Chapter 4 - Journey
Part 1
Wakamiya Rika's sleeping time dwindled to almost nothing after the report of Tsuchimikado Harutora's spiritual disaster terrorism spread.
Wakamiya was a young journalist of a large publisher and belonged to the editing team of the Monthly Onmyouji. Just like its name, the magazine was a gathering of information related to Onmyouji. The Monthly Onmyouji was a magazine that introduced the world of magic and Onmyouji to the general public. But they had spent a lot of effort to get new readers. The representative example of this was their crowning the hero National First-Class Onmyouji with the title of 'Twelve Divine Generals'. That being said, they were just a magazine catering to the market. The editing team was a total of six people, including contract and part-time workers. Four of them were formal employees, including Wakamiya, of course.
"Hey! Kurahashi [8] still isn't done with the Mystical Investigators' activity report yet?"
"Sorry, I'll go check."
"Furubayashi-san, I think he went to Hachioji regarding the matter of the 'Colonel' missing yesterday."
"Hachioji? The Development Lab, huh."
"In his investigation he noticed that the Fujikawa Industries people also went to Hachioji. Maybe they're developing a new type for military use."
"For the spiritual disaster terrorism, huh."
The Monthly Onmyouji's editing team had entered twenty-four-hour coverage mode since hearing the Onmyou Agency's announcement last afternoon. But the magic community was still exclusive, and it was very hard for outsiders to get important information.
Wakamiya registered herself in the name log and walked outside.
"Hey! Wakamiya!"
It was the editor-in-chief Furubayashi.
"What happened afterwards with the Kurahashi daughter's disappearance?"
"I still don't know. She hasn't appeared at the Onmyou Academy since then."
"What? You didn't say anything about such an important thing? Do you have any testimony from nearby residents? Kurahashi Kyouko's been taking leave from the Onmyou Academy since then, huh. And her father put a monitoring shikigami on her."
"Chief, it's best to be careful what you say. You can't ask the Kurahashi family directly."
"Of course. They're the world-famous Kurahashi family. That's why the Onmyou Agency Chief has to move in secret."
The editing team understood several things about the evening the Phase Four spiritual disaster occurred in Ogikubo. They had learned that the captured Tsuchimikado family had been fugitives with Natsume. There had been a large-scale magic battle before the spiritual disaster happened. During the magic battle, 'Fire Demon' Miyachi who was known as the strongest exorcist had used a long-range magic, and his target had been Tsuchimikado Harutora who now called himself the North Star King. Also, the editor-in-chief had pointed out a small commotion in the Kurahashi residence along with the disappearance of the Chief's only daughter, Kurahashi Kyouko. Though they weren't sure how the Phase Four was related to the magic battle, they couldn't assume they were unrelated.
There were other things too. Before and after the spiritual disaster happened, there had been a large vehicle running amok in a place not far from Ogikubo. There were traces left behind by Independent Officer Shigeoka's shikigami team. Also, on the same day, there were witnesses who saw two people riding shikigami and flying in the direction of Ogikubo. Perhaps everything was somehow related. But Wakamiya and the others had too much work to do and could only limit themselves to possibilities. This incident was extremely special to Wakamiya, and she wanted to at least confirm who it was manipulating things in the shadows. This incident wasn't just a chain of events that caused the Phase Four in Ogikubo. The roots of this incident were related to the Hinamatsuri Repurification two years ago and the Great Hinamatsuri Purification four years ago.
"Maybe it truly started with Tsuchimikado Yakou."
Over the past two spiritual disasters, Wakamiya had locked on to one person, Hirata Atsune.
During the first spiritual disaster terrorist attack, the Great Hinamatsuri Purification, he had been given the missions of searching for the Twin-Horned Syndicate's hideout and investigating their secrets. Afterwards, he had been a central figure commanding the work related to the Twin-Horned Syndicate. But Hirata had suddenly vanished unaccounted for during the Mystical Investigator's joint Twin-Horned Syndicate sweep operation. The simultaneous disappearance of the 'Divine Fan' Amami had also shocked the entire magic community. After all, Amami was a veteran of the Onmyou Agency and the second-in-command. But Wakamiya had looked towards Hirata's disappearance. Unlike Amami, Hirata had vanished as the operation ended, apparently during the magic battle with the Twin-Horned Syndicate in the Exorcist Bureau Shinjuku Branch. Hirata's daily life had become a mystery after the Great Hinamatsuri Purification where he made his name. But the one thing she noticed was that at the same time, a girl stopped showing up around him. She was a red-haired girl wearing the Onmyou Academy uniform. The people around Hirata were generally all work-related except for that girl. But why was that? What's more, no one knew the girl's true identity even though people in the agency had seen her several times. Because of the uniform clue, Wakamiya had investigated the Onmyou Academy, but she wasn't an Onmyou Academy student. That was a discovery she couldn't ignore. This girl had visited the Onmyou Academy two summers ago and had been in Harutora's and Natsume's class. It was very possible that the girl's goal of visiting the school was to see the two Tsuchimikados. Also, it was very likely that this visit had been arranged by Onmyou Agency higher-ups. The relationship between Hirata and the red-haired girl was unclear, and she couldn't be sure of the girl's relationship with the two Tsuchimikados.
But Wakamiya had changed her investigation target to the people around her, and hence she had found out that she lived in a hotel very close to the agency building. But the work that followed would be extremely hard. Just like she had imagined, the girl was like an Onmyouji in that Wakamiya would lose her as soon as her attention lapsed. Perhaps she used stealth magic in her daily life. Even with that data, she was unable to make a judgment. But she had obtained information she had never dreamed of about that night three days ago. Actually, a helicopter from the Onmyou Agency had descended before the Phase Four in Ogikubo happened. An employee had seen the red-haired girl riding this helicopter. If the evidence was correct, then she had been at the scene of the Phase Four as well. And it had been the Onmyou Agency Chief Kurahashi who had arranged for the helicopter. Wakamiya was sure that there had been some sort of activity around it.
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