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Last Embryo Volume 8 Chapter 3 Part 8

Alma’s face then turned pale and she looked a bit startled.

「Huh…Master, do you… by any chance, do you really don’t know what a Bureau of Onmyou is? Even though it is a Japanese public service institution that has existed for as long as until the end of the second year of the Meiji era?」

「Oh, so did such a public organization related to the Onmyouji actually exist?」

「Yes, and not only did such an organization exist in real life, but all the members of the Bureau of Onmyou were powerful exorcists who worked in disguises of civil servants in order to protect Japan from the shadows!」

「You can’t be serious!」

Asuka raised a surprised voice when she learned something about her own country that she didn’t expect at all. Deciding that it would be better to explain everything to her from scratch instead of trying to feed her the information the normal way, Alma decided to explain everything to Asuka from scratch, talking about the Bureau of Onmyou in detail while they were still in the middle of their tour heading to Onihime Alliance headquarters.

The more Asuka was learning about the Bureau of Onmyou from her, the more she was nodding her headin admiration, with her mouth half opened the entire time when Alma moved on to the history of the relationship between the Bureau of Onmyou and the Onihime Alliance.

「So then… that would mean that the Onihime Alliance is a federation of Communities created by the two Onimimes: one that belonged to the Bureau of Onmyou and the one who was born as a metamorphose in the Far East… right?」

「That’s right, master. And the person who we are going to be meeting with now is going to be the head of the Onihime Alliance who is running the things from the Bureau of Onmyou’s side, so please, do be careful not to do or say anything rude.」

The two of them were brought to a gorgeous mansion, and then guided further and further into it until they reached the deepest part of the gorgeous corridor, and when the pair of the fusuma sliding doors have been slid open for them along with a strangely sounding timbre, they saw a beautiful fox woman with a golden-colored tail gracefully bowing towards them in greeting on the other side.

「Welcome, esteemed guests… and allow me to apologize for having you wait for so long. You seem to be the ones responsible for stopping the rampage of the mechanical doll that was causing trouble in the entertainment district. You have my thanks for taking care of that matter.」

「No, no, there really is no need to be thanking us for dealing with it, because looking at it objectively, we took care of it because of a Gift Game that started because my Master traded insults with one of the courtesans she got into a quarrel with, so allow both Master and me to apologize to both you and the one that she quarreled with for how rude she was.」

「Ah, so stiff, so stiff. I am not all that fond of formality and seriousness, so if at all possible, I would like you to be a little more casual with me. See, just try to be a little bit more like a Human lady over here and relax that shoulders of yours…」

「Y-You think? I-If you say so, then maybe just for a little bit…」

「Yes, yes, that’s good. You have to excuse me, but after I got sick and the condition of my body worsened, I couldn’t help it but to become more aloof than I usually am. I don’t want to be the only one who’s going to feel lonely… ugh…!!!」

The golden-haired fox youkai nodded at Asuka and Alma with an elegant smile and wanted to say something more, but she was suddenly interrupted by what looked to be a pretty violent and painful coughing fit. That was enough for both of the girls to become concerned, but their faces have turned even more pale than they already were when they noticed that the woman actually had a little bit of blood in the corners of her mouth when the coughing finally subsided.

「W-We’re sorry for imposing ourselves on you like that! If you’re not feeling well, then don’t try to force yourself!」

「Y-Yes, what she said! I am truly sorry for requesting an audience with you at such a short notice even though you were in such a poor health. We will come back another time, so…」

「It’s fine, it’s fine, there’s no need for you to be worrying about it, really. More importantly… elegant Ojou-san, you must be Asuka-chan, right? I have to say, ever since I have read the letter from Lily, I’ve wanted to meet you.」

Asuka and Alma looked at each other in surprise when they heard the name of someone whom they didn’t expect get mentioned.

If the hunch they both had was correct, then the 「Lily」that the fox youkai woman mentioned just now was probably the same Lily as Lily the foxgirl who belonged to 『No Name』.

「Ahhh, based on your expressions I can guess that you didn’t know about it after all, did you not? Long ago, one of Lily’s ancestors was actually a servant of one of our high-class prostitutes…. Who happened to be me at that time. Then she met the Great Fox of the East and the two of them fell in love with each other at first sight, and the two decided to run off together! However, their elopement was far from a romantic one and turned into a huge scandal which could have ended in a big fight between the North Side and the East side, but then one of the members of the old 『No Name』– Canaria-chan, I believe she was called – stepped in to intervene and kept the conflict from escalating any further.」

「T-That’s right. It is true that the history of the former 『No Name』is an extremely long one, and there really was such an episode in it.」

「However, since we’re already on the subject of Lily’s ancestor, I heard that she was a woman who was serving Divinity Holder of Uka no Mitama no Kami’s Divinity. In that case, would it be correct to think that you were yourself a such famous person in this town that you could have someone holding a Divinity of their own as your personal servant?」

Alma threw such a deep question in the air all of a sudden.

Asuka looked at her with a slightly reproachful look, but the golden-haired youkai fox didn’t seem to be offended by that question and simply chuckled in amusement.

「Hmm, let me think… who was she, huh? What do you think about it, Asuka-chan?」

「Huh? M-Me?」

Not expecting to be suddenly included in this topic, Asuka pointed towards herself and asked in confusion.

She understood that she was most likely only getting teased, but she was also aware that depending on how she’s going to react to this, the responses and attitude of the fox youkai woman towards her might change.

However, no matter how much she was thinking about it, Asuka could not think of an answer to that question. So, if she is going to give a wrong answer anyway, then at the very least she might give an answer that’s going to be higher on the point scale to save as much face as she possibly could.

Asuka crossed her arms on her chest and seriously pondered over the possible options for about 30 seconds, after which she raised her index finger and answered seriously.

「A multi-tailed monster with splendidly fluttering golden hair, and a giant youkai that can summon all of Japan’s demons at her command… are you perhaps Tamamo no Mae, the famous Nine Tailed Fox?」

「Ahaha… do you have a death wish, girl?」

A golden-haired demon fox before them kept smiling, but the aura of anger around ger grew so severe that just with her words alone she was able to tear all of the folding screens that surrounded them into tiny pieces, causing Asuka to freeze in place with a stiff face.

It seems that she had unintentionally stepped on a large landmine that instantly changed the friendly atmosphere they had until now, but at the current moment Asuka doesn’t have enough information to correct herself.

Alma, unable to see Asuka stiffening with a large amount of cold sweat pouring down all over her, took a step forward with a sigh.

「Please forgive my Master’s rudeness, as it was caused by her own ignorance. May I be allowed to answer your question in her stead?」