Chapter 58: The Expected Answer

On the road, the Special Affairs Division's black sedan drove slowly.

The one who came to pick them up was an unfamiliar Special Affairs Division special agent, said to report directly to the Five Person Council, and in a certain sense holding a status even higher than Rituna Minami.

Both sat in the back seat, but Shizuka Mami sat bolt upright, hands resting on her knees; the moment the car stopped she looked out the window, a faint regret welling up in her heart from time to time, looking both nervous and uneasy.

"Want one?"

A slender cigarette was held out before Shizuka Mami, the tobacco scent mixed with the fresh fragrance of mint.

"Don't look at me like this." Rituna Minami exhaled a puff of smoke, her face completely calm. "Actually I'm pretty nervous too, after all we're about to see those legendary big figures."

After a moment's hesitation, Shizuka Mami took the cigarette and said a quiet thank you.

Rituna Minami leaned over to light it for her.

The tobacco burned slowly; Shizuka Mami stared at the cigarette in her hand with some trepidation.

She remembered that in middle school only those delinquents who couldn't advance to higher education would smoke, and teachers often admonished good students like her not to learn from them.

I... have become a delinquent girl too, huh.

Or is this what they call growing up?

Shizuka Mami clenched her fist, stuck the cigarette in her mouth, and inhaled hard in one go as if to prove something.

"Cough! Cough cough cough!"

But she immediately burst into violent coughing, tears stinging her eyes.

Rituna Minami laughed heartily: "Who smokes like that?"

"Here, watch closely."

Then Rituna Minami demonstrated it for her, and Shizuka Mami imitated her, carefully taking a drag.

Yet she was still irritated into coughing twice.

But unexpectedly, Shizuka Mami discovered the unease in her heart gradually fading away.

……

"Please enter, both of you. The Five Person Council is fully assembled."

The Special Affairs Division special agent slid open the door of an utterly ordinary detached house.

Shizuka Mami found it a bit strange: "This is it...?"

"Can't get the real people together offline; we should be grateful the five adults can spare time for a video conference."

Rituna Minami composed her expression and stepped inside: "Let's go."

Shizuka Mami followed close behind.

The instant her footsteps crossed the threshold, Shizuka Mami felt a subtle sense of dislocation, then discovered the originally ordinary furnishings inside the house suddenly transformed into a stretch of darkness.

Only five blurry human silhouettes stood towering ahead.

Shizuka Mami swallowed, not daring to show a single superfluous expression or movement.

Seeing the two stand in place, the Onmyo Assistant at the very center asked blandly,

"Arakawa Ward Onmyoji Minor Official Rituna Minami, what matter do you report?"

"Aibetsuri."

Rituna Minami didn't waste words, cutting straight to the point.

And the effect was quite evident; Shizuka Mami standing behind her immediately felt the mental pressure increase by more than a notch.

After an extremely brief silence, the five spoke in unison: "Speak in detail."

Rituna Minami answered truthfully, holding nothing back.

When she finished, the Onmyo Assistant said: "Wait a moment."

Immediately the Five Person Council began an extremely rapid exchange.

A dozen-odd seconds later, the space fell silent again, and it was still the Onmyo Assistant who spoke:

"Without direct evidence, then can we perform a soul search on the Uesugi Toru and Tokugawa Ririko you mentioned?"

The silhouette beside the Onmyo Assistant's right hand spoke: "Tokugawa is a no."

"Then..."

Rituna Minami cut in directly: "Sorry, that's not within my scope of consideration. At the same time I believe this would bring enormous loss to the Special Affairs Division."

The Onmyo Assistant didn't mind this trifling matter; he continued asking:

"Is there any other direct evidence that can prove Aibetsuri's existence in Arakawa Ward?"

Rituna Minami shook her head: "None for now."

The Onmyo Assistant paused, then said: "So be it, I understand."

"Then everyone, let us vote on the matter of 'whether to support Arakawa Ward due to the possible existence of Aibetsuri'." The Onmyo Assistant cast the first vote, opposing: "I oppose. The First Wave is imminent; other major districts are severely short-handed."

Astronomy Doctor: "I agree. Aibetsuri has reappeared after over a hundred years, and its current strength is not great; this is a rare chance to capture it alive."

Onmyo Doctor: "Oppose. These past few days the Ashikaga clan's army has shown up at our doorstep; don't understand how they air-dropped batch after batch of samurai over, can't even find their supply lines."

Water Clock Doctor: "Oppose. I'm still dealing with Sickness and Suffering's retainers here, can't spare hands temporarily. Can agree in one month."

Calendar Doctor spread his hands: "In that case, my agreement is useless anyway."

"Three votes against, two for. In summary... at least for one month we'll have to say sorry, Nanjo Minor Officer."

The Onmyo Assistant paused: "However, I personally can shake loose two assistants for you; they'll be in place in about a week."

An answer within expectations.

Rituna Minami thought.

Then she lowered her head slightly: "That the honored ones could spare precious time to hear my opinion, Nanjo is already deeply grateful."

The five responded with silence, as if busy with their own affairs.

"——Then, honored ones, farewell."

Having said that, Nanjo Rituna turned and left, just as she had when she walked in — without hesitation.

Shizuka Mami followed silently behind her.

She had clearly kept her job, so why couldn't she feel happy about it?

Not until the door behind her was shut did Shizuka Mami finally fail to hold back, biting her teeth and saying, "Nanjo Minor Officer, they……"

Suddenly, she stopped speaking.

Because Nanjo Rituna was looking her in the eye, and shook her head: "Don't blame them. Big figures have big figures' difficulties."

"Just like how we are restless when facing the latent suffering of separation from loved ones, perhaps what the Five Person Council has seen and heard is far more vast and terrifying than we imagine."

Nanjo Rituna sighed: "So from now on, we can only rely on ourselves."

Shizuka Mami didn't know how to respond.

She thought she could only do her own job more perfectly, to somewhat reduce the pressure on Nanjou-sama.

……

On the other side, Uesugi Toru had already safely returned home.

No need for more words — Kisaragi Station, activate!

After calmly passing through the water pressure, Uesugi Toru opened his eyes on the silent Kisaragi Station platform.

The environment here wasn't bad, and there were no wandering monsters nearby for the moment, so Uesugi Toru maintained his initial "Stranger Soul" state and did not transform into the Laughing Prajna.

He waved his hand, summoning the Two-Shaku Adult.

Then he surprisingly discovered that the Two-Shaku Adult had actually already recovered to Half-Star.

The girl's figure had become a degree more solid compared to before; Uesugi Toru gave her a thumbs-up: "You've worked hard these past two days."

The Two-Shaku Adult smiled shyly: "It's all Toru-sama's merit; I just handled the eating and eating."

"That's also very impressive." After praising the girl again, Uesugi Toru pointed at the convenience store, "Let's go in first and see if we can find some clues."

The spawn point definitely had to be searched; this was Uesugi Toru's consistent excellent tradition.

However, it was a pity this time too — there were no rare hidden items in the spawn point.

But there was one strange thing.

"This convenience store is a bit too tidy."

Uesugi Toru tore open a pack of barbecue-flavored potato chips and ate, frowning as he rigorously evaluated: "The flavor is also very fresh, very delicious; although it's from 2004, it doesn't have any expired feeling at all."

"So Two-Shaku Adult, why don't we bring some snacks to eat on the way……"

He had just turned his head when he saw the Two-Shaku Adult hanging with snack bags all over her body, her hands still constantly moving.

Uesugi Toru: "As long as you're happy……"

Uesugi Toru walked out of the convenience store, preparing to randomly pick a side of the railway to explore first.

Anyway there were no strategy leads; running into a powerful mononoke and dying directly would count as a win — he could just start over with his second life.

But just as Uesugi Toru was preparing to call the Two-Shaku Adult who was eating with great enjoyment to set off, he heard somewhat hurried footsteps from not far away.

Judging by the sound, it was one person, and seemed to be a lighter-weight girl.

Even this ghost place has people?

Uesugi Toru rested his hand on the sword hilt, poised and ready.

Immediately after, he saw a short-haired girl run out from the other direction of the station.

He looked at the top of her head, but gained nothing.

A real person?

In the middle of the night, the vermilion scabbard at Uesugi Toru's waist was very conspicuous, so the girl naturally saw him too.

"Y-you, hello!"

Uesugi Toru could hear the girl's delighted voice, so he froze in place,

"——My name is Ye Chun! May I ask if you were also brought here by that spirit train?"

Monday update moved up to 00:01; everyone remember to come read then

Also brothers, you can hold onto your monthly tickets and stuff them all into me on Monday; Monday I want to rush a ranking, knead orz

——Important things said twice!





(End of Chapter)