Part 4
The hospital Ohtomo was staying in - or more accurately, a clinic with beds - was mixed into a residential street that looked like private housing at first glance.
The rooms were single occupancy, and when they passed through the wood-framed glass doors, they could see the Japanese Red Pine and Baby's Breath [12] that were planted in the courtyard. The rotating electric fan gave off faint whirring noises, and right now they were also using a CRT television. There was folk art mounted on the wall for display. This wasn't for the patients, but rather it was the hospital manager's interest. The meow of a cat occasionally sounded, and short-tailed wild cats leisurely crossed the courtyard under the warm summer sun.
A normal and uninteresting hospital life.
But, a rare visitor had appeared in the hospital room today. A hale and hearty old man who wore a sharp Armani suit.
The first thing he said when he came to the patient was:
"What. Rather than being hospitalized, you seem more like you've been living here for a while."
He had no choice but to respond with a smile. To Ohtomo, he was a former boss. He was the Magical Crime Investigation Department Chief, Amami Daizen.
"Don't say such misleading words. I was hovering on the line between life and death for a while, you know."
"Sleeping won't heal your white hair."
"I'm not talking about the white hair. It was the heavy spiritual encumbrance and the even harsher mental pain."
Ohtomo sat up on the bed, frowning and returning words. Amami, who sat on a stool, laughed "haha", fanning with the fan in his hand.
The hospitalized Ohtomo was as leisurely as before. But his hair had turned completely white, proof of his magic battle with Ashiya Doman. Of course, that was just an obvious change to his appearance, the easiest to see......
"......Hm."
Amami narrowed his eyes, looking aggressively at the bedridden Ohtomo.
"The curse has essentially been completely removed...... But you really were hit in an essential place. For the time being, complete recovery is...... But......"
"......Well, a complete recovery should be impossible. Just like my right leg, what's cut off won't grow back."
Ohtomo shrugged his shoulders lightly.
Spiritual encumbrance was spiritual injury. Most was caused from people with little tolerance coming in contact with the miasma from spiritual disasters. The aura carried by the body was disturbed, causing physical and psychological harm.
But if it were just of the level of disturbed aura, magic treatment could restore it very quickly, and it would even naturally recover after a period of time. However, if spiritual encumbrance became more serious, the spiritual body would receive damage, which was incurable. Depending on the extent, some conditions couldn't even be cured by professional Onmyou doctors.
Of course, it was very rare for someone to receive spiritual encumbrance that serious. But situations like receiving damage from spiritual disasters or from attacks of other practitioners were another matter. Especially the latter - also known as curses. A magic that was used from the start to cause the opponent to suffer spiritual encumbrance dealt quite some damage.
In the battle last month, Ohtomo's body had endured Doman's magic several times. Of course, though he had offset them, the opponent's magical energy was greater than his. Moreover, Ohtomo had prioritized attacking over defending himself. The cost of this was the severe spiritual encumbrance Ohtomo received.
Though Ohtomo was wearing a bathrobe for sleeping in right now, there were dozens of healing charms wrapped in place by bandages beneath his clothing. Moreover, in the end these were just palliative [13] , and most of them were used to hasten the recovery of his spiritual power, which was in a depleted state. It was impossible for him to completely return to his state before. He had learned of that bad news from the mouth of the Onmyou doctor who was this place's hospital manager himself.
Even so, Ohtomo was still cheerful.
"When my right leg was injured, it let me resign from the Mystical Investigators, but it seems that this won't let me resign from being a teacher. So at least it should let me happily rest without a care for some time. Well, after this I'll give the annoying business to the students, and all I should need to do is leisurely watch from behind them."
He bent his body on the bed, light reflecting off the lenses of his glasses as he spoke slovenly. Amami couldn't help but smile wryly, snorting as he said "What nonsense are you saying".
"Physical and spiritual wounds should be an 'advantage' to a practitioner. You were once a Mystical Investigator, so that should be common knowledge."
"Uwah. How barbaric. That's the unreasonable view of the last era."
"Hah. Unfortunately, no matter how you hide it, magic is a thing of the last era, and being a Mystical Investigator is an unreasonable profession. ......Ask yourself. After you lost your right leg, did you become weaker?"
For example, in an ancient 'soul-calling' ritual from the northeast, a shaman would summon the souls of the dead to communicate with. This ritual had originally been classified as a kind of second-class magic of General Onmyoudou, and it was known that the ones who cast the 'soul-calling magic', called 'itako', possessed strong spiritual power. But - at least it had been so before - 'itako' were mostly all blind or were said to be visually impaired.
The origin of that example was that because the eyes couldn't see, the ability to 'see' became stronger and spirit-seeing would thus be honed. That saying was deeply ingrained into even the Onmyou Agency. In other words, spiritual power and magical energy were supplemented by defects of the body.
In addition, other than physical loss like having one eye, one arm, or one leg, spiritual injury could lead to strengthened spiritual power. That way of thinking was spread among the old type of Onmyouji. Needless to say, Onmyou regulation strictly prohibited the actual practice. But very few of the Onmyouji working 'on-site' denied that view.
"Selection and specialization doesn't just apply to the business world. Maybe it's also accompanied by 'grief'."
Amami closed the fan in his hand with a snap, smiling playfully with a wicked gaze.
Even so, in the end this was just one side of the story. Even if they could prove statistically that those who were wounded were stronger, it was more reasonable to think that 'those who experience more severe battles' get wounded and also grow because of it.
"Well, what's important is that all that information is very far-fetched. I'm injured, you know, so I can't move or listen to your complaints. Let me rest peacefully."
Ohtomo stuck out his chest, speaking foolishly. Amami smiled wryly again.
"What I wanted to emphasize was there are a lot of people who receive injuries and still stay on the frontlines. You were originally pretending to be retired, but you'll get bored with it and stick your neck into trouble very quickly anyway."
Amami raised the fan in front of him, declaring as if he had seen through everything. Ohtomo revealed a resentful expression.
"......Honestly, this old man and old lady."
"Old lady? Oh, Miyo-chan. I see, so you heard similar things from Miyo-chan."
"Oh my? I just said 'old lady', I didn't say who it was. No wonder you're the Chief of the Mystical Investigators, your insight is on a different level. Let me obediently tell these to the principal--"
"Uwah, no no no no! That's not cool at all!"
Panicked, Amami stopped Ohtomo's monologue. Ohtomo knew that the Mystical Investigator Chief and the Onmyou Academy Principal were associated, but hence he could see where the real power balance was.
"......Come to think of it, Miyo-chan might have put shikigami in this hospital room."
"What!? P-Please don't say such terrifying things. That's terrible!"
"To be honest, I think that it was a bit better when you were working under me......"
"......But just 'a bit', huh...... What a hateful industry."
Ohtomo whined listlessly, his gaze hovering over the door to the hospital room. Maybe he was truly very worried. Come to think of it, there had been cats in the courtyard just now, he muttered with a look full of suspicion.
On the other hand, at some point a smile had shown itself on Amami's face as he watched Ohtomo.
"......But."
Moving his gaze from Ohtomo's head of white hair, he opened his mouth to speak lamentfully.
"I didn't think you would be able to drive that Ashiya Doman back."
The eccentric Amami very rarely expressed sincere and undisguised respect. Even Ohtomo, who replied immediately no matter how troublesome the words were, went speechless for a moment at Amami talking to himself, taking an embarrassed expression.
"......It wasn't a victory in a magic battle. It was just a 'competition of magic'. The opponent probably just saw it as carefree 'playing with a kid', right? Also, he didn't bring a single retainer with him, because he was using them all to attack the Onmyou Academy building. Most importantly, it was Kogure who beat him at the end......"
"Haha. Don't be shy, don't be shy. That just shows your power."
"......Hah. What simple flattery......"
"Oh oh, right. I bought this but almost forgot. Here, a get-well gift. A luxurious fruit basket."
"Uwah. You even used such a pretty basket - no, could this be, did you buy this from that Ginza nightclub that you always go to?"
"Oh, you understand very well. It was very expensive. Thank me properly."
"I should be thanking the girls in the store, right? Really, what a bad taste...... Even if you tell me to eat it......"
He received a fruit basket large enough to wrap his arms around, putting it on the table next to his bed.
Immediately afterwards, Ohtomo adjusted his glasses:
"...So?"
He changed the topic.
"Though I'm very grateful to receive such a beautiful thing, we should be about getting to the main topic, right? What exactly has happened to cause the Chief to take the trouble to come here?"
"Huh. Did you not hear about it from Miyo-chan?"
"Just a bit. ......Has the Onmyou legal reform bill passed yet or not?"
Ohtomo changed his tone and confirmed.
"...Yeah." Amami lightly nodded and replied. Though his words were very light, it felt like they contained various thoughts and feelings.
The Onmyou Agency had formulated Onmyou law in the first year after it was established - almost half a century ago now.
At the time, the Onmyouji had been anxious to deal with spiritual disasters. They had to systematize the organization and had not hesitated to apply large-scale reform to the Onmyou Bureau. In order to let the magic community, which had a tenuous connection with society, embed itself in Japanese society, they had cut some corners. The first step was regulation of magic and practitioners. This way, the magic community, which was burdened by ancient 'darkness' from before the war, shone with the light of the law in front of others and became spotless.
The Onmyou law that was formulated after this was still regulating and controlling the magic community.
But the basic tenets of the current law supported 'stable purification of spiritual disasters'.
Current Onmyou Law was defined extremely haphazardly and restricted difficult-to-classify magic for the most-important goal of purifying spiritual disasters. A large part of the reason was that the Onmyou Bureau, the Onmyou Agency's predecessor, had belonged to the old Imperial Army. Needless to say, Onmyouji and practitioners were all unknown entities in the eyes of most people. In order to obtain a public place for themselves, they had to simplify and clarify the industry, no matter what.
Even now, the locations of current Onmyouji activity were limited to certain parts of society for this. Though they had succeeded in defining the 'image of an Onmyouji' in the new society, the magic community itself was still isolated from other industries.
It was the Onmyou Agency's deepest desire to break through that closed-off condition. The main target of the Onmyou legal reform that was expected to pass in Congress was to widen the scope of Onmyoujis' responsibilities. In other words, they planned to allow Onmyouji to enter society.
"......I don't know what it'll turn into in the end...... Well, I, who elegantly retired from the plan, am not too involved."
"How ignorant. Youngster, you'll starve sooner or later if you don't have work."
Amami coldly put reality in front of him. Ohtomo curved his mouth into a '?' shape at his former boss's unhumorous accusation.
"Well. The real problem is that we won't be able to widen the scope of responsibilities when the Exorcist Bureau is in a crisis of insufficient manpower, even if we wanted to. This amendment is actually just strengthening the authority and expanding the budget of the Exorcist Bureau - and even the Onmyou Agency as a whole."
"......Dreaming of the so-called Onmyou 'province', huh."
"We'll think of extending it to that level later. But the large-scale spiritual disaster terrorist actions from two years ago until this spring started to cause chaos for society. Also, attacks on the Onmyou Agency and the Onmyou Academy just happened. The public eye has started to notice Onmyouji now...... More accurately, they feel very threatened. It'll be troublesome if Onmyouji can't be active when we expect them to be. So, the politicians are playing out an active discussion and the bill passed smoothly."
But, Amami lowered his voice slightly. His gaze also became sharp.
"......But we have to continue being careful of the Onmyou Agency's desires."
"Careful?"
"Yeah. More accurately, never mind the problems of the strengthened authority of the Onmyou Agency or who leads it. The Onmyou Agency obviously wants to lead itself, but the reform this time is so big that other agencies want to come and interfere. In order to keep those guys quiet, we obviously need to keep 'achievement' in the leaders' hands. ......Well, though it seems like it should be other people's business, I also attended the meeting. After all, spiritual disasters won't cooperate with us and appear, and we can't purify anything, so we can only aim at other targets."
Amami stared intently at Ohtomo's eyes, hinting at something. Ohtomo realized what the meaning in Amami's words was, replying to him with a serious expression.
"......The Twin-Horned Syndicate?"
"Right. Thankfully, some academy teacher sealed the enemy's wild card 'D'. How can we pass up this opportunity? We're going to do it thoroughly this time and include the people on the inside. Needless to say, the inside is the important part. An investigation of the darkness inside the agency is already going on. We're going to smoke them out without leaving a single one."
Amami's voice was very flat, but at the same time it felt very motivated. If expanding the scope of Onmyouji responsibility was the will of the Onmyou Agency, then cleaning up the Twin-Horned Syndicate was the necessary desire of the Mystical Investigators.
"......I fear this will become my final job."
"Chief?"
Ohtomo couldn't conceal his surprise upon hearing that unexpected remark.
But Amami smiled firmly.
"Sorry. Elegantly retiring goes in order of age. Enjoy your rare vacation. There will still be burdens left for the new system, so you can't sit back and relax without a care. ...But, what I came here for today is closely related to hunting the Twin-Horned Syndicate. We're going to go on that attack this time, and of course we've considered their resistance. The probability that they do everything possible to do something to you or your students at the time isn't zero. But. This time, we're sending guards from the Onmyou Agency. So, you can sleep and rest properly. I just came here to tell you about this."
"......"
The stunned Ohtomo floundered, unable to speak. Amami chuckled, opening his fan again.
"......Who's the guard? Is it a Mystical Investigator you can 'trust'?"
"Don't joke around. I'm still choosing. Honestly, I really want it to be someone like Kogure...... But we need the Exorcist Bureau to act for the job this time too. We have to paralyze the organization temporarily, and that youngster who can purify spiritual disasters alone can't easily leave the scene. ......That guy's confinement was just lifted in the first place."
"Confinement? What did he do?"
"Oho. When we were dealing with the attack on the Onmyou Agency, he abandoned his original duty and left for the frontlines. Moreover, he even took his squad. If he hadn't defeated Ashiya Doman, it definitely wouldn't have been simple confinement. I wonder who exactly tricked him."
Amami laughed happily, and Ohtomo hastily whistled and feigned ignorance.
In any case, the Twin-Horned Syndicate wouldn't calmly wait to be hunted. Though they couldn't make any fearless movements with just the members they had left, it was possible that they would get entangled with Tsuchimikado Natsume - rumored to be the reincarnation of Tsuchimikado Yakou, the object of their fanaticism - if they were backed into a corner. This aspect required adequate consideration.
In comparison, the current Onmyou Academy was by no means safe. Ohtomo couldn't relax if they didn't have any highly-skilled and trustworthy guards.
Just then, Ohtomo and Amami tilted their heads in unison.
The two of them had keenly noticed a presence. Not long after Amami muttered "......Guests?", the noise of many footsteps approaching the hospital room from the corridor sounded.
Noisy voices rang out.
Amami realized who the visitors were. He closed his fan, saying "how interesting".
Immediately after,
"Ah, is it here? Sensei, sorry to bother--"
The door was slowly opened, and the faces of six academy students appeared.
At the start, they hadn't been able to find this hospital and had wandered around the complex alleys for a long time.
"I didn't think the outside would be such an ordinary residence......"
"Is the principal too stingy?"
"Hey, quiet, Grandma wouldn't be cheap for such a thing."
"This kind of place isn't bad, the aura is extremely stable."
"Alright, let's go in."
"E, Everyone, this place is a hospital, so please be a bit quiet."
Harutora walked in front of them, bringing a noisy group of people into the corridor.
Though all of the entrances of the clinic had information desks, the more they went inside the more it looked like a house. Actually, it had probably been made like a residence. Harutora and the others walked through the narrow corridors in rows.
"Ah, is it here? Sensei, sorry to bother--"
Harutora greeted the person inside while slowly opening the door.
Ohtomo, who sat on the bed, replied "Oh" after seeing Harutora. Harutora saw the rare sight of Ohtomo in a bathrobe. His head of white hair still felt unnatural.
But what surprised Harutora was that there was another guest who had already arrived in the room.
The guest wore a suit, so he probably wasn't a doctor here. He was an old man as skinny as a crane, but his spine was very straight as he sat, as if there were a ruler attached to his back. After seeing his face, Harutora greeted him with "Ah, hello" somewhat warily. The old man showed a unique smile to Harutora and the others.
"It's been a long time, Kyouko-chan and Dairenji. It's probably my first time meeting the rest of you."
Harutora uttered "huh" after hearing the old man's words, turning around to look at Kyouko and Suzuka. He saw Kyouko, who had walked in after him, with her eyes widened in surprise, but Suzuka showed a displeased look as if she were a wild cat that had spotted a guard dog.
"Amami-san! What's wrong, why are you here?"
"Kyouko, someone you know?"
"Yeah, kind of. Amami-san is the Mystical Investigators' chief."
After hearing Kyouko's introduction, Harutora, Natsume, Touji, and Tenma all hastily turned around to look at the old man. Amami smiled at them and said "You don't need to be too formal". His attitude and manner of speech were straightforward, even graceful.
"I've heard of you guys. I'm Amami of the Mystical Investigators, pleasure to meet you."
"I-It's our pleasure... to meet you...... B-But, why is the chief of the Mystical Investigators here?"
The Mystical Investigator Chief was a higher-up of the Onmyou Agency. Upon seeing Harutora's flustered appearance, Suzuka next to him couldn't help but interject: "......I~diot".
"It's nothing to be surprised about. Your homeroom teacher was a Mystical Investigator in the past, and this old man's on good terms with the principal."
"Hoho. Your tongue is still merciless as ever, Dairenji. But you seem lively, so that's the best. I heard you're playing the part of an idol in the academy? How praiseworthy. Let me watch one of your classes."
"......Keep dreaming. Don't waste your time, hurry up and go work."
Amami teased her with a smile and Suzuka counterattacked in displeasure. Probably even Suzuka was a bit reserved when facing the chief of the Mystical Investigators, as the voice she talked back in didn't have the same force as before. No, it was more surprising that she could even be this eloquent with the chief of the Mystical Investigators in her position.
Kyouko said teasingly:
"You came to see Sensei because he was your old subordinate? How hard on you, to take time out of your busy schedule to come here."
"Hey hey, Kyouko-kun, that's my line, you shouldn't be saying it. Though I wouldn't say it."
"What, I just happened to have business outside and this place is on the way to the Onmyou Agency. It's just on the way."
Amami's shameless tone made it hard to think that he was actually a VIP of the Onmyou Agency, but Amami's informal attitude made Harutora feel very relaxed. When Amami and Ohtomo talked, the two sides' tones and styles were clearly different, but they made others inadvertently comprehend that they were a former boss and subordinate.
However.
"Hah. You're full of crap. You wouldn't come to visit just for a 'former subordinate'. ...But, this makes me confident in my own thoughts."
Suzuka spoke haughtily. Harutora and the others cast questioning gazes at Suzuka, but Suzuka ignored them. After looking at Amami for a while, she stared coldly at Ohtomo.
"Never mind these guys for now, but I'm not an idiot. I did some investigation afterwards as to who exactly this 'Onmyouji' was who could easily disrupt the seal cast on me, who could use magic more ancient than Imperial Onmyoudou, who could fight on even terms with Ashiya Doman, and finally who could use an Independent Exorcist to achieve victory."
"......Hey, Suzuka."
Harutora next to her hastily urged her to stop after hearing his kouhai's impolite tone. But no one could turn a deaf ear to Suzuka's words. Harutora and the others had discussed Ohtomo's true identity themselves a few days ago.
Suzuka's eyes became sharp as she was immersed in the gazes of Harutora and the others.
"He's the right-hand man of the Mystical Investigator Chief, the 'Divine Fan' Amami. An anonymous Divine General Mystical Investigator during acting duty. ......Come to think of it, I heard a rumor once. I seem to remember your nickname was 'Shadow'? Though I stopped hearing the rumors of 'Shadow' a few years ago, I never would have thought you became a teacher at the Onmyou Academy."
Suzuka's mouth curved into a cold smile as she slowly declared.
Harutora and the others were all speechless.
Ohtomo showed a confused expression at this.
"Hah? What's all this about--"
"No, she's got it right."
"...Chief?!"
Ohtomo had planned on fooling them without missing a beat, but who knew that Amami next to him would have indifferently admitted it while tapping his knee with his folded fan. Ohtomo couldn't help but panic after Amami ruined his act. Amami laughed at him as if saying that there was no problem in being honest.
"These kids all witnessed your fight against Ashiya Doman, right? In that case, even if you want to fool them for now, it'll be no use in the end. Ah, incidentally, there's no reason to use a pretentious title like 'Shadow'. You might as well use the nickname 'Kuroko' [14] ." [15]
"......The name 'Divine Fan' is what's actually pretentious. Isn't it much more shameful? ......Please give me a break, this is enough......"
Ohtomo put his right hand on his face exhaustedly. The students were silent and speechless.
"Ahh, but, listen up. You can't tell this to anyone else. The requirements of strict secrecy are still in force. You'll be turned over to the Mystical Investigators if you expose it."
Amami said joyfully. It was indistinguishable which parts of his words were a joke, if any. Though Harutora and the others nodded repeatedly, their expressions were still of shock.
"......Ohtomo-sensei is...... A former Divine General!?"
Harutora's eyes widened as he slowly repeated.
That truth was too much of a shock. But Harutora could accept that truth now. In fact, it would be even harder to understand if that weren't the truth. In any case, Ohtomo could fight equally with Ashiya Doman. He couldn't possibly be an ordinary Onmyouji, nor could he be an ordinary former Mystical Investigator. It was more convincing that he was a National First-Class Onmyouji.
"There are all kinds of National First-Class Onmyouji too. There are annoyingly slow ones, old men who like to pretend they're young, and youthful pubescent girls with twisted personalities and only a skilled tongue."
"What does that mean? Liking to pretend they're young?"
"Hah!? Who's a pubescent girl!?"
Ohtomo's seemingly resentful remark led to intense reactions from Amami and Suzuka. Now that Ohtomo mentioned it, Amami was also a member of the Twelve Divine Generals. Harutora inadvertently contrasted the three of them. An uninformed person truly wouldn't be able to see that they were Divine Generals.
Natsume, who had been silent before, suddenly shivered, shaking her head and fidgeting.
"Ohtomo-sensei is a National First-Class Onmyouji...... B-But, in that case, I can understand the incident last month. The high-level magic battle too! But, why would Sensei come to the Onmyou Academy to be a teacher? It's also very strange to resign from the job of Mystical Investigator. With your skills, you should be completely competent, right?"
Ohtomo didn't react after hearing Natsume's question. Amami took the initiative to nod his head and say:
"It's true. He doesn't have any other skills, and if he stayed on this side, at least he would be able to make some contributions to the people and help everyone out."
"None of your business. The law guarantees me the right to freely choose my profession."
Ohtomo, who sat on the bed, glared at the also-sitting Amami, saying unpleasant words. The two of them were just an inch from being shameful. To be honest, the two of them didn't seem like adults at all.
"......Never mind your reason for resigning for now. The reason Ohtomo-sensei came to the Onmyou Academy was probably you, Natsume."
After Touji said this to the surprised Natsume, he continued speaking to Harutora.
"Because Ohtomo-sensei only started at the Onmyou Academy last year, which was after Natsume entered. The principal knows divination, and she anticipated the various troubles that would happen after you arrived in Tokyo. In order to coordinate with your entrance, the principal invited Ohtomo-sensei via Chief Amami. That speculation seems appropriate. Actually, the principal's arrangements were completely useful this time."
Natsume stared at Ohtomo's face in surprise after hearing Touji's speculation.
Silent without a word, Ohtomo showed an indifferent expression like always. Then, Amami happily harrumphed, speaking in place of his ignorance-feigning subordinate.
"......Not bad. When you encounter important things, you first think for yourself before asking others. Not bad at all."
"In other words, he guessed right?"
"That's also for you to think about yourself, kid. But, there's just one thing I want to tell you. Every adult in 'this world' is a trickster. If you trust each and every one of their words, you'll be unable to stand on your own anymore."
After Amami finished speaking, he laughed with a "hehe". Then, he tapped his fan and stood up.
He looked at his refined wristwatch.
"I've been here for a long time. ...Ohtomo, you tell them about what I said just now. I won't be able to contact you for a while, but be prepared for it."
"......Be careful."
"Hah, don't say that. Being encouraged by your makes me feel sick."
Ohtomo momentarily showed a serious expression, and Amami returned a fearless smile to him. Then, he smiled at Harutora and the others, said "Say hello to Miyo-chan for me" to Kyouko, and then left the hospital room.
Harutora and the others silently watched Amami slowly grow distant in the corridor.
Though this old man didn't put on airs, he still felt like an 'adult' to Harutora and the others. He carried a dignity that made one feel 'Oh, so this is a higher-up of the Onmyou Agency."
Harutora and the others' gazes only fell on the bedridden Ohtomo after Amami's figure vanished.
Harutora and the others had come to see Ohtomo today. But, probably because they had heard that Ohtomo was a former Divine General, the familiar, relaxed atmosphere they had while entering the hospital room suddenly no longer existed. Putting aside the fellow Divine General Suzuka and Touji who didn't know fear for now, the other four felt inexplicably uneasy when they faced Ohtomo.
The students' reactions made the homeroom teacher let out a sigh mixed with a smile.
"Why don't you sit down first. I just happened to have something to tell you guys."
"......Is it what Chief Amami mentioned just now?"
Natsume asked and Ohtomo answered "Yes".
Ohtomo had Harutora's group of six sit anywhere. He concisely explained the plan for the operation against the Twin-Horned Syndicate that he had just heard of from Amami.
The Twin-Horned Syndicate, a mysterious organization founded by Yakou fanatics, had extended its claws towards Natsume several times before. After hearing Ohtomo's words, Natsume and Harutora's expressions immediately became solemn, and the other four also listened seriously to Ohtomo's explanation. To Harutora and the others, this was business related to their own safety. They couldn't be careless.
"......In other words, they're finally wiping out the Twin-Horned Syndicate?"
"At least Chief Amami plans to. Though we haven't clearly seen the complete picture of the Twin-Horned Syndicate, and it's hard to say whether we can eradicate them."
Ohtomo lightly replied to Harutora's question. Actually, the Mystical Investigator Chief had always been hunting members of the Twin-Horned Syndicate. Though they had captured a few members, they had still been unable to completely stop the Twin-Horned Syndicate's movements. Moreover, the Twin-Horned Syndicate also had quite a few members planted inside the Onmyou Agency.
"In any case, you need to be on your guard. Though the Onmyou Agency will send guards, you yourselves have to pay attention to your surrounding situation."
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