"By the way, what are we doing today?"
Yasutaka answered Mani-hime, who'd asked with such innocent curiosity.
"We're clearing out some Dan Lizards. Nue-type Monsters multiply like nobody's business if you don't catch them early, so we nip 'em in the bud. Got the job from the Northern Magistrate's Office."
"Hmm... what's a Nue-type Monster?"
Stumble...
Mōha staggered, just a little, at the question.
"You really are a princess, huh. Don't even know that much?"
"It can't be helped. The Princess has been sheltered her whole life."
Granny Moon spoke up in her defense.
"Princess. As for what a Nue-type Monster is, you must have seen a few Kuzuyo along the way here, yes?"
"Oh, you mean those things like a jellyfish made of agar and leftover broth?"
"Just so."
Granny Moon explained it bit by bit, in terms easy enough to follow.
Incidentally, a Kuzuyo is a slime-type monster, more or less.
"That creature grows by eating all manner of things, but when it happens to eat two or more objects at once, they fuse together within it, and what emerges is some ghastly thing made of two or more 'somethings' mashed into one."
"Two or more somethings?"
Mani-hime's brow furrowed at the phrase.
"Indeed. What a Kuzuyo eats need not be a living thing at all. Stones, dirt, plates, swords, it devours all such things without discrimination, and so all manner of objects fuse together within it, birthing a creature that is many different things combined, much like the Nue of legend. That is why they came to be called Nue-type Monsters."
"I see."
Granny Moon's explanation seemed to satisfy her.
"However, the Kuzuyo is a creature that multiplies by splitting itself in two. The Nue-type Monster inherits this trait as well, which makes it an especially troublesome breed."
Find one, and you've as good as found a hundred. Such is the nature of the beast.
Mani-hime's face soured.
"What a troublesome kind of monster."
"Well, some of them turn out useful to people, like that one over there."
Yasutaka pointed down at a hollow in a nearby tree as he spoke.
Inside the hollow, another Kabukimono was already locked in battle!
"HAAAAAH!!"
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle...
For some reason, the warrior had worked himself into a fighting spirit by breaking into a dance, and the moment he began, light after light burst from him and streaked straight into the monster!
And when that light struck home...
Ka-blam!
A small explosion went off.
This was the Flow Arts (Haryūjutsu) at work: the dance itself was striking secret pressure points (hikō) woven into the ri-power net that filled the air.
Fighting alongside him, a Dragon Girl swung her naginata with a fierce cry.
"HAAAAH!!"
Clang!
The naginata's blade struck the monster, but did nothing, for the creature was made of iron.
Yet as the girl poured her strength into the blade, the naginata began to glow.
"Sharp Blade!"
The instant she shouted the name, the glowing blade began slicing straight through the monster's iron body!
And then...
Slice!
She succeeded in cutting clean through the iron old man.
This was qigong arts in action, channeling ri-power into a blow like that.
Be that as it may, the iron old man she'd cut down collapsed right where he stood, and the Kabukimono set to work chopping him into pieces, stuffing them into a sack, and lashing it to his carrying frame (shoiko).
"That's a Nue-type Monster too. Splitting on its own means more iron each time, so all that scrap he's hauling off becomes part of Edo's iron supply."
"How efficient."
Yasutaka spoke with obvious pride, and Mani-hime looked suitably impressed.
"So then, where's this Dan Lizard we're supposed to take down?"
"Just inside that hollow over there."
Yasutaka pointed to a hollow a short way up the slope, close enough now to touch.
Beside the hollow, someone had scrawled 'Checkpoint Tatsu Number Five' in bold red ink.
"Once we go in there, it's a full-on monster den, so we'd better get ready."
So saying, Yasutaka shifted the carrying frame (shoiko) on his back and checked it over.
"Everyone ready?"
"I'm fine."
"No problem."
"Ow, ow, ow! This old woman's back has suddenly started aching something fierce..."
"All right, let's go."
"Now just you wait a moment!"
Yasutaka left Granny Moon to whatever she'd started saying and strode off briskly without so much as a glance back.