001 - What Makes it Hard to Go Home ?

Kunou continued to drag the two of us, possibly towards Yasaka Shrine because that's where she lived.

However she right now dragged us through the forest... at first, she just led us along the regular road but in the middle of walking, Kunou suddenly turned onto a narrow path that led into the woods.

Kunou said this was the usual way she went when she wanted to sneak out without anyone knowing.

Sturm and I just followed Kunou, letting her drag us along by holding our hands. Besides, she seemed happy and had been humming the whole time.

"Hmm~ hmm~ hmm~ hmm~" Kunou hummed happily, eager to explore the city without being surrounded by her guards.

Whenever she told her mother she wanted to go out for a walk, her mother always sent many guards with her... and it made her anxious and unable to enjoy her walk because people were always staring at her and her guards.

"She seems really happy," Sturm said as she watched Kunou in front of her.

"Well, I'm glad she's having fun, but what do you want to do with the people who have been following us, or more specifically Kunou?" I said to Sturm while glancing back slightly.

I felt like someone is staring at us. I thought it was some creature that could sense my aura, but when I thinking about it I felt that person started to staring at us when I met Kunou.

So it could be said that Kunou is their target, and from the timeline, it seems that the ones following us are the Hero Faction, who use the power of sacred gear to spy on us from different dimensions.

If i remember isn't it Georg with the Sacred Gear Dimension Lost? His Dimension which even Odin who is highly knowledgeable about magic can't easily escape if he get trapped in Georg dimension?

I wonder if his sacred gear can withstand an attack from Paradise Lost or not... but for now, I will focus on taking Kunou home first before dealing with them.

"There! I can see my house!" Both of us heard Kunou's excited shout as she pointed ahead.

We then followed the direction she pointed and saw a large house that looked like a traditional Japanese-style home.

"Oh, is that your house, Kunou? Your house looks very unique, like the shrine both of us visited earlier," Sturm said to Kunou, looking impressed with her home.

"Yes, that is where my mother and I live. There are also other maids who like to help me and my mother takes care of many things," Kunou nodded happily.

But as we got closer to the house, I suddenly sensed that something is about to happen, so I pulled Kunou and moved her behind us.

"Eh?" Kunou is confused when suddenly she found herself behind us. But before she could ask what is happening, I saw many yokai suddenly appear in front of us.

"Princess Kunou, are you okay!? You!! What do you both want to do with Princess Kunou?" One of the yokai shouted at us.

Well, this escalated quickly... but before I could tell them that we were not enemies, Kunou suddenly walked in front of us.

Unlike before, I could feel the aura as a leader from Kunou, which was very different from the childish aura from her that I felt before.

"Stop!! They are my guests! Stop your spell!!" Kunou shouted firmly at the numerous Yokai.

All the Yokai looked confused about what they should do. At first, they panicked when they found Princess Kunou suddenly missing from her room, so they all tried to search for her for hours.

But when they found her she suddenly brought two strangers with her, they didn't know if the two individuals had malicious intentions and only wanted to take advantage of Princess Kunou or not.

And because of Princess Kunou's command, they couldn't attack them as, per Lady Yasaka's orders, they had to capture any strangers entering this place.

"Are you all not listening to me?!" Kunou said to them again, but this time she released her nine-tailed fox and fox ears appeared above her head while emitting her aura.

"Cease!!" Suddenly we all heard a woman's voice that made all the Yokai stop and move to the side, making way for the woman to come forward.

"Eghhh.... Mother??" Kunou recognizing the voice immediately retracted her fox tail and ears, then ran and hid behind the two of us.

Not long i could see a woman wearing a yellow kimono, a golden obi, and a black pelt with gold skulls and lines printed on it... Yasaka, huh.

Yasaka continued to walk until she stopped in front of the many Yokai, then she staring at Sturm and Kunou who's hiding behind her.

But when she saw me, I could see her eyes widen as if she was seeing something from me... I didn't know what she saw, but I could see her body trembling slightly as she tried to control it.

Yasaka then took a deep breath and exhaled it trying to calm her body so she wouldn't tremble and return to normal.

After repeating this a few times, I could see Yasaka's body returning to normal, and she looked at me with her yellow eyes before raising her right hand.

"You all step back and let me handle this," she said to the Yokai behind her.

"But... Lady Yasaka," one of the Yokai seemed unwilling to leave her alone with the two strangers.

"Follow my order!" Yasaka commanded them again, this time with a firmer tone than before.

The Yokai all looked at each other for a moment, but soon nodded and turned back to Yasaka. "Very well, Lady Yasaka, we will be nearby if you need us." They then disappeared from that place.

Although they disappeared, I could sense they were still nearby, so I looked to the side and saw them hiding behind the trees by using some magic.

"Please let them be... They are just worried about me," Yasaka suddenly said to me as I glanced at them.

Kunou is still hiding behind Sturm, afraid of being scolded by her mother. "That's not a problem, so what do you want to talk about?" I asked Yasaka.

After hearing my question Yasaka seemed about to answer but then stopped and looked around. Shortly after she took out a talisman that she ignited with blue flames and threw it to the ground.

As the talisman touched the ground it instantly disappeared and I could sense that we were now surrounded by a barrier. "Barrier?" Sturm muttered as she observed our surroundings.

"Mother?" Kunou peeked from behind Sturm as she sensed her mother suddenly using a spell.

"It's okay, Kunou, I just want to ask something to your guests," Yasaka said kindly to Kunou with a smile.

But before Yasaka could start speaking, I raised my right hand to stop her, causing Yasaka to look confused as to why I stopped her.

I then raised my right hand upwards and used one of my abilities to enhance the Barrier so that the Hero Faction could not listen in on our conversation.

"Atheism."

After I said that, within Yasaka's barrier, another barrier appeared, displaying various colors including red, blue, brown, green, gold, black, and one that was colorless and just pure white.

Atheism is Lucilius's strongest defensive ability, capable of withstanding various attacks and elements, with each color representing a different element resistance within the barrier.

Of all the colors, the one without color and just pure white is the most powerful, an element possessed by no one else in Granblue Fantasy, with resistance to anything, including instant death from Otherworldly beings.

This element is possessed only by someone with the power of Omnipotent Bahamut... Since acquiring this element, I can't even remember the last time someone was able to destroy a barrier I created.

"Wow, it's so beautiful..." Kunou murmured as she admired the beautiful colors of my barrier.

"Is this...?" Yasaka just like Kunou also seemed to be in awe of the barrier I created, as she could sense the power emanating from it.

"This way, the peoples that spying on us won't be able to listen to our conversation," I said to Yasaka.

After Yasaka heard what I said, I could see her look surprised, then she glanced at me and then at Kunou.

I just nodded to Yasaka to confirm what she was currently thinking.

Yasaka then sighed while holding her head. "Hahhh... I knew this would happen again sooner or later."

"You mean this has happened before?" Sturm asked Yasaka while gently rubbing Kunou's head.

"Yes..." Yasaka could only answer resignedly.

"Well, you can talk about that later, so what do you want to ask us?" I said to Yasaka.

Yasaka seemed to regain her composure and returned to her previously calm expression, like when she first arrived here, then she looked back at me. "what is your purpose here? I don't understand why a being as powerful as you would want to visit this city," Yasaka said to me politely.

So she can sense our power huh... I had guessed that she would be able to sense our power, as I had heard from Rias that Yokai are sensitive creatures.

But strangely, the other Yokai including Kunou couldn't sense our power. Is it because Yasaka is more sensitive than them? Maybe Kunou is still young so her abilities haven't fully developed yet.

I then turned to Sturm who is still gently petting Kunou's head that still observing my barrier. Sturm noticing my gaze on her could only sigh.

Sturm then stopped using her disguise magic, and two large Draph horns reappeared on her head. Yasaka looked surprised when she saw Sturm's Draph horns as she had never seen horns like that before.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Sturm..." Sturm said to Yasaka.

"Eh? Oh... Uh, nice to meet you too," Yasaka didn't expect Sturm to introduce herself so briefly. She thought Sturm would mention all her titles when introducing herself.

"I apologize for Sturm's lack of words. She doesn't like to talk too much" I explained to the confused Yasaka.

"*Cough* In that case allow me to introduce myself. My name is Yasaka, the leader of the West Youkai Faction and the mother of Kunou the child with you," Yasaka introduced herself politely with a slight bow.

A very elegant introduction indeed... "My name is Rei, and Sturm and I are here because we want to accompany Kunou back to her home and ask for permission from her mother, which is you, to explore the city together," I said to Yasaka.

Kunou after hearing this stopped paying attention to my barrier and turned to her mother. "That's right, Mother, please allow me to explore the city with big brother and big sister," Kunou looked at Sturm and me.

"Eh? Big sister Sturm? Since when did you have horns!?" Kunou after seeing Sturm's horns became curious again and started circling Sturm to examine her horns.

"It's quite strange. I didn't expect Kunou to get close to both of you like this. She usually keeps her distance from strangers, but here she seems like she's known you both for a long time," Yasaka asked me after observing her daughter's behavior.

"I don't understand either, but she says I have a scent similar to yours that makes her comfortable," I replied to Yasaka with a shrug.

"A scent like mine?" Yasaka muttered to herself as she heard my response.

"Oh, by the way, what do you plan to do about the Hero Faction who are spying on you?" I casually asked Yasaka.

"Hero Faction!? You mean they're spying on me too!? Not just Kunou?" Yasaka is confused when she heard the name I mentioned.

Oh right, she still doesn't know because the Yokai faction doesn't want to get involved in other races, so they're a bit behind on the latest news.

I then quickly moved without anyone noticing except Sturm, and appeared in front of Yasaka with a smile.

Yasaka after seeing me suddenly appear in front of her, seemed like she wanted to move away from me, but unfortunately, she was a bit slow, so I could touch her forehead and give her information about what would happen with her and this Hero Faction.