Jujutsushi 279.2
Chapter 279: The Great Warrior
TL : Cnine
ED/PF :
R1[1-3], R2[4-6]
Part 4
「Put the Great Warrior Unit on kingdom guard duty. I already have my ‘eyes’ on the humans who escaped. Send a surveillance team as well. If you wish, you may pursue them until they’re exhausted and finish them off.」
「Your wish is my command, Ouma.」
Zagan dropped to one knee and bowed deeply. Ouma tapped the floor twice with his long staff.
At that signal, several Goma emerged from behind Zagan. Members of the king’s retinue, they carried with them an excessively ornate platform, resembling a ceremonial shrine.
「Zagan, I will grant your reward first. For something like this, it is best enjoyed while still fresh.」
「My lord, I offer it all to you, Ouma-sama.」
「That won’t be necessary. First things first—let us celebrate that you and I have sent our first human to the slaughter. Zagan, my great warrior, I grant you the human’s heart and half of the body.」
A pedestal was placed quietly beside Zagan. Upon it rested a plate overflowing with fresh, bloody meat. Roughly chopped slabs were piled high, alongside thick, bone-in chunks clearly taken from an arm and a leg.
At the very centre, upon a beautiful, jewel-like dish, lay a fist-sized mass of red-black flesh—the heart itself.
「Share the remaining half of the meat with those you deem worthy of recognition.」
「I am honoured. My subordinates will be thrilled by the generosity of King Ouma.」
Ouma nodded calmly, his regal composure unshaken, as his attendants prepared another pedestal.
The one placed before the king held only a single large plate.
「The head will be mine.」
When the red cloth was drawn back, a grotesque human head was revealed—so horrifying it made one’s skin crawl.
Blood-tear streaks ran from its wide-open eyes, with crimson still smeared around the nose and mouth.
The expression radiated defeat and despair, the kind of face that brought profound satisfaction to a Goma who had finally crushed a hated human.
The tangled black hair, the skull peeled back beneath it, and the exposed brain—still fresh even after half a day—were Ouma’s favourite delicacy. To him, a human brain this fresh was the finest cuisine.
「Fuhahahaha! I haven’t eaten such fresh human brain in decades!」
For a time, the throne room was filled with the wet, grotesque sounds of him feasting upon the blood and flesh of his fallen enemy————
After being sealed out of the ruins and smashing through the pursuing Goma hunters, Himeno’s group of five had barely managed to crawl out of a cave alive.
Several days had passed since then.
Astonishingly, they were still breathing.
「Aaah, I’m dead tired… I just want a bloody bath.」
「Oi, Himeno, can’t you whip up a bath with your fancy alchemy?」
「As if I can make something bath-sized! You do it—you’re the one who’s always going on about your ‘manly survival skills,’ aren’t you?」
「You muppet, survival skills are for staying alive. They’re not some kind of magic spa pass that lets you take cosy baths in the wilderness.」
「But Momokawa did it!」
「Yeah, because that guy’s a walking anomaly!」
「You lot are certainly energetic…」
Yamada let out a long, uncle-tier sigh. Ironically, his name—Genki—literally meant “lively,” yet at the moment he couldn’t feel even a scrap of that youthful energy within himself.
「Oi, look. There’s a water source. We probably can’t manage a full bath, but at least we can wash our bodies.」
Yamada moved out in front of the group.
With Natsukawa the 『Thief』—by far the sharpest when it came to sensing danger—no longer with them, guiding the way naturally fell to him. Ueda the 『Swordsman』 and Mar the 『Warrior』 were decent at picking up signs of movement, but if something suddenly went wrong—like an ambush—the only one who could take a hit head-on without flinching was Yamada the 『Heavy Warrior』.
Since none of them possessed thief-level perception, spotting traps or ambushes in advance was nearly impossible. The next best option was to put someone up front who could endure a direct blow.
「These ruins… Feels like I’ve seen ones just like them somewhere before.」
「It’s basically like there were proper buildings here.」
Nakajima and Mari spoke quietly as they scanned their surroundings.
Although the dense forest had swallowed most of the area, concrete ruins were scattered throughout, all bearing a distinctly modern appearance—like the remains of old office buildings.
None of the high-rises that would have once reached the underground ceiling were still standing. The tallest structures left were only around five storeys at best. The true skyscrapers must have collapsed long ago, leaving behind nothing but massive piles of rubble.
「It’s completely collapsed… But do you reckon the water still works?」
The water source Yamada had discovered was a spot where water gushed forcefully from a large, reddish-brown pipe, heavily corroded with rust, protruding from the corner of the ruins.
Considering that the fountain in the Fairy Plaza was still operational, it wasn’t unreasonable to think that even if the buildings themselves had fallen apart, parts of the infrastructure in these ancient ruins might still be functioning.
Yamada immediately cupped some of the flowing water in his hands and brought it to his mouth.
Back during their school tower days, some of the fish they had caught were poisonous—including species with pufferfish-like toxins, as well as various other dangerous types. While they hadn’t eaten those fish, sorting and identifying them had resulted in Yamada acquiring the 『Poison Resistance』 skill.
It wasn’t a skill that directly affected combat, and it certainly couldn’t withstand lethal poisons on the level of a Death Stalker. Compared to Kotarou’s 『Vessel of Poison』—said to nullify all poisons entirely—Yamada’s ability was clearly a weaker version, so he’d never thought much of it.
Even so, being able to test food and water without hesitation was a low-profile skill, but an incredibly valuable one in moments like this.
「...Yeah. It’s fine. This is clean water—totally safe to drink.」
「YEAH!」
Once Yamada finished checking for poison, the other four rushed toward the water gushing from the broken pipe, overjoyed.
Without the Fairy Plaza’s safe zone, securing a steady supply of clean drinking water had become extremely difficult.
Kotaro’s preparations for a full survival kit to get everyone out weren’t complete yet either. As a result, the canteen-type magic item that produced clean water—a joint creation by Kotaro and Shimokawa—was, by sheer luck, something only Himeno possessed, and she had just one.
Even that magic canteen couldn’t produce unlimited water. Because it generated water by housing a water spirit, there was a strict daily limit to how much it could create.
That limit barely covered the daily water needs of the five of them.
「A~hh, honestly, at this point even a quick wash is fine… Boys go after us.」
「You lot better not peek.」
「Himeno, saying that while standing next to Yoshizaki just makes you look ridiculous.」
She wasn’t on the same level as Souma Sakura—whose beauty was practically off the charts—but Yoshizaki Hiroe (Maria) had once worked as a magazine model, and her looks and figure more than lived up to that background.
Even after becoming a 『Succubus』 familiar, Himeno Airi looked exactly the same as she always had.
Mary possessed a sleek, model-tier figure, while Airi had the modest, perfectly ordinary build of a typical Japanese schoolgirl—shorter limbs, fewer curves, and nothing especially striking.
Standing side by side, the difference between their figures was almost cruelly apparent.
「Oi, Ueda, that’s going too far.」
「That really was a bit too mean, you know?」
「Oh, please. You only called it cruel because you were thinking the exact same thing!」
「———— Die! 『Lux Sagita』!」
The three men fled in panic. Himeno Airi, her pride wounded and boiling with a woman’s fierce humiliation, unleashed her attack in a fit of rage, while Mary collapsed into helpless laughter, clutching her stomach.
Even amid their brutal struggle for survival, the five of them still managed to make it through another day.