「猫又の噂」

"There are human-eating monsters in the forest nearby."
Nobody knew when this rumor started to spread around the villagers, but it somehow developed into many versions.
A young traveler quietly listened to a young boy and a young girl arguing about this rumor as he blew away the hot steam on his tea.
"It's a female monster cheated by a man. I heard she loved to dig out men's eye balls and eat them."
"Huh? You girls are so much trouble. You just can't have any story without love or relationship. It was nothing but an aggressive monster. I'm sure the
adults will get monks to cleanse it sooner or later."
"You are bluffing, Tarou. 'Nothing but a monster'? You don't even dare to enter the forest."
"Shut, shut up!"
The young traveler slowly finished the last bite of his food and interrupted them as the two almost started a fight. "Excuse me. I'd like to enter the
forest, but which way should I take?"
"Are you going to the forest?!"
"Wow, you are going to the forest!"
Both the boy and the girl were shocked.
"I am the master of the Shrine. Just like the 'monks' this young fella mentioned, I also have the ability to cleanse monsters."
"Are you serious?" The boy looked at him in doubt. There's no way that this somewhat handsome man can be a monster fighter.
Seeing their reaction, the younger traveler let out a little sigh and gave up asking. Nobody ever believed in his identity, but he had no clue what wen
t wrong.
"Wait a sec," The boy stopped the traveler as he picked up his hat and prepared to leave. "I… I will take you there."
The girl looked at him in shock, but the boy headed straight toward a small path full of weeds. He didn't even look back to check if the traveler was f
ollowing.
The forest was right at the end of the path. There were weeds everywhere – ever since the rumor of the monster started, no one had ever dared to enter.
At the entrance of the forest, the boy stopped and asked the traveler again. "Are you sure you are going in?"
"Yes."
"But, there is a… man-eating monster!"
"Have you seen it?"
"No…"
"Has somebody you know got eaten?"
"N-no…"
"Then why are you so sure about this man-eating monster?"
"Because all the adults said so… And how can there be a monster that doesn't eat humans?!"
"There's an old proverb that says 'the only difference between a buddha and a demon is the thought'. Put it in layman's terms, whether you are a good o
r a bad person has nothing to do with your origin. It depends on what you want to do. And the same applies to monsters... Aye— You don't understand, do
you..." The traveler looked at the boy and smiled with resignation. No matter how many times he repeated this, humans only believed in what they wante
d to believe.
Prejudice isn't something that can be removed with just a few conversations.