81 81. Meeting The Foxy

Sorry guys, I had to try to read Solo Leveling and Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

I've never read either novel/manhwa. So, I tried to read both of them, and I lacked sleep as a result.

Well, you might curse me for being an uncultured imbecile. But, who cares?

In addition, the new Genshin patch 4.0 plus Indonesia's independence day, caused me to stop writing. And I finally got Yelan. Haha.

On second thought, Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint would not have been good enough for release. So, Tensura and Solo Leveling would be good choices to introduce MCs with systems, but with different types of systems.

Anyway, here's the chapter.

— — — —

The two, Ryūhei and Ayato, walked away from the Chinju Forest toward the Kamisato estate.

One of them had injuries that comprised bruises, slight cuts, and abrasions. Meanwhile, the other one held his stomach while laughing without restraint.

The one laughing was Ryūhei, while the one who was injured was Ayato.

In the past, Ryūhei's strength was slightly stronger than Ayaka's when she used her Vision. However, he was no match against Ayato, especially if Ayato used his Hydro Vision entirely in their fight.

But now, by using his own cursed energy alone, without the Infinity or whatsoever, Ryūhei was able to crush Ayato completely. And the result…

Ayato's face was bruised.

Reaching the gate of the estate, the guard asked him.

"Lord, what happened to you?"

"Nothing. I just tripped off."

Hearing Ayato's reply, Ryūhei held his laughter while covering his mouth.

"But your—" The guard wanted to refute. But Ayato glared at him.

"No comment, alright!?"

"Yes!" No choice, the guard kept his mouth shut.

As the two entered the main residence, Ayaka looked at her brother's condition. She couldn't help but ask.

"Big brother. What happened?" Ayaka approached her brother, checking him left and right, up and down. No doubt, his injuries were caused by something blunt.

"Stop, stop! I'm alright. You don't need to worry about me!"

Ayaka turned to Ryūhei after her brother said that. Ryūhei shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, he just tripped off."

"Who would believe such nonsense?"

"Hahaha!" Ryūhei laughed out loud. Ayato knew what Ryūhei wanted to say. So, he immediately went away to tend to his injuries by himself. He really didn't want to see his sister laugh at him for losing in the sword fight against Ryūhei.

Seeing her brother left from her sight, he asked in wonder. And Ryūhei told her what happened.

Hearing Ryūhei's explanation, Ayaka couldn't help but laugh. However, she was also somewhat surprised at how Ryūhei had managed to beat her older brother, knowing that Ryūhei had never won against him even once.

After a while, Ryūhei looked around, but he couldn't sense Jiu at all.

"Ayaka, where is Jiu?"

"Hmm, she should be in a guest house. Why do you ask?" Ayaka replied while tilting her head.

However, this made Ryūhei frown. He clearly didn't sense Jiu in the estate.

Ryūhei closed his eyes, trying to feel his residual cursed energy through the space. And he was right, Jiu went somewhere. Ryūhei knitted his brow while opening his eyes and looking in a certain direction.

"I'll go find her first. She's not in the guest house."

Without waiting for her response, Ryūhei hurriedly went to Jiu's current location. He passed through the gate and headed in the direction of the Narukami Shrine. He didn't know why Jiu went there by herself.

Perhaps, Jiu wanted to know what kind of person Yae Miko was since he mentioned her from time to time. However…

"Tsk. I hope this dragon didn't cause trouble for that fox."

— — — —

Ryūhei passed through several Torii gates during his climb to the top. As soon as he arrived, he was greeted by the shrine maiden. From there, he could see many cherry trees around, a pond, Kitsune statues, a shrine hall and corridors. And the most conspicuous in that place was the Sacred Sakura, whose trunk was somehow shaped like a fox's head.

Ryūhei could feel Jiu's presence in this shrine. So, he said to the shrine maiden.

"I believe there was a little girl with glasses and wearing a one-piece dress who came here by herself. Can you lead me to where she is?"

"I believe you're Sir Ryūhei from the Kamisato clan, right? Is she your relative?"

"Yeah. Something like that. For now, I'm her guardian."

"I see. In that case, follow me!"

The shrine maiden led him toward a building near the Sacred Sakura. She knocked on the door and said,

"Lady Yae, someone is looking for that little girl."

"I know him. Let him come and you go back to work!"

"Yes."

Ryūhei massaged his temples after learning that Jiu had met Yae Miko. Inwardly, Ryūhei scolded Jiu for coming here by herself. Yae Miko must be very curious about Jiu and ask anything about her, especially knowing Jiu's appearance doesn't look like a local.

Ryūhei opened the door and stepped inside. Inside, he could see Jiu who was being entertained by Yae Miko. Miko glanced at him.

"Ara ara. It's been a while, little scoundrel."

"..."

Seeing Ryūhei didn't give her an immediate reply, she chuckled.

"Oh, come on, don't be so nervous. Can you see it? I'm just chatting with my new little friend, you know."

"Little foxy, I'm older than you. Don't call me a little friend!" Unexpectedly, Jiu broke Miko's playful demeanor. She felt uncomfortable when Jiu called her with that, and this caused her to twitch in a split second. In fact, she only pretended not to be concerned by Jiu's words. However, the slight movement from her couldn't escape Ryūhei's eyes.

Even so, by saying that, Ryūhei concluded that Jiu had already told Miko her identity, which was somewhat bothersome for someone else to know.

'But well, whatever.'

"It's nice to meet you again, Lady Yae."

After Ryūhei greeted her, Miko looked at him intently which made him uncomfortable, knowing that the sigma female in front of him was beautiful enough to mesmerize him.

She opened her mouth.

"Still, my intuition was correct. The wind that blows from afar carries fresh life to these shores."

"What do you mean?" Ryūhei didn't really understand what she meant. But from her words, it seemed she predicted something big, and it had something to do with him.

But, the bigger ones are perhaps her twin melons, if he wanted to joke around.

"Hmmm, that is… How about you guess?" Yae Miko replied with a playful smile. But…

"Tsk." He didn't like it at all.

Her guess might not be wrong. But, the main reason he returned to Inazuma was to see the situation, whether he could open a new branch or not, while confronting the Raiden Shogun was secondary.

Come to think of it, he didn't know the extent of the strength of the Raiden Shogun either. Of course, he would have a hard time because he himself was not yet on the level of an Archon, even if the Archon's strength was far from her prime.

Unless, there was a situation that was not much different when fighting Azhdaha, where there were lots of negative emotions or energy.

Uncertainty.

That reason was enough to keep him from taking action against the Raiden Shogun.

Even if he could create a lot of doppelgangers, so what? What if the Raiden Shogun had the same strength as her prime? If the Raiden Shogun was in the same situation as Zhongli by using the vessel, there would still be a possibility of regaining her power in her prime.

He couldn't take the risk… At least for now…

"Well, I didn't think you'd learned much in Liyue. So, is Morax your backer in that nation?"

Hearing Miko's words, Ryūhei could only scratch his head in annoyance while glaring at Jiu.

Then, his gaze turned to Miko. He didn't reply immediately, but he suddenly chanted and created a black curtain as always to keep some people from eavesdropping.

Miko widened his eyes. Somehow, the way Ryūhei executed his technique was similar to the way an Onmyoji would. And Ryūhei did that without a single talisman.

Since Miko already knew, he had nothing else to hide. But, just to make sure, he had to do something else first.

"What a fascinating move. Is this the so-called Adeptus Art from Liyue?"

"That's right. Let's change the topic. Forgive me, Lady Yae! How much do you know about me from this idiot?" Ryūhei asked her solemnly while pointing at Jiu.

"Well, she asked me about how to fight Erosion, the fact that she was Morax's friend, and you sealed her power." Yae Miko replied.

"Hey, who's the idiot you're talking about?" Jiu replied fiercely while gnashing her teeth.

Ryūhei sharpened his eyes while looking at her.

"Shut up, you stupid dragon! Just because you're his old friend, it doesn't mean I won't dare to act against you! Don't try me! Or I will rip you off from existence!" His voice was so cold as if he was ready to take action.

Perhaps Jiu didn't tell Miko about Ryūhei. However, by hinting at two words, Morax and Ryūhei, Miko could already deduce a lot of things. Although he didn't mind if Miko knew that he had a connection with Morax or he trusted that Miko wouldn't do something like spilling secrets, carelessly mentioning something in the open could make things worse. For example, what if there was a spy in the shrine? Even if Yae Miko is an old and cunning fox, nothing is absolute in this— no, it's in any world.

And what Ryūhei said earlier served as a warning for Jiu to not do that again in the future.