asked you to bring me along! *KNOCK KNOCK* All I did was approach you guys for advice when the heron chick was captured! ——Hey!! Nyanko: ——Seriously, Natsume, fooling around on your own.

Tiny looks at Mouse awkwardly.

Tiny: …… …Then… You really are just a small guy…… …Do you want to come with me…? Mouse: *nod* Tiny: (That was the first big adventure that the cowardly me had ever experienced.) One-eyed: Hey! Those two tiny guys over there! Come here for a drink as well! Even though that Natsume-sama is actually nothing more than a small fry… Bull-eyed: Seriously, he really is a troublesome person——— Gourd: HEY—— LET ME OUT———!