Chapter 1495 - 1157: [Lazy Raccoon] and [Gentle Cat]

In the entire Iwamura Castle, anyone who had a window opened on their room wall almost instantly felt a ghastly white sky outside.

The night sky suddenly erupted with a nearby thunderclap.

The thunder that normal people hear usually comes from the heavens above, accompanied by the humidity signaling imminent rain.

This impression has become a deeply ingrained stereotype in people’s minds.

However, up until today, the thunder that completely broke this stereotype appeared in the city.

It was close, and there was no sign of rain from the sky.

For this reason, the thunder became even more elusive and abnormally unfathomable.

Because Ando Shouji had long anticipated some ’deep and private’ conversation at this gathering, he had already dismissed the attendants and guards from the room before his son-in-law spoke.

This room was situated at the edge of the Tenshu floor rather than being surrounded in the middle, separated from the view outside.

Behind Lann and Wuming was a bay window opened on the wall of the Tenshu.

Across from them, the master of the Tenshu and Takeda Hanbei, through the paper-covered large bay window, tensely saw that the sky outside was a ghastly white.

Had it merely been that the sky suddenly flickered, they could have thought it a sudden change in weather.

But as that pale flash faded away, and the night once again blanketed the earth, within that last brief moment,

a crisp ’click’ sounded from the tiles being crushed under a heavy object outside the window.

Along with the sound from outside the window, a giant shadow appeared!

In the fleeting moment as the white light faded, the silhouette revealed an imposing figure, almost causing Takeda Hanbei and his father-in-law to believe they were imagining things.

However, the rapid moment when their hearts seemed to skip a beat, along with the unknown tingling in their fingertips, reminded them — that thing couldn’t be an illusion!

"You’re leaking electricity again! Didn’t wear the rune cloth properly!"

Lann helplessly pressed down his hair, floating from the static environment, shouting towards the bay window behind him.

The other three and the Guardian Spirit Bai Ze were still dumbfoundedly watching him, while Lann had already stood up from the floor, directly walking to the room’s bay window.

His hand already rested on the bay window handle, then he politely turned his head, glanced at Ando Shouji.

Since the other was the master of the Tenshu, whether to open the window was still a matter of courtesy.

Ando Shouji looked at his son-in-law and numbly nodded under his persistent gaze.

Thus, Lann pulled open the wood-framed, paper-covered large bay window directly.

And then, a noble and beautiful beast suddenly appeared before everyone.

In the moonlight from the bay window, Lann’s silver hair looked like glazed thread, as he was stroking a steed standing on the tiled eaves outside the window.

It had to be the best steed under the heavens!

Even with Lann’s robust body, it just matched this steed.

The exquisite yet powerful exotic tack conveyed a sense of expensive delicacy and substantial weight, even to foreign eyes.

Pale, dense mane erupted from the steed’s neck, unable to be suppressed by any harness.

Protrusions made of high-energy crystals emerged from beneath the steed’s skin, clearly indicating it wasn’t an ordinary creature.

In the moonlight, the man and the Qilin were as beautiful as a painting.

The inherent noble aura of the Qilin, as an Ancient Dragon, instantly captivated Ando Shouji, Takeda Hanbei, and Wuming.

"A demon...could it be?"

Dazzling as it might be, the Demon Hunter’s first reaction was still to question whether the creature was indeed a demon.

The azure horn on the Qilin, its high-energy crystal form instinctively made Wuming uneasy.

In this world, demons and evil spirits often carried iconic traits, such as crystalline excrescences radiating a dreamlike glow.

Just like the golden-bellied Hunger Spirit Lann encountered, its grotesquely bulging belly was actually a golden crystal encased in a layer of skin and flesh.

But subsequently, the seemingly oblivious [Eight Hundred Waves] behind Wuming, and the still floating [Bai Ze] with hands folded, somewhat eased her vigilance.

The Guardian Spirits seemed to feel no impurity or malevolence.

"This, what sort of steed is this!"

As a warrior, Ando Shouji couldn’t take his eyes off it at first sight.

Such a divine and handsome mount is every battlefield warrior’s dream divine creature.

But then...

"Boom!"

Lann punched the Qilin on the head, the head of this New Continent Ancient Dragon swiftly swirled around its long neck with a whistling wind before nonchalantly returning to its original position.

"Huff~"

’Don’t be mad! Just ran a bit too fast, the rune cloth not suppressing the electrical leak is quite normal! It’s a design flaw! If you want to complain, talk to Margaret and Triss!’

Great, the Qilin has now learned to make excuses.

In fact, the rune cloth has a fastening fixture on the horse legs, but the horse always felt uncomfortable with it, so it habitually dodged and bit it open whenever Lann wasn’t looking.

After arguing with Lann, the Qilin curiously stretched its head, peering left and right into the room.

Then it trotted in lightly, clattering, and kicked its hind legs to fling away a pebble stuck in its hoof.

A tri-color furball wobbled as it gripped the rune cloth to climb down from the Qilin’s back.

It landed on the wooden floor and plopped down on its butt.

"N-No, I can’t do it, meow! The Qilin charged too fast, ugh~"

The Three-Floral Elu Cat made an unpleasant sound.

Lann hurriedly squatted down to help Rong Buqiu catch its breath.

Ando Shouji felt like he was dreaming today.

The person across was clearly speaking incomprehensible words to that Ninja Cat, and the Ninja Cat actually responded back!

Isn’t that a demon?

The City Lord of Iwamura Castle cautiously turned his head, wanting to see what reaction his son-in-law had.

Only to find Takeda Hanbei looking equally stunned as him.

Meanwhile, in a realm invisible to ordinary folk, Bai Ze was already leisurely floating next to Lann and the others.

The old scholar goat frequently nodded, looking them up and down: "Oh my, it’s the [Lazy Racoon] and [Gleaming]? Rare, quite rare indeed."

The Qilin, which had been stretching its neck towards the dining table, now looked back confused, its feline-like face approaching the long-bearded goat floating in mid-air.

"Neighhh?"

’You can communicate with me? I can’t understand a word you’re saying!’

The Qilin is very intelligent, having learned the language of the Magical Middle Ages not long after arriving with Lann in Airetusa.

But clearly, it hadn’t had the chance or need to learn Japanese before now.

"Communication between guardian spirits doesn’t require language. And passing information to their hosts is a natural process as well."

Bai Ze avoided the Qilin’s nostrils, which were sniffing him, floating just a bit higher to peer at the top of its head.

The racoon with fur patterned like water and fire became visible in the resonance of power, lazily leaning against the Qilin’s azure horn, lazily sipping from its little teapot.

Beside Rong Buqiu, Gleaming had also appeared, rolling around the Elu Cat.

Ultimately, it became like a big fluffy ball, held dazedly by Rong Buqiu for support.

"We aren’t very familiar with these two guardian spirits," Lann stood up, speaking to Bai Ze. "With your wisdom, could you introduce them? Frankly, we were a bit scared at first."

"That’s quite normal," Bai Ze laughed with a goatish quaver, "People who don’t know would naturally be a bit fearful when possessed by a guardian spirit."

"But it’s all fine, these two guardian spirits are very gentle sorts."

The old goat’s horn tilted to the side, pointing right at the Qilin’s azure horn.

"This is the [Lazy Racoon]. As the name suggests, it’s a lazy raccoon. On this Japanese Archipelago, there’s often tales of raccoons transforming into humans to repay favors, isn’t there? Because of its mischievous pranks and hijinks, it’s considered an emblem of laziness and joy."

Upon hearing this, Lann nodded emphatically in agreement.

Lazy and joyful, indeed it matches well with the Qilin.

However, the Demon Hunter nodded only to find the Qilin itself also nodding earnestly, seeming to agree. Thus, the Demon Hunter’s gaze towards the Qilin became less friendly.

"Also," Bai Ze shook its head.

"The teapot in its hand should be the [Divine Tea Kettle]. Legend has it that it was brought into the Nara Region by Monk Shouhe, capable of pouring endless hot tea. People say Monk Shouhe was actually a racoon who transformed into human form."

"Looking at the water-fire pattern and red fur, it probably symbolizes the power of hot water as flames."

The racoon resembling a raccoon continued to be listless, just holding its Divine Tea Kettle disdainfully, nudging aside Bai Ze’s pointed goat horn with the kettle mouth.

Then it resumed sipping ’clap-clap’.

Sipping as it gradually faded away.

Bai Ze wasn’t offended, floating over to Rong Buqiu.

The large cat ball held by the Elu Cat, with its round eyes looking at the old goat, meowed softly.

"This is [Gleaming], it’s kind of a cat demon? As a guardian spirit, it’s surely a stable Harmony Soul, not a chaotic and violent Warring Soul."

In Japanese soul theory, like the demons and divine beings here that can transform into each other, they believe souls are divided into the stable orderly Harmony Soul and the chaotic, violent Warring Soul.

If the Warring Soul aspect of a soul dominates, it turns into an evil spirit.

But if the Warring Soul is suppressed and the Harmony Soul thrives, it’s a friendly soul.

The two can switch and change between states.

"But even as a demon, [Gleaming] is harmless," Bai Ze petted the large cat ball’s head, and it purred with joy.

"At most, it just wanders around people’s feet, maybe tripping them over? That’s about the extent of it."

"Legend says they are the souls of lost children, transformed due to longing for a mother’s warmth, drawn to humans. Think about it, it chose this little cat perhaps because it sensed warmth in its soul?"