The Protagonist Always Wants to Find Someone to Commit Suicide With - Chapter 10

The arrow bearing white tail feathers sank into the bird yokai’s torso within a single breath, blood splattering outward.

Who knew whether Matoba Seiji had appended some incantation formula over it; the wound inflicted by that arrow turned out far more severe than pre-estimated. Likely disrupted in its focus by the sudden piercing pain, the monster covered entirely in black feathers let out a screeching howl and executed a downward dive. The feathers near the impact zone were thoroughly soaked by the seeping blood; inside that pitch darkness, one could only watch the coloring near the wound continuously deepen while generating white steam accompanied by a sizzling sound.

“Natsume, careful!” The yokai was charging directly toward Matoba Seiji, but because his position fell relatively far back, the Natsume Takashi positioned a bit before him instead transformed into the character facing the most immediate hazard.

“Merely watching a wound of that scale leaves me feeling a sting of pain,” Dazai Osamu stared at the yokai’s injury from a distance, voicing his heartfelt pain.

“Why wasn’t that arrow from Matoba Seiji directed straight at your frame instead?” the system noted with identical deep sorrow.

“If it were given to me, how am I supposed to continue saving the world?” Dazai watched the black silhouette rapidly closing in from above, continuing to spout blind nonsense to his system with total composure.

Humanity had constantly thirsted to turn powerfully grand, attempting to acquire matchless power to battle yokai, yet parameters verified that a hard-to-cross rift had constantly existed between humans and yokai. Take right now for example; when the monster unmasked its fierce aura to lunge over, everyone was pressed by that momentum hovering over its frame until finding it difficult to move.

Natori Shuuichi pressed against Natsume’s shoulder to shove him behind a massive tree trunk nearby; executing a sprint toward a further distance at a juncture of this nature was highly unrealistic anyway, as the yokai’s power and speed outperformed them by far too much. Furthermore, as exorcists, they couldn’t allow a yokai to inflict injuries across other individuals either.

“Teacher Dazai!” Caught un-premeditated, Natsume Takashi was dragged to one side, and once his consciousness returned, he finally discovered Dazai Osamu was still standing right on his original spot. His left hand was shoved inside his pocket, zero expression traceable across his face.

He looked exactly as if he suffered a half-speck of influence from the chaotic scene, leaving Natsume Takashi somewhat dazed.

“He truly holds zero intention of helping out?” Dazai quietly struck a pose, casting a sidelong glance toward the firmly anchored Matoba Seiji standing behind. “I said it already—I loathe striking up transactions with a character of this nature.”

The system listened to his complaints with a cold eye. “This appears to be your request to begin with, and Matoba Seiji has paid the cash after all.”

Standing there with such absolute openness, he naturally transformed into the yokai’s primary attack target.

“No alternative then,” the darkness deep within Dazai’s eyes sank down. Executing a false stride forward, he dropped his frame low to gracefully dodge a broken branch spinning and smashing over, smoothly hoisting the red umbrella Matoba Seiji had discarded across the ground moments ago.

The black yokai was already right before his eyes, its razor-sharp claws sinking inside the tree trunks to leave deep groove marks. Dazai held zero doubt that if he caught a single strike, his person would turn exactly as miserable as that camphor tree snapped right at its waist.

His brown trench coat flapped frantically within the oncoming wind currents as he tilted his head up to track the yokai.

“Looks like I have zero alternative but to lunge up myself… absolutely none of them are preparing to act,” he noted with a lack of balance. “But why didn’t this yokai go seek Matoba Seiji first? He’s the actual culprit anyway.”

System: Clearly you’re the one insisting on putting on a display.

The yokai charged straight before Dazai Osamu, carrying a wave of sharp wind; merely auditing the trees it had snapped before verified how terrifying its strength truly was.

Grasping both ends of the umbrella with both hands, Dazai held out with all his might to successfully prevent himself from being ripped into two sections by the razor claws lunging over from that yokai. Stumbling back a few paces, the unyielding umbrella frame snapped directly apart, and his entire person was tumbled onto the ground under the impact of the massive force.

Even reaching a juncture of this metric, he still didn’t forget to share a joke with his system: “The quality of this umbrella is truly decent.” If it had broken the split second it touched, that would have transformed into an absolute crisis.

Loosening the left hand holding the umbrella handle, Dazai Osamu extended his hand toward the yokai’s claws.

“A success,” the split second he collided with the yokai, the system generated a judgment.

“I see it too,” Dazai returned. “It’s switching colors.”

The originally pitch-black, dull feathers slowly transformed into a coloring wedged between black and deep gray. The miasma originally wrapping around its frame also vanished without a single trace.

“How is that feline?” Dazai asked. He couldn’t remain certain whether this miasma shared a connection across them; executing an experience of this metric once more would truly prove a bit much to choke down.

“Sobered up too.”

“Completed?” Matoba Seiji walked over, extending a hand toward Dazai Osamu to pull his frame up, an un-decrypted smile flashing within his eyes.

“Ought to be concluded,” Dazai answered with a smile.

“The way he smiles is so disgusting,” Dazai complained to his system.

System: The way you smile is ten times more disgusting than him, thank you.

“Truly a miraculous technique,” Matoba Seiji cast a sidelong glance over that completely ruined umbrella. “A pity.”

“Teacher Dazai, suffered zero injuries?”

“Zero issue,” Dazai waved a hand toward him.

“I’m going to check on Nyanko-sensei!” Leaving this phrase behind, Natsume Takashi sprinted toward the adjacent side.

“This way, a sealing process won’t be required anymore,” Matoba Seiji looked at the bird yokai which had clearly restored its logic.

“…”

What kind of sensation was it to share a stroll together with Matoba Seiji?

If one asked Dazai Osamu, he would definitely answer: Utterly rancid.

A fine shower had just passed, leaving the air clean to a metric untouched by a speck of dust, the streets still loosely lined with several shallow water puddles. Reaching the twilight hour, a fair number of pedestrians populated the road tracks, and the reactions of practically all of them upon catching sight of Matoba Seiji and Dazai Osamu were filled with absolute astonishment.

Regarding this parameter, Dazai speculated that it was highly likely triggered by that un-templated kimono draped across Matoba Seiji’s frame. Currently wasn’t some temple festival or fireworks market; a lunatic wearing a kimono and keeping long hair suddenly sprinting out across the main streets was bound to leave most people finding it bizarre.

Not to mention that eerie paper charm hanging across Matoba Seiji’s face.

While executing his analysis, he automatically omitted the bandages wrapped across his own frame from head to toe, shifting the blame for the two of them drawing attention entirely onto the Matoba clan head beside him without a shred of guilt.

“Regarding the miasma parameters, do you hold any awareness?” Dazai guessed whether this incident shared a connection with the yokai migration Matoba Seiji had mentioned before.

“This one also harbors doubts inside his core,” Matoba Seiji circled his hands across his chest. “Perhaps a disaster of this metric exploded over on that side as well, triggering the yokai migration.” He paused a fraction. “What are Dazai-kun’s thoughts? This matter owes a fair amount of thanks to you.”

“…I hold zero clues currently,” Dazai lowered his focus.

“I heard Dazai-kun is working as a teacher inside the high school here?”

“Yes.”

“Then does Dazai-kun possess interest in transforming into an exorcist of the Matoba clan?” Matoba Seiji launched a direct invitation. Tracking through that barrier incident before paired with this miasma parameter, he held a loose pre-estimation regarding Dazai Osamu’s capability; though it remained highly blurred, he could remain certain it absolutely wouldn’t leave his person disappointed. Since parameters stood to this image, dragging the counterpart into his own camp transformed into a decent option.

The leader of the Matoba clan was keeping up his diligent efforts for the sake of expanding the family business today as well.