"It was nice meeting you Kunou-chan!" Ira said cheerily as she waved," If you ever come to Greece, don't be a stranger! I'll gladly host you!"
"Thank you Ira Boosaloglou."
Kunou bowed in kind, infinitely glad that the bubbly girl had finally departed. If the Stellari had exhausted her spiritually, then the courier for sure had a talent at causing emotional fatigue. Not only had she not stopped talking the least for a mere second, but the kitsune couldn't even faze out of the conversation due to her putting in some serious question interspersed between the nonsense. It constantly kept her on her toes the entire time and no, she wanted nothing more than to hole up in her room and sleep the night away.
It was like she had sparring session with an absolute monster and become nothing more than a layer of bruises.
"I thought she would never leave…."
Daidachi sighed with an equal amount of exhaustion.
"You shouldn't say that…." Riko looked with slightly drooped eyes at the tanned girl that slowly lost herself in the crowd," But same.."
Despite the pair being but mere guards, they weren't spared in the slightest from the verbal barrage. And silently, Kunou was glad for that. It gave her a little bit of time to recover before being tagged back in.
But it was definitely required, else she might've accidentally agreed to some kind of seemingly innocent request. Like talking to her mother about keeping the prices the same, or agreeing to let the courier meet Yamato Iori. Or something equally as ludicrous.
"I can't believe she offered you a position at her company…" The red skinned Oni whispered, his deep voice completely ruining his attempts at being quiet. "That was ridiculous."
Kunou agreed with her guard's words, it was a rather scummy way at snatching away talent from the other races. Normally, who would say no to working for a god? There were entire religions where that was considered the greatest honor imaginable a mortal could receive. But she was the next Yokai Leader, the heir of an entire race. Why in world would she allow herself to be snatched away after some empty promises of riches and power beyond her imagination?
What use were sandals imbued by the wind when she could do something similar in the future by using her own power? Hell, she was sure she could do something better than what the girl was offering as a 'signing bonus', especially with who her current teacher was.
"I must agree."
A deep, silky voice said from besides them which immediately prompted a reaction stemmed from repeated hours of practice. Faster than the human eye could track, Riko swiped the blonde kitsune off her feet and jumped back with Ki infused legs. A light smog of energy encompassing them both as they seemingly disappeared from the area entirely. While all this was happening, a series of kanji alighted across Daidachi's body as stepped forward like some kind of nigh-impenetrable wall. His muscles bulging cruelly under the flow of energy that ran rampant through his frame, tetsubo hilt creaking ominous under the strain.
Despite their sudden and violent reaction, the blonde man didn't look worried in the slightest. A single hand raised in mock surrender as the other held up a glass half-full of crystal clear wine to his lips. Those green, feline eyes still remained locked onto the 2 'hidden' figures as though he could see right through the smog of Ki.
"I didn't mean to scare you kids."
He smirked in a rather infuriating way, as though the surrounding Yokai who also looked ready to jump in at any point wasn't a threat in the least. And given who he was, it wasn't a stretch. House Vapula, while not as well known or feared as House Gremory, was still considered a leading power of the Devils. Especially with their rather unique ability to control the big cat apex predator, lions. And not just normal, mundane lions, their house was known to breed the beast into something almost biblical in a way. Some as large as buses and strong enough to easily tear through most magical defenses. Who wanted to truly fight against someone who was using a lion, the size of a tank, as a mount as they flung spells from such a position? It was simply a terrifying notion.
Kunou could literally feel the emotions oozing off the man as he just stood there, his Ki painting an image of who this predator truly was. Pride. His aura was simply submerged in it. Pride in his family, his power and of course, his looks. She had to admit that yes, the man was indeed handsome. With his lightly tanned skin and mane-like blonde hair, he was probably the direct imagery of some kind of good-looking foreigner.
"Let me introduce myself," The devil bowed after a loud sip from his glass," My name is Nellial of House Vapula. Representative of the 72 Pillars of the Underworld. It is a pleasure to meet you, princess."
The way he said the word 'princess' sent shivers down her spine and not in the good way. It was like someone had rubbed an ice cube on her skin, maybe something colder? Like a Yuki-Onna had breathed down her neck. Combine that with those green eyes that raked themselves across her body, despite the fog Ki that should've been hiding them, she knew this upcoming conversation would not a pleasant one.
She would definitely need to take a bath after speaking with this smarmy Devil. With a somewhat reluctant nod to the Nekomata that hovered over her, the fog dissipated and her 2 guards were instantly back in their positions at her side. Neither of their Ki seem to simmer down, in fact from what she could see, only sped up in readiness. No matter how fruitless it might be, they would for sure try to use their very lives in case this predator tried anything funny.
No matter how much she wanted to just ignore the diplomat, he had made it impossible to do so. Not only had he introduced himself with his noble house, but also made his position as a representative of the 72 Pillars clear. Ignoring him would be like a slap in the face of every surviving pillar and as the 'princess' of the Yokai, would implicate their entire faction as whole. So she was forced to play nice, for now.
"My name is Kunou."
She said simply while giving him a bow that could barely be considered polite, but the man didn't seem to mind as his eyes took in the girl before him. She felt as though worms were crawling all over her under his gaze. No one here was stupid, everyone knew it was incredibly rude to look at anyone here with such a hungry look. Given the fact, the young kitsune was still considered a child, only further turned the knob until it was considered disgusting behavior.
Kunou knew he didn't care how he looked while drinking in her appearance, the devil was from a noble house that use to getting whatever they wanted. He had probably spent his entire wanted for not; money, drink, food, magic, and women. Such a person had probably never heard no in his life and it disgusted her like no other.
"I'll be frank," The Devil smirked lasciviously after he took in a very thorough look of the young girl," Be mine. Join my peerage and I'll make sure my faction agrees to almost any conditions your mother might have. You have my word as a member of House Vapula of the 72 Pillars."