In the corridor.
"Wow~~ This is what having all four limbs feels like~"
Kotoko hopped and skipped down the hallway, even circling around Luo Shu once while spreading her arms like a little bird:
"Thinking about it carefully, I'd almost forgotten how it feels to walk on two legs..."
"This is so nice~ Awakening this ability~ Finally, I can experience being complete too~"
Hearing Kotoko say this, Luo Shu turned his head to look at her and asked curiously:
"But didn't you give up one leg because the ritual required it?"
"While that's true, it was more about making the best of circumstances rather than being voluntary..."
Kotoko turned around to face Luo Shu, walking backwards as she spoke:
"When I was eleven years old, I was kidnapped by yokai and subjected to their sacrificial ritual. At the cost of sacrificing one eye and one leg, I successfully aligned with the Class they obtained from the Fountain of Wisdom..."
After saying this, Kotoko suddenly realised something and instinctively covered her face:
"Ah, seems I never told you about this, Luo Shu."
"The Class I currently hold as a Folklorist was first discovered by one of the Great Yokai."
"Over twenty years ago, it accidentally obtained the Class from the Fountain of Wisdom but couldn't use it due to injuries. So six years ago, it found me as someone who could bear the Class, had yokai abduct me, and performed the ritual."
Hearing this, Luo Shu's gaze froze momentarily. Looking at Kotoko's smile, he suddenly felt uncomfortable.
An eleven-year-old girl was kidnapped by a yokai, having her right eye gouged out and her left leg severed, all because a Great Yokai wanted to find a suitable successor for the inheritance it had found.
While it was true that Kotoko had gained power and some benefits, the price paid seemed far too steep.
Luo Shu glanced at Kotoko and pressed the elevator button. While waiting for it to arrive, he asked:
"So, did you get your revenge in the end?"
"Nope."
Kotoko's face still wore that sweet, girlish smile:
"Before I felt my power was sufficient, my yokai master had already died of old age."
"Even if I wanted to do something, what could you really do to a dead yokai, right?"
Luo Shu nodded in agreement - with the person already dead, revenge would indeed be rather meaningless.
Yet just as Luo Shu nodded, Kotoko added with a sly, cat-like smile: "So I could only use an Arcane Art to preserve a fragment of its remnant spirit, placing it in Tokyo's largest public toilet, forcing it to endure the filth it detests most, being fed by those vile things day and night."
"But after doing all that, though I was happy for a month, whenever I thought about my eye and leg, I still felt shortchanged..."
"Fortunately, after actively seeking out and contacting the Fountain of Wisdom, I learned that the right eye and left leg were ritual requirements. Once I ascend to Angel, my eye and leg will return to me intact."
"Thinking of it that way, I feel this sacrifice was still worthwhile."
'Miscalculation. This woman wasn't some gentle Yamato Nadeshiko from Japan at all, but a cunning little brat who always repaid grievances tenfold...'
Luo Shu winced as he wordlessly stepped into the arriving elevator and pressed the button for the fifth floor.
"Hehe~" Kotoko Iwanaga followed with a cheeky grin, standing beside Luo Shu and gradually leaning closer. "Are you disappointed?"
"That I didn't kindly forgive my yokai master, but did something like this instead?"
"Disappointed? Not really..." Luo Shu glanced at Kotoko and reminded her, "Don't forget I'm from China."
"Oh, right." Kotoko suddenly realised, then stroked her chin. "I've heard people in China care deeply about wiping out entire families."
"If it were you in my place, Luo Shu, would you have slaughtered all my yokai master's relatives and children?"
"I wouldn't." Luo Shu denied very seriously.
But before Kotoko could say anything, Luo Shu continued:
"I'd keep his beautiful daughter or wife as spoils of war."
Kotoko, who had been about to remark that Luo Shu seemed gentle at heart after all, immediately swallowed her words, her expression turning awkward as she said:
"While I understand this victor's mentality, Luo Shu, you're truly devoted to your desires, huh? Even having designs on yokai..."
Luo Shu gave Kotoko a strange look before reminding her:
"Just a small reminder - within the Familia, Hagoromo Gitsune is your senior."
"Eh?" Kotoko froze momentarily before exclaiming, "Eh!?"
"That Hagoromo Gitsune?"
"The Great Yokai of Kyoto?"
"My Senior?"
Instantly flustered, Kotoko hurriedly opened the Divine Pantheon Reconstruction System. Upon finding Hagoromo Gitsune's name in the main group, her eyes widened in shock:
"No way... Even that Great Yokai from Kyoto's Hagoromo Group... Wait, didn't your SDS exterminate the Hagoromo Group?"
Luo Shu didn't respond. Only when the elevator dinged open did he step out, walking away as he said:
"The collapse of the Hagoromo Group and Hagoromo Gitsune joining the Hidden Management Department don't seem conflicting events, do they?"
"Uh..." Kotoko Iwanaga couldn't refute this, only staring at Luo Shu with unspoken words before sticking out her tongue: "You gave me such a fright. I never imagined Luo Shu could even take action against yokai..."
"But thinking about it, you probably don't mind flawed individuals, right? Since you can even accept yokai and all..."
Hearing this, Luo Shu turned his head slightly in surprise, glancing at Kotoko Iwanaga:
"What, do you actually have thoughts about me?"
At this, Kotoko Iwanaga revealed a beckoning cat-like smile:
"Indeed, I'm quite taken with your looks~"
"I don't think I've ever hidden that fact, have I?"
Luo Shu recalled Kotoko having mentioned he was good-looking before, but now it felt somewhat strange:
"But you never showed interest before? Why bring it up now..."
"That's because I had no interest in married men before."
Kotoko Iwanaga puffed out her chest at 1.4 metres tall, declaring righteously:
"However, after joining the Familia, I discovered Luo Shu is actually communal property. So using you occasionally shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Luo Shu was dumbfounded: "Since when did I become communal property?"
Kotoko Iwanaga blinked in shock: "Eh? Isn't that the case? There's even a shared usage schedule prepared."
Luo Shu choked, recalling that damned timetable made by the Silver Princess, his face nearly turning green.
'That La Folia... Did she mix some nonsense into the educational materials?'
Swearing internally, Luo Shu strode towards a bedroom door with a dark expression, Kotoko following cheerfully behind, and knocked.
The door soon opened, revealing the face of Ravel's attendant, Mammon.