From a dense forest on the mountainside, a shadow kept staring at the village near the foot of the mountain. Barely hiding his body with what looked like old rags, his body was covered with wounds that beggar all description.
Gazing at the village with his only eye, with tottering steps the shadow started to follow the path leading to the village at the foot of the mountain, while using a branch as a walking stick to support his only leg.
The people of that village followed a ritual of offering a sacrifice to the mountains in order to avoid disasters. This pitiful shadow had been this years sacrifice, and whereas it would normally have been impossible to come down from the mountain alive, after a desperate struggle he had barely managed to return here.
The man had turned into a demon of hatred who swore revenge on the villagers who did nothing but think of their own security while causing him to go through an ordeal like this. As he slowly walked towards the foot of the mountain, the dark flames of hatred were almost tangible from each of the steps he took while relying on his stick.
The villagers had thought that they had averted a disaster with the sacrifice, but now they were about to learn the true meaning of calamity.
陰陽座百物語 第廿話「鬼」
鬱蒼と木々が生い茂る山の中腹からその麓にある村をじっと見詰める一つの影があった。 ぼろ布の様な物を辛うじて纏っているその体は筆舌に尽くし難い傷を負っていた。
一つしか無い目で村を凝視するその影は、一本しか残っていない足の代わりに木の枝を杖にし、よろよろと麓の村へと続く道を辿り始めた。
この村には古くから災厄を避ける為の祀りと称して生け贄を山に捧げると言う儀式があった。この無残な姿の影は今年の生け贄となった男であったが、通常は生きて山を下りる事は出来ない筈が、死に物狂いにもがきあがいた末に命からがらここまで戻って来たのであった。
男は自分をこんな目に遭わせながら自分達の安泰のみを望む村人達に深い憎悪と復讐の念を抱く鬼と化していた。杖を頼ってゆっくりと麓へと歩む足取り一つとっても、そのどす黒い炎が感じられるほどであった。
生け贄を捧げる事で災厄を逃れた筈のこの村に真の災厄が訪れようとした。
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