Chapter 179: The Bride Price is a Golden Offering Box?
After resolving the matter with Su Ning, Haruto and Kaguya didn't return directly to Gensokyo. Instead, they made a detour, stopping by King Chen's wife's home for dinner.
One could only say that fate was a cruel trickster.
Even now, Chen Qin had not returned. Typically, an instance lasted a day or two; even the longer ones rarely exceeded a week. With so much time having passed, there was only one grim possibility left—she had died in her instance.
Haruto didn't say much. He left a considerable sum of money for the family before returning to Gensokyo with Kaguya. Once there, they parted ways, each heading to their own home.
It was on his way to the Hakurei Shrine that Haruto encountered someone he would rather avoid almost as much as Shikieiki Yamaxanadu—Wriggle Nightbug.
It wasn't that Wriggle was unpleasant. On the contrary, she was a rather cute girl, with two slender antennae twitching atop her head. The problem was her entourage. As a bug youkai, she was perpetually surrounded by a writhing, crawling swarm of her subjects: centipedes, caterpillars, spiders… you name it.
Haruto wasn't afraid of bugs, but faced with such an overwhelming legion, even Yakumo Yukari would be forced to make a strategic retreat. Of course, knowing his sister's personality, she was far more likely to simply open a gap and send Wriggle and her entire swarm straight to the Underworld.
This time, however, something was different. The moment Wriggle spotted him, she didn't fly over for her usual enthusiastic greeting. Instead, her body went rigid, and she adopted a guarded posture, staring at him as if he were some primordial beast of terror. She scurried backward, then backward again, and again, until she seemed to reach what she deemed a safe distance. Then, with a frantic buzz, she shot into the sky and vanished.
A subtle, thoughtful look crossed Haruto's face. This was, without a doubt, the effect of the insect-intimidating aura he had acquired from the last instance. He just hadn't expected it to work quite so spectacularly on one of Gensokyo's own.
He shook his head with a faint sigh and continued his walk toward the Hakurei Shrine.
When he arrived, he found Marisa already there, lounging in the side hall and shamelessly mooching snacks. The table beside her was piled high with empty boxes, a clear proof of her voracious appetite. Reimu, for her part, shot the magician a look of disdain but made no move to actually chase her away.
"Rich guy!"
The instant Haruto's form entered her peripheral vision, Reimu's eyes lit up. With a soundless whoosh, she vanished from her spot. She reappeared a moment later bearing two trays—one holding a pot of freshly brewed, fragrant tea, and the other a plate of exquisite, artfully crafted pastries.
Beside her, Marisa glanced at the offerings, which were clearly several tiers above what she'd been given. The mochi she was halfway through chewing suddenly tasted like bland paste. She puffed out her cheeks, her sense of injustice flaring.
"Talk about favoritism! How come I don't get this kind of treatment when I visit, ze?"
Reimu spared her a sideways glance. "Can you help me earn a fortune? Haruto helped me make nearly a million."
Marisa was rendered speechless. Reimu, however, wasn't finished, adding another jab with a resentful tone. "Besides, you've been eating non-stop since you got here this morning!"
Marisa began sheepishly poking her index fingers together, muttering under her breath, "I-I was just keeping you company..."
Ignoring her completely, Reimu turned to pour Haruto a cup of tea, her expression shifting smoothly into a brilliant, welcoming smile. "What brings you here today, my favorite patron?"
"I need to ask for your help with something."
Reimu slapped her chest with theatrical gusto. "Just say the word! As long as it's something I can do, I'll go through fire and water for you without a second thought!"
"There's no need for that level of exaggeration." Haruto's eyelid twitched. "I seem to recall Yukari mentioning that the hot spring at the Yakumo estate was made when you smashed a hole in the ground with a Yin-Yang Orb. I was hoping you could help me smash a pit of my own."
"Leave it to me!" Reimu patted her not-so-ample chest again, her face radiating an expression that screamed, 'Trust me, I'm a professional.'
"Me, me, me!" Marisa shot her hand into the air, her delicate face alight with excitement. "I can help too, ze!"
"You can come along too," Haruto said, nodding. He had planned to ask her anyway. Since she clearly had nothing better to do, putting her to work would keep her out of trouble and contribute, however slightly, to the public safety of Gensokyo.
Seeing the two girls already starting to pack up their things in preparation to leave, Haruto held up a hand. "No rush. Let me at least have a cup of tea and a pastry first."
As he sipped his tea, his mind drifted back to the questions Su Ning had asked him earlier that day. Lost in thought, he found himself speaking the words aloud.
"Reimu..."
"If I asked you to help me clean my house, would you do it?"
"Of course," Reimu answered without a moment's hesitation.
"What about prostrating yourself and worshipping me like a god?"
Reimu's reply was just as straightforward. "No problem."
"Pouring tea, serving water, washing clothes, cooking?"
"That too."
"Then... warming the bed?"
The question slipped out while he was still reminiscing. By the time he realized how inappropriate it was, the words were already hanging in the air.
To his astonishment, Reimu subconsciously nodded. "Yes! As long as it's you..."
Her words came to an abrupt halt as her brain finally caught up. Her face flushed crimson. Just as Marisa's jaw dropped open to make a comment, Reimu snatched a large piece of mochi from the plate and expertly stuffed it into the magician's mouth, silencing her.
Haruto had intended to just let the awkward moment pass, pretending nothing had happened. But after a brief, charged pause, Reimu nodded again, her voice softer but firm.
"As long as you, my dear patron, are willing to marry me, I'll do it. Just... don't forget to have that person give me the bride price she promised."
"Bride price?" Haruto asked, bewildered.
"A golden offering box."
Haruto's eyelid twitched violently. He couldn't believe it. His meddlesome sister had already priced him out and sold him off.
While silently questioning all his life choices, he finished the mochi on his plate and drained the rest of his tea in one gulp. "Alright, let's go. It's getting late. If we wait any longer—Marisa!?"
Marisa's face had turned a ghastly shade of pale. She was slumped over the table, completely motionless. Haruto hastily pulled out a Strong Healing Potion, but he couldn't get a single drop past her clenched teeth.
Reimu, snapping out of her daze, rushed forward to help, casting one healing spell after another on Marisa's body.
"Ugh... ghk..."
Under the sheer weight of several tons' worth of healing magic, Marisa's legs gave a few feeble kicks, and she finally managed to draw a ragged breath. She pointed frantically at her throat, letting out muffled, desperate whimpers.
"Choking? Breathe through your nose!" Haruto instructed.
Marisa nodded at first, then shook her head violently, her face rapidly turning pale again.
Anxiety spiked in Haruto. He grabbed her by the waist, flipped her upside down, and began shaking her vigorously. A chaotic jumble of miscellaneous items—mushrooms, small bottles, and other pilfered trinkets—tumbled out from her bloomers, but the object lodged in her throat remained stubbornly stuck.
"Let me!" Reimu shouted, clenching her fist as it began to glow with spiritual power.
Under Marisa's terrified gaze, she delivered a powerful, precise strike right into the magician's soft stomach.
FWOOMP!
A large, white, sticky rice cake shot out of Marisa's mouth and splattered against the far wall. She went limp in Haruto's arms, gasping for air, her delicate face etched with the lingering fear of a soul who had just seen the light at the end of the tunnel.
"I almost... I almost died, ze..." she wheezed. She turned her head, wrapping her arms weakly around Haruto's neck as she murmured sadly, "Just now... I saw myself on a boat... and there was someone with a really big chest asking me for a river-crossing fee!"
After that harrowing incident, Marisa swore off sticky rice cakes for the rest of her life.
"It's okay, it's okay," Haruto said, patting her back comfortingly. "I'm friends with Komachi. Next time you end up over there, just mention my name. I'm sure she'll waive the fee for you."
"Wait... that's not the point!" Marisa cried out, her voice thick with grief and indignation. "Shouldn't you be promising to bring me back?! What do you mean she'll 'waive the fee'?!"
"Cough... a slip of the tongue. Don't worry, Komachi will give me some face. She'll definitely fish you out of the river for me."
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