Chapter 61: Indulgence

The Phantom Scale Snake Armor is a soft-armor defense crafted from the scales and bones of the great snake yokai, Misaki the Snake, which was slain in a certain region of Tohoku.

Upon returning to the inn, Hyakusuke tried it on in his room and found it feather-light, feeling as though he wore nothing at all. Moreover, the armor forged from snake yokai scales offered remarkable defensive capabilities.

"Even a Chunin's ninja blade cannot pierce it."

He had experimented, finding that neither chopping, slicing, nor thrusting with his assigned sabre could damage the soft armor.

The Chunin-grade blades issued by the Kurohimeshama clan were of decent quality, inscribed with runic characters painted in vermilion ink refined from cinnabar and mercury.

The ninja blades were also enchanted with the "Sharpness Art," which allowed them to cut through iron like mud, and the "Sturdiness Art," which maintained the steel's stability and prevented metal cracking and crystal structure defects—such a blade, in the hands of someone capable of using spiritual power, was undoubtedly a divine weapon.

"Truly a wonderful item. The Second Young Miss has shown extraordinary grace this time; this light armor should be a C-grade weapon..."

He muttered to himself inwardly.

*Though it cannot compare to the B+-grade treasured blade Futsunitama, nor can it rival the two treasured blades in Nagayake's possession, this is a C-grade light armor that even the exorcists of the main family might not necessarily be able to wear.*

Weapons forged from ordinary iron in this world possessed inherent flaws for exorcists who hunted demons. For instance, the most common issue was their difficulty in conducting spiritual power.

Ordinary iron and common metals not only struggled to conduct spiritual power but sometimes hindered its flow, diminishing the power of the spiritual energy.

This was because the essence of spiritual power was that it could only be transmitted through organic matter, with limited effect on inorganic substances.

The seven-section spear Hyakusuke had acquired utilized a centuries-old sacred god-tree core for its shaft, which naturally possessed a strong spiritual power transmission effect, and its tip was mixed with a trace of scarlet-scarlet metal, enabling it to wound demons.

In fact, the vast majority of exorcists did not use weapons of ordinary iron; without exception, their weapons were mixed with rare metals such as adamantite, mithril, orichalcum, cold iron, scarlet-scarlet metal, and celestial crystal jade.

Because such rare metals were produced in low quantities and possessed different material properties, forging complete weapons directly from them would be overly wasteful.

The most suitable approach was to combine them with ordinary iron, forging them into various alloy materials according to different recipe ratios.

The same applied to defensive gear like armor; metal could only reduce the efficiency of spiritual power transmission rather than completely isolating it, nor could it withstand physical attacks alone.

For an exorcist, wearing heavy armor made of ordinary iron would only weaken their spiritual power, slow their movements, and reduce their defensive capabilities due to the flaws of ordinary iron armor. It was far better not to wear armor at all, relying instead on spiritual power to reinforce the physical body or casting barriers for defense.

"Blades and similar weapons are slightly better; making armor that can provide protective effects for exorcists is even more difficult..."

He was quite satisfied with this armor, though he held quite a few complaints about the other piece of equipment gifted by the Second Young Miss, Katsuragi.

"Of all things, it has to be a collar. Walking outside feeling like people are staring at it is rather troublesome."

Hyakusuke tested whether he could secretly take it off.

However, he quickly discovered that some sort of spell had been cast on the thing, making removal utterly impossible.

*Unless you have a way to detach your head, the collar cannot be removed...*

Suddenly, the young lady's voice echoed in his mind.

"M-Miss Katsuragi?"

Hyakusuke was startled.

*This is a built-in function of the collar, allowing for a 'telepathic communication' connection.*

The young lady's lazy voice rang out in his consciousness.

*I designed multiple functions into the collar, and this is just one of them... Clearly a 'gift' from your master, yet you boldly attempted to take it off. How utterly ungrateful...*

Hyakusuke felt exceptionally awkward. However, upon second thought, a wave of puzzlement washed over him.

"But, Miss Katsuragi, how did you know I wanted to take off the collar?"

"..."

This time, it was Katsuragi who fell silent. She had not expected that a slip of the tongue would expose her flaw to Hyakusuke.

"You should be resting over at Lord Suou's place right now... That's quite a distance from here."

Hyakusuke asked suspiciously, "Could it be you dispatched a Shikigami to monitor me? Or is it this collar..."

"I merely sent an invisible Shikigami to check on you, is that so strange?"

Katsuragi forced a laugh.

"Never mind that, let's talk about the collar. Reach your hand behind your neck; there is a mechanism there, try adjusting it."

Hyakusuke followed her instructions, feeling around the back of his neck for the collar. The very next second, the collar vanished without a trace.

"An invisibility spell?"

He was astonished.

"Indeed, and the unsightly curse mark at the back of your neck can be concealed as well."

Katsuragi let out a soft, coy chuckle, and Hyakusuke could almost picture her covering her mouth with her sleeve.

"Furthermore, this high-level invisibility spell is solidified onto the cursed tool; you can also use this spell to cloak yourself... Though it doesn't achieve the absolute presence-erasing level of the Shadow Lattice Mechanism's 'Silent Shadow Kill,' ordinary practitioners will still take a while to perceive you."

Could it be that powerful?

Suddenly, Hyakusuke thought of the man named Renjo Senshuro and asked softly, "What on earth is the background of this president of the Renjo Trading Company? This light armor, and the collar... even the craftsmen of the Ingenuity Hall couldn't achieve this level, could they?"

*It is because those self-important fools look down upon Western alchemy and new technologies imported from overseas, clinging stubbornly to the old ways.*

While sneering at the craftsmen of her own clan, Katsuragi continued to explain the collar's functions via telepathy.

*You do not need to speak aloud; try conversing with me through telepathy. Convey your thoughts with your heart, and your inner voice will transform into telepathic words.*

"I understand."

Hyakusuke nodded.

"Telepathic communication" was an extremely high-level spiritual art. Ordinarily, with his dismal level of spellcasting proficiency, it would have been difficult to master.

*Um... can this sentence be heard?*

*Do not waste telepathy on meaningless nonsense; every word you speak consumes your own spiritual power.*

*Understood.*

*As for the Renjo Senshuro you mentioned, that fellow is an incorrigible old scoundrel. Although he is the chief manager of the Renjo Trading Company, he has no heirs, no wife, no daughter... He does have quite a few women, but those are likely just flings; a shrewd merchant like him never opens his heart to anyone.*

Having said that, she added another sentence.

*However, strangely enough, he comes here every year to sweep graves, paying homage to a woman who died many years ago.*

*Who?!*

Hyakusuke's tone was intensely agitated.

*Should be the former Grand Miko of the Great Cherry Blossom Head Shrine, I suppose?*

Katsuragi asked in confusion, *Why do you care so much about this old man Senshuro?*

Hyakusuke did not answer; he fell into deep contemplation.

In the original game, Renjo Senshuro also appeared, only to be assassinated during the prologue stage of the "Tenzin Sakura Mahora Great Purification Festival."

His assassination was covered up by interested parties and turned into a missing persons case.

Renjo Senshuro's true identity was no small matter. Aside from being a purveyor to the imperial household, he was also the eyes and ears of a certain imperial noble in the mortal realm.

His death was precisely what triggered a subsequent series of problems.

*Moreover, according to the game's setting, one of the conditions to break the seal of the Defiled Ghost is to steal a secret treasure passed down through generations in the Renjo family... Unless Renjo Senshuro is not killed, or the enemy fails to seize this item, fulfilling the condition to liberate the Underworld Defiled Ghost will be extremely difficult.*

Hyakusuke muttered softly in his heart.

*Then, the benefits of saving someone are quite substantial.*

After careful consideration, he decided to seize this opportunity to ask Katsuragi for help.

*Miss Katsuragi, regarding Renjo Senshuro, he is going to be assassinated in the near future.*

*What? How do you know this?*

*Miss Katsuragi, if our Kurohimeshama clan prevents Renjo Senshuro's assassination, we might be able to make the Renjo Trading Company owe us a massive favor.*

Hyakusuke said calmly.

*What nonsense are you spouting?*

Katsuragi's reaction was quite swift.

*No, even if that old bastard is killed, what does it have to do with the Kurohimeshama clan? A man like him, after so many years of mercantile life, has long since made countless enemies. Assassination is completely commonplace for him.*

Though she said that, she did not doubt Hyakusuke's judgment.

In the past, the exact same thing had happened; Hyakusuke would always make premature judgments with an extraordinary "insight," demonstrating a forward-looking perspective on situations, which events would later prove correct.

Since Hyakusuke stated that "Senshuro will be assassinated," there must be reasons behind it; she believed him from the bottom of her heart.

However, the thing Katsuragi hated most was expending effort for outsiders. Whether the head of the Renjo Trading Company lived or died was of no concern to her; she would never go out of her way to lend a helping hand to an outsider.

*Then I shall step forward instead.*

Hyakusuke smiled.

*Miss Katsuragi, you need only sit back and reap the rewards. Leave these dirty and laborious tasks to a lowly servant like me, and I will handle things impeccably. After saving Renjo Senshuro, I will claim it was due to my brilliant and mighty master's divine calculations. Conversely, if I cause trouble, you can push all the blame onto me; you won't need to fret over these matters at all.*

"You."

The smile vanished from Katsuragi's face, and she was forced to take a deep breath, suppressing all sorts of complex emotions welling up inside her.

She thought to herself, it's not like that...

Don't you understand? It's clearly such a trivial matter. All you have to do is say, "Please help me"—yes, as long as it is something beneficial to you personally, I wouldn't ask for reasons or meaning; I would simply step in and help you, because that is my duty.

Yet you insist on framing everything as a transactional exchange of interests, reducing it to the relationship between a loyal servant and his master. How am I supposed to make up my mind?

Katsuragi bit her lip hard.

In the end, she decided to compromise and yield to his request.

*I understand, servant. You had better work hard~~ Let me state this clearly, servant, if you cause a mess, I am washing my hands of it and letting it go.*

There was no helping it; she simply couldn't refuse him.

From the bottom of her heart, she doted on her beloved.