Chapter 246: A Foxian Tale of the Haunted 『 Part Twenty-one 』
「 The three of them found Hanya with hearts burning in anxiety. After explaining their purpose, a shadow also fell across Hanya's usually expressionless face.
"Searching aimlessly is definitely not an option," The group decided. "Let's find Cirrus first."
Faced with their interrogation, Cirrus admitted it openly and generously. Huohuo had indeed come looking for clues about Tail. Cirrus had played along, using intelligence about Tail to lure Huohuo to Cloudford. However, Tail was not there; only the other heliobi lay in wait for Huohuo to walk right into their trap.
"You need to have faith in your friend! Perhaps Huohuo is safe and sound. Perhaps she even subdued that heliobus effortlessly? Maybe if you rush to Cloudford now, you can still find her?"
Cirrus smirked with sarcastic malice. Although its demeanor was thoroughly punchable, now was not the time to deal with it. The Trailblazer and the others rushed to Cloudford without stopping, and sure enough, they found Huohuo lying on the ground near the skiff docks.
Huohuo didn't look like she had simply fainted, yet she was completely unresponsive. Hanya deduced that her consciousness had been hijacked by a heliobus, much like Bailu and Fu Xuan before her.
Hanya intended to take Huohuo back to the Ten-Lords Commission, assuring them that they had their own methods to drag the heliobus out.
But Guinaifen was frantic with worry and hurriedly pressed, "Miss Hanya, please tell me honestly, does the Ten-Lords Commission really have a way?"
"…"
After a moment of consideration, Hanya slowly produced a Lunar Gourd from behind her back. "We will let another heliobus help us exorcise the demon and expel the entity occupying Huohuo's mind."
"But… how could a heliobus possibly be willing to help humans?" Guinaifen suddenly realized something, her eyes widening. "Wait—Miss Hanya, do you mean…?"
Tail drifted leisurely out of the gourd.
"Tail… was actually kept here with me." 」
「 .....」
〜Journey To The West World〜
Nezha kicked over the stone table beside him, his crimson eyes fixed dead on the sky screen, teeth grinding audibly.
"Those people at the Ten-Lords Commission… they knew exactly where Tail was, yet they chose to play dumb! They let Huohuo get schemed against by that trash, Cirrus!"
Ao Bing stood quietly to the side. With a light brush of his sleeve, a stream of clear spring water materialized from thin air, steadying the toppling table. He looked up at the sky screen and shook his head gently.
"Nezha, as a judge of the Ten-Lords Commission, Miss Hanya must have had her reasons."
"Reasons?!"
Nezha scoffed.
"Are you talking out of your ass? Their 'reason' was to stay silent and watch Huohuo run around frantically like an ant on a hot pan? To watch her get possessed by another heliobus?!"
"Huohuo lacked confidence before. She always believed she only joined the Ten-Lords Commission because of Tail. But Tail's disappearance this time… for her, it is both a trial and an opportunity to build her own confidence."
Ao Bing gazed at the sky screen, his voice like wind brushing over a cold pool.
"Such opportunities are rare. Perhaps Huohuo will only get this one chance in her life. Besides… Nezha, you must trust the methods of the Ten-Lords Commission."
Ao Bing said softly.
"Even if you don't want to trust the Commission, trust Tail. Trust the bond they have cultivated over so many years."
"Do you think Tail looks like the kind of heliobus who would obediently surrender Huohuo to another of his kind?"
"…That sentence was really convoluted."
"Was it?"
Ao Bing smiled faintly.
"As long as you understand."
—
「 "Wh… What?!" Guinaifen's voice unconsciously rose several octaves.
"Little girl, don't make such a fuss." Tail wore his usual look of nonchalance.
"Make a fuss?! Huohuo hasn't been eating or sleeping just to find you, and now some other bad thing has taken advantage of the situation!" Sushang looked at Tail with blame written all over her face.
"You little ball of fire! What on earth is going on?" Guinaifen hadn't recovered from her shock and looked at Hanya with a bewildered expression. "Don't tell me, Miss Hanya, you knew all along?"
Hanya explained that all wandering heliobi must be sealed. This was not only a regulation but also Tail's own request.
Tail recalled the experience of that night, feeling as if his consciousness were about to shatter, seeing his past flash before his eyes like a revolving lantern. He had thought that since he escaped, he should find a new body and live freely, but—
"He was lucky. He met me," Hanya interjected.
Tail rolled his eyes. "Just my rotten luck to run into this demoness…" Hanya's gaze lowered, and he immediately corrected himself tactfully. "I mean, judge!"
Back when Tail was around, Huohuo had complained endlessly, grumbling about how much she hated her life then. Speaking of this, Tail laughed with schadenfreude.
"Heh heh, she didn't cherish a powerful superior like the great me. Now that I'm gone, she's crying to the heavens in regret. I just wanted to hear her cry. So in a fit of pique, I let this demoness… judge… put me in the gourd."
Hanya offered Tail a chance to return to his original state. He wouldn't have to go back into the gourd, but instead return to Huohuo—on the condition that he drives out the intruder inside her.
"I say, we're old colleagues after all. Leave it to yours truly!" 」
「 .....」
〜KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World〜
In the tavern, Aqua suddenly jumped down from a wine barrel, her long blue hair tracing an arc in the air. She pointed her right hand at the light screen in the sky, letting out a strange shriek like a monkey.
"Oh, oh, oh, I get it!"
Aqua formed a small circle with her mouth, wearing an expression of sudden realization.
"Isn't this exactly Kazuma's attitude toward me, the Goddess!"
Kazuma lay paralyzed on the bench like a salted fish. Hearing this, he lazily lifted one eyelid.
"Hah? What kind of daydream is this useless goddess—who doesn't even qualify as a mascot—spouting now?"
Aqua flicked her long hair back with her right hand, putting on an "I understand you" expression, and snickered.
"Hmph, Kazuma, if one day I…"
"I'll throw a party to celebrate,"
Kazuma interrupted decisively, casually tossing a half-eaten apple core with precision into Aqua's open mouth.
"PFFT—!"
Aqua spat out the core in a fluster, stomping her feet in anger.
"You… you guy…"
But immediately, a spark of inspiration struck her. She clasped her hands in prayer, a cunning light—one that shouldn't belong to her—flashing in her eyes.
"I know, Kazuma. You only say that because you're afraid of losing me! This is what they call tsundere, right? Oh my, you really aren't honest at all. When the day comes that I get captured by the Demon King's army…"
"I'll help pack your bags,"
Kazuma yawned.
—