Chapter 20: The world beyond the sea...


    "Hey, did you hear?"


    "What''s wrong?"


    "I have heard that the Nura n has fallen so much?"


    "Huh? What do you mean? Isn''t the Nura n the strongest n now?"


    "That''s old news! Didn''t you hear that they were beaten by the youkai from the Shikoku n?"


    "Huh? What?! They were beaten by those hicks?!"


    "....."


    The youkai, who told the rumor, smiled, but his smile was a little colder. Still, he continued to tell the rumor with a sweeter smile.


    "That''s right. They have lost to those hicks!"


    As the youkai let out a long sigh, he couldn''t help but ask, "But if those hicks could even defeat the Nura n, then how about our n? Shouldn''t we be able topletely destroy the Nura n? By then, all the areas controlled by Nura n will be ours!"


    "Hmm.... that''s true."


    "Then, maybe, we should attack the Nura n now since I am sure the other youkai group will also try to get their hands on the Nura n''s turf! But if we arete, then we might not be able to get anything!"


    "That''s right! We have to move fast! I will tell themander!"


    As the two youkais talked, simr conversations happened everywhere among all the youkai ns in this country. Whether they were famous, average, or even weak, all of them were talking about the Nura n being defeated by the hick youkai from Shikoku Ind.


    ---


    "As you can tell, the image of Shikoku Youkai isn''t good. All of them thought of us as a hick and weak group."


    Everyone was gloomy, but this was the reality. Even if they were strong, many youkai underestimated them, yet this was normal since, like Nurarihyon, who had been in the semi-retirement, the Shikoku Youkai was in a simr state, especially after their defeat to humans during the invasion of the Matsuyama Castle.


    "However, we know that this isn''t true, especially now when our power isparable to the Nura n. No, we''re better than the Nura n!"


    Hearing those words, everyone''s heart was ignited.


    "That''s right! We''re stronger than the Nura n!"


    "We are the strongest youkai group in this country!"


    "War! War! War!"


    Watching their excitement, he sighed inwardly since he knew deep inside that Shikoku Youkai was weaker than the Nura n. His strength and father aside, the rest were weak, especially against the high-ranking members of the Nura n.


    The power of the leaders of the two ns might not be much different, but there was a big difference in the quality of their subordinates.


    While the number of the Shikoku Youkai was a little bigger since they had a total of 12,000 members, the Nura n had 10,000 members.


    The difference might be a lot, but when the plot armor existed, the advantage of numbers was meaningless.


    He was sure that the world would force his group to have a certain misfortune, like how Mongol soldiers were killed by the "Divine Wind" during their invasion of this country.


    When everyone''s emotion was stormy, he calmed them down, then continued his exnation.


    "We might be stronger, but our power isn''t that much different. If we have a war with them, then the sacrifice of ourrades will be huge. Even if we win, we might lose most of our numbers, and we are at the weakest state. By then, even if we can defeat the Nura n, can we defend ourselves against the other Youkai n? Kyoto Youkai? Tono Youkai? There are many ns that might try to attack us, so they will get the glory to win against the Youkai n, who has won against the Nura n."


    "...."


    When those words fell, they fell silent.


    All of them weren''t stupid, and they could imagine the situation which was said by Tamazuki would happen.


    "However, even if we do nothing, we have be the enemy, and they might attack us. Waiting isn''t something that I like, and I want to take the initiative to take down the Nura n without even doing anything."


    "How?"


    Everyone asked this question at the same time.


    "Unlike the Nura n, our n is famous for being weak, but this is a good thing."


    "What do you mean by a good thing?"


    "Let''s say... if you are told that Nurarihyon lost to me, what will you do?"


    "Attack! Let''s attack him! He was so weak for being defeated by you!"


    "That''s right!" He nodded. "Many of us will propose to attack the Nura n, and I am sure that the other Youkai ns who hear this news will also try to attack the Nura n since they have lost against us, a weak group of Youkai."


    "...."


    Everyone was in a daze for a moment until they realized something.


    "Tamazuki-sama, don''t tell me..."


    "Yes." He showed a bright childish smile. "How about we deceive all the Youkai ns in this country to attack the Nura n at the same time."


    Everyone subconsciously sucked their breath as they felt a chill from his words, yet this also excited them!


    "They have thought of us as a weak youkai group, then they, who believe that they are better than us, without a doubt, think that they can defeat the Nura n. So knowing this fact, without a doubt, they will attack the Nura n.


    "However, Nura n isn''t weak. It''s a powerful group, but even so, can they fight against all the Youkai groups in this country? If they can''t, then that''s it, but if they can, then it is good.


    "Still, as they continue to fight, they will grow weary and weak, and by then, it is a chance for us."


    "..a chance?"


    "Yes, a chance." His smile grew wider. "As they grow weak and weary, we will attack them in one swoop, thenstly... we will be thest one who is standing and ruling this country."


    "....."


    The meeting room was quiet, and all of them knew what his n was.


    Insidious, ingenious, yet how charming he was...


    Many of them had the urge to join his group and worship him for thinking such a clever tactic. They didn''t need to raise their hands and fight themselves. What they only needed to do was to provoke all the youkai ns in this country, tempting them to attack the Nura n because they saw a chance.


    After all, if the Shikoku Youkai could win in the fight against the Nura n, why couldn''t they?


    Then, as the war grew bigger, the number of casualties of those groups would also increase, and they would be weaker. By then, it was their chance to attack and swallow all of those ns, bing the ruler of this country.


    When everyone was thinking about how to defeat the Nura n, his view was beyond them. He was already thinking about how to dominate this country, ruling this country under the ruler of the darkness.


    Yet, this also gave a chill to many of his older brothers since they knew their chance to take the role of themander became smaller.


    ''No! There''s still a chance!''


    Tamazuki didn''t even nce at his older brother and stood up with his wounded body. "This country is small. The world is bigger than we can even imagine. The world beyond the sea... this is what I seek, and a mere Nura n is nothing but just a small obstacle to my ambition."


    He showed off a charming yet beast-like smile and canine-like fangs.


    "So, do you want to follow me?"


    "...."


    Everyone had just fallen in love with him.