"You laughed!" "I did not."
Voices like children bickering continued to drift from the room. Kaguya Houraisan soon realized that no matter what she said, Lancer, sitting across from her, maintained that same smile. She knew she had "lost" this round. Finally, in a fit of pique, she puffed out her cheeks again and fell silent.
Lancer shook his head with a smile. It was indeed fun to tease Kaguya, but he knew that just like with a child or a cat, if you tease them for too long, they truly get angry. Back when he and Jack weren't very well acquainted, his face had suffered more than a few "consequences."
"In reality, beating them up is easy, but it only gives you a moment of venting. It has no real impact on solving the problem. Once their wounds heal, they'll naturally come back. Trying to solve them once and for all would be very troublesome. We might need to look at it from a different angle..."
Looking at the mysterious smile on Lancer face, Kaguya couldn't help but wonder if Lancer was planning to kill those people.
"For example, making them voluntarily give up their proposal."
"Impossible. I've already rejected them over ten times."
Kaguya words made Lancer pause. She hadn't been on the surface for very long, and those "lolicons" like Fujiwara no Fuhito had only started proposing recently—about a month or so. During that time, they even had to return to Fujiwara-kyo or their own fiefs...
'They certainly are persistent.'
After a brief internal sigh, Lancer revealed his trump card—or rather, "the choice they would inevitably make."
"Rejection might be useless, but that doesn't mean there's no way to make them give up voluntarily. For example—set a marriage requirement that they cannot possibly fulfill."
Whether it was the warning from the Onmyoryo or the reminder from the current Emperor, all five men, including Fujiwara no Fuhito, had given up the idea of using force. The only thing they could do was try to win Kaguya heart through their own efforts. Clearly, this was why Lancer words could work.
In truth, they were lucky. If someone had truly lost their head and tried something... the corpses of countless youkai and bandits buried on Bamboo Mountain over the past few months were the best answer. Yagokoro Eirin had single-handedly kept the vicinity of Bamboo Mountain spotless.
Though Kaguya looked like a child and sometimes acted like one, as a Princess of the Lunar Capital, she was quite knowledgeable. Lancer words immediately made her eyes light up.
"Indeed, you're right. This is essentially a strategic retreat. I agree to their proposal but set conditions. One step forward, one step back. Those guys certainly won't refuse, but there's a problem..."
Midway through, Kaguya began to worry. After all, accidents happen in this world. What if someone actually completed a task?
Marrying them was out of the question; she'd just run away at worst. But if she did run away, it might involve her adoptive grandfather and grandmother...
She couldn't help but look at Lancer. This guy's combat power should be decent, right?
Kaguya, living on Bamboo Mountain, naturally couldn't know that Lancer had already made a fearsome name for himself among youkai as the "Red Oni" (read with sarcasm). Even with her powers sealed, her eyes remained sharp enough to detect certain hidden things about Lancer.
'He should agree to help take care of Grandpa and Grandma when the time comes, right?'
Seeing Kaguya lower her head in silence, Lancer wasn't in a hurry at all. He knew she would eventually agree. He was perfectly calm, like a patient fisherman.
One weighed the pros and cons, the other waited for the system notification, until Kaguya made up her mind.
"Fine! We'll do as you say!"
Kaguya believed it wouldn't be long before she could return to the Lunar Capital. She just needed to block those annoying guys until then.
But then, another question arose...
"Lancer, do you know of anything that someone definitely couldn't find?"
Good question. Lancer could list countless things they definitely couldn't find, like—the Gate of Truth, the Holy Grail, Gundams, the Dragon Balls...
Forget finding them; even the art style wouldn't match. People of this world certainly couldn't find them. But that would bring new troubles. Since even Lancer didn't have them, what if those five men just brought any random object and claimed they found it?
As for using force? It was precisely because they didn't want to that they were in this position...
"You should handle that part yourself. I don't know much about this area, and I don't want something to go wrong because of my mistake."
Lancer was clearly passing the buck, but Kaguya was stunned for a moment.
Since when had she started trusting this man so much?
What if he gave her some obscure item that could actually be found?
Kaguya began to ponder. She herself didn't know when she had become accustomed to this man's presence.
Chatting with her, bringing her games, helping her handle trouble...
Why was he so good to her?
Kaguya didn't know. She felt he must have some purpose, but the man's carefree nature during their talks and his unshadowed eyes told her that what he said and did came from a place of genuine willingness.
Was his acting just that good, or was he truly that kind of person?
Kaguya fell into a state of confusion.
Finally, after leaving a new game cartridge, Lancer departed Kaguya room. To his surprise, there was no notification of mission success. This was undoubtedly strange.
'Does the mission only count as complete once Kaguya tells those men the names of the items?'
Lancer system didn't come with a manual. While he basically understood its usage by now, he still had to "cross the river by feeling the stones" when it came to sudden unknowns. He didn't even know what was going on himself.
However, he had done all he could. Thinking further about it was meaningless.
'I'll hand the "Wind God's Fan" to the Tengu first, at least to clear up the matter of the "Youkai Sage." And I'll go see if the things I ordered are finished...'
As Lancer mounted his motorcycle and headed toward Youkai Mountain, Kaguya, sitting in her room, unusually set aside her games and took out a book to begin researching.
She had accepted Lancer suggestion. Next, she just needed to find five things to shut those five guys up.
Perfect!