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"So… um, Mr. Onmyoji," the blonde girl asked hesitantly, looking at Asher. "If you saved me, how much would you want as payment? In yen, I mean."
Asher rubbed his chin at her question.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "Well… that depends on how much you think your life is worth."
Even Asher wasn't completely sure what to say.
He had no idea how strong this blonde girl actually was. What if he named a price too high and she couldn't afford it? But if he asked for too little, that didn't feel right either.
Sure, saving her had been incidental, but no matter how you looked at it, four of his shikigami had ended up seriously injured because of it.
For Asher right now, that meant his combat power had taken a big hit. Asking for some compensation was only fair.
"Hmm…"
Seeing Asher toss the question back to her, the blonde girl fell into deep thought.
After hesitating for a bit, she cautiously took her wallet out of her backpack.
She pulled out almost all the cash inside.
Ten crisp ten-thousand-yen bills.
"Mr. Onmyoji, this is all the money I have on me right now. One hundred thousand yen in total," she said carefully."Is that enough? If not, maybe I could give you my contact info, and when I get home…"
She trailed off, clearly nervous.
Honestly, she believed her life was worth far more than a hundred thousand yen. Not even close. But this was all the cash she had with her. What if this mysterious onmyoji wasn't satisfied?
As for Asher, when he saw this girl, who looked a bit messy but was undeniably pretty, casually pull out a hundred thousand yen, he was genuinely surprised.
Sure, a hundred thousand yen wasn't a huge sum. Converted to his home country's currency at roughly a two-to-one rate, it was about five thousand.
But what kind of kid walks around carrying five thousand in cash?
This girl had to be a rich second-generation, right?
Damn it. If he'd known, he would've asked for more.
Asher felt a flash of regret.
Still, the fact that she'd handed over all the money she had on her showed real sincerity.
Without hesitation, Asher reached out, took the bills from her hand, and tucked them away.
"Considering your sincerity, this will do."
With that, he turned around.
"Then goodbye, miss. We'll meet again someday."
"Um… goodbye, Mr. Onmyoji."
After the brief farewell, Asher left without lingering.
Only after watching his figure disappear into the distance did the blonde girl finally let out a long breath.
To be honest, she'd been worried he might not be satisfied with the payment.
After all, in her eyes, a hundred thousand yen wasn't much at all. It was barely anything.
At first, she'd thought that someone who said something like "how much is your life worth" had to be greedy.
But judging from the outcome, Asher didn't seem like a money-grubber at all.
Maybe asking for payment was just a formality to him?
"Figures… people with supernatural powers always have a few quirks," she muttered.
Shaking her head and pushing those thoughts aside, she picked up her bicycle, which had been knocked over earlier when that eerie woman blocked her path.
She mounted it and rode away from the secluded alley.
…
As darkness gradually fell, Asher returned home.
The moment he sat down, he opened the system.
"System, draw an Onmyoji skill."
As soon as his voice faded, the system responded.
[Ding! Drawing exclusive Onmyoji skill…]
[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained the exclusive Onmyoji skill: Call of the Thunder Emperor!]
[Call of the Thunder Emperor: During combat, the Host may summon a divine dragon to unleash the power of lightning upon enemies, dealing massive damage. There is a chance to inflict stun. Additionally, all Onmyoji skills deal 20% increased damage. Cooldown: one day.]
"What the hell? I actually got this?"
Hearing the system's voice in his mind, Asher jumped up from the sofa, excitement surging through him.
Call of the Thunder Emperor, and with stats like that.
This was basically an ultimate-tier Onmyoji technique.
He'd just been worrying about his combat power being heavily reduced in the short term.
And now, on a single pull, he landed such an insane skill.
With Call of the Thunder Emperor, his combat strength shot up instantly.
Sure, only being able to use it once per day was a bit brutal.
But still.
Asher was in a fantastic mood right now.
He even had the urge to test out how powerful Call of the Thunder Emperor really was.
…After thinking it over, though, he decided against it.
The commotion caused by Kotodama: Binding had already been big enough.
A move on this level would probably be even more terrifying, both in impact and spectacle.
After riding that excitement for a while, Asher's stomach suddenly let out a loud growl.
Rubbing his belly, he finally felt the hunger spreading through him.
He'd only eaten once at noon.
On top of that, saving that rich blonde girl earlier had drained him quite a bit.
Once the hunger hit, it hit hard. He felt like he could devour an entire cow if one were placed in front of him.
When a man is truly hungry, it's basically his HP dropping.
Pulling himself together, Asher headed into the kitchen to find something to eat.
But when he opened the fridge, he was greeted by spotless white emptiness.
There was nothing inside.
Food delivery in this country still wasn't very convenient. You usually had to call restaurants that specifically offered delivery.
So, enduring the hunger gnawing at his stomach, Asher changed clothes, left the house, and headed toward the nearest large supermarket to buy some ingredients.
…
About ten minutes later, he arrived at a supermarket that looked fairly sizable.
As soon as he entered, he grabbed a cart and loaded it up with food until it was completely full.
Thanks to the reward from saving the blonde girl, money wasn't an immediate concern for him.
After finishing his shopping, Asher pushed the cart to the checkout counter.
The moment he arrived, he spotted a familiar face.
And that person noticed him too.
"Huh? Asher?"
"Good evening, Ms. Ebina."
That's right. The cashier at this supermarket was none other than Asher's neighbor, Ebina Nana.
"....."