Tale of Discovery

Using Locate, I check them all out.

What's up with this? They're all so weak. Should I even bother with them?

Deciding that it's not worth the effort, I activate my Vector Manipulation and set up a reflective barrier around before climbing up the stairs.

After a few seconds, the Youkais' hesitation seems to break as they charge at me with everything they've got.

They begin with throwing projectiles. The look on their face when they saw their projectile reflecting to them was simply marvelous.

A few of them get hit while the rest dodged quite nimbly.

For a few seconds, none of them attack me, but then one guy decides that it's a good idea to rush at me from behind and attempt to punch my back.

As expected, the force of the punch immediately gets redirected towards himself, amplified, making him fall and roll down the stairs.

One of the Youkai moves over to my side and materializes some flames before directing them at me.

Naturally, this doesn't affect me at all, with the flames feeling like nothing more than a breeze.

Just when it seemed like they all resolved themselves to rushing at me all at once, a figure appears in the distance, running down the stairs.

A little girl with yellow hair and matching yellow eyes. Her attire consists of a traditional Miko outfit, which suits her rather well.

Looking at her feet, I see that she's wearing geta, yet here she is running down at such a fast speed.

What interests me the most is that she has two ears popping out of her hair and several fluffy tails behind her.

As soon as the girl is close enough she yells,

"Don't attack!"

This seems to work as the Youkai around me all step back while maintaining a defensive posture.

The little girl gets in front of me and bows politely before introducing herself,

"My name is Kunou. I am the daughter of Yasaka, the Youkai leader."

Amused, I cross my arms and smile before introducing myself,

"Haruka Kasuganou."

Kunou nods once before gesturing to me politely and saying,

"Please follow me. We've been waiting for you."

Hm? What does one do when a little girl asks them to follow her, claiming that she expected their arrival?

Obviously, follow her.

However, before that, I ideate my vision linking with Raynare's to check the situation at where they are.

As I suspected, they've made contact with someone authoritative, based on how everyone around her is acting. I assume this is why Kunou claimed to expect me.

Walking to her side, I ask her,

"Hey, Kunou, do you mind me speeding up the process a little,"

She looks at me and sees me extending my arm towards her.

After a little hesitation, she anxiously reaches out to grab my hand. Before she can react, I lift off the ground and position her on my back.

Kunou seems to instinctively latch her arms around my neck as I dash up the stairs at a third of my maximum speed.

Checking the Youkai out behind us, I see them overreacting a lot as they follow me as fast as they can.

Very soon, I reach the top and what meets my eyes is the sight of a huge shrine house.

Sensing several presences inside it as well as my Angels, I begin to go towards it while disregarding the looks I'm given by the surrounding onlookers.

Once I'm in front of the front door, I let Kunou down and use Telekinesis to open it.

Slowly walking inside, I sense several pairs of eyes lock onto me before three girls who are standing in the middle of the wide space move toward me.

Kneeling right in front of me, my Angels don't utter a single word, but I can sense their respect and awe.

Good. It seems like they've not given away my identity. As expected of my cute little Angels.

"Rise," I voice before all three of them gracefully get back on their feet and make way for me so that I can walk past them.

Once I'm past them, I find myself face to face with a woman that is quite similar to Kunou, except for the fact that her brows are small, and she's... bigger.

Knowing that this discussion will be important, I encompass the two of us in a barrier that prevents all sound vectors from reaching outside while using Rework to make it seem like our mouths are closed the whole time.

I take the initiative to introduce myself while stating my purpose,

"My name is Haruka Kasuganou. I've come here to retrieve something that has been found by my subordinates."

The woman beams a smile before bowing slightly and introducing herself,

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Haruka (Haruka-san). My name is Yasaka, and I am the leader of the Youkai in the Kyoto region."

She then stands in a more fixed posture before suggesting,

"As for the purpose of your visit here; care to join me for a drink?"

I can't sense any hostility coming from her.

This could be either because she's good at keeping a calm demeanor, or she simply isn't antagonistic.

Dispersing Rework as well as the barrier I had formed, I follow Yasaka as she leads me to a traditional room with a round table on the ground.

My Angels are all following me quietly and stand behind me respectfully once I take a seat at the table.

Yasaka takes a seat as well before signaling something to a young-looking female Youkai.

As for Kunou who also followed along, she takes a seat beside her mother and stares at me a little too keenly.

Perhaps that little ride on my back was a little too enjoyable for her?

"Well then, Mr. Haruka, could you please describe this object that you came here for?"

Nodding my head as the female Youkai from earlier returns with some tea, I grab a cup and examine it a little before describing the same way Irene describer it to me.

A short while later, Yasaka frowns a little as she places her cup on the table and says,

"This object that you seek has been causing us a lot of problems for a while now."

Oh?

"Whenever someone gets near it, they suffer in various ways. Some lose their minds while others develop weird personalities and temporary abilities that they aren't able to control."

Now that's some interesting information. As for the Knowledge of the Tales, I can say nothing more than the fact that I expected no less of something that is made by those "principal quintessences".

I enjoy the tea a few more seconds before placing my cup down and seriously saying,

"I've come to take the object away. It should be of no use to anyone other myself."

Yasaka remains silent for a few seconds with a smile still on her face before replying,

"And why do you suppose we should let you get near it?"

Hm?

Ignoring my Angels who are preparing themselves for a sudden battle, I think of the reason she would say such a thing.

Ah. They're worried about my intentions. Chuckling, I say casually,

"I understand what you're getting from, but I've got no bad intentions with the object. Its purpose is to simply help me out. Besides,"

Wiping the smile off of my face, I raise my arm and form several legendary swords that I keep floating in the air using Telekinesis before retorting,

"Do you think I require your approval to take what I seek?"

In response to the sight of my raised arm with various fabled weapons in the air, Yasaka's eyes widen as she begins to think of something.

Having gotten the message across, I make the swords disintegrate before smiling in a friendly manner before saying,

"As I said earlier, you don't need to worry about my intentions. In fact, you could even take this as a blessing in disguise. I'm a little fond of Youkai, so I can assist when you need me to in return for guiding me to the object.

"There is also the fact that the object will go away and not cause you any more troubles to do deal with."

Dealing with this without causing any fights is the best way. First, my condition of providing them assistance is nothing more than an excuse I could use to spy on them in the future.

Second, if I handle this properly, I can establish a base of operations in Kyoto and link it with the mansion back in Tokyo.

Third, which is the most important reason, if I am able to form some sort of relationship with the Youkai, I can have them provide a layer of protection for my home.

Naturally, that's not for me but the others who are living with me.

Until the day I get better protection, this is the best choice for me right now. So, I'm putting all of my hopes on the fact that the Youkai should be able to fight the other supernatural beings.

I can't be sure of anything as they're all weak.

"Very well. We've decided that we will lead you to the object."

A wide grin covers my face as I follow Yasaka who begins leading the way there.

Soon, we reach somewhere rather fascinating.

The place looks and feels... unusual. The ground seems to be made of violet crystals, while the air itself feels a little suffocating.

Gesturing to my Angels to stay where they are, I approach the small pillar in the middle of the place.

I observe the intricate design of the pillar before shifting my focus onto the floating orb on top of it.

Feeling myself being drawn towards it, I take a glance behind myself once to make sure that everyone is away from me before reaching my arm out to the orb.

{LOG: Absorption process initiating...}

As AI's voice resounds within my head, I feel some kind of foreign energy entering my body. Checking it out, I can tell that it won't be harmful towards me, so I let it do whatever it wants to.

Soon, a feeling of drowsiness takes over me as I feel my body weakening. Suddenly, my brain seems to receive an impact of sorts before unknown memories begin appearing inside of it.