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Chapter 5

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Y/N: *Gasp* Damn it, not again.

Leaning against a tree that grew up in the mountain, he was loudly panting while his heart was rotting away. His exhaustion consuming it like gasoline at a rate that was exceeding the worrisome stage, his lungs trying their hardest to recover from all he did in that short amount of time.

Y/N: Doesn't help that the oxygen might start to lack for me at the top.

His legs gave up and he dropped on the green grass below, his head falling against the trunk. The Sun was beginning to disappear and let the Moon rule over the sky. Of course, he was probably around 40% there so he would have to make a part of it during the night, putting him at a great disadvantage.

Y/N: Koishi still isn't back, where the hell did she go?

Maybe that was her plan, to convince him to go somewhere as dangerous as this and discard the librarian there to the monsters, she betrayed him just like the others who came from outside that door. It was a miracle that the food her sister brought wasn't poisoned but it won't matter since his life will end here.

Y/N: *Sigh* I shouldn't stop, time is not something I should waste.

He slowly stood up and walked to the next level of the mountain, following the used path by those from the past. The light of the day weakening with each passing moments, the nightfall of pain will emerge soon and once it does, chaos will ensue.

Y/N: At least I should be able to see someone who use flames as weapons from afar.

Talking about his guest, he could feel the wind slowly coming back, announcing a fresh night. The librarian outside of his safe haven glanced at everything he did to get there and continued, hoping that a better terrain will greet him later.

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Koishi: I won!

She exclaimed while landing on the path leading to the shrine, a victorious smile as well. Her arms raised in the air, she took a deep breath, enjoying the moment and turned around, expecting the man to follow soon after... only for him to never show up.

Koishi: ...Mister Y/N?

She weakly called his name and stepped away from the shrine, back to the path she raced with him on. It was completely devoid of his presence and no matter how many times she called him, she would never receive an answer.

???: Oh, Koishi, what are you doing here?

A voice called her instead.

Koishi: Huh?

She spun around and faced the girl wearing a white and blue shrine maiden outfit, green hair with a small hairpin in the shape of a toad in them. She was holding a broom in her hands and gave the girl a confused look, not expecting her sudden visit.

Koishi: Hey Sanae!

Sanae: Do you need something?

Koishi: Not me but someone else does.

Sanae: Really?

Koishi: He got cursed by youkais and I told him that you deal with stuff like that so we both began climbing the mountain.

Sanae: A curse?! We should take care of that as soon as possible, where is that person?

Koishi: No idea, he was following me last time I checked, maybe he became lost.

Sanae: This late into the day, we can't just leave him there! Where did you last saw him?

Koishi: At the bottom of the mountain.

Sanae: ...What?

She asked with an expressionless face, her fears dropping inside a black hole known as shock. She silently stared at the youkai standing in front of her and felt like giving her a lecture about not paying attention to her surroundings.

Sanae: This is bad, we should go look for him.

Koishi: I'm sure he's fine, he's strong!

Sanae: A human?

Koishi: Yep, he said that he even fought Suika! Although... he did lose in the end.

Sanae: Of course he did, this is Suika we're talking about! No normal humans could face an oni!

Koishi: ...So that makes him abnormal? I'm not sure I follow your train of thought.

Sanae: Now isn't the time, we have to go find him before a youkai finds him first. What does he look like?

Koishi: An outsider, he has weird clothes.

Sanae: ...Y-You abandoned an OUTSIDER!?

???: What is going on?

Another person joined the conversation and the duo with the same hair color faced the newcomer. She was around Koishi height and wore a purple dress but the most prominent part of her was the hat with eyes looking at the both of them on it.

Sanae: Lady Suwako, it has been brought to my attention that an outsider is lost on the Youkai Mountain.

Suwako: An outsider?!

Koishi: Well, not really an outsider, he was hiding underground-

Sanae: WHAT?! Do I need to know anything else before I have a cardiac arrest?!

Suwako: Sanae, deep breaths.

Sanae: Yes...

She soon began to do so and the second girl stepped past the shrine maiden, approaching the one who arrived at their shrine.

Suwako: Do you have an idea of where he could be?

Koishi: Nope.

Suwako: You didn't even hesitate, at least think of an answer before saying that.

Koishi: Hm... Well, he is quick but he also quickly runs out of energy after a while, at least that's what I saw from him.

Suwako: From what I've heard you last saw him at the bottom of the mountain, do you think he gave up and went back down after a while?

Koishi: I don't think so, he said he wanted to get his curse removed.

Suwako: What kind of curse are we talking about?

Koishi: Dunno, one that you get by devouring the heart of youkais.

Suwako: ...

Sanae: ...What?

They were both shocked and looked at her with wide eyes. The girl responded back by tilting her head to the left, silently asking them if something was wrong. The shrine maiden was the first one to respond and she was not happy at all.

Sanae: The both of you need a good lecture once we find him!

Suwako: We should hurry and go find his location before the night begins or else we can assume the worst.

Sanae: What about the shrine?

Suwako: It's Kanako's shrine, her responsibility. Plus, he wants our help, how could I not help then?

Koishi: We should hurry then.

Suwako: The last thing we want is for him to pick a fight with the tengus.

The three of them glanced in the direction of the path that a human would have taken to get here. Time was against them and a life was in danger, at least Suwako and Sanae thought so. Koishi simply spaced out with her usual smile, knowing that Y/N would not die that easily.

Koishi's mind: ...

But her smile soon dropped, remembering that book talking about him and about how tired he was. Maybe his lack of sleep caught up to him and he collapsed on the way.

Koishi: We definitely should hurry.