The village elder greeted Narachika with suspicion, looking at him up and down before begrudgingly allowing him inside. Narachika followed him inside and took a seat on one of the floor mats. The small house was cluttered with aging furniture and wooden chests that held clothes and personal effects. A few straw mats were rolled up in the corner. The house was drafty and probably unbearable in Izumo"s harsh winters. Narachika noted that though he was the head of the village, he lived a simple peasant"s life like that all viliagers. As Narachika looked around the room, the village elder ladled some water out of a bucket, poured it into a bowl and handed it to Narachika.
"Ah... Thank you. "
Narachika took the bowl with a smile and took a sip, feeling instantly cooled by the crisp spring water.
"What did you want to know?"
The elder was the oldest in the village, his thinning white hair and snow white beard belied a strong const.i.tution. Narachika asked the man"s age and was surprised to learn that the man was in fact younger than his father. Narachika thought of Seimei, over eighty years old this year and still going strong.
That kind of vigor was rare indeed, could it have been carried in his mother"s blood, the blood of a fox spirit? If it was true, then he too must carry the blood of the fox spirit. Narachika quickly waved away these thoughts and began to address the matter at hand.
(Trans-note: It"s rumored that Seimei was the son of a Fox spirit and a Human This is important to remember.)
"Do you know anything about the recent cases of people losing their souls and their memories that have occurred in the area?"
The elder frowned.
"It"s gone beyond that, everyone already knows the root of the problem."
He reached out a bony hand and gestured. "It"s because of the collapse of the shrine. The creature escaped because the seal that held it was damaged."
"Dammit, I told everyone to stay away....." the elder gestured with frustration.
Narachika was surprised at the concise answer. He had expected them to know little of the situation.
"Could you tell me more about the shrine? It would help inform my next steps." Narachika pressed forward.
..................
"Who are you?...." The old man narrowed his eyes.
"Im an Onmyouji from the Fujiwara court. Ive been summoned from the capital by local officials to look into resolving the strange occurrences at Izumo. "
...........
"Oh...ma...what? .....Are you a monk? "
"No, Im an Onmyouji....."
"That"s different from a priest..... right?"
"Yes, Im an Onmyouji."
"Is that different from a missionary? "
"Of course it is! .... It"s completely different.... It has nothing to do with missionary work. "
"Do you convert people?"
"No......."
A moment pa.s.sed as the elder carefully scrutinized Narachika.
"So what exactly can an Onmyouji do? "
"Well......In general, I can read the stars and constellations, forecast the weather, exorcise demons, find the root of demonic afflictions, decode and encode holy scriptures, make requests to major and minor G.o.ds, and handle a lot of things in numerous different areas. This time around, I guess I will be repelling demons."
"Okay, look...... I really don"t care what you do. As long as you can solve the problem. That"s all I"m interested in. "
Narachika looked somewhat annoyed.
"Okay..... I"ll do my best."
...............................
"So it"s the shrine right? And the monster sealed inside? I would really appreciate any details you can offer about both."
The old man was silent for a moment, as he folded his hands and a distant look pa.s.sed over his gaze.
"I actually dont know very much about it."
"When I was very young, I was told by my grandfather never to approach the shrine, for the demon and his followers were sealed inside."
Who built the shrine? Who created the seal? No one had really given these things any consideration.
Narachika frowned, "The demon and his followers? ..... As in there"s more than one? "
"Im not sure. Grandfather never told me very much. He said that disaster would fall should the demon ever escape. The deaths and the afflictions began after the shrine was broken. The bodies that have bee found floating on the sea were all those of men. The villagers that have been falling under demonic afflictions were all women."
The old man sighed. "The real tragedy is that the people falling under these afflictions are not the old and crippled like me, but the vigorous and young. Children, mothers, fathers....etc..... Shame. How could the G.o.ds allow something like this to happen?" "Izumo is supposed to be the resting place of the G.o.ds. If the G.o.ds really exist, how could they stand by and do nothing? Are human lives meaningless to them?"
Narachika nodded at the old man"s words. If G.o.ds really exists, why would they turn a blind eye to these occurrences ?
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There was a crispness in the air, as the wind began to blow without any action from Taiin. The clouds too seem to flow, darting in the sky with urgency. Perhaps tomorrow will be clear?
Mizu, who looked younger than both Genbu and Taiin held on a little tighter to Masahiro"s hand. Musoru only stood by silently. He looked about Taiin"s age, perhaps seven or eight or so.
Masahiro remembered that Lord Hidari"s son was nine, but compared to him, Musoru was much more mature and compa.s.sionate.
The young master had a brother and sister as well. What led to these differences? "Different environments, probably." Masahiro muttered to himself.
(Trans-note: I have no idea what he"s referring to here. I cant tell from the kanji what the j.a.panese names are supposed to be. It"s possible that he"s referring to the occurrences of one of many many side stories that SO has.)
Musoru glanced sidelong at his mutterings before pointing ahead of him at a pile of rubble in the distance. "Look, there"s the shrine. It"s broken, but the stones are still there."
Masahiro decided to approached the shrine alone. Though he had lost his "sight" he could still feel the air for signs of trouble. Still, any clue he can find from the remains of the shrine would be helpful. Though he was troubled by his blindness, Rikugou and Taiin"s presence calmed him a little. If anything happened, they could handle it.
"Mister.... are you going over there? .... Should we....um....uh...." Mizu looked full of worry as he clutched Masahiro"s hand.
Masahiro looked down and patted his head.
"No, you two stay here. I"ll go on over and take a look."
"But it"s dangerous over there!.... What would we do if you became like mother?! " Mizu looked like he was about to cry.
"It"s okay." Masahiro comforted him. "I"ll just take one quick look, and I"ll be right back. You two can stay here and wait for me."
Masahiro asked Rikugou to remain with the children as he began to walk toward the ruins with Taiin.
______________________________________________________________
With every step forward, the air seemed to grow thick with a syrupy thickness that pressed into his chest and clung to his clothes. Masahiro felt as though he was trying to breathe sand and walk through water as the sticky air grew heavy with the scent of youkai A pervasive sickly sweetness of corruption and decay, mixed with a strange sharpness of malicious intent.
The shrine had collapse months ago, and Masahiro hadn"t expected the aura to remain so powerful here.
"The monster that was sealed here must have been very powerful. The one we saw yesterday was only a fraction of his strength."
Taiin pressed forth her aura and appeared in the air behind Masahiro as she observed the remnants of the shrine.