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Last Embryo Volume 8 Chapter 3 Part 7

「What did I say about meddling with other people’s battles… ? But thank you. With that, I should be able to handle her now.」

While dodging the mechanical doll’s attacks with silver flashes, Asuka dove into the tight alleys between the nearby buildings and inns in an attempt to search and exploit her enemy’s blind spots. Even though the silver flashes themselves have a relatively wide range of effect, then as long as the doll itself can supposedly only see the things that are directly in front of it, there should be several strategies that Asuka should be able to utilize here.

Losing the sight of the human that she designated as her audience, the mechanical doll followed after Asuka and peered its head into the alley in search of her, but now that she allowed her to get out of her sights, it is going to be extremely difficult to locate her again with just her eyes alone.

But that didn’t matter to her all that much, because as long as they don’t know where the people who might be watching them are, it is a geisha’s pride to display their skills all around them, regardless of whether they are actually being watched or not.

And so, the mechanical doll began to shake its artificial limbs as if she was dancing, and by doing so, she began to spread the silver flashes in every direction around her indiscriminately.

And in contrast to the previous silver flashes that she was releasing before, the ones that she started using now were sharp enough to split the main pillars supporting the buildings around it as soon as they came into contact with them.

Because for that doll, this was not just a mere everyday performance. She was quickly turning her head around and sending silver flashes everywhere because she was preparing the best stage possible for the performance of her lifetime.

There is a reason why it is called the Divine Spirit of Entertainment, and why all of its attacks and gestures as she sprinkled the silver flashes everywhere looked so elegantly and sounded so rhythmically. As long as she is performing on a stage set it the City of Flowers, all that she’s doing is with the aim of receiving the audience’s applause.

But unfortunately for her, this tiled roof is not a stage meant for performing any kind of dances or entertainment arts. It is a place of death itself, where the sentimentality of the tsukumogami proved to be its own deadly undoing.

「I’m sorry. Next time we meet, let it be on the real stage.」

The mechanical doll glared at its feet with fury emanating from its eyes… but it was too late for her to do anything now.

The tip of Asuka’s sword burst through the tiles of the roof from below, and pierced the part of the doll that was supplying power to it in an instant

「GI, giiiii…….!!!!???」

The mechanical doll raised one last muffled scream towards the night sky before all of its function shut down and it stopped functioning. Sine that doll was perceiving its surroundings as the stage and Asuka as its audience, it should not surprise anyone that everything placed below the stage could be considered a blind spot that it wouldn’t bother checking. It can’t be helped that it lowered its guard down

Asuka climbed up the tiled roof and picked up the broken mechanical doll off of it.

「… I understand now. You didn’t like being made into a Divine Spirit, didn’t you? Because when you are revered as a God by everyone around you, you won’t be able to share your art with them.」

With the final clattering sound, the mechanical doll nodded its head and lowered it.

It may be an honor to be made into a Divine Spirit like Hyakudayu, but all that it ever wanted was a stage where it could show off her art to the people rather than such a monumental honor.

That exact thought of it was what took shape and started running wild.

Asuka straightened her body, and after fixing her appearance with a comb and a towel, her usual bright smile came back onto her face.

「All right. If this is what you want, then this is what I am going to tell to those courtesan foxes: I am still active, so don’t turn me into a God!」

Hearing Asuka’s words and seeing her smile, the mechanical doll smiled weakly, or at least it seemed that way to Asuka herself.

After taking the body of the doll back with her, Asuka argued violently with the courtesan foxes and their leader, ultimately achieving her goal of securing a promise that they’re going to create a dedicated stage for the Divine Spirit of Entertainment.

Around a year or so later, a certain story about the Hyakudayu and the Tomboy Ojou-sama took the world by storm as more and more rumors about the events of that night began spreading around… but that is a story for another time.

* * *

After that, Asuka and Alma, who were guided by the courtesan foxes, discussed this matter in a low voice.

「Hey, Alma? Is it okay for me to receive a reward for what I did? I mean, originally, the Game started because of a quarrel between me and them, right?」

「It all might’ve started with that, but I’ve laid the groundwork for game rewards.」

「Beg your pardon?」

Asuka’s eyes became round as dots, because she didn’t hear anything about it before.

Alma made a mischievous grin and said:

「I believed that Master would naturally get into trouble without me saying anything. Because of that, setting up a fair and equal Game was relatively easy.」

*Gun!* and Asuka was so shocked as if she was just hit with a hammer to the head.

In other words, the proposal to 「Go to Hanamachi to learn about femininity」 was half a lie, and the real purpose was to lure Asuka into a Game involving the City of Flowers itself.

Asuka realized that she allowed herself to be manipulated beautifully, which caused her to hold onto her head and glare at Alma resentfully.

「I don’t know what I should be more mad about right now: the fact that I allowed myself to be played like a fiddle, or the fact that I have made a contract with such a schemer of a servant.」

「Oh my, how rude. But I believe that you had more than enough time in order to cool down, so please, prepare yourself now, Master.」

Alma covered her mouth and smiled mischievously once more.

The contract between Asuka and Alma was a very simple one.

Their goal is to 「Create a new Community in Little Garden, and then welcome all sorts of Gods, Shuras and Buddha’s into it」. However, in order to achieve such a lofty goal, it was necessary for Asuka to become independent from 『No Name』first.

For Asuka, who was thinking of going independent someday after gaining strength with『 No Name』from the very beginning, this was a natural next step in her progression plan.

「I have to say that I don’t like being used in such a way, but right now I am enjoying myselfso it doesn’t matter.」

「As expected of my master. It is unexpected pleasure for me to see you being so open-hearted with how you feel.」

The two of them laughed and giggled as if they were enjoying all of the mischief that they have caused.

「It seems that this case was a part of your genius plan as well, but I would like you to tell me the entire story soon. Exactly what kind of reward is my talented servant seeking in this city?」

「Of course. My goal in having master to come here was to search for the Sponsors for the 2nd War for the Sun’s Authority.」

Asuka nodded quietly without showing any surprise.

It was something that Asuka suspected ever since she was proposed to go to the base of the Onihime Federation, which was the 「Floor Master」of the North Side.

「Of course, the Onihime Alliance is a powerful Community, but there is another Community that I am aiming for. And besides, if memory serves me correctly it was nowhere stated that the Communities participating in the War are to limit themselves to just a single Sponsor.」

「That might be true, but shouldn’t there be something called a tacit understanding on the part of the Sponsor?」

It is a very unfair act for a Communitiy involved to seek investment funds and support from two Sponsors at the same time. If someone ever discovered that such a practice was taking place and they decided to make that information public, that would cause no end of embarrassment for all the parties involved in it and would likely cause the Sponsors to withdraw their support for that Communitiy in anger.

「That’s right. However, if the relationship between the chosen Sponsors is a strong one, or if the hierarchical relationship between the two of them is going to be maintained, then I believe that it changes the story completely. And that is why this time I have come to inform the ruler of this City of Flowers that I would like to contact the Community that is responsible for the monitoring of the Onihime Alliance… the Japanese public institution, Bureau of Onmyou.」
「The Bureau of Onmyo?」

Asuka asked while tilting her head.