Nobita's Time Heist

She preened the feathers on her side, picked up one with her beak, and with a flick of her head, tore it off completely. Then, in a cloud of rising smoke, the large bird transformed into a woman with long, trailing hair and phosphorescent flames, her blue feathers turning into a robe that covered her body, but her exceptionally slender legs still seemed to betray her inhuman nature.

The woman was holding a baby in her arms, completely out of place in this eerie and ghostly place.

The baby was lying on its side, seemingly fast asleep, as if dead, and unresponsive to its surroundings.

……

"Lord Hundred Eyes, just as you predicted, the Demon King you banished has somehow returned to the Demon Realm. This time, she seems to have brought back some reinforcements from the human world... but I haven't sensed any magical power in them. They should just be ordinary mortals, except..."

She paused for a moment, as if considering how to continue her sentence.

The figure on the throne remained silent.

Standing beside him was a tall, imposing giant with a long red nose. Suddenly, he spread his black wings, creating a hurricane that nearly knocked the woman holding the child off her feet.

"Big... Big Tengu-sama..."

The world of yokai is a world of pure power.

Faced with overwhelming power, the weak will lower themselves to the lowest possible level in order to survive. In a sense, this is a concrete manifestation of the most extreme aspect of Japanese culture. To ensure her survival, the woman immediately knelt on the ground, adopting the perfect dogeza (a traditional Japanese kowtow) posture, and begged for forgiveness.

"Mortals, mortals..."

The Great Tengu's already furious face became even more sinister and terrifying.

"Are you saying that my outstanding talents were so easily killed by a few mortals... is that right?"

Chapter 271: Since things have come to this, let's eat first.

"Okay, calm down. Nobody is questioning your teaching ability."

The person on the throne finally spoke. Unlike the Ghost King in our memory, his voice was calm and gentle, like a refined announcer, reciting a lukewarm poem in his uniquely magnetic tone.

At this moment, in an avatar closer to humanity, he languidly sat atop a throne made of piled bones, his hands resting on the skeletal frame, looking down at the woman. His pure blackness manifested as a loose-fitting Japanese yukata, with a pair of wooden clogs of unknown origin on his feet, giving him a very relaxed appearance. His face was unremarkable, not particularly handsome, but not ugly either; he was perhaps just an ordinary passerby on the street.

What's truly impressive are his eyes.

Eyes closed.

To be precise, his upper and lower eyelids were forcibly "sewn" together with several golden threads, creating a counterintuitive effect. Despite being the King of a Hundred Eyes, his only two eyes remained closed, making it difficult to say whether he possessed any vision at all. In a sense, his soft, gentle manner of speaking only made the woman more terrified, causing her to bow even lower.

"No matter what they do, the future I promised you will not change." King Hyakume turned his head to look at the Great Tengu standing beside him and laughed, "Or do you think that a defeated opponent, bringing in a few insignificant Onmyoji... can wipe us out together?"

"No matter what, she was once the Ghost King, even though she never properly fulfilled her duties as king... In this territory, there are still many of her former followers who are willing to support her restoration. But instead of getting rid of them, you let them continue to exist."

The Great Tengu's tone was always full of hostility, even when addressing the current king. "Yokai are inherently a species with no sense of unity. The plan you proposed is essentially to use overwhelming power to suppress all dissenting voices, forcing the entire yokai world to clench into a single fist under your high pressure and fear, and open the door to the human world."

"Monsters don't have the concept of 'authority'; they only worship absolute power. In other words, you must always maintain an image of being invincible. An outsider like you, if you show even the slightest sign of defeat, you won't be able to intimidate anyone."

After talking for so long, the Great Tengu finally got to the point, staring at the man on the throne with his thunder-god-like, imposing eyes.

"And now, a guy who kills with his eyes and whom you predicted was doomed has returned to the demon realm."

"Imagine what the consequences would be if this message got out?"

The Hundred-Eyed King tilted his head slightly and glanced at him with his sewn-up pupils.

"Don't worry so much, my friend. Over the long years you can't imagine, I've killed countless opponents with this move, without exception. She may be a bit tough, but she'll still die eventually. Let her die in her hometown; consider it my final act of mercy towards her."

"As for those humans who have infiltrated, there's even less to worry about. They have no chance of making it to me alive. If they were really foolish enough to come and fight me, they wouldn't take the main road... In this place full of monsters, the scent of humans is far too obvious. The only way is to cross that treacherous path that you call the 'Vicious Mountains'."

"No, they can't even get into the mountains... Before they even enter the mountains, the 'Man-Slaying Demon' guarding the Sword Tomb will take care of them all."

Mentioning the existence of the "Man-Slaying Demon" softened even the Great Tengu's expression. After all, its strength was undeniable, and he couldn't imagine how a human could possibly survive against the Man-Slaying Demon.

“Wanderer, even so, you must not let your guard down. Continue patrolling in the air. It’s always a good thing to keep track of their movements.”

"Ha—ha—" The woman he called "the wandering maiden" immediately prostrated herself, uttering a sound similar to that of an ancient servant responding to a lord's command. For a female ghost to do this would always seem rather incongruous.

"As for you, my friend, you don't need to worry about anything. All you need to do is cause destruction..."

"Use a powerful enough 'natural disaster' to destroy everything."

At this point, he seemed somewhat excited, licked his lips, and sneered, "After all, a new order can only be built on ruins."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"It's so miserable..."

Through Lingyin's narration, Asur successfully drew a forbidden magic circle under the thousand-year-old cedar, teleporting everyone to the demon realm. Before setting foot on this land, everyone imagined the demon realm to be a place like hell—land and lava mixed together, everywhere cracked obsidian, demonic energy permeating the air, thick fog sweeping across the rivers, withered and twisted trees stretching their trunks towards the gloomy sky, that's how it should be.

But what came into view was the ruins of a village.

The gray earth, the collapsed houses, the embers still burning… everything was so similar to what I remembered, instantly triggering Nobita's PTSD and transporting him back to the Xin Dynasty. How could people of different races do such similar things?

It was in that instant that he suddenly understood the truth that "ghosts are the evil of humankind".

"Is this the Demon Realm?" Fatty Tiger scratched his head, feeling a sense of déjà vu, like he'd transmigrated but not quite. He asked suspiciously, "It looks a bit..."

“Yokai are also living beings, and the environments that allow living beings to survive tend to be similar.” Dekisugi squatted down, dipped his finger in the local soil, held it under his nose, and gently sniffed it. “To survive here, you must need food, right? No matter what you eat, it has to grow from the soil.”

"Among the yokai... there are many different races. This is the village of the 'Oni Clan'..." Rinne, possessed by Shuten-dōji, stared at the ruins. The usually carefree Rinne showed a rare expression of sorrow. "I was defeated by Queen Hyakume, and this place must have been implicated. That guy was worried that the Oni Clan would betray him because of my death, so he slaughtered them all."

Do monsters die too? — It took Gian a lot of effort to suppress his curiosity and not ask the question, but he was indeed curious.

When someone dies, according to the older generation like Xiaofu's grandmother (Xiaofu has a particularly superstitious grandmother; this scene comes from "The Candy of Educators"), they will definitely go to hell—the older generation's concept of hell is always very strict; by that standard, those who can go to heaven are probably at the level of moral exemplars. But no matter what, at least there's a hell waiting for them.

Where do monsters go after they die?

He shook his head, clearing the somewhat chaotic thought from his mind, and comforted himself, "They might not be dead. Maybe they got wind of it beforehand and escaped?"

"That possibility is very small. Judging from the way the damage was caused, it must have been done by a very powerful monster. But... thank you for saying that anyway." Rin sighed, as if she felt cold, and tightened the Time Cloth wrapped around her body. Her voice was no longer as strong as before.

"That's it for now, let's eat first."

Chapter 272: The Kitten That Attracts Happiness

Seeing everyone staring at her with suspicion, Lingyin had no choice but to explain, "A demon who has cultivated to my level naturally doesn't feel hungry, but this little girl's body can't handle it. To maintain her consciousness, we need to consume magic power... That's why we have to keep replenishing her food."

"Speaking of which, you've been so preoccupied with my affairs that you haven't eaten anything yet, have you?"

This is true.

The original plan was to have a good feast at the New Year's Eve festival tonight, and as a final farewell to Asur, Nobita and the others wanted to camp under the thousand-year-old cedar tree. But as they were walking, a side quest suddenly popped up that they had to do, so they hurriedly went home, packed their things, and then immediately jumped into the teleportation circle. She shouldn't have mentioned it; as soon as she did, everyone's stomachs started rumbling.

"I already told you, come to my place this afternoon for a quick meal, maybe some stew or something." Fat Tiger went all out to promote his specialty dishes, "You're not that hungry right now."

"Ha...haha...Nobita, hurry up!" Suneo saw that he was about to "Cook God, activate!" so he quickly changed the subject. "Where are those props that are used to eat in the adventure? We were so busy visiting the New Year's Eve festival that we haven't had a proper dinner yet."

"【Gourmet Tablecloth】—!!"

Considering the less-than-safe environment, Nobita skipped the fancy formalities and went straight for the classic tableware. He spread the tablecloth out on the floor and said, "Same old rules, everyone just tell me what you want to eat. We can eat while we discuss what to do next."

It was time to order food again, a must-order item in Doraemon-style adventures. Everyone was very familiar with this routine, so they didn't hesitate.

"Hand-Pulled Noodle!"

"Curry rice bowl, please..."

"I want to eat premium Wagyu beef and foie gras rice!"

"spaghetti!"

"Lobster and Seafood Risotto in Red Wine!"

"Sashimi and lemon cupcakes."

Pork chop rice!

After going around the table once, Nobita looked at the food plates displayed on the gourmet's tablecloth and felt that something was off. A strange sense of unease lingered in his throat; his intuition had already sensed something was wrong, but his mind wasn't quick enough to figure it out.

"Wow, it smells so good... Of all Doraemon's gadgets, this is definitely my favorite!" Gian picked up the bowl of ramen, which was piled high with noodles, first sniffed the mouthwatering broth, then licked his lips and put his hands together. "I'm starting to eat!"

"Wait a minute, Gian." Just before he took the food, Nobita finally caught on and immediately stopped Gian, his eyes sweeping over his companions. "There are only six of you, so why did you order seven bowls of food?"

Everyone looked at each other, then looked at the tablecloth again, and sure enough, there were seven bowls of food. Izumi, who had the best memory, reviewed the situation and found that seven people had indeed named seven different foods, and the seven steaming dishes on the tablecloth were the best evidence.

"Nobita, what are you thinking about? Isn't this a classic elementary school math problem?" Gian thought for a few seconds, then suddenly realized, and burst into laughter. "Isn't there yourself too? Me, Suneo, Sugi, Shizuka, Rin, and Asura, that's six people in total, plus that makes seven. Did you forget to order one for yourself?"

This scene felt strangely familiar to Nobita. If they were all elementary school students, they might have gotten away with it. But now, everyone was in a foreign land, and apart from Gian, who had a naturally thick skin, everyone was on edge and wouldn't make such an obvious mistake. Nobita was even more certain that before he could even order, someone had infiltrated their group.

Seeing that the situation was heading in a terrifying and suspenseful direction, Lingyin sighed helplessly, turned her head to the side, and said softly, "Stop playing with them, come out."

……

A string of clear, bell-like laughter came from among the crowd, but what came into view was a splash of red.

No one noticed how she appeared. The petite girl in the maple-red kimono seemed to stroll out from the corner of everyone's eye, chuckling softly, smoothing out the folds of her wide kimono, and sat down between Asur and Rin. The eeriness of this scene almost made Nobita pull out his gun... They had only been in the demon realm for less than fifteen minutes, and someone had somehow managed to sneak into their group without anyone noticing.

He dared not imagine how things would turn out if the girl harbored ill intentions towards them.

The girl's face was as white as paper, her figure petite, and she had a childlike, innocent face. It was unclear whether all demons had this half-human physique. In any case, the pair of gilded horns on her forehead silently revealed her identity.

"I thought there was something wrong with my senses... It really is you."

The girl in the kimono smiled, revealing her cute little tiger teeth. She hugged her knees, barefoot, her round, smooth toes touching the ground, slightly curled up. This gesture had an indescribable tension, creating a wonderful contrast with her innocent and adorable childlike appearance.

"She actually possessed a human body to prolong her life. What's wrong with the ghost race these days? Are you trying to become a goddess godmother?"

"Shut up..." Rinne scolded her weakly, then turned her head and said to everyone in a half-dead tone, "Let me introduce you, this is my clansman, Zashiki-warashi."

Even the most understated tone couldn't drown out the gasps of surprise from the crowd.

Suneo undoubtedly had the strongest reaction, because his grandmother had told him the story of Zashiki-warashi since he was a child. Today, when he suddenly met the real person, it was completely different from what he had imagined. He couldn't say whether he felt closer or more distant. But Zashiki-warashi himself didn't seem to feel anything. He put his hands together, softly said "I'm starting to eat," and then unceremoniously picked up the pork cutlet rice bowl, almost burying his head in it, and devoured it in a whirlwind.

"Mmm~~~ Delicious, delicious!" She tilted her head, gave Nobita a slightly charming smile, and licked her lips contentedly, making her already glistening lips turn a pinkish hue. "You can actually conjure food out of nothingness... This guy is amazing. At first, I thought you were a tanuki fairy, and that these were all tanuki illusions."

Shizuka looked at her warily and silently moved a little distance away from Nobita.

“A raccoon dog…?” Hearing this familiar yet unfamiliar word, Nobita felt a mix of emotions and said with a wry smile, “I would be happier if you said it was a cat demon’s illusion.”

"Oh my, do you like cats, young man? Indeed, cats give people the impression of being very intelligent. The family I used to live with, the father was a cook at a noodle shop, and they also adopted a cute little blue cat. It was round and chubby, with a bell around its neck. It was said to be a lucky cat that brought good fortune. Apparently, when the noodle shop was about to go out of business, they hired a famous food critic, and in the end, they lived a good life."

Her eyes were as clear as rubies as she looked at Nobita with a playful expression.

"How about it, buddy? As a thank you for this meal..."

"Do you need me to come to your house and stay for a while?"

Chapter 273: Visitors from outer space?

Compared to demons, the legendary Zashiki-warashi are actually closer to humans. When you don't see any unfamiliar faces but find that there seems to be an extra person among your playmates, it's often because a Zashiki-warashi has sneaked in.

But she had no ill intentions; she just liked playing with children, a habit that allowed her to move into any family's home without being noticed.

The families who temporarily reside in her homes often experience a period of good fortune, with everything going smoothly. Therefore, many families hope she will stay in their houses forever, bringing them endless good luck and rewards. Once the Zashiki-warashi senses such greed, she will decisively leave to find her next place to reside. In short, among the yokai in the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, she is one of the few who will not harm humans at all, but rather bring them benefits.

Compared to the enigmatic Shuten-dōji, she had a much better and purer reputation among humans, and was more like a beloved little elf.

Although she is called "Doji" (童子, meaning "child spirit"), she is one of the few demons in the demon clan who is not under Shuten-dōji's jurisdiction; the two are not in a superior-subordinate relationship. In reality, they are more like long-lost friends who have been bickering, but given Shuten-dōji's current state, he simply doesn't have the strength to retaliate against her sarcasm.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Eh? To defeat the Hundred-Eyed King? Just the few of you?" Zashiki-warashi's gaze swept over the group, but she couldn't sense anything that could be called magic. Surprised, she couldn't help but laugh out loud. "When did our Ōeyama Oni King become so naive? Is he too engrossed in his role-playing game as a Heroic Spirit and has lost his mind?"

"..."

After a brief silence, she dropped her joke and sat up straight, asking, "Seriously? Are you really going?"

"The boundary between the demon realm and the human realm must not be easily broken." Lingyin rarely showed a serious expression. "If the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons really comes, it will not only be humans who suffer... the demon race will also face annihilation."

"That guy doesn't care. In his eyes, people and monsters are just means to achieve his goals."

"Purpose?" Nobita keenly sensed something; this was the first time he had heard about the enemy's motives since taking on this mission. Before this, he knew absolutely nothing about the existence of "Hundred-Eyed King," not even why he wanted to conquer the human world.

"Are you saying that King Hyakume didn't promote the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons from the perspective of the demon race?"

“Speaking of which… you’ve always been particularly good at gathering information. Because people subconsciously ignore your presence, they might say anything to your face.” Rinne struggled to sit up, clearly confused about her new adversary’s true purpose. “So, what exactly does this guy want? Isn’t he going to turn the human world into his ranch?”

"That's too cliché." The Zashiki-warashi waved her hand dismissively. "In this day and age, villains' motives are never that simple."

"It all started with his origins. Isn't it strange? In the demon realm, where strength reigns supreme, how could a demon as powerful as him have disappeared without a trace, and no one have ever heard of him?" She kept everyone in suspense, seemingly enjoying the feeling of having all the attention focused on her. In a way, she resembled a boastful little girl.

"Ta-da! The answer is revealed!"

She pointed to the sky and said mysteriously, "This thing's true identity is actually an alien!"

……

……

……

"And then?" Fat Tiger nodded and then asked.

"Huh?! Is that the reaction?" The Zashiki-warashi was stunned and bewildered, then repeated, gesturing wildly, "Aliens, aliens! Maybe they came to Earth in a UFO or something, aren't you surprised at all?"

What she didn't know was that for Nobita and his friends, the concept of aliens was something they'd been familiar with since fourth grade... Except for Dekisugi, who, because he often missed the others, was probably learning for the first time that extraterrestrial life existed. However, he was quite composed, so his inner shock was nothing compared to his outward appearance.