Volume 7 Chapter 2 (1/2)

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It was still an inexplicable encounter even when he recalled it after the fact

”Souma Takiko?”

”Yeah”

The girl showed a cheerful s her head

”You can call me Takiko Can I also call you Natsume? And how about Harutora?”

Harutora was taken aback again at such a fa him

Even the strong wind on the roof had calht of the foxfire illuminated Harutora, Natsume, and also Takiko

If he lookedHer face needed no description, but her red hair upon her pure white uniform was as beautiful as a doll Was it because of color contrast? It resembled the particular beauty of artwork more than natural beauty

Moreover, she really had the awe-inspiring charm of youth

A sli about her was her cheerful smile

Takiko probably noticed the confusion of the two and revealed a somewhat embarrassed smile

”Ah, sorry I' a little too familiar I know about your situation well, so I couldn't help it”

She spoke a bit bashfully

”But I was really surprised to meet you directly like this Also, I'm very happy”

The sed on her pretty features was as if to confirm what she said was true, and it actually did feel a bit merry Natsuly at Harutora, but Harutora was similarly confused No, Harutora was probably even more at a loss

Harutora collected his thoughts again

”Then Souma-san”

”It's fine if you call me Takiko Is it really too familiar?”

”That's not it Then, Takiko”

”Nn” Takiko sed how he addressed her That action seee her impression of cleverness

”Takiko, are you a first-year or a third-year”

After all, her hair Harutora and the others couldn't possibly not know of her if there were such an eye-catching student in the saht that she was probably a first-year student who had entered the acade, but Takiko's reply was a bit complex

”My circumstances are a bit peculiar It's a bit complicated”

”Complicated?”

”Yeah But I am also a 'student' It's true”

”I, I see”

Harutora lost the opportunity to continue asking after Takiko's ue words,

The way she spoke was casual and direct, but her original temperament and style didn't cruant Just thisthe initiative to question her would be too rude

Natsuhtly

”Takikosan What are you doing here? It's already this late, and you're alone”

Natsume recovered the voice she used when she pretended to be male and asked

But Takiko showed an even happier ss of affection could even be sensed from her expression as she looked at Natsume

”Definitely the sauys”

”The same?”

”Yeah After all, you two caht?”

Takiko spoke after turning her body Harutora also looked in the direction behind Takiko

The foxfire illuminated the square stone platform, and torii in four colors were erected on its four sides

”Heavenly Altar? You mean this altar? You - Takiko, you came here just to see it?”

”Yes” Takiko nodded after hearing Harutora ask But she just expressed agreement without explanation, and it was impossible to speculate any further about the situation

Come to think about it, why did she know about the existence of this altar? If the principal hadn't brought Harutora and Natsu that attack, they wouldn't have known that this altar was on the academy roof Most importantly, those stairs, which were the only ic Harutora hadn't been to the Onmyou Academy for a year yet, but he had never noticed the academy roof

Or, had Takiko only learned about this altar after the attack Even so, it was still a bit strange

Actually, ical battle between Doman and Ohtomo It was even less probable for them to know that the academy roof had been their battlefield or about the altar set there The final finishi+ng blow had been on the ground - in front of the acadee in the underground ht that an Independent Exorcist had rushed here and defeated 'D' That explanation wasn't wrong, and those who knew the truth also yielded and didn't explain

Of course, co the person herself in front of him would be more effective

But,

”Hm”

Though he wanted to ask about her situation in detail, when he looked at the s him, it was hard to ask smoothly

Also, why did this girl take such a fa? It was like she completely trusted them

Natsume was indeed very famous in the academy, and there were several people who looked up to her But with the 'rumors' that surrounded her, there were very few people anted to form a close relationshi+p with her

Moreover, Takiko's attitude wasn't exactly like looking up or ad Natsume How should he describe it? It was a look as if she were seeing a companion Moreover, she looked at Harutora the sa But even if Takiko's attitude held soative emotions like animosity or malice from it

Also

As expected, he thought of it A fa youthfulness Harutora's thoughts becaly jarred

Before he realized it, Harutora was already unable tointently at him He seemed to want to call out a name

Hokuto

Natsuhed forcefully

”Takiko-san If I may, do you knohat this altar is?”

Natsume's voice seemed stiffer than when she had spoken before Probably just a mistake

Takiko's attitude was as if Natsu

”How could I!”

She shtly

Immediately after,

”Someone like me wouldn't be able to understand the Heavenly Altar After all, this Heavenly Altar was the essence of the Tsuchiacy that Abe no Seimei left behind! Even Tsuchimikado Yakou, as the closest to the mystery of the Heavenly Altar, couldn't fully understand it”

Natsuid for a moment

Right afterwards, Harutora also understood the ain, stunned

”What does that mean?'

Natsume asked sharply

”Could it be that you know about the ritual performed here?”

”You mean the 'Taizan fukun Ritual'? Of course But it would be presumptuous of ”

Takiko replied honestly Natsuether

Harutora was also speechless

”Eh? What? Wasn't the Taizan fukun Ritual a secret ritual of the Tsuchimikado family?”

He whispered to Natsume next to him for confirmation

Natsuaze from Takiko

”Even if all you know is the naether with Yakou's name More importantly, there are even fewer people who can casually assert that this is that altar”

The expression hich Natsuirl instantly went serious

Indeed, of the people around them, only Suzuka could speak of the Taizan fukun Ritual in such detail, and she was a researcher of the Imperial Onmyoudou that Tsuchimikado Yakou had for with her connecting it to Tsuchie of this business was not to be underestimated

Takiko showed a weak s that this was troublesohtiness as if she were happy that Natsunized' her

”Who exactly are you?”

Natsume asked directly Harutora breathed out quietly

”Didn't I say already? I' the path of Onmyoudou”

Takiko replied, her h the prairie[1]

As if suain Natsume's black hair, tied with a pink ribbon, swayed to the wind along with Takiko's red hair

Takiko closed her hed quietly

”What an unexpected encounter It h, if I say too ht be scolded”

The girl shot theoodwill, just like before

After Natsulanced at each other:

”Do you know? The whole story of why the Heavenly Altar is at the Onmyou Academy?”

◎

”Yo, good ~”

”Hain?'

”What is it? You're off today, right?”

The Ona questioned Harutora, Natsu the aside the tarp over the entrance

It was ten in theon Sunday Because the Onmyou Academy didn't have class, Harutora and Touji wore casual clothes Only Natsume was still dressed in her uniform, purely because she didn't have any casual clothes other than pullovers she wore indoors

”Everyone's off work outside, but the repair work is still going on in the acade”

”Roaood idea”

”No, no, that's not it We've co”

”We want to investigate soht now?'

Harutora rebutted the komainu's advice and Natsume asked this ”The library?” Alpha checked

”You can enter But in the end, the ene the commotion”

”Huh? Really?”

”Yeah That person see He invaded the library first”

Harutora and Natsua's explanation

”Coet was the Raven's Wing in the first place”

Touji hts

”Well, it's alright The inforht? It's actually better if the locks were destroyed For now, let's go in and look”

”Yeah Alpha, Oa, can we?”

”Nn It is ad weekends”

”If you clean it up a bit while you're there, it'll save the workers some trouble”

”Okay, bye”

Harutora spoke and was about to walk into the acade, but he suddenly stopped as if he noticed so He stared intently at Alpha's face

His gaze fell on the forehead of the Doberram pattern drawn in ink

”What is it?”

”Is there so on my face?”

”Ah, sorry It's nothing Bye”

The kolossed it over The three of theether and walked to the elevator

Harutora relaxed his breath after the elevator door closed

”I only noticed now, Alpha and Orauards of the academy, so maybe they're related to what Souma-san talked about yesterday”

”That's unlikely Though the pentagram is the Tsuchiic symbol of Onmyoudou In the end, it wasn't Tsuchimikado Yakou's mark”

Natsuhts somewhat unhappily

But,

”H the truth, I wouldn't be surprised even if you said Alpha and Oami”

”Touji, you too? Those two are the principal's shi+kigami!”

”That's right now But they're y they move with now comes from the principal, that doesn't ht?”

”The Kurahashi+ family definitely created them”

”Probably But the other probability isn't zero After all, 'the Onmyou Academy's predecessor was a private school that Yakou created'”

Touji leaned on a side of the elevator, speaking indifferently Natsu somewhat unconvinced

”After hearing those words, itwas at the Onency How suspicious”

Touji continued to speak cynically, and Natsume didn't respond

Harutora scratched his head

Things see more and more complicated

He thought about what Takiko had said last night

She had informed them of the reasons that the altar was hidden in the Onins of the Onmyou Academy's predecessor

Needless to say, the Onmyou Academy was an educational institution meant to train professional Onmyouji The so-called 'professional' here ency qualifications of 'First-Class Onmyou', 'Second-Class Onmyou', or 'Third-Class Onht now, it was basically the sa a standalone Onmyouji'

But according to what Takiko said, when the Onoal was so standalone Onmyouji'

”Think about it”

Takiko had said to Harutora and Natsume

”The two of you are the forty-seventh class of Onmyou Acadeo But Onmyouji obviously already existed before then As for Onmyouji before that, most of them were born in famous traditional families or were students of sects, and there were no 'educational institutions' that accepted ordinary people But Starting froed”

That was the period of the Pacific Theater[2] The time when the Onmyou Bureau, which had been abolished after the Meiji Restoration, had been revived by the higher-ups of the Imperial Army

It was also the period when Tsuchied in the world

”The Onmyou Bureau, which had been reborn and attached to the enja[3], and tantric monks at the time Those were the true practitioners, who used what is now called first-classthe war, manpoas still absolutely insufficient Because they abolished the old habits and practices that had been in place until then, they opened the doors to everyone who possessed qualifications to be a practitioner and founded an institution to train Onmyouji The person who did that was no other than Tsuchimikado Yakou”

It had been called the 'Yakou Acadeanization that Takiko had called the Onmyou Academy's predecessor

”But no one knows the detailed situation There's still one way to look at it, which is that the Yakou Acadeathered around Tsuchimikado Yakou spontaneously established, and which didn't have the will of Yakou hi to reality Because right now, there are al the Yakou Academy left behind”

In any case, this Yakou Acadeh the decline of Yakou, who had been the principal, and had becoh it split away from the military after their defeat, the On with the spiritual disasters that filled Tokyo after the war, and often needed new fighting power and new Onmyouji

Afterwards, the accuies for dealing with spiritual disasters teht about a stable period, the On around at its future develope in the world of 'having once belonged to thespiritual disaster purification and anization

They founded the Onency

Along with this, the Yakou Acadeh the Yakou Acadeanizational ability to train Onmyouji, the 'standalone Onmyouji' that the Yakou academy had once trained ic' So, the students in the Yakou Acadeest systeic - Imperial Onmyoudou”

'Imperial Onic that Yakou had developed at the ic for th, the recently founded Onic as their officialto the On once belonged to the military' Also, since Ile person had founded in a short period of ti it required incredible time and effort, and most importantly, extraordinary talent

Hence, a new systeic replaced the Imperial style General Onmyoudou had the simplified Imperial style as a basis, and was refined in some sense

That was the Onht to the students in the Onmyou Academy

”It doesn't train 'standalone Onic on their own, it trains Onoal of the Onan But--”

That was the first time worry flashed over Takiko's face

No, Harutora wasn't confident whether it orry or not Her slightly gloomy expression seemed like it could be explained as a smile - a cold smile

”That was the condition for the Yakou Acadeic fro the people around Yakou who had founded the Yakou Academy As a result, the Yakou Academy was split into two factions One of theh it already has a long history, the Heavenly Altar at the On of the academy You could say that those are the 'traces' Yakou left behind at the Onmyou Academy”

After Takiko's explanation ended, she s Harutora and Natsuain

They didn't kno to react at these things that they had never heard of until now Takiko probably expected the reactions of the two of the calm

He didn't knohat Natsu to Harutora still came afterwards ”Incidentally” Takiko added to the silent Harutora and Natsume

”Principal Kurahashi+ knows about this business very clearly After all, she was involved”

”Involved?”

”The breakout faction she led founded the current Onmyou Academy Yakou found her when she was small, and she was one of the first h she married into the Kurahashi+ family after the war and left the Yakou Academy, she was made into the principal after the Onmyou Academy was established”

Harutora held his breath

At the sa else The first day he had transferred into the Onmyou Academy, the principal had told him first-hand that she had once met Yakou She had said he was a nori, but who had very poor skills; soh

According to Takiko's words, Principal Kurahashi+ hadn't originally been a Kurahashi+ faiven her to the Kurahashi+ fa after Yakou died, she iven birth to Kyouko's father

After the death of her husband, Principal Kurahashi+ inherited leadershi+p of the Kurahashi+ family and had also served as the Onmyou Academy principal She had recoh to show her intense feelings towards the Onratitude towards Yakou, who had found her

Just then, the elevator stopped Harutora's group arrived in the corridor

The shattered s had been covered by tarps It was day right now, so it wasn't as dark as before The three of theh the corridor towards the library

Even so

Harutora thought deeply again

Who exactly was that girl called Souma Takiko?

She called herself a student, but what she had told the an ordinary student would know Even Kyouko, as the daughter of the principal that Takiko spoke of, probably hadn't heard about the predecessor organization to the Onmyou Academy

Was she really a student? Well, her age was similar to ours

Never mind what she had told them, her red hair and unique air were also filled with mystery

Moreover, her personality coincided with Hokuto's

It was inconceivable Her rational eyes and confident actions had h the way she talked was sie reason he recalled Hokuto was probably because of her open attitude, and most importantly, the closeness she had towards Harutora and Natsume

Well, what I can confirm is that she's smarter than Hokuto

Hokuto definitely wouldn't be able to calthy, complex explanation No, it was possible that Harutora just couldn't iine it In Harutora'son intuition rather than reasoning, but he didn't have much confidence now

After all

Harutora stared at the neck of Natsume, alked in front of him

The pink ribbon tied in her black hair

Last month, suspicions that Hokuto was actually Natsume had arose in Harutora, and those hadn't disappeared yet If he hadn't been troubled by that, he probably definitely would have asked Takiko yesterday when he met her

The reason Takiko acted so closely, could it be

I' too much Probably

In the end, Takiko had led Harutora and Natsuht They hadn't even asked how to contact her The tere both inadvertently stunned when they noticed afterwards that her true identity was a complete mystery After they returned to the dorm and told Touji, he scolded them fiercely

Harutora brainstor Takiko's true identity

”But”

Toujiextremely annoyed

”However I iine it, it's better to directly ask the principal than to flip through every book in this library For sure”

Touji's opinion was natural But Principal Kurahashi+ was currently going back and forth for the acade repair work, and the students didn't knohere she was at all or what she was doing Hence, they had visited the still-being-repaired acade to at least investigate so the Onmyou Academy

Natsunore what Takiko had told them No matter what, they had to confirm its authenticity

”I want to investigate what I can with my own hands”

Natsuain

”If we need to get the principal, we can ask Kurahashi+-san as a last resort But the principal's quite crafty, and we'll need some information beforehand or she'll pull the wool over our eyes”

”According to what Souma said, there weren't any records of the Yakou Acadeht?”

”Those were 'official' records But there shouldn't be none at all It's not limited to the Yakou Academy I think that there are definitely records and infors like diaries of related people”

Natsuhtened, his attitude quite different froood at doing things like looking through books

”Incidentally, the fastest way to confirm would be to immediately call Souma”

”Yeah Isn't that why I said that we didn't ask for her contact information!? I said I would treat you to afor now!”

Touji was co like he rarely did, resentful that he had been lured by food Natsume sharply had him shut his mouth The silent Harutora knew that their lunch would be a reward for helping to investigate the inforood friend and childhood friend

Maybe Natsu the principal immediately

Natsume was rumored to be Yakou's reincarnation Principal Kurahashi+ knew a lot about Yakou, and it wasn't strange to want to know right now but at the saate some information Maybe that decision was an unexpected moment of hesitation

But Natsuy only continued until they actually entered the library

”Uwah! So this is hoas”

”Haha, that's quite the splendid destruction”

Natsume's eyes widened as she entered the library first Harutora and Touji, who peeked over frohed The closely-packed bookshelves in the library were mostly collapsed, with the books scattered everywhere Not only was there no place to stand, the books even piled up to their knees The recording nue, but there were probably thousands of books

”That O this, I think on't be able to do anything unless we clean up first”

”So the repairs would be co that kind of situation I say we save the trouble and stop by the town, have a o home”

Touji proposed this, thinking it a blessing and following right behind the dazed Harutora

”No” But the wide-eyed Natsu a new decision

”Most of the books here should be related to ic We want to look for information related to the Onot, siether We just need to find the location of the information that ant and then excavate there”

That meant it would still become excavation work at the end

Natsu into the ju into the library

The tatched her back

”Harutora”

”What”

”Froirl you meet for the first time”

”Understood When I irl for the first time, I'll call you over first”

Luckily, Natsume found the area where the history-related information was scattered before they ate lunch

Iae the nearby books in the corridor, she left the acade to treat Touji to lunch When the three of the lunch and came back, the corridor in front of the library was filled with h tothe They piled up the next mountain in front of the dazed Harutora and company and returned to the library

Natsume's cheeks momentarily twitched

”F, For noe should be able to speculate about the contents of the book fro information and confirm what's inside No problem, we'll find it quickly!”

”That would be good if it were true”

Touji sighed with an emotionless voice

They actually spent six hours after that

The three of theless work

After Touji, Harutora, and Kon, who had been summonedoff Moreover, the corridor becaradually sank in the west

After it becah Kon released foxfire More importantly, they didn't want to continue this kind of work after the sun set

Kon worked in the library, and the three of the silent for quite a long tier even looked at each other, silently searching for infora to the mountains of books left in the corridor

But,

”Hmm?”

Harutorathe newly-increased h all of the old inforht over noas relatively new info

They were more like booklets rather than books Hethe title of one of theisters of various years of the Onmyou Academy

”Natsuisters If we find the first register, at least we'll know the names of the ht?'

”Sorry, Harutora I investigated a long ti lists after the tenth class of students Wow, I ordered the siami to keep this kind of inforisters It seeht be almost no related information left”

”I see”

The dejected Harutora let out a dry laugh

But he still unconsciously reached out and leisurely turned its pages As a register, all it recorded were the fa students, means of future contact, and a brief co this obsolete, the contact information was probably ineffective

”Ah Maybe raduate”

”That's pretty interesting Let's go look”

”Hey, Harutora Touji, too Do this seriously”