Volume 6 Chapter 3 (1/2)
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Not far fro, which was a pair of auto into a wide, tiled plaza
A high-class black sedan that appeared turned in to the plaza, silently stopping in front of the stairs
Not long after,
The backseat door of the car opened and an oldin the plaza
A ki old man
His body was small and he held a staff He wore a black lasses were red as blood His plue-like hair ran towards the back of his head
He was probably quite old - he seemed more like a dead person or alike an expression, and one would even suspect whether he was alive or not
The old man leisurely raised his head to look at the On
The building towering in the dio The outer surface was inlaid with black granite, and there were red embellishments placed everywhere to fill the exterior with an overall sense of enclosure The modern style simultaneously showed a solemn impression like a temple's
If one used spirit-seeing to 'look', he would probably be able to notice that the building was coh the barrier was invisible, it was extreic could be 'seen' on the ancient ic It wasn't hard to sur an enemy
”Well then”
The voice that came from the old man's dry, cracked lips was unexpectedly youthful
Instantly, the automatic doors at the entrance opened from the inside
It wasn't a person alked out of the acade, but rather a calico cat
The cat's tail was perfect straight It walked out of the acade at the old man
The old e eyes
”It's been a long time, Priest Doman”
The cat spoke It was Principal Kurahashi+'s voice This calico cat was a shi+kigami the principal used
The old man who had been referred to as Priest Doreeted the cat
”The previous head of the Kurahashi+ fa time'?”
”Yes, when I was a child”
”I see I remember now You were the Kurahashi+ faht?”
Doman nodded joyfully, but one could only realize his joyful feelings through the tone he spoke in His expression didn't change a bit
”The little girl at that tiazer', I see Hoho You truly cannot anticipate people's changes”
”But,” Doman continued to speak
”It rown old and believe I am able to identify talented people, but it's hard to read that person”
”That is why you want to witness the fates of different people”
”Indeed In line with the experience of a principal”
Dohed 'ke, ke'
Even when he smiled, his face barely moved His youthful, emotion-filled voice was a stark comparison with his corpse-like outer appearance
”Priest”
The Principal called out again
”If you agree with my opinion, please leave here The academy is a school to nurture Onmyouji So the students in the school are all people whose futures are worth the wait I wish to avoid unnecessary chaos”
The principal argued respectfully
In coain
”That's why it's interesting My words ant, but those ant to become Onmyouji could 'meet' existences like this old man face-to-face Isn't it a valuable opportunity?”
”You speak reason, but in the end they are fledgling chicks - they cannot accept the great wings of a master”
”How regretful Then I will leave after finishi+ng my business, how is that?'
”What business?'
”Do not feign ignorance You've also heard, right? Yakou's 'Raven's Wing' I want to borrow it”
Doht up his request
The cat's tail waved cautiously
”I have indeed heard ru' But I still do not know Priest's reasons What business are you borrowing the 'Raven's Wing' for?”
”Ah, to be honest, it's ami's need, not mine”
Doman spoke the truth without reservations The cat's whiskers twitched in confusion after hearing Doely, ”We over here have various reasons”, s
Then, the cat and Doman silently stared at each other
The corpse-like, all-black, stiff-bodied old man and the calico cat that confronted hi at an invisible dead spirit
But, this black-colored dead spirit wasn't from the underworld He stood in the real world
”Priest, allow ' is not in the Onht now”
”Oh Is that so?”
”It is the truth”
”Alright I had originally planning on conducting an investigation myself”
”Priest Let e chicks inside Your attempt is too unreasonable - no, it's too rude Please leave immediately”
The principal spoke with an ice-cold tone
That reendary On attitude giving off an awe-inspiring air inconsistent with a kitten
But, Doman wasn't moved at all
Ke, ke, ke He laughed quietly
”Well, 'Kurahashi+ Stargazer' You were just a little girl when you ith Yakou Even though you becaain You've grown, huh?”
An unexpected question htly
”That is true What of it?”
”No, it's nothing Your e I could understand if you were someone without battle experience”
”What does that mean?”
This time it was the principal who asked back Doed his shoulders
”At the least, the brats you're sheltering under you definitely wouldn't say the sas In the world we live in, 'courtesy' indicates 'skill'”
”Skill?”
”Exactly In the ancient past strength was produced from the association between man and God, but now it is from the association between man and ed to th Of course, the rules of etiquette that you speak of have the same roots Unfortunately, in ically, 'courtesy' unaccompanied by 'skill' is simply prattle Or rather - rudeness”[1]
Doman raised his staff with one hand
The cat's entire body tensed up Dohed with a cackle
”This old'courteous'”
Right as the words left histhe staff held before him behind his head
The front of the staff tapped the sedan stopped behind him - the cover of the trunk on the back of the car
The car instantly trembled and the cover of the trunk opened as if someone underneath had lifted it up A black-colored torrent inside spewed out and burst out
”Ah!”
The cat unconsciously retreated backwards
The cat's vision followed the flowing black torrent It extended upwards like a rocket, the front of it already reaching a height where it could touch the acade to spread into the surroundings After the cat observed the truth behind the torrent, the fur bristled over its entire body
”shi+kigaami?”
Like a pillar forroup of insects, it continuously crept up froical energy
On the other hand, Doain aht tone
”You won't let s? In the end, if they're chicks whose wings would be broken by an attack of this level, it's this old man's responsibility as a senpai to break them”
☆
”He's come!”
After receiving Principal Kurahashi+'s e, the former Exorcist teacher Fujiwara's face twitched
”It really would have been better to cancel classes”
Of course, last night they had considered the idea of cancelling the On an unnatural action ht draw 'D's attention instead, so in the end they hadn't done so Considering the situation at the time, the probability that he appeared at the Onh
In the end, that judgment had been mistaken, but the On
Fujiwara received the e and immediately rushed to the staff roo
To the surrounding teachers:
”The infor the students! The main entrance is unusable, have all the students escape to shelter through the back entrance!”
The Onmyou Academy had already made a plan of action beforehand for when 'D' appeared in the academy The safety of the students was the top priority, and hence even the teachers who didn't have class today had been summoned
A them, the practical skills teachers had suspended the coursework originally scheduled for today, inspectingfor the upcoic battle
”Iency and the Exorcist Bureau The On seems to also have been attacked They're probably a decoy The Meguro branch squad should be able to come over immediately!”
There were Exorcist Bureau branches in shi+njuku and Meguro in addition to the headquarters Fujiwara used his past network of contacts to h ency building in Akihabara, the lowest-ranked members were still left in the branches
They probably wouldn't be able to make it if they cauro branches should be able to make it, and then it was just a question of ti would the Onmyou Academy be able to hold out for?
But,
”Fujiwara! Outside!”
A teacher near theshouted Fujiwara rushed out to theand then stared blankly A strange blackoutside the
”That ami!”
At the sa out from his phone from the practical skills teacher who had been deployed at the back entrance beforehand to ensure safety
”There are too one around to the back entrance! Breaking through to evacuate from there will be difficult!”
His colleague's report made Fujiwara clench his teeth
But, the eneami hadn't entered the interior of the academy No, it couldn't enter, because of the academy's barrier
When Principal Kurahashi+ had been forined 'D' as a National First-Class On hith was unknown, but in any case, braking the barrier head-on would probably take quite a long time
”Okay Change to the plan for a siege Bring the students underground iic practice field!”
The acade, but the barrier placed on the undergroundIt served as a safety area for when the inside of the acadeical attacks, and its size was sufficient to fit all of the students
”Hurry! The ene!”
The teachers received Fujiwara's orders and sprinted out of the staff room one by one
Suddenly,
”Hold on Have you received communication from Ohtomo-kun?”
He asked a clerk as sitting blankly in a chair, who i talked to
”No O-Ohtomo-sensei hasn't come to the staff room yet today--”
”I see”
Yesterday, Fujiwara and Ohtomo had learned via the principal the inforht attack today Afterwards, Fujiwara had immediately summoned the teachers to formulate a plan for today with the practical skills teachers as the core But Ohtomo had suddenly vanished and couldn't be contacted The principal seeree, but to Fujiwara, his whereabouts were still unclear
Fujiwara had heard that Ohtoator, and he had seen his impressive power first-hand In the current situation, he was an invaluable fighting power
”All we can do now is focus on dealing hat's in front of us”
Fujiwara's face twitched and he left the staff roo the other teachers
Harutora's hair stood on end over his whole body
It was! N-No, but How could this be!
A high-class sedan was cal He had seen it before He couldn't possibly forget His neck was extreaze
Aa black kimono dismounted from the backseat of the black sedan He had already undoubtedly confirmed it
”Ashi+ya Doman”
After noticing Harutora's demeanor, Natsume who sat next to him went: ”Eh?”
”Harutora?”
As she spoke, she unconsciously leaned her body forward She followed Harutora's gaze outside the- and was dumbstruck
”Natsume-kun?”
”Eh? What's wrong?”
Right after, Tenma also noticed the expressions of the two and Kyouko suddenly stoppedher chopsticks Touji, who sat across from Harutora - also next to the- also hastily looked in the direction the two of them stared in
Immediately after, his body went stiff
”That man! He's from that time!”
”Hah? What's up with you guys all of a sudden Did someone famous arrive?”
Suzuka asked blankly but didn't get Touji's attention
Harutora and Natsume were the same They still stared out the :
”The man from the Nue incident, the old man who sat in a black sedan and called himself Ashi+ya Doman”
Suzuka, Kyouko, and Tenma froze instantly
Then, they stood up fros and rushed to theby Harutora and the others to look
Suzuka's expression changed:
”Hey, wait! Isn't that the person you mentioned before? 'D'!”
”It's him”
”No mistake?”
”I can't see clearly from here, so I can't say”
As he narrowed his eyes and looked doards, Touji cautiously ue words
But,
No
Harutora was extremely sure that it was the old man from that time
Tenma's face became distressed
”B-But, why? Why would that person come to the Onmyou Academy? Could he be the principal's acquaintance?”
”Idiot, how is that possible Grandht? If he were an acquaintance”
Wait, Kurahashi+-san Isn't that the principal's shi+kigami?”
Natsuot ain
The ki old man had stopped the sedan in front of the entrance, without any intent of walking up the stairs Upon careful observation, there was a sure on the stairs
A cat
The principal indeed had a calico cat shi+kigami
”Grandma?”
Kyouko exclaimed in surprise In the next moment, the oldstick - to knock the sedan behind him
The trunk in the back of the vehicle suddenly opened
So like a black shadoed forth fro to cli Harutora and the other were taken aback, shouting and turning away from the
”Harutora-sama!”
Along with the high-pitched voice, Kon materialized between Harutora and the
Then, right before them - the black color rapidly flowed past them, less than onethe inco torrent, and Harutora couldn't help but have such impulses
”M-Monster--?”
”It's a shi+kigami!”
Natsume shouted to interrupt Harutora's words The torrent crashed against itself, aggregating and coroup of monsters
Individual differences could still be seen ah-speed movement, but overall it was just an all-black exterior It wasn't co like an ink painting
Only what seemed to be the location of its eyes showed a blood-red color
Screams sounded from the tables behind them The students in the cafeteria had probably noticed the abnormality outside The screams overlapped, chairs were knocked over, utensils fell to the ground, and some people took out charms in their panic--
”Stop! We can't attack it!”
Natsume immediately stopped them out loud The students who had taken out char
”The acadeht now, it'll just harm the barrier!”
Natsuain their calm The students quickly focused their attention outside the- on the ami
In this period of tied its actions After cliht upwards, it freed itself fro on their own They couldn't see everything from the cafeteria s, but in any case, it see
But,
”It seems like those monsters really can't enter”
At the sa stance, he still calami Natsume nodded her head in approval
”The acadethened recently It can't possibly be destroyed easily”
”But, if this has to do with 'D', it won't be so easy for us, right?”
Suzuka warned the outside theA fearless sed on her face, but her expression was very stiff
”After all, the opponent is an Onators couldn't catch no matter what they did What's aht? His abilities definitely aren't lia this barrier is, but the opponent definitely has other cards up his sleeve”
Though her qualifications had been suspended indefinitely, Suzuka was still a current National First-Class Onmyouji The words she said incited a sense of crisis in the area
Most importantly, Doht If nothing else, this showed his self-confidence
”bastard What exactly is going on?”
”Who knows!”
”The Onht?”
”Could it be related to this incident?”
As expected of Onmyou Academy students, the witnesses of such an abnormal situation still hadn't fallen into chaos But, these questions clearly didn't have an answer, hence it could be seen that they were all trying to avert their gaze asthe first-year students, quite a few people were already on their knees crying, and so to escape the cafeteria
”H-Harutora-sama Your orders, please!”
”Wait for now Don't act rashly, Kon”
After issuing his order to his shi+kigarit his teeth He didn't knohat to do either
For now, he reached out to grasp the shakujou standing nearby His anxiety would swell rapidly if he didn't have a weapon in his hands
bastard What was his goal exactly? Could it be