The voice was strange because Lancer couldn't determine any information about the speaker from it. All he could tell was that it was a woman with a pleasant voice. He couldn't even tell the difference between a young girl or an old woman.
More alarmingly, he didn't know where she was speaking from.
If she could speak in his ear so silently, she could easily snap his neck.
Muscles tensed, he looked around cautiously, but the voice gave no further response. The Great Tengu opposite Lancer, seeing his sudden hostility, was momentarily confused before bowing slightly.
"Mr. Lancer, Lady Tenma has instructed me to take you to our Tengu clan's library. There are records of the 'Youkai Sage' there—please."
Clearly, he had heard Tenma's words too, though in a different way. Lancer nodded with a serious expression.
He had thought "Great Youkai" were the strongest in this world, but it seemed the depth of this world was greater than he imagined.
Lancer had been in the Tengu library for an entire day, yet he still hadn't finished reading all the records concerning the "Youkai Sage."
In truth, her presence was much higher than Lancer had imagined. Many "spiriting away" incidents of youkai and powerful humans had her shadow behind them. The Tengu were even quite angry about it, as they were the ones most famous for spiriting away humans; they had taken the blame for her many times. But because of her relationship with Tenma, the Tengu had to swallow it.
Tenma herself hadn't made a statement, but her subordinates were quite annoyed, as no one likes taking the blame.
Furthermore, there were "guesses" about the Youkai Sage's abilities and race.
Yes, only guesses. Even the Tengu couldn't confirm her specifics. The records were continuous, from Emperor Jimmu's expulsion of youkai to establish the human nation, to her recent sudden appearance warning various youkai clans that humanity was rising and would squeeze their living space. There were no gaps.
Based on the descriptions, she seemed to have the ability to traverse space. Unlike normal teleportation, which is like opening two holes in the world, she entered a place different from the normal world, traversed that strange space, and reached her destination. Lancer felt she was like a higher-dimensional being.
Lancer didn't understand this well, as he hadn't studied it. Simply put, on a piece of paper (2D), the shortest distance between two points is a line. But we (3D) can fold the paper to make the points overlap. For a higher-dimensional being, they could shorten that distance even further...
This was just Lancer guess. No one could be sure what kind of being the "Youkai Sage" was. The records stated that no other being in Japan had the same or even a similar ability. Neither youkai nor gods had it. A god once tried to capture her, but she still escaped.
Lancer sighed as he reached the end.
"Truly impressive..."
At least based on the description, Lancer didn't have the confidence to escape like she did.
But just then—
"Thank you for the compliment~"
Accompanied by silvery laughter, a voice suddenly rang behind Lancer. A strange fragrance wafted into his nose.
Without hesitation, his left hand propped against the floor, and he flipped through the air, landing on his feet with his back slightly arched—like a wild animal facing danger.
Magnificent golden hair and purple robes couldn't hide a powerful figure made more imposing as she leaned forward.
But Lancer wasn't focused on that; in the "gap" she was leaning from, strange red eyes were radiating an eerie aura.
Noticing they were being watched, all the eyes turned toward Lancer.
"Who are you?"
Lancer was certain he was alone in the library. When did she arrive? Who was she? What was the purpose of her sudden appearance?
Lancer knew nothing, except that the woman before him was dangerous—enough to give him a chill.
Faced with Lancer hostility, she didn't care. She pulled her right hand from under her chest where she had been leaning on the gap.
Snap!
As her folding fan opened, her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Aren't you looking for news about me? What's wrong? I appear before you and you don't recognize me?"
"The Youkai Sage?! Impossible! According to the records, you're at least over 1,000 years old..."
Snap!
Before Lancer could finish, he felt the air behind him tear. He instinctively stepped aside and saw a fan lodged there.
She hadn't expected him to dodge. She knew how eerie her attacks were; they appeared behind the target without any warning. Experience meant nothing against such an attack; only intuition could work.
"Truly an interesting fellow. But a reminder: mentioning a girl's age in front of her can be very irritating~"
A girl? Over 1,000 years old and she's a girl? That was the minimum guess; she might be much older. This woman's skin was thick!
Though he was complaining internally, Lancer wasn't truly stubborn. He didn't want to cause trouble over something so petty.
" 'Youkai Sage,' do you have a purpose in seeking me out?"
"Hehe~ Don't you have something for me? 'Tenma' told me so~"
Watching the Sage hide her smile behind her fan, Lancer mouth twitched. Should he praise the Tengu for being efficient and responsible?