Volume 6 Chapter 1 (1/2)
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”The essence of sorcery is lies”
”That's why it is said that when one person is cursed, two graves are dug”
-Ashi+ya Douman
It was night
Outside, it was raining lightly One could also hear the pitter-pattering sound of the rain from the inside of the room
At the top-h-class apartment in the Tokyo capital, several roo a labyrinth of open space Junk objects were laid all around, giving it a chaotic appearance
Large seght fro aht kind of intensity, throbbing on and off The irregularity of the flashi+ng light created a sense of illusion, unknowingly affecting the five senses and gradually sending them into disarray A damp musty odor filled the stale air, however at the sah as well This weird space, filled with dee of time
Asoft footsteps
Under the flashi+ng lights, his short golden hair and face with es and corners could be seen He wore a casual, neat western suit without a tie Thereviewing the labyrinth that would become his own tomb
A lantern's fla erratically across the ceiling of the roo the wall
The room was not only simply intricate, but it was also shi+elded with ically into a labyrinth Theseveral times; he showed a troubled expression, however it did not have the feeling of confusion Up till the last et's side
This target was in the deepest part of the labyrinth, inside a small study
The walls and ceiling of the study roohtly-packed piles of old books and files, exotic paintings and incense, and other items of unknown purposes Opened books and book boxes, discarded japanese paper, and ink dried pens were scattered on the tata horizontally on the floor
That was the entire decadent study
Suddenly, in front of the altar,
Sat a s the door
The rooht which caht, leaning his elbow against the door fraainst the door fra freely from the upper arm onwards
The man faced the old man's back
”Doh voice
The old man did not turn his head
”Is that you?” he replied with a young voice, in contrast with his appearance
”I heard froami that you are about to make your move”
Hearing the ue
”What are you talking about”
”You can no longer wait can you?”
”What? Art thou actually concerned as well?”
”Answer my question”, replied the man coldly
From the man's sturdy body, a sound was eradually transfor the wild at the suppressed aura of terror of a still lion
”Ke- ke”, laughed the old man
”My objective lies elsewhere Well, it doesn't deserve your worry”
The old ed the subject, with no intention of sending hi with his work on the table The ht drifted towards the old man's hands
The oldon a paper They were incantations The way he carried hi of a ceremony; instead, it looked like so some kind of mischief The man twisted his lips in distress
His gaze moved away from the old man's hand towards the altar - which had ite decor
A large rectangular object
Then,
”But, which direction is the wind currently blowing[1]? What reason e of heart?”
”Change of heart? It was the shi+kigami you un If I'm not careful, the choicest part will be taken by others
”What do you un? Hold your horses and explain yourself”
”Wouldn't that be too boring?”
”Coain?”
Thethe man, the old man should not have been able to see that expression, but his back shook with laughter
”Doing these things would be enough to relieve this oldda fellow It is the only cure to save me from my eternal boredom”
”Thrill, eh”
The ly He clearly knew about the old man's horrible interests and how troublesome they were, but his counterpart was not the kind to listen to the opinion of another Furthermore, these two people were not in a relationshi+p where they would mutually advise each other
”Correct This is a rare opportunity I shall give you soekiri' has appeared”, informed the old man triumphantly
The man snorted
”It doesn't matter”
”Ah?”
The oldhis head, he looked over his shoulder at the man
”A cold-hearted man as always This old man has wondered since back then, what dost thou do for fun?”
”Unfortunately, I do not seek such stimulation to live”
After giving his answer, the man left the door frame
The oldthe study It was full of wrinkles, ano e voice, which felt extremely rich
”Oh? Then why do you continue to live? Will you wander ai into the demonic path?”
Hearing the old ed his shoulders
”For what reason does a person live? I live therefore to find that answer”
After that response, he turned his heel, like he had lost interest
The man went back into the hallway; his footsteps could be heard once again The old man watched the silhouette of thewith his previous work awhile later
It was night
The ever present sound of the falling rain continued without end
Several incandescent lights were connected in a row As the visitors watched the fireworks, the sound released flickered like a small ripple
The summer festival
The burning suests, the distant sound of cicadas as well as the suffocating heat of the surroundings; the thick suh the air
Everyone was s Children ran by their feet, their voices hoarse with laughter
However, the one with the , was the girl wearing a yukata
I want to eat this, I want to play that, I still want to go there Hurry, hurry
Her seous as a sunflower
The constant cries of her heartfelt feelings could be heard
She turned her head around as I did my best to catch up
A sed on her mouth naturally
The girl in front was running, looking behind several ti me on
S a sense of attraction to her It was as though every action was being compelled by her
The back of the girl running in front The ribbon in her hair floated back and forth A pink-colored ribbon Every tihtly in the air
Beautiful, waist-length black hair
”Ah?” stopping my footsteps
Then, the girl noticed and stopped as well
She turned her head around, the ribbon in her black hair swaying in the wind like a gentle floating pendulum
The girl blinked ,her big eyes filled with hope
”What's wrong, Harutora?”
”Natsu -”
Unconsciouslya sound, Tsuchimikado Harutora sat up in his quilt
He was in his own roohts out, the roo could be heard
”Hu - ”, he breathed out a long sigh to cal The ever-present sound of raindrops could be heard from outside the
”H-H-Harutora-sa?”
Suddenly, Kon appeared out of nowhere and asked out of concern for her master
”Nothing's wrong” replied Harutora aain
Was it a dream?
He opened his cell phone to check the time It had just reached 3 AM Harutora did not , but his brain was blank
The rain outside continued
Tih it was eternally accu in the room
☆
The rhythm of the raindrops could be heard
Blue hydrangeas bloo the rainwater The streets of shi+buya were foggy due to the war season in the Kanto region, and this overcast and rainy weather had been continuing for the past few days
The O institution, the Omnyou Academy One of the Academy's classrooms
The air-conditioned classroom was so comfortable that it felt like it had no relation with the wet conditions outside However, the artificial cold air seemed so ih the rooms without a care
Harutora, cheek in his hand, rested his elbow on the desk, listening to the teacher teaching from the podium
The lecturer's voice sounded faint in the silent classroom In front of Harutora laid his notebook He occasionally spun his hts
He glanced at the seat beside him
Sitting next to Harutora was his childhood friend, Tsuchimikado Natsume Unlike thethe podium
Due to the head fa Her face also did not have any signs of h such that no ood looks; the intelligence that showed from her eyes matched her excellence
Even her straight back as she recorded the notes was elegant
The opposite of that guy
During the return bus trip fro camp, an uncertainty for at Natsume from the side However, you would not need to pay thatblack hair - tied with a pink ribbon that rested along the side of her neck
On the bus back from the resort, a sense of suspicion had entered his heart Fro at Natsume's ribbon
At that time, Harutora accidentally took the ribbon and repeatedly looked at it a number of times Even so, he ultimately was unable to remove the doubt in his heart Even now, as he continued to secretly peek, it was still difficult to find an answer
But,
”Very cute isn't it?”
”I will take good care of it”
Harutora unknowingly narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow as he stared at Natsuhts, Harutora repeatedly asked the same question a hundred times yet could not find the answer
Could it be
Could it be - No it can't be, but then
Suddenly, Natsume moved - aware of thathis head as far back as he could Froe of his vision, he saw that Natsu the other direction But of course, Harutora did not give her any response He tried to act as though nothing happened, despite his stiff neck and his rapid heart rate
On the other hand -
Natsume, who felt someone's eyes on her, turned her head around and saw Harutora suddenly turn his head the other direction Her beautiful face beca eyelashes drooped doith a sense of loneliness, and her shoulders, wrapped in the school's uniforth
She still did not give up hope, turning her eyes to glance at Harutora again But her childhood friend held his unnatural and rigid attitude, and kept looking in the other direction Natsuain
The faint voice of the lecturer echoed throughout the classroom The Academy student who could hear hiainst the paper
It was still raining outside
For some unknown reason, a depressed atmosphere filled the air within the classroo,
Nowadays, Harutora still adhered to training independently after school Recently Ohtomo-sensei and for practice
In some sense this can be seen as special treat, his training was still inadequate coh Therefore, instead of ”receiving special treatment from the Omnyou Academy” it washi hand Obviously, this ith approval from the Academy's director
Until now, training had focused on the fundaradually shi+fted to co
For exa
This stealth technique was called the art of ”Concealing one's presence” It was a edō practitioners, foreign enes and demons to protect themselves It also formed the basis of ninjutsu used by ninjas that everyone knows
”General style” invisibility is very ic to hide one's physical presence and aura The main aim is to deceive the opponent's eyes - specifically the ”spirit seeing” The technique is si this technique, one can erase their presence as easily as breathing In the General style of Oic, it is considered a major spell
However, invisibility ic onea pedestrian as an opponent as co a professional Onmyouji as an opponent would require two completely different spell formulas
On top of this, a ic is the perfect ic, the ic must also be concealed If one cannot adequately control their own y, it would be impossible to achieve this spell
Because one must be able to utilize these basic techniques, the ical energy, without hindrances, there is a phrase in the working world, ”Hoell one uses invisibility ic is what separates the professionals from the layman”
Obviously for an ordinary academy student like Harutora, It is impossible to learn this spell in an instant
This thought could not help but come to mind
”Leaving aside shi+kigami like Kon, I am just a flesh and blood human! Obviously I cannot become transparent, so how can I simply just disappear?”
”Natsume was able to do it, so did Kyouko”
”How can I coainst them!”
”Don't say it that way Should we find ourselves in the situation where we need to use the invisibility spell, ould be lucky if our 'opponent' is just an 'ordinary' professional”
After hearing to Harutora's coly stated the facts He was Ato Touji, who also took part in the self-training After finishi+ng their self-training at theroom
”Well it's convenient for you All you need to do is strengthen my father's seal and you'll be able to conceal your aura”
”At the same time my own aura would be stopped by the seal In the end, that ency situations”
”Anyway, as long as it can be used in critical h As forall over from scratch”
Harutora's aura wasfrom a branch family, he still was of the Tsuchimikado bloodline and thus he would naturally have a powerful ical force
However, the only significance of having a purely powerful aura was that it was very conspicuous to spiritual senses Using invisibility ic to conceal your own aura still required the appropriate level of skill
Further aura cultivated a habit of converting his spiritual energy into y for invisibility ic however was his weakness
On the other hand, Touji had an Oni dwelling inside hilaring, for a different reason compared to Harutora
But Touji's seal was meant to control his Oni When he decides to use the Oni's strength, the seal's restriction is lifted Currently he is learning how to control the Oni's aura All he needed to do was to reverse the strength of seal and his own aura would be hidden and sealed away
”Well, didn't the teachers already say? All you need to do is grasp the initial trick for invisibility and then you would be able to do it It's a lot of trial and error”
Touji tried to comfort Harutora,
”Right Natsume?”
As he turned to Natsu her advice
Harutora stiffened slightly
Since the start Natsu to her - it washis best to avoid acknowledging Natsuh the current situation just made him more aware of it……
Harutora stole a peek at Natsume as beside him
If it was the old Natsu him Whenever Harutora co sermon about ”how you should to prepare yourself mentally before you even talk about the technique”
However,
”……ah, yes As long as you grasp the essentials, I think it's good enough”
, was Natsume's short and honest reply
Because she inadvertently glanced at Harutora's expression, Natsu to be calm on the outside, but from an outsider's perspective one can easily see the tension within her heart Or could it be that it was Harutora'san inner turmoil that caused the misconception
”Re, really? If Natsume says so then it's most likely true”
, replied Harutora, trying his best to keep his tone as natural as possible
”Apparently ic control is really important?”
”Yes Eventually Harutora, you would be able firmly control your own aura ……”
”What? I think that's still too difficult For now let's just focus on overco the current problem”
”Ah……”
While this was a nor out of the ordinary It probably was not a conversation ”between himself and Natsume” The atmosphere between the two of them felt very stiff, and the root cause of it ithout question because of the doubt in Harutora's heart
-The doubt that had arose during the return bus trip fro camp
His dear friend, Hokuto, as actually a shi+kiga her be Natsume? - It was this question
-How could it be…… As he used that stateh off at the question
Thinking about it norht to hi camp when his classmate Kurahashi+ Kyoko raised this possibility, the idea wracked Harutora with laughter In Harutora's heart, that possibility was just too unrealistic
That was before he noticed that Natsume and Hokuto used the same ribbon
-No As long as I see what is before hts?
Their height is about the sa difference between their voices Hokuto's voice was huskier As for the other aspects, there's still speaking habits, small subconscious actions, rich facial expressions, and that child-like smile Natsume's aspects and Hokuto's aspects endlessly intertwined back and forth in Harutora's head
While Harutora was pondering in silence, the trouble hts Generally, this evil friend has always been very good at reading the atmosphere of the moment; however at this ti the headband on the top of his head After all, since the training caenial
At least look at Natsu to her…
- ”Tell me that I'm cute”
He still could not do it He was not able to look at Natsume and talk to her in any way He clearly wanted to say so, however whenever their eyes ain to conceal hoas feeling
He was too vexed, as the drea was still fresh in hishis stiff attitude even more
Then,
”- Ah, there you are I finally found you darling~”
Froic practice field's irl
Walking at a brisk pace, her golden dyed twin ponytails swayed back and forth As she faced Harutora and the rest, a presued over her cute face
She was Dairenji Suzuka, who entered the Omnyou Academy due to special circu as she was on the sidelines overseeing their training exercises
”You are still really useless, stupidly simple and crappy~”
Suzuka quickly uttered her usual string ofside Harutora and the rest ”Naggy hag”, replied Harutora with a bitter face
”Either way, I certainly can't do it After all, I'm just an ordinary student”
”Even so, isn't there a limit to your stupidity? At this moment you are still a Omnyou Academy student”
”If you put it that way, I've only just been promoted into the second year Compared to my current ability, today's practice was just way too difficult”
”Pfft - Invisibility ic is way too difficult? Cheer up a bit, senpai ~”
, snickered Suzuka, as she looked up at Harutora with a bored yet unexpectedly happy expression
She was currently a first year student of the Oressions She was far froest person to have passed the ”First-Class On a National First-Class Onmyouji Currently her qualifications have been suspended and her nificantly sealed However despite this, she still had no trouble with using invisibility ic
”In fact, I've never seen you use any shi+kigaic eh”
”Are you kidding? shi+kiga”
”Ah, you're lying right Is this true?”
”Yeah, you don't have to reply so seriously Well it can't be helped, and I've already tried working harder”
Even though the other party was a first classher dumbfounded expression still made him feel devastated about himself Moreover, Suzuka did not know that Harutora fared much better with practical skill applications When it caic theory, ever since he came to the academy, Harutora's results had always been poor - not only that, recently his results on ic theory became even worse
The fact that he was trying hard was real and even Harutora himself felt anxious It is said that the Onyin on difficult topics Before their promotion to third year, many students would face setbacks and choose to drop out fro of irrelevance
”Hey, Dairenji I still can't grasp the invisibility spell; do you have any personal tips that could help?”
Touji, who had been silent the entire tiave a bothered look, then shrugged her shoulders and gave her suggestion
” Tips…… Didn't your class teacher mention it earlier? Eliminate your self-consciousness The key is to keep your ht?”
”Oh, wait a moment Suzuka Wouldn't this mean that you won't be able to chant mantras?”
Harutora said hurriedly, to which Suzuka casually spat out a short reply ”You lack practice”
”To use any mantra, your body would need toyour sleep and eventually it would work Well, when I want to be invisible I don't have to chant out the mantra one word at a time”
Suzuka did not reveal any epiphanies, but spoke as though it was common sense Harutora wrinkled his brow in shock, and Touji bore a long face It should have been expected since there was a great difference in skill between Harutora and the rest co that difference
- Well, but…
Putting the content of the discussion aside, Harutora was still grateful Not for Suzuka's knowledge, but because of her sincere answer to Touji's question on his behalf
It was during the late night secretcamp last month that Suzuka revealed her true nature to Harutora and the rest and spoke without a false persona Ever since then she slowly began to roup, or at least that was how Harutora saw it
-She's htforward, and a bit unforgiving
Suzuka harsh remarks were still the same, and it was hard to predict if she would actually offer her help
However, she kept Natsu that as leverage on Harutora and the rest The latter was probably because she si it; however to not attack and h for Harutora to be truly grateful
”Why don't you join us for practice? Even Spartan style training is fine with us”
”Ha? Are you stupid? What would I gain from that?”
”You can gain our gratitude and respect”
”That's not a gain but a punishame!”
”Che That didn't work Then how about if I treat you to a burger”
”No way! Are you trying to bribe one of the Twelve Heavenly General with a haer!”
”Don't worry, I'll unwrap it for you first -”
”Go and die!”
Suzuka's cheeks flushed red as her eyes narrowed and shouted in anger Harutora just casually s had happened To be able to smile so nonchalantly, this action in itself was evidence of how the distance in their relationshi+p had lessened
Recently, Harutora had been having fewer conversations with Natsume and more with Suzuka The earlier situation was the same; because of the doubt that Harutora had, he found it difficult to have a casual conversation with Natsume Therefore he would chose to chat with Suzuka more
When talking with Suzuka he did not need to think about anything, and to Harutora this was a time of pure bliss
But Harutora knew that this could not go on forever
”So Suzuka, what do you think about Natsume's invisibility spell? Is it up to your standard?”
Harutora deliberately diverted the topic to Natsume If Touji or someone else was around, it made it easier to talk to Natsume
However, this ishful thinking on Harutora's part, as casual conversation between Natsume and Suzuka is difficult
Suzuka threw Natsulance and Natsume suddenly trembled
”…… Nothing e based on her opponent”
”…… Ah, thank you”
Natsume replied softly to Suzuka's casual evaluation
It was clearly written all over Natsume's face that she was not able to deal with Suzuka While Suzuka was not able to ignore her, she did not take Natsume seriously Harutora had a bitter face and kept quiet
While Suzuka gradually war up to Natsume Moreover, it probably was not just due to Suzuka as Natsume distanced herself in some sense
Harutora originally wanted to help Suzuka understand Natsume But currently he was unable to help himself and did not have the confidence in himself to help others
Wait,
-But…… That's it If it was her…… If it was Hokuto, she should be able to get along with Suzuka rather quickly If this person really was not Hokuto…
Harutora subconsciously began co Natsuht ti so, but he could not help it
-Ah, yeah, wait a ers? Hoas she like when she first met Touji? The three of us were very close in the end…
After snapping out of his deep thoughts, Harutora realized that the discussion had stopped again and the atly heavy Whenever this happened, he hoped that Touji would cohten the mood, but this evil friend kept silent the whole ti as he deemed that it did not require his intervention Currently he was just turning his head, observing Harutora's conversation
After the relationshi+p between Harutora and Natsume had become uneasy, there was only one person that Harutora kneho could ease the mood
”Sorry to keep everyone waiting! -Ah, isn't this Suzuka-chan? What do you think about my invisibility spell?”