Changes in the System

"Let's hear it."

Yuya furrowed his brows.

"Don't worry, Mr. Incubus. I won't take up too much of your time."

Abe Kiyuki giggled.

"First, I want you to help me find the people from the branch family in the main world. Surely I can't really be the only Onmyōji left in this world... That would be far too lonely..."

"Second, I remember Granny saying that a very important treasure belonging to our Onmyōji Family was lost somewhere. I think it was called the Yin-Yang Pearl. I want you to help me find it."

"Third, I want money. Lots of money."

Abe Kiyuki bobbed her little head as she listed her requests.

Yuya gave her an indifferent glance.

"Your third request cancels out the money for this meal."

"If you need any more money, you can write an IOU at any branch of the Tianyu Xingye Second Pavilion. They'll lend it to you."

"Tch. What a stingy Mr. Incubus."

Kiyuki pouted, looking rather displeased.

He's so rich, yet he won't even give me that tiny little bit.

"My time is limited. You have three days."

"Whether we succeed or fail, we'll head to the Wind-Snow Realm afterward."

Yuya continued as though he hadn't heard her complaint.

It wasn't that he was stingy. Money was useless to him,

but the girl before him was short of it,

and without money, she would struggle to get anywhere in this world,

which would leave her dependent on him to some extent.

It was a lasting restraint, a bargaining chip.

Besides, if the girl before him hadn't been so crucial,

whether for entering the Wind-Snow Realm, opening the ruins, or using the spells after obtaining the notebook,

he might not have been able to get around needing her,

and her powerful mental strength made force a poor option.

He wouldn't have waited even three days. He might simply have abducted her.

"I know, I know. You're so amazing, Mr. Incubus. Surely finding these things won't take you three whole days."

Abe Kiyuki spoke.

Yuya dismissed everyone else and gave her an impassive glance.

"Who told you I was an incubus?"

"Huh... If you're not an incubus, why are you so handsome?"

Abe Kiyuki's eyes widened, her long lashes fluttering in disbelief.

"And ever since you appeared, my heart hasn't stopped pounding. Granny told me that's the clearest sign of an incubus turning into a handsome young man to lure innocent girls."

Yuya gave a cold chuckle without answering.

He began using Heavenly Secrets Calculation to determine the exact location of the branch family the girl had mentioned.

"Mr. Incubus... You're so handsome... Why are you always so cold?"

Seeing that Yuya was ignoring her, Abe Kiyuki sidled over with easy familiarity and stared at him with her big eyes.

"Mr. Incubus, are you telling fortunes?"

"Mr. Incubus... How do you know our Onmyōji Family's Astrology too...? Did you use Astrology to find out about the notebook before?"

Abe Kiyuki looked at Yuya curiously.

He sat cross-legged, a strange aura seeping from his body,

and although it seemed faintly to blend with heaven and earth, he hadn't taken out any divination tools. She couldn't help speaking up.

"It's no use, Mr. Incubus... Astrology can only divine good or bad fortune. It can't find an exact location."

"And you're divining without looking at the stars or using a compass?"

Abe Kiyuki kept exclaiming and chattering, her mouth never stopping.

Yuya frowned, growing impatient,

and in the next instant, a chilling aura surged forth.

Abe Kiyuki felt her chest tighten,

and immediately shut her mouth obediently.

"So mean..."

Still, she muttered under her breath behind his back.

Silence settled over the room,

with only Yuya's increasingly mysterious aura continuing to spread.

For one fleeting instant, Abe Kiyuki even had the illusion that Yuya was no longer in this space.

She couldn't help rubbing her eyes.

There's actually a form of Astrology more powerful than ours?

Even the knowledge she had grown up with began to seem questionable to her now.

After quite some time, as Abe Kiyuki grew utterly bored waiting,

swinging her long legs and stroking her fox,

Yuya opened his eyes, a faint gleam flashing through them,

with a little more understanding in his gaze.

"Come with me."

Without another word, he walked over to Abe Kiyuki,

lifted her with one hand, and summoned a fierce gust of wind,

which swept Yuya and Abe Kiyuki up into the sky.

"Aaaah! I'm just a child!"

Abe Kiyuki felt the world spin around her. When she opened her eyes again, she was already high in the air.

"Ah! Little White!"

Abe Kiyuki cried out, remembering her fox.

Yuya frowned and beckoned,

and the fox's strange whimpers came from behind her as another gust swept it over.

"Roar!"

At the same time, a beast's roar began echoing between heaven and earth,

and an enormous Wood Dragon, exuding an ancient, timeworn aura,

began emerging from the clouds.

It caught Yuya and Abe Kiyuki in midair,

then sped forward with them on its back.

"How can there be... such a powerful Shikigami?"

Abe Kiyuki felt numb inside.

This man... He just took off without any warning...

And he has such a powerful Shikigami... It feels even stronger than the ones in the Wind-Snow Realm...

What's wrong with the incubi in this world...?

Abe Kiyuki felt utterly bewildered.

She was sprawled on the dragon's back, white clouds drifting past all around her,

and although its flight was perfectly steady,

and even the rushing wind had been blocked, she still clung tightly to its whiskers,

not daring to glance down.

This incubus... Isn't he scared, standing so high up?

The question flitted through Abe Kiyuki's mind.

She gazed at the figure standing on the dragon's head, his bearing ethereal,

his hands clasped behind his back.

He looked down,

as though watching flowers in the wind, snow beneath the moon, and clouds gathering and dispersing,

taking in mountains, vast waters, and endless stretches of land.

Yet there was an air of casual indifference about him.

His gaze remained distant and detached, holding some unspoken concern.

And apart from the complicated look he had given her when they first met,

he hadn't spared her another glance since...

For some reason, a tangle of emotions suddenly welled up inside Abe Kiyuki.

There was awe, confusion, and uncertainty... and also... hurt...

"This Mr. Incubus just likes acting all cold and aloof..."

Abe Kiyuki muttered.

She certainly wasn't going to admit that being kept at a distance and ignored had upset her.

At that moment, Yuya knew nothing of the girl's tangled emotions.

Instead, he stared at the three options that had appeared before him,

lost in thought.

[Faced with Abe Kiyuki's wishes, you cannot help feeling disdain. You now choose:]

[Option one: Storm into the Heavenly Sage Dynasty, seize the Deep Blue Crystal, and abduct the dynasty's Saintess. Reward: Flying Thunder God Technique]

[Option two: Participate in the Vassal State Ranking Tournament, distinguish yourself, and obtain the Deep Blue Crystal through legitimate means. Reward: Physique +1]

[Option three: Intercept the Deep Blue Crystal during transport under a mysterious identity, keeping your deeds and name hidden. Reward: Ninjutsu +1]

Is this how the options are triggered now? Can it sense my thoughts?

Yuya furrowed his brows.

He paid little attention to the rewards. What made him frown was the way the options had been triggered.

Previously, the options had always been triggered by something someone said, presenting him with a choice,

but this time, the system had directly detected his inner thoughts.

As soon as he entertained an idea that could lead to different courses of action, it triggered automatically. This was worlds apart from before.

Without a doubt, this would make the options trigger more frequently. After all, as his strength increased and he gradually became more withdrawn,

he no longer enjoyed interacting with anyone other than Princess Kaguya.

But an overly powerful system exerting too much influence over him wasn't necessarily a good thing...

That was why he preferred researching Ninjutsu to obtaining it directly through the options...

Of course, rewards on the level of the Nine-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan were another matter.

After frowning in thought for a while, Yuya put those concerns out of his mind.

The system's level was still far beyond him. Dwelling on it would do no good.

According to his calculations,

the surviving Onmyōji branch family was actually tied to a force he had once overlooked-the Saintess of the Heavenly Sage Dynasty!

The Yin-Yang Pearl was even more interesting. It turned out to be the reward for the Vassal State Ranking Tournament mentioned earlier,

the Deep Blue Crystal!

As he was now, he certainly had no time to participate in some Vassal State Ranking Tournament.

The sooner he finished this Onmyōji girl's business, the better,

so from the outset, he had planned to storm straight into the Heavenly Sage Dynasty.

Gaining the Flying Thunder God Technique along the way was all the better. He had long wanted to glimpse the mysteries of space.