Help! I changed the gender of the male protagonist in the yandere game.

Chapter 198 Pirates
"Ms. Hiruko."

Upon hearing this voice, Hyakusuke involuntarily widened his eyes and straightened up.

When he turned his head, he saw Hiiragi Hiruko dressed as a shrine maiden. She leaned over and suddenly hugged him, startling him.

She pounced on him with an air of urgency, as if she were about to knock Bai Jie over.

"I'm so glad you're alright."

The shrine maiden's eyes were misty with tears.

"Please, please don't do this again. I'm so worried about you..."

"Y-really?"

Hyakusuke's consciousness was still somewhat confused, and he had some doubts about whether he was still in a dream.

"I...I understand, please stop crying."

He was at a loss, and despite knowing nothing about the current situation, he gently comforted the priestess.

“You’ve been unconscious for four days and four nights, and everyone is at a loss,” she said, pressing her head against his chest and sobbing softly.

"I...I don't know what to do...I really hate myself. I should have been with you that day. If I had been there, things wouldn't have turned out like that—"

At this moment, Hyakusuke's mind was still muddled, and he couldn't organize his thoughts smoothly, which was a problem caused by leaving the dream.

"...I don't understand, why am I here?"

The salty sea breeze brushed past my nose, and I could hear the sound of the waves all around me; this must be a small fishing port.

Have I really returned to reality?

Could I still be dreaming?

He remembered that he should have been on a snow-capped mountain before, but in the blink of an eye, he was on the sea, on a boat at a fishing port.

Hyakusuke couldn't quite believe what he was seeing and blinked several times.

Finally, he realized that the shrine maiden Hiiragi Hiruko was lying on top of him. Because her head was buried in his chest, he couldn't see her expression at all, but he could clearly hear her desperately suppressed sobs.

"Miss Houko, are you alright?"

Hiiragi Hiruko cried again.

Hyakusuke had certainly seen her cry before, but this time it wasn't just a few tears that spilled unintentionally. She was crying quite hard.

Hiiragi Hiruko's shoulders trembled, her chest spasmed, and she let out a weak sob. Hyakusuke could only sigh inwardly.

"I'm fine, so don't cry so much."

He patted the girl's back as she sobbed softly, begging her not to cry.

The shrine maiden's tears were so beautiful that Hyakusuke felt an urge to immediately reach out and wipe them away.

But he desperately held back. Because he felt he didn't deserve it.

"Please promise me... no matter where you go in the future, you must take me with you. Also, I don't want to see you get hurt again, Mr. Hyakusuke—"

She raised her head again, her face streaked with tears, just within breath's reach. It was such a close proximity that if she leaned forward slightly, their lips could touch.

Hiiragi Hiruko, who had opened her lips to speak, seemed to realize this as well. With a startled "Ah!" she exhaled and stepped back.

"No...sorry."

The shrine maiden blushed, tears still streaming down her face. She looked away, a little embarrassed, and said, "How embarrassing... Please don't look at me, oh no, my face is so red..."

She seemed unable to bear it, and her face drooped down as if she couldn't take it anymore.

The tips of her long eyelashes were still covered with a few glistening teardrops, probably from the tears she had just shed.

Wow~ So cute.

His heart skipped a beat and began to pound.

The shrine maiden's shy demeanor was so girlish, and her proximity made his face flush slightly.

Hyakusuke now understood perfectly well that Hiiragi Hiruko had truly fallen for him. Right now, all he had to do was reach out and wrap his arms around her slender waist, and she would be nestled in his embrace—

Cough cough, that idea is a bit too much.

Even someone as insensitive as Hyakusuke was shaken for a moment.

"Um... I still don't understand what's going on here." Unable to hide his unease, he coughed lightly, "Miss Zhouzi, please explain the current situation to me."

"Good, good."

The priestess quickly apologized in a low voice, saying embarrassedly that she shouldn't have lost her composure like that.

"Regarding this matter, we are actually currently located in a seaport in Dewa Province..."

According to Hiiragi Hiruko's explanation, this port should be located in the Oga Peninsula area. It is a relatively old port. Of course, during the period of national closure, the old port was almost abandoned. Locally, people preferred to use Akita, Sakata, or even the hidden port in the Yuri region for various maritime freight. Recently, it was reopened at the request of the Renjo Trading Company.

On the other hand, Hyakusuke was rescued because Hiiragi Hiruko received a message from Mahora. The group rushed back halfway through their journey and rescued Hyakusuke, Yoru, and the others.

"So, we arrived here by sea?"

Bai Jie asked another question.

"Yes, the Lianzhang Merchant Guild has set up a port here that can be used for docking. Although it is not big, it is still useful."

Hiiragi Hiruko added that on their return journey, Renjo Senjuro received news that the route leading to Dewa Province had been cut off by the demon army.

"The original route is blocked, and the demon wing army has blocked our way. Fortunately, President Lian Zhang was prepared. He sent another ship to wait for us at the seaside, ready to make contact with us at any time."

As the head of the merchant guild, Renjō Senjō was a steady and experienced man. He had long considered that if the land route was impassable, he would move out of the Yu Kingdom by sea.

Although the monsters knew to block the land route, they couldn't think straight and didn't even consider blocking the route from another route.

"Wait a moment?"

Bai Jie immediately became puzzled.

"Miss Zhouzi, are you saying that the demon wing army intentionally blocked our return route?"

"Eh?"

The priestess tilted her head in confusion, then belatedly nodded a few times.

"However, this is just my guess... because we encountered a large number of monsters on our way back, and they didn't seem like they were just summoned temporarily—"

Hiiragi Ryuko deduced that the demon wing army must have flown over to cut off their return route after they defeated the evil god's clone.

After all, even the most foolish among them knew that the Dewa Kingdom was covered by the power of the guardian god, and that it would be somewhat self-defeating for ordinary demons to confront the heavenly god Sakura Mahora head-on.

"Something's not right..."

Bai Jie felt that something was off about this whole thing.

"According to Princess Yukiyasha, the main body of the evil god should have hidden away. Moreover, after the evil god's divided spirit was defeated, the monsters in Yuejialuo's old territory also fell into chaos. How could they be so clever as to know to block the road?"

However, he couldn't come up with a solution in a short time.

'Insufficient information and no conclusions can be drawn in a short time. Forget it, we'll consider this later...'

Hyakusuke then asked about the other people.

"Miss Yoru, Miss Ayaka, and Lila are all safe and sound. Also, we haven't found any information about Master Zenzo."

The fact that Shanzang, the monk from the Kurama Temple lineage, was actually a traitor to the Twenty-Six Holy Knights and an undercover agent infiltrating Kurama Temple has now been officially exposed.

According to Hiiragi Hiruko, Renjo Senjuro had already quickly relayed the news to the Kyoto authorities.

On the other side, Kukuzu Ichiki also sent word that Zenzo had been missing for two months. The Okurome Agency did suspect that he was involved in something and was originally planning to find an opportunity to expose his identity as a traitor. Unexpectedly, Zenzo took the initiative to reveal his true colors.

"So, the Imperial Court is also aware that the Hikari Shitan on Kyushu Island is planning a rebellion."

"It is said that the investigation is still ongoing, but Shanzang's actions have angered the imperial court, and the court will definitely take action afterward."

Hiiragi Hiruko's explanation made Hyakusuke fall into deep thought. If unrest were to occur on Kyushu Island, it could very likely trigger a chain reaction, which would not be a good thing.

Suddenly, Hiiragi Hiruko added a brief explanation of a major recent event.

"Important news has arrived from the Imperial City: Emperor Taihei has passed away, and now the Yamato Court welcomes a new emperor, his younger brother, Prince Taihei, to the throne..."

is it?

Hyakusuke looked up at the sky covered by dark gray clouds and sighed silently.

The clouds above the sea did not appear to be getting thicker, nor did they look like it was going to rain.

However, deep down, he had a feeling that a storm was brewing.

After discussing things with Hiiragi Hiruko, Hyakusuke suddenly realized that apart from himself and Hiiragi Hiruko, there was almost no one else on the ship.

Out of doubt, he quickly voiced his question.

"Oh... you mean this because recently, merchant ships in the area around the fishing port, as well as in several other ports, have been frequently attacked by pirates."

Hiiragi Hiruko began to explain.

"Because of this, Chairman Renzhang sent everyone to help deal with the pirates in the vicinity."

"pirate!?"

Hyakusuke's heart skipped a beat, and a bad premonition suddenly arose.

Speaking of pirates, he was reminded of a scene from the game. Could it be that his group had accidentally triggered a scene related to that?
(End of this chapter)