<h4>Chapter 142: Viin Simtor, Ch 141</h4>


    "Why do you keep yourself so busy?" Yae Miko pressed her cheek against Lucas'' back, her tone tinged with intive concern. "The yokai issue is resolved. Yet you continue to bury yourself in administrative affairs. Is it really necessary?"


    To the yokai, "Kamuna Harunosuke" was a ruthless viin, but to the people of Inazuma, he was a tireless statesman of unparalleled virtue.


    Historically, such greatness often invoked suspicions of disloyalty, yet Lucas'' rtionship with Raiden Shogun remained as harmonious as fish to water. Without an heir, his betrayal seemed imusible.


    "I want the world Kitsune Saiguu wakes up to be one she would love," Lucas exined quietly. "If I left Inazuma in chaos, she''d be furious with me."


    "That does sound like something you would do," Yae Miko replied, her voiceced with wistfulness. "Promise me, once Saiguu-sama is revived, we''ll leave all this behind and live the rest of our lives in peace, won''t we?"


    Lucas opened his mouth to reply, but a sudden, loud wailing interrupted him from a nearby room.


    "What''s that sound?" Lucas''s expression shifted in rm. "It sounds like... a baby crying."


    "Oh, I almost forgot!" Yae Miko let out a yful giggle. "I brought you a ''little gift'' this time."


    She disappeared into the adjacent room, only to return momentster holding a pink-haired infant with fox ears and a tail. The child''s soft fur matched Yae Miko''s own, and she gurgled innocently in Miko''s arms.


    "This is..." Lucas teased, "your child?"


    "Of course. She''s ours," Yae Miko quipped, giving him a mock re. "You''d better take responsibility for us, you scoundrel."


    It was clearly a joke. While Lucas and Yae Miko had shared many intimate moments, they had always taken precautions. Besides, he''d never seen her showing signs of pregnancy during their frequent encounters.


    "All right, enough kidding around," Lucas said with a resigned smile. "Where did this little fox actuallye from?"


    "I found herst month at the gates of Narukami Shrine," Yae Miko exined, her tone softening. "She''s likely the child of a human and a kitsune. That''s probably why she was abandoned. I couldn''t just leave her there."


    Romances between humans and yokai weren''t unusual in Inazuma''s history, but the offspring of such unions were often seen as ill omens. This baby''s mother, while cruel enough to abandon her, had at least shown a shred of humanity by leaving her at the shrine.


    Narukami Shrine was home to many orphans taken in by Miko or Kitsune Saiguu herself in the past, suggesting an ongoing "hobby" of rescuing abandoned children.


    "Then raise her at the shrine," Lucas said, puzzled. "Why bring her to me?"


    "This little one is brimming with spiritual energy," Yae Miko replied with a sly grin. "With proper training, she could be a powerful shikigami—a great asset."


    Of course, Yae Miko had her own personal reasons. For yokai, bearing children was a taxing ordeal, one she couldn''t afford as Narukami Shrine''s high priestess. Still, she longed to experience the joys of motherhood alongside Lucas, so she brought the child to him.


    Looking at the infant''s innocent face, Lucas couldn''t help but smile. He gently poked her cheek with a finger. The little fox cooed happily, grabbing his finger and gnawing on it with her toothless gums.


    "All right, all right," Yae Miko said, her tail wagging like a yful pup. "Isn''t she adorable? Come on, let''s raise her together!"


    "You''re impossible," Lucas muttered with a wry chuckle. "Fine, I''ll take care of her. What''s her name?"


    "She was left in front of the Tamamo Stone at the shrine," Yae Miko said thoughtfully. "Let''s call her Tamamo-no-Mae."


    Wait—Tamamo-no-Mae?


    Surely, it was just a coincidence. Inazuma''s naming conventions often drew from ces or objects nearby, resulting in names like Tanaka ("field center"), Ishigami ("stone above"), or Kinoshita ("below the tree").


    Just then, Tamamo-no-Mae spat out Lucas''s finger and started crying loudly again.


    "Looks like little Tamamo is hungry," Yae Miko said with a sigh. "She really does have quite an appetite. I''ll go feed her."


    "Feed her?" Lucas blinked. "I don''t see how you could—if you could, I''d have found out long ago."


    Yae Miko''s face turned crimson. She lightly smacked his chest with a small fist, feigning indignation. "What nonsense are you talking about? Of course, I mean fresh milk!"


    With that, she got up and disappeared into the side room. Shortly afterward, Tamamo-no-Mae''s cries began to quiet.


    Yae Miko peeked out from the doorframe, her cheeks still flushed. "You know," she said coyly, "if you really want to taste it... there''s a way. But only if you help me..."


    "Help you with what?" Lucas asked, feigning ignorance.


    "...Coax... the fox milk..." Yae Miko murmured bashfully.


    After partaking in a rare "delicacy," the Night of Yokai drew to a close.


    To Yae Miko''s surprise, the winner turned out to be the petite oni girl Lucas had bet on.


    Most oni, regardless of gender, wererger and more muscr than humans. This girl, however, was small and wiry, though the enormous gourd she carried suggested great strength.


    By tradition, the Night of Yokai champion was granted an audience with Kamuna Harunosuke. Ostensibly, this was to verify the winner''s strength, but it also served as a calcted gesture of authority.


    Winners were exempt from execution and the sacrifice list for ten years, giving them time to grow even stronger.


    "What''s your name?" Lucas asked.


    "I love drinking," the oni girl said, staring intently at him. "Everyone calls me Little Drunkard. This gourd? It''s filled with sake."


    Even Lucas, who rarely smiled, found himself amused. But the moment he let his guard down, the girl drew a dagger from her gourd and lunged at him.


    "Assassin!" a guard shouted, but the girl was far quicker. Before Lucas could react, her de plunged into his chest.


    Yet Lucas remained calm. "Why do this? You could have lived."


    "My parents died in the Battle of Crimson Fox ins," she said, a triumphant smile spreading across her face. "I trained hard just for this chance—to stand before you."


    Lucas pulled the de from his chest without flinching. The wound closed almost instantly, his enhanced body far removed from ordinary humanity.


    The girl froze in shock, but before she could react, a katana swung toward her neck.


    "Great Tengu, don''t kill her," Lucas ordered.


    The de stopped inches from her throat. Turning, the girl saw her would-be executioner—a slender woman in a tengu mask, her ck wings unmistakable.


    "Why?" the oni girl snarled. "Why would a yokai serve the enemy of our kind?"


    The Great Tengu said nothing, her de still pressed to the girl''s neck.


    "Take her to the interrogation chamber," Lucasmanded coldly. "I''ll question her myself."


    <strong>Onmyou Bureau, Interrogation Chamber</strong>


    The so-called interrogation chamber was more akin to a torture chamber, filled with bizarre instruments designed specifically for different types of yokai.


    The oni girl who had just attempted to assassinate Lucasy stretched out on a stone b in arge "X" position. No ropes bound her; a single "Immobilization Talisman" rendered her utterly helpless.


    "What... what are you nning to do to me?" she demanded, her voice trembling with a mix of defiance and fear. "Why don''t you just kill me?"


    "You''re very talented. It would be a waste to kill you," Lucas replied, standing at her side with a faint smile. "I want... your body."


    "You... you perverted old man!" she snarled. "If you try anything, I''ll—I''ll crush you to death!"


    Though her words sounded absurd, they weren''t entirely idle threats. Oni were not only incredibly strong but had precise control over their muscles. During the human-yokai war, some soldiers had met grisly fates attempting to vite captured female oni, only to be crushed to death for their transgressions.


    "Hold on, ''perverted old man'' is going too far, don''t you think?" Lucas sighed, shaking his head. "How old are you, anyway?"


    "Eighty," the oni girl replied with a scowl. "I''m still a child."


    Good grief, she''s older than I am by a whole cycle of the zodiac.


    "Even children must face consequences for their actions, especially unruly ones like you," Lucas said, rubbing his palms together. "Don''t worry; I have plenty of ways to make you my shikigami."


    "Using your Onmyoudo? Ha! I''ll never submit to that kind of magic!" she spat defiantly.


    "Onmyoudo? How boring." Lucas''s eyes scanned the room before lifting a mace bristling with iron spikes. The sharp, glinting nails were polished to a menacing sheen. "Didn''t you say you could crush things? How about this one?"


    For the first time, a flicker of fear crossed her face, though she quickly masked it. "I''m not afraid of you!" she shouted.


    "Then what about this?" Lucas asked, raising a colossal ymore, modeled after the legendary "Redhorn Stone-thresher."


    "It won''t fit!" she blurted, her wide eyes darting to the absurdlyrge weapon. "There''s no way it''ll fit!"


    "Fair enough," Lucas conceded, cing the ymore aside and lifting a glowing iron rod heated to a fiery red. "Then let''s try this."


    "No... no, please!" Tears welled in her eyes as panic set in.


    "Don''t worry about choosing one. I''ll use them all," Lucas said matter-of-factly.


    The oni girl''s face turned ashen. For the first time, she was utterly speechless, tears streaming down her cheeks.


    Lucas continued, his tone eerily calm. "And it''s not just these. There''s the steel needles, the ice spikes, the poison eels, the cursed beetles... Oni are known for their exceptional healing, and with my restorative magic, I''ll make sure you experience everything."


    How she''d experience it was a matter left to grim spection.


    From a young age, she had heard rumors of Kamuna Harunosuke, the Onmyou Bureau''s master—how he was ten, no, a hundred times more brutal than the most wicked yokai. Back then, she had dismissed it as exaggerated storytelling. Even when she first saw him, his gentle demeanor seemed at odds with those tales.


    Now, she knew the truth: this man was a devil.


    "I''ll give you one minute to reconsider," Lucas said, brandishing the glowing iron rod before her eyes. "Take your time."


    The oni girl''s resolve crumbled, her trembling lips unable to form words as massive tears rolled down her cheeks.


    "Crying won''t pause the countdown," Lucas said, raising the red-hot rod and pressing it dangerously close to her.


    "I... I''ll do it!" she finally sobbed, surrenderingpletely. "A ve, a shikigami, whatever! Just... just put that thing away!"


    "That''s better," Lucas said, though he still plunged the glowing rod toward her stomach.


    "AAAAAHHHH!" she screamed, tears and snot flowing freely.


    But momentster, she realized there was no pain. The rod hadn''t burned through her flesh. Instead, it was cool to the touch—just an ordinary iron rod, its fiery glow nothing more than an illusion.


    "It was only a mirage," Lucas said, smirking. "Although, I did enjoy your fiery attitude earlier."


    "You...!" she seethed, torn between fury and humiliation. "Why would you turn an assassin into your shikigami?"


    "If you truly want to kill me, then grow stronger," Lucas said as he tossed the rod aside. "And by the way, ''Little Drunkard'' is a terrible name. Since you love drinking, from now on, you''ll be called ''Shuten-Douji.''"


    "I''ll kill you someday!" Shuten-Douji barked. "I''ll turn you into a drinking snack and devour you piece by piece!"


    Lucas turned to leave without looking back. "I''ll be waiting."


    "Wait—hold on!" she shouted desperately. "At least take off this immobilization talisman!"


    <strong>[Exiting Immersive Mode]</strong>


    <strong>[Entering Text Mode]</strong>


    [Age 68: Teruyo, now reborn as the loyal "Great Tengu," and the rebellious oni girl "Shuten-Douji" became your two primary shikigami under focused cultivation.]


    [Teruyo, having epted the memories you imnted, became your fiercely devoted protector.]


    [Shuten-Douji, though still harboring thoughts of assassinating you, showed remarkable growth under your tutge.]


    ---