Chapter 2 - An Old Clue
Part 1
It was still an inexplicable encounter even when he recalled it after the fact.
"......Souma Takiko?"
"Yeah."
The girl showed a cheerful smile at the still-confused Natsume, nodding her head.
"You can call me Takiko. Can I also call you Natsume? ...And how about Harutora?"
Harutora was taken aback again at such a familiar way of addressing him.
Even the strong wind on the roof had calmed down at some point. The dim light of the foxfire illuminated Harutora, Natsume, and also Takiko.
If he looked more closely, Takiko was even marvelous-looking. Her face needed no description, but her red hair upon her pure white uniform was as beautiful as a doll. Was it because of color contrast? It resembled the particular beauty of artwork more than natural beauty.
Moreover, she really had the awe-inspiring charm of youth.
A slim figure with thin limbs and neck. The most eye-catching thing about her was her cheerful smile.
Takiko probably noticed the confusion of the two and revealed a somewhat embarrassed smile.
"Ah, sorry. I'm being a little too familiar. I know about your situation well, so I couldn't help it......"
She spoke a bit bashfully.
"But...... I was really surprised to meet you directly like this. Also, I'm very happy."
The smile that emerged on her pretty features was as if to confirm what she said was true, and it actually did feel a bit merry. Natsume's confusion became deep and deeper. She looked pleadingly at Harutora, but Harutora was similarly confused. No, Harutora was probably even more at a loss.
Harutora collected his thoughts again.
"Then...... Souma-san."
"It's fine if you call me Takiko. Is it really too familiar?"
"That's not it...... Then, Takiko."
"Nn." Takiko smiled cheerfully after he changed how he addressed her. That action seemed particularly native, though it didn't change her impression of cleverness.
"Takiko, are you a first-year or a third-year......"
After all, her hair. Harutora and the others couldn't possibly not know of her if there were such an eye-catching student in the same year as them. He first thought that she was probably a first-year student who had entered the academy this spring, but Takiko's reply was a bit complex.
"My circumstances are a bit peculiar. It's a bit complicated."
"Complicated?"
"Yeah. But I am also a 'student'. It's true."
"......I, I see......"
Harutora lost the opportunity to continue asking after Takiko's mild, vague words,
The way she spoke was casual and direct, but her original temperament and style didn't crumble because of it. How should he put it - she was elegant. Just this made him worry about whether taking the initiative to question her would be too rude.
Natsume coughed lightly.
"Takiko...san. What are you doing here? It's already this late, and you're alone."
Natsume recovered the voice she used when she pretended to be male and asked.
But Takiko showed an even happier smile than when she had replied to Harutora. Deep feelings of affection could even be sensed from her expression as she looked at Natsume.
"Definitely the same as you guys."
"The same?"
"Yeah. After all, you two came to look at the Heavenly Altar, right?"
Takiko spoke after turning her body. Harutora also looked in the direction behind Takiko.
The foxfire illuminated the square stone platform, and torii in four colors were erected on its four sides.
"Heavenly Altar? ......You mean this altar? You - Takiko, you came here just to see it?"
"Yes." Takiko nodded after hearing Harutora ask. But she just expressed agreement without explanation, and it was impossible to speculate any further about the situation.
Come to think about it, why did she know about the existence of this altar? If the principal hadn't brought Harutora and Natsume here during that attack, they wouldn't have known that this altar was on the academy roof. Most importantly, those stairs, which were the only means of access to the roof, had been concealed with magic. Harutora hadn't been to the Onmyou Academy for a year yet, but he had never noticed the academy roof.
Or, had Takiko only learned about this altar after the attack. Even so, it was still a bit strange.
Actually, most of the students still didn't know about the magical battle between Doman and Ohtomo. It was even less probable for them to know that the academy roof had been their battlefield or about the altar set there. The final finishing blow had been on the ground - in front of the academy entrance - and all of the students taking refuge in the underground magic arena thought that an Independent Exorcist had rushed here and defeated 'D'. That explanation wasn't wrong, and those who knew the truth also yielded and didn't explain.
Of course, compared to thinking nonsensically, directly asking the person herself in front of him would be more effective.
But,
"Hm......"
Though he wanted to ask about her situation in detail, when he looked at the smiling Takiko watching him, it was hard to ask smoothly.
Also, why did this girl take such a familiar attitude on their first meeting? It was like she completely trusted them.
Natsume was indeed very famous in the academy, and there were several people who looked up to her. But with the 'rumors' that surrounded her, there were very few people who wanted to form a close relationship with her.
Moreover, Takiko's attitude wasn't exactly like looking up or admiring Natsume. How should he describe it......? It was a look as if she were seeing a companion. Moreover, she looked at Harutora the same way. To be honest, it was confusing. But even if Takiko's attitude held some hidden information, he couldn't feel any negative emotions like animosity or malice from it.
Also......
As expected, he thought of it. A familiar attitude and a refreshing youthfulness. Harutora's thoughts became increasingly jarred.
Before he realized it, Harutora was already unable to move his gaze away from the person staring intently at him. He seemed to want to call out a name.
Hokuto.
Natsume coughed forcefully.
"......Takiko-san. If I may, do you know what this altar is?"
Natsume's voice seemed stiffer than when she had spoken before. Probably just a mistake.
Takiko's attitude was as if Natsume was joking.
"How could I!"
She smiled brightly.
Immediately after,
"Someone like me wouldn't be able to understand the Heavenly Altar. After all, this Heavenly Altar was the essence of the Tsuchimikado family's magic - the strongest magic legacy that Abe no Seimei left behind! Even Tsuchimikado Yakou, who was the closest to the mystery of the Heavenly Altar, couldn't fully understand it......"
Natsume's expression went rigid for a moment.
Right afterwards, Harutora also understood the meaning in Takiko's words. He looked at her again, stunned.
"What does that mean?'
Natsume asked sharply.
"Could it be that...... you know about the ritual performed here?"
"You mean the 'Taizan Fukun Ritual'? Of course. But it would be presumptuous of me to claim that I even know just a tip of the iceberg."
Takiko replied honestly. Natsume's eyes widened and her lips pressed together.
Harutora was also speechless.
"......Eh? What? Wasn't the Taizan Fukun Ritual a secret ritual of the Tsuchimikado family......?"
He whispered to Natsume next to him for confirmation.
Natsume didn't move her gaze from Takiko.
"......Even if all you know is the name, you still know. But you shouldn't speak of it together with Yakou's name. More importantly, there are even fewer people who can casually assert that this is that altar."
The expression with which Natsume watched the girl instantly went serious.
Indeed, of the people around them, only Suzuka could speak of the Taizan Fukun Ritual in such detail, and she was a researcher of the Imperial Onmyoudou that Tsuchimikado Yakou had formulated. The Taizan Fukun Ritual that Takiko spoke of, along with her connecting it to Tsuchimikado Yakou, proved that her knowledge of this business was not to be underestimated.
Takiko showed a weak smile at Natsume's expression of alarm, as if she were saying that this was troublesome. At the same time, her expression was mixed with naughtiness as if she were happy that Natsume had 'recognized' her.
"......Who exactly are you?"
Natsume asked directly. Harutora breathed out quietly.
"Didn't I say already? I'm the same as you, someone walking the path of Onmyoudou."
Takiko replied, her manner of speech like a breeze blowing through the prairie. [8]
As if summoned by her voice, the calm night wind started blowing again. Natsume's black hair, tied with a pink ribbon, swayed to the wind along with Takiko's red hair.
Takiko closed her mouth and laughed quietly.
"......What an unexpected encounter. It makes me happy enough to dance. Although, if I say too much, I might be scolded......"
The girl shot them an expression of goodwill, just like before.
After Natsume and Harutora slowly glanced at each other:
"Do you know? The whole story of why the Heavenly Altar is at the Onmyou Academy?"
"Yo, good morning~"
"Hmm? You're here again?'
"What is it? You're off today, right?"
The Onmyou Academy building during repairs. Alpha and Omega questioned Harutora, Natsume, and Touji in surprise after seeing them appear while pushing aside the tarp over the entrance.
It was ten in the morning on Sunday. Because the Onmyou Academy didn't have class, Harutora and Touji wore casual clothes. Only Natsume was still dressed in her uniform, purely because she didn't have any casual clothes other than pullovers she wore indoors.
"Everyone's off work outside, but the repair work is still going on in the academy building."
"Roaming around will disturb the work. It's not a good idea."
"No, no, that's not it. We've come to inspect something today. It's studying, studying."
"We want to investigate some old information. Can we enter the library right now?'
Harutora rebutted the komainu's advice and Natsume asked this. "The library?" Alpha checked.
"You can enter...... But in the end, the enemy shikigami made that place into a mess during the commotion."
"Huh? Really?"
"Yeah. That person seemed to be looking for something. He invaded the library first."
Harutora and Natsume glanced at each other after hearing Omega's explanation.
"......Come to think of it, Ashiya Doman's target was the Raven's Wing in the first place."
Touji muttered from behind them. "Yeah." Harutora echoed his thoughts.
"Well, it's alright. The information wasn't burned or made unreadable, right? It's actually better if the locks were destroyed. For now, let's go in and look."
"Yeah. ...Alpha, Omega, can we?"
"Nn. It is admirable to wish to study even during weekends."
"If you clean it up a bit while you're there, it'll save the workers some trouble."
"Okay, bye......"
Harutora spoke and was about to walk into the academy building, but he suddenly stopped as if he noticed something. He stared intently at Alpha's face.
His gaze fell on the forehead of the Doberman-like vessel. The pentagram pattern drawn in ink.
"......What is it?"
"Is there something on my face?"
"Ah, sorry. It's nothing. Bye."
The komainu asked concernedly, but Harutora smiled and glossed it over. The three of them swiftly entered the building together and walked to the elevator.
Harutora relaxed his breath after the elevator door closed.
"......I only noticed now, Alpha and Omega have pentagrams on their heads. They've always been the door guards of the academy, so maybe they're related to what Souma-san talked about yesterday."
"That's unlikely. Though the pentagram is the Tsuchimikado family crest, it's also the most representative magic symbol of Onmyoudou. In the end, it wasn't Tsuchimikado Yakou's mark."
Natsume denied Harutora's expressed thoughts somewhat unhappily.
But,
"......Hmm. If that Souma Takiko girl was telling the truth, I wouldn't be surprised even if you said Alpha and Omega were originally Yakou's shikigami."
"Touji, you too? Those two are the principal's shikigami!"
"That's right now. But they're mechanical shikigami, right? Even if the magical energy they move with now comes from the principal, that doesn't mean the principal created them, right?"
"The Kurahashi family definitely created them."
"Probably. But the other probability isn't zero. After all, 'the Onmyou Academy's predecessor was a private school that Yakou created'."
Touji leaned on a side of the elevator, speaking indifferently. Natsume pouted, seeming somewhat unconvinced.
"After hearing those words, it makes sense that the genuine Raven's Wing was at the Onmyou Academy instead of being kept at the Onmyou Agency. How suspicious."
Touji continued to speak cynically, and Natsume didn't respond.
Harutora scratched his head.
...Things seemed to be getting more and more complicated......
He thought about what Takiko had said last night.
She had informed them of the reasons that the altar was hidden in the Onmyou Academy, along with the origins of the Onmyou Academy's predecessor.
Needless to say, the Onmyou Academy was an educational institution meant to train professional Onmyouji. The so-called 'professional' here meant those who obtained the Onmyou Agency qualifications of 'First-Class Onmyou', 'Second-Class Onmyou', or 'Third-Class Onmyou', in accordance with Onmyoudou regulations. Right now, it was basically the same as 'becoming a standalone Onmyouji'.
But according to what Takiko said, when the Onmyou Academy had been first established, its goal was somewhat different from 'creating standalone Onmyouji'.
"Think about it."
Takiko had said to Harutora and Natsume.
Along with this, the Yakou Academy also desperately needed a revival. Though the Yakou Academy had the organizational ability to train Onmyouji, the 'standalone Onmyouji' that the Yakou academy had once trained meant 'practitioners that could use first-class magic'. So, the students in the Yakou Academy at the time learned the most outstanding, strongest system of magic - Imperial Onmyoudou."
'Imperial Onmyoudou' was the foremost practical and usable system of magic that Yakou had developed at the military's request. In other words, it was magic for military use. Regardless of its strength, the recently founded Onmyou Agency couldn't designate such a magic as their official magic. That was because the most important thing to the Onmyou Agency was to rid themselves of the image of 'having once belonged to the military'. Also, since Imperial Onmyoudou was a system that a single person had founded in a short period of time, it wasn't suitable for everyone. Learning it required incredible time and effort, and most importantly, extraordinary talent.
Hence, a new system of magic replaced the Imperial style. General Onmyoudou had the simplified Imperial style as a basis, and was refined in some sense.
That was the Onmyoudou that the current Onmyou Agency used and that was taught to the students in the Onmyou Academy.
"......It doesn't train 'standalone Onmyouji' who can use first-class magic on their own, it trains Onmyouji who can use General Onmyoudou. That was the goal of the Onmyou Academy when it began. ......But--"
That was the first time worry flashed over Takiko's face.
No, Harutora wasn't confident whether it was worry or not. Her slightly gloomy expression seemed like it could be explained as a smile - a cold smile.
"That was the condition for the Yakou Academy's rebirth, as if to deny Yakou's magic from before. Because of this, infighting appeared among the people around Yakou who had founded the Yakou Academy. As a result, the Yakou Academy was split into two factions...... One of them became the current Onmyou Academy. Though it already has a long history, the Heavenly Altar at the Onmyou Academy is because of the details behind the founding of the academy. You could say that those are the 'traces' Yakou left behind at the Onmyou Academy."
After Takiko's explanation ended, she smiled kindly towards the raptly-listening Harutora and Natsume again.
They didn't know how to react at these things that they had never heard of until now. Takiko probably expected the reactions of the two of them, still keeping calm.
He didn't know what Natsume thought, but the most surprising thing to Harutora still came afterwards. "Incidentally..." Takiko added to the silent Harutora and Natsume.
"Principal Kurahashi knows about this business very clearly. After all, she was involved."
"Involved?"
"The breakout faction she led founded the current Onmyou Academy. Yakou found her when she was small, and she was one of the first members of the newly-established Yakou Academy. Though she married into the Kurahashi family after the war and left the Yakou Academy, she was made into the principal after the Onmyou Academy was established."
Harutora held his breath.
At the same time, he thought of something else. The first day he had transferred into the Onmyou Academy, the principal had told him first-hand that she had once met Yakou. She had said he was a normal person who liked to play shogi, but who had very poor skills; someone who could cry and laugh.
According to Takiko's words, Principal Kurahashi hadn't originally been a Kurahashi family member. Instead, Yakou had noticed her and given her to the Kurahashi family for rearing. Not long after Yakou died, she married with the head of the Kurahashi family and had given birth to Kyouko's father.
After the death of her husband, Principal Kurahashi inherited leadership of the Kurahashi family and had also served as the Onmyou Academy principal. She had recommended herself to become the principal, which was enough to show her intense feelings towards the Onmyou Academy. Maybe some of that was gratitude towards Yakou, who had found her.
Just then, the elevator stopped. Harutora's group arrived in the corridor.
The shattered windows had been covered by tarps. It was day right now, so it wasn't as dark as before. The three of them walked through the corridor towards the library.
...Even so.
Harutora thought deeply again.
Who exactly was that girl called Souma Takiko?
She called herself a student, but what she had told them definitely wasn't something an ordinary student would know. Even Kyouko, who was the daughter of the principal that Takiko spoke of, probably hadn't heard about the predecessor organization to the Onmyou Academy.
...Was she really a student? Well, her age was similar to ours......
Never mind what she had told them, her red hair and unique air were also filled with mystery.
Moreover, her personality coincided with Hokuto's.
It was inconceivable. Her rational eyes and confident actions had many features different from Hokuto. Though the way she talked was similar, it was also different. The strange reason he recalled Hokuto was probably because of her open attitude, and most importantly, the closeness she had towards Harutora and Natsume.
...Well, what I can confirm is that she's smarter than Hokuto.
Hokuto definitely wouldn't be able to calmly carry out such a lengthy, complex explanation. No, it was possible that Harutora just couldn't imagine it. In Harutora's mind, Hokuto was more prone to acting on intuition rather than reasoning, but he didn't have much confidence now.
After all......
Harutora stared at the neck of Natsume, who walked in front of him.
The pink ribbon tied in her black hair.
"......"
Last month, suspicions that Hokuto was actually Natsume had arose in Harutora, and those hadn't disappeared yet. If he hadn't been troubled by that, he probably definitely would have asked Takiko yesterday when he met her.
The reason Takiko acted so closely, could it be......
...I'm thinking too much...... Probably......
In the end, Takiko had led Harutora and Natsume by the noses for the whole night. They hadn't even asked how to contact her. The two were both inadvertently stunned when they noticed afterwards that her true identity was a complete mystery. After they returned to the dorm and told Touji, he scolded them fiercely.
Harutora brainstormed, imagining Takiko's true identity.
"But......"
Touji murmured, sounding extremely annoyed.
"However I imagine it, it's better to directly ask the principal than to flip through every book in this library. For sure."
Touji's opinion was natural. But Principal Kurahashi was currently going back and forth for the academy building repair work, and the students didn't know where she was at all or what she was doing. Hence, they had visited the still-being-repaired academy building even on a vacation day, hoping to at least investigate some old information regarding the Onmyou Academy.
Natsume couldn't ignore what Takiko had told them. No matter what, they had to confirm its authenticity.
"I want to investigate what I can with my own hands."
Natsume told him her opinion again.
"If we need to get the principal, we can ask Kurahashi-san as a last resort. But the principal's quite crafty, and we'll need some information beforehand or she'll pull the wool over our eyes."
"......According to what Souma said, there weren't any records of the Yakou Academy left behind, right?"
"Those were 'official' records. But there shouldn't be none at all. It's not limited to the Yakou Academy. I think that there are definitely records and information about the founding of the Onmyou Academy...... Or things like diaries of related people."
Natsume was extremely motivated. Touji's expression tightened, his attitude quite different from her in terms of vigor. Harutora generally wasn't good at doing things like looking through books.
"......Incidentally, the fastest way to confirm would be to immediately call Souma."
"Yeah. Isn't that why I said that we didn't ask for her contact information!? I said I would treat you to a meal, so stop complaining for now!"
Touji was complaining like he rarely did, resentful that he had been lured by food. Natsume sharply had him shut his mouth. The silent Harutora knew that their lunch would be a reward for helping to investigate the information, so he didn't interrupt the conversation between his good friend and childhood friend.
Maybe Natsume was scared of meeting the principal immediately.
Natsume was rumored to be Yakou's reincarnation. Principal Kurahashi knew a lot about Yakou, and it wasn't strange to want to know right now but at the same time not want to find out. She would first investigate some information. Maybe that decision was an unexpected moment of hesitation.
But Natsume's inflated energy only continued until they actually entered the library.
"......!"
"Uwah! So this is how it was."
"Haha, that's quite the splendid destruction."
Natsume's eyes widened as she entered the library first. Harutora and Touji, who peeked over from behind her, were also so surprised that they almost laughed. The closely-packed bookshelves in the library were mostly collapsed, with the books scattered everywhere. Not only was there no place to stand, the books even piled up to their knees. The recording numbers were extremely strange, but there were probably thousands of books.
"That Omega told us to clean up while we were at it, but seeing this, I think we won't be able to do anything unless we clean up first."
"...So the repairs would be completed by the time we finished cleaning... that kind of situation. I say we save the trouble and stop by the town, have a meal and go home."
Touji proposed this, thinking it a blessing and following right behind the dazed Harutora.
"No." But the wide-eyed Natsume immediately came to her senses, making a new decision.
"Most of the books here should be related to magic. We want to look for information related to the Onmyou Academy's history. Also, no matter how messy it got, similar information will be gathered together. We just need to find the location of the information that we want and then excavate there."
That meant it would still become excavation work at the end.
Natsume rolled up the sleeves of her uniform, wading into the jumbled sea of books and walking into the library.
The two watched her back.
"......Harutora."
"......What."
"From next time on, you have to ask for the phone number of any girl you meet for the first time."
"Understood. When I meet a girl for the first time, I'll call you over first."
Luckily, Natsume found the area where the history-related information was scattered before they ate lunch.
Immediately after, Natsume created autonomous simple shikigami. After ordering them to arrange the nearby books in the corridor, she left the academy building to treat Touji to lunch. When the three of them finished eating lunch and came back, the corridor in front of the library was filled with many books, their sheer numbers already enough to make them lose any thoughts of categorizing them. Moreover, the simple shikigami were still working. They piled up the next mountain in front of the dazed Harutora and company and returned to the library.
Natsume's cheeks momentarily twitched.
"F, For now, we should be able to speculate about the contents of the book from their titles. Just pick the ones with promising information and confirm what's inside. No problem, we'll find it quickly!"
"......That would be good if it were true."
Touji sighed with an emotionless voice.
They actually spent six hours after that.
The three of them silently immersed themselves in their mechanical, meaningless work.
After Touji, Harutora, and Kon, who had been summoned midway, even Natsume who had proposed the idea started dozing off. Moreover, the corridor became darker and darker as the sun gradually sank in the west.
After it became dark, their effectiveness decreased even though Kon released foxfire. More importantly, they didn't want to continue this kind of work after the sun set.
Kon worked in the library, and the three of them who were outside had stopped talking, going silent for quite a long time. Harutora and the others no longer even looked at each other, silently searching for information. Next to them, the simple shikigami were still adding to the mountains of books left in the corridor.
But,
"......Hmm?"
Harutora made the first sound in a while upon seeing the newly-increased mountain for information. He had already looked through all of the old information, and everything that the simple shikigami brought over now was relatively new info.
They were more like booklets rather than books. He muttered "...Oh" upon reading the title of one of them. These were the student registers of various years of the Onmyou Academy.
"Natsume, how about this? Student registers. If we find the first register, at least we'll know the names of the members of the Onmyou Academy when it was established, right?'
"......Sorry, Harutora. I investigated a long time ago...... They started making lists after the tenth class of students...... Wow, I ordered the simple shikigami to keep this kind of information for later, but it still brought these registers. It seems like there might be almost no related information left......"
"......I see......"
The dejected Harutora let out a dry laugh.
But he still unconsciously reached out and leisurely turned its pages. As a register, all it recorded were the family names of the graduating students, means of future contact, and a brief comment by the student. For something this obsolete, the contact information was probably ineffective.
"......Ah. Maybe my dad's here. I think my dad was an Onmyou Academy graduate."
"......That's pretty interesting. Let's go look."
"Hey, Harutora. Touji, too. Do this seriously."
"It's alright, we're just having some fun. ...Ah! Ohtomo-sensei should be here too. Kogure-san was in the same class, right? What class was it?"
"What was it? ...Natsume. Do you know?"
Harutora and Touji, who had already completely lost their motivation, started looking for name registers together. Natsume sighed exhaustedly, indifferently answering "The thirty-sixth".
Not long after, they found the name register of the thirty-sixth class.
"I found it, Ohtomo Jin! Damn, it would be more interesting if it had pictures!"
"Whaat, 'I had a meaningful three years' - What is this, it's so bland."
Natsume also inadvertently looked at the name register from the side upon seeing the two of them being noisy.
Just as Harutora said, the register didn't even have a group picture. It wasn't very meaningful.
But since their spirits had been in an almost dead state for a long time, it still slightly humored them. The three of them all laughed after they found the name of Kogure Zenjirou, a current Divine General.
"Ahahaha...... Well, it's about time to wrap up, Natsume. Let's stop here and go back for today. It's getting late."
Touji urged Natsume with a smile on his face. Natsume had probably laughed out her irritation, and wasn't stubborn any more, replying "Alright."
"If we can't find it like this, there's nothing we can do. We'll ask Kurahashi-san to ask the principal."
She slowly rose after replying with a cheerful expression.
But just then.
Harutora, who was still flipping through the names list, murmured "...Hmm?", his fingers stopping.
He stared intently at a page of the register.
"......What? I feel like I've seen this name somewhere before - or rather, heard. Who was it again?"
He gave the page to Natsume and Touji to look. After the two of them leaned over, he pointed it out with his finger. "This one."
'Saotome Ryou'
Unlike Harutora, the two of them instantly reacted upon seeing that name. Natsume gasped, and Touji's muttered "this person" with a solemn face.
"Ah, so you guys know?"
"......You've heard too, Harutora."
"Yeah. I felt like I had some impression. But from where?"
"......The camp before. Suzuka talked about him."
"Suzuka--"
Harutora finally thought of it.
Then, he unconsciously looked at the register again.
... 'Before me, there was another person who researched the Tsuchimikado Yakou who was widely regarded as taboo. That person carried out deep and thorough research in this field, establishing a complete system step by step by himself.'
Right. The night of the training camp, Suzuka had spoken that name in the place that Harutora's group of six had gathered.
... 'Saotome Ryou's theory was quite unique, and in his thesis - actually, more like in the notes that he transcribed - he claimed that one could use the 'Raven's Wing' to judge whether someone was Yakou's reincarnation.'
Now that he thought of it, that was also the first time Harutora learned of the Raven's Wing's existence.
"I see...... That person mentioned that we would be able to identify Yakou's reincarnation with the Raven's Wing......!"
Harutora and Natsume's gazes were inadvertently drawn together.
Natsume's lips tightened as she stared unmovingly at the short name on the register.
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