"Kawauso no Tokuzō. I press the attack!"
*Jangle~♪*
As Kawauso no Tokuzō strummed his biwa, claws sprang from the otter puppet's paws and lunged at Yasutaka, meaning to tear him to ribbons!
*Clang!*
"Ugh!"
The otter's blows landed heavier than Yasutaka had expected.
It looked soft and fluffy enough on the outside, but apparently there was armor hidden underneath, and it was tougher than it had any right to be.
"Hyah!"
*Thump!*
Yasutaka drove a kick into the otter doll and shoved it back.
But the lute player was already singing.
"Burning flame~♪ Burn it all away~♪"
*Whoomph!*
A fireball appeared before him and came screaming toward Yasutaka!
"Tch!"
*Clang!*
He caught the fireball on his shoulder guard and snuffed it out, but by then the otter had already braced itself again!
*Clang-clang!*
Yasutaka caught the otter's attack once more, weathering it with both blades!
"Magic users are a pain to deal with!"
Yasutaka grumbled even as he fought.
Meanwhile, as for Mōha...
"Your fingers... so pretty........."
There stood a female yamabushi, running her tongue over a necklace strung with human fingers as she spoke.
Her hair was a deep reddish-purple, done up in two enormous drill-shaped pigtails, and she had a curvaceous figure, though her chest and rear were small enough that her narrow waist went entirely to waste.
She carried a conch-shell horn and a shakujō staff, and looked like she packed a fair bit of strength.
(A yamabushi, huh... a priestess of Seiun, God of the Great Sky...)
Mōha ran through what he knew about yamabushi in his head.
(Ruling over the heavens means she controls the wind, and she'll use star sorcery...)
She'd be a sorcerer skilled in magic drawn from the constellations, which made her a genuine nuisance in her own right.
On top of that, priestesses generally carried a fair amount of martial training as well, making them something like magic-swordsman hybrids capable of close combat, all-rounders with no clear weakness to exploit.
(Strike first, strike hard!)
Mōha whipped out a Rage Bead and hurled it at the female yamabushi!
"Flame Technique!"
*Whoomph!*
A great burst of fire exploded in front of the yamabushi!
But the yamabushi chanted quietly.
"Shoulder Plate Star!"
*Whoomph!*
A massive shoulder guard appeared before her and blocked the flames!
"A star summon, huh..."
The Shoulder Plate Star was properly just one of the stars strung along the Armor Constellation, but it turned out a star summon could do more than merely call forth the constellation itself, this being one such trick.
Star sorcery required forming a contract with a star spirit who governed a constellation or a star.
The larger the constellation, the stronger the star spirit bound to it, and stronger spirits made for contracts that were notoriously hard to secure.
What's more, the incantation time grew longer as well, which made timing tricky, and since so many star spirits were famously prickly, the whole business was a headache all around.
Incidentally, this world does feature a fair few original constellations of its own now and then, so bear with it.
The yamabushi gave her finger necklace another slow lick.
"Vainglory Mika... here I come..."
With that, she began summoning a star spirit once more.
"One-Eyed Boy Constellation!"
"What!"
Before Mika appeared a one-eyed boy dressed in temple robes!
And without so much as a warning, a beam shot out from its single eye!
*Fwoosh!*
"Whoa!"
Mōha dodged it by the barest hair.
Simple as it was, this particular constellation summon was every bit as dangerous.
And of course, that wasn't all.
*Clang!*
"I can fight too, you know!"
Mika came at him swinging her shakujō staff!
(She's strong!)
Mōha braced himself for a tough fight.
Ten minutes later...
the battle was drawing to a close.
"Stand down!"
"Damn it..."
The bandits were bound one by one, tears of frustration streaming down their faces.
The bandits left in the alley grew fewer and fewer as they were captured in turn.
Yasutaka's own fight, too, looked to be nearing its end.
*Clang!*
"Ngh..."
Having taken the otter doll's attacks over and over, Yasutaka's fatigue had clearly built up, and he could no longer push it back with any ease.
Seeing his chance, Kawauso no Tokuzō sang out triumphantly!
"Could this be the start of true love!♪♪♬♬"
The moment Tokuzō cried out, the wind suddenly gathered in a rush and poured down upon Yasutaka!
Feeling it, Yasutaka grinned.
"This is what I've been waiting for!"