The pale moonlight shone on the two figures, one large and one small, in the courtyard, allowing them to see each other's faces clearly. The smaller figure, at this moment, had a flushed face and was looking up at the tall figure beside her.
"Sir Lancer, did you meet Kaguya-hime? They say Lady Kaguya-hime is a 'Celestial Maiden', is that true? Is she beautiful?"
Fujiwara no Mokou, who had been staying at home all the time, mostly read ancient biographies. Her favorite characters were those 'Samurai (Heroes)' and 'Celestial Maidens/Goddesses/Hime (Princesses)' in the stories, so she was very interested in the encounter between Lancer (the Samurai) and Kaguya-hime (the Celestial Maiden).
Lancer, however, pinched his chin with a strange expression.
"I did meet her, and she really seems to be a 'Celestial Maiden', but beautiful... should I say beautiful or cute?"
Black hair like a waterfall, an exquisite face, and an ethereal aura revealed in every gesture were Lancer first impressions of 'Kaguya-hime', even giving Lancer the illusion that the other party was not a 'human'. But then he realized that the other party looked only about 13 or 14 years old, and was not much older than Fujiwara no Mokou. If he were to say 'beautiful', he really couldn't bring himself to say it. After all, compared to 'beautiful', he thought 'cute' was more suitable for children.
And Fujiwara no Mokou, hearing Lancer evaluation, tilted her head, seeming a little confused by Lancer words. After all, she had heard that her father immediately proposed to Kaguya-hime after seeing her. In her guess, the other party should be an extremely beautiful person, but for some reason, hearing Lancer evaluation made her feel like the other party was a child?
"Let's sit and chat."
Just like before, Lancer and Fujiwara no Mokou sat directly on the corridor. Lancer naturally couldn't tell the other party about Kaguya-hime 'special situation'. After all, he still wanted to get some good equipment or skills from Kaguya-hime through the quest, but he did tell the other party about going to find her alone after Fujiwara no Fuhito left.
Generally speaking, Lancer would not tell others about such things, but looking at the other party's expectant eyes... he was defeated.
But even so, in less than 20 minutes, Lancer found that he seemed to have nothing more to say about this trip?
"Cough cough~ Sorry, Miss Fujiwara, there doesn't seem to be anything interesting this time."
Lancer could clearly sense that the girl in front of him looked a little disappointed, but then the other party smiled and looked up.
"It's okay. I believe you will definitely encounter interesting things next time, and then... then you can tell me about it..."
Looking at Fujiwara no Mokou soft expression, Lancer couldn't help but want to pinch the other party's face, but he finally held back. And the way she blushed after blessing him with her little 'selfishness' was truly interesting~
"Then thank you for your kind words, Miss Fujiwara. If I encounter anything interesting next time, I will tell you about it, alright?"
"Mm!"
Looking at Fujiwara no Mokou slightly excited expression, Lancer also touched the other party's head with his hand, and Fujiwara no Mokou, whose head was being touched, felt a little embarrassed. After all, the Shishō in her home taught her that as a girl, she shouldn't be casually touched by other men.
'But it's just my hair, so it should be fine, right? And... it feels very comfortable...'
Lancer had to admit that he had gained experience in grooming his three 'partners'. Even if he hadn't maxed out his head-patting skill, he was close.
And perhaps because Lancer head-patting was indeed too comfortable, Fujiwara no Mokou, who was already a little tired, also felt sleepy. She even squinted her eyes and nodded off...
Looking at the cute-looking Fujiwara no Mokou, Lancer felt like he was about to lose control of his hands again.
In order not to do anything strange, Lancer simply carried Fujiwara no Mokou back to the bedroom, tucked her in, blew out the candle, and left her room. However, before leaving, he couldn't help but reveal a smile again.
When he held the other party just now, the other party's body unconsciously tensed up, and that flushed smiling face and constantly trembling eyebrows were truly interesting.
When the door was closed and the footsteps gradually faded away, Fujiwara no Mokou, who had her eyes closed, finally opened her eyes. Although she was indeed made very comfortable by Lancer head-patting and felt sleepy just now, being picked up by a man had awakened her long ago. It was just that she was too shy to know how to react, so she simply pretended to be asleep all along. Finally, she couldn't help but pull her hand out from under the quilt and touched her slightly hot face.
For her, who saw the same thing every day, the 'stories' Lancer told her could be said to have opened the door to a new world.
'So there are so many unknown things in this world? And that 'Kaguya-hime', I really want to see what she looks like with my own eyes...'
It was still the same ceiling that she had seen countless times, but at this moment, Fujiwara no Mokou felt that it also seemed more novel than usual.
'I wonder when Sir Lancer will come next time?'
With this small expectation, she truly fell asleep this time...
——————
Lancer, who returned to his room and was about to rest, soon heard a sound of hurried footsteps, and judging from the change in the footsteps, they seemed to be coming towards him...
'Is there trouble again?'
Before Lancer could finish his self-mockery, the footsteps stopped abruptly, and a figure appeared in front of his door.
"Whoosh~"
The wooden door was pulled open with great force, and the funashiyaku looked at Lancer with an extremely bad expression.
'Did the fact that I secretly went to see Kaguya-hime last night get exposed?'
But just when Lancer was considering how much force to use to knock out the funashiyaku, his acquaintance, the other party spoke first.
"Lancer, I apologize for disturbing you so late, but this time, you must help us!"
The funashiyaku had always behaved very casually, as if everything was under control. Even when talking to Fujiwara no Fuhito, he only maintained the necessary humility, and when chatting with Lancer, he always had a strange smile, and his conversation was basically focused on 'chatting'. Even some tasks were dealt with casually, but now?
His serious expression and the words he clearly wouldn't usually say made Lancer realize that the matter to follow would probably be very troublesome.
But even so, Lancer still didn't agree immediately, as he didn't know what the other party was going to say next.
"Tell me what it is first."
Lancer, putting on his coat, directly lit the candle and walked out, and the funashiyaku seemed unsurprised that Lancer hadn't agreed immediately and nodded.
"Lancer, since your goal is to hunt Youkai, I think you are no stranger to 'Tengu', right?"