Volume 10 Chapter 3 (1/2)
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The Onency, which supervised the Onmyouji of the entire nation based on Onovernic community Its headquarters was in Tokyo's Akihabara The headquarters of the Exorcist Bureau, which headed the purification of spiritual disasters, was in the nearby Kanda
Though the headquarters had been attacked by On since repaired by now and the traces of daht now, it still ushered in a man with an imure in the ic world
He was the Onency Chief, Kurahashi+ Genji
It was already past 10 o'clock in theKurahashi+, as iue on his face as he moved about his business
He kept up a steely appearance and an unshakeable will, walking to the executive office His figure see to his castle
But Kurahashi+ only kept up that steely, stern attitude until he entered the executive office
”Ah, goodguests casually greeted Kurahashi+
Kurahashi+'s gaze htly
”Don't come in whenever you want How many times do I have to tell you for you to understand?”
”Didn't I also say so many times not to be so unfamiliar?”
”What happened to your duty?”
”I just got some permission to come rest a bit”
”shi+kiga like rest”
”That's so cruel Even though I'uess I don't”
Though he also adet up from the sofa at all
Kurahashi+ snorted quietly to end the less conversation, then walked over to the desk in his room
The two of them contrasted sharply with each other
Kurahashi+ was a eneration of his fa air when he was silent He possessed aair and a wise intellect, and the iave others was absolutely not the kind that would do things half-heartedly Rather, he had an overwhelht
But that ht wasn't just natural talent Kurahashi+ was the head of a fa the Exorcists Bureau chief and the Mystical Investigator Chief He was soic community - out of all Onmyouji
On the other hand, the youngon the sofa looked only sixteen or seventeen froely, he wore a round crystal lens over his right eye That strange fashi+on style had an aristocratic air, as if he gave off an aura of unconcern, decadence, and profligacy from all over his body
His naami now, but his name in his previous life had been Dairenji shi+dou He had been a National First-Class Onmyouji nicknamed the 'Professor', and had once been the director of the I Spirit Division
He was also the mastermind behind the 'Great Hinamatsuri Purification' spiritual disaster terrorist attack three years ago, and had been a leader of the Twin-Horned Syndicate, a noiped out secret society of Yakou fanatics
It was very strange that they were together, as they clearly ought to be enemies
But right now the two of the together' since Dairenji shi+dou had been resurrected as Yashao Well, it wasn't just the 'two of them' The Kurahashi+ and Souma families that they served had been allies since the ancient Warring States Period
Yashamaru laid down leisurely, his head covered by the newspaper he was currently reading
”You're as busy as always”
”You're quite free”
”Didn't I say I was resting? Don't always say such irritating things”
”Unfortunately, ht now, as after all, there are three National First-Class Onmyouji who are not in Tokyo Daily affairs are troubled, and I have to prepare for my work I don't have the time to chat with you”
Kurahashi+ placed the files he was organizing in his hands on the desk while speaking
”Yeah~”
Yashaaze from the newspaper as he replied
”Miyoshi+ and the others only left froe too, and who else?”
”Yamashi+ro”
”Oh, that guy Yeah, he's serving as the contact with the dark temple”
Yasha the newspaper on the table
As he snickered, the eye beneath his
”How is he? Is your disciple useful?”
”That depends on how I use him”
”Ah, so in other words, it depends on what you decide Incidentally, it seems like his title isn't hidden like 'Shadow's”
”Not every Mystical Investigator's name is hidden”
”Does it depend on how those people are used?”
”That's right”
It was Kurahashi+ as coht now, so it wouldn't be too wrong to say that this was his policy
”Huely with an extremely pleased appearance
”Well, it's enough if he's usable You know about his ability as well as anyone But the Mystical Investigators really have heaps of work right now”
”It's not just the Mystical Investigators, we're severely lacking talent in the Agency”
”'Talent' and not 'members', huh What a pain”
Yashamaru chuckled with an unconcerned demeanor
Last winter, the jurisdiction that Onmyou law set down had finally been widened after several spiritual disasters The On every day since then, whether on the legal or illegal side of things
At first, when Onmyou laas enacted for the first tiative iic was an unknown technique in the eyes of people who had nothing to do with anization that led the Onency's predecessor - the Onanization revived by the old japanese anization , fearsoround set by Onally bind the Onmyouji in place At the same time, it was also the truth that it was that way in order to obtain 'approval' from the public To take it to the extreainst the On a war
And now, that 'purification' that had lasted half a century was finally over, and s and soar high in society again Of course, they hadn't taken any openly power-hungry actions in order to avoid agitating the world - or encies But the i the boundaries related to ency's size hadn't expanded in proportion to its rapidly expanding jurisdiction The Onency had many ordinary workers, but they all had various duties Only professional Onmyouji could assist with the 'current' situations Resources of talent like professional Onmyouji couldn't be supplemented immediately There were already very few people with the talents to be practitioners, and there were even feith the talents to be professional Onmyouji Moreover, one had to accumulate first-hand experience in order to becoanization of practitioners required a long amount of time and lots of manpower
”But” Yasha at Kurahashi+ next to the desk
”Was it really good to redeploy three of the Twelve Divine Generals in this kind of situation where manpower is insufficient? Never e is an exorcist who's always been dependable during long periods of insufficient manpower and one of the Independent Exorcists central to the Exorcist Bureau I should have to say even less about a Special Senser like Miyoshi+, it's incredibly rare that he's excused fro theive them any other work”
What Yashaerated The Twelve Divine Generals were the National First-Class One scale as well as valuable fighting power that could only be acquired in small quantities On the other hand, if they were used incorrectly, the Onency would be inoperable
There were currently only three Spirit Sensers a the Twelve Divine Generals, and their particular techniques were extremely important to spiritual disaster purification Their talents were particularly scarce a the National First-Class Oninally, they wouldn't have been selected to carry out missions in other places unless there was no other choice
But
”You could say that Miyoshi+ himself wished to be mobilized for this mission Just call this matter a drill”
Someone from the Exorcist Bureau would inevitably have doubts if he heard that, so Kurahashi+ spoke very calmly
”I trust you've heard of that 'sensory net'?”
Unexpectedly, Yashamaru became serious and asked with a cold tone The sensory net that Yashamaru spoke of was an abbreviation for the 'spiritual disaster early detection sensory net' that the Onency had placed within the city
The way the Exorcist Bureau had discovered spiritual disasters before was by actually using human observation Spirit Sensors had been placed in various locations in the city twenty-four hours a day, constantly watching the level of aura disruption If an abnormality occurred , operatives would immediately be appointed to mobilize and check the situation on the scene and then report to the Exorcist Bureau Intelligence Division Right now, the 'sensory net' replaced those methods
They had only used large-scale manpower tactics because spiritual disasters couldn't be seen or traced except by people who had spirit-seeing ability But the 'spiritual disaster early detection sensory net' plan that was currently being put into practice ami could detect spiritual disasters in place of and as well as Spirit Sensers They used relatively safer, aaic to sense the flow of aura added to theularly report information about the aura
Of course, the shi+kigami couldn't work unless they were supplied with a certain ay, so it was necessary to supply they every so often But spiritual disasters happened for a to check out unknown situations by preset conditions on their reatly reduced the burden on the Spirit Sensers, and its effectiveness was quite evident In any case, if the sensory net truly worked, they would be able to detect spiritual disasters ahead of tiet ahold of information on spiritual disasters With that, they expected an increase in speed hich they dealt with and purified spiritual disasters
”The aardless, their numbers are still insufficient”
”Even so, we've already put a portion of the If they're truly effective, then the till be able toinside the city”
”Don't you think the two don't have enough experience?”
”Then it'll be fine if they just accumulate experience Wouldn't it be worse if we didn't train such valuable talent?”
A the three Special Sensers, the two other than Miyoshi+ were a pair of twin Onmyouji Their individual abilities were incoether, they were more than twice as capable as Miyoshi+ That hy Miyoshi+'s redeployment would become possible if the sensory net was coht
Yashamaru frowned
”We should try to keep 'that' as secret as possible”
”It'll be fine if you just change the way you think Those kinds of things are hard to spot in the first place”
”They're on thethe truth? Could it be that you made the decision that you should proceed secretly with a coin toss?”
Yashamaru smirked and mocked hie histo waste his breath even if a shi+kigami drove him on Yashamaru said ”My, my”, then laid his body back on the sofa in a slovenly manner
”Well, I also know that the priority right now is the strengthening of the Mystical Investigators The ht now are men, not spiritual disasters”
”It seems like there are humans who can also be 'spiritual disasters', you know”
”Wohat a revelation” Yashaly
Kurahashi+ just indifferently continued the topic from before in response
”In the first place, Miyoshi+ was even ators Especially now, I hope that his spirit-sensing ability could be used for the Mystical Investigators instead of the Exorcist Bureau
The ability to 'see' aura was the basic ability of a practitioner Spirit Sensers possessed excellent spirit-sensing ability, and that represented a considerable advantage in situational awareness of other ics
Moreover, Spirit Sensers were also good at perceiving spiritual disasters
Finally, there were mobile spiritual disasters that were called 'spirits' They weren't purely hazardous existences There were ami' for Onmyouji
”Actually, the Mystical Investigators have ht now Tsuchiroup of three, Shadow and Priest Doman, Amaator would be helpless against any of theators act together But in the end, it still depends on what Tsuchimikado Harutora and the others do”
After the reforic co of the Onency's jurisdiction Several powers that opposed the Onency had slowly surfaced amidst that For example, the Seishuku Te to for negotiations would very likely beco force in the future But the one that the Onreatest force aerous forces was Tsuchi the public as a terrorist
This was an outcoency was one-sidedly intentionally controlling The Onreatest threat and the ment wasn't caused by Tsuchimikado Harutora's actions
He was suspected of using forbiddenthe summer of the last year Moreover, he had confronted the Onency several times after that and had interfered with official business He, aic criminals, had special attention because of his potential threat His individual igest reason he was viewed as a danger was because of the circulating ruic, Tsuchi accepted
And because of those reasons, it was very probable that he would becoency If he used Tsuchimikado Yakou's fame as a 'leader', it was possible that he would unite the currently scattered anti-Onether one by one
At least the Onency worried that such a possibility existed
”Actually, putting aside Yasuzu with Shadow for now, only Tsuchiency Well, I can't say anything about A attention to Yakou's reincarnation”
In any case, Tsuchierous ele
They didn't kno they would respond once he erous
”I e at least knew a bit about what he was thinking”
”Can you not i either?”
”No, no First off, the current him is both Harutora and Yakou I don't knohether he's two people or one I can't even get a grip on his personality, so predicting his actions is impossible”
”When you saw him with the Souave off an i Yakou”
”To tell the truth, I'm only twenty or thirty percent sure, I can't be certain”
Yashaed his shoulders as he spoke
”Moreover, even if Yakou truly awakened, ould the awakened Yakou want to do to the current ical community? That's another question
Also, if you think about it carefully, weren't we originally trying to inherit Yakou's will? Why are we opposing hiet a bad impression froood, but how can we let the awakened Yakou's judgizing for our mistakes last summer?”
The true intent of Tsuchi It was also one of the reasons the On oal But they still didn't knohat his true goal was, and in any case, the distribution of poould definitely change
As expected, Tsuchis
”One more time”
”Hmm?”
”We need to talk with hiain”
Kurahashi+ spoke calree with him, as he also felt that this was a need The Kurahashi+ and the Souma had been allies and supporters since ancient times Supporters of who of the ic community wasn't the Kurahashi+ family or the Souma family Rather, it had been the Tsuchi's bloodline descended from Abe no Seimei
”The probleht now other than having the Mystical Investigators search”
Yasha an evil smile
”Could you get your mother to help? This is the kind of situation where we need 'divination' Anyway, she's very free now since she retired from the Onmyou Academy”
”I think it's probably impossible”
”Then what about your daughter? Are there any traces of the other side contacting her?”
”None”
Kurahashi+ replied iami Then, he picked up the files placed on the table and started reading them with an oft used posture
”Ah, I see” Yashaue
”Well, the other side can't really touch the Kurahashi+ family Yasuzu~ And I can't find any clues fro spirit boy either”
”Judging by the circu together Perhaps Amami”
”Couised~ We're not going to be able to just sit back and watch that guy anymore soon”
A cruel light instantly eed from the eye under his monocle
Kurahashi+ spoke in order to make him calm down
”Kogure will act if there's any movement”
”I know that He should be used to it now, right? To the Mystical Investigator work?”
”He's used to it, but he's not as good as we expected Kogure's just an excellent watchdog, he's not a hound Especially when the opponent is an old fox”
”Yeah Hey hey, then e willing topower”
”It was for Miyoshi+”
”Ohh”
He got it Yasha He was still like always, abeforehand, make decisions, and take action
Yasha his raised legs back and forth
”It's not just the industry The organizational structure of the Onency was mostly reworked too”
”Of course An organization that can't change won't grow”
Kurahashi+ scanned the topics of his papers while speaking calanization leader, one that couldn't be stopped by a pure practitioner
”How's your side? Are things still going smoothly with the Souma princess?”
”Yeah, there are no proble very smoothly”
”Even though you say that, you can't come to the executive office to kill time so often Think of the princess”
”Don't say such nasty things, ku, so there won't be any other problems Also”
”What?”
”I've had s recently It wasn't easy~” Yashahtly as he spoke He didn't have an evil s to someone informed
Kurahashi+ looked quietly at his old friend for a aze to the papers in his hands
”She hasn't had contact with Tsuchimikado Harutora either?”
”No It's really hard to think that Tsuchimikado Harutora would stay quiet to his friends for a whole year, given his personality Is he really Yakou?” Yasha Kurahashi+ didn't say anything at all, continuing to look at the papers before him
Just then
A weak vibration sounded Kurahashi+ stopped the work at hand and took out his phone It seemed that a phone call had come
”Who?”
”Yamashi+ro”
Kurahashi+ looked at the tiular report Yashamaru leisurely reached his hand to the newspaper on the table with an indifferent appearance
But
”What?” Kurahashi+'s voice wasn't like usual He was audibly shaken
The action of Yashamaru's hand as it reached out for the newspaper was relaxed, lacking tension as always
But after he heard that voice, his expression becaht
Kurahashi+ continued the conversation, glued to the phone
Yasha his body and putting his hands on his knees His white gloves covered his fingers and slowly clasped tightly together before him He waited like that
”Understood, I'll send people to deal with it i at the earliest Until then, I' up the phone
Yashamaru spoke in an erratic tone
”Who?” The same question as before, but in a tone several ti than before
Kurahashi+ spoke bitterly and helplessly
”We've found out that Tsuchimikado Harutora recently s are really developing in a bad direction”
Clouds still hadn't appeared by dawn, but by noon clouds had already covered the sky above them
In the end, no one was paying attention to the weather even if the clouds enveloped Seishuku Temple That was because clouds even denser than the ones in the sky were swirling inside the monastery
Tsuchi
At first, that inforroup of ajari But by the ti quietly discussed a the 'disciples' Then, it spread to every corner of the
The rumor that the boy was Tsuchimikado Yakou's reincarnation had reached the isolated Seishuku Teht forth coic community since last year That person's appearance wasn't so that could simply be called an 'incident', as anyone in the monastery could realize
Then, at noon The first clash finally exploded in the monastery
The location was the athered inside the courtyard, Rian asked Jougen for the truth of the situation
Was Tsuchi?
”I heard he was already here” Jougen replied uncharacteristically
”He's a criency” Rian shouted and ran towards him from inside the courtyard
Jougen listened to Rian's reply, his voice clearly very unsettled
”Fortunately, there are Divine Generals in theWe'll use all our power to capture hiency”
”Ridiculous!” Jougen faced Rian, speaking with an ice-cold tone fro
”This monastery does not refuse anyone, no matter who they are Also, even those Divine Generals must comply with the monastery rules when they are here”
”Don't be ridiculous! You can't even be flexible in this kind of situation?”
”No matter what the circumstances are, 'this place' is truly different from the outside In the first place, if we follow the rules of outsiders, there will be no newcomers to the mountain There are quite a few criht to hand over to the Onency are our own people”
”That's just sophistry! The Onency accepted us, and didn't they make us a proposal? But Tsuchimikado Harutora wasn't in it We're the coency, but he's an eneency's favor!”
”Enemies and comrades make no sense from your ajari mouth We never refuse anyone who coency and Tsuchimikado Harutora, this ht with each other”
”Enough is enough! Alright? Isn't this a good opportunity? Supposing we're able to restrain hiency It could be a huge benefit for our future”
”As an ajari, you shouldn't keepRian, you're extre”
”Priest Jougen!?”
”That's enough!”
Jougen snorted in contempt at Rian's attempt to persuade hiaze as intense as fire Even if his old bones rapped in robes, hepressed down on by quite a bit of strength Rian clicked his tongue and Jougen suddenly raised his eyebrows, his eyes full of killing intent
All of thethis held their breath as they looked at the dispute between the two
Then,
”Excuse us”
The ated
The three from the Twelve Divine Generals had appeared They had probably heard the clamor
Miyoshi+ stood in the front with his two hands behind his back, looking as hard to figure out what he was thinking as always Yuge and Yamashi+ro waited by his sides, and both had bitter, solemn expressions
The eence of the Divine Generals threw the people in the monastery off balance
But some of the ajaris' expression stiffened as their bodies swelled with y They took stances in preparations for a clash
Their faces showed that they were resolved to not hesitate once soic battle
Moreover, the Divine Generals also had their resolve
At the same time, the Divine Generals and the ajaris' inconsistent opinions were clearly laid out on a pedestal
As if things would explode at the slightest touch
However, Jougen still looked at Miyoshi+ with a proud attitude in the tension-filled air
”Another disturbance again I'm extremely sorry for all of this”
Jougen bowed his head as he said this, his robes swaying
In the end, although he bowed his head in apology, the other side didn't feel a deferring attitude at all Without th with 'etiquette' A decisive attitude he took up because his opponents were inferior to himself
”Please don't be concerned” Then, Miyoshi+ replied extremely politely
”Rather, the source of this commotion is the matter that you received prior notice of Tsuchiht? Is that the case?”
”Indeed”
”Is that true?”
”Well This insignificant monk[1] doesn't really”
”Are you sure, Priest?”
”Hoh I have no idea why you believe that This insignificant monk just wants to maintain the status quo”
”Do you know the goal of the other side?”
”It wasn't e”
”When did he say he would come?”
”The e wrote 'today'”
”He is co quite quickly”
”It's as you say”
Miyoshi+ and Jougen concisely confirmed with each other
Neither side showed an attitude of facing an ally But from the point of view of a third party, the brief conversation indeed supplanted the aard atmosphere But the tense atmosphere present wasn't alleviated at all, and the tension in the atmosphere increased instead
”Tch!? Miyoshi+-san! Please speak for us This concerns both the Oner able to express arrogance, approached Miyoshi+
Miyoshi+'s expression didn't change as his gaze shot towards Rian
Then, Jougen opened his mouth this time
”People of the Onency I understand your position, but even if you are in esteeht now, you are still visitors You need not speak about the en announced resolutely in a calm tone
Yuge turned her wrist, for a hand seal, and Yas Hepreparations to act at any ator entered a state of battle together
But,
”That's true” Miyoshi+ slowly opened his mouth to speak
”We were dispatched as envoys, or actually 'e to the Onhtly different Right noe shall follow your customs”
”What!?” Rian groaned
”You flatter htly
A serious declaration
The tense ate hadn't relaxed Even if she released her hand seal, she sighed deeply
On the other hand, the others were the saen and Rian confronted each other, the sound of their teeth gnashi+ng practically audible Then, Miyoshi+ stared at Jougen After that, Miyoshi+ averted his gaze and finally faced Yamashi+ro
Needless to say, Yamashi+ro and Rian had been unable to respond to this occasion He had been seen as iain Yaed
But the moment he heard Miyoshi+'s words,
”Tch” He clicked his tongue quietly
But everyone present knew that this definitely wasn't over That was because Tsuchimikado Harutora still hadn't appeared
The clouds filling the sky hadn't dissipated because of this first clash Rather, their density slowly and steadily increased
☆
As expected of that day, even the monastery chores were far from routine
Though Jougen's faction - in short, the conservative ajari - kept up their normal actions, they couldn't hide howthose below them The fact that lunch preparations were completed smoothly see and training afterwards