["I'm off to travel. If you come looking for me, you'll be seen as a bad kid."]
["Don't worry about me. No matter where I go,"]
["we'll always be good friends."]
Hanayama's story ended here. The Blue Oni had vanished, leaving only the Red Oni behind.
Readers understood. Based on this story, with Arataki Itto's silly demeanor, he must be the Red Oni.
Oh, right, there was his portrait at the start. They hadn't looked closely before, but now they noticed his horns were indeed red. It made sense.
[Hanayama: "What I want to tell you is that the Oni clan sacrificed a lot back then to integrate with humans, but there's still an unstable element in their nature."]
["This instability is passed down through their bloodline. Arataki Itto hasn't done anything bad before, but who knows if he might have a sudden change in temperament one day?"]
Readers were speechless. That's what you got from the story? We did better than that! And you call yourself a detective?
This was mainly because modern Inazumans didn't understand yokai. To them, yokai were more of a "self-imagined image."
In the past, Inazumans were more accepting of yokai, as there were many back then, and people interacted with them often.
Now, yokai were rare, and those who interacted with humans were even rarer.
Gradually, humans forgot what yokai were like—their appearances, their temperaments—and could only fill in the gaps with imagination, leading to all sorts of good and bad assumptions.
Back to the story, Hanayama, as a detective, was still useful. She provided Arataki Itto's whereabouts—he was on Yashiori Island.
Now readers were a bit confused. You're a high-level detective!
Even the Tenryou Commission didn't know where Arataki Itto was hiding, yet you investigated so thoroughly?
Then what was with that earlier conclusion? It didn't seem like something a competent detective would irresponsibly claim. Was it intentional?
Whether Hanayama did it on purpose, only she knew. Reading this part, her sly little eyes were full of cunning. She didn't share the information with the Tenryou Commission but with the Traveler, and her intentions were clear.
In the story, she also gave the Traveler a bag of beans, saying that if they encountered Arataki Itto, they could scatter them, as he was particularly allergic to beans.
In reality, Arataki Itto felt a chill just thinking about being pelted with beans—it made him uneasy.
"That's so underhanded! Using such tactics!" Arataki Itto complained.
But his complaints were useless. In the story, Lumine didn't hesitate to throw a handful of beans at him when she found him.
After scattering the beans, Paimon asked:
["A-Are you okay?"]
Readers were speechless. If you were really worried about him, you wouldn't have thrown the beans in the first place.
Asking if he's okay after scattering the beans? That behavior feels so malicious!
[Arataki Itto forced himself to say: "I'm fine, don't worry… It's just an allergy…"]
["This level, I just need to grit my teeth, and it's no big deal… ugh…"]
[Arataki Itto couldn't hold on anymore. "Forget it, I can't keep pretending! I'm suffocating! Whatever you want to talk about, let me rest first!"]
Readers nodded. Yep, definitely a fool. No mistake there.
But this fool was gentler than they'd imagined. In this situation, he didn't even lose his temper. Who said he was emotionally unstable? That's nonsense!
After Itto recovered, the Traveler asked about the case, and Arataki Itto admitted to it without hesitation.
However, his quick admission only made people more suspicious.
His reasons felt too casual, and when asked why he kidnapped someone, he stumbled over his words, as if he didn't even know what was going on.
Could it be that someone from the Arataki Gang did it, and he was just taking the blame for them?
[Arataki Itto: "What's with all the questions? I said I'm not going with you, so asking is pointless."]
[Paimon, righteously: "That won't do. We took the commission, so we have to bring you back."]
[Arataki Itto frowned, glaring at Paimon: "Huh? Look me in the eyes and say that again."]
[Paimon immediately chickened out, pointing at the Traveler and saying weakly: "I… she took the commission! She's the one who has to bring you back!"]
Regarding Paimon's lightning-fast deflection, in reality, Lumine put her hands on her hips, giving Paimon a dead-fish stare.
"This… uh…" Paimon scratched her head. "Ehe."
"Looks like I need to use Lucian's technique," Lumine sighed.
She grabbed Paimon in her arms and started rubbing her temples with her knuckles.
"Help!" Paimon flailed her little hands for rescue, but unfortunately, they were out adventuring with no one else around.
On the bright side, Lumine's chest was bigger than Lucian's, so at least it felt softer when being rubbed against it.
Lumine knew this future had already been avoided, but she didn't care whether it would happen—she was going to bully little Paimon first, hehe.
In the story, Arataki Itto, like Lumine, was about to resort to force but was interrupted by a child.
Behind the child was an old lady, gently reminding the kid to be careful not to fall.
As soon as the child appeared, Arataki Itto put on an act, claiming the Traveler was his subordinate.
For the sake of the child, the kind-hearted big sister Lumine didn't contradict him.
But Daisuke was still worried about Itto, as he looked unsteady and pale.
This was because Itto had just been hit with the "bean attack" and hadn't fully recovered.
Venti could relate to this. If someone threw a bag of cat fur in his face, he'd feel awful too—just like slapping an octopus onto Zhongli's face.
Thinking about it, Itto's temper was pretty good, and his emotions were quite stable, almost like a god's. He could endure without immediately lashing out.
[Arataki Itto explained: "Haha, I was too focused on looking for bugs and hit my head on a tree. No big deal—my horns are sturdy!"]
Readers were utterly speechless at this excuse. A pig crashing into a tree is one thing, but you too? Would anyone actually believe such a terrible excuse?
Even if Alhaitham believed it, this little kid wouldn't!
But guess what? Whoa—! Daisuke believed it.
[Daisuke: "That's good then. Me and Granny will go back and wait for you. Come back soon."]
Maybe no matter how absurd the excuse, as long as it came from Itto, Daisuke would believe it.
Because he believed Itto-nii wouldn't be a bad person. Itto trusted them, and they returned that trust to him.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice · Kuki Shinobu: About Arataki Itto's Story
"Hm, that's just how the boss is. He doesn't want others to sacrifice, and he'd never do anything with the intent of causing sacrifice!"