Tenonaru Hou e prologue part3

One day when Kusamakura was tying up an animal that was to be his meal later as usual, he spotted a lone light that was like a firefly.

—What is that?

It fluttered low to the ground. When he strained his eyes, he realized it wasn’t a living creature. It was something he had read about in a book before called a “lantern”. In other words, there was a man there holding it. There had never been a human presence in the area Kusamakura lived since long ago, but lately they could be seen around there even at night. An inn seemed to have been built nearby. Since he slept during the day, Kusamakura didn’t really know, but he a.s.sumed there were actually more of them than he thought. There were many animals that slept during the night, so he figured humans mostly did the same. With the tied up animal still clutched in his hand, Kusamakura curiously approached the lamp from a distance. He heard the crunching sound of pebbles being stepped on. He wondered where the man was going as he hummed cheerfully.

—Hm. He’s not that different from me.

He had only seen a human man in books. His hair was tied up in a top knot, and was wearing the clothes of a merchant. His two arms and two legs weren’t covered in fur, and he walked up right. If he were to point out any differences between that man and himself, it was probably only things like hairstyle and that he lived outside.