"But that's still not quite enough, is it? Just clearing the minimum requirement is kind of..."
Kana said, flashing him a coquettish smile.
"I told you before, didn't I? It's no good until you've cleared out the Kuzuyo in Ueno and taken down the Anakonda thief gang."
"Ehh?"
Kana looked unimpressed, and Yasutaka looked crestfallen.
Then, pressing his case, Yasutaka spoke up.
"But that's not all. Some brand-new yokai showed up right in the middle of it, you know."
"Ehh? Really?"
"Yeah."
He launched into an account of this newly appeared yokai.
Kana's eyes lit up brighter and brighter as she listened.
"Wooow! You worked so hard!"
"All for you, Kana!"
He said, flexing his bicep proudly.
Meanwhile......
Rrrrip!
"I told you to quit yanking on it!"
"Hey, will you just stop already!" the crowd chorused.
"I'm talking to both of you!"
In the end, even his loincloth gave way, and the man was left stark naked.
Setting that aside, Kana flashed another coquettish smile and leaned gracefully against Yasutaka.
"Well, if you worked that hard, I suppose it's fine?"
She tugged at his sleeve, trying to pull him into the shop.
(Yesss!!!!!!!!)
Yasutaka whooped with triumph inside his head.
"But that's a huge, huge discount, okay? You still won't get the full treatment unless you properly clear out the Kuzuyo and take down the Anakonda gang!"
"I know, I know~"
Yasutaka's face was practically glowing with excitement, but Kana's expression turned faintly puzzled.
"Huh? What's this?"
Noticing some strange sensation, she began fussing with something.
And then......
"What is this? There's a thread stuck here."
"Really?"
A strange thread was clinging to Yasutaka's neck.
"What in the world is this?"
She wound it around her hand, reeling it in, and soon it drew taut.
"Guess I'll just yank it off."
So saying, he began to pull, but......
Sss, sss......
Each pull left it slack, dangling, only to snap taut again the moment he pulled harder.
"This thing's awfully long... what the heck is it?"
He kept drawing it in, hand over hand......
"......(smiling sweetly)"
And there stood Mani, wearing a smile of pure, chilling menace.
"......Wh...... what......?"
The blood drained from his face in an instant!
And then......
Grab!
Mani seized the head of the utterly frozen Yasutaka in a vice-like grip.
"Medea...... do it."
Fwoosh!
A gigantic shikigami spider, its upper half a beautiful woman, materialized and bound Yasutaka round and round in webbing!
"Guh-uh-uh......"
"Tacchan? I don't think you're being quite conscious enough of the fact that you're engaged, are you?"
Still smiling with terrible fury, Mani glared at Yasutaka, then swiveled her gaze to fix Kana with a piercing stare.
"So then. Just what is your relationship with him, I wonder?"
"Absolute strangers."
Kana disowned him without a moment's hesitation.
"He's just a customer I was drumming up business from. Nothing more."
"N-no way......"
Yasutaka despaired at being cut loose so cleanly, but Mani turned to him and asked, quietly.
"Tacchan? Then what is your relationship with her, I wonder? Because if you and this little home-wrecker have anything going on between you, I'll simply have to erase her......" "Absolute strangers." "......Very good."
At Mani's words, Yasutaka promptly declared himself a total stranger too.
"Heave-ho... this cockroach's heavy......"
So saying, Granny Moon, who had come along with them, hoisted Yasutaka onto her shoulder.
"Well then, let's be off."
"Yes, Your Highness......"
"W-wait! Untie this thread! Somebody help meeeeee!!!!"
Yasutaka's mournful cry echoed through the streets of Senju.
Kana never even glanced at their retreating backs as they went.
"Oh, Yuu! Long time no see~♪ You're stopping by today, aren't you?"
"Ehh? I dunno, what should I do?"
"For you, Yuu, I'll make it cheap, so come on in~♪ I won't charge you as much as I did that Country Samurai~♪"
And just like that, Kana wrote Yasutaka off as her "Country Samurai" and moved smoothly on to soliciting her next customer.
Well, that's about the size of it.
And incidentally......
"Quit pulling on THAT part, would youuuuu!!!!"
The stark-naked man, it turned out, was having his cock yanked on by a tout.
What became of him after that... nobody knows......