Souma Takiko didn"t remember the faces of her parents.

It wasn"t that she had been left alone. She had lived together with her parents. But there had always been many adults around Takiko. There had been wet nurses caring for her and strict-looking old men. People who came from "outside" and those striving to train themselves in magic. The rest of the adults had attended to Takiko just like her father and mother had. Thanks to that, Takiko didn"t have any strong impression of any single one of the adults around her.

She was a child of the main bloodline and possessed a nature excellent for becoming a yorishiro[1].

Takiko was the foothold that her clan had been longing for in order to realize their dreams. To her parents she was simply the "successor", rather than being "their child".

"When you grow up, you will become a G.o.d."

For as long as she could remember, the adults around Takiko had told her that. The evidence that those words weren"t just a lie or joke showed in the attention that the adults paid to her and the reverence with which they treated her.

In any case, Takiko was a child who required that attention.

Takiko spent her childhood at the base of a mountain revered as sacred, in a village that seemed separated from the rest of humanity. The area was surrounded by nature, due to being a place where spirit flow gathered, was full of aura all the time. Also, the area had an extraordinarily special spiritual nature due to magic that her clan had maintained for many years.

Being born to be a yorishiro, Takiko took in and was possessed by external aura from an early age. Takiko"s ability to serve as a spiritual vessel, proof of her excellent shamanic nature, made things rather complicated and difficult for her. It was lucky if the aura Takiko took in was harmless, but often the aura would cause trouble.

The adults paid deep attention to her and paid her a similar level of respect, as if acting as her attendants. It was as if she were a being of a higher level - in other words, as if she were worshiped as a "G.o.d".

Being a G.o.d was lonely.

But back then, Takiko hadn"t known of the concept of "loneliness". She didn"t suffer from feelings of loneliness. There were always many adults around Takiko, but not a single child like her. She wasn"t been able to compare her environment to anyone else"s.

In fact, Takiko hadn"t known anything about the "outside world". She hadn"t been taught. So, Takiko grew up simply accepting everything around her, both normal and abnormal. She didn"t differentiate between special and ordinary.

Back then, the adults around Takiko had seemed the same as the deer and the boar of the mountain. Now, shockingly few memories remained of the ones who had spent a long time by her side. That was especially true for their faces. She almost couldn"t recall anything about what their faces had been like.

That was also because she had lived viewed a G.o.d.

But there was one more reason.

Takiko first noticed that reason when she met a certain pair of people.

"......Her?"

"Right. Although when I met her before, she was still in diapers."

"But...... this is......"

"Yes. I heard of it, but she"s really being neglected. I"m deeply interested in her for the sake of research, but it"s quite shocking. As expected, the main family guys are still living in medieval times."

This was Takiko"s favorite shrine.

An approximately twenty-jou[2] building outside the village, a place where adults couldn"t approach without Takiko"s permission. But these two people had casually stepped into her territory without permission and opened the door to the shrine.

At the time, Takiko was possessed by a somewhat evil-natured yin energy. The sash of the traditional miko outfit that the adults had put on her was untied, and the hems were worn down. The many cracks on the surface of the wooden floor and the peeling plaster of the wall were thanks to Takiko"s spiritual power that no one had ever taught her about going out of control.

The aura that filled her was coagulated and sharply unbalanced towards yin, drawing forth even more yin aura. The aura inside the shrine was close to miasma.

And in its midst was Takiko, with her back against the wall and legs splayed out. Her neck turned towards the door of the shrine as she gazed at the two men standing in the entrance.

A girl whose bright, flame-like red hair left a strong impression.

But eyes were blank and unfocused and her mouth hung half-open. It was the yin aura possessing Takiko that moved her right now, rather than Takiko herself.

"Leave". A b.e.s.t.i.a.l sound came from the young girl"s mouth.

One of the two people smiled bitterly and scratched his head, while the other narrowed his eyes.

"Hahaha. It seems like we picked a bad day. Should we come back later, Kurahashi?"

"......Dairenji. If we don"t do anything, at this rate she"ll become a "Type-Ogre"."

"Aah, you don"t need to worry about that. She"s not that brittle of a vessel. In any case, it almost looks like a Phase Five might show up. I"ve tested a lot of things on my daughter, but she can"t compare to the real thing. It"s too bad, but that girl"s no good."

Saying that, the man put a hand to his chest and bowed very respectfully towards Takiko. And with that, he turned right around and left the shrine.

But the other man didn"t follow him. Taking off his shoes, he headed silently into the shrine.

The man who left turned around. "Oi, Kurahashi," he said. But the other man didn"t listen to him and headed straight towards Takiko.

The aura inside Takiko writhed and the aura around her became restless. The aura reacted to the man"s disobeying the order and approaching and bared its fangs.

In that moment,

"Clap",

The man clasped his hands together as if praying.

For how many years had Takiko been unable to forget her shock from that moment?

The man"s clap was full of magical energy. That magical energy instantly drove off the yin aura inside the shrine and cleansed away the aura possessing Takiko.

It was as if she had been doused with a tremendous amount of cold water without any warning.

Takiko was completely surprised. Her eyes widened.

It had only been a single instant, and yet a simple clap had purified all the aura. This man"s ability was amazing.

The Takiko from back then had been unable to understand the power of the Onmyoudou that the man had casually showed her. The adults around her were able to do similar things - if not with the expertise of this man.

But the people who treated her like the clan"s shaman princess had never shown this to her.

It was the first clear act of "resistance" that she had experience since birth. A "will" shown by "someone else".

It was no exaggeration to say that the "worship" that this man showed Takiko destroyed the laws of the world she had lived in with a single clap.

The man who had left smiled pleasantly.

"Take it easy. If the village people saw something like that, it would raise a big ruckus."

As he expected, the man in front of him didn"t respond to is jokingly-delivered line. He stared at Takiko, thinking, and then lowered down and sat in seiza right there, facing her direction.

Kurahashi. The man had been called that. He was Kurahashi.

Takiko looked closely at Kurahashi, as if it was her first time seeing a "human". And Kurahashi looked straight back at Takiko"s face.

His face, sternly stiffened like a statue,

"......Good eyes."

...loosened slightly.

And then Takiko noticed.

None of the adults who had been around her until now had looked at Takiko in this manner. Their faces had been downturned, and they had come to attend to Takiko hat in hand without meeting her gaze.

But Kurahashi wasn"t that way. Takiko was now able to freely observe another human"s face for the first time.

"It"s nice to meet you, princess of the Souma. Souma Takiko-kun. My name is Kurahashi Genji. The man behind me is named Dairenji Shidou. We came here hoping to walk the road of Onmyoudou together with you."

Takiko listened to the seated Kurahashi"s voice without uttering a word.

From the entrance, the other man said,

"Hey, Kurahashi. That girl"s still seven, you know."

"My showing respect has no relation to age. It"s not as if I"m rearing her."

"......I did think that your girl was around the same age as her, but this is certainly different from how you are at home, isn"t it."

Though Dairenji said this as if in amazement, Kurahashi didn"t respond to him this time. He continued looking at Takiko without moving his gaze away even once.

Takiko couldn"t understand what Kurahashi had said at all. After all, Souma Takiko hadn"t even been able to recall her own name instantly.

Only three other names managed to linger in her mind. Kurahashi Genji, who was right in front of her. The other man, Dairenji Shidou.

And also--

"......What about Tsuchimikado Yakou?"

Takiko"s question made Kurahashi"s expression loosen again. The other person behind him - Dairenji - smiled at this unexpected development. Speaking of whom, Dairenji looked straight at Takiko again as well. The two of them were a different kind of adult from the ones Takiko knew.

"I"ll tell you."

Kurahashi slowly announced.

"He is the one who created the fate of us three. He is the great Onmyouji who once created the golden age of magic - and who lives even now, in the modern age."

"I hope you can relay the message."

"He" had said to her.

She hadn"t been conscious of what "he" had said - "he" had spoken with her many times about how that was so that she would not have any memories of it. The movement of the stars had aligned. But their conversation had been more of a primitive transfer of feelings, and seemed difficult to transform into language. So it seemed like she was unable to remember anything extraneous.

But "he" had spoken again.

Naturally, she would have to remember it this time. The connection had gotten interrupted before, after all. She was perplexed. It was quite hard on her, for him to suddenly tell her to do something that she had never been able to do. But "he" had said "don"t worry" so cheerfully.

The effects of Taizan f.u.kun still remain right now. You"ll surely be able to remember.

Okay?

She started getting more and more impatient after "he" spoke so leisurely. Even if he said "don"t worry", she didn"t have any confidence in herself. Also, his relaxed att.i.tude actually implicitly made it even more important, even if "he" didn"t expressly say so.

Hold on a moment. It"s not possible. But he had moved on, leaving her utterly shocked self behind.

The only way she could bring everything together now was to transmit her soul.[3]

The G.o.ds were ever-present.

This was true for all worlds simultaneously.

So...

"......So...... eh? W-What......?"

She suddenly became aware that she was mumbling quietly.

As her consciousness abruptly resurfaced, her clouded thoughts cleared up. At the same time, something that was in those clouds vanished like smoke.

She tried to grab for it, but tragically the memory slipped between her fingers. All that remained was a hint of wetness on the tips of her fingers.[4] "......Nn." That chilly sensation made her uneasy, and she grimaced and fidgeted.

Then, Souma Akino opened her eyelids.

.........A dream?

In her head that was still hazy from waking up was a vestige of the dream she had just seen. A nostalgic feeling from somewhere or other. The trace sadness that came from it made her chest twinge.

In any case, the sensation was momentary. Akino immediately focused her consciousness on the reality before her.

...Huh? This place is......

What Akino noticed was that she was somewhere she didn"t recognize. A wide, tatami-matted room. She seemed to have been sleeping on top of a spread futon. She got up out of surprise.

"Hey."

She practically jumped.

The voice came from the girl sitting in seiza in front of the desk in a corner of the room. It was a girl she knew. Souma Takiko. That vivid red hair was unmistakable.

....Right. Harutora-kun was controlling me!

It had been evening. Akino, who had flew out of their warehouse hiding place alone, had been taken over by the "Full Moon" inside her and had connected spiritually with the fugitive Tsuchimikado Harutora. Harutora had used magic remotely. In the middle of that, Dairenji Suzuka had showed up to take Akino back, and then she - Souma Takiko - had shown herself before the two of them.

Then, Tsuchimikado Natsume and Ato Touji had rushed to Akino and the others and Takiko"s defensive shikigami Yashamaru and k.u.momaru had shown up as well, sparking a confrontation. To be honest, they hadn"t had any chance of victory. Akino and the rest would have fallen at the enemies" hands.

Harutora had linked with Akino, with the "Full Moon" taking over her again. He saw their plight and made a plan. He controlled Akino to perform the Far Step magic. And with it, she traversed the spirit flow to move far away from that place - or had intended to, but Takiko and her two defensive familiars had gotten pulled in and moved far away... together with Akino, who had performed Far Step. In other words, Akino had become the enemy"s prisoner in order to save Natsume and the others.

She very quickly recalled her memories and emotions from back then. But Akino"s memories since jumping through the spirit flow were blank. It seemed that she had lost consciousness and slept since then.

She was now away from her companions and alone inside the enemy encampment. Akino"s cognizance of that reality made her whole body stiffen up.

Takiko watched Akino with a slightly sad, troubled smile.

"You don"t have to worry. I won"t hurt you."

Akino looked wordlessly at Takiko. Rather than resistance, her lack of a response was simply because she was too nervous to form words. Though she was fully aware of this, she wasn"t able to summon up any courage.

Moreover,

...This person is strange somehow......

She had felt the same thing the first time they had met, but this girl named Takiko had some kind of strange atmosphere around her. This girl was no less strange than the eccentric pract.i.tioners of Seishuku Temple, who had clearly been different from normal people. But Takiko"s abnormalness was of a different kind compared to anyone who had been at the temple.

If she had to elaborate, she would describe it as something occultish, something similar to having a strong aura. She could feel an extremely strong spiritual presence from Takiko. But the root of Akino"s feeling was not "power". It felt something like Takiko was "far away" or "higher" than she was in some occult sense. Of course, Akino had no clue of any reasons why this was.

However, during Takiko"s momentary smile just now, she hadn"t felt that vague strangeness. Akino slowly suppressed her nerves as she watched Takiko.

"......U-Um......"

"Hm?"

"Where...... is this?"

She fearfully tried asking a question. "Mm." Takiko returned a sound showing her pleasure that Akino"s vocal cords were working.

"This is one of the buildings owned by the Souma. You didn"t seem like you"d be waking up after losing consciousness from using Far Step. So I brought you here for now. We had a base in a different hotel before, but that spot was found out."

Takiko explained to Akino in a very amicable tone. From her demeanor, it felt like she was going to give Akino room to calm down.

"You slept through the whole night after that. Seemed like you forced yourself quite a bit."

"The whole night......!"

Unfortunately, there was no window in the room. But come to think of it, she had the satiated feeling of having gotten lots of sleep. Her stamina was also recovered.

...But this means......

It was now March 1st. Akino gritted her teeth at that.

And,

"...Princess. Excuse me."

Accompanied by a sudden voice, the aura inside the room wavered and the figure of a young man suddenly appeared. Akino"s expression suddenly contorted and she took a guarded stance on top of the futon.

The young man wore a dress shirt and slacks. He wore a monocle and looked intellectual, but his slight smile was chilly, if not cold. A smile like a clear stream with a single drop of poison mixed into it.

He was Takiko"s defensive shikigami, Yashamaru.

"With regard the earlier incident, it seems like we hit the mark. As you might expect, it was empty."

"I see. Is there anything that might turn troublesome?"

"We"ve taken care of everything."

Takiko nodded lightly at the shikigami"s sharply-delivered report.

Then, she turned her gaze to Akino, and said:

"We"ve found the place Harutora was hiding."

Akino"s eyes widened.

"That said, just like you heard, it seems like he"s already changed locations. He hasn"t slipped up."

Akino bit her lip as she looked at Takiko.

The place Harutora had been hiding was the deserted house place that had appeared in her mind while she had been connected to the "Full Moon". Even though she had been told they escaped, her heartbeat still sped up.

Also,

...What about Natsume and the others? What happened to them afterwards?

What she was thinking seemed to show on her face. Takiko smiled softly.

"I think Natsume and the others are fine. Also, we didn"t do anything at all while you were sleeping. Like drawing out Natsume"s location, for example."

Akino paled upon hearing that, finally noticing the danger that being captured by the enemy presented. Takiko wasn"t lying about what she claimed, right? Imagining it made her shiver.

On the other hand, the shikigami shrugged at his master"s words.

"It was the princess"s orders. ......It"s true that being careless with you might have unknown effects on the "Full Moon" inhabiting you. In any case, once you fell into our hands, they would have left their hideout right away."

He said to Akino and her anxious expression.

"But, we have put a light seal on you. If not, our location could have been disclosed through the "Full Moon" connection."

Akino sat up straight again upon hearing about the seal. She reached out and touched the top of her head. It seemed like her rabbit ears wouldn"t materialize.

Cheerfully, Yashamaru said:

"Well, if you really want to, we could let you materialize those cute ears of yours. Although we"d have to surround you in a barrier to cut off any connection to the outside. The princess"s safety is the first priority at this point in time. Targeting the princess would be the fastest way to turn the tables, after all. You"ll have to bear with us."

Akino understood what Yashamaru was saying. Natsume"s group - and of course Harutora - understood that Takiko was crucial to the Tenchuu Chifu Ritual that Takiko"s group was planning. Right now, Takiko"s group had the overwhelming advantage. And like Yashamaru said, Takiko could directly sway the fight.

Takiko was simultaneously the trump card and the Achilles" Heel of the Souma and Kurahashi.

"At any rate, you are part of the Souma bloodline. We won"t treat you poorly, so please don"t be worried, Akino-kun."

Saying that, Yashamaru smiled softly. But she couldn"t stop worrying no matter what he said. On the contrary, the young man"s amicable smile made her raise her guard.

This was enemy territory.

And Takiko and Yashamaru were Akino"s enemies.

"......Well then. I was a bit worried, but your condition doesn"t seem bad. There"s someone who wants to take this opportunity to meet you. Can you come over here?"

Saying that, Takiko stood up. Akino startled reflexively.

But,

"...Akino."

When she heard that voice, her nervousness somehow melted away like frost in the sunlight. She herself was even surprised at her rapid change in emotions.

She felt relief.

Along with that, she was wrapped in a feeling of absolute safety and comfort that was completely out of the ordinary. It was her first experience like this.

Yashamaru"s eyes narrowed as if in satisfaction, giving his master a side-glance from behind her. Akino stood up unsteadily, walking up to Takiko"s side as if drawn to her.

She stepped out of the room. Here was the entranceway where shoes were removed. On the side was a door that looked like it led to a bathroom. Takiko opened the door, and in front of it was a linoleum corridor continuing forward. It was slightly odd, but perhaps this building had been a ryokan[5] before it had been bought.

Takiko left the corridor. Akino and Yashamaru followed behind her.

Takiko walked to the end of the corridor and went down the stairs. She went down one flight and then another. There were no more windows in the corridor anymore, so they must have descended underground. The stairs ended there, and Takiko walked into the corridor.

She stopped in front of a door. Unlike the previous room, this door had heavy-duty magical seals placed on it that even Akino"s eyes could recognize. Yashamaru got in front and released the complicated seals. Then, he opened the door and moved to the side.

Takiko went in the room. Akino followed after her. It was a room with the same layout as the one before. Two men and a woman were in the tatami-floored main area as they entered.

A large-statured, middle-aged man and a woman of similar age who looked willowy in comparison. They cast barbed looks at Takiko as she entered, but their expressions changed when they saw Akino.

The same went for Akino.

"Akino-chan!?"

"Chizuru-san! Takahiro-san!?"

In the room were Harutora"s adoptive parents, Tsuchimikado Chizuru and Takahiro. The two of them had been living together with Akino and Natsume before.

When the Onmyou Agency had surprise-attacked Kichijouji Temple where the Tsuchimikados had been hiding, Akino and Natsume had coincidentally been away and had managed to escape. But Takahiro, Chizuru, and Harutora"s true father Tsuchimikado Yasuzumi had been captured and taken away by the Onmyou Agency. Akino and the others had been unable to investigate into their circ.u.mstances since then and had been in the dark about their well-being.

But, Chizuru and Takahiro looked well. They seemed unharmed.

She had been anxious from being brought into the enemy encampment alone. That was now overturned by her joy at meeting Chizuru and the others again, and Akino"s eyes began to water. She ran over to Chizuru to embrace her. Chizuru also approached her as if to welcome her, hugging the teary-eyed girl.

Chizuru and the others had been captured just four days prior. But looking at their faces now, Akino felt as if they had been separated forever.

Chizuru gently patted Akino as she said:

"Akino-chan, I"m glad you"re alright......!"

"Ch-Chizuru-san too!"

Akino cried out as she looked up. Takahiro looked warmly at his wife and the girl. But when he turned to Yashamaru, his gaze was sharper than a knife and colder than ice.

Yashamaru smiled wryly at that gaze full of distrust and suspicion.

"You understand by "looking" at her, right Takahiro-kun? We haven"t done anything to her other than blocking her connection to the outside."

"......Why is she here?"

"Well, a lot of things happened. ......Aah, but you don"t need to worry about "that". Tsuchimikado Natsume and the rest are still on the run. We caught up to them once, but this girl gave herself up to let them escape."

Hearing Yashamaru"s words, Takahiro and Chizuru turned to at Akino with faces of surprise. Noticing their looks, Akino shook her head.

"That"s not it. Harutora-kun helped me, that"s all......"

Upon hearing that, Takahiro"s and Chizuru"s eyes went round.

Yashamaru chuckled at their reactions, his shoulders bobbing up and down.

"I predicted as much, but it seems like the entire Tsuchimikado family failed to notice the "Full Moon". Well, it was inherited by the Souma, so that"s not impossible."

""Full Moon"? What are you talking about...?”

Mumbling that, Takahiro gasped and looked back at Akino. His face was rigid with regret and surprise. Chizuru furrowed her brows suspiciously at her husband"s reaction.

"Could it be...... the moon rabbit......"

"Aha, it seems like at least Chizuru-kun who was born into the Tsuchimikado has some knowledge of it. Well, I think it"s inevitable that you"d be surprised. We were astonished too. Although we didn"t spend months together with her, of course. In any case, she"s "Souma" Akino."

Yashamaru glanced at Akino as he spoke.

Akino looked uneasily at Takahiro, but then Chizuru hugged her again. Chizuru"s eyes told her that everything was alright. Having Chizuru and Takahiro next to her gave her dauntless courage.

But, one thing she was curious about was......

"......Chizuru-san. Where"s Yasuzumi-san? You aren"t together?"

She lightly pulled on Chizuru"s arm as she asked. Chizuru and Takahiro silently looked at each other.

She had a bad premonition for a moment, but:

"It"s alright. He"s safe too. He"s in a different place right now."

Takiko was the one to answer Akino"s question.

But her tone was curt and cold.

"He"s a stubborn man. ......We knew that, but we didn"t expect his sense of duty as the Tsuchimikado family head - as the successor of Yakou"s will. ......But don"t take it as if we"re harming him. I hope you believe me. It might be a bit unpleasant to hear me say it, but...... we don"t have any need for that anymore.[6]"

The lines Takiko casually delivered packed a punch. It was a force br.i.m.m.i.n.g with self-confidence. The "strange atmosphere" she had felt from Takiko seemed to materialize. A foreign aura that was distant and unhuman. Akino shivered.

Perhaps it had to do with the "G.o.d"s descent" that Natsume had talked about. In any case, the atmosphere that Takiko gave off sometimes was that "inhuman".

"What the princess says is correct. You"re the Tsuchimikado, after all. We don"t want to be cruel, but who knows that schemes you"d come up with if we kept the three of you in the same place. That"s why we"re keeping Yasuzumi-kun in a different location. To put if plainly, he"s something like a hostage. Personally, I"d like to spend some time with each one of you, but... unfortunately, we don"t have time for that."

Yashamaru said this apologetically, making it seem like it was no lie.

Akino still looked up at Takahiro and Chizuru. Then, she noticed.

...Their foreheads.

On their foreheads was drawn an "X" mark. The same curse mark that had been on Suzuka"s forehead. But the ones on them were a size bigger than Suzuka"s. They probably went farther than Suzuka"s and completely sealed away their magical power.

Takahiro and Chizuru were first-rate Onmyouji. And Yasuzumi, who was in a different location, was gifted with the power of "divination". Negligence could not be permitted while they were in captivity. It was nothing but natural for the Souma to take the measure of sealing their magical power.

"Yashamaru."

When Takiko gave the order, the shikigami nodded respectfully, turned towards Takahiro and Chizuru, and began explaining the sequence of events behind Akino"s capture. The events were related to Yesterday evening"s incident. They were already informed of the events that led up to it - such as the surprise attack on Kichijouji Temple and Natsume meeting up with the other academy students. How many times had the Souma held this kind of conversation with the Tsuchimikado before Akino came here?

Takahiro and Chizuru"s faces darkened as Yashamaru spoke. It was obvious, but that was how grim their situation was.

Their expressions stiffened the most when they heard that the Divine General Kogure Zenjirou had fallen at the hands of Yashamaru. Akino hadn"t known of that either.

Yesterday, Natsume and the others had left the warehouse they had been hiding in in order to meet Kogure. But come to think of it, Natsume and Touji had been the only ones who came running to Akino and Suzuka. At that time, she should have known that they had failed to meet Kogure.

"......Did you kill him?"

A shiver ran down Akino"s back when she heard Takahiro"s level voice.

Yashamaru smiled devilishly.

"Why, of course not. Miyachi-kun would be upset if we did. He"s just sealed and unconscious. Honestly, we"re so busy that we don"t have time to fool around with him. So he"ll just be sleeping like this. ......It"s a mere three days, anyway. He won"t die."

Takahiro looked away from Yashamaru without a word. Akino clenched her fists unconsciously.

A mere three days. There were no better words to describe the "grim situation" that Akino and the others were in right now. In these three days, Akino and the others had to turn the tides.

Akino could no longer do anything but pray.

......No, maybe there was something? Something that Akino could do in captivity.

..."I hope you can relay the message".

"......Eh?"

Akino let out a sound, feeling as if she had heard a voice from somewhere. Chizuru, who was hugging her, was the only one who noticed. "Akino-chan?" She quietly asked. But Akino couldn"t reply.

...Who was that just now?

Feeling as if she had forgotten something important, Akino desperately searched through her mind. But nothing came to her.

An anxiety that she didn"t understand the reason behind ate at her heart. Akino continued clinging to Chizuru"s arms as she desperately dug through her memories.

We"d like to talk with just the three of us. There had been no reason to listen to Takahiro"s request, but Takiko had permitted it and left the room leaving Akino behind. After all, they had only been granted ten minutes. And as evidenced by the magical power seal, Yashamaru wasn"t going to underestimate the Tsuchimikados one bit.

Only three days left.

But, there were still three days.

And it was inconceivable that Harutora would be sitting still. Because of that, Takiko"s side had to pay close attention.

She had mentioned it to Akino before, but Harutora"s best strategy right now was to aim for Takiko, the crux of the Tenchuu Chifu Ritual. a.s.sa.s.sinating Takiko would immediately turn the tables. And Harutora wasn"t the only one potentially taking aim at Takiko. The former Divine General Ohtomo Jin, whose whereabouts were as unknown as usual, was also somewhere. He in particular had carried out "those kinds of jobs" many times during his period of active duty.

"Please be careful."

"...I know."

The master and servant exchanged brief words in the corridor outside the room.

And,

"......So here"s where you were."

A young man materialized with that calm voice. An unrefined-looking young man wearing a parka. He was k.u.momaru, one of Takiko"s defensive shikigami alongside Yashamaru.

Yashamaru said:

"How was it?"

"As expected, I couldn"t confirm."

"Any motion in the editorial department?"

"Nothing particular right now. It looks certain that she was acting independently, and it doesn"t seem like she"s come in contact with them since. If she"s alive, she"ll contact them eventually. The editorial department will get suspicious if news stops coming for a while."

"Hm...... Having only three days left puts us in a delicate situation. Speak to Kurahashi and get some people moving. Just to make sure, have the editorial department marked."

Yashamaru made a slightly difficult face at k.u.momaru"s report. "What"s going on?" Asked Takiko.

In response,

"It"s about the magazine journalist who was working with Kogure."

Yashamaru explained.

"We ought to have taken her into custody, but we put it off until after our fight with Kogure-kun...... When Kurahashi"s Mystical Investigators arrived at the scene, she had already disappeared from the hotel. We couldn"t catch her."

Wakamiya Rika, reporter for the "Monthly Onmyouji", had partnered with Kogure and was drawing near the shadows of the Onmyou Agency upper echelon - in other words, Yashamaru and Takiko"s plot. No, perhaps she had even "arrived". As Yashamaru said, they ought to have gotten ahold of her somehow, like they had gotten Kogure.

That said, she posed a much smaller threat compared to Kogure. They had thought there was no harm in putting off taking her into custody. After all, it would be impossible for an ordinary woman to escape from such an intense magic battlefield, or so they had presumed.

But when things quieted down and they had moved on to search for her, Wakamiya had vanished splendidly. Without a doubt, Yashamaru had been mistaken.

"My apologies for the failure. But her laptop was left behind in the hotel. We"re still a.n.a.lyzing it, but she won"t be able to access any of the evidence she was holding onto. Even if she speaks up now, it won"t change anything. We"re keeping an eye on the editorial department just to be sure, but we think that"s sufficient in this case."

If it were a month before Hinamatsuri, they would have to investigate this even if it meant making use of the rank-and-file. It would have been a clear choice if there were ten days - no, even five days until then.

But now Hinamatsuri was the day after tomorrow. Now that they had come this far, it was fair to say there was nothing that a single common reporter could do.

Takahiro and the others calmly accepted it, but in fact, now that the Tenchuu Chifu Ritual was in its final stages, it was debatable whether they Yashamaru and the others needed them as hostages any longer. They had to be on guard for Harutora first and foremost, and after that Ohtomo. And then Natsume"s group. With all that, they didn"t have the time to care about a single magazine editor.

In Yashamaru"s opinion, it was best if Takiko sat quietly and did nothing.

And,

"Understood. But......"

"Yes?"

"A festival ought to be rowdy."

She spoke like she was talking to herself. "Princess?" With a glint in his eyes, Yashamaru queried her intentions.

But Takiko didn"t say anything more. She just turned to her defensive shikigami, making a bewitching smile.

A familiar scent filled the bathroom.

It was a slightly sweet scent she was well acquainted with. As she sat on the edge of the dry bathtub, Natsume quietly closed her eyes and immersed herself in the fragrance.

She tried to "look" at the spell that she was well aware was laid on her. But "seeing" the spell laid on her own soul as impossible as looking at her own face without a mirror. She had tried it countless times before, and was unable to decipher the spell this time either. The most she could do was get a vague feel of it.

Even so, she knew that the spell was working well overall. Of course, that didn"t mean that it had recovered from its slow unraveling, but she certainly wasn"t on the brink of death at this moment. Rather, the matter of importance was when that "moment" would come.

The dragon Hokuto resided in Natsume. Hokuto was partially merged with Natsume due to the spell cast on her, and by the power of the soul-settling incense she was finally granted a reprieve from the tension that the presence of the dragon induced, which always made her feel stretched thin.

Natsume thanked the shikigami inside of her. She slowly circulated her spiritual power, repairing her aura"s balance.

She had been cooped up alone for about one hour.

......Okay.

She was alright now. Concluding that, Natsume opened her eyes and slowly lifted herself up.

She checked the condition of her physical body next. For now, she didn"t notice any irregularities to make her worried, but there hadn"t been any portents before yesterday"s episode. Impressing upon herself that she couldn"t be careless, Natsume took the soul-settling incense and left the room.

She exited the corridor and went into the living room.

"Ah, Natsume-chan. Are you okay now?"

"Yes. Sorry for making you worry."

Momoe Tenma asked anxiously about her condition, and Natsume answered him with a smile. "Thank goodness." Kurahashi Kyouko smiled from next to him. She had taken quite some time to very carefully regulate her aura, so perhaps she had made them worry for no reason.

In addition to Tenma and Kyouko, the living room contained Touji, Suzuka, and the wheelchair-bound Amami Daizen. They were in the middle of finishing the lunch they had bought from a convenience store. They had all suddenly stopped upon seeing Natsume.

Turning his wheelchair around, Amami said:

"Is that soul-settling incense enough on its own? It"s just an emergency measure we dug up, after all. It"s far lower quality than the stuff the Tsuchimikado family uses."

"No, I think it"s enough. It doesn"t feel very different, and I adjusted for differences in strength. Please give my thanks to Fujiwara-sensei. We asked for something so rare in such a short time...... but thanks to him, I"m still alive."

"He"ll be happy to hear that. But thank him yourself. After we finish everything."

Amami grinned as he said that, snapping his fan with his hand.

Natsume and the others were currently hiding out in the old Roppongi mansion that Touji and Amami had used before. It was one of the safehouses that Amami used. They had been at a rented warehouse up until yesterday, but they had now abandoned that site.

The scene of Akino, Takiko and the others being sucked into the spirit flow right in front of her eyes was still fresh in Natsume"s mind, as if it had been burned into her eyes. She hadn"t realized what had been happening, but had almost fallen into a panic when she grasped the situation.

But thanks to the commotion Kogure had raised, Mystical Investigators had started gathering in the vicinity. Natsume and the rest made contact with Amami, and upon hearing of the situation, he had decided to abandon the rented warehouse right then and there.

He had no other choice now that Akino had fallen into enemy hands. In fact, they had to withdraw immediately. Amami had instructed Touji to evacuate to the Roppongi safehouse and had left the rented warehouse himself. He had waited for the dead of night and then met back up with them.

"I didn"t think we"d be coming back here...... d.a.m.n."

Touji grumbled idly after they had regrouped. Amami calmly responded.

"It"s not that we"ve returned back to square one, Touji. We"re laying low here, and we"ve got allies with us."

He spoke as if he had considered the possibility of having to move out of fear that their hiding place would be exposed as a result of their joint plan with Kogure failing. But though he said that, no one recognized how tough their current situation was more than Amami. Touji quickly withdrew his complaints, grimacing.

The mansion was a 2LDK[7] It was a big cramped with the number of people they had, but the circ.u.mstances required it. In fact, perhaps they were lucky to still have a command center given the situation.

The biggest problem was Tenma"s shikigami Hama. The heavy, over-three-ton mechanical-type shikigami H1 Hama was the crucial means of transport for Natsume and the others, but it attracted attention. The reason they had chosen the warehouse in the first place was because there had been no other place to store Hama.

In the end, Natsume and the others had managed to hide Hama on the roof of the mansion. They had used Suzuka"s shikigami to lift it up there. They were covering it with a blue tarp for now, but it was a matter of time before another resident or the management noticed it. It was unfortunate, but this was all they could do.

......There was nowhere else left to go......

Natsume thought as she looked at the figures of her friends gathered in the living room. Kogure had been captured. But in addition, now that they had confronted Takiko directly, she truly felt like this was the "deciding moment". And also, through Akino she had gotten in touch with Harutora - the childhood friend she had been searching for all this time.

"Natsume-chan, here."

Tenma handed Natsume her share of onigiri.

Honestly, she didn"t have much appet.i.te, but Amami had instructed that their everyday meals had become a "responsibility". It was extremely important that Natsume and the others stay in top condition for a potential battle at any moment. Natsume thanked Tenma and took the onigiri he offered.

"......Well then."

Amami said, snapping his fan again.

After checking that Natsume had recovered, they considered the situation as they ate and discussed their next moves. Akino was first and foremost on her mind.

"I hope she"s alright......"

"Yeah......"

Tenma nodded at Natsume"s gloomy comment.

They had concluded from yesterday"s discussion that Akino wasn"t in too much danger with Takiko"s group.

Takiko"s group didn"t gain anything from harming Akino. Maybe they would get a bit of information from her, but they already knew pretty much everything that Akino did, so they likely weren"t expecting much out of Akino as an information source. In the first place, Takiko"s group could easily get that information using magic if they wanted to. They didn"t have any need to intentionally hurt Akino.

Also, the "Full Moon" inside Akino was Tsuchimikado Yakou"s magical tool, meant to be paired with the "Raven"s Wing" that Harutora had. They would probably avoid doing anything abnormal to her, and Takiko"s side didn"t have the time or manpower to research her in the first place. Ultimately, it made sense for them to just leave her alone.

And more than anything, regardless of what side she was on, Akino was a "Souma". Considering Takiko"s personality and what Suzuka had said of her meeting Akino, she wouldn"t do anything bad - Natsume and the other so concluded.

Of course, this wasn"t for sure, and it was more self-rea.s.surance than anything else. They knew they had to save her as quickly as possible, but that would clearly be difficult. It was painful to have to trust their enemies, but there was nothing they could do but believe in Takiko"s mercy.

And Akino wasn"t the only pressing matter.

"To be honest, it"s quite bad that Kogure"s been taken. We"ve lost any chance of winning cleanly."

Amami said in a flat voice that he had pushed his emotion out of. That was also something they had concluded yesterday night, but their expression stiffened upon hearing it.

"Of course, all that we"ve lost is the chance of a "clean" victory. We haven"t lost for sure yet. But it"ll require some clever tricks to turn the tables from where we are now. Of course, the risks will increase."

"......Have you thought about what specifically we"re going to do next?"

Amami shrugged at Kyouko"s answer.

"Speaking logically, we should attack Souma Takiko directly, but... yesterday"s event clearly showed that we have no chance of winning when she has her Yase Doji with her. Well, even if we were trying to do that, we can"t figure out where she is."

"What if I divined where she was..."

"Would that work? According to you all, Souma Takiko"s become something like a living spirit - or like a "G.o.d". Never mind the fact that it"s hard to divine anything about living spirits, but they"re probably guarding themselves well. They won"t stay long at any place that could be easily found."

Takiko was the key to their enemies" ritual. No, even more than just the ritual, she was the symbol of the Souma. It was because of Takiko that the Souma had spent these years preparing and had carried out this plan. She could be called the center of everything right now.

This very fact reminded them once again of yesterday, that very moment -- the rare chance of confronting Takiko. It was due to luck they are able to confront Takiko, not only that, she was acting alone, without her strong guards Yashamaru and k.u.momaru accompanying her.

In contrast, their team that was present consist of Natsume, Touji and Suzuka, the frontline battle ready members. If they were talking about using [Battle] as a means to change the tide, this can be argued to be the most ideal condition.

However, in reality, the battle ended without starting, due to Touji in his seal released oni form not able to go against Takiko.

Four years ago, during the Great Hinamatsuri Purification terrorist attack, Yashamaru – Dairenji Shidou caused Touji to be possessed by oni. Furthermore, the spirit Yashamaru tried to summon was indeed Taira no Masakado, resulting Touji not being able to use his oni powers against the descendants of Taira no Masakado, namely Takiko.

“If only I did not stubbornly used my oni powers, capturing Takiko… I can’t stand this, how can I be so careless.”

“No, I am responsible for this incident, I should have a.s.sist you immediately.”

“…. If you put it that way, then I should be the one bearing the most responsibility, after all I confronted her for such a long time….”

“Nothing of that sort, Suzuka, didn’t you already inform us immediately? It was us, we rushed to the scene and --”

Looking at the youngsters speaking up for each other, Amami felt frustrated, before he could speak, “Everyone, let’s stop talking about this”, Kyouko said plainly.

“If everyone wants to take the responsibility, then people like us who only can stay here will have to take some responsibility as well, that said, every one of us here are responsible for this. Reflecting on our mistakes is important, but what is the use of sitting here and shifting the blame.”

Kyouko, holding a sandwich in her hand, speaks in a serious tone, her expression looks stern. Who knows if she purposely expresses herself in such a manner, but her intentions are made very clear. “um, I feel the same as well.” Tenma said quickly. Touji, Natsume and Suzuka exchanged looks with each other while feeling complicated.

“… Such is the situation right now, if you all think that you are careless, turn this feeling of bitterness into strength.” Amami shrug, concluded. Next, he looked away suddenly, “Besides….” Making a face full of thoughts, continued.

“… From what I hear from your discussion, right now Souma Takiko is giving out a dangerous aura, it may be a good thing that you guys did not start a battle with her”

“Is it due to the effects of seance?”

“I’m afraid so, however since I did not personally [see] for myself, this is just my personal feeling…”

Amami did not say this to comfort them, he truly felt that they should not initiate a battle carelessly, Natsume, who got to meet Takiko face to face, agreed with Amami’s views.

Even though they took action yesterday solely based on momentum, however, at that point of time Souma Takiko indeed have something like a [not tolerating infringement] aura around her.

This time, Natsusme felt deeply moved by Takiko. In her eyes, Takiko is just a girl that is the same age as her.

Affected by the strings of fate brought on by the ancestors of the Onmyou world, what if this girl is just a bit strange, but is a normal girl that could be found anywhere on the everyday streets. They had opposing views, but she is just like herself, Natsume even have a strange feeling of empathy with her.

This is not a problem of what is real and what is elusive, Takiko is very true to herself.

However, she is the [enemy] without a doubt, even with this empty feeling of sadness, this is still an undeniable fact.

Natsume – and everyone else cannot lose to her.

“Anyways let’s talk about our next move. Even though we agree on discussing, the general direction did not change… in fact, we are only left with this method. The method of using Onmyouji Monthly Magazine that have contact with Kyouko, to put up articles online to expose Chief Kurahashi, at the same time rely on Touji’s network to persuade member of parliament, Naota Kouzou, using the power of the government to temporary stop the actions of Onmyou Agency.”

With the publisher exposing the enemy’s crimes and with politicians freezing the enemy’s greatest a.s.sets – supervision powers and organisational powers. This method arguably is a direct attack method, Amami previously did not resort to using this method is due to the fact they did not have [Evidence].

In the eyes of normal people, magic is something difficult to understand and mysterious, to describe in a more extremely way, it is a world where [anything can happen]. It’s because of this, it is very difficult to go against the power of Onmyou Agency just with the statements made by Amami, Natsume and everyone else. In order to use this method to win against Kurahashi, Amami must use all the influence he have in the magic world to ask for a.s.sistance, that is why, they were originally hoping for the previous independent exorcist, Kogure, to make a public appeal.

However, the situation now does not allow them to be hesitant. As Amami mentioned earlier, even they are going to use [reckless methods], if they cannot change their current situation, they are as good as waiting for death.

Using this method this time, other than [winning] Kurahashi, more importantly, they want to limit the enemy"s movements.

“The ritual will be on 3rd of March – it has been confirmed that the event will be held in 2 days’ time. In that case, exposing them in a large scale, shaking Onmyou Agency, even though we only have a few days, as long as we can slow their actions down, it will be very meaningful… no matter what kind of sentence we will get later.”

It means, this does not ensure victory, it’s a way of surprise attack without thinking of consequences. Even though it is not what Amami, a tactician, would suggest, at this point in time they were left with no other solution.

This is definitely not a method that will succeed easily.

“Right now, the greatest problem is not having enough time, even though we are living in the times of information society, in order to attract people’s -- especially the [upper echelons] attention, time is still required. If we are to move carelessly and let our enemy realise our plans, it will be meaningless, our opponent is making a move in the name of [Anti spiritual disaster terrorism]. If we want to stop them, the people who we are stopping will need to have certain determination, so we need to convince those people, allowing them to be determined, this is seriously a very difficult task.”

Amami sighed while saying, yet his tone carries a hint of happiness, a confident smile can be seen on his face.

This kind of slightly exaggerated way of speaking and att.i.tude is about showing off the bitter sweetness of strong courage in such a dire situation, Amami’s intention has transmitted to the hearts of the children. “Things have progress to such a stage where a few hours can result in death. The ritual will start immediately on 3rd of March, 12am… We must stop such an event from occurring.”

Amami spoke while looking at the clock hanged on the wall in the living room.

It is unclear to them the exact [time] Souma’s party will start Tensou Chifu Ritual, even Natsume, who grew up in the Tsuchimikadou family did not know about Tensou Chifu Ritual – Yakou’s reconstruction of the Imperial Onmyoudou did not record Tensou Chifu Ritual existence.

“The previous two spiritual disaster terrorism attacks… Great Hinamatsuri Purification and Hinamatsuri Repurification activated before dusk, the Omagatoki. Due to not understanding the details of Tensou Chifu Ritual, there is no way to confirm… we can only [fear] the ritual two days later will start at the same time.”

In such a dire situation, this kind of judgement may seem [complacent]. In the eyes of Natsume and her friends, the key person of the ritual, Souma Takiko, seem to be [completely prepared]. Supposing Tensou Chifu Ritual can be held anytime, Souma would had taken action already. However, Souma insist to hold the ritual on the 3rd of March, Hinamatsuri, from this, one can infer that the time of starting the ritual with the previous two spiritual disaster terrorist attacks – the chances of the magic ritual being held at the same timing is very high.

“Kyouko, you still couldn’t contact that reporter?”

“Yes… her mobile is switched off till now…”

Kyouko shook her head in response to Touji’s question.

That Onmyouji Monthly Magazine reporter that appeared to meet Kyouko for the sake of interviewing her, is a young lady by the name of Rika Wakamiya. Her elder sister used to be a lecturer in Onmyou Academy, it was said that she was the one who taught Ohtomo and Kogure. She continually questioned the cause of her elder sister’s death, after that she acted alone in investigating the mysterious magic world, specifically, the dark side of Onmyou Agency.

During the interview between Wakamiya and Kyouko, Wakamiya revealed her true intentions to Kyouko when the two of them were alone, she also left Kyouko with her name card that contains her mobile number, hoping Kyouko will contact her when anything happens. It was due to her existence that they thought of using the publisher to expose the Onmyou Agency.

After moving into this mansion yesterday, Kyouko tried to contact her multiple times, but she was not able to get through.

Judging from how serious Wakamiya is, it is hard to believe she just left her contact without expecting anything. In addition, at this point of time where it concerns the life and death of the magic world, logically thinking, Onmyouji Monthly Magazine would not ignore communicating with the outside world. Looking from different points of view, it may be possible she had met with mishap.

“Even though we really wish she could help us, but we can’t wait any longer. It looks like we can only directly contact the editorial department of Onmyouji Monthly Magazine. However…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Just now Suisen reported to me saying the magic investigation department seems to be spying on the editorial department.”

After listening to Amami, Natsume expression turned grim.

Suisen is a shikigami lent to Touji by Kyouko’s grandmother, Kurahashi Miyo.

Even though Touji is the owner of Suisen, but this beautiful lady in kimono is mainly helping out Amami, who currently has difficulties in moving around. After moving into this base, Amami began to order Suisen to observe the editorial department of Onmyouji Monthly Magazine.

“When that Wakamiya reporter made contact with Kyouko, it was [before] the situation had escalated, because of this, it is unlikely that Wakamiya making contact is a trap laid by the Onmyou Agency. In addition, according to Suisen’s report, the people from magic investigation department did not enter the editorial department, they only observe from the outside.”

“… Could it be that they were aware of reporter Wakamiya’s existence?”

“It is difficult to say, but Wakamiya’s phone being switched off may have a connection to this situation.”

Amami answered Natsume’s question in a serious tone, “How could this be.” Kyouko wailed after listening to them at the side.

“Is it highly possible that Wakamiya-san has fallen into the hands of magic investigation department?”

“… If she had fell into the enemy’s hands, then it will be unnatural to observe the editorial department… I think. Let’s say, during the chaos these days allowed her to get hold of something, knowing this, the chief and his men began to search for her, this is the most logical explanation I can come up with currently… However, this is just my personal guess, it cannot be confirmed yet.

As the conversation moved to this point, Amami snapped his fan as if to change the conversation topic back to before.

“No matter what, there is no way for us to interfere with Wakamiya’s affairs, the most important issue right now is to contact the editorial department.”

Due to the people from magic investigation department observing outside, the contact with editorial department must proceed with extra caution. However, they are not just contacting editorial department, they have to convince them as well, if they move too cautiously, the editorial department may be suspicious of them as well.

Once again as a reminder, they do not have much time left.

“We can only hope that Onmyou Monthly Magazine editorial department lives up to our expectations and the reporters have pride in being media workers.”

What kind of judgement will the editorial department give will [depend on luck], putting everything on the line, end of the day the only way is still meeting them face to face.

“If this problem is solved, the [next] problem will be even more challenging… Touji, have u not gotten any reply yet?”

Touji facing Amami, who just turned his head and face him, gave a short answer… “Yes.”

“I am still waiting for a reply…”

Touji spoke while controlling his facial expression. However, in the eyes of Natsume, who is standing at the side, seems to be able to understand the complicated thoughts behind the plain expression Touji has. Amami targeted the member of parliament, Naota Kouzou, is actually Touji’s biological father, Natsume only know of this after moving into the mansion last night. She had heard rumours about Touji being an illegitimate child, but she did not expect his father to be the politician rumoured being manipulative and an important figure in the world of politics.

-- To be revealing this now…

In the past, Touji rarely talks about his family, at most he only mentioned about his mother opening a shop in Ginza, never once he mentioned about his father.

Even though – or should say because of this, one can imagine he has difficulty in expressing his love and hate for his own father.

That said, Touji has put away his own personal feelings and is determined to seek a.s.sistance from his father. In fact, this plan of Amami will succeed or not, compared to using Onmyouji Monthly Magazine for exposure, more importantly is if Naota could make the government come up with countermeasures. Without concrete evidence and the deadline is just a short two days away, can they possibly stop the Onmyou Agency, this is what Amami has mentioned as the [greatest challenge].

“If the other side does not reply, I will head down personally, they cannot possibly ignore my existence.”

Different from the usual expressionless Touji, his eyes glow with a strong determination. As a direct student under Amami for the past one and a half years, he is fully prepared to fulfil his role.

“--- I shall leave it to you then, Touji.”

Amami, in an elderly manner, happily accept Touji’s [resolve].

As if waiting for this moment of the conversation between the two, “…?” a soft vibration sound was heard, Touji quickly take out his phone. It seems to be someone calling, he picked up the call immediately after looking at the caller display.

“… Aa, it’s me, how was it?”

He back faced his comrades, walked towards the corner of the living room and spoke softly on his phone. The cold voice carries a hint of nervousness, the tone used is somehow different compared to when speaking to Natsume and the rest, or even to his elders like Amami and Ohtomo. Natsume has never heard --- seen Touji with such an att.i.tude.

The people in the room kept quiet, staring intently at Touji’s back. “Alright… alright…” Touji repeatedly replied in such a way. A soft female’s voice could be heard intermittently coming from Touji’s phone.

Finally, Touji replied “I got it.” And after a few seconds, he replied “Thanks.” Before ending the call.

After staring at his phone for a while, Touji let out a breath and kept his phone back into his pocket. When he turned around, he looked calm yet a little embarra.s.sed. Natsume wondered if she had thought too deep about it.

“Is that your mother?”

“… Yes.”

Touji calmly nodded while replying to Amami’s confirmation.

“She seemed to have made contact with my dad recently and had already made an appointment with him. It will be six in the evening today at my mother’s shop, he will be coming alone.”

After listening to Touji, “Thank goodness.” Amami said cheerfully while snapping his fan.

“Now then… Let’s get prepared quickly.”

Everybody nodded to Amami’s call.

Natsume unwrapped the onigiri in her hands, took a bite on the seaweed and chewed on the cold rice.

After finishing --- It is time for battle.

For the future that she hoped for.

The editing department is being disorganised as usual.

The Onmyou Agency made a statement two days back about Tsuchimikado Harutora’s announcement on planning a terrorist attack, there is even a magic battle broke out on the streets close to the building last evening. With regards to that magic battle, there were rumours saying it is related to the previous independent exorcist, Heavenly Sword, Kogure Zenjiro, who had just transferred to the magic investigation department. However, the Onmyou Agency did not make any statements after that and there were saying that the Onmyou Agency is filled with rumours as well.

The magic investigation department are chasing after Tsuchimikado Harutora’s location, the exorcist bureau has to deal with the increasing number of spiritual disaster, on the other hand they have to prepare to stop the imminent threat of the terrorist attack.

There is not a moment to lose focus, the things that are happening in the magic world now and what will happen afterwards.

In face of such ever changing situation, Chief Editor of Onmyouji Monthly Magazine, Kobayashi, is worried with another problem… no, this cannot be considered as [another problem], it can be considered a problem part of the [unrest] and should be considered the problem [center of the unrest].

However, the scale of the problem is different from the usual work he has been doing, it is a huge problem that might shock the whole industry. Kobayashi will be starting his great adversity of age forty-two[8] this summer, he had already met with bad luck during his visit to the shrine on New Year Day, looks like the unlucky spirit that should be wiped out is lingering in his line of work.

“… Kurahashi! Are you still not able to contact Wakamiya?” He roared fiercely. “I have not.” Newcomer Kurahashi quickly answered. Kobayashi cursed and looked at his laptop once more. He squints and stare at the monitor, the monitor shows the letter sent by his subordinate Wakamiya. The contents of the mail make people wonder if she had gone insane, if it’s the usual him, he will treat the contents as a bunch of nonsense without reading the entire letter, because the letter mentioned about Kurahashi Genji and his partners being the masterminds of the previous two and the upcoming terrorist attack in two days’ time. This is so ridiculous and it is not part of the scope of the editorial department.

It’s just…

The most frustrating thing is that the report has answered many of Kobayashi’s suspicion towards the Onmyou Agency for many years.

“… d.a.m.n it.”

This letter was sent by Wakamiya late last night.

According to her in the letter, she had begun working with Kogure Zenjirou since summer two years ago, investigating the secrets of the upper echelons of Onmyou Agency. Wakamiya did not trust Onmyou Agency at all, Kobayashi knows that she is investigating independently as well. Even though he did not encourage her to do this, but he was observing at the side as well, sometimes even gave suggestions without leaving traces. He hasn’t been honest with her before, after working in this line for so many years, he had developed similar suspicions as her. He seriously did not expect Wakamiya would be able to get so far with her investigations alone.

Additionally, Wakamiya was at the scene of the magic battle last evening – truth to be told, it seemed like the magic battle occurred because of her.

Wakamiya began to look into the past incident where the mystical investigator, Hirata Atsune, went missing after infiltrating Twin Horn Syndicate for investigation, after searching through his network, she found out about a girl named Souma Takiko. As she was infiltrating the hotel where the girl was staying, she was attacked by the shikigami in the hotel, placed to ambush by the enemy – Kogure arrived in time and both parties immediately had a fierce battle, Wakamiya took the opportunity to escape by using the chaos created from the battle.

--- It gets to my nerves, that wild girl...

Afterwards she couldn’t contact the editorial department because she lost her phone during the escape. Having no more ideas, she could only go to the manga café and use her newly registered account to send the mail. She has predicted that she will be chased down by the magic investigation department and hinted the editorial department that they might be observed by the magic investigation department, that’s why she would avoid the editorial department for the time being and go underground. In fact, he replied the mail immediately, it’s just there were no replies coming back after that.

This is not a joking matter.

“… Hopefully nothing happens, d.a.m.n it.”

Kobayashi took out a pack of cigarette from his shirt pocket, straighten his face and stare at the monitor while his hand took out a stick of cigarette from the pack, after that he put the cigarette into his mouth before lighting it.

After blowing out the smoke that filled his lungs—

“Ah, Kobayashi chief.” A subordinate at the side called out to him. “Any news from Wakamiya?” after he consciously turned his head over, he saw the other party pointing and signalling against the cigarette on his mouth.

The editorial department has banned indoor smoking two years ago, he blankly let out a “Ah” and make a fierce looking facial expression, made an evil sounding grunt before standing from his seat.

The subordinates gave a surprising look towards at their superior who is in a foul mood as he leaves his desk and walked out of the office. Needless to say, he did not reveal the contents of Wakamiya’s letter to them and he dare not say out either. This wasn’t the first time Wakamiya took action alone, the others may start to suspect, not knowing why Kobayashi being so angry.

Upon entering the corridor, Kobayashi walked towards the smoking room at the corner of the building level with the cigarette in his mouth. In this short amount of time of movement, he had met quite a few people from other departments rushing to the editorial department.

Whenever there are major happenings with regards to magic, the usual non-mainstream Onmyouji Monthly Magazine editorial department will become the main centre for reporting. However, this is not something that can be easily discussed with anyone, he even had some kind of misconception, he felt that everyone who had just walked past him were staring at him. He felt like he was hugging a bomb while being stark naked.

--- The magic investigation department is observing this place? Give me a break…

It is fortunate that there were no one else in the smoking room, he made himself comfortable in this small s.p.a.ce, in his mind he starts to rethink about Wakamiya’s report.

This rushed report has an unrefined content, it is an unsatisfactory report. It was due to the laptop containing the investigation report being left in the hotel, this report did not contain any detailed records or doc.u.ments, it only simply described the most important facts.

Just relying on this letter will not bring anyone to anywhere, only Wakamiya’s pa.s.sion and sincerity had been delivered.

Additionally, the most important thing is…

--- d.a.m.n it, why is it such an obviously unrefined report, yet it is so realistic.

Kobayashi’s [gut feeling] is telling him that the credibility of Wakamiya’s report is very high.

It is normally extremely difficult to prove any news related to magic to be real, speaking of extreme, those magic users who resents Kurahashi Chief and the Onmyou Agency had suggested to Wakamiya, faking this report – this possibility cannot be dismissed yet. Not just manipulating people’s hearts, they can also make the other party hallucinate, or even using various kinds of shikigami. What is normally deemed impossible, it can be easily achieved just by using magic, for normal people who do not have Spirit Sight to see through the crimes magic users did, it is just impossible.

However, it is because of this, those who are related to news reports regarding magic highly trust their own [instincts]. Even though magic is something out of the world, but the magic user who is using it is still a human. Just by carefully observing human behaviour -- not just on the surface, but the deepest parts, one can understand what kind of person he or she is. This kind of judgement compared to using logic, relies more on [instincts].

a.s.suming Wakamiya’s report is true, deciding on how to deal with the report will be even more th.o.r.n.y, not true, in fact, he just doesn’t know what to do with it.

Kurahashi Genji is the leader of the magic world now, holding to a position that no one can ever compare, to say he is the true supreme leader of the magic world is not exaggerated as well. In such situation where one does not have any concrete evidence, accusing this kind of person of a crime is truly unrealistic.

Yet, if he wants ignore this matter, it is too serious for him to do so, it concerns many people’s lives. Since he already knew of this, he cannot act as if he doesn’t know anything.

“… What should I do.”

Kobayashi mumbled, a desperate look and an overexerted smile comes up on his face.

He is just as concerned about Wakamiya’s safety, even though considering her age has allowed acc.u.mulation of much experience, but Wakamiya is still a normal human. If she is really targeted by the people in the magic investigation department, in this kind of situation it is impossible for her to escape alone. Besides, Wakamiya got a hold of such a big scoop, she would not just quietly stay still and hide.

--- Ah ah, d.a.m.n, if at least Heavenly Sword is with her, I wouldn’t be so worried.

In order to take number one priority in escaping from that spot, Wakamiya did not witness the conclusion of the magic battle last evening. However, if Kogure was on site, there were no news and attempt to make contact with Wakamiya after that, it is logical to conclude he had lost. If he had really lost, that will be a very shocking news. Kogure is a previous Independent Exorcist, he was a first cla.s.s elite Onmyouji of the exorcist bureau, normally speaking, this kind of person would not lose to a shikigami.

“… As expected, that guy is being delusional... hopefully so, really…”

Without noticing, the cigarette that has not been smoked had half of it turned into ash. Kobayashi threw away the cigarette furiously and lit another cigarette.

At this moment, “Sorry for the interruption, Chief Editor Kobayashi.” A subordinate from the editorial department opened the door of the smoking room. “What is it?” he replied loudly with a hint of anger, the worries in his mind can be felt.

“There is a strange call made...”

“A strange call?”

“The caller is looking for Wakamiya.”

He immediately threw away the cigarette he just lit, rushed out of the smoking room. The subordinate was surprised, but immediately chased after him.

“Who called?”

“The caller does not wish to reveal her ident.i.ty, but it is a young lady, at a very young age, might not be an adult yet. She would like to thank Wakamiya for that canned coffee… due to the special circ.u.mstances now, we are guessing if that is a voice signal used by Wakamiya.”

“Is the call still on line?”

“Of course.”

After Kobayashi returned to the editorial department, he rushed to the nearest phone and picked up the line on hold.

“--- h.e.l.lo, this is Chief Editor Kobayashi.”

While he was speaking towards the speaker, he waved to signal his subordinate to leave. Understanding his intentions, his subordinate shrugged his shoulders, gave a slight bitter smile before returning to his desk. At the same time, a reply came from the other end of the call.

“Is Wakamiya-san in? May I ask for a method to contact her?”

The slightly anxious voice really sounds like a young girl.

This means…

“Excuse me for asking this, are you Kurahashi Kyouko?”

He specially concluded, hearing the other end let out a speechless breath. Judging from the reaction, he confirmed his own guess to be accurate. “Ah ah, please do not hang up.” Kobayashi continued quickly. “I heard about you from Wakamiya, about your father – Kurahashi Genji placing you on observation, I also know about you leaving home after the last interview. You have something to tell Wakamiya right? Something that you can finally say after escaping from being observed.”

“……”

“Regrettably, no one knows where is Wakamiya now, there is no way to contact her, I am also worried about her well-being. If possible, could you tell me the things that you are going to tell her? It’s just… to be on the careful side, I will give you my handphone number, could you please call back later? It seems like Wakamiya is dragged into the disturbance yesterday, you understand what I mean right?”

After interviewing Kurahashi Kyouko, Wakamiya thinks highly of this young girl from a wealthy and famous family. In fact, just by hearing about her results and expectations in the Onmyou Academy, one will already know she is a very talented and intelligent individual. Another thing, to leave her house in this situation, it is evident she has decided on going against her father – Onmyou Agency Chief’s stand obviously. Even though it is unknown how much she knows, but it is highly possible her statements will be able to prove Wakamiya’s report.

Of course, this could also be a [ploy] from the magic users of Kurahashi of the enemy team… Kobayashi’s [instincts] is clearly telling him that he must not let this girl go. “Kurahashi-san, are you willing to accept my suggestion?”

He asked, after a few seconds quietly pa.s.sed by, “Okay.” The other party agreed.

Simple as it may sound, a strong determination can be heard from her voice. “Thank you.” After Kobayashi told the other party his handphone number, “Please call me back as soon as possible.” He repeatedly reminded the other party before ending the call.

Kurahashi Kyouko’s reaction is mostly positive. The other party is still an underage, she must have muster a lot of courage before contacting the editorial department. One should not be too anxious, should not give unnecessary stress as well and should first gain the other party’s trust.

--- This kind of thing I really cannot be compared to Wakamiya.

On who is better at pleasing a girl who is in her teens, Kobayashi has no way to compare himself with Wakamiya. Now is a time where he should portray himself as a reliable chief editor where other party could try to rely on, taking the lead and guide the other party. As he was thinking about this, his phone rang in a short time.

The call returned very fast. Kurahashi Kyouko is indeed excellent. If he could truly guide her, she may achieve his expectations.

--- Don’t be too impatient, need to have a gentle att.i.tude.

Kobayashi took a deep breath, firstly to let the other party to be at ease, he said...

“h.e.l.lo, thank you for calling, I am chief editor Kobayashi—”

“As expected of a veteran chief of editorial department, no waste of time in explanation.”

The speaker brought out a voice vastly different from before, a voice of an aged man.

Kobayashi widened his eyes and went speechless, the other party seems to not allow him to think, continued speaking...

“I am the Chief of the Magic Investigation Division two years ago, Amami Daizen, surely you have heard of me? I apologise for making such a request suddenly, there is something I require your diligent help with. I think we should talk about this after we meet— no problems right, chief editor?”

Ever since autumn three years ago, he had never visited his mother’s shop. At that time, he transferred school and enrolled into Onmyou Academy, returning him to Tokyo.

He visited the shop briefly, he said h.e.l.lo due to formalities and left immediately. Regardless if he saw his mother’s face or heard his mother’s voice, that was the last time, after that the two of them only kept contact via phone messaging.

Mother hates me, she surely thinks of me as a burden, Touji always had this kind of thinking.

Now he knows there was no such thing, she was purely worried about the existence of [her own child].

Cold treatment, with an att.i.tude of detachment, he always thought that the look on his mother eyes when she looks at him is very cold. In fact, she really does not show much concern towards Touji. The person that she is most interested in is herself, furthermore, she did not even try to hide or cover up this fact. She did not care about how people around her will look at her or how people will feel about her, she only lives by her own values. In terms of this level, she can be considered as an extremely strong and straight forward person.

Even though this mother doesn’t care much about her own son, but she definitely doesn’t hate him, she has no evil intentions towards him as well. When he was living the most ridiculous days in his life, she did not abandon him, but she did not attempt to lead him back to the right path as well, letting him did what he wanted.

Perhaps, she herself knew that she did not behave like what people would expect of a [mother], she did not show the right interest, concern or love towards her own son. So, in contrast, she worked hard to guarantee her son’s [freedom], because to her, this is the most valuable thing.

“……”

Due to the warnings of a spiritual disaster terror attack, there were unusually less people on the streets of Ginza. The pa.s.sers-by were in twos and threes, having gloomy expressions on their faces, frequently, one can see shops that were closed for business.

Touji observed the streets, using invisibility to hide his presence and arrived at his mother’s shop.

He stood at the middle of the stairs and looked at the shop door located underground at the end of the stairs, looking at his watch to confirm the time. 5.50pm. His mother shifted the opening time by one hour, Touji must complete the task entrusted to him within this time.

Originally Amami would attend this discussion as well, however, he could not make it in the end due to the issue with Onmyouji Monthly Magazine progressing better than expected. He is now meeting their Chief Editor, together with Kyouko, to explain the whole situation, in hope to enlist his help, thus, Touji can only act alone on this side. Until the last moment, Amami was hesitant on which side takes priority, he believed this side is more important, but in the end, he gave in to Touji’s request of wanting to settle this alone.

In his heart, he has accepted the thing about his mother, but about his father… it was not about accepting or not, because those two seems to not have any exchange at all. Other than being blood related, those two are practically [strangers].

Of course, he knew full well [what kind of person] his father is. He is the secretary-general of the largest opposition, Independent Party, rumours say that he frequently interfered and controlled politics in the past, while not making much appearance, maintaining the party operations in the background for many years.

After the New People’s Party came in and stripped their political powers, he became the secretary-general, he reorganised and even rebuilt the party that was facing a crisis of disbanding. Including the political world, he has great influence in the government and financial sector as well, he is second to none most important political figure in j.a.pan.

All these are just knowledge about [The Politician Naota Kouzou], about his personal things, Touji had no knowledge at all.

For example, he did not acknowledge about the existence of his illegitimate child, but this can be said to be a request of his mother. However, in terms of finance— perhaps his mother doesn’t need it— he kept providing huge support. Their relationship was quite estranged, even though this was very coordinated with his mother’s character.

However, the clearest memory he had of his father was the aura that emitted from him.

Ice cold.

And sinister.

This is the deepest impression he had of his father. Mother did not give himself much concern, father was very obviously cold. However, he did not only treat his son in such a way, that man towards anything and everything gave the same cold att.i.tude, even towards mother his att.i.tude is cold as well. At least this was how it looks like to Touji, in his childhood. To the Touji right now, he can roughly imagine, a father that gives him a cold att.i.tude and his mother not giving a care at all, it’s quite interesting— or should be.

Besides, he gave off an evil intending vibe that is closely similar to being [sinister]. His sharp tongue is widely known in the political arena, even though one might suspect how this kind of man managed to become a politician, but he has not just a great lot of enemies, but a great lot of comrades as well, additionally the most important thing, his political results. This man is a brilliant strategist, not just Touji, even the voters that hated him cannot deny this fact as well.

--- Oh yes, I’ve just remembered.

The most sinister thing that can be felt from father, is his smile.

After all, he is a politician, can freely control the smile on his face. All these smiles were purposely made like a mask. Touji from young used his instincts to see through this façade. In fact, whenever his father smiles, Touji could feel deeply the sinister intent behind the smile.

Hiding the sinister smile like a demon, carving a trauma into the heart of a young child.

“……..”

Walking down the stairs, opening the door. As mentioned in the call, the door was not locked. The bell made a “kalakala” sound, Touji walked into the interior of the shop.

The lights of the shop were lit. Were the lights switched on first… Just as he thought about it, he realised that there was already people in the shop.

There wasn’t much s.p.a.ce in the shop. There are two tables aligned to the wall, the bar table has seven seats. A man was sitting behind the bar table, an old man with an elegant posture and wearing a high-cla.s.s suit.

He can be seen on the television once in a while, but it had been so many years to meet him in person like this. At least the other party had added a few years to his age, logically he should have aged quite a bit. It’s just the impression this man gave compared to the impression Touji had in his memory seems to not differ much.

The man that works behind the political arena. The VIP of this country. The most frustrating thing is, he looks so similar to himself.

At heart, he started to feel timid.

Yet, “…. Is this Touji?” the call carried a hint of… a sincere surprise, Touji thought to himself that this is the first time he had seen him being so surprised. The reaction of his father had surprised Touji as well, “Yes…” he replied simply in a soft voice.

Thinking carefully, father being so surprised is not unexpected. Oppose to Touji’s view that his father had not changed, in his father’s eyes, Touji is practically another person. In some sense, other than this being a reunion of father and son, it is more so their [first confrontation].

Touji closed the door of the shop, “… Long time no see.” he said.

His father—Naota for a moment stared at Touji in silence. Regarding on the thoughts that went through his mind while looking at Touji, to read his mood, Touji did not have enough vision.

Then, “… Honestly, I’m very surprised.” Naota silently wore a smile on his face.

The sinister intent hiding behind that smile, Touji’s expression froze after seeing it.

“I didn’t think you will take the initiative to contact me.”

“I as well, didn’t expect things would develop to this extent.”

He spoke harshly yet couldn’t hide his nervousness. He wiped the look on his face, walked towards to the bar counter seat that is nearest to him.

The feeling of panic already vanished from Naota, like a cold hard mirror, he looked at Touji with a smile.

Then he slowly continued.

“I knew you dropped out of Onmyou Academy, I also knew you disappeared after that, but I do not know of the details. If you want money you can look for your mother, I am really interested, I cannot imagine why will you look for me.”

“……..”

The other party spoke straight to the point, Touji can’t help but pursed his lips.

Not talking about his enrollment into Onmyou Academy and talked about this issue, he didn’t expect the other party would know the things that happened afterwards. It should be mother that told him, or was it that he investigated on his own? Touji was possibly suppressing his feelings of disturbance.

There was no arrogance in Naota’s att.i.tude, or any portray of a father’s strict att.i.tude, it was also not of a father wanting to be likable to his son, his att.i.tude is very clear. Without mistake, this was how this man always been, regarding father, he once again confirmed this thinking. Two of them sitting down to have a conversation, this could be said to be the first time.

On the other hand, Naota was being direct, beyond the expected sincere att.i.tude Touji was expecting and this made him surprised.

That kind of att.i.tude was not suited for a veteran politician, Touji was not so naïve to a.s.sume this to be his true self, or it was a result of the other party being neglectful. He was purposely removing the use of negotiation, displaying a straight forward att.i.tude. To be truthful, in fact this [portray of att.i.tude was for the sake of the other party].

Needless to say, to directly negotiate with people like Naota is normally impossible, especially when during communication, the removal of excessive calculations and socialising methods, a person with a stand like him would not do that as well. Speaking on purpose coldly and with sincerity, can be viewed as [being lenient] towards his son, of course to see his true intentions was extremely difficult, but…

--- It doesn’t matter.

“I would like to negotiate with you.”

Touji too, spoke straight forwardly to the other party, pushing the readied doc.u.ments across the bar counter.

“It does not contain any spells, just ordinary papers, take a look.”

He spoke while remaining possibly calm, Naota shifted his sight downwards after listening, towards the cover of the doc.u.ment. He boldly accepted the doc.u.ment, taking out his gla.s.ses from the inner pocket of his suit, then started reading the doc.u.ment silently. Touji sat on the bar stool beside the bar counter and observed askance at Naota.

Even though it was described as a doc.u.ment, but the amount wasn’t much, it only had six A4 pieces of paper. The main contents of the report were explaining about the current Chief of Onmyou Agency, Kurahashi Genji’s crimes, including Satake Masumi of the New People’s Party who has close ties with him and how he was related to the entire conspiracy. Naota steadily, spent about two to three minutes to finish reading the entire doc.u.ment. It was impressive, the contents of the doc.u.ment would let anyone that read it to be shocked, but he managed to maintain a poker face while reading through the whole content.

After finishing, Naota took off his gla.s.ses and placed the doc.u.ment back on to the bar table. His voice remained very calm. “I heard this is the same as that time when you decided to become an Onmyouji…” “What do you mean?” “You are really unpredictable, you have indeed inherited her blood.” “………” Seeing the other party suddenly portray himself as a father, Touji reactively felt frustrated, but this was not the time to be angry.

“… It was written in the doc.u.ment, the forewarned spiritual disaster terrorist attack that will happen on the 3rd of March, which is in two days’ time, the actual mastermind is Kurahashi Chief and his men. There is no time, if this is not dealt with immediately, there will be grave repercussions, moreover, the damage will be way beyond the previous two spiritual disaster terrorist attacks.”

So, to say… Speaking to this point, Touji paused momentarily, he decisively turned his body towards Naota, with a determined look in his eyes, he looked straight at the other party.

“… I hope you will as well, help in stopping the spiritual disaster terrorist attack this time.”

Naota bore Touji’s sight straight on, the smile on his face disappeared.

“You mentioned about negotiation, what can I gain from this?”

“This information itself is your gain, Satake of the New People’s Party is related to this, not only that, Satake is the main figure of the young politicians of the New People’s Party right now. This not only affects Satake, to the New People’s Party as a whole, it is a lethal scandal.”

Naota is the Secretary General of Independent Party, for many years they are the number one party that leads the country, now that the Independent Party has fallen to become an opposition, it is their wish to get back into power. A scandal powerful enough to shake the current ruling party itself, he could not sit back and ignore it.

“It is as you said.”

Naota looked at the doc.u.ment on the bar table, and calmly nodded once.

“Of my long career in politics, this is the most heavyweight explosive I’ve encountered, I can’t imagine a member of parliament of the ruling party would have a hand in a terrorist attack.”

After speaking in a harsh like tone, Naota once again look at Touji, “But, provided what is written on it is true.” He added this proviso.

“There is no explanation in the papers, and to use this method of contacting me directly, from what I see is that you do not have any means of proving it.”

“… The previous magic investigation department chief can provide a statement.”

“Totally unconvincing, that chief knows that his statement could not convince anyone, that’s why he did not come personally, and decided to make you come here isn’t it?”

“That is because---”

“Any investigation related to magic must have all evidence gathered, any action taken must be extra cautious. You should know something of this level? You don’t even have evidence, this can’t be even considered as [useful] information. Besides, the spiritual disaster terrorist attack is said to be in two days’ time, this is really not a time to be negotiating.”

Naota coldly judged, once again a sinister smile appeared on his lips.

--- Calm down.

Touji restrained himself, he knew beforehand that Naota would attack him about the lack of evidence, he also knows the current situation is very challenging to his group. To the parties concerned like Touji, or to those people who are suspicious of the things happening in the magic world and the Onmyou Agency these few years, they will likely be convinced. To a third party that is not related with the situation where they have no prior information and there is no evidence, to have them believe the crimes Kurahashi and his men committed is just impossible.

It is precisely because of this, Touji and his group need to rope in Naota.

“Evidence wise, it can be found as long as we look for it. The chief and his men definitely do not have absolute control over Onmyou Agency, not to mention spending so much time in such a large-scale crime, logically speaking, there is no way that they did not leave any evidence behind. Even if one is not a Onmouji, as long as people from outside carry out appropriate investigation, evidence can definitely be found.”

“That comment is just your personal expectation, besides, just with these few pieces of paper, how can you expect the government to carry out investigation.”

“This is why I request for your help, even though you are a member of parliament of the opposition, there are no problems if you want the police to take action right?”

“Really can’t stand the shallow thinking of outsiders, even if is Cabinet Members, if the conditions are not met, no one can randomly order any on site action.”

Facing Touji who was trying his best to persuade him, Naota kept his cool, replied with a smile.

“Not to mention Onmyou Agency is a special place, to anyone that is not an Onmyouji, that place is a true pandemonium. If we do not have evidence, or have the situation of the society as a backing, it is very hard to take any action against them.”

Naota’s smile revealed his wicked intention. It is an illusion. Touji stared at the other party, not willing to let him go.

“We are currently working hard in looking for backing from the public opinion, it is mentioned in the doc.u.ment, Amami chief is currently meeting with the chief editor of Onmyouji Monthly Magazine. You should know about Onmyou Monthly Magazine, right? After we are done with preparation, we will expose using the internet, when that happens, no doubt the Onmyou Agency will receive a huge blow. If an investigation is to be carried out, that will be the best time to do so.”

The situation was as described by Amami, for Touji and his group to turn the tide from the current adversity, they can only use reckless methods to mess up the current situation, and to use this method to achieve an [advantage]. For the sake of breaking up the detailed preparations the enemy had done, they can only counter attack with one vigorous blow.

“Do you truly believe this level of struggle will change the situation? Even if the situation really changed, time itself is still undeniably insufficient.”

These words from Naota were very logical. Without anyone reminding him, he knows this is a disadvantageous gamble.

“But time should be sufficient enough for you to take action.”

“The situation is still the same. I cannot possibly under the condition of not having any evidence, solely relying on this report and take action… besides do you believe you can convince me to take action under such a condition? What reasons do you have, to think I will unconditionally accept this report?”

“Because---“

“Because I am you father?”

“Ka-da”, Touji pushed away the bar stool and stood up, Naota’s sinister intent seem to be dripping from the edge of his smile.

Anger surged as a reaction caused him to momentarily unable to control his emotions. However, it was not because of Naota’s words that made him reach his limit of patience, more importantly, it was his heart that wants to run away badly was known clearly by the other party.

He made a request to Amami to let him handle this himself, is it because he had confidence to [convince] his father? To use only one doc.u.ment and convince the politician Naota Kouzou, did he really have confidence? He did not actually have confidence, he was antic.i.p.ating for Naota to [believe] him—believe in his own son?

His son, stubbornly maintain a distance for so many years and now lowering his head to ask for his help, he could have a.s.sumed by doing this, his father— Naota would have agreed to help him?

--- How stupid.

Naota Kouzou is not a man that is easy to deal with, looking at his past records, one will know he is not an opponent that can be convinced using such perfunctory thinking. Nevertheless, did he seriously face this obvious reality?

“….”

He clenched his teeth.

Please [believe] me--- if this sentence could be spoken, he wondered how relaxed he could be. However, he stopped himself from speaking those words, speaking that sentence would mean wanting Naota to agree to this on behalf of their father and son relationship. Pride is no matter, but Naota will definitely not forgive such a lucky att.i.tude. This kind of att.i.tude, would mean Touji did not have the value of fighting alongside with Naota.

To agree to this meeting, was already the biggest concession he could give. To flexibly utilise this hard to come by chance, Touji can only rely on his on effort.

“… I can’t blame you for not believing the contents of the doc.u.ment… what is written on it seems to be unbelievable, you don’t want to accept it is also reasonable.” Touji used his entire body’s strength to control his tone, spoke continuously. He then rests his hand on the bar table, “however.” He turned his body towards Naota.

“Even if you do not [accept]… there is no way for you to [ignore] right? If the things I had told you were true, it will result in an irreversible spiritual disaster…!”

“… Listen carefully, the Onmyou Agency is currently spending all their efforts in [preventing terrorist attack], to investigate them right now is as good as hindering their actions.”

“The doc.u.ment has mentioned about that being their trick, right? Or what are you trying to say? Are you implying that this negotiation is a trap set by [terrorist Tsuchimikado Harutora]? Or is it you are a.s.suming that I wanted to gain your attention, to the point that I used the currently missing previous magic investigation department chief and the editorial department of Onmyouji Monthly Magazine, to make up a big lie?”

“……..”

For once, Naota stopped his continuous refuting. Touji views it as a very good reaction, clenched his fist.

Naota is a person that works with [logic].

Besides, he mentioned it before, he cannot imagine what kind of [important matters] Touji had such that he had to see his father.

Touji had no reason to lie, the only possibility is hoping to destroy his father’s arrogance. However, if this is true, it is impossible that Amami and the chief editor of Onmyouji Monthly Magazine to lend a hand. Besides, if the investigation of the Onmyou Agency really takes place, it does not benefit Touji’s group at all. In other words, at least this can be seen as Touji and his comrades believed the contents of the doc.u.ment to be accurate, and is an evidence of their determination to stop the other party from taking action.

On the other hand, it could be that Touji’s group were being lied to, but a.s.suming the terrorist tried to use Touji’s group to restrict the movements of Onmyou Agency, this kind of method is far too inefficient, even [illogical].

What Touji’s group is trying to accomplish is [extremely difficult], will the terrorist specially prepare such a trap that is [difficult to succeed]? Moreover, instead of lying to Naota and make him pressure Onmyou Agency, using such a roundabout method, logically speaking there are better ways of doing this. The irony of this is that, it is exactly this plan of Touji’s group having a very low chance of success, the chances of this being part of the terrorist plan is very low as well.

Looking from an optimistic perspective, this might be a plan that was made from being delusional. There is no evidence, and insufficient time to react, even more so there is no reason for Naota to act.

However—

At least the action Touji’s group took—in regards to the [important matters] that Touji seek Naota for, a.s.suming the contents of the doc.u.ment are judged to be rightfully [logical].

“… I will say this again, the mastermind behind the spiritual disaster terror attack is Kurahashi Genji and his men, this is absolutely accurate. It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not, however…”

Touji looked directly into Naota’s eyes, allowing his determination to flow into his sight.

“The things I have mentioned—the dangers of this matter, you cannot simply [ignore].”

Naota fearlessly took on Touji’s sight, after that, a smile appeared on his lips, using an unusually cold tone and replied…

“Why? I personally would think that pretending to not know this is a much clever choice.”

“You are asking why?” Touji laughed loudly. “Because you are a politician, because you are a person that [sacrificed many things in life], a man that is living in this world as a politician. When a terrorist attack happens, the chance of causing the lives of the citizens to be lost, even if the chance of this happening is less than one percent, you are not able to simply ignore.”

Touji brought out the vigour that is cornering the other party, firmly made this declaration.

Naota’s smile disappeared, his eyes widened slightly.

He shifted his line of slight slowly, “… What a way.” He muttered. At this moment, Naota’s expression changed to the one of happiness for a brief moment— Touji was thinking if he was mistaken.

The heavy atmosphere in the shop was lifted, Naota then slowly and carefully stood up from the bar stool, said to the highly alerted Touji…

“As expected, discussing this matter with you is meaningless.” Touji felt like his body was pinned to a heavy rock.

He immediately thought of continuing to speak, but he could not find the right words to make Naota stay. For the remaining methods, he could only think of using brute force to make the other party bow down, and no doubt this action is as good as declaring he had lost.

Please—this word came up to his throat, the faces of his friends flashed through his mind, the urge to plea for Naota’s help raged in his heart.

However, he couldn’t do it. The calm side of himself desperately stopped the side of himself that wants to rely on the word [please], this word not only will make Naota disappointed, it will not make him change his mind as well. He is not a person that will be swayed by this kind of words, this is not that kind of situation, and they are not discussing about that kind of matters as well, that’s why Touji could only watch blankly at Naota stand up and tidy the lower part of his suit.

Yet—

“… I will observe what happens after the exposure before I do anything.”

Touji’s body shivered at these very words of Naota.

He nearly shouted… “Father!” Right before he shouted, he quickly swallowed those words. After that, he observed the side view of his father.

Did Naota decide to take action or not, it cannot be seen from his expression. Looking at his father, he cannot help but have a glimmer of hope.

However, isn’t it that this kind of words meant that at least the scenario where by negotiation had broken down has been avoided? The situation now is still not hopeless, even though the conclusion is still unknown… Suddenly, “… I can’t stand this… it’s been a while since I’ve encounter such [height of a case] …” Naota used an unusually relaxed tone and muttered. Touji did not hear clearly, “What?” and looked towards his father. These words from Naota is just a mutter to himself, he did not have intention of letting Touji hear it. From the start, he did not felt Touji’s frustration, after he turned his head reluctantly, he immediately regained his usual coldness. Then, without speaking anymore, he walked towards the exit of the shop.

He placed his hand on the door k.n.o.b, and opened the door.

Touji stared at Naota’s back, whether he performed satisfactory or not in this round, the man that holds the answer did not even look towards Touji.

Naota left the shop without turning back.

In Touji’s eyes, just like this, the back of his father disappeared into the exit, the door closed soundlessly.

When the report concluded, it was already nightfall outside the window, the streetlights of Akihabara were lit.

What concluded was the scheduled report he made to Kurahashi. Ever since entering magic investigation department, even though the amount was determined by the period, yet he continually made reports to Kurahashi without fail. He was not reporting to the magic investigation department chief as a mystical investigator, but as his personal ident.i.ty. This is a request by Kurahashi, it is also what he himself hoped for—a recognition for being a talented individual. He had this confidence, and did not find this thinking to be of any wrong.

However—

“Aiya, ended already? It’s so early today.”

The tone of his co-worker sounds particularly sarcastic, or could it be that he had thought too deeply into it? Upon returning to the office, Yamashiro Hayato looked at Miyoshi Tougo silently.

As usual, people are coming in and out of the magic investigation department, not just the members of Onmyou Agency, there were many from the metropolitan police board and other departments, one can also see exorcists around as well. Mystical investigators were all reeking of murderous intent, being combat ready had slowly become an everyday thing. However, this situation is bound to worsen in near future, because the day of the terrorist attack had been teased to be in two days. Yet, both Yamashiro and Miyoshi were completely excluded from this unrest of Onmyou Agency.

In this noisy and disorganised corner of this building floor, that has become a fixed location for the both of them did not even have an office desk, just using a waist high drawer to part.i.tion this small resting area. Miyoshi was sitting on a chair and reading a book as usual, he does not raise his head when replying Yamashiro. Yamashiro on the other hand had nothing to do, he stood there blankly in front of him.

--- What a weird feeling…

The other side of the drawer is in a difficult situation, it is only his own surroundings that is in peace, in his eyes, the hurried pace and the disorganised surrounding completely looks like an unreal mirage to him. “How was it? Are there new orders?”

“… No, just telling us to wait for orders, take precaution against any emergencies from happening.”

“Any news regarding Kogure?”

“I heard he is still missing.”

“……”

Listening to Yamashiro’s reply, Miyoshi stood silent momentarily. The expression he had as he stared at his book is the same as usual, it is unknown what kind of thoughts he was having.

Then, “… If that’s the case…” he only said this before flipping to the next page of his book.

He is a man that follow his own way to the point of extreme, however, Yamashiro based on his own past experiences, observed that Miyoshi’s sight was not chasing after the words on the book. A faint and unfocused sight slipped off the surface of the paper, an action he does whenever he ponder about something.

“How about your side? Did the spirit pulse in the metropolitan area show signs of disturbance?”

“… Some spiritual disasters occurred after sunset. There were quite a lot of spiritual disasters last night, following the frequency, the amount of spiritual disasters will be possibly higher than last night.” “What about magic battles?”

“Nothing so far.”

Miyoshi replied plainly, and Yamashiro nodded accordingly.

Actually, there wasn’t a need to ask on purpose to confirm, if a magic battle breaks out—they will be able to sense the large-scale magic battle from afar, Miyoshi will take initiative to mention it as well. After the incident with Kogure last evening, there was not any movement that were worth taking note.

However, those that did not come into attention were at most [movements on the surface], considering from the current situation, beneath the surface is surely raging like a storm, the only exception is the people like Yamashiro that were stuck in this place. If their leader Kogure is here now, it will be hard to know what kind of mission these few people, including himself, will be tasked to carry out.

--- If Kogure is here…

Yamashiro placed both his hands into the pockets of his long pants, once again crossing over the drawer and observe the situation in the department.

The co-workers that are running in the flood, the current that is pushing them is also the [main current] from the organisation, Yamashiro is also one of them that grows in that current, yet he is currently being casted outside of the main current, watching that current from the side lines, a never felt before strange feeling surged from the bottom of his heart.

Yamashiro is a disciple of the Kurahashi family.

He was born into a family that served the Kurahashi family for generations, after confirming that he had the talent of Spirit Sight, he naturally became a disciple, and began to train in magic since young.

Yamashiro was highly gifted, not only he performed better than his peers, he even outperforms the seniors, Kurahashi who noticed his talents occasionally trains with him personally as well. Even though this caused the people around to envy and frustrated, but the training with Kurahashi is sufficient to make up the various shortcomings. What he gained were not just the experience as a magic user, there were other things as well.

When he enrolled into Onmyou Academy at the age of 15, Yamashiro already had the abilities comparable to a professional Onmyouji. In fact, he gotten the qualification of [Second-Cla.s.s Onmyou] before entering his third grade, additionally, he took a leave of absence from Onmyou Academy before graduation.

After that, under Kurahashi’s arrangement, he became a Onmyouji under his direct command, and continually gain experience in his line of work. During actual battle, his performance is even more outstanding. After leaving Onmyou Academy for two years, he pa.s.sed the [First-cla.s.s Onmyou] exam at the age of 19, becoming National First-Cla.s.s Onmyouji.

Looking back, how he lived in the past was like walking amidst a flood. However, he did not have any worries, to be precise, he did not have the energy to spare for worries. For the sake of not being swallowed by the flood, he always gave his all.

In order to avoid being swallowed by the flood, the only way is to be a part of the flood. With the same speed, same direction, immersing himself and swim forward. This is the method he used to survive, compared to every other people, it is more flexible and more efficient.

Becoming a professional Onmyouji, becoming one of [Twelve Divine Generals], in addition making a goal to reach higher status, he did not once question his own heart about his ambition.

However.

--- Tsk.

Yamashiro’s heart made a teensy— soft— crack. Like how he is standing outside of the flood, this is the first time Yamashiro realised he did not know [where] this current that he was part of is flowing towards.

Where exactly this flood which powers his life heads to.

The meaning of focusing on this [job].

“… Beside...”

“What?”

“Can I sit beside you?”

“……”

Miyoshi lifted his head from his book, gazed at Yamashiro’s face. Comparatively, Yamashiro was expressionless, just silently looking at Miyoshi.

After observing Yamashiro’s looks for some time, “Please sit.” Miyoshi finally agreed. Yamashiro said thanks in a low voice, and sat on the chair beside Miyoshi. He leaned his back on the back of the chair, lifted his legs, and let his vision blankly stared forward.

This is the first time he was being lazy during working hours. If this is the usual him, he would not imagine of such thing. Especially when facing such an unprecedented large-scale situation, yet he is here wasting his life away, if it was the him in the past, he would not be able to tolerate it for even a minute. Despite so, the current him have half accepted this idle situation, the next course of action, the conviction and the direction on the way to do things, he has lost them all.

If Kogure is here now…

“……”

Former Special Spirit Sensor Miyoshi realised Kogure had partic.i.p.ated in the magic battle that broke out last evening, after the magic battle ended, Yamashiro reported this to Kurahashi.

Kurahashi who received the report, restricted the two of them from telling others about Kogure, in addition, he made them continue to stay in Magic Investigation Department on standby, at the same time he ordered Miyoshi to observe if the aura in the metropolitan area has any disturbance.

At that time, Yamashiro made a rare enquiry to Kurahashi on the meaning behind the orders, asked him why he did not reveal to the public the things Kogure did, Yamashiro believed that this is at least an information that can be grasped by the Magic Investigation Department.

However, Kurahashi’s att.i.tude was very cold, he only expressed that under circ.u.mstances when details were not clear, to make an official statement now will bring forth unnecessary confusion, and rejected Yamashiro’s suggestion.

It wasn’t that he did not understand Kurahashi’s intention, it’s just Yamashiro and his group were not allowed to discuss this matter, yet there were no orders of restricting the people on site from talking about this, and allowed them to make wild guesses. Such a large-scale magic battle, and it happened at a location just 20 minutes walking distance away from the building, to hide the traces of Kogure’s partic.i.p.ation is near impossible, in the end, not just the Magic Investigation Department, the whole Agency were filled with speculations and rumours.

Kurahashi’s methods were not thorough enough, and it is not like him to do such a thing, the whole thing looks like chaos created on purpose. However, the thing that Yamashiro could not accept is that, Kogure went missing, yet Kurahashi did not come up with any counter measures.

The existence of the Former Independent Exorcist Kogure is extremely important, in some cases, just himself alone turning up will overturn the situation. Did he die? Did he betray us? Or is it he had some plans and had to hide underground for the time being? Even though unknown, but this is not a problem that can be skipped for a reason like [details were not clear].

Moreover, Kurahashi did not take appropriate actions with regards to this matter. It might be just Yamashiro did not see? In fact, Kurahashi already had information regarding Kogure.

“……”

Yamashiro unconsciously narrowed his eyes.

About the magic battle last evening, Yamashiro [saw] something else, the one that was fighting against Kogure was one of the two shikigami that was [fighting against Tsuchimikado Harutora] few days ago at Ogikubo. That shikigami hindered him [for the sake of Onmyou Agency], and started a battle with Kogure.

After which, Yamashiro did not report to Kurahashi about this.

Yamashiro also did not know how to explain the reason why he did not report it, it just during that time when he was making the report to Kurahashi, the words Miyoshi told him earlier rested in his heart.

--- [Regarding this [profession] called Onmyouji, we will have to think deeper about it.]

For the sake to avoid being swallowed, placing oneself as part of the flood, immersed in swimming forward until now. He took pride in being an excellent Onmyouji, and felt confident.

Yet now, the words of his co-worker that only has desirable ability had stabbed deeply into his heart, without knowing, he started to pursue after the back of his leader that disappeared without authorisation, and even hiding things from the person he cannot overemphasise as his master, Kurahashi.

--- d.a.m.n it…

Thinking quickly, Yamashiro urged himself in his heart. As if chanting first grade spirit language, he ordered himself in a determined and strict manner.

Thinking about his past experiences, as well as the things that he did with prejudiced views and without suspicions.

He once again looked back to the past, using his mind to think.

“… Miyoshi-san.”

“… What is it?”

“Kogure-san is he… still alive?”

“About this…”

Miyoshi continued reading his book, calmly avoiding from giving a certain reply, and Yamashiro did not expect to get any beneficial answer from this.

Yet—

The next second, Miyoshi suddenly closed his book, Yamashiro reactively shifted his vision over.

Miyoshi maintained his posture after closing his book, observed the nothingness in front of him. Seeing that kind of look he had, Yamashiro slightly straightened his sitting posture. That is not the kind of attention that he gave when he was thinking just now, even though similar, but his eyes were focused on the air, his mind is highly concentrated. This is how Miyoshi look whenever he [see] aura.

Heartbeat increased.

“… Yamashiro, what time is it now?”

“It’s 7.57pm.”

“It’s already so late, do you want to join me for dinner?”

“… Okay, I’m hungry as well.”

After Yamashiro replied, Miyoshi stood up immediately, Yamashiro followed and stood up. The two of them did not continue conversing, their eyes did not even meet as well, and made their way out of the Magic Investigation Department office.

Groups of mystical investigators were walking quickly, or they are running to rendezvous at the corridor. Yamashiro and Miyoshi were dodging these co-workers of theirs and at the same time making their way to the lift. They took the lift together with the Agency members, towards ground floor. Next, they moved towards the main gate of the lobby, leaving through the main gate of the building. The two of them did not spoke a single word this whole time, they do not look nervous, and did not have any unnatural att.i.tude.

After the two of them walked over to the opposite side of the roundabout that was connected to the road front of the agency.

“Which [direction] are we heading?”

“Pardon me, before we continue--”

“Those guys behind us?”

“You noticed?”

“I am also a Mystical Investigator you know.”

The two of them walked side by side, conversing in a low voice, maintaining a certain walking speed while conversing. In the eyes of pa.s.sers-by, it would seem as they are discussing what to have for dinner.

Miyoshi’s voice and expression were the same as usual.

“Were they ordered by the chief?”

“It seems so.”

“We are really not trusted. Forget about me, surprisingly, you as well.”

“Let me clear up one thing, this must be caused by you and Kogure-san.”

“Should we shake them off?... But if we let them think they have lost us would be a problem as well. What to do?”

“Let’s camouflage… no, there is no need for such a flashy move, let’s use spirit language to hint.”

“Can you do it?”

“How could I possibly fail, give me three minutes.”

“Then I shall leave it to you.”

Shortly after, Yamashiro used a simple method and created a subst.i.tute of himself, at the same time made himself invisible and moved, he made a round through the alley to the back.

Following him from the building— Strictly speaking, it was from yesterday after making the report, these two Onmyouji that he knew began following him. They are disciples of the Kurahashi family, they belong to the Magic Investigation Department, they are strong but not cautious enough. He closed in on them without a trace, and went invisible together with the surroundings. Next, he chanted incantations on the two of them when they were surprised and turned their heads back, and attacked them with Unmoving Golden Chains. Both of them failed to resist, and lost consciousness after being hit by the magic.

“Too careless.”

This is the consequence of being careless—in fact, they received orders to observe Yamashiro’s group, yet they did not treat this mission with sufficient importance. It might be Kurahashi simply made this order [for the sake of insurance], it is unknown if he belittled Yamashiro’s team due to Kogure’s absence, or the opposite, a show of trust towards them. A disturbance surged deep in the heart, Yamashiro tossed these thinking away, allowing his mind to clear.

He knelt down beside the two unconscious men, “Listen to me.” Using first grade spirit language to hint them. The hint he made allowed the two of them to be unaware of the coming gap period, he then ordered them to wait for further instructions at an inconspicuous location, he then returned to Miyoshi’s side.

“All done.” He said in a collected manner.

“Impressive. Let’s walk in this direction.”

Miyoshi nodded in the direction of Yamashiro, sped up his walking speed. Yamashiro increased his guard against his surroundings while following behind him.

Miyoshi walked in the direction opposite of JR Akihabara station, after walking for some time, Yamashiro widened his eyes in surprise, he had noticed the aura that Miyoshi [sees].

“This is! —Miyoshi-san!”

“Yes, but, just shikigami is just… moreover, the one that its travelling with seems like a normal person. It might be an [a.s.signment] forcefully bestowed upon us.”

Compared to the agitated Yamashiro, Miyoshi remained calm, sighed in helplessness. He pretended to be calm on the surface, his soles stepped loudly on the asphalt road and slightly increased his speed.

The road ahead.

A large motorcycle that stopped at the side of the road, and a woman that is standing at the side of the road appear before their eyes.

That woman looks to be in her twenties, after noticing Yamashiro’s group walking towards her, she let out a surprised “ah”, and her expression changed.

Judging from her reaction, it seems like she knew who the two of them are, however, Yamashiro did not know who is this woman, he glanced sideways and noticed that Miyoshi seems to not know who this woman is as well.

As a mystical investigator, Yamashiro did not appear in the media, in other words, this woman recognises Miyoshi. Even though being a [Twelve Divine Generals], Miyoshi was in charge as a non-mainstream Former Special Spirit Sensor, to recognise his [face], such a person must be from this industry.

Who in the world is she? However, the thing that caught his attention wasn’t that woman, in fact it was the motorcycle that stopped by the road, to be precise, it was the aura on the top of her head.

--- Certainly, without mistake!

The woman that observed the two of them walking towards her had a frozen expression, but does not seem like she wanted to run away, just silently waiting for them to approach.

The next moment, the aura Yamashiro [saw] on the top of the woman’s head took on a physical form.

“Garr! Tougo! Hayato! It’s good that you guys could make it here! Glad that you came!”

The black Tengu shikigami of Kogure moved to tears, wildly flapping its small wings.

Heartbeat increased rapidly.

Yamashiro, who is being casted away from the main stream had a strong feeling. A feeling that he will be thrown into a new flood this very moment.

Upon hearing the spiritual disaster in Okubo had been successfully exorcised, he was relieved.

After being an exorcist for a year, he is getting used to handle the increasing amount of spiritual disaster, but ever since the terrorist attack being forewarned last week, he had been struggling to cope. For the sake of exorcising the Level 4 spiritual disaster in Ogikubo, the team he belongs to, the Shinjuku branch, is so busy to the point where everyone is in a pitiful state. What kind of condition Tokyo is in right now, this kind of ignorant insecurity turned into fear, corroding the heart.

However, when tomorrow comes, things will start improving, because the important figure of the Shinjuku Branch, Independent Exorcist Shigeoka, will return to his post tomorrow. To test and adjust the new model mechanical-type shikigami, Shigeoka remained at the research and development department in Hachioji for the entire day, these new model mechanical-type shikigami were said to be moved here tomorrow as well.

With Shigeoka not around, it affects the Shinjuku branch not just on the amount of work, but also their mentality. Just having the fact of having a [Twelve Divine Generals] on standby at the side, is enough to excite the exorcists that are battling onsite. Precisely because of this, he is hoping more that tonight will be without incident.

The team he is with was originally going to move out, but they were later ordered to return to standby condition, to be able to breathe the outside fresh air, he notified his senior and made his way to the rooftop of the building.

The time now is midnight after 12am, the tinges of winter is getting thinner, but at this timing it is still freezing cold like winter. The strong and cold wind on the rooftop penetrates one’s bones, he had a little regret the moment he steps outside, but it was also the cold wind that blew away his sleepiness. He lets out a milky white breath of air, and walked towards the railing, surveying the night view of Shinjuku in front of him.

It was at this moment, aura in all directions showed disturbance at the same time. As if the whole world appears to ‘lag’, noises filled up the surroundings, and then disappeared along with the aura. He stood rooted to the ground, for a moment he did not figure out what is going on, until the alarm near the building started to ring, he then realised in shock the things that just happened.

The permanent barrier the encapsulates the whole Shinjuku Branch vanished, and as if using magic to make a human vanish instantly, the method used to eradicate the barrier is very fascinating. His heart beat rapidly. Anxious shouts of exorcists in the building echoed below his feet.

An emergency occurred, I must quickly head back. He rushed towards the door at the rooftop—

He suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He felt something flew over his head, there is no sound and no one can be seen… Wrong, something is there. There is a dark outline that is merged with the darkness.

A bird.

It is a crow.

A huge crow flying around the sky, drenched in thin and pure fluorescent powder, landed on the railings of the roof. Next, he saw the crow had three legs.

Then, the crow jumped off the railing lightly— Following on, he did not look away, he did not even blink at all, without knowing, the crow transformed into a human dressed in black.

It all happened so suddenly that his mind could not process the things happening in front of him. As he stood rooted to the ground, the man in black greatly waved his coat.

A man—to be precise, a young man, however, that exceeding imposing manner gives off an indescribable boldness, moreover, his left eye is covered with an eye patch made of silk. No matter that face or the features of that appearance, it matches exactly as the wanted list.

Next, the aura beside him swayed, a shikigami appeared. A huge man in western clothing, but did not had a tie, with a height of near two metres. Compared to the master that merges with the darkness, the shikigami had gorgeous looking golden hair. The muscular body makes people think of the heroes in legends. However, the left sleeve of that man is empty. As the wind blows on the roof, that left sleeve and the master’s coat swayed in union with the wind.

A one-eyed young man in black.

A one-armed huge man following the young man.

Of course, this is the first time he sees them with his own eyes. However, he knew them very well. They are the enemies of the Onmyou Agency, Tsuchimikadou Harutora and his shikigami Kakugyouki, they are the ones that were mentioned to be pulling off a terrorist attack tomorrow.

“--- Excuse my intrusion.”

After the young man finish speaking, he quickly raised his magic power. The aura that burst out flooded the whole roof, the man behind revealed his fangs as he makes a ferocious smile. The barrier that was hastily made was pressured by the spiritual pressure of the young man and the shikigami, causing severe ‘lag’ to appear. Next, as if ripples lifting the ‘lag’ on the other end, the one-eyed sharp gaze penetrated straight through his body.

The young man, back facing the shining night view of Shinjuku, casted a shadow of his figure, proudly notified...

“Sorry, I will not show any mercy from now on.”