Feast

Lucina and I chuckle a little seeing the expression of Vali and his team. You will never think that a price for killing a Super Devil is cookies and a head pat.

"What?"

"Cookies"

Once again, Ophis said it as if it was all the answer Vali needed to know, and it was all the answer he needed to know. So Vali decides to give up translating what Ophis is saying and looks at me.

"What she means she decides to kill Rizevim is because I bribe her with cookies. Right Ophis?"

"En!"

I chuckle once again when I see Vali's expression after I said that.

"D-Do you mean that Ophis is willing to kill Rizevim because you bribe her with Cookies?"

"And head pat, don't forget about head pat."

"... and head pat. You bribe Ophis to kill Rizevim, a powerful devil, using cookies and head pat?"

"Yup!"

I can see Vali still did not believe me but seeing Ophis nodding her head, he knows that I'm telling the truth.

"Haaaa…. Anyway, the reason why we come here is to thank you for killing Rizevim."

"And after doing that? You already give your thanks. What will you do now?"

"To be honest, I don't really know. The only thing we can do right now is doing an odd job. Right now, we are an illegal mercenary after the Khaos Brigade has been disbanded."

"Why not go back to Azazel?"

".... I don't want to."

I sigh a little. I guess Vali's pride made him stay away from Azazel.

"Well, if there is nothing else, please leave my home. I need to buy some formal clothes."

"Very well. Thank you for your hospitality."

I then escort Vali and his team away from my pocket dimension. After seeing them disappear from my sight, we begin to start to walk to the mall nearby.

~The Next Day~

Lucina, Valerie, Ophis, and I arrive in front of the palace where Yasaka and Kunou lived. As we arrive in front of the palace gate, we are greeted by a pair of Karasu Tengu.

"Good morning. I have an appointment with Yasaka."

"Good morning, Isaac-sama. Yasaka-sama is waiting in the meeting room. Please follow the servant behind me. She will be the one leading you there."

I look at the Karasu Tengu back and see a raccoon youkai bowing at us. We follow the young raccoon youkai, and after a few seconds of walking, we arrive in front of a massive room. As we walk inside the room, I can see Yasaka and Kunou sitting on the chair inside the room.

"Ah! Isaac, Lucina, Ophis, and…?"

"Valerie, Lady Yasaka"

"Call me Yasaka, dear. If Isaac brings you here, that means he trusts you. If he trusts you, then you are a good person. A person that we can trust."

Valerie blushed a little at what Yasaka said.

"Anyway, welcome back, Isaac. It is nice to see you once again."

"It is nice to meet you."

"Sadly, Amaterasu-sama has not arrived yet. She will arrive in a few minutes; before then, please enjoy the feast."

With that being said, we begin to enjoy the feast Yasaka prepared for all of us. The first one taking charge is Ophis, who immediately takes a big bite of the food. While eating the food, I hear Kunou asking me a question.

"Em… Isaac-sama, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure"

"How do you grow the trees using Natural Energy?"

"Do you know the characteristics of Natural Energy?"

"Characteristic?"

"Natural Energy is the energy of life. It has the characteristics of Destruction, Life and Nurturing."

"Really?"

"Yes. Life! Natural Energy can bring life. This characteristic is the reason why Natural Energy can be used to heal. Nurturing! Natural energy can increase the growth of someone. Not only that, but the physical boost from using Senjutsu is also coming from this characteristic. Lastly, Destruction! Natural energy can be used to destroy the user's enemy."

"I see… Why do I just hear about this?"

"Because too many people use the destruction aspect of Natural Energy. When people hear Senjutsu, they will immediately think about an individual that can destroy a mountain with their hands. The other one is how a Senjutsu practitioner type is like flipping a coin. On one side, they are a normal and even kind individual. On the other side of the coin is a madman that only wants to kill people because the tainted Natural Energy corrupts them."

Kunou tries to say something but decides that what I'm saying is right.

"People often forget that Natural Energy is not about destruction but rather giving life and protection. The destruction characteristic of Natural Energy is part of its protection. Natural Energy did not attack first. They endure, but when the others keep disturbing nature? Then you will get nature wrath."

"I see, but how can you grow a tree using Natural Energy."

"Ah, pardon me. Instead of using the destruction characteristic of Natural Energy, you need to use its Life and Nurturing characteristic."

I create a magic circle and create a plant pot, then fill it with dirt.

"First thing first, you need to do the method I told you in the past. After doing that, you do not order Natural Energy. Instead, tell your intent to the Natural Energy, tell it what you want and gently push a little bit of your energy. After doing that, you will get yourself a sapling. Come on, try it."

I push the plant pot toward Kunou, who starts to close her eyes. After a few seconds, I can see the movement of the Natural Energy begin to change.

A minute later, I see Kunou open up her eyes, and I can see a small sapling coming out from the dirt. Then, I can see Kunou smile brightly at her success and look at me with a star inside her eyes.

"I did it! I did it, Isaac-sama!"

"Yup, good job."

"Hehehehe~"

I smile at her and give her a head pat. She must be a genius, or is it because she is a Youkai who has a better connection to Natural Energy. I need at least almost a month to create a sapling only using mana.

I need to use some seeds before I go summoning a tree out of nowhere.

"Remember to use your imagination. You can think about summoning a massive tree or just its root. If you did not specify which plant you want to grow, nature would choose the most common tree in the area, which in this case: A sakura tree."

"En! I will train even harder!"

"Good."

I give her another head pat.

"My~ I never thought there is another method of using Senjutsu. That is really impressive, Isaac-kun."

I look to the left and see Amaterasu and Susanoo walk inside the room. Amaterasu has a curious expression, while Susanoo has an excited expression.

"This is just something I learn in my time."

"Then it was even more impressive! You have not yet reached the age of twenty, are you?"

"No, I'm not. I just passed the age of sixteen."

"You become more and more interesting."

"Thank you."

Amaterasu smiled at me and sat down on the chair in front of us.

"Before we start the business, let us enjoy the feast, shall we?"

~3 hours later~

It took three hours before the feast was over. The reason it takes so long? Lucina and Susanoo decide to have a drinking match. Susanoo sees Lucina drinking sake like it was water intrigues him and decides to challenge her to a drinking contest.

Of course, Susanoo did not use his divine power in this match. While Lucina is a heavy drinker, she is down after drinking the hundredth or so barrel full of sake. So here I'm alone with Yasaka and Amaterasu while Ophis, Valerie, and Kunou look after Lucina and Susanoo.

"Now we have some peace. Let us start the business, shall we?"

"Please"

After I said that, Amaterasu summoned a massive scroll and placed it on the table.

"Inside this scroll is the payment for the Adamantium you sold to us. Inside this scroll, there are Ten tons worth of gold, twenty-five tons worth of silver, two thousand books and scroll, and lastly, a few tons worth of plants. From poisonous plants to healing plants, I already separate it to know which plant you can touch directly and which plant you cannot touch directly. Some of those plants need to be planted right away after you take them away from the scroll. There is also some sword and armor from my personal armory. I hope this is good enough for you?"

Holy shit! That is a lot. A lot more than what Azazel gave to us. Ten tons worth of gold? I think it alone is worth more than one billion yen. Of course, there is also silver and plants that are ready to be planted. However, what makes me drooled a little is the number of books and scrolls inside this scroll.

While it was not as much as the book Azazel gave to me, it was still a lot.

"Yes. It is good enough for me. It is nice to have a business with you."

"Think nothing of it. First, you rescue Yasaka, you sold the strongest Demonic Sword in the world to us, and lastly, you sold an Adamantium that we really need right now."

"Speaking of Adamantium, can I ask how you use the Adamantium? Do you use it to make armor? Weapon?"

"No. We use it to make a Magatama."

"What?"

"Yes. We use it to make Magatama. This Magatama used to create a strong barrier across Japan."

"I see. Can I ask why?"

"Why do we want to make a National wide barrier?"

"Yes."

"The short version is Stray Devil."

"The long answer?"

"The long answer is because we want to intimidate the devil. This is our way of saying that we still owned Japan, and they cannot just dump their Stray Devil in my country. They cannot resurrect my subject and make them a slave to the devil as much as they want like in the past."

Ahh, I see. It looks like the Shinto faction already had enough of the shenanigan of the devil.

"We also want to protect the youkai. Do you know how many Nekomata are afraid of getting out of their hiding place?"

"No. A hundred?"

"Five hundred and fifty nekomata."

"They are afraid the devil will hunt the rest of them just because one of the heirs of their pillar is killed. What makes me angry is that they did not investigate it. Instead, satan leaves it to the council, who decides that Kuroka is guilty and declares her a stray devil. If only they decide to investigate it immediately, they will find the evidence, but instead, they decide to ignore it and let the Old Satan faction erase the evidence."

"If the evidence is erased, how do you know this?"

"The nekomata that survive the massacre are willing to tell us the reason why this accident happened. But, before you say something, Nekomata is one of the sneakiest Youkai you will ever find. They are a master spy and assassins by nature. So finding the reason why they get hunted down rather easy for them."

"I see."

"We really want to declare war against them, but we don't want another war. Especially against a race that can get many people fighting for them."

"May people fight for them?"

"Do you know how many magicians willing to sell their soul just to become a contracted magician?"

"Many of them?"

"Try all of them. The magician will sell their soul to the devil to increase their power. That is the nature of humans. While yes, there are people like you, however, the majority of them? They are the same."

"I see."

"That is why it is really tricky to fight against the devil. Not only do they have a powerful devil in their rank, but they also have a powerful bloodline. From the Hole to the Power of Destruction. Those two bloodline powers alone can cause too many headaches for us."

"I see. Are they already making the barrier?"

"No. Tonight is the time we will make the barrier. We already sent an ambassador to the underworld to meet with the Devil and Fallen Angel. They already tell them that we will make a barrier around Japan. We also tell them that they need a permit to go to Japan. So I call you here to tell you that we want to add you to the barrier. You are the friend of Shinto and Youkai faction, after all."

"Thank you. I'm really touched."

"You deserve it. Anyway, we are finished here, or do you want to do another business with us?"

"Not at the moment."

"Then we should go back before Susanoo do something stupid in his drunken state."