When Nurarihyon arrived at the Continental Hotel to buy the Potential Unlock Potion to awaken or strengthen Rikuo's yokai side, he was met with a long queue of yokai standing before the counter.
The announcement of the item store had hooked every yokai affiliated with the Continental.
"Lord Nura... please, this way."
Shin, who noticed Nurarihyon entering the hotel, went to greet him politely and asked him to follow.
Leo had already informed him there was a high chance Nurarihyon would arrive after hearing the item store was open.
Nodding his head, Nurarihyon followed Shin toward the black wall with a fancy golden shield, along with dual swords hanging in the middle of it.
Shin stopped before the shield, which was in the centre of the black wall, and casually pulled out a palm-sized silver coin from his suit pocket, placing it in the circular gap in the centre of the golden shield.
The three claw-like structures at the end of the circular gap gripped the coin tightly.
When the coin was inserted perfectly into the shield, it suddenly started to spin clockwise, fast.
While spinning, a lever slowly extended from the circular gap, with a silver coin attached at the end, and then stopped spinning.
Nurarihyon looked at these things curiously.
After the spinning stopped, Shin, without much expression on his stoic face, placed both hands on the handles of the dual swords.
After a second, he pulled the dual swords, which didn't fully come out—they stopped at one point, and the shield separated and moved forward into eight parts of hexagons that looked like a turtle shells.
After three seconds of holding the swords like that, he let go of the handles, which immediately retracted, as if pulled by a magnet, accompanied by mechanical clicking sounds from the shield.
The hexagons then started to exchange places with one another in a complicated pattern.
Completing the intricate manoeuvre, the hexagons reattached themselves, but this time the shield was upside down.
Shin pressed in the lever, which had previously extended into the shield, and a door opened where the shield had been.
With a nod, Shin entered through the door that had opened in the wall, and Nurarihyon followed him.
"____"
When Nurarihyon looked around, he was shocked to see different kinds of items displayed in rows, like a high-end shopping plaza.
"Sir, you will be able to purchase any items here. This place is the A to Z Item Store, newly established by our Continental Hotel."
Looking at the surprised expression on Nurarihyon's face as he observed everything around with interest, Shin, with pride evident in his tone, explained to Nurarihyon.
After the introduction, Shin left Nurarihyon in the store after receiving a message that required his presence.
Nurarihyon was impressed by what Leo had established.
It was one of the things he had yearned to establish for the Yokai settlement and improve their lives by creating his clan.
He had also tried numerous times to make yokai and humans coexist.
But all of his efforts had failed, except for him and his son, who married a normal human.
The main reason for the failure is that most yokai are entities born from resentment or other negative emotions formed by humans over prolonged periods.
This led humans to fear or hate yokai, while yokai resented or enjoyed feeding on the fear emitted by humans, finding pleasure in that harsh condition.
But this time, it was different. Numerous yokai were able to break free from those harsh conditions, and their lives were improved.
The most important thing is that Leo was able to bind all these different kinds of supernatural beings to follow the rules he created and abide by them.
This proves that many supernatural factions, like the Onmyoji, who clashed with yokai and delved into seclusion and darkness, wouldn't be able to coexist with humans peacefully.
Not only were yokai able to coexist with humans, which shocked them, but they were also able to create a civilization and live peacefully, leaving them speechless.
Looking at the big moustache attached to a fake nose, along with thick eyebrows and glasses, Nurarihyon read the product description.
"____"
The name of the product was "Fake Mustache," which stated in the description that as long as one wears it, others won't be able to identify the wearer's identity due to the illusion of magic cast on the product.
It had a total of 10 uses for each item, and after that, it would become useless.
If the customer returned the used product in the recycle bin in the store, they would get a little discount on their next purchase.
There were many other things, like a flying broom with a note in red bold letters stating the user should have mana to use the product.
While looking around, Nurarihyon's eyes landed on the potion section, where different kinds of potions in various colours and sizes were placed on the shelves.
Remembering the reason he came here, he hurriedly went to this section and searched for the potion he had come for.
Finally, after searching through the different kinds of potions, he found the section where the Potential Unlock Potion was placed.
There were only 10 left on the shelves.
The Potential Unlock Potion is a sky-blue potion used to unlock the hidden potential or strength of the user.
The Continental Hotel only sells 10 small bottles with fancy designs, each about the size of a pinky finger.
This is why Nurarihyon was in a hurry.
Seeing there were only 10 left for the day, if days passed, there was a chance he might not be able to get it, so he hurried here as soon as possible.
Sigh
'Finally, my grandson can be at ease...'
With a relieved sigh, Nurarihyon went to the counter to pay for the potion.
"____"
"Wakana! Why are you here?"
When he walked to the counter, Nurarihyon was stunned to see his daughter-in-law standing before him at the counter, wearing a badge that belonged to the Continental Hotel and looking at him with a smile.
"Father... are you here to buy something?"
Hearing Nurarihyon's voice, she turned to look at her father-in-law in surprise and asked him with a smile, as he was the first customer she was attending to on her first day of work.
"Oh~ I came to buy a potion for Rikuo to unlock his full potential on his yokai side. But I didn't expect to meet you here."
Breaking out of his surprise, he smiled and stated his reason for coming to the shop.
"Rikuo's potential?"
Hearing he came to purchase a potion for her son, Wakana was surprised and asked what the potion did. She listened as Nurarihyon explained.
"Well... Leo-san invited me yesterday to work here, so I won't feel left alone or out of place when the whole yokai is moving toward development. So I thought I might try doing it since I have more free time compared to others."
With a worried smile, Wakana explained why she was here.
Leo had visited Nurarihyon's house several times in the past years since he relocated to Ukiyoe Town.
During this time, Wakana became close friends with both Leo and Mavis.
Normally, she didn't have much work to do other than cooking food for Rikuo and doing some housework, even though many yokai helped out.
To pass the time, she also did her part in household work.
When the Continental Hotel was established six years ago, the Yokai civilization entered a rapid phase of development.
This made many yokai in the Nura clan busy, which made Wakana feel out of place, so she started secluding herself.
On one of his visits, Leo noticed this and asked her if she was interested in working for him.
Startled by the sudden invitation, Wakana looked hesitant.
Sensing her hesitation, Leo explained that if she felt down, she could try doing different things and focus on them, which would help her pass the time and form new friends.
Even though she felt hesitant, Wakana accepted Leo's invitation to give it a try.
A week before the shop opened, Leo and Mavis arrived at the Nura clan and took her to the Continental, where the A to Z store is located, and introduced her to others who were going to be her co-workers.
The role assigned to Wakana was supervising the product when it was delivered, controlling supplies needed, and attending to customers at the counter.
It might sound like a lot of work, but she had a lot of assistance from workers assigned to her, and her work was to supervise everything running smoothly.
After listening to Wakana's story, Nurarihyon nodded, knowing this was an important change in Wakana's life.
He had already tried many things to help her move on, but nothing worked. Now, he saw Wakana smiling genuinely, not a fake smile to avoid worrying him.
Leo's Office...
Shin was reporting seriously to Leo while others in the room also looked serious, including Leo.
"Do you think it is a trap or is it safe to accept this proposal?"
Mavis, who was sitting beside Leo, asked him with narrowed eyes.
After all this time, the Onmyoji had decided to make contact with them and, out of nowhere, proposed an alliance of peace.
To show their sincerity, they were going to send an Onmyoji from the main family to study at Ukiyoe High School.
Sigh
"Let them cook."
Not worrying too much, Leo replied casually and ordered Shin to continuously accept their conditions.
He knew it was time for the plot to start, but unfortunately, he had already screwed it up to the point the plot was dead even before it was born.
So now the Onmyoji wanted a peace treaty with them, which made Leo curious about what they were planning.
What is the motive behind their sudden change in behaviour? It's like suddenly North Korea promoting peace.
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(Author's POV)
Sorry for the short chapter, I will try to increase the word count in the next chapter.
Thanks for reading the chapter!
please give a review and power stone!!!