Chapter 287

Once they had moved a short distance away, Kagome released her grip on the back of Inuyasha’s robe.

"Inuyasha, I still think we should learn more before deciding whether what he said is true."

She looked at him seriously.

"We don’t know anything about Haruto-kun. Another world? How could something like that actually exist?"

Alternate worlds were the kind of thing Kagome had only ever encountered in manga, anime, and novels.

They were fictional settings.

People did not actually get transported into other worlds in real life.

Halfway through that thought, however, Kagome abruptly fell silent.

Her gaze dropped to the modern school uniform she was wearing.

’Wait...’

Wasn’t she someone who traveled back and forth through the Bone-Eater’s Well between modern Japan and the Sengoku period five hundred years in the past?

If traveling five centuries through time was already possible...

Then perhaps another world was not completely impossible either.

"Kagome does have a point. The idea of another world is difficult to believe."

Miroku shook his head thoughtfully.

"Exactly!"

Shippō immediately jumped in, raising one little paw.

"That guy can’t be trusted! He’s definitely lying to trick us!"

"I don’t know..."

Sango rested a hand near the Hiraikotsu at her side, looking somewhat uncertain.

"I don’t think it’s entirely impossible."

"What’s there to argue about? My nose doesn’t lie."

Inuyasha planted his hands on his hips, clearly unconcerned.

He had absolute confidence in his sense of smell.

"No way! He’s obviously fooling us! Inuyasha, you’re such an idiot! You’re going to get tricked again!"

Shippō bounced up and shouted at him with absolute conviction.

"We’re not going to settle anything by arguing."

Miroku finally interrupted before the two could start fighting.

"We should simply keep watching him."

"If he’s lying, something will eventually give him away."

The others exchanged looks, then reluctantly nodded.

After composing themselves, they returned to the hut as though nothing had happened.

What none of them realized was that Haruto had heard every word.

His five senses had long since surpassed those of ordinary humans.

Watching Kagome and the others stroll back in while pretending nothing unusual had happened, Haruto found the whole thing rather amusing.

He also saw little reason to keep dancing around the issue.

Once everyone had sat down again, Haruto straightened slightly and smiled.

"The truth is, I’ve visited quite a few different worlds."

"One where food itself shapes nearly everything in existence. One covered almost entirely by oceans. Another inhabited by countless Pokémon with strange abilities. There are worlds filled with magic, dragons, and all kinds of other things as well."

Haruto paused, the smile on his face deepening.

"Since you don’t believe other worlds exist, I suppose I can show you."

He began taking ingredients out of the Gourmet Restaurant.

"This is a Rice Bowl Fruit from a gourmet world."

"And this is a mimic from a world of magic."

One extraordinary ingredient after another appeared in front of them.

Inuyasha and the others stared in shock.

Before anyone had time to recover, Haruto brought out several red-and-white Poké Balls.

He pressed the button on one with his thumb.

The ball opened.

A flash of red light appeared, and a Pikachu materialized in front of them, swishing its large tail before tilting its head.

"Pika pika?"

Kagome covered her mouth.

She had seen Pikachu countless times before.

On game cartridges.

In anime.

On stationery and merchandise.

And now one was standing right in front of her, alive and breathing, looking curiously up at her.

"This is a Pikachu from the Pokémon world."

Haruto looked at Kagome.

"You should recognize it, right?"

Kagome stared at the living Pikachu and slowly nodded.

Any remaining doubt disappeared from her face.

"It’s... it’s really Pikachu..."

"Another world... really exists..."

She had played the Pokémon games herself and watched the anime plenty of times.

A creature that only existed as fiction in her own world was now alive before her eyes.

There was simply no other explanation.

Kagome immediately bowed deeply to Haruto.

"I’m sorry, Haruto-kun. We kept doubting you earlier. That was really rude of us."

"It’s fine."

Haruto smiled and waved it off before returning Pikachu to its Poké Ball.

"What I’m telling you is pretty unbelievable. Being cautious was the sensible thing to do."

Seeing how calmly he responded, the last traces of suspicion among the group faded away.

Thinking about it carefully, if traveling five hundred years through time was already real, then the existence of other worlds did not seem quite as impossible anymore.

Kagome suddenly remembered something else.

"By the way, Haruto-kun, if you came here to gather ingredients, why did you choose this era?"

She had been so focused on his identity that she had forgotten to question that part.

The Sengoku period suffered from constant shortages.

Even salt and basic seasonings could be difficult to obtain.

Compared with the modern era, the variety and availability of food were terrible.

And compared with entirely different worlds, it made even less sense.

If someone wanted to gather ingredients, why would they deliberately come to an age where even fresh vegetables were not reliably available?

Haruto smiled, anticipation appearing in his eyes.

"Didn’t I say from the beginning that I came looking for unusual ingredients?"

"The biggest difference between this era and modern Japan is obvious."

"There are yōkai everywhere."

"I’ve never tasted yōkai before. I’m curious what they’re like."

As he spoke, Haruto’s gaze unconsciously drifted toward Shippō, who was still happily munching on potato chips.

Inuyasha was a half-demon, so he did not really count as a pure yōkai.

Shippō, on the other hand, was a genuine fox yōkai.

Unfortunately, he was still a child and far too small.

Once the fur and bones were removed, there probably would not even be enough meat for a proper serving.

Besides, fox meat tended to have a strong gamey odor and was troublesome to prepare.

Haruto was merely curious enough to glance at him.

He had no actual intention of eating Shippō.

Shippō did not know that.

The instant Haruto’s eyes passed over him, his entire body went rigid.

The potato chip halfway to his mouth froze in place.

His eyes widened.

’He wants to eat yōkai?!’

Shippō had heard countless stories about yōkai eating humans.

He had never once heard of a human deliberately hunting yōkai to eat them.

Worse...

Haruto had just looked directly at him.

Like food.

Every fox instinct Shippō possessed screamed that the man in front of him carried the pressure of a top predator, one even more frightening than many vicious greater yōkai he had encountered before.

A chill shot from the tip of his tail all the way to the top of his head.

Every hair on his body stood on end.

The bag of chips slipped from his paws and hit the floor.

In an instant, Shippō darted behind Kagome.

Only half of his fluffy head peeked out from behind her, both paws gripping tightly onto her clothes as he glared at Haruto with trembling indignation.

"I-I’m warning you! I’m really strong! And Inuyasha is super strong too!"

"D-Don’t even think about eating me!"

Naturally, this was exactly the kind of situation where pushing Inuyasha forward as a shield made perfect sense.

Haruto looked at the terrified little fox and burst out laughing.

He quickly raised both hands and put on what he considered a particularly reassuring expression.

"All right, all right. Don’t be scared, Shippō."

"You’re so tiny you wouldn’t even be enough to get stuck between my teeth."

"I’m not interested in eating you, so you’ve got nothing to worry about."

The reassurance somehow made things worse.

Shippō immediately hid his entire head behind Kagome, flattening his ears tightly against his scalp.

Kagome sighed, reached back to pat the trembling little fox, then turned and glared at Haruto.

"Haruto-kun, stop scaring Shippō. He’s still a child."

Miroku was already laughing so hard he could barely sit straight.

Sango shook her head helplessly.

Only Inuyasha kept staring at Haruto, his curiosity now outweighing his earlier suspicion.

Someone who actually wanted to eat yōkai...

What a weird guy.

After a moment, Sango’s amusement faded.

She shifted forward and looked seriously at Haruto.

"Haruto-san, there is something I need to warn you about."

"Most yōkai aren’t edible."

As a demon slayer descended from generations of people who hunted yōkai, Sango understood them far better than ordinary humans ever could.

"Many are highly poisonous. Eating their flesh can kill a person outright."

"And even when they aren’t poisonous, their flesh is saturated with yōki. If a human consumes it carelessly, that demonic energy can invade the body. In mild cases, it can leave someone seriously ill. In severe cases, it can corrupt the mind and body until the person is barely human anymore."

"If someone eats large quantities of yōkai flesh over a long period, there’s even a chance the yōki could gradually transform them into something resembling a half-demon."

She paused, watching Haruto carefully before continuing.

"That said, there are some yōkai that can technically be eaten."

"Low-level yōkai with very weak demonic energy and no natural poison can sometimes be consumed without serious consequences."

"But even that carries risks."

"Our demon-slayer clan never treats yōkai as food. Even when we kill them, we only dismantle their bodies and use useful parts as materials."

As she finished speaking, Sango’s gaze unconsciously drifted toward Shippō hiding behind Kagome.

Weak yōki.

No poison.

Low-level yōkai.

Shippō seemed to fit every condition.

The little fox had been cautiously peeking out from behind Kagome and immediately caught Sango looking at him.

His fur puffed up all over again.

"Sango!"

He popped his head out and shouted indignantly.

"What kind of rude thing are you thinking?!"

Then he immediately ducked back into hiding and resumed watching Haruto suspiciously, terrified that Haruto might take Sango’s explanation as a recommendation.

The sight made everyone laugh again.

Inuyasha folded his arms and looked at Haruto.

"Hey, don’t start thinking every yōkai is easy prey."

"Some greater yōkai are seriously powerful. You keep talking about eating them, but don’t get yourself killed trying."

His words were blunt, but there was clearly a warning behind them rather than hostility.

Haruto raised an eyebrow.

"I’m pretty confident in my strength."

The only real concern Haruto had was that some yōkai did not seem to possess physical bodies at all.