Tokyo Ravens - Volume 10 - Chapter 5.4

Part 4 
Maybe she had never run with all her might like this before. Akino fully exerted the leg power of the rabbit living spirit, climbing up the mountain forest in a matter of moments. But her feet became heavy when she approached the center of the monastery. There was still some distance, but magical energy produced from the usage of magic reached her. Also, chaotic yelling. Sounds of destruction. At the same time, though the main hall was covered by the forest and out of sight, the sky nearby was brightly lit. Something was burning. 
"......Ugh." 
Though she was honestly very scared, she would no longer turn back now. Akino slowed down while hiding herself and carefully climbing the mountain. 
It looked like the courtyard had become the central location of the battle. Akino approached bit by bit, hiding in the underbrush and peering across from an extremely close place. 
She couldn't help but doubt her own eyes. The gathering hall was burning ferociously. The main hall seemed to have already vanished. 
This wouldn't do. She couldn't approach like this. Akino didn't rush directly towards the courtyard, but instead carefully circled around to the interior of a temple in order to keep from being spotted. But come to think of it, half of that temple had already been destroyed. Akino could only suppress her fear and steel her own heart as she faced what had become of the familiar scenery of the place she had been raised in since birth. 
But in the end, she was lucky to have circled around to this side. That was why Akino was fortunately able to realize an unanticipated reunion. 
"Sen-jiichan!" 
"Ohh, Akino. You're alright." Akino's endurance reached its limit as she saw Sen's figure. She ran over and held him, burying her face in his chest while sobbing loudly. There was no helping this because of her fear and sadness. After all, the only world that Akino knew of had been dragged into a vortex of war and lost. Sen continuously, quietly, and gently stroked the still-crying Akino from the side. 
Sen kept waiting until Akino's crying stopped. 
Then, she brought Akino to the courtyard. 
The magic battle had long since ended by that time. 
Stunned, she looked at the desolate scene before her. But Akino's gaze moved towards the girl standing blankly in the center of the courtyard rather than the barren monastery scenery. 
"Natsume!" 
She hastily ran towards Natsume. Natsume's eyes reddened when she saw Akino. She sniffled and lightly called out "......Akino." 
"What happened? Are you alright!?" 
"Akino. I, I......" 
"D-Did you not meet with that Harutora person?" 
"......Yeah." 
Her face was swollen from crying and grimy all over. Natsume nodded powerlessly. 
The ears on Akino's head swayed left and right in embarrassment since she didn't know what to say. 
The unimaginable appearance of that awe-inspiring Natsume crying gave Akino quite a large shock. 
Although on one hand her conscience felt bad due to the wrong occasion, these straightforward thoughts still came to her. 
Beautiful people were still beautiful even when they were crying. 
"Natsume." 
"Natsume-chan!" 
She turned around to look in surprise at those sudden shouts. A man and a woman ran over next to Akino and Sen. 
The man had a cloth tied around his head and a scraggly beard growing under his chin. He was a man as strongly built as a wrestler. But he didn't feel intimidating. On the contrary, he gave off a gentle kind of impression. In comparison, the woman was rather small. She wore something like a black jacket and her hair was held up with a headband, exposing her forehead. 
Akino reflexively tensed up because they were adults she didn't recognize. But the two of them looked over at Natsume with sincerely worried expressions, so Akino's nervousness was relieved very quickly. 
"Uncle. Aunt......" 
Natsume said this in a quiet voice. They seemed to be people she knew. 
The man approached Natsume, momentarily shooting Akino and Sen a sharp gaze. Then, he motioned slightly, returning his gaze to Natsume while lecturing her in a stern tone. 
"That's enough being reckless. You almost died just now." 
"......I'm sorry." 
"To think you would sneak into this kind of place alone! Do you know how worried we were because you disappeared?" 
Natsume repeated "I'm sorry" to the woman's reproachful question. But the woman lost her steam very quickly, regaining her incredibly worried expression. 

"......Then, did you meet Harutora?" 
Natsume bit her lip and lightly shook her head left and right upon hearing the woman's question. After the woman said "That idiot" in a quiet, indignant voice, she softly held Natsume's shoulders. She knew what had happened without a word being said. It was because they were so close. 
"In any case, we'll talk later. There are still three Divine Generals here. Though the Mystical Investigator from before backed off on his own, he might not necessarily give up like that." The man said that while looking around the area with a bitter face. Akino's heartbeat sped up when she heard his words. "......Natsume, are you leaving?" 
"Akino......" 
Natsume immediately became unable to reply upon facing the words that unconsciously left Akino's mouth. But she realized from that response. Natsume had said it before. Once things were over, she would leave this place. The woman who held Natsume's shoulders looked back and forth between the two girls with a confused expression. Her eyes moved to meet the gaze of the man next to her. The expressions of the two of them were complex. 
Just then, 
"Could I bother you for a moment?" 
Sen spoke up next to the four of them. 
In contrast to Akino who didn't know how to react, Sen said with an attitude just as leisurely as always: 
"The two over there seem to have already mapped out a trail off the mountain, but you don't know the newest paths. Though they're slightly dangerous, we can avoid other people that way. What do you two say? If you'd like, allow this old man to lead you all." 

Miyoshi, who sat on a fallen tree in the middle of the green, densely-growing forest, opened his eyes that had been closed for a long time. 
"......Saw it. Considering the direction he was flying, he was headed to Tokyo, but I can't say for sure off just that." 
"What about the Armored Juggernauts? Can you figure out?" 
"The magical energy was cut off partway. They probably stopped being active. In that case, they're just simple chunks of metal. I can't do anything." 
Miyoshi shrugged and Yuge could only sigh. But they indeed could do nothing. The spirit-seeing ability was, in the end, just the ability to 'see' aura. It wasn't a clairvoyance that allowed one to see into the distance. Rather, the fact that he had been able to trace the aura of Tsuchimikado Harutora as he flew to escape the battlefield so far just now demonstrated the high ability of the 'Divine Eye'. 
"......How's the situation in the monastery?" 
"It's basically all destroyed. But it seems that there were no deaths. How incredible." 
In the end, just like Miyoshi announced, Yuge and the others hadn't involved themselves with the commotion in Seishuku Temple from start to finish. Though they didn't know what would become of the monastery in the future, there wasn't a single thing Yuge and the others could do right now. All that was left was to return to the Onmyou Agency and report what had occurred. Fortunately, since this was a secret mission, they didn't need to write a proper report for it - if they truly did, it would probably become very thick. 
Their mission had finally ended, albeit in a very unexpected fashion. Yuge settled down as she thought over things. 
"Ah, come to think about it, what about Tsuchimikado Natsume? Did Yamashiro catch her?" 
"Yuge-shi. I never definitively said the one I 'saw' was Tsuchimikado Natsume." 
"But the probability is extremely high, right? She even used lightning magic. Since we can't hear the sound of thunder anymore, the battle ended already, right? Since it's Yamashiro, he ought not to have made any mistakes......" 
"That's not the case." 
Yuge made an "Eh?" sound upon hearing Miyoshi's clear-cut negation, hastily asking back. 
"Did Yamashiro lose?" 
"Ahh, sorry. I'm not saying that Yamashiro-shi was killed. But it really felt like someone intervened. Honestly, I didn't clearly 'see' Yamashiro's side since my attention was focused on Tsuchimikado Harutora. Though I'm inspecting the monastery right now, it will be hard to find the target if they stealth due to the chaotic state of the aura here. 
Miyoshi spoke casually. Though she really wanted to tell him to be a bit serious, at least Miyoshi was continuously doing whatever he could to learn about the current situation. Actually, it was the restless Yuge, who could do nothing but urge Miyoshi on from the side, who was of no use. 
"First, since we can't find Yamashiro-shi anymore, let's first go back to meet up with the others and hear about the causes and effects of the situation. In the end, the Onmyou Agency's aid still didn't make it, and at this time we'll only get back to Tokyo tomorrow no matter which road we take. We'll look for a hotel after we get down from the mountain." 
"Wait, Officer. First off, not contacting headquarters is......" 
"Yamashiro-kun will do that, right? Finding a place to stay at in this kind of backcountry place is more pressing of a matter than that. Even if we searched with our phones, things like backcountry hotels wouldn't even have a website...... Ah, come to think of it, Yuge-shi, do you know about any local specialties? Honestly, the food we ate in the monastery yesterday was tasteless." 
Miyoshi stood up unconcernedly while talking and pulling his phone out from his suit. Then he turned on his web browser, starting to search for hotels. 
Yuge's head started hurting again. But even when he was doing something like this, Miyoshi didn't stop searching for Tsuchimikado Natsume's aura for a moment - without a doubt, he did his job thoroughly. Unlike her useless self that could only stand around at the side. 
That was also the behavior of a professional. Yuge sighed - then she smiled wryly. 
"......I did some investigation before we came here. There's a spa hotel in the neighboring town with a highly acclaimed boar meat stew." 

"......Yes......yes. In the end...... yes. I'm extremely sorry. I'll return to regroup with Officer Miyoshi and Independent Officer Yuge after this and return to Tokyo. I'll make a detailed report then......" 
Excuse me. Saying that, Yamashiro turned off his phone. Though he had been patient for a while at the start, he ended up stomping on the ground out of irritation. 
"......Damn! This isn't like me......" 
The two who had interfered partway through were probably the Tsuchimikado branch family members. Though Tsuchimikado Natsume acting alone from the start was itself very suspicious, their timing had been too late for them to have been hiding in the darkness supporting her from the beginning. It looked like there had been some discord between them. Though if they had been moving together from the start, there would have been means to deal with them as well. 
"If I knew this earlier, I definitely would have captured Tsuchimikado Natsume even if I had to force things a little......" 
He had been too naive for wanting to keep her unharmed and avoid extraneous effort while capturing her. That naivety was the proof of his youth and of his absolutely insufficient experience. Because he had a little bit of outstanding talent, Yamashiro had very rarely faced a 'difficult situation caused by a problem of ability'. That wasn't egoism, it was the pure truth. Actually, the fact that he had very little experience 'breaking through difficulty' was a problem that even Yamashiro himself couldn't ignore. 
How maddening. But by using this disappointment and humiliation as fuel, he could grow even further. Growth that would allow his ability to become even more effective. That was a necessary condition that he needed as a newcomer in order to stand side-by-side with the other Divine Generals in the future. 
"......Just watch. Soon, even I'll......" 
Yamashiro gripped his phone tightly. Then, he concealed his determination and resolve in his heart, urging himself on with them and beginning to move again. 

"......Stop." 
The car that chugged along the national road stopped on the shoulder due to that word. 
The backseat door opened and a man stepped onto the asphalt road. This was a road that snaked up the surface of a mountain. The surroundings were covered by dense mountain forests, and there were no other cars coming other than the one that had stopped. 
The sun was setting and the sky was dyed crimson. But the man faced the direction of dense clouds. The man showed a sharp gaze as he quietly stared into the distant hills. 
The driver rolled down the window. 
"What's wrong?" 
"......It's nothing." 
The man replied briefly, but he didn't avert his gaze. 
Suddenly, the sound of a phone ringtone sounded in the car. The man sitting in the passenger seat hastily picked up his phone. After he spoke a few fast words, he leaned to the driver's seat without even hanging up the phone. 
"It's from the agency building! Tsuchimikado Harutora seems to have escaped from Seishuku Temple already. Apparently, the monastery is destroyed." 
The man nodded heavily upon hearing that report. 
Then, 
"Kokuryuu. You go check the situation first. Dasai and Reisen, you inspect the area. Go see whether you can find the aura of the Raven's Wing. Hou'oubiden, you're on standby." 
The three materialized crow tengu flapped their wings and flew high into the twilight sky. They flew into the air while cawing and scattering black feathers. 
The man returned to the backseat of the car, closing the door very loudly. 
"Drive." 
After he briefly said that, he slumped his body into the seat, crossing his arms and closing his eyes as if he were meditating. 
The car started up again. 
Kogure Zenjirou didn't say a single word after that until they reached Seishuku Temple. 

"Yeah. That's right. It ended just now." 
The boy reported extremely happily, placing the phone to his ear. 
"In the end, Tsuchimikado Harutora ran away. Things returned to the starting point. But I didn't think that guy would use the Armored Juggernauts. And three of them, even. Isn't that beautiful? ......Uh, what? No, there's no helping that. When I got here, he already...... No, no. Your requests are too over-the-top. I only noticed the Onmyou Agency's movements in the afternoon, you know? That's why even if I could catch up...... Ah, no, although I'm not sure whether I can catch up, there was no helping it from the beginning......" 
The boy spoke continuously through the phone, but he started spouting excuses partway through. 
He was a young boy who looked like he was in elementary school. But the place the boy currently sat wasn't anywhere normal. 
He sat on top of a power transmission tower to the north of the North Star Mountain. It was a place about a hundred meters above the ground. Although it was very far away, he could view the entire regions of the Seishuku Temple. The boy dangled his feet in this kind of place that it was unimaginable for such a young boy to climb up to, a bitter expression emerging on his red-sunglasses-wearing face. 
"Anyways, it's already basically over, so I'll return to where you are. I'll tell you about the details after I get back." 
Saying this, the boy hung up. He shook his head and muttered while standing up from the tower. 
"I never thought that guy would be so long-winded. I really joined up with a troublesome 'master'." 
How foolish. The boy frowned. 
However, 
"Ah well. In the end, it's still worth a look." 
After he quietly said this, he jumped off of the tower extremely casually. 

"......Does it end here?" 
Jougen closed his eyes and bowed his head alone in the depths of the monastery he had been pushed back into by the opponent's shikigami. 
Tsuchimikado Harutora's aura had already left the monastery a short while ago. The two defensive shikigami and the Armored Juggernauts were the same. Though the enemies had already withdrawn, he didn't dare say anything like that meant the monastery had won. The ajari who had fought next to him in the battle had vanished at some point. Though they shouldn't have died, he couldn't believe that they were safe and sound. 
"What a complete defeat." 
He had to admit that point. It was still an extremely vivid reality. 
Even though he had taken the initiative to destroy the main hall in order to attempt resistance, he had ended up with nothing at all. All he had accomplished was turning the monastery into ruins. 
Seishuku Temple had been destroyed. Though maybe it would have been destroyed if he hadn't done anything, he had given it the final blow because of his inexpediency. 
What exactly had he lived in this world for up until now? What exactly had he studied every day and resolutely accumulated harsh training for up to this point? But he could no longer even find the answer. His incompetence had led to this. What could he do other than accept it resignedly? 
Jougen smiled slightly, reaching into his clothing and taking out a knife he had carried. This wasn't a magical tool. 
Rather, it was an ordinary knife that could be seen anywhere. 
He threw down the sheath and bared the blade. Jougen gripped the handle of the knife as if forming a seal. He pointed the knife at himself, closed his eyes, raised his chin, and exposed his throat. 
"...Namu." 
After briefly chanting that, he stabbed himself without the slightest hesitation. 
But, 
"...Ugh!?" 
In the next moment, he opened his eyes in shock. His hands couldn't move. It was Unmoving Golden Chains. Immediately afterwards, a crunching sound rose from behind him. Jougen stayed in his petrified state, only able to turn his eyeballs in the direction of that noise. 
Then, his eyes widened. 
"......Rian." 
"You did all of this however you pleased, but in the end you just want to commit suicide on your own? Don't be ridiculous! Do you think I'll accept that?" 
Rian showed up with his hair a mess and his breathing erratic, and he himself was already taxed to his limits. But a light still burned in his eyes as he stared only at Jougen. 
"Even if Seishuku Temple has been routed, that doesn't mean the people of the monastery will vanish. I definitely won't permit such an irresponsible action as abandoning them. Jougen. It's too early for you to die!" 
Rian's body shook out of anger - as well as from something else - as he asserted resolutely. 
This moment was the first time Rian had overwhelmed Jougen. Jougen bit his lip, the knife still held and waiting. A tear trickled from the corner of the old monk's eye.