Tokyo Ravens - Volume 10 - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3 - Sacred Ground of Conspiracy 
Part 1 
The Onmyou Agency, which supervised the Onmyouji of the entire nation based on Onmyou law. Actually, it could be called the government body commanding the magic 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 Onmyouji a year ago, it had been long since repaired by now and the traces of damage from back then had long since vanished. Right now, it still ushered in a man with an immovable heart, who still fulfilled his duty as the central figure in the magic world. 
He was the Onmyou Agency Chief, Kurahashi Genji. 
It was already past 10 o'clock in the morning. Kurahashi, who was immersed in work day after day, didn't show any signs of fatigue 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 seemed like that of a king returning to his castle. 
But Kurahashi only kept up that steely, stern attitude until he entered the executive office. 
"Ah, good morning~" The man lying lazily on the sofa used for receiving guests casually greeted Kurahashi. 
Kurahashi's gaze moved to the man on the sofa and his eyebrows raised slightly. 
"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." 
"Shikigami don't need anything like rest." 
"That's so cruel. Even though I'm a shikigami, I also have human rights... Ah... I guess I don't..." 
Though he also admitted his mistake, he didn't intend to get up from the sofa at all. 
Kurahashi snorted quietly to end the meaningless conversation, then walked over to the desk in his room. 
The two of them contrasted sharply with each other. 
Kurahashi was a man from the fiftieth generation of his family. He had a sturdy frame and gave off a forbidding air when he was silent. He possessed a mature dominating air and a wise intellect, and the impression he gave others was absolutely not the kind that would do things half-heartedly. Rather, he had an overwhelming feeling of might. 
But that might wasn't just natural talent. Kurahashi was the head of a famous Onmyouji family as well as being the Exorcists Bureau chief and the Mystical Investigator Chief. He was someone whose power and achievements were at the apex of the magic community - out of all Onmyouji. 
On the other hand, the young man lying on the sofa looked only sixteen or seventeen from his appearance. A trendy young man. But strangely, he wore a round crystal lens over his right eye. That strange fashion style had an aristocratic air, as if he gave off an aura of unconcern, decadence, and profligacy from all over his body. 
His name was Yashamaru. He was a shikigami now, but his name in his previous life had been Dairenji Shidou. He had been a National First-Class Onmyouji nicknamed the 'Professor', and had once been the director of the Imperial Household Agency Lingering 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 now-wiped 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 them were 'comrades'. The two of them had secretly been 'fighting together' since Dairenji Shidou had been resurrected as Yashamaru not long ago. 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, manpower is insufficient right 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~" 
Yashamaru lay down lazily, moving his gaze from the newspaper as he replied. 
"Miyoshi and the others only left from Tokyo yesterday. There was Yuge too, and who else?" 
"Yamashiro." 
"Oh, that guy. Yeah, he's serving as the contact with the dark temple." 
Yashamaru finally stood himself up, neatly placing the newspaper on the table. 
As he snickered, the eye beneath his monocle flashed with cunning. 
"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 who was commanding the Mystical Investigators right now, so it wouldn't be too wrong to say that this was his policy. 
"Hmmm." Yashamaru replied vaguely 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 Onmyou Agency's influence had been steadily growing every day since then, whether on the legal or illegal side of things. 
At first, when Onmyou law was enacted for the first time, people had extremely negative impressions of the world's Onmyouji. In the first place, magic was an unknown technique in the eyes of people who had nothing to do with magic. Moreover, the former organization that led the Onmyouji, the Onmyou Agency's predecessor - the Onmyou Bureau - had been a military organization revived by the old Japanese military. It was an organization meant to deal with the intimidating, fearsome spiritual disasters that happened frequently. The background set by Onmyou law was meant to legally 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 extreme, Onmyou law was a 'purification' ritual against the Onmyouji that could use magic capable of affecting a war. 
And now, that 'purification' that had lasted half a century was finally over, and magic and Onmyouji were able to spread their wings 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 more accurately, the other ministries and agencies. But the improvements in Onmyou law were focused on expanding the boundaries related to magic and Onmyouji. However, the Onmyou Agency's size hadn't expanded in proportion to its rapidly expanding jurisdiction. The Onmyou Agency 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 fewer with the talents to be professional Onmyouji. Moreover, one had to accumulate first-hand experience in order to become independent. The expansion of an organization of practitioners required a long amount of time and lots of manpower. 
"But......" Yashamaru spoke while looking 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 mind the contact Yamashiro for now, but Yuge 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 from work. Of course, the same is true of letting them leave Tokyo. We can't even give them any other work." 
What Yashamaru pointed out wasn't exaggerated. The Twelve Divine Generals were the National First-Class Onmyouji, human resources that couldn't be acquired on a large 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 Onmyou Agency would be inoperable. 
There were currently only three Spirit Sensers among the Twelve Divine Generals, and their particular techniques were extremely important to spiritual disaster purification. Their talents were particularly scarce among the National First-Class Onmyouji when manpower was inadequate. Originally, 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 Onmyou Agency 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 made it so that shikigami could detect spiritual disasters in place of and as well as Spirit Sensers. They used relatively safer, materialized mechanical manmade shikigami instead of summoned forms. These mechanical shikigami had magic to sense the flow of aura added to them and were positioned along the aura flow within Tokyo to regularly report information about the aura. 
Of course, the shikigami couldn't work unless they were supplied with a certain amount of magical energy, so it was necessary to supply them with magical energy every so often. But spiritual disasters happened for many kinds of reasons, and the mechanical shikigami were restricted from going to check out unknown situations by preset conditions on their magic. But even so, the use of this sensory net greatly 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 time and get ahold of information on spiritual disasters. With that, they expected an increase in speed with which they dealt with and purified spiritual disasters. 
"The mechanical shikigami deployed now are still in the test stage, right? Regardless, their numbers are still insufficient." 
"Even so, we've already put a portion of them into testing. If they're truly effective, then the twins will be able to make up for the spiritual disaster sensing inside 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?" 
Among the three Special Sensers, the two other than Miyoshi were a pair of twin Onmyouji. Their individual abilities were incomparable to Miyoshi's, but if the two of them worked together, they were more than twice as capable as Miyoshi. That was why Miyoshi's redeployment would become possible if the sensory net was completed. ...That was what Kurahashi thought. 
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 the mountain without knowing the truth? Could it be that you made the decision that you should proceed secretly with a coin toss?" 
Yashamaru smirked and mocked him, but just that much wouldn't make his old friend change his mind. The reticent man wasn't willing to waste his breath even if a shikigami 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 most worrying things right now are men, not spiritual disasters." 

"It seems like there are humans who can also be 'spiritual disasters', you know." 
"Wow, what a revelation." Yashamaru leaned back and spoke half-jokingly. 
Kurahashi just indifferently continued the topic from before in response. 
"In the first place, Miyoshi was even more suited to the Mystical Investigators. 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 magics. 
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 many examples of them becoming powerful 'shikigami' for Onmyouji. 
"Actually, the Mystical Investigators have many targets right now. Tsuchimikado Harutora, Tsuchimikado Yasuzumi's group of three, Shadow and Priest Doman, Amami Daizen. Even if they're spotted, a normal Mystical Investigator would be helpless against any of them. The only thing we can do is have the Mystical Investigators act together. But in the end, it still depends on what Tsuchimikado Harutora and the others do." 
After the reform to Onmyou law, the influence of the magic community had changed greatly along with the widening of the Onmyou Agency's jurisdiction. Several powers that opposed the Onmyou Agency had slowly surfaced amidst that. For example, the Seishuku Temple that three Divine General were currently heading to for negotiations would very likely become an opposing force in the future. But the one that the Onmyou Agency wanted the most and pursued with the greatest force among these several dangerous forces was Tsuchimikado Harutora. He was currently becoming slowly known among the public as a terrorist. 
This was an outcome that the Onmyou Agency was one-sidedly intentionally controlling. The Onmyou Agency had made his image into the greatest threat and the most dangerous existence to the magic community. But that judgment wasn't caused by Tsuchimikado Harutora's actions. 
He was suspected of using forbidden magic during the summer of the last year. Moreover, he had confronted the Onmyou Agency several times after that and had interfered with official business. He, among several magic criminals, had special attention because of his potential threat. His individual importance was similar to the 'D' file in the past. But the biggest reason he was viewed as a danger was because of the circulating rumors that he was the reincarnation of the father of modern magic, Tsuchimikado Yakou. Those rumors were slowly being accepted. 
And because of those reasons, it was very probable that he would become the standard-bearer for the forces opposing the Onmyou Agency. If he used Tsuchimikado Yakou's fame as a 'leader', it was possible that he would unite the currently scattered anti-Onmyou Agency forces together one by one. 
...At least the Onmyou Agency worried that such a possibility existed. 
"Actually, putting aside Yasuzumi-kun and the others along with Shadow for now, only Tsuchimikado Yakou is setting his sights on the Onmyou Agency. Well, I can't say anything about Amami, but he can't possibly be not paying attention to Yakou's reincarnation." 
In any case, Tsuchimikado Harutora required the most attention among the dangerous elements that the Onmyou Agency was minding. 
They didn't know how they would respond once he moved. That was why Tsuchimikado Yakou was the most dangerous. 
"I wish we at least knew a bit about what he was thinking......" 
"Can you not imagine anything either?" 
"No, no. First off, the current him is both Harutora and Yakou. I don't know whether 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 Souma princess at the end before, you indeed reported that 'he gave off an impression of being Yakou." 
"To tell the truth, I'm only twenty or thirty percent sure, I can't be certain." 
Yashamaru shrugged his shoulders as he spoke. 
"Moreover, even if Yakou truly awakened, what would the awakened Yakou want to do to the current magical 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 him now? Did we get a bad impression from the incident last summer? Hmm, it indeed wasn't that good, but how can we let the awakened Yakou's judgment of good and evil be hampered? Also, didn't we try apologizing for our mistakes last summer?" 
The true intent of Tsuchimikado Harutora's actions since last summer were mystifying. It was also one of the reasons the Onmyou Agency confronted him. Perhaps it was the wrong move to call him a terrorist without knowing his goal. But they still didn't know what his true goal was, and in any case, the distribution of power would definitely change. 
As expected, Tsuchimikado Harutora was still at the center of things. 
"One more time......" 
"Hmm?" 
"We need to talk with him again......" 
Kurahashi spoke calmly and resolutely. Yashamaru didn't disagree 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 whom? Of course, the supporters of Yakou in the past. The king of the magic community wasn't the Kurahashi family or the Souma family. Rather, it had been the Tsuchimikado family for centuries - the king's bloodline descended from Abe no Seimei. 
"The problem is...... How can we contact him? We have no way right now other than having the Mystical Investigators search." 
Yashamaru deliberately looked at Kurahashi, revealing 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 immediately without even looking at the shikigami. Then, he picked up the files placed on the table and started reading them with an oft used posture. 
"Ah, I see." Yashamaru clicked his tongue. 
"Well, the other side can't really touch the Kurahashi family. Yasuzumi-kun and the others are quiet as usual. How annoying~ And I can't find any clues from that living spirit boy either." 
"Judging by the circumstances, it's very likely that Shadow and Amami are moving together. Perhaps Amami......" 
"Come to think of it, Shadow's the only one moving around undisguised~ We're not going to be able to just sit back and watch that guy anymore soon." 
A cruel light instantly emerged 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 why were we willing to move such a precious Independent Exorcist's fighting power......" 
"It was for Miyoshi." 
"Ohh......" 
He got it. Yashamaru nodded his head in understanding. He was still like always, a man able to anticipate everything beforehand, make decisions, and take action. 
Yashamaru put his hands behind him on the back of the sofa, waving his raised legs back and forth. 
"It's not just the industry. The organizational structure of the Onmyou Agency was mostly reworked too." 
"Of course. An organization that can't change won't grow." 
Kurahashi scanned the topics of his papers while speaking calmly. That was the power of an organization 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 problems for now. The training is going 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, Kumomaru's staying with the Princess while I'm lazing - resting, so there won't be any other problems. Also......" 
"What?" 
"I've had my daughter accompany the princess to take her mind off things recently. It wasn't easy~" Yashamaru smiled slightly as he spoke. He didn't have an evil smile, and that was why he looked all the more chilling to someone informed. 
Kurahashi looked quietly at his old friend for a moment. Then, he returned his gaze 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?" Yashamaru mused, looking at the ceiling. 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?" 
"Yamashiro." 
Kurahashi looked at the time while preparing to take the phone. It was probably a regular 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 became different from before, flashing with a sharp light. 
Kurahashi continued the conversation, glued to the phone. 
Yashamaru sat up properly on the sofa, straightening 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 immediately. But it will be evening at the earliest. Until then, I'm counting on you." Kurahashi hung up the phone. 
Yashamaru spoke in an erratic tone. 
"Who?" The same question as before, but in a tone several times more pressing than before. 
Kurahashi spoke bitterly and helplessly. 
"We've found out that Tsuchimikado Harutora recently made a brief visit to the Seishuku Temple. Things are really developing in a bad direction......"