Tokyo, but I'm a deceitful scumbag.

"Uh...more or less..."

The girl sighed, patted her slightly chubby cheeks, and said with a determined look, "No matter what, we can only rely on ourselves!"

"Whatever~"

Hoshino Hideyuki, on the other hand, had a good attitude and smiled, "Well, we don't have any more information right now, so let's just take it one step at a time."

"Yes, that's the only way..."

After discussing the matter, the fox and the girl calmed themselves down and returned to the group.

By this time, Yukawa and the caravan had finished cleaning up the battlefield, gathered the wounded, and cut off the heads of all the dead long-haired demons, sticking them on spears to make flags.

When Naoko Sakuragi saw the two return, she greeted them with a smile, her tone a mix of ambiguity and teasing, "Have you finished whispering your secrets?"

Asuka Tendo, still troubled, blinked, somewhat stunned.

Fortunately, Hoshino Hideyuki reacted quickly, taking a step forward and pressing his shoulder against the girl's, holding her delicate white hand.

Asuka Tendo:!

"We're officially a couple, remember? You just said that yourself~"

“Ah, I…”

After finishing his sentence in a low voice, Hoshino Hideyuki turned to Sakuragi Naoko without waiting for the girl's reply and smiled, "Yes, I'm done~"

Naoko Sakuragi nodded, then said:

"Alright, let's get ready to go. We need to continue our journey. Luckily, we've collected all the heads of the long-haired demons, so we don't need to take any more detours to find them... If things go quickly, we should reach Ashihara-tonight!"

Chapter 204 The girl came up with a new way to tease the fox

It takes a little over a day to get to Ashihara?

They're so close...

However, considering the size of Japan's map, it doesn't seem surprising.

Hoshino Hideyuki pursed his lips, then said, "Understood, Sakuragi-sama~"

"Well, Rukawa-sama, you can just call me Naoko from now on~" Sakuragi Naoko blinked, gave a slight bow and smile, then turned to talk to the caravan members.

huh?

Hoshino Hideyuki raised an eyebrow.

Waaah, in just one day, a thick barrier has been erected between me, the fox, and the beautiful woman?

Ah, it seems it's not just the beautiful woman...

He glanced around and noticed that the rest of the Yukawa group were looking at him with even more awe than when he had just displayed his power.

"Because every few years someone from our family comes in and turns the tide, the status of Onmyoji is very high in this place. Even when facing General Hojo, there is no need to be too polite."

Asuka Tendo stepped forward and explained, "Therefore, once she knew you were me, one of my people, she naturally dared not treat you as a subordinate anymore..."

It's a bit strange.

At first, Asuka Tendo was simply stunned by the sight of the fox and, caught up in the atmosphere, didn't think much before accepting the dead fox as her partner.

Once she realized what had happened, she should have clarified that point immediately.

But actually...

She now inexplicably feels that there's no need to clarify.

Absolutely not because she felt even a tiny bit of excitement from this misunderstanding!

She simply didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble or arouse suspicion from others!

That’s right!

After giving herself a pep talk, Asuka Tendo pondered for a moment, then tugged at Hideyuki Hoshino's sleeve and whispered, "By the way, there's something I need to tell you about our relationship."

Hoshino Hideyuki lowered his head and asked, "What do you mean?"

Asuka Tendo said, "It's fine for you and me to play lovers in front of these dream people, but it won't work when we meet my relatives. They'll just be as curious as I am about where you came from."

Hoshino Hideyuki thought about it and realized that made sense.

Then he turned his head and saw that the girl was ready to put her hands on her hips, so he went along with it and asked with a smile, "So, our genius and beautiful Onmyoji must have already thought of a solution, right?"

"Hum~"

Asuka Tendo smirked and whispered in the fox's ear, "You can impersonate my shikigami!"

Hideyuki Hoshino: "Huh?"

"My family doesn't care much about my situation, so they don't know how many shikigami I have. As long as you and I are in cahoots, they won't suspect anything."

"In this way, you can not only act with me openly and legitimately, but also freely reveal your true form and use spells—of course, this does not include your blue foxfire, that's too conspicuous."

"How about that? It makes perfect sense, right? Go ahead and agree!"

Asuka Tendo raised her eyebrows and urged the fox on, but she was thinking about something else entirely.

Onmyoji and Shikigami are not equals!

Although many Onmyoji players emphasize that shikigami are their partners, that is often only the case for a few special and powerful shikigami.

In most cases, shikigami are subordinates of the onmyoji, and occasionally slaves or pets!

Therefore, as long as the fox admits that it is the girl's shikigami, even if it is pretending, the girl can use this as a reason to order the fox around!

Hmph, this is the latest plan of the genius and beautiful female Onmyoji to trick the fox!

If I succeed, I can get revenge for the maid outfit incident last time!

Here.

Hoshino Hideyuki smiled, his eyes narrowing, then nodded: "Hmm, what you said makes a lot of sense~"

"Right, right!"

"So, from now on, whenever I encounter other Onmyoji, I should call you Master, right?"

Lord, Lord, Master!

Asuka Tendo's face suddenly flushed.

The dead fox is calling me master... Is this really real? Hehe, hehehe, so exciting, so fun, I want to laugh out loud!

Seeing that the girl was immersed in some peculiar experience, Hoshino Hideyuki continued with a smile, "As my master's shikigami, I should not, by reason of course, allow my master's noble feet to touch the dirty ground..."

"Huh?" Asuka Tendo sensed something was off and instinctively said, "Well, this genius isn't that delicate..."

"No, no, no, even if you hadn't mentioned it, I can't ignore your hard work!"

With that, Hideyuki Hoshino flashed around and appeared behind Asuka Tendo.

Then, he bent down and stretched out his hand, just like a fisherman scooping a big fish out of the water, and hugged the girl in his arms in a classic princess carry!

"Hey?"

"Hey hey!"

"Heh~" Hoshino Hideyuki grinned, revealing eight large teeth, and said, "Let me reduce the strain on Master's legs in this way~"

"You, you, you! What are you doing! Put me down right now!"

"Huh? Does Master prefer to ride on my neck, with his soft, warm thighs pressing against my cheeks? Hmm, it's not like we can't discuss it~"

"That's clearly the pose a dad would use when taking his daughter to watch fireworks! And don't describe it in such detail! You pervert!"

"Huh? This won't work either? Could it be..."

"Stop arguing! Put me down! Ugh, you bastard! I promise I won't let you do anything outrageous, okay?!"

Feeling the intense gazes from those around her, Asuka Tendo felt her face burning hot enough to be used as an induction cooker. She clenched her two snow-white little hands into fists and began frantically pounding the fox's shoulders.

After quite some time, the fox finally put the girl down with a grin—actually, he wanted to play a little longer, but his shoulder was hurting so badly that he couldn't keep up the smile if he didn't let her go soon.

not far away.

Naoko Sakuragi and her subordinates noticed this scene.

The men dressed as samurai said to each other:

"She really is a lovestruck young man!"

"Judging by their level of intimacy, they might be childhood sweethearts."

Naoko Sakuragi pursed her lips, a half-smile playing on her lips, and said, "What an enviable Onmyoji!"

Behind them, Himeko Aoi watched the laughing fox, her big eyes wide open, seemingly lost in thought.

The team set off quickly.

The weather was fine after that, and there were no accidents on the way. So, just as the sun was about to set, the group arrived at their destination without incident.

"Is that Ashihara-to?"

Hoshino Hideyuki looked up and saw a large city ahead.

It is entirely surrounded by sturdy walls, half of which extend to the nearby mountains, with a magnificent castle tower and towering turrets, while the other half spreads to the riverbank, with bustling markets and residences.

Outside the city walls, on this side of the river are vast fields of farmland, while on the opposite bank are endless reeds, which is probably where the name "Ashihara-to" (Reed Plain Capital) comes from.

"Yes, this is Ashihara Miyako."

Because the horses had been used to haul away the wounded, Naoko Sakuragi was walking beside the fox and the girl. She said to the fox, "Isn't it a beautiful and magnificent place?"

Forget about grandeur; this city looks like it can only hold a few tens of thousands of people at most.

But it is indeed beautiful; at least the fox really likes this kind of place nestled between mountains and water.

Naoko Sakuragi continued, "Let's hurry up, or even if we bribe the guards, we won't be able to get into the city..."

So everyone started jogging, and a dozen minutes later, they entered the city just before the city gates closed.

Immediately afterwards, Naoko Sakuragi left the group to find a place to stay.

The rest of the men stayed on the street, intending to rest for a while, but before they could catch their breath, they heard a rapid sound of hooves and shouts.

"Get out of my way, grandpa!"