Part 2
Towards the evening, the stately tip of Mount Fuji appeared between the dim sky and the earth. The glow of the sunset was reflected in the lake, which unwittingly became tinted deep blue.
The first day of the practical skills training camp curriculum ended and the students returned to the auditorium where they were staying.
Dinner was Yamanashi local cuisine, houtou. It was a kind of thick soup where udon noodles, squash, and other vegetables were boiled with miso. It had a unique sticky feeling and tasted simple and delicious. But what moved them the most was the fact that they could eat without having to work themselves. The day of training had long since exhausted them, and if they had to control shikigami again at this time to prepare dinner for themselves, there might not be very many people who would be able to have a meal.
The camping atmosphere of the Onmyou Academy practical skills training camp had kicked off ever since they had made curry in the beginning, and the contents of the curriculum were as difficult as rumored. The subject of the coursework wasn't to use magic of a high difficulty, but rather to perform complete basic training.
For example, correctly reciting an incantation one hundred times, or releasing their strongest magical energy at first and then controlling it, gradually releasing all of the magical energy in a controlled state. They went through iterated, boring, and difficult trainings one after another.
The curriculum paid particular importance to magical energy transformation. The amount, the distribution, and the time were finely regulated to the point where even the effects of one's breathing and movements were controlled. Though the process of transforming magical energy was just a moment, any subtle condition could affect the outcome. The imagination was especially important for this, and hence the teacher in charge emphasized the importance of understanding what kind of structure the magic being used had.
There was also traditional training like letting a waterfall pour onto their bodies, exercising their spirit, and chanting incantations on an altar. These contents were more like special training than class - like 'exercise'. After the whole day of class, never mind cooking dinner, there were quite a few people who couldn't even swallow their food.
"......I really underestimated the camp. I didn't think it would be this tiring......"
"Yeah...... I'm already out of energy."
Harutora lay spread-eagled on the tatami in his room after eating dinner in the dining area.
There was a time set for bathing after eating. The students could essentially do whatever they wanted before sleeping, but even in this rare trip outside, not only was he not in the mood to have fun, the other students were just as quiet and deathly tired.
Natsume sat next to Harutora. She exhaled.
Natsume had the highest power in the grade, but even she also believed that the training camp curriculum was more difficult than she had imagined. But compared to the other students, she looked comparatively at ease, and since she had taken magic-related training since she was small, she seemed adept at the contents of this curriculum.
There was actually also another reason why she could be this 'at ease'.
"......But how should I put it, it's fortunate that girl Suzuka didn't have the energy in the afternoon to come over and make trouble. That's the only reason we were able to have a peaceful afternoon......" Harutora smiled wryly, speaking quietly. Natsume also inadvertently smiled upon hearing those words, saying: "Yeah."
The practical skills training camp wasn't originally planned for the first-years, but she had specifically come from Tokyo to participate in the camp. They had long since prepared themselves, thinking she would misbehave, but in the end she hadn't done anything at all, so they were also happily relaxed.
"Even though she's amazing, it's still tough for her to follow the curriculum."
"Yeah...... Even though she's a National First-Class Onmyouji, she's still younger than us, and today's curriculum was a test of stamina as well as mentally stressful."
Suzuka hadn't come to bother the two of them during training or dinner. Judging from that, maybe the situation was as Natsume said and she was deathly tired as well. She would probably sleep in the girl's rooms tonight, so she probably wouldn't bother Harutora and Natsume again tonight.
"All that's left is to bathe and sleep...... Ah! Natsume, how are you going to bathe......" Harutora suddenly thought of that matter, bending his body and casting an inquisitive gaze at Natsume.
Natsume and Harutora were both living in the male dorm, and normally she always showered by sneakily using single shower stalls. Though this auditorium was completely furnished in the accommodations aspect, the bathing furnishings were unfortunately only large bathhouses separated by gender.
Natsume laughed embarrassedly upon hearing Harutora's question, carefully keeping the other students from hearing what she said.
"......I brought the simple shikigami from before."
"The one from before...... You mean the body double shikigami? [24] "
"Yeah, but there's actually no reason to risk using the shikigami. I'll just not bathe today."
"I, I guess, that's much safer."
Natsume actually very much wanted to wash the sweat off her body, but she was a girl posing as a guy, so she couldn't risk that kind of danger.
"Anyway, it's just a day, it'll be over if I just endure a little."
Natsume held her knees with her hands, smiling slightly at Harutora who lay on the floor. Harutora stammered a reply: "Yeah......"
Since he had long since gotten used to it in his daily life, when he happened across this kind of moment outside the dorms, it reminded him of the various inconveniences of Natsume's life and made him sympathize for her misfortune. He believed that Natsume had definitely encountered quite a bit of 'trouble' in places he hadn't noticed as well.
Just as Harutora thought of these things, Touji walked into the room.
"Harutora, Natsume, come here for a bit--" He called out to Harutora and Natsume once he saw the two, disappearing into the corridor ahead of them. Harutora and Natsume looked at each other cluelessly. Anyway, there was still a bit of time until bathtime, so the two of them stood up in unison, leaving the room and chasing after Touji.
"What is it, Touji?"
"I have something to talk to you about."
"Something to talk about? Ah, could it be your new seal?"
"That's included, of course...... Come with me first."
Touji casually replied to Harutora and Natsume, quickly advancing along the corridor. The fatigue and exhaustion of the day's camp couldn't be felt from his walking speed at all.
Touji walked straight out of the auditorium, bringing Harutora and Natsume through the courtyard and walking behind the auditorium.
There was a mixed forest behind the auditorium. It was dark everywhere, and they could only see the ground underneath their feet by the faint illumination of the moonlight and the light spilling from the auditorium. The sun was behind the mountains, the air had also become cold, and only the grass exuded the heat that it had absorbed during the day. The noise from the auditorium gradually became distant, and what sounded like the hoots of owls came from the mountain behind the shrine.
After they walked towards the forest a little more, there was a warehouse surrounded by white walls on all sides. Harutora and Natsume were brought next to the warehouse.
They had originally thought that the three of them were secretly talking, but......
"That's weird? Kyouko, Tenma...... A-and Suzuka are here too?"
Kyouko, Tenma, and Suzuka had already gathered by the warehouse. Kyouko and Tenma seemed to be the same as Harutora, having been called here inexplicably. They looked at Touji in confusion as if requesting an explanation from him. On the other hand, Suzuka sat together with Kyouko and the others but didn't take the same attitude as always or pretend that she was a female idol. She leaned on the white warehouse wall, staring at Touji with a cold gaze.
"......Why is everyone gathered here?" Harutora couldn't help but question Touji, who seemed to have called everyone here.
"These are the people we're with the most normally. I want to take this opportunity to organize the information that everyone here knows." Touji shrugged his shoulders, then looked at Kyouko and Tenma. "Let me check again. Kyouko, Tenma, there's nothing good about getting involved with this matter. Even so, are you sure you want to join?"
Touji asked calmly, his tone like always. Kyouko and Tenma didn't panic upon hearing him speak up to confirm, but Harutora and Natsume were flustered.
"T, Touji?" Natsume quietly warned him, but Touji lightly waved his hand as a reply, seemingly wanting Natsume to relax and let him deal with things.
Kyouko and Tenma glanced at each other, nodding towards Touji.
"......This is related to Natsume-kun too, right? Also, it's a bit insensitive to ask that kind of question now, you should hurry up and get to the main topic instead."
"What Kurahashi-san says is right. Though I don't know what kind of matter it is...... I'll agree to it, whatever request it is."
The two of them were clearly a bit tense, but they didn't show a sliver of hesitation. "You guys are really a big help." Touji grinned, sincerely thanking them from the bottom of his heart.
Finally, he confirmed with Suzuka: "......Dairenji, what about you? Alright?"
"Come on, isn't it annoying to keep asking over and over." Suzuka dropped those words coldly and coarsely.
Kyouko and Tenma were taken aback, turning to look at Suzuka, but she didn't care at all. Even Harutora and Natsume were dumbfounded at Suzuka's sudden change.
"......Touji? What exactly is going on?"
Harutora couldn't resist from asking. "......Hmm." But Touji still seemed to be hesitant over where to start.
"Okay, I'll get straight to the point and make everything clear. First off - since we managed to gather everyone here, I'll first let you see my gorgeous transformation."
"Transformation?" Harutora, Natsume, Kyouko, and Tenma said curiously in unison.
In front of everyone's astonished gazes, Touji calmly - and seemingly happily - took the bandanna off his forehead.
?
They had quite a few matters to get in order. Even among the things that everyone 'ought to' know, they still needed to confirm each other's acknowledgement and understanding.
One example was the rumor that Natsume was Yakou's reincarnation. Kyouko and Tenma had always avoided touching upon that topic, but now that became unnecessary concern.
Each person supplemented their own descriptions and clarified the sequence of events for other things like the fact that Natsume was being eyed by Yakou fanatics and the spiritual disaster terrorist attack that had happened two months ago. They looked over the incidents that had happened.
Once the name Ashiya Doman was mentioned, even Kyouko and Tenma couldn't help but laugh, not taking it as real. Suzuka then explained the case that the Mystical Investigators had designated 'D', and their faces changed after listening, their expressions becoming even graver than before.
Kyouko and Tenma who weren't clear on Suzuka's true nature were extremely surprised at the contents of the conversation. Suzuka's demeanor shocked them greatly. They would jump every time Suzuka said something a bit coarsely, as if they had touched a hot potato, unable to decide what kind of attitude they should use to deal with her.
Suzuka didn't take note of the pair's reactions, continuing to speak with a cold attitude.
"Everyone takes the Yakou fanatics to be the same group of people, but actually not all of them are so extreme. Also, there are quite a few practitioners who revere and worship Yakou. Actually, before the spiritual disaster terrorist attack two years ago happened, there were quite a few practitioners who publicly affirmed Yakou's achievements."
Most people generally considered Yakou to be the root cause leading to Tokyo's plague of spiritual disasters - 'most people' here meaning people who had more or less some magic-related knowledge - and hence they all made Yakou out to be a scourge.
But, at the same time, Yakou was a genius Onmyouji, and he had laid the foundations for the General Onmyoudou which represented modern magic. In the eyes of those who aspired to learn Onmyoudou, he was undoubtedly a great man who had left behind a legacy.
"Two years ago, since a section of Yakou fanatics set up a spiritual disaster terrorist attack, people who blindly worshipped and revered Yakou were labeled dangerous. The 'Yakou fanatics' that you talk about refer to those people. The prime suspect of the terrorist attack that happened back then - called the 'Great Hinamatsuri Purification' in the industry - was a National First-Class Onmyouji at the time, a man named Dairenji Shidou."
"He was also my father." Suzuka said casually. Other than Touji, the other four people stared unmovingly at Suzuka, unable to speak for a long while.
Touji continued Suzuka's words, explaining about the demon living in his body that everyone had seen just now and how it was derived from the mobile spiritual disaster Dairenji Shidou had used himself as a core for. The four of them had originally known Touji had been involved in a spiritual disaster and had become a living spirit, but it was their first time hearing the details.
"The extremist portion of the Yakou fanatics are suspected to have formed an underground organization. They are also the ones who carried out the terrorist attack. I heard that Suzuka's father was also a member of the organization, and the ones who have come out to harass Natsume two or three times are probably also from the same group."
"An underground organization?" Harutora scratched his head in incomprehension upon hearing Touji's explanation.
"Does that kind of thing that seems like it would appear in a manga really exist?"
"Yes, it's called the Twin-Horned Syndicate."
"Also--" Suzuka opened her mouth again. "'D', who we talked about just now, is believed to be colluding with the Twin-Horned Syndicate. Maybe that's related to why he appeared before you all."
"......That means Ashiya Doman is also in the Twin-Horned Syndicate?"
"I'm not sure, there's no evidence that he joined the Twin-Horned Syndicate...... Actually, the Mystical Investigators probably haven't gotten ahold of definite evidence about whether he's even the real Ashiya Doman."
Harutora couldn't help but clench his teeth upon hearing Suzuka's remark. Kyouko, Tenma, and even Natsume kept silent, their faces serious.
They talked like this for a long time, the mystery still not solved. Rather, it became even more apparent how difficult and how complex the problem before them was. But even so, it was better than not knowing anything. None of them were willing to flee from reality and regret after the fact.
"That's all the information we hold right now. Yakou fanatics - the Twin-Horned Syndicate - are eyeing Natsume, and including the 'D' whose identity is unclear, they will most likely continue to think of ways to come in contact with Natsume from now on. Moreover, it seems like there are members of the Twin-Horned Syndicate mixed into the Onmyou Agency. We don't know where the enemies are hiding themselves, so we absolutely cannot be negligent. Though I say that, there's nothing we can do for now...... First, everyone has to recognize the situation." Touji looked at the five of them in turn, making his conclusion.
Suzuka, Harutora, and Natsume's reactions weren't as shocked as Kyouko's and Tenma's. The stiffening of their expressions could be felt even in the darkness. But, it was hard to blame them for having that kind of reaction.
Touji opened his mouth to speak to them as if he noticed the pair's change of heart: "Is there anything else you want to know? This is a rare opportunity."
But, it wasn't one of the two of them who raised a question.
"......Uh...... Dairenji-san."
It was Natsume who asked. Suzuka was leaning against the wall, and upon hearing Natsume call out to her, her body shivered visibly.
"......Please tell me the truth, am I...... am I truly Tsuchimikado Yakou's reincarnation?" Natsume asked, her expression quite solemn.
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