Owl?
When this name reached Shushikai's ears, he immediately trembled. He had heard this name before; it had been circulating throughout Choyo-machi for some time.
The mysterious yokai, Owl, who dared to confront the Leopard Cat Lord and even made him retreat!
Unknown race, unknown origin, unknown strength, unknown purpose... Everything about this powerful, enigmatic yokai was hidden beneath bandages and a black robe. This was Owl, and he had just run into him?
Facing the dark figure before him, Shushikai seemed to feel an invisible pressure. After a moment of hesitation, he spoke, enduring the pressure.
"I-I'm very sorry, Lord Owl. I failed to recognize you just now; that was my mistake. Regarding your fox, we will apologize specially at a later date. For now, please step aside; we still need to pursue the runaway dog yokai." Shushikai was extremely anxious at this moment; he couldn't let the bounty target, which they had finally caught, escape like this.
Hidden beneath the black robe, Miketsu listened to Shushikai's words and let out a cold snort, staring at him with her crimson single eye, slowly saying.
"No need for later, right now..."
Upon hearing Miketsu's words, Shushikai immediately panicked and quickly continued.
"N-Now? But Lord Owl, we need to pursue someone right now. That dog yokai is a rebel wanted by Oyakata-sama. If he escapes like this..."
"What does Oyakata's business have to do with me?"
Shushikai had originally intended to use the Yokai Lord to pressure the other party, but he didn't expect the other party to disregard it completely, directly blocking him with a single sentence. This left Shushikai momentarily stunned.
Seeing the bewildered Shushikai, Miketsu unhurriedly extended her hand, playfully teasing Konkiku on her shoulder, acting as if she deeply doted on a pet.
"Lord Owl, are you perhaps not afraid of Oyakata-sama's yokai general? He's currently near Heian-kyo..." After a long pause, Shushikai finally continued, still not giving up on finding something to pressure Miketsu. In his view, the Leopard Cat Lord might be far away, allowing her to speak grandly, but his yokai general was right here.
"You can call Torin right now..." Miketsu replied in a deep voice, directly naming Torin. Her implication was, 'It's not like I don't know him, and it's not like I haven't confronted him before.'
As Miketsu uttered these last words, Shushikai froze on the spot. He suddenly remembered that this being before him indeed had no fear of the leopard cat yokai general.
At this point, Shushikai was completely speechless. Moreover, judging by the time, the dog yokai had likely already fled far away, and the possibility of catching him now was minuscule.
"Fine, today our luck is bad. We suddenly encountered such a situation, not only offending you but also losing our target." Shushikai gritted his teeth, speaking harshly. Although he felt immense frustration, he had to endure it when facing Owl.
"Just tell us how we should apologize!" Shushikai finished speaking, and his heart pounded. If the rumors were true, the last yokai who offended Owl had an arm cut off. This time, his side hadn't directly clashed with Owl herself, but merely accidentally provoked her fox.
Damn it, it's all that cursed dog's fault! Why did it suddenly chase a fox?
Upon hearing Shushikai's words, Miketsu's first reaction was to ask, 'Why don't you treat us to a meal?' But then she suddenly remembered Owl's persona and stopped herself, instead turning her head to look at Konkiku perched on her shoulder, and said softly.
"You decide..."
Hearing Miketsu's words, Konkiku happily bounced once, then immediately composed herself and sat properly on Miketsu's shoulder. After two dry coughs, she looked at Shushikai with a disdainful gaze.
"Although your dog offended me, I am not unreasonable. You can rest assured, I will absolutely not make any difficult demands, and no harm will come to your bodies~"
Upon hearing Konkiku say this, Shushikai secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Indeed, as long as they didn't directly offend Owl herself, the consequences wouldn't be too severe. Just as he was thinking this, Konkiku on the other side continued.
"Well, I'm not a selfish person, so my demands won't just think of myself.
"Look, it's not just me who's been affected by your actions today. There's also this shop next door. So many yokai gathered at their storefront, how much business does that affect? And then there are all of you watching. You created this scene, everyone thought there'd be a fight and rushed over to watch the spectacle, but it turned out to be all bark and no bite. How much of everyone's time was wasted?"
Konkiku said, sweeping her gaze over the yokai crowd still watching around them.
"So, I want you to treat everyone present today to a feast at this Cat Izakaya, and the bill will be entirely paid by your Gakusatsu Group. How about that~"
As soon as Konkiku finished speaking, the entire place fell silent. Everyone's eyes immediately focused on Shushikai.
Shushikai, now the center of attention, had a very poor complexion. His ugly face was now as dark as it could be. He wanted to say something but couldn't for a long time, finally squeezing out a single sound from between his lips.
"Fine..."
The moment Shushikai uttered the word 'fine', the entire place erupted in cheers. The spectating yokai, who had been watching the show, never expected that watching a play would suddenly lead to a free meal.
A One-Eyed Umbrella Yokai happily stretched its entire body open, standing only on one leg. A Headless Yokai tossed its head up and down in celebration. A Sleeve-Tugging Monklet swung between the sleeves of two passing yokai. For a moment, the scene was a chaotic dance of demons, exceptionally lively.
Seeing this scene, Konkiku pressed on, continuing to shout loudly.
"All of this is thanks to Lord Owl~ So please, everyone, thank Lord Owl together~"
Following Konkiku's call, the celebrating yokai immediately began cheering Owl's name.
"Thank you, Lord Owl!"
"Our gratitude to Lord Owl!"
"Long live Lord Owl!"
...
Under Konkiku's leadership, the sounds of gratitude for Owl rose and fell, which made Miketsu pause in surprise. She clearly hadn't expected this little fox to come up with such a method of apology, nor had she expected her to seize this opportunity to boost Owl's reputation among yokai.
But this was good too; it could improve Owl's image, at least making her not purely cold and fierce, which also aligned with her own expectations.
And more importantly, Miketsu realized that after Konkiku's maneuver, she wouldn't have to pay for her meal today, which was absolutely delightful.
In any case, eating and drinking for free was great. Thinking of this, Miketsu was incredibly happy.
Rate on N.U.
