Lancer felt a wave of awkwardness once he actually had the item in his possession. However, seeing Kawashiro Amayuki's enthusiastic expression, he couldn't bring himself to refuse; the other was simply too hospitable.
"Amayuki-san, is there anything you want?"
Technically, the other party had told him to just call him by his name, but given his appearance and age, Lancer couldn't bring himself to do it. Amayuki was over 600 years old; he was nothing like "youngsters" like Yuugi and the others who were barely under 200.
Upon hearing Lancer question, Amayuki's expression grew complex. Lancer assumed he was drunk, but the Kappa wasn't that easily intoxicated. Handing the "Wind God's Fan" to Lancer was the result of many complicated factors.
First, it was completely useless to him—a white elephant. Keeping it as a collectible previously was based on the fact that the Tengu wouldn't strike him directly, as that would be tantamount to declaring war on the Kappa clan. The average strength of the Kappa was far inferior to the other two races; they were only called one of the three great youkai races because they stuck together. Inviting trouble for a useless trinket wasn't worth it now.
Secondly, Lancer goal was specifically the "Wind God's Fan," and his strength far surpassed Amayuki's. He couldn't be sure he could keep it if Lancer truly wanted it.
Finally, Lancer had indeed won his favor with his boldness. Using a useless item to solidify a friendship seemed like a fair trade.
What he hadn't expected was for Lancer not to just take it, but to ask him what he wanted in return.
'Maybe it's because there's been too little communication in the past? Actually, those Oni fellows aren't so bad either...'
Unbeknownst to him, Lancer—a human appearing in the youkai world as an Oni—was changing the youkai's perceptions in ways he didn't even realize.
Seeing the sincere warmth in Lancer eyes, Amayuki finally sighed.
"If there's really something I want... it would probably be the safety of the Kappa clan."
"The safety of the Kappa clan?"
Lancer didn't quite understand. After all, the Kappa were one of the strongest youkai groups currently in existence.
Seeing Lancer confusion, Amayuki gave a bitter smile.
"Do you think the Kappa clan is strong just because we're one of the three great races? It's true that right now, we have the confidence to face either the Oni or the Tengu. But the problem isn't now... it's the future."
His expression grew more despondent as he spoke.
"Among the three races, the three leaders of the seemingly weakest Oni clan are 'children' under 200 years old, yet their strength already rivals ours. They might look the weakest now, but their future is bright. The Tengu are the strongest; that mysterious 'Tenma' is someone even we can't gauge. Perhaps she has already reached the strength of a true 'God.' As long as she stands, the Tengu cannot fall—not to mention they use 'spiriting away' to select excellent converts to expand their numbers. And we, who seem so numerous... how many years do you think it's been since a Great Youkai was born among us?"
His expression was incredibly bitter.
It was true that youkai had long lifespans. Even nameless small youkai could live for three to five hundred years. But unless they crossed that threshold into Great Youkai status, they were still biological beings. 2,000 years? 3,000 years? No one knew exactly how long they could live, but they knew there was a limit.
Once they died... or rather, once they grew old and their combat power waned, they could no longer protect the clan.
Amayuki's words left Lancer speechless. Though he had people he cared for, he was a wanderer, like floating duckweed. Even his motivation for slaughtering the non-human races in his previous world wasn't out of loyalty to the Empire, but hatred for the inhuman atrocities committed by those races.
Seeing Lancer silence, Amayuki just sighed.
"Don't overthink it. What I said was just a temporary complaint. I know that changing the Kappa clan's situation isn't something that can be solved with a few words..."
"Maybe... there is one possibility."
Lancer spoke up with a strange expression, causing Amayuki to stare at him in disbelief.
"What did you say?!"
"I said it's not entirely impossible. Hold on a second."
As he spoke, he reached into his weapon case and pulled out the Quinque handgun he had been issued during his time as an Investigator.
Because he specialized in spears, he used firearms very rarely. However, as it was standard equipment for an Investigator, he had been assigned one even if he didn't use it.
Lancer Quinque handgun was much larger than a normal pistol—a custom model. Most people's wrists wouldn't be able to handle the recoil of such a large-caliber weapon.
Amayuki was stunned by the strange weapon. He had never seen anything like it and didn't understand why Lancer was bringing it out so solemnly.
Lancer didn't explain. He raised the handgun and aimed it outside the stone house.
"Amayuki-san, it's okay if I break that statue in your yard, right?"
"The statue? I don't care, but why..."
BANG!!
Before Amayuki could finish, a deafening roar erupted from within the room. The stone sculpture in the yard shattered instantly upon impact. Amayuki frowned at the stone dust and fragments scattered in the air.
While the attack looked impressive, it didn't actually pose a threat to him; it couldn't even break his skin. He looked at Lancer, puzzled as to why he was being shown this.
"This is just a portable weapon. The real threat is this..."
As he spoke, a massive object appeared in front of Lancer. This was heavy equipment he had seen at the CCG headquarters. Lancer didn't know much about tanks, but he heard it was an upgraded version of the Japanese Type 90 tank. The armor was made of Quinque steel, and the shells were specialized anti-Ghoul munitions. Theoretically, one shot could take down an S-rated Ghoul.
In truth, Lancer hadn't seen this weapon in action much. It only truly appeared during the Dragon Orphan outbreak. Ghouls were smart and would run at the sight of it, but the Dragon Orphans would just charge blindly and get blasted at point-blank range. At that time, Lancer was still in District 24 with Amon.
"What... is this?"
"Just call it a 'tank.' Although it's a bit complicated to operate, theoretically, any youkai below the level of a Great Youkai would definitely not have a good time if they took a hit from this."
Lancer actually wanted to show him the legendary "Five Pairs of Road Wheels" (Type 59 tank) from his homeland, but since the system shop didn't sell them, he had to settle for this.