Part 3
A monocle from the wrong time period.
But Suzuka had recollections of that monocle. It was something that she wanted to forget but couldn't.
It wasn't just that monocle. That clothing, voice, and appearance. The age was completely different, but there were too many similarities. Even the aura wrapped around him was the same. This was impossible. Definitely impossible. Because he was already dead. Dead. Since two years ago.
But her instincts sharply cut off her weakly-protesting reasoning.
"......Father......"
There was a momentary lag before Harutora and Touji reacted. Her words were outdated and the tone wasn't like her style. Their understandings weren't able to catch up immediately.
Their expressions didn't look like they understood the 'implication' in Suzuka's words. That was natural. Because she herself didn't understand what was going on.
The male who called himself Yashamaru smiled slightly.
"Suzuka."
He called out to her in an extremely natural tone.
"This is a bit sudden, but even though I wanted to spend a bit more time on our reunion, this way might have its own drama."
"............"
The way he spoke was also completely the same. He was completely identical. Even if he had grown this much younger, the personality at his core hadn't changed.
"But I can't have you calling me 'father'. It can't be helped that you're surprised, but you're also an independent practitioner. You have to correctly interpret things no matter when it is. Most importantly, you shouldn't 'curse' yourself so easily. I want to be a bit strict with you, but you're still very clumsy in dealing with second-class magic. Pay attention."
Suzuka's knees inadvertently started shaking because of his happy, gentle instructive attitude.
She slowly started sweating and her willpower shrank. It was like a frog being stared down by a snake. She felt rejection, a desire to escape, and terror, but she couldn't even resist. Because obedience had already been carved into her soul.
"......Suzuka? What's going on?"
Touji asked, watching Yashamaru. But she couldn't reply. Touji glanced quizzically at Suzuka's appearance. After realizing that she wasn't in a state where she could seriously make a reply, he immediately turned his attention in front of him.
"......Yashamaru, huh."
His murmured words were mixed with a tense tone that was more than irony.
"So? That 'father', is it your nickname, or something else?"
"Hahaha, what a pleasant thought. But the answer is no. I'm quite sorry, but it means what it means."
"Hmph. That's very strange then. No matter how good you are at dressing young, you don't look old enough to be Suzuka's father, and before that, you're a shikigami, not a human, right? What's more, as far as I know, Suzuka only had one father and that man should have died already."
Touji carefully piled up questions as if he were calculating the distance between him and his enemy. Just then, "Yes." Yashamaru affirmed with a straightforward and undisguised attitude.
"So, what exactly is going on?"
"Just like I warned her about just now, her words were not correct. Let me introduce myself. My name is Yashamaru. My name in my previous life was Dairenji Shidou. Though I died two years ago, I was resurrected as a shikigami. Anyway, that's what's going on."
Yashamaru spoke simply. Touji, Harutora, and Suzuka forgot to breathe in their stupors.
Dairenji Shidou. A National First-Class Onmyouji called the 'Professor' - a member of the Twelve Divine Generals.
He was also the father of the 'Child Prodigy' Dairenji Suzuka, the chief of the closed-down Imperial Household Agency Lingering Spirit Division, and had once been a central member of the Twin-Horned Syndicate. Also, he was the mastermind behind the 'Hinamatsuri Great Purification' spiritual disaster terrorist attack two years ago.
Dairenji Shidou had been drawn into the spiritual disaster he caused and died in the terrorist attack. Just like how he himself had admitted.
But......
"......Resurrected? ......Shikigami?"
Suzuka moaned, stunned.
Yashamaru put his white-gloved hands on his hips and said lightly:
"Isn't it amazing?"
His attitude was somewhat sarcastic and didn't have an ounce of tension, greatly contrasting with the three people he confronted.
He really hadn't changed. Nothing had changed. He didn't have anything special and he hadn't lost anything. His usual leisureliness and randomness. His soul was dyed in a trivial and dishonest atmosphere.
But Suzuka knew more than anyone else.
Her father was 'tyrannical' since as far back as she could remember. Wrapped in that atmosphere, he indifferently used her and her brother as experiments, repeatedly performing magical research. During her childhood, he had casually used multiple prohibited magics just 'for fun'. Suzuka had observed this with her own eyes.
This man's 'leisureliness' was directly linked with the 'danger' he presented. There was a thoroughly calm brutality beneath that loose aristocratic atmosphere. He had wisdom, knowledge, and powerful 'strength' as a practitioner.
"In any case, the 'current me' is called Yashamaru, not Dairenji Shidou. Strictly speaking, I'm a different person - though it's also very strange to say that. Because I'm not 'human'."
"............"
Suzuka felt light-headed.
An unpleasant feeling as if her head was spinning, even though it was obvious nothing had happened. Moreover, there was a roaring deep in her ears. Her sense of balance vanished and she mistakenly felt the ground beneath her feet crumble. She couldn't breathe properly.
...He died...... He died...... Dead...... and then......
He had been resurrected? What kind of absurdity - No. Even she had spoken of the possibilities in that area.
The Taizan Fukun Ritual.
Dairenji Shidou - her father - had been the highest-ranking member of the old Lingering Spirit Division. And the Lingering Spirit Division was a department established to research the 'mitama' called ara-mitama and nigi-mitama.
In General Onmyoudou, which had been established with a strong exclusion of religious concepts, 'mitama' referred to 'souls that had become spiritual disasters'. Right now, magic related to souls was designated as prohibited magic, but the Lingering Spirit Division was the department that had tread the farthest into the prohibition. The so-called Taizan Fukun Ritual was exactly 'soul-controlling magic'.
More importantly, her father had once been a central member of the Twin-Horned Syndicate, a secret society of Yakou believers. One could say that her father was in a position where he was more knowledgeable than anyone else about the Taizan Fukun Ritual, a resurrection ritual that Yakou had incorporated into his own system of magic.
Suzuka had actually tried to use the Taizan Fukun Ritual in the past and had followed the research that the Lingering Spirit Division had conducted. No, more accurately, it was a portion of that research. Half of the Lingering Spirit Division's research results had been lost due to the spiritual disaster terrorist attack. Even Suzuka wasn't clear 'how close' the Lingering Spirit Division - her father - had gotten to Yakou's Taizan Fukun Ritual. She couldn't assert that something like reviving as a shikigami after death was impossible.
"......Dairenji Shidou...... The real one, huh......"
Touji's voice shook as he murmured. Right. Suzuka remembered.
The oni in Touji's body. That was the thing he had been 'possessed' by due to being dragged into the spiritual disaster her father caused. To Touji, her father was the culprit who had twisted his life.
Then--
"Right."
A cold smile emerged on Yashamaru's face and he looked happily at Touji.
"To tell the truth, I greatly looked forward to meeting you, Ato Touji-kun. I heard of your situation, and it seems like I've caused a lot of trouble for you."
"............"
"Haha, alright, don't glare at me. I'm very interested in the 'demon' in your body, as after all it seems that we've happened to end up in the same boat."
"......What did you say? What does that mean?"
"That we've obtained 'the same blessings'."
Yashamaru grinned, pointing lightly at Touji with an index finger of his crossed arms.
"Let me first say that it's quite a valuable thing, you know? Non-related humans matching by chance is a rare miracle. To be honest, I think there's no reason not to pay attention. You're very interested too, right?"
"............"
Touji carefully avoided replying to Yashamaru's provocative words. The fact that he was uncharacteristically alert might be proof that he innately sensed the 'danger' that Yashamaru posed.
Needless to say, Suzuka didn't miss a word. What he had said just now. Her father knew about the oni that possessed Touji's body. Moreover, according to what he had just said, it seemed like Touji's oni wasn't the same as a simple spiritual disaster. The same boat. The same blessings? What was going on? How much had her father......
"Then--"
Ignoring Suzuka's shaking, Yashamaru continued speaking as he pleased. After parting his crossed arms, he put his right hand to his chest and turned his body to face Harutora face-to-face.
"...Needless to say, I was also extremely looking forward to meeting you. But more accurately, that's the 'current you'. If I may be so rude to say so, I didn't pay much attention to 'Tsuchimikado Harutora-kun' before. That was up until a few hours ago."
Yashamaru grinned after saying this.
A handsome and deluded smile. A demonic smile that was only eye-catching because of the darkness it harbored deep within.
"Then, how should I address the soul of such a great Onmyouji? From what I saw before, it's no longer the standard 'North Star King', right? Should I simply call you 'Lord Yakou'?"
The air quickly chilled. It was as if the truth that Suzuka and Touji forcefully avoided thinking about had become an invisible block of ice and chilled the surrounding air.
The truth that Souma Takiko had told them of and proved with the Raven's Wing.
Tsuchimikado Yakou's reincarnation.
Suzuka couldn't see Harutora's expression from her position. Harutora was currently still wrapped in the Raven's Wing - the clothing that Tsuchimikado Yakou was generally believed to wear often - as he listened to Yashamaru's words. Perhaps because of that, the Harutora currently before Suzuka seemed like a different person from the Harutora she knew.
...Bakatora......!
Her throat was dry. Suzuka clenched her fists tightly, staring at Harutora's back.
Harutora's back slowly began to twitch.
"...My name is Harutora, Tsuchimikado Harutora."
The tension in Suzuka's heart was alleviated the instant she heard those words. A slight smile also flashed over Touji's mouth.
In contrast--
"......Hmph."
Yashamaru's expression changed.
But he immediately returned to his former attitude.
"Understood. Then let me greet you again. Tsuchimikado Harutora-kun, I'm very happy to meet you. Please pardon my rude greeting, I just couldn't wait. After all, the previous me could be called the greatest authority on Yakou. I thought about him while awake and asleep."
Yashamaru spoke elegantly while staring at Harutora with a composed expression. That attitude was sleek and gentlemanly, definitely not the one of a hypocrite, but that was just a part of her father's nature - just the surface.
"Moreover, it was later that I was going to offer my hand to you. So I was actually planning on watching quietly for a while longer...... But things turned out decently well. Well, I tried acting independently like this."
After Suzuka heard this, she immediately understood her father's intent. Goosebumps rose all over her body.
She cried out almost instinctively.
"......B-Bakatora!"
She had the courage to try and stop her father to his face. The Suzuka from before definitely couldn't have done this.
But.
"Don't listen to him! Th-This guy's the leader of the Twin-Horned Syndicate! He's the one who got the Yakou believers to carry out a terrorist attack!"
She shouted desperately. She was scared, so scared that she was at her limit, but the 'developments' that might follow if she didn't speak were even more frightening and hard to accept.
Then, the moment her shrieking voice finished shouting, she felt her father's chains that had tied her down until now slightly loosen. Right, she was already different from before. She wasn't an experimental subject of the 'Professor', she was the 'Child Prodigy' Dairenji Suzuka.
Yashamaru said with a wry smile:
"Hey, hey, Suzuka, you get along quite will with Harutora-kun, huh? You should invite him to join us if you want to be with him."
Suzuka felt furious at her father's words. What did he mean, 'us'. In her father's heart, Suzuka was still on his side - no, she was 'below' him. She couldn't forgive how he so naturally considered Suzuka to be in the same camp as him.
"......Don't be ridiculous!"
She compressed her anger and hatred and spat it out. Though there was still fear in her voice, she couldn't let her heart be warped. She did her best to glare at her father who had taken a displeased expression.
Just then--
"......First, there are two things I want to confirm."
It was Touji who suddenly interjected from the side. Yashamaru replied pleasantly:
"What are they?"
Touji gathered his expression and said:
"The shikigami from before were yours?"
"Ho, starting from the conclusion is one of my favorite speaking techniques. [2] You're talking about the 'WA1'? Yes, that was me."
After saying this, Yashamaru slowly reached his index and middle finger into the pocket of his vest. He drew out a folded charm with a slow motion as if teasing the vigilant Touji.
A shikigami charm. With the flick of a finger, an owl was summoned.
It was the 'W12 Owl Eye' created by the Witchcraft Corporation. It was a shikigami called detection-type, a manmade shikigami that shared its five senses with the practitioner's for long-distance investigation and similar situations. But just like the Swallow Whips from before, this 'Owl Eye' had been extensively modified. In particular, its feathers - and its body - appeared black.
Unlike the inorganic, mechanical shikigami that the Onmyou Agency created, the majority of the Witchcraft Corporation's shikigami had the shape of real animals. Hence, their exteriors were blue in order to indicate that they were shikigami. This color change was a requirement from the Onmyou Agency and had become a fundamental standard associated with the magic. Since the 'Owl Eye' Yashamaru summoned had been changed left and right, it could be described as already a different shikigami than the commercially available product.
Then, Suzuka regretfully cried out "Ah" the instant she saw the black owl. It was because she realized the trick Yashamaru had used to control the group of Swallow Whips. He had probably had the black Owl Eye concealed in the night sky and observed the ins and outs of the situation. The control of the Swallow Whips' flight had to have been coordinated through this detection-type shikigami.
Yashamaru raised his right arm. After the black Owl Eye flapped its wings a couple times, it stopped on its master's arm. Its round owl eyes that flashed in the darkness seemed related to the lens of his monocle.
The Raven's Wing extended its hem and wrapped around a reinforcement and Harutora managed to land on the ground. Touji roared and rushed closer to replace him, but Yashamaru stepped on the ground with a "tsk tsk", moving left and right with hopping steps and beautifully avoiding the successive attacks.
"I was pretty good when I was young, you know?"
Yashamaru lightly raised his fists with a cold smile, taking a boxing stance.
But he opened his fist very quickly.
"But needless to say, I do this now. ...Om jirijiri sowaka."
He formed a Rakshasa seal with his white-gloved fingers. Black fog sprayed out, entwining around Touji and constricted his movements. "Ugh!?" Yashamaru shrugged in front of Touji as he clenched his teeth.
"...?..."
A seed syllable. The seed syllable of Mahamayuri's [3] mantra. The mantra pummeled the ensnared Touji, sending him flying again.
Harutora released charm magic without a pause.
"Hm, how rude."
With those words, he very quickly rendered the magic ineffective. He ignored the stunned Harutora and acted before the Raven's Wing defended automatically.
"On bishibishi karakara shibari sowaka."
Unmoving Golden Chains.
The tongue-twisting chant seemed to lack motivation, but the magical energy it was infused with was immense.
The Unmoving Golden Chains bound the Raven's Wing along with Harutora. Harutora collapsed to the ground, and on the other hand, Touji shakily stood up after being hit head-on by the seed syllable mantra. But the armor covering his body was undergoing intense lag and constantly flickered. Never mind continuing to fight, he was in a dangerous state where he had to immediately release his demonic transformation.
The victor was decided.
Suzuka had only been able to watch with wide eyes during that time.
"......Well?"
Pat, pat. Yashamaru leisurely wiped dust off of himself, still smiling gently.
"Though this has its own fun, it's a bit empty. Please allow me to express my apologies for the princess - my master Souma Takiko - getting carried away. But that's quite a different matter, no? Why don't you try seriously considering walking the path of Onmyoudou with us?"
He spoke extremely seriously. Again, it was unbelievable.
"Of course, my apology will be accompanied by reparations. I'm extremely sorry for the abnormal negotiations, but consider the Taizan Fukun Ritual. It might be a bit much for me to say this, but you could call me the world authority on soul magic, especially the Taizan Fukun Ritual. I myself am evidence. Harutora-kun, I won't tell you to do anything inconsiderate like give up your life. Though there might be some 'additional conditions' I'd definitely be able to beautifully awaken that girl - your substitute decoy, Tsuchimikado Natsume."
Yashamaru spoke cheerfully to the motionless Harutora.
Suzuka pressed her lips together. The proposal just now was one thing to Harutora, but it bothered her to the extreme. Her regret could grow no larger.
Moreover, Yashamaru also spoke to Touji.
"You too, Touji-kun. Your strength can only bloom in the truest sense under my guidance. I hope that you will 'call on' us. Also, if you refuse no matter what...... then there's no helping it, I'll help you by reclaiming that oni. Though you were tossed around for two years, you were originally someone unrelated to this world. It's not too late to regain your life as an ordinary person. You will decide everything."
Touji had decided to become an Onmyouji to deal with the oni inside him. Yashamaru's proposal was related to Touji's aspirations.
Then--
Yashamaru didn't speak to Suzuka.
To her father, Suzuka's fate had been decided from the start.
After saying this, Yashamaru released the Unmoving Golden Chains from Harutora. Harutora rose while breathing roughly, but didn't take any further actions.
The Owl Eye flapped its wings and flew above his head. It seemed that it had temporarily retreated outside the building during the battle. The black owl returned to its master's side, descending to its master's shoulder.
After the last flap of the owl's wings, a stifling, despair-filled silence pervaded the area.
Harutora, Touji, and Suzuka didn't even move a finger. A cold smile emerged on Yashamaru's face as he stared at the group.
None of them knew how long passed.
Suddenly, the entire unfinished building was covered by a barrier. Paying no heed to the panicked Suzuka and the others, Yashamaru calmly and formally nodded.
"It seems like the spiritual disaster purification teams from before have finally caught up. Alright, I'll depart for tonight."
Unexpected words. But Yashamaru broke out into a smile in front of the surprised Suzuka and others.
"It might be an effect from becoming a shikigami, but I've been jumping to conclusions much more than in my previous life. Well, I hope that you consider my proposal again. All of you...... especially Harutora-kun. I'm looking forward to what kind of answers you'll give."
But Yashamaru continued mischievously.
"There's one precarious matter at hand. Tsuchimikado Natsume died without any preparations at all. I hope that you remember that even if you prepare to carry out the Taizan Fukun Ritual, your time is extremely limited, and there's no time to be confused. Understood?"
After those final words, Yashamaru straightened his back without waiting for a reply or reaction from Suzuka and the others.
He elegantly posed and bowed politely. Then - he vanished without a sound.
He dematerialized. Moreover, it was the close-to-perfect stealth that only a shikigami could perform. Though this building should have been locked down by the exorcists' barrier, it seemed like it didn't pose him any problem. The remaining Owl Eye flapped its wings and returned to a charm, burning to ash with a crackle. With that, all traces of Yashamaru disappeared.
Seconds later, searchlights shining from the side illuminated Suzuka, Harutora, and Touji.
"This is the Exorcist Bureau's fifth team! Tsuchimikado Harutora, Ato Touji, and Dairenji Suzuka. Surrender obediently! Resistance will not be tolerated!"
Leather shoes pattered on the floor as the spiritual disaster purification team ran up towards the floor Suzuka and the others were on. Just like Yashamaru said, it was the exorcists from before. From the way they purposefully announced their names, they probably already had Kyouko and Tenma, who had stayed behind, in custody and had obtained that information there. The positions of those two would worsen if they recklessly resisted.
"......!"
Bang. Touji hit the floor. A long crack went through the concrete.
"......Reboot." But afterwards, Touji chanted the incantation as if he were exhaling all the air from his body.
Suzuka abruptly slumped on the ground. Harutora lowered his head, staggering. The exorcists called for him to stop, but he didn't listen to them.
In front of him...... was Natsume.
"......Natsume."
His moan was wet with tears.
Natsume's corpse silently and motionlessly lay there.
Afterwards, the Exorcist Bureau's fifth team arrested Tsuchimikado Harutora, Ato Touji, and Dairenji Suzuka.
They also collected the remains of Tsuchimikado Natsume.
The exorcists had blocked off the area around the unfinished building. Onlookers gathered in the surroundings, wondering about the commotion.
On the other side of the road, away from those onlookers.
"......I was really stupid for expecting something out of that one-armed oni."
An extremely small girl secretly looked over the area from the shadows. She looked to be a middle-schooler at most, with an outer appearance that made it very easy for her to be sent to guidance counselling [4] if she were caught walking on the road alone at this hour.
However - putting aside the Onmyou Agency for now - the police hadn't been able to 'notice' her yet. The girl was currently hiding herself extremely carefully as well. However, the reason she was so hidden wasn't because of the patrolling police, but because she was on guard for an even tougher opponent.
Dairenji Suzuka wasn't the only one who knew what was frightening about 'him'. To her, who always put in great forethought, it was already quite dangerous to have approached this place without proper preparations.
But this time, she had to witness the developments even if it posed a risk.
"......There's no helping it, I'll have to act."
Though it's very troublesome - the girl murmured quietly as if saying it to herself. Contrasting with her doll-like expressionless appearance, her words had genuine resolve.
But the question was how to act. The girl feared that there was almost no time remaining and that her strength was insufficient. There wasn't much she could do.
"............"
The girl thought deeply and seriously, briskly striding away from the area.
It had just reached ten at night.
There wasn't much time left to wait, but the dawn was endlessly distant.
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