Chapter 12: Old Wo— Sister Yuuka!
Haruto recounted the entire tale of his venture into the instance. Under Yakumo Ran's occasional words of praise and comfort, he gradually began to feel a little lightheaded with pride, puffing out his chest as he detailed his exploits.
"Haruto-sama," Yakumo Ran began, her tone laced with a gentle worry, "this Death Game… must you participate in it again?"
Although she felt the ghosts Haruto had encountered weren't particularly dangerous, the thought of what he might face in the future sent a chill through her. What if he met an existence whose strength far surpassed his own? The power of a Boundary Youkai was immense, but Haruto had only been exploring it for two short years.
Haruto, however, simply nodded. "It's beneficial for both me and Gensokyo."
Seeing the unwavering resolve in her young master's eyes, Yakumo Ran knew better than to try and dissuade him. Still, a hint of hurt crept into her voice as she asked softly, "Then… for a matter of such importance, why did you not tell Ran in advance?"
At this, Haruto's heroic demeanor vanished. He immediately snatched one of her nine fluffy tails, burying his face in the fur and feigning a great, sobbing wipe of non-existent tears. With his other hand, he pointed an accusatory finger toward Yakumo Yukari's room.
"It was all that old hag's fault!" he wailed. "She wouldn't let me tell you! Said something about letting me gain experience on my own!"
Yakumo Ran took a slow, deep breath. After a moment of soothing Haruto's feigned distress, she turned, her expression hardening with resolve, and walked toward Yakumo Yukari's room. A loud 'bang' echoed through the house as the door was thrust open, followed by a sudden burst of commotion.
"Lord Yukari!"
"Ran?! What are you doing! Are you trying to rebel against your master?! Ouch, don't pull the quilt! Give the pillow back to me!"
"…"
Listening to the chaos unfolding from afar, Haruto found himself in an exceptionally good mood. He slipped into the kitchen to personally prepare Yakumo Ran's favorite deep-fried tofu, even adding an extra portion as a reward for her loyalty.
Half an hour later, the three of them were seated at the Yakumo family dining table.
Yakumo Yukari shot resentful glares at Haruto, who was pointedly ignoring her and lavishing all his attention on serving food to Yakumo Ran. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She slammed the table with a crack and shot to her feet.
"You're clearly the one who told me not to tell Ran!" she seethed. "Have you no shame?!"
Haruto didn't react in the slightest, continuing to place a piece of perfectly golden, crispy fried tofu into Yakumo Ran's bowl as if nothing were amiss.
"Ran!" Yakumo Yukari pleaded, turning her aggrieved gaze toward her own shikigami for support.
But Yakumo Ran acted as if she hadn't heard a thing, her face a picture of pure bliss as she enjoyed the food Haruto served her.
A moment later, Yakumo Yukari slammed her chopsticks down on the table with a sharp pa! She tore open a Gap in the space beside her and stepped inside without a second glance.
Just before the void sealed shut, her grief-stricken cry drifted out—
"Yuyuko, they're all bullying me!"
Yakumo Ran paid it no mind, continuing to eat as if this were a common occurrence. And since Haruto was naturally thick-skinned, he felt no awkwardness at all. Instead, he reached into the bag at his waist and pulled out the items he had obtained from the instance.
A shark-styled toy knife, a doll missing a leg and an arm with a hole in its head, and a strange, flesh-colored fruit. The Death Game hadn't explained their specific uses, only giving the rewards in a cursory list.
"Ran, do you have any idea what these are used for?"
Originally, Haruto had planned to ask that girl Yukari, but he hadn't expected her to just run away. It made no difference, though; having Yakumo Ran here was just as good.
"These are the rewards you obtained from the Death Game?" she asked, looking them over with curiosity.
Haruto nodded. "Can you see their effects?"
Yakumo Ran picked up the toy knife. She gripped the handle in a reverse hold, the tip pointing down, and with a sudden, fluid motion, stabbed it toward the back of Haruto's hand. Out of complete trust in her, Haruto didn't flinch.
The tip of the knife sank into the back of his hand, but not a single drop of blood flowed out.
"A spring-loaded toy knife?" Haruto frowned.
"Yes, but not entirely," Yakumo Ran explained, retracting the blade. "It can only cause actual damage if the owner truly intends to harm someone. It also carries a curse."
"So it's just an ordinary toy knife otherwise? What kind of curse?" Haruto was a little dissatisfied with the knife's apparent weakness. It was one of the three items from an SS+ reward, after all. He could only pray the curse was somewhat powerful.
"Deprivation of Sight."
Hearing this, Haruto immediately thought of Wanwan's plastic eyeballs. The ability was barely passable. "How long does the effect last?"
"I am not sure. There isn't a great deal of curse imbued in it, so the duration should not be too long."
Yakumo Ran set the toy knife down and picked up the damaged doll, observing it for a while before speaking again.
"Do you know of Cursed Dolls? By using a sharp object to pierce the doll, you can trigger certain effects. These dolls can be benevolent or malevolent, but Ran cannot see the specifics of this one. As for that flesh-colored fruit…"
She hesitated for a moment. "Ran cannot tell what it is, either. However, based on your previous description of its origin, it must be related to longevity." Her expression grew serious. "Ran does not recommend you eat this fruit. As a noble Boundary Youkai, your future achievements are limitless; you cannot possibly be trapped by something as trivial as lifespan."
Most non-human species, even if they lived longer than ordinary humans, still had a finite existence. But that was only for ordinary non-humans. As long as one was powerful enough, even a human could live for thousands of years or even achieve a state of indefinite survival. Just like Yakumo Ran herself, the concept of lifespan had long since become meaningless; unless she was killed by an external force, it was impossible for her to die of old age.
"If you truly feel you must consume this fruit," she concluded, her gaze firm, "please wait until you fully understand its properties."
"Understood."
Facing Yakumo Ran's earnest expression, Haruto nodded in agreement. He hurriedly shoveled down a few more mouthfuls of rice and then left the house in a rush.
He walked and walked, all the way to a vast field of flowers.
Looking out, he saw a boundless, golden sea of sunflowers stretching to the horizon. When the wind blew, it rippled across the field, creating the illusion that the entire landscape was burning.
This was the Garden of the Sun, Kazami Yuuka's territory.
As if a switch had been flipped, a flood of unpleasant memories surfaced, and Haruto couldn't help but shiver. He shook his head, lamenting in a low voice.
"Back then, I was so young and ignorant. I thought Sister Yukari was the most powerful being in the world… and as a result, I almost ended up planted in this flower field as fertilizer. Fortunately, I was brilliant, and this little flower youkai has a soft spot for good looks. Otherwise, the future super Great Youkai would have met his end right here."
"—Wait!"
Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, Haruto's senses screamed. His expression sharpened, and he abruptly dodged to the side. A parasol grazed his shoulder, but in the next second, the tip of the umbrella was instantly hovering above his head again, moving so fast he had no time to react.
Thwack—
He clutched his forehead in pain and spun around angrily. "Old woman! You're not being honorab—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
Haruto's gaze shifted down, landing on the red checkered skirt directly in front of him. He instantly fell silent. Slowly, fearfully, he raised his head, his eyes meeting a pair of piercing crimson ones. He could only manage to squeeze out a sliver of a smile.
"Yu-Yuuka… Sister Yuuka, good afternoon."
Kazami Yuuka narrowed her eyes, her voice as cold and clean as winter air. "Now you know to call me Sister Yuuka? Weren't you just calling me 'little flower youkai' and 'old hag' quite smoothly a moment ago?"
The air instantly froze.
Haruto swallowed hard. He hadn't expected her to hear everything. The Yakumo residence was over a hundred thousand miles from the edge of the Garden of the Sun. Did she have clairvoyance and super-hearing?
Those crimson eyes narrowed even further, her scrutinizing gaze carrying a chilling coldness that seemed to pierce right through him.
"Sister Yuuka! Waaaah—!"
In a sudden, desperate move, Haruto lunged forward and grabbed her thigh, tears and snot streaming down his face. "I've been wronged! You know me, I was clearly talking about that old hag Yukari! How could I possibly be talking about you?!"
Kazami Yuuka's body stiffened, and she almost lost her grip on the parasol in her hand.
Haruto was still wiping away his crocodile tears, his voice thick with complaint.
"As for 'little flower youkai,' that was a compliment! I was praising how cute you are! 'Little' represents youth! I was praising you, Sister Yuuka, for being young and beautiful, countless times better looking than that old hag Yukari! How could you wrong an innocent person like this?!"
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