The Monkey Behind It All

"Man, what a beating..."

"Hahaha, that was fun."

After purchasing new weapons at the blacksmith's, the two held a sparring match. The fight Genjuro had forced on them ended with Sei getting thoroughly beaten, partly because Genjuro was in high spirits.

"I used a defensive martial technique, but it didn't block anything. This is why you can't beat a real-life cheat..."

"My apologies. But you benefited from it too, did you not?"

After the sparring match, the master smith had seen how the two fought and sold Sei his new weapon at a discount for putting up a good fight. He also promised to make armor using Genjuro's leftover materials. So it wasn't as if Sei had been beaten for nothing.

"Sure, but still..."

"Hey! You two!"

Though they had gained something from it, Sei was more troubled by the unfair treatment, so he still seemed dissatisfied. Before he could continue grumbling, Nanako came flying over, calling out cheerfully, unaware of their circumstances. She landed on Genjuro's shoulder.

"Sounds like you've settled things... Did something happen?"

"No, it's nothing."

Nanako was puzzled by Sei's vaguely bad mood, but Sei said nothing. Nanako had a pretty good idea of what had happened from his behavior, but did not press him for an explanation.

"I see. Anyway, about what we discussed, it was indeed Hihi-related."

"What exactly did you agree to?"

"As expected, we agreed not to kill each other until the Hihi's rampage ends. We won't fight together, either, but we won't interfere with one another while fighting the Hihi. Those are the two points."

"I see..."

It seemed things had gone more or less as Genjuro predicted. This was only a temporary truce until the Hihi problem was settled; they had neither formed an alliance nor promised to fight together. That distinction was worth keeping in mind.

"Also, Great Tengu-han told us to come by the dojo later. Jigoro-han has already gone on ahead. I wonder if something's bothering him?"

"Is that so? It would be rude to keep him waiting. Shall we go at once?"

With that, the three of them hurried toward the dojo where Great Tengu was waiting.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

"Hmph! Shyaaah!"

"Whoa!? Watch out!"

When the three arrived at the dojo, Great Tengu and Jigoro were fighting inside. Great Tengu was skillfully dodging Jigoro's furious onslaught.

But the gap between them seemed to have narrowed since the last time Genjuro saw them fight. Great Tengu had no room to spare as he evaded, and Jigoro's feints made it seem as though his fists might connect at any moment.

"Hmm! Disciple, your time is up!"

"Tch, you guys made it! I still couldn't land a single hit..."

It seemed Jigoro's challenge had been limited to the time until Genjuro and the others arrived, so he reluctantly lowered his fists. Great Tengu, on the other hand, was visibly relieved. If Genjuro's group had stopped somewhere along the way, Jigoro's fist might have reached him.

"Did we arrive too early?"

"Not really. It's my fault for not landing a hit sooner."

Jigoro was frighteningly stoic when it came to combat. He believed that the outcome of a battle was always his own responsibility. Therefore, he never thought that someone else was to blame for his defeat.

Genjuro rather liked that uncompromising attitude. He would probably never tell Jigoro so, though.

When Genjuro looked around the dojo, he saw many tengu and oni sitting in seiza and waiting alongside Great Tengu. Most of them already knew Genjuro, and he had actually taught many of them techniques. It seemed they had gathered the more combat-oriented members.

"Whew... You've grown too strong in such a short time, my disciple. In any case, it seems everyone I summoned has arrived."

Having caught his breath, Great Tengu took the seat of honor and nodded several times in satisfaction as he looked over those he had gathered. Immediately afterward, his expression turned serious. It seemed he intended to get straight to the matter at hand.

"I gathered the principal figures and the dependable wayfarers for one reason only: the agreement we made with that vixen's followers. You all know its general terms, of course. However... there is something that concerns me."

"Something that concerns you, my lord? What could that be?"

The one who questioned Great Tengu when he said there was something bothering him was a large oni with an imposing physique. His white hair and the deep wrinkles carved into his face suggested that he was quite old, but his razor-sharp gaze showed no sign of age.

He was one of the oni elders, as well as the general who led their warriors. He was second only to Great Tengu in strength, and Jigoro and the others had heard that he was Level 100. They did not know his exact Race, but he was a true warrior who had sworn absolute loyalty to Great Tengu.

"Hm... You there."

"Yes. Please view this footage."

A tengu who appeared to be Great Tengu's secretary took the same crystal ball they had seen before from inside his robe and activated it. It showed a coalition army made up of Hihi, Mujina, and other yokai from the foothills.

"This is footage of covert operatives whom we happened to encounter last night."

Genjuro and the others had not known that there was a covert intelligence organization, but they were more impressed than surprised. There were Scout and Assassin Jobs, after all, so they quickly concluded that such an organization was entirely plausible.

The battle in the footage began with the coalition army having the upper hand. Even though more individuals had gained the ability to use magic, the power of their magic was far lower than that of yokai who were naturally adept at it. Since the front-line fighters were evenly matched, it was only natural that the side with the better rear guard would have the advantage.

Just when it seemed the battle would be decided, a Hihi charged into the fray. It was even larger than Saburo, whom Genjuro had defeated in a one-on-one fight, and it had four arms like Izam. The tengu paused the footage when that individual appeared.

"This is the leader who has united the Hihi. According to 【Appraisal】, its Race was Savage Hihi King, and its level was 94."

"Level 94!? For a mere Hihi?"

"And a king, too... What a nuisance..."

One of the oni shouted in surprise. The others reacted similarly. With a few exceptions, NPCs, for whom death was the end, needed considerable ability and luck to reach the level 90s. Their surprise was understandable.

Moreover, it belonged to the King Race, which strengthened its followers. Among intelligent monsters, it was common sense to be wary not only of humanity, but of anything called a 'King.'

"Calm yourselves! This is not the end. ... Play the rest."

The attendees were murmuring in agitation, but Great Tengu silenced them with a shout. Once the dojo had fallen quiet, the secretary tengu resumed the footage.

The Savage Hihi King went on a rampage, causing the yokai coalition to collapse completely. Apparently, they had no force capable of restraining a Level 90-plus 'King.' Panicked, they could do nothing but flee in all directions, scattering in disarray.

After the yokai had departed, the Savage Hihi King inexplicably stopped moving, as though its strings had been cut. At the same time, the other Hihi stopped moving as well. They did not even cry out in victory; they simply continued standing there in silence. It was an eerie and unsettling sight.

'Kikiki! You drove them off nicely! Well done, you useless puppet! You should be proud to have been of service to Shentu-sama! Kikikikiki!'

What appeared there was a single monkey. Unlike the Hihi, which closely resembled Japanese macaques, it had large eyes and a long tail. It might have been closer to a squirrel monkey or a lemur. Its head and neck were white, while the rest of its body was covered in dark red fur. It was also distinguished by the drawstring pouch hanging from its neck for some reason.

But this monkey was a monster utterly divorced from anything cute. Its face was far too evil. Its cloudy white eyeballs were much too large for its face, its mouth split all the way to its ears to reveal yellowed, jagged teeth, and a large hand was attached to the tip of its long tail.

The monkey monster lightly hopped onto the Savage Hihi King's shoulder and then began casually patting its head. It was an act of astonishing disrespect toward a 'King,' and under ordinary circumstances, it would surely have been grounds for punishment.

'...'

However, the Savage Hihi King did nothing. Rather, it showed no reaction whatsoever. It neither grew angry nor scolded the monkey, but simply stood there unresponsive. It was an utterly bizarre sight.

'Tch, it's no fun when you don't react! That's the drawback of being a puppet... I'm leaving!'

After clicking its tongue in boredom, the monkey monster slapped the Savage Hihi King's cheek as hard as it could with the hand on its tail. The Savage Hihi King then began lumbering away, taking its Hihi followers with it into the depths of the forest. The three-dimensional footage cut out there, as if that were the end.

"...That is the information the covert agents obtained."

"My lord... What are we to make of this? It looked to me as though the monkey who appeared at the end was controlling that king and its troop..."

"That seems likely. And nine times out of ten, that monkey is the reason the Hihi went on this rampage. We've also had several reports mentioning the name 'Shentu.'"

Several of those gathered in the dojo nodded at Great Tengu's words. Several people, including Genjuro, had heard Hihi they encountered during patrols mention the name Shentu. By combining the various pieces of information, they had assumed that Shentu was a Hihi serving as a strategist.

But in reality, Shentu was no mere strategist but the mastermind. Moreover, Shentu was controlling the 'King' and its followers by some method. Neither the method of control nor the purpose behind making the Hihi rampage across the region was clear.

"We don't know what Shentu wants. But it can't be anything good."

"Do the yokai in the foothills know about this?"

"Who knows? It wouldn't surprise me if they did. They may even have proposed a truce because they learned of it. But the most important thing is that the disturbance on Heavenly Spirit Island will not end unless we slay this monkey."

When Great Tengu said this quietly, Nanako and Sei had the illusion that the temperature in the dojo had risen. Nearly all the participants, including Jigoro and Genjuro, were smiling without making any attempt to hide their will to fight.

Once the target they needed to defeat was clear, all that remained was to fight and win. That was what they were thinking.

"It's good to see everyone so fired up. But wait a little longer. The yokai in the foothills will launch an offensive before long. We'll use that opportunity to march out. When we do, be sure to slay the yokai known as Shentu!"

"Yes!!!"

The tengu and oni answered forcefully and in unison. The day of their departure was near, and it would surely be the day the Hihi perished. The fighting spirit of the warriors, including Jigoro and Genjuro, was so overwhelming that Nanako and Sei could not help but feel overwhelmed by it.