— — — — — —
Deep in the bamboo forest, in front of Eientei—
"Welco ho, Dad~"
A delicate girl was already waiting by the door. The mont she saw Veyron, she greeted him with a warm smile.
"Did that person drop by again while I was gone?"
Taking the wet towel from the girl's hands, Veyron casually wiped the imaginary dust from his face as he asked.
"Nope."
Houraisan Kaguya shook her head. "And unless she willingly shows herself, soone at that level is nearly impossible to detect. But Eirin did say that after dropping you off, she stayed for a while to confront her, and then just vanished. No sightings since."
"I see~ as expected of Yagokoro Eirin."
Veyron glanced up at the sky above the bamboo forest—though it was still broad daylight, countless stars shimred clearly in the sky.
He noticed sothing was off with the stars the mont he entered the forest.
This distortion was caused by one of Eirin's star maps—a technique she developed through her study of astronomy, borrowing power from the stars themselves. Each star chart had its own unique effect.
Like the current one—it didn't offer offense, defense, or even suppression or sealing powers. Its sole function was to reveal everything within the starlight's range to the observer.
The last ti he saw this specific chart was inside her Pocket World.
Back then, Eirin failed to stop him from teleporting via the chat group and switched gears to pure observation. But even so, she hadn't found anything.
...
"Anyway, if you're wondering about the situation at ho, you can confirm it with Eirin later. But more importantly… you didn't run into any danger out there, did you?"
Kaguya asked with concern.
"You might not believe when I say this…"
Veyron glanced at the deep purple skill on his Trait System panel. "I think her original plan was to use to stir up a conflict between you two and soone else."
"But that new person was no fool. Not only did she avoid falling into that trap, she even gave a few benefits before I left—as a kind of… peace offering, maybe."
"The benefits you're talking about…"
Kaguya's gaze shifted to the dog that had followed Veyron ho. "Don't tell you an that?"
"Nope. I picked this little one up on the way back. Thought she looked cute, so I brought her along. I gave her the na Inukimi."
Veyron turned to introduce Kaguya. "This is Houraisan Kaguya—you heard what she called earlier, right? She's my daughter. Go ahead and greet her. Don't worry if she doesn't understand you, I'll translate."
"Hmph~ No need. I can speak."
Inukimi gave Kaguya a slight nod. "Nice to et you."
Her tone was cold and aloof, but because her voice still sounded a little young, it ca off more tsundere than anything.
Of course, Veyron wasn't really focused on that.
"You can talk?"
He stared at her in surprise.
"Even low-level yokai can learn speech if they want to."
"Then why didn't you say anything this whole trip?"
"You understood anyway, didn't you? So what's the difference?"
Inukimi gave him a look that said duh.
"Wait, does that an… you can take human form too?"
Veyron suddenly thought of sothing else.
"I can. But it's not complete yet."
Inukimi replied, "I need to reach high-level yokai strength to fully transform."
"Not complete, huh?"
"You an like, even if she transforms, she'll still have animal ears or a tail or sothing?"
Kaguya, who hadn't left the bamboo forest since coming to Earth but had spent plenty of ti using Eirin's spells to observe it, jumped in. She seed familiar with the difference between incomplete and full transformation.
Inukimi nodded. That's exactly what she ant.
Animal ears and tails, huh…
Veyron gave Inukimi a look, recalling that her human form had silver hair. He stroked his chin, visibly intrigued.
If Kaguya wasn't standing right here, he'd honestly ask her to transform so he could take a look.
"Dad~"
Kaguya called him back to reality. "If this dog was just a coincidence… mind telling more about this 'friend' you made?
"I an, soone who that woman tried to use in a sche against us must be pretty powerful."
"A person like that… What kind of 'gift' do they give? I'm really curious."
Why do I get the feeling that's not all you're curious about?
Veyron raised his head and looked toward the sun. He lifted his hand to block its light—sothing that used to just sting his eyes, but now, with the trait for photosynthesis, it felt endlessly warm and comforting.
"Noticed it yet?" he asked.
"…That's the sun?"
The mont he stopped suppressing his power, Kaguya imdiately picked up on the change coming from his body under the sunlight.
"Photosynthesis. Pretty cool, right?"
Veyron smiled.
"…I seriously think the first thing you should do is go see Eirin."
Kaguya's expression changed. She grabbed his arm, and in the blink of an eye, slipped through the seams of ti, arriving straight at Eirin's lab in the Pocket World.
"You're back?"
Holding a bubbling test tube in one hand, Eirin greeted them with a nod.
She had sensed Veyron's arrival the mont he stepped into the bamboo forest and had even sent Kaguya away to et him.
"Eirin, Father ran into sothing new again while he was out. I think you need to check his body."
Kaguya got straight to the point, explaining why she'd dragged him over so fast.
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