The Groom Chapter 8

Prince Muso looked like your average handsome prince. He was broad-chested, slightly taller than average, well built, with dark brown shoulder-length hair, dark grey eyes, and fair skin. Prince Muso carried himself in a way that you knew he was royalty, and he checked all the boxes of the good looking prince. But there was nothing spectacularly outstanding or defining about him. Had he been in line with every other Prince you wouldn't have been able to tell him apart from the others. This was something that pleased Prince Muso. It made it easier for him to move about the province but also the country virtually unnoticed. Which was a great asset for an accomplished War General such as Prince Muso. If his own people couldn't tell him from the next generically handsome man, how would his enemy? He'd snuck into enemy camps many times, gaining key information resulting in him winning many wars all because of his generic appearance.

It was this same freedom that kept Price Muso from wanting to be king. He had power, he already made all of the major decisions in the Kingdom, and as it stood he still had the freedom to come and go. And come and go he did, through forests and mountains. There was nothing that Prince Muso loved more than hunting demons. Not a day went by when he didn't kill something. He had started out hunting small game and slowly moved to bigger and stronger prey. He had, on occasion, hunted humans, being a General afforded him such tasks. But even they began to bore him. Demons were his current pray of choice. Their size and type didn't matter. He enjoyed spending an afternoon tracking a small bakeneko through a forest as much as he loved fighting giant oni in the mountains. Prince Muso was nothing short of tenacious and once he set his sights on his prey, he was relentless. People that only knew of him would say he never tired, never hungered when he was on the hunt. While it was true that he never did any of those, it wasn't a lack of hunger or rest that allowed him to keep tracking, rather his sheer will that allowed him to go days on end without bowing to such necessities.

This traversing the country was fine in the beginning, but as the King grew older and more senile the citizens of the province grew apprehensive. The Prince's escapades took time, deviated resources, and left the province without much of a leader. This was worrying. So long as the King was alive, there was a male heir to the throne. But the populace was well aware of the King's health and that he would die sooner rather than later. This left Muso with little basis for travel. He was expected to select a queen and supply an heir of this own. As it stood, the citizens were worried he would get himself killed before even his father died, and in these times the only thing worse than having a terrible Lord was to be Lordless. For that's when the real fighting began. Of course, no one would ever say this to the Prince, but they didn't need to, he felt their unease. And for him, the only thing worse than not hunting was a peasant revolt. And so he remained in the shiro, in Edo, away from anything dangerous.

The remaining in Edo Castle to appease the citizens lasted all of one day. Prince Muso was already restless and listening to his father's ramblings made him want to murder the King himself. He wasn't quite sure what that would accomplish though, would he become King, be sent to the dungeon, or possibly executed? He certainly didn't want to find out. So he escaped to the forest, a small hunt wouldn't hurt anyone. That was this morning.

He was now neck-deep in imps. Which he was perfectly capable of handling, he had already killed at least ten, when a villager stumbled upon the scene.

This normally wouldn't have been an issue, except now he was notable amongst the commoners are someone that was not to step outside of the shiro.

This forced Prince Muso to end his hunt prematurely, only killing a few more imps, allowing the rest to flee before being dragged back towards the shiro grounds by an angry ranting villager.

This villager was lucky, Prince Muso had half a mind to kill him in the forest and blame it on the imps. It was only a fleeting sentence about him acting as if he were a caged animal while ranting that kept the irate villager from his death.

By the time they had arrived at an area deemed appropriate by the peasant, Prince Muso was so lost in thought that he actually thanked the man and continued onward back to his fortress without so much as a sneer in the lesser man's direction. That peon was on to something, why not cage animals and demons and bring them back here? He was quite brilliant, he would build a large enclosure and store anything he could ever want. Then he could hunt locally for beasts from all over the country. Prince Muso went straight to the library and began working the idea.

Prince Muso had kicked out the keeper, pulled any book that seemed relevant, jotted down his initial ideas, and in a few short sleepless days had designed a multi-level underground habitat that could house everything he would ever want. It was then that he decided to call upon his most trusted confidant.

Upon seeing the schematic Count Naraku smiled. "This is certainly something Prince."

"You have twenty-four hours to review and make changes, I want this constructed and stocked as soon as possible. The Prince then waved Count Naraku away.

It hadn't taken the Count even an hour to make the changes he deemed necessary.

1. Put it underground

2. Divide it by levels to keep the inhabitants from killing each other

3. Put it in the most remote corner of the grounds

4. Conceal it with a barrier

5. Have a private caretaker

6. Kill everyone that is involved with its creation with the exception of the Count and the caretaker

It took less than two hours to hire a carpenter team that was capable of completing the project and willing to be sworn to secrecy.

It took less than a month to have it completed. All five levels. Once the final touches were made and the carpenters were taken care of Count Naraku called for demon slayers. While it was an odd request for them, catching demons as opposed to killing them shouldn't be too difficult a task for them. They accepted the task and in a month they had filled the zoo with all means of demons and wild animals. The demon slayers were then dealt with in a manner similar to the carpenters.

Hiring someone to keep the occupants well-fed and healthy also proved to be an easy task. Count Naraku volunteered his own daughter, Kanna. It was her demonic abilities that really made her a perfect fit, Kanna had no scent or aura, making her impossible to detect. She could easily sneak up on demons should she need to and not worry about them hunting her. But should one attempt to harm her she was also a skilled fighter. Her weapon of choice, a mirror allowed her to reflect attacks, and control bodies by removing their soul. There were not many that could resist her mirror, no demon or human has been able to yet.

In two months and 3 hours, Prince Muso and Count Naraku had created what Prince Muso dubbed the Zoo of Death. It truly was the only structure of its kind.

The first level contained creatures of speed, from hummingbirds to Wolf Demons. The second level strength was the determining factor, ogres, bears, and the like. The third level was for venomous and poisonous such as the Mamushi, Red Back Spiders, and ōsuzumebachi. The Spider and Snake demons were particularly frightening. The fourth floor was for the most dangerous of enemies, demons that could take human form. This floor kept even Kanna on her toes.

The fifth level was empty. Prince Muso dreamed of finding something as dangerous, fierce, and powerful as he was. Unlikely, but he was hopeful.

As it was there were already enough monsters on in the other four levels to keep Prince Muso busy. The biggest issue the Prince faced was deciding what to hunt that day. And he had many creative ways to do so. His favorite way was to see which creature he could get to react the most and set it free. The anger and hate from the beast made the hunt that much more enjoyable.

Prince Muso was tracking a small fox demon. He wasn't a particularly strong demon, nor was he cunning but he could transform which made tracking him a fun challenge. Prince Muso had killed his father last week and the kit was still angry. He had been at this for the entire morning, the kit was proving to be more challenging than he had anticipated. The kit had managed to lead him in circles, fake crying mushrooms were making tracking him a little difficult. He had even set fire to a portion of the underground forest. He had even sent a small horse running in a different direction. This excited the Prince. Prince Muso was sure he had the fox kit within his grasp when Saimyōshō made an appearance.

"Rest for now little Kit, you have received a reprieve." With that Prince Muso headed towards the exit to meet with Count Naraku.

"Could this have not waited Count Naraku?"

With a bow Count Naraku began speaking, "I wouldn't have sent for you if it could my lord."

"Out with it, I was close to killing that small fox demon…"

"Your father had his annual physical and I have the results."

"Out with it."

"He's dying."

A frown made its way to the Prince's face. "Damn it."

Shiro 城 - Japanese castles/fortresses constructed primarily of wood and stone. By the Sengoku period, they had come to serve as the homes of daimyōs (feudal lords), to impress and to intimidate rivals not only with their defenses but also with their sizes, architecture, and elegant interiors.

Ōsuzumebachi オオスズメバチ - Giant Hornet

Guest - In line with the novel and the movie I don't think he cares about her power short of her inability to control it. I doubt he is scared, Inuyasha isn't scared by much in the show, not even the demon that killed his dad.