Part 3
The Onmyou Agency headquarters was an old yet vast building, and moreover, since it was where most of the nation's magic-related management were gathered, there was various equipment both inside and outside the building.
One of them was in a storage room being used as a warehouse. But it wasn't any simple warehouse.
A sealed storage room.
Highly dangerous magical objects. Objects that were 'cursed' or were spiritually abnormal. A room that sealed magical tools designated forbidden and objects that were considered very dangerous if left alone were sealed here by a tough barrier. Most things were under the jurisdiction of the Research and Development Department, but there were also things directly overseen by the Chief sealed inside here.
The sealed storage room was in the depths of the Research and Development Department's Research Lab One.
The Raven's Wing, which had been retrieved by the spiritual disaster purification team, had been moved into this Research Lab One.
A barrier had been put up on a two-meter wide square table. In the center was placed an ancient brass birdcage, and inside it was a single raven. Upon careful observation, one would notice that it had three legs.
The symbol of the sun in Onmyoudou, the yatagarasu.
This yatagarasu was Yakou's magical tool, the transformed state of the shikigami known as the Raven's Wing.
The Raven's Wing, choosing its yatagarasu form, had its eyes closed as if sleeping and was motionless. Yashamaru looked at the yatagarasu's appearance with interest.
He circled around and sat on the chair near the table. Humor and a blade-like sharpness emerged in his eyes, one behind a monocle.
While Yashamaru stared at the Raven's Wing, the door behind him was unlocked and a man walked into the research lab.
He was not young. Rather, it seemed that his flesh were steeped in 'age'.
However, on the other hand, he had an overwhelming power as if that age directly became strength. His extremely serious personality could be understood at a glance of his outer appearance.
The Onmyou Agency Chief. The VIP of the magical world who was currently the Exorcist Bureau Chief and the Mystical Investigator Chief, Kurahashi Genji.
Kurahashi stood behind Yashamaru, glancing into the depths of the sealed storage room.
"......You still haven't prepared a seal?"
"Of course. It just started after all."
Yashamaru replied informally to the Onmyou Agency Chief's question without even turning around. Yashamaru's past self, Dairenji Shidou, had been Kurahashi's coworker in the Onmyou Agency. After Dairenji's death and resurrection, their relationship had already lasted ten years.
"You've heard already, right? Tsuchimikado Harutora still hasn't awakened completely as Yakou. Of course, I'm not sure if this Raven's Wing is the key to the reincarnation...... But it's worth investigating and trying out."
Yashamaru spoke indifferently, putting his white-gloved fingers under his chin.
"Moreover, I was very curious about 'that man' in my previous life. I personally believed the secret art of resurrection was one of Yakou's most powerful secrets."
"............"
Kurahashi listened to Yashamaru's words while watching his face from behind. Yashamaru almost paid no attention to Kurahashi, continuously staring at the yatagarasu in the birdcage with narrowed eyes. Kurahashi could read the meaning of his expression due to having known him for a long time.
A voracious thirst for knowledge and a childish curiosity.
He seemed somewhat excited in front of the Raven's Wing he had dreamed of for so long. A wry smile that seemed a tiny bit different from usual flashed over Kurahashi's mouth.
"......That's not it. That Raven's Wing probably becomes - no, it 'might' become the existence that proves your personal hypothesis. The one about the Final Phase."
"Hoho, I've been found out."
Yashamaru admitted it readily. Creak. He turned his head to Kurahashi behind him as if leaning against the chair.
"Since I was born as an Onmyouji of this nation, isn't it necessary to want to meet the yaoyorozu no kami [5] ? I have to know who they are and 'how they exist' for this. Right?"
"......So? That Raven's Wing is the 'Phase Five shikigami' you speak of?"
"That......"
Yashamaru spoke vaguely and then his chair made noise as he lost his calm. This time, he leaned his body forward.
He put his elbows on his knees, saying:
"Honestly, that hypothesis is still mystery. This Raven's Wing is a shikigami and also a magical tool. Though this thing is entirely a servant shikigami, it's technically a manmade shikigami, you know? It was created solely as a 'magical tool' by Yakou's hands. Hence, although its form resembles the yatagarasu of legend, it's just the form that Yakou made it into."
"Is that so?"
"I'd say I am eighty or ninety percent confident. Even so, it becomes hard to deal with when you consider 'why did Yakou choose this form'...... Of course, you could also believe it was purely Yakou's fancy, but we also have to search for the origins of the magical energy that forms the core of this thing......"
Yashamaru inadvertently forgot about his explanation to Kurahashi, turning his eyes to the yatagarasu and muttering to himself. This was also familiar to Kurahashi, who had known him in his previous identity.
"Alright."
Kurahashi called Yashamaru back from his research.
"Let's put aside the Raven's Wing's true identity for now. I first want to organize the situation."
Yashamaru's expression seemed like that of a child who had been ordered to stop playing his video game, but he immediately rose while turning from his chair with a "Fine."
"The princess?"
"She returned to the hotel with Kumomaru."
"How is she?"
"Tsuchimikado Natsume's death seemed to be quite a large shock, and I heard she was distraught afterwards."
"What about now?"
"We kind of forced her to sleep. Though intense mood swings are the norm for shamans, the princess's power is a bit strong. It would be very troublesome if she called down a god. I might have accidentally gotten carried away in the past, so I'll have to be careful in the future."
Yashamaru replied to Kurahashi with an expression that didn't seem regretful at all. In comparison, Kurahashi's expression was unfazed as always.
Just a few words.
"......An unnecessary sacrifice."
His expression was still unchanged, but his voice was bitter.
Yashamaru shrugged.
"I think it's a bit dumb to unilaterally decide whether a sacrifice was necessary or unnecessary. The dead are the same, no matter what cause they died for."
Kurahashi glanced at Yashamaru's expression but didn't open his mouth again. He hadn't planned on speaking about their views of death in the first place.
"Yakou's reincarnation is the branch family's - the branch family's 'apparent' son, Tsuchimikado Harutora. That's not wrong."
"Indeed, you can believe that. Actually, I met him directly just now."
"What?"
Kurahashi narrowed his eyes and Yashamaru grinned. "Don't worry." He supplemented it with an explanation of the incident.
After hearing that, Kurahashi lowered his head to look at Yashamaru with a bitter face.
"......It's hard to say you've established a friendly relationship. Don't you think you were hasty?"
"I wanted to check the state of his awakening. Is the so-called reincarnation purely about the soul? Or does he inherit his abilities and memories from his previous life? If he inherits that, then to what degree? Depending on those, we may completely change how we deal with him later on. Right?"
"My position relative to Tsuchimikado Yakou won't change regardless of the nature of his reincarnation. That's different from you."
"Even so, the 'priorities' would probably change. After all, there are a lot of things to do."
"Even so, you were a little too provocative, just judging by what you said just now."
"Really? The main point is that it's fine if we just put a few fetters on him. It'll be a pain if we let him run in the opposite direction. If we do that much and sprinkle around a little bait, he won't freely run out of our hand even if we're not keeping watch over him, right? Well, it was a very bad impression, but that's not hard to change. The opponent's just a child, no matter what anyone says."
Yashamaru opened his hands exaggeratedly while asserting this with quite the frivolous tone.
Kurahashi scorned:
"Though he's a child, he's Yakou's reincarnation."
"Hey hey, Kurahashi, you haven't forgotten, right? Even Yakou was just a young man who died early."
Yashamaru spoke calmly and impertinently. But it was hard for his former colleague Kurahashi to view his words as rude.
The phone call came when the date was about to change.
The unlit, messy room was dimly illuminated by the light of the television. He was surprised after seeing who was calling. Kurahashi Genji. Seeing as that guy was contacting him personally, it was no ordinary situation.
He suspiciously picked up the phone. Through the voice, he confirmed that there was definitely no mistake, it was Kurahashi himself.
Moreover--
"Your seal is released. Come to the Agency building right away."
"......Right now?"
He checked the time again.
As an exorcist, it wasn't too strange to get an emergency dispatch in the dead of night. If something like a spiritual disaster terrorist attack happened again, it wouldn't even be strange for his seal to be removed.
But it was very abnormal for him to be called to the Onmyou Agency building and not the Exorcist Bureau.
"............"
The meaning of his silence seemed to reach the other side.
"It's undercover work. There's a possibility that a powerful Onmyouji is going to break into the Onmyou Agency. I want you to deal with him."
"Me?"
It was more and more suspicious. That kind of work belonged to the Mystical Investigators, and Kurahashi was currently in the position of Mystical Investigator Chief. He should be able to prepare sufficient manpower no matter how secret the operation was. He didn't need to take the trouble of contacting him himself.
Then, there was only other reason. A powerful target that he couldn't deal with without people at his level of power.
"......Who is it?"
"'Shadow'."
He couldn't help but straighten himself, the laziness he had been feeling until that moment instantly evaporated.
A joke - no, it couldn't be. It was the secret order of that Kurahashi Genji.
Kurahashi repeated his order.
"Independent Exorcist Kagami Reiji. I release your seal. Come to the Agency building immediately."
The savage smile of a hungry wolf emerged on Kagami's face in the unlit, messy room.
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