A Battle of Wits with Thin Air

Of course that was impossible.

Though Lin Yuhsia did not quite understand, she still took the antique firearm and locked it back in the glass case. The shrine maiden carried a faint scent of cherry blossoms, and some of it seemed to have rubbed off onto the smooth wooden surface. Lin Yuhsia sniffed and found that she did not particularly like the smell.

After Hoshino left, they would still need to find an appraiser. What if her Originium Arts were rare enough to let her plant bombs without anyone noticing?

They continued talking for a while, but both were somewhat distracted. Only when the sun was about to rise, and the time belonging to the emperor of the night was about to pass, did Lin Yuhsia write down the address with a brush, fold the paper in half, and hand it to Hoshino.

"The Shimada Family's address... They're rich and flashy, so they're easy enough to find."

Hoshino nodded.

After the shrine maiden left with Rope, the old man emerged from the partitioned room. He stared in the direction the shrine maiden had gone for a few moments, then turned back to inspect the antique gun in the glass case and made sure it had not been tampered with.

"Did you learn anything from talking to a clever person today?"

"I'm exhausted."

The old man was about to lecture her again. Lin Yuhsia felt like she could not take it anymore and rose to leave, only to be pressed back down at the table.

The Rat King asked first, "She rambled on for ten minutes, giving you ten minutes to think. But when the time was up, you did not give her a clear answer. Did you have some concerns?"

"Words alone are no proof. I didn't know whether she was really alone or whether she had another faction outside."

"That is your problem. Once you enter the game, you cannot stand by and watch. Whether you bet or refuse to bet, you must make your decision before the outcome is known. If everything required a definite result first, why would anyone gamble?"

The Rat King analyzed the information for her step by step. "She gave you ten minutes, and you did not give her an answer. You lost this negotiation."

He felt that the shrine maiden was no simple person. Her thoughts ran deep.

That line—[Is there anything under heaven that lasts forever and never perishes?]—had clearly not been meant for young Lin Yuhsia. Considering that the aged Rat King had already shown himself and was listening nearby, it was perfectly clear whom she had been speaking to.

She had done it all on purpose.

Hoshino had long anticipated that Lin Yuhsia would be unable to handle things alone, so she had tossed the gambling table to the Rat King.

It had not taken ten minutes. The moment he heard that Hoshino, standing outside, could silently toss a ball into the room, a round of gamesmanship unfolded and ended in the old man's mind. It took him only seconds to reach a conclusion and place his bet.

The Rat King liked dealing with clever people.

Clever people could negotiate. They could be tempted, swayed by emotion, and convinced with reason. Fools could not.

Just now, he had placed Hoshino in the category of clever people.

"There is no irreconcilable conflict between the shrine maiden and the Lungmen Guard Department. It is nothing more than fooling around. Mediate a little, and this can be settled."

"But if—"

"Give them terms they cannot refuse."

Lin Yuhsia was speechless. So the prerequisite for inheriting this mess was becoming a cryptic old hand who spoke with a Godfather-like air? She would rather count money for people at a bank than stay here.

The task had already been assigned. The Shimada Family was no pushover.

Hopefully, nobody got hurt.

"Don't worry. Isn't it just a place to belong?"

As Hoshino walked, she made a solemn guarantee. "Once I finish this job, I'll have a shrine of my own."

This was when the downside of being a transmigrator became apparent. Hoshino displayed an incredibly powerful tendency to get lost. Without Rope leading the way, she would have been completely lost amid Lungmen's bustling traffic long ago, let alone found the Shimada Family.

They arrived at their destination.

Before them stood a tall estate with towering walls. There was no plaque beneath the eaves, only a small sign bearing the name Shimada.

The sign was tiny.

So tiny that it did not match the enormous walls at all. Hoshino had not even spotted it at first glance.

The walls were high enough that one normally should not have been able to see inside, but there was also a mountain within them. It looked to be around two hundred meters tall. It was impossible to tell whether it was an artificial rockery or whether they had simply built walls around a real mountain.

As expected of businesspeople. They really were filthy rich.

Hoshino stepped forward and knocked the door knocker, producing a dull metallic clang. Yet the expected door opening did not come for quite some time.

Just as they began to hesitate, a whirring sound came from above. Looking up, they saw a small drone hovering overhead. It appeared to be top-of-the-line civilian equipment, capable of both broadcasting messages and recording video.

"Hey, hey, hey, why is this person so unwelcoming?"

Hoshino had been planning to find the shrine, then transform into Kallen when she was alone and have some fun. How had things turned into this...

A cough came from the drone's speaker.

"Vermin, are you still coveting our Shimada Family's Jiaoqie? Give it up. The swordsmanship of Shimada men has always been flawless, supreme, and invincible."

Hoshino fell silent, feeling that even this introduction carried the aura of someone destined to get beaten up.

They're doomed sooner or later.

Without wasting words, she waved the paper in her hand at the drone. Lin Yuhsia's elegant brushwork stood out clearly—the address she had written for Hoshino. As the one who had initiated the task, the other side should be thoroughly familiar with that handwriting.

Sure enough, a cry of surprise rang out from above.

"Savior, you're finally here!"

The drone retreated beyond the walls. Before long, the vermilion cast-iron gates slowly opened, and a muscular, burly man emerged with a grin.

Something was off.

With a physique that strong, he should have been formidable no matter what.

The other man, however, did not doubt this beautiful young girl he had almost never met. She was a friend recommended by that place, and he trusted her.

The man's name was Shimada Zenzō.

His name sounded twice as strong as Shimada Hanzō's, but he was probably a comic relief character, as expected. Calmly, he led Hoshino inside and up the steps along the rockery, arriving at a place atop the mountain that resembled a castle tower.

"What comes next must remain confidential. But you were introduced by them to solve our problem, so I trust you."

"..."

Hoshino found it strange. She had no idea what secrets she was supposed to keep.

She was led into the castle tower. Sunlight streamed through the high windows and fell upon a katana resting on a table. It remained sheathed, lying quietly there, black and red from end to end, like a demonic blade from the abyss.

It looked terrifyingly imposing.

Hoshino only wanted to observe it quietly from a distance, but Zenzō unexpectedly stepped forward and drew the blade. The anticipated ringing scrape of steel never came. Instead, there was only a sluggish, muffled sound. Looking closely, Hoshino spotted the problem.

That was not a sword at all.

It was not even metal—just a wooden strip painted silver.

"My father's father came to Lungmen to do business, making a name for himself as a successor of the Shimada school... But reputation is one thing, capital is another. More than thirty years ago, our Jiaoqie was secretly auctioned off."

"Go on."

Hoshino suddenly found this rather interesting.

"With our reputation and capital, the Shimada Family finally developed. But recently, some people have decided that Jiaoqie is connected to the legendary Dragon-Slaying Sword. Because of that ridiculous reason, I have to deal with countless challengers coming to my door every day..."

"I need an expert."

"The fact that this sword is made of wood cannot be exposed. The moment the sword is drawn from its sheath, the act of cutting someone down must already be complete."

Hoshino nodded.

This was a classic case of suffering for the sake of appearances—a typical Higashi style.

Still, it seemed pretty interesting.