The noise at the door stopped, and the women had already left.
Mitsuko, who had originally planned to go for a walk, changed her mind.
Mitsuko was somewhat concerned about what they called the Snake Demon.
It doesn't sound like a person's name; it's probably a nickname.
Considering the snake-related content throughout the room, it's highly likely that the mysterious Snake Demon is the entity behind the Iguro family.
Moreover, they said they would come back after they fell asleep, which suggests they would take action later.
Mitsuko decided to wait and see what they were really up to.
Mitsuko lay on the bed, turned off all the lights in the room, and pretended to close his eyes and fall asleep.
Not long after, footsteps sounded outside the door.
Based on the footsteps outside the door, Mitsuko could tell that there were five people in total.
A tiny tube extended through a small hole in the doorway.
Puffs of smoke drifted out of the pipe.
After the smoke filled the entire room, the door was opened after a while.
Seeing that Mitsuko had already 'fallen asleep,' the women let out a triumphant laugh.
"Sisters, we've succeeded. Now this young man is completely at our mercy."
The five women stared at Mitsuko's face, each one of them looking infatuated.
One of the women even reached out and touched Mitsuko's cheek.
"He really is handsome. To be honest, I really want to keep him as a pet."
"Don't get your hopes up. This is the first time we've met a man of such high quality. Who here wouldn't want to have him all to themselves?"
"Alright, this dose of the sleeping potion will keep him awake until at least dawn. Sisters, a moment of passion is worth a thousand pieces of gold, so who wants to go first?"
After a heated debate, the women determined the order.
A woman named Iguro Miwa was the first to 'enjoy' Mitsuko, and the rest of the people left the room.
Iguro Miwa stroked Mitsuko's cheek, then slowly reached down to Mitsuko's collar.
I was just about to take off Mitsuko's clothes.
Suddenly.
Iguro Miwa's neck seemed to be wrapped with rope, making it hard to breathe. She wanted to call for help but couldn't make a sound.
Mitsuko sat up in bed. Wrapped around Iguro Miwa's neck was the whip on Mitsuko's back.
Seeing that Mitsuko had woken up, Iguro Miwa's eyes were filled with disbelief and fear.
Mitsuko threatened, "If you dare to make a sound, I will break your neck. From now on, your life is in my hands. You can only speak when I ask you a question. If you understand, blink."
Iguro Miwa blinked rapidly.
Mitsuko loosened his grip on the whip slightly, allowing Iguro Miwa to breathe and speak.
To prevent Iguro Miwa from breaking her promise, Mitsuko pressed the bone spur at the tip of the whip against her forehead, between her eyebrows.
With her life in Mitsuko's hands, Iguro Miwa dared not move, and beads of sweat were already forming on her forehead.
A cloud of black mist appeared behind Mitsuko, warning Iguro Miwa, "If you lie about the next question, this black mist will invade your body and cause you to die in extreme pain."
Mitsuko began by asking Iguro Miwa, "It's rumored that the Iguro family hasn't had a single male infant in over three hundred years. How is that possible? Can you control the sex of your children?"
"It's not that our family has never had male babies; it's just that these things are beyond our control."
"So where did those baby boys go?"
Iguro Miwa was pale and biting her lip tightly, clearly not wanting to tell Mitsuko.
Mitsuko slightly tightened the whip around Iguro Miwa's neck, while the black mist behind her gradually approached Iguro Miwa.
Iguro Miwa hurriedly said, "That's because those baby boys were used as sacrifices!"
Mitsuko frowned slightly and murmured, "Used as a sacrifice? Was it offered to that Snake Demon...?"
Iguro Miwa looked at Mitsuko in disbelief: "How do you know about the Snake Demon?!"
Mitsuko's pupils turned into vertical slits as she coldly stared at Iguro Miwa: "I told you, you can only speak when I tell you to. There will be no next chance!"
Iguro Miwa covered her mouth in terror and nodded frantically.
"Your inn is so nicely decorated, yet you hardly have any guests. Does that mean you're not making a living from this, but rather using it as a base to target innocent people like me who are new to the area and don't know anything about the Hachijo Island Iguro family, and who have come to stay at this inn? Is that right?"
Iguro Miwa nodded, tacitly agreeing with Mitsuko's guess.
"How has your Iguro family made a living for the past three hundred years?"
Iguro Miwa said tremblingly, "Kill...kill people...rob them."
"Murder and robbery... If your Iguro clan has been living off the money the Snake Demon steals after killing others for over three hundred years, then the Snake Demon's identity is questionable. The Snake Demon cannot be human, because humans cannot live for over three hundred years. Combined with your answer about sacrifices, the Snake Demon's identity is easy to guess. The Snake Demon... is a demon, right?"
Iguro Miwa looked terrified. She couldn't understand why Mitsuko had guessed the Snake Demon's identity so easily.
Combining the eerie whip and black mist of Mitsuko, Iguro Miwa has come to understand Mitsuko's identity.
The boy in front of me is also a demon!
Only a demon can understand demons so well.
"One last question, where is the Snake Demon?"
Upon hearing Mitsuko ask where the Snake Demon was, Iguro Miwa turned pale with fright and panicked, saying, "No, I can't tell you! If the Snake Demon finds out that I told another demon about its whereabouts, I'll definitely die!"
Mitsuko tightened the whip around Iguro Miwa's neck, lifting her into the air, and said coldly, "You seem to have misunderstood something. Your life is in my hands, not in that demon's. If you don't answer my question now, you will die immediately!"
Iguro Miwa, her face flushed red from lack of oxygen and inability to breathe, forced out a voice through clenched teeth in fear of death: "I...I'll talk!"
Mitsuko released the whip, and after collapsing to the ground and coughing a few times, Iguro Miwa said, "On the other side of Hachijo Island, there is a forest, and deep in the forest is a palace, where the Snake Demon is."
"Then I'll have to trouble you to take me there."
Iguro Miwa was about to refuse, but when she saw the whip behind Mitsuko and the black mist, she swallowed the words that were about to come out.
"I understand." Iguro Miwa gave in resignedly.
After leaving the room, Iguro Miwa saw her four tribespeople lying on the ground: "What happened to them?"
"They only inhaled my black mist, but they didn't die. They're just temporarily unconscious. Although I have no interest in killing, it doesn't mean I don't kill. So you'd better take me to the palace you mentioned."
Iguro Miwa's face was gloomy, but her mind was racing.
'If we take him to the Snake Demon and let her deal with him, then we can shift the blame onto them and maybe he'll survive...'