Multiverse: Why does the world show a health bar? !

**Komore Teahouse** is a place for drinking tea. As I entered the teahouse, escorted by the staff, the first thing that caught my eye was... a dog.

Or rather, a Shiba Inu.

"Taro Maru, it's been a long time. Have you missed me?" **Yae Miko** walked up with a smile and began petting Taro Maru's head.

The dog didn't dare to resist, only letting out a series of barks to express its dissatisfaction.

Unfortunately... no matter how dissatisfied it was, it didn't matter.

After waiting for a while, a blond-haired man dressed in red emerged from the inner room with a welcoming smile. "Greetings, Lady Guuji."

"So it's you at Komore Teahouse, **Thoma**. The little one who used to follow **Kamisato Ayaka** has now grown into someone capable, hasn't he?"

This phrasing sounded vaguely familiar.

Wasn't this how **Kujou Sara** had described Yae Miko?

Lady Miko, are you saying you weren't watching us back then?

"Lady Guuji, a few years isn't a short time for us. Besides, Lady Guuji, I was already an adult the last time we met," Thoma replied with a smile.

It sounded like a child trying hard to explain themselves.

"Is that so? Interesting. Thoma, this time it's my younger brother who has a question for you," **Yae Miko** said, patting **Li Mo** and introducing him to Thoma.

She was presenting him as her younger brother.

Li Mo felt the other's gaze grow more intense.

Being Yae Miko's younger brother was a title that could bring many benefits.

Li Mo straightened his posture and asked, "I'd like to know where **Arataki Itto** lives. Thoma, you should know his address, right?"

"Of course. Would you mind staying for a cup of tea, sir?"

"What does Sister Yae think?"

"No need. Once we have the location, we can leave. Taro Maru, I'll be leaving soon," Yae Miko said, giving Taro Maru's head one last rub before leaving satisfied.

Li Mo, using his magical abilities, could understand animal language. It seemed that Yae Miko, being a fox, could also understand Taro Maru's barks. Foxes are part of the canine family, right? Or are they felines?

But that wasn't important.

From Thoma, they obtained the address of Arataki Itto's residence. Thoma also provided a detailed dossier on Arataki Itto. When it came to "information," Thoma was thorough—it felt like a census report.

One of the duties of the **Yashiro Commission** was to interact with the people, so in a way, they were like census takers.

Thinking this, Li Mo tossed the dossier into his inventory.

Among the various functions of the system, the inventory was the most useful. You could store anything in it, and it even had a preservation effect—food wouldn't spoil.

"Little one, how did you know his name was Arataki Itto?" Yae Miko asked from beside him.

She had been keeping an eye on Li Mo, tracking his movements after his encounter with **Hanachirusato**. Initially, she had been watching Hanachirusato, but later shifted her attention to the two of them. This outsider seemed unusually "familiar" with Inazuma.

For example, how did he know Arataki Itto's name? It was certain that the shrine maidens of the Grand Narukami Shrine didn't know the red oni, and none of the guests Li Mo had interacted with had mentioned him.

So how did he know?

Li Mo replied, "Can't I have learned it from **Aki**? Didn't her younger sister say she joined the Arataki Gang?"

**Kuki Shinobu**, who would later become the second-in-command of the Arataki Gang, was responsible for handling the gang's affairs. If anything, she was like **Zhou Yu**, assisting her brainless leader with various tasks.

At the same time, she was Aki's younger sister.

"Ah, right. Aki's younger sister does seem to have connections with Arataki Itto," Yae Miko said with a smile.

From her smile, Li Mo could tell she didn't believe his explanation. But he didn't care.

Following the information provided, Yae Miko, who was familiar with the area, guided him like a tour guide.

Arataki Itto lived with an old woman everyone called "Granny Oni." He had been raised by her since he was a child.

A red oni, raised by humans.

This seemingly ordinary information struck Li Mo as odd. Normally, wouldn't other red oni have taken in Arataki Itto? The explanation wasn't hard to guess—there were very few red oni left in Inazuma City.

Without investigation, there's no right to speak. He shouldn't jump to conclusions. The Grand Narukami Shrine had little information on this matter. Would the Yashiro Commission have more?

But he hadn't even finished reading **Kamisato Ayato**'s manuscripts, so he shouldn't complicate things.

Soon, Li Mo found Arataki Itto.

"Ah? You're the ones looking for me? Perfect timing—I just finished lunch!"

Upon arriving at the destination and explaining their purpose to the neighbors, they called out Arataki Itto. The red oni sat casually at the doorstep, using a straw to pick at his teeth.

"Arataki Itto, I have a commission for you, and I'll offer a reward. Are you interested?" Li Mo had been thinking about his approach on the way.

Inazuma had an Adventurers' Guild, meaning there was a system of posting commissions and adventurers taking jobs for rewards. Of course, Arataki Itto wasn't an adventurer. Li Mo certainly didn't need to go see **Katheryne**.

Arataki Itto said, "A commission? I don't take commissions!"

"Won't you at least hear me out? I need you to find the **blue oni**."

The blue oni were special to the red oni. Even ordinary people had heard fairy tales about the oni. As a red oni, Arataki Itto couldn't possibly not know. Li Mo spent a lot of effort trying to convince him.

But in the end, the big guy remained skeptical. Wasn't he supposed to be a brainless idiot? Why was he so hard to persuade?

Li Mo wondered if he lacked persuasion skills. Help me, system! Give me a quick-talk feature!

In the end, it was Yae Miko who broke the deadlock.

"Hey, ramen buddy, you've been standing there for a while. Any thoughts?"

"You can take this commission. He knows Kuki Shinobu's older sister."

"Ah, so you're a friend of Kuki Shinobu's sister? Then the Arataki Gang accepts this mission! Ramen buddy, after this, how about another glorious 'ramen showdown'?"

"Oh, really?"

After that, Yae Miko and Arataki Itto chatted for a bit before they left.

Once they were gone, Li Mo's first words were, "Sister Yae, if you could handle it so easily, why did you make me do it?"

"Why not? Instead, why didn't you try leveraging Aki's identity? Kuki Shinobu holds significant weight with Arataki Itto."

Arataki Itto's quick agreement was due to the involvement of Kuki Shinobu. He trusted his companions.

Li Mo said, "I can't just cause trouble for others for no reason."

Yae Miko's approach essentially used Aki and Kuki Shinobu's credibility as collateral to get Arataki Itto to agree.

He didn't like doing things that way.