In the reception room.
Luo Shu was sitting on a single sofa, smiling as he looked at the innocent-faced mermaid girl before him:
"I didn't expect we'd meet again so soon, Miss Seto."
"Ah, is it soon?" Sun Seto tilted her head slightly. "I feel like it's been a very, very long time."
'No, I was just being polite...'
Seeing that Sun Seto didn't recognise the pleasantry, Luo Shu forcibly steered the conversation back:
"But our last meeting in the Warring States Abyss world was less than two months ago, right?"
"Ah? Only two months? I thought it had been a year."
As she spoke, Sun Seto picked up a biscuit from the glass table in front of her. Before taking a bite, she mumbled:
"After returning home, my father made me study so many things. By the time I came out, I thought many years had passed."
"That certainly would give you that feeling."
Luo Shu looked pityingly at this little one who had been confined by her parents. This innocent personality was clearly the result of her family's protection.
Was it because they were frightened by the sudden incident in the Warring States Abyss world last time that her family gave her emergency education?
Beside them, Kotoko Iwanaga, holding a cup of black tea, blinked her eyes as she observed the two conversing, saying with great interest:
"So, Luo Shu-kun and little Sun know each other?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu glanced at Kotoko Iwanaga, then offered an uncertain explanation:
"You could say we were comrades who fought side by side in the Abyss world?"
"Mhm mhm mhm, we're battle comrades!"
Sun Seto nodded repeatedly, acknowledging their relationship and even deepening it, though from her expression, she didn't seem to realise the implications of such things.
Battle comrades who exchanged contact information but haven't been in touch for nearly two months? That actually might be possible... Luo Shu thought strangely to himself, then slightly shook his head and turned his gaze to the final person.
The Great Yokai - Shiranui!
Noticing Luo Shu's shifting gaze, Kotoko Iwanaga immediately introduced with a smile:
"Isn't she beautiful?"
"Shiranui is publicly acknowledged by the yokai of Kyushu as Kyushu's number one beauty~"
"She is indeed beautiful." Luo Shu nodded, expressing his approval of the term: "But this seems unrelated to the matter at hand, doesn't it?"
"Unrelated to the matter at hand?" Kotoko Iwanaga widened her eyes, looking utterly incredulous.
"Could it be related?" Luo Shu glanced at Kotoko Iwanaga and couldn't help but retort.
After this exchange, the two simply stared at each other.
Meanwhile, Sun Seto, who was eating biscuits, and the one called beautiful, who felt somewhat awkward, were left at a loss.
However, before long, Sun Seto suddenly noticed the direction of the doorway, spotted Gōzaburō Seto standing there, and immediately called out:
"Father, you're here!!"
Gōzaburō Seto didn't respond, merely standing silently at the entrance.
Seeing Gōzaburō Seto's reaction, Sun Seto tilted her head in confusion:
"What's the matter?"
Before Sun Seto could react, Gōzaburō Seto swiftly appeared before Luo Shu, staring intently at him as he demanded:
"Just ordinary friends, right?!"
"Right? You and Sun are just ordinary friends, aren't you?"
Looking at the scar-faced man who had suddenly appeared before him, Luo Shu had heard about Gōzaburō Seto's eccentric behaviour, but had never witnessed it to this extent.
"You're too close... And you came all this way just to ask something like that?"
Luo Shu flicked Gōzaburō Seto's forehead with his finger.
With a thud.
Gōzaburō Seto stumbled back several steps before steadying himself.
Seeing this, Luo Shu expressed mild surprise: "You weren't sent flying back to the sofa?"
The force he had used should have been just enough to send Gōzaburō Seto tumbling onto the sofa.
It was neutralised... Luo Shu suddenly realised something and looked at Gōzaburō Seto with interest:
"I see. You've already made contact with a Class?"
Gōzaburō Seto raised his hand to touch his reddened forehead, looking at Luo Shu with astonishment:
"What was that just now... There was a very peculiar power in your finger..."
"It's a concept, though only lightly wrapped around it."
As he spoke, Luo Shu added curiously:
"Originally, I intended to send you flying over to Miss Sun's side. It seems I underestimated you."
"The dragon fish of the Seto Group - you must be the yokai closest to Demigod status in all of Japan!"
Of course, this assessment excluded personnel from the Hidden Management Department faction, but even so, Gōzaburō Seto was already very close to the Demigod level.
Roughly speaking, it was Hero Rank peak power combined with an Elite Rank Class.
Though still far from the real thing, at least he was walking the orthodox path.
"That power is called concepts?"
Gōzaburō Seto fell silent for a moment before saying:
"As for you saying I'm close to Demigod status - is it because I've deeply explored the dragon fish's innate abilities?"
"More or less." Luo Shu smiled and casually explained: "In the Onmyou Agency, this concept power is probably called 'The Essence of Arts'. Mastering this power and constructing it into a Class means you're not too far from Demigod status."
"I see. Now I understand what the True Dragon Legacy is about."
Gōzaburō Seto suddenly understood, then took out from his chest an invitation enveloped in multiple layers of water:
"So when I used my innate ability to successfully block this invitation from reaching Sun, I accidentally got it right?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu immediately understood Gōzaburō Seto's purpose for this visit:
"You agreed to come with Kotoko this time because you wanted to remove the invitation's lock, didn't you?"
Gōzaburō Seto remained silent for a moment before sighing:
"Yes."
As he spoke, Gōzaburō Seto crushed the water in his hand, pulverising the invitation inside.
Yet the next second, the shredded paper fragments automatically floated up, reassembling before Sun Seto and slowly beginning to restore themselves.
Witnessing this scene, Gōzaburō Seto's eyes darkened as he said:
"Originally, this invitation could be transferred away. If anyone else touched this invitation, there was a chance it would transfer to them. According to our Seto Group's testing, this phenomenon typically occurs among fish yokai of different races."
"In other words, if the holder is a shark yokai and the one who takes the invitation is also a shark yokai, then the invitation will not transfer. Conversely, if the one who takes it is not a shark yokai but another ribbon fish yokai, then the invitation will have a high probability of transferring."
"But this logic changed after Sun accidentally came into contact with the invitation."
"I thought it over and over but couldn't find the answer, until Miss Iwanaga came to explain the situation. Only after learning that this was an invitation to the True Dragon Legacy did I understand the key point."
Hearing this, Luo Shu immediately showed an interested expression:
"Because of the dragon species?"