Tokyo Ravens

"I believe that the essence of sorcery is what are called "lies"."

"But isn"t "truth" sometimes more of a falsehood than lies?"

--Tsuchimikado Harutora

This occurred many nights earlier--

That altar was on the roof of a building.

Torii were erected on the four sides of a platform constructed from stone. The north torii was black, the east torii was blue, the south torii was red, and the west torii was white.

The platform had already been a.s.sembled on many pedestals, arrayed with a mult.i.tude of offerings. Silver coins, white silk, a paper horse, a paper soldier[1], full armor, bow and arrows, a long sword, cloisonné enamel[2], gold, a koto[3], a lute. There were also many vessels made from paper that were carefully infused with magical energy by the one managing the platform. Next to them were also ritual tools - a taiko drum, a conch[4], sleigh bells, a hei[5], incense, a hand bell, a vodoo doll[6] and charms.

The ritual had already been prepared properly. The wind gusted across the top of the roof. The sky slowly brightened and the all encompa.s.sing darkness was chased away by the sun. It would be dawn soon. The time when the sun and moon switched places was imminent.

There were five figures on the platform. In the center stood a boy wrapped in a black coat, his left eye covered with a cloth. The hem of his black coat was blown aflutter by the wind.

In front of the boy was a pedestal upon which laid a girl. It was as if she were sleeping, but the uniform on her body was soaked in blood. The wind gently brushed against the girl, and the pink ribbon tying the girl"s long black hair swayed softly with the wind.

Behind the boy and the girl were two figures watching everything. One was a woman with animalistic ears and a tail, and the other was a man with only one arm. The two stayed like this without saying anything, quietly waiting for the coming of that time.

The final person was a small girl who had prepared the ritual while waiting for them. Her expression was cold as she stared at the attentive boy.

The boy was looking around with his remaining right eye in order to check the altar. The girl waited for the boy to finish his inspection, then walked towards the boy, giving him a sheet of paper that had been folded multiple times. This was the script for the ritual oration.

The boy received the script and held it against his chest for a moment, closing his eye. After a while, he nodded to the girl. After the girl grabbed a hammer, she struck the taiko. Boom-- Boom-- Boom-- Boom-- Boom-- Boom--, she struck it six times. Then, she took the conch and blew it. The sound contained magical energy and it gradually permeated the dawn air, but the last note echoed throughout the area several times.

The two figures watching everything from behind turned their bodies slightly.

The black coat wrapped around the boy swelled as if it were breathing. The boy held the script before himself and loudly chanted the incantation.

"The Tsuchimikado Onmyoudou sect would like to address Taizan f.u.kun, the lord of the underworld--"

...That happened many nights ago.

The wheel of fate that transcended time accelerated.

The wind blowing towards the mountain woods intensified the chill of winter. The girl"s small body couldn"t help but shiver, so she brought the bamboo broom to her chest, rubbing her hands together. The mountaintop always felt the coming of winter earlier than at the foot of the mountain. The breath that came from her mouth instantly became faint white mist.

She cast her gaze above her, where the dark sky was covered everywhere by branches. The bright red leaves had begun to fade these few days. Ripened fruit occasionally left the tips of branches, dropping down freely. Thanks to that, she wouldn"t be able to sweep it clean no matter how she swept. "Hah--" With that sigh, the girl glared at the fallen maple leaves.

Not long afterwards.

"Akino! Are you still not done!?"

A roar came from a place very far away. The girl named Akino shouted "Yeah--" after she heard that, and in the next moment, the girl"s hair seemed to float upwards.

The girl hastily covered her head with her hands, and in exchange the broom fell to the ground. "Ah-- Ah--" She glanced at the fallen broom on the ground, and the ill-fitting gla.s.ses on her face also slid down without missing a beat. In the end, Akino quietly wailed "Uuu--" while holding her head with both hands and with her gla.s.ses askew. She turned to look in the direction of the roar.

Other than the reddened maple leaves, several ancient huge cedar trees towered around her. An old hall could be seen across the doorpost-like cedar trees. A Buddhist monk frowning as always walked from there, wearing a black priest"s robe over an antarvasa kasaya[7]. He was an overweight ajari[8] of this monastery.

"Ah, Priest Tadanori......"

"The others all finished already, you"re the only one always dilly-dallying."

"A-Ah...... Sorry......"

Akino thought of fleeing while apologizing in a stammer. Though she apologized, her voice was almost inaudible unless one listened closely.

Not knowing why, the monk frowned and glared at the girl with a frightening look. The monk complained to the girl with a resigned expression, but Akino"s eyes looked gingerly upward and the monk could only force himself to swallow all of his anger.

"......Anyway, hurry up and finish. We"re going to prepare lunch, so go help prepare the food!"

"O-Okay......"

Akino immediately replied and picked up her broom, adjusting her gla.s.ses at the same time. After Tadanori stared at the girl again as if exhorting her, he walked back into the hall.

Tadanori was the person in charge of the vihara[9] and was a man who liked to reprimand others, but right now he had become cautious. It wasn"t just him, all of the adults in this monastery were like that. It was a rare fortune when disagreements were settled without angers flaring.

Even with that said, nothing like that truly ever happened. Akino hastily swept all the leaves together into a basket. After throwing the leaves into the incinerator behind the monastery, she walked towards the storehouse to help prepare lunch. There was a monastery kitchen in this warehouse along with many rooms for monks. There were also kitchens set up in the wooden monk rooms.

Shouts sounded out the instant she entered.

"You"re slow! Akino! What were you doing!?"

"S-Sorry......"

"Akino, there"s not enough firewood!"

"O-Okay...... I"ll go get some now......"

Akino responded while sprinting to the right, carrying back the firewood stacked under the eaves of the building. Probably because gasoline was very precious, its usage was restricted. Hence, they basically used a wood-burning stove to cook food every day.

But their fire lighting method was very unique - it was very strange indeed.

The seniors of the vihara stood in front of the stove, forming hand seals towards it and chanting incantations with their eyes half-closed. Not long afterwards, the firewood inside ignited into flame.

This was magic.

Moreover, it was cla.s.sified as true first-cla.s.s magic under modern Onmyou law.

"Get the plates out now, Akino!"

"Okay......"

"Hurry up a bit......!? You, this again!"

"S......Sorry......"

Angry and impatient scolding lambasted the slow idiot. Akino tearfully picked up the pieces of a shattered plate. But she was still loudly scolded by her seniors after this. Akino hastily cried out while dealing with her task. The monastery"s diet ought to be vegetarian, but this wasn"t strictly followed. Poverty was one thing, but eating meat without concern was another thing. What they were roasting right now was the venison they had hunted several days earlier.

Akino"s stomach rumbled with hunger. The lid clattered and started to shake as if responding to her.

After finishing lunch and cleaning up a bit, Akino had a bit of free time until it was time to prepare the dinner that they called "slop". Akino surrept.i.tiously watched her seniors, taking a smaller fire-starter from the warehouse and some small sweet potatoes and walking to the temple in the dilapidated half of the monastery grounds.

Akino first dug a shallow hole in the ground. After putting the sweet potatoes in, she put fallen leaves on top, then lit them and covered them with ash. After checking that the leaves had ignited, she quietly sat at the base of a cedar tree that stood nearby.

Since it hadn"t rained recently, the leaves burned into ash very quickly. Akino watched the ash get blown away by the wind while quietly waiting for the sweet potatoes to finish roasting. It was because she would be scolded by Tadanori if he saw her in her hiding place secretly roasting and eating food that she had snuck away. Even if she were spotted by another senior, it would all be confiscated.

The monastery Akino lived at was called Seishuku Temple. It was a mountain monastery situated near the peak of a mountain, far away from civilization. Getting here was extremely difficult and it was like a place isolated from the outside world.

No, it wasn"t "like" that, it was intended to be secluded. Even the surroundings of the monastery actively hid their existence from the world. It was a place that had fallen behind the times. It was a different world from beyond the foot of the mountain, a true mountainous alternate world.

Akino was the youngest in this alternate world and also the weakest. She was always at the bottom of the hierarchy. Putting aside appearances for now, she was in a position where she was denied everything. Even in the lunch just earlier, none of the delicious venison had been shared with her. Even though she had low expectations, she had ended up crestfallen. So she had taken the opportunity she saw today to fill her growing appet.i.te.

The fire"s heat had already vanished. The cold air seemed to seep into her body bit by bit as she sat directly on the ground. But it was fortunate that it wasn"t windy. Akino wrapped her arms around her knees, curling into a small ball and quietly stared at the ash. Akino thought that if this way could make the sweet potatoes become a bit warmer and a bit more delicious, she didn"t mind waiting in the cold. Her heart was also a bit happy, as well as tense, from sneaking food. Actually, roasting sweet potatoes was the only thing Akino had felt to be fun these past few days.

"......Sweet potatoes~ Sweet potatoes~ Are you done yet? Delicious~ Hot~ Piping......"

It was unclear whether her timing was correct, but whether they were done or not completely relied on Akino"s own intuition.

"They"re almost done", "Ah, I"ll wait a bit more."

Right as Akino leisurely talked to herself.

"Hey, Akino!"

A voice suddenly barked out from behind her and Akino went speechless out of fright. She held her knees, and at the same time, her body went stiff. Simultaneously, above her head - the area at the top, where there ought to have been nothing at all - a "disturbance" occurred, a phenomenon that was called lag. Then, the things hidden there materialized and revealed themselves.

Two long ears protruded slightly. They were two rabbit ears, covered in whitish-silver fur. It wasn"t just ears. A short round tail also appeared on her bottom that sat on the ground. It was a rabbit tail, just like her ears.

The wide-eyed Akino was unable to move, and only her ears swiveled in all directions in a panic. "Haha." A dry laugh sounded out after Akino was seen like that. After hearing this, her tension suddenly vanished and she relaxed, the ears on her head collapsing as if they had run out of energy.

"Sen-jiichan[10]......"

She looked back with an unhappy expression as an old man walked out from among the cedar trees smiling. His white hair hung in a vertical bun, and when taken together with his white beard, one knew he was an elderly man at a glance. Strangely, he wore a worn-out white coat, patched-up hakama and an eye-catching linen gown. But inexplicably, he looked unreliable at first glance, not just from his lazy appearance. A teasing smile surfaced on his wrinkle-filled face as he revealed a childish, cutesy disposition.

"Don"t be so surprised, Akino. You haven"t had enough practice."

"It was Sen-jiichan who scared me~ Especially since you even changed your voice......"

"What do you think I am, to be so scared of me? What are those long ears for?"

"I-I don"t have them because I like them......"

"Haha, you probably got happy from seeing the sweet potatoes. Tadanori-san will notice you sooner or later if you"re like that. He"s been in an irritable mood recently, so you"ll definitely get a serious scolding if you get caught."

Sen laughed loudly, but Akino frowned "Uu--", the ears on her head crooking into "く" characters. Actually, since Sen had noticed her, she couldn"t a.s.sert that Tadanori hadn"t.

"Aren"t they valuable ears? You always hide them, you should use them if they"re effective."

"T-That"s none of Sen-jiichan"s business."

Akino pouted her cheeks, tightly hugging her knees and curling into a ball. But she couldn"t conceal her ears now.

Akino was one of those who were called "possessed".

It seemed that they were also called "living spirits" recently. The so-called "living spirits" originally referred to people who had been possessed by "oni" and who would therefore become oni. But in modern times, when it was believed that oni were a kind of spirit, it seemed that people possessed by spirits other than oni were also collectively called "living spirits". In that sense, living spirits weren"t any rare occurrence in this Seishuku Temple, at least putting aside how normal society was for now. Though it couldn"t be said that there were many either, inugami-possessed or fox spirit-possessed people often came through here[11].

But unfortunately, Akino wasn"t an ordinary living spirit.

She was the living spirit of a "rabbit" not often seen in this world.

"No matter how much you want to hide it, it looks like they"ll pop out every time you"re spooked. It"s like a kitsune trying to hide its tail with poor transformation ability."

"You don"t need to worry about that. Though I"m still unskilled now, I"ll be able to hide them well as long as I practice more."

"No matter how well you hide them, everyone"s going to know about your ears soon enough."

"That doesn"t matter. I want to hide them."

Akino, in a bad mood, became a bit mouthy.

Those long rabbit ears were the root of Akino"s inferiority complex.

She didn"t know or want to know what other people thought, but to Akino, having "these kinds of things" bouncing up and down on her head only felt upsetting and truly useless.

There were people who called her bunny girl, and there were people who avoided and disliked her.

More importantly, Akino herself definitely didn"t have the talent to become anything great - rather, since she was an idiot and because of the counterproductive attention of her rare rabbit living spirit, she had ended up being treated as an idiot and was ordered around.

Other people also treated her like an exotic animal.

To Akino, these hateful ears were the symbol of her being treated as a useless object.

"I myself think they"re a pair of pretty cute ears."

"That...... isn"t true."

Akino curled into a ball while deliberately denying his compliment.

But while she slowly replyed, the tips of her ears happily jumped up. Another reason Akino always disliked showing her ears was that they would fully express her hidden feelings. But the fact that Akino didn"t hide her ears in front of Sen nonetheless was proof of how close Akino was with Sen.

The way Sen teased Akino"s rabbit ears without reservations wasn"t like the feeling of how other people talked about them with contempt and malice.

In contrast, Sen treated the useless Akino like his granddaughter. Sen was the only person Akino could relax around in the monastery.

Akino"s long ears shook as she asked Sen: "Sen-jiichan, are you watering again?"

"Yeah, that"s right." Sen replied while turning to face the temple next to them.

The temple was almost completely dilapidated. Its walls and roof were covered in holes, and also, it was completely filled with weeds as high as the floor. It seemed it had been called the Tachibana Hall[12] and was still s.p.a.cious as a broken-down room. Since there was no one else who used it, Sen had brought in pots with saplings planted in them and carefully raised them by himself.

Akino was also often nearby killing time. In any case, she could feel the most at ease in the place that Sen often was in.

"Is your work going okay?"

"I finished it a long time ago."

"Aahhh...... "Unwittingly saying" You...... I heard that Sen-jiichan"s always like that. How can you finish it so easily?"

"I"m me, you know. I"ve lived several times as long as you have. Finishing that level of work quickly is natural."

Sen was a male servant in the Seishuku Temple and responsible for doing the monastery"s ch.o.r.es, just like how Akino was in the vihara. Even though he did work that was difficult for his aged body, this kindly old man was always floaty and leisurely. Akino couldn"t help but think that he was used to such things. However, to Akino, she couldn"t imagine getting accustomed to these kinds of things at all.

"It feels like I could do a lot of things if I were able to finish a bit sooner......"

She tried quietly murmuring words that didn"t sound realistic at all.

Akino looked twelve or thirteen, but even she didn"t know her true age.

She had lived at the Seishuku Temple since as far back as she could remember, and other than going to the foot of the mountain as an envoy, she never went anywhere else. She lived this uninteresting life every day along with the changing of seasons. Even she didn"t know how much she had grown during this time. She couldn"t imagine that there would be any change if she tried doing a bit more.

But--

"Well...... will this place still exist when that time comes?"

Sen smiled while speaking in an uncharacteristically clear voice. The tips of Akino"s ears slightly twitched in response, and she looked up at Sen above her head with an "Eh--".

"Sen-jiichan? What does that mean......"

"Hey, Akino."

"Yeah?"

"Are the sweet potatoes done?"

"Sweet potatoes? ...Ahh!?"

She had completely forgotten. She grabbed her broom in a panic, digging the sweet potatoes out of the ash. Just like she had antic.i.p.ated, their outer skin had been baked black. Akino wailed while Sen laughed "haha--".

"Well, alright, I"ll be going, the food will be gone soon......"

After saying this, Sen walked into the Tachibana Hall to water the saplings.

After that, Akino got rid of the outer half of the roasted sweet potatoes and only managed to eat the center portions. But she was very fortunate as the un-burnt parts were roasted very well, Akino managed to console herself.

After she destroyed and concealed the evidence of her sneaking food, she strolled around appropriately - cautiously hiding her ears - and then returned to the warehouse.

Preparation for dinner would start soon, before twilight.

Dinner was called "slop" in the monastery because only two meals were served at the monastery, breakfast and lunch. They didn"t eat food at dinner, but ate "slop" instead. Of course, in Seishuku Temple where even meat was scarce, it was just a formalized name. Akino was scolded by her seniors again and scampered around with a tearful expression while preparing for dinner.

Partway through, there wasn"t enough firewood again, and she went outside to bring some in.

Then, when Akino was picking up the firewood stacked under the eave with an "uurgh", she heard Tadanori"s voice.

"......You"re so impatient again. The ident.i.ty...... Yeah, if it"s there......"

She looked over. He had a sad expression on his face and held a cell phone with one hand while walking from the temple.

"......Here already? Understood. For now, I"ll send people over. Will you be here tomorrow? ...... Yeah...... Nn......"

He replied several times over the phone and then turned off the phone after the conversation ended. Akino quietly stared at Tadanori. Rather than being interested in the contents of the conversation, she was more interested in how Tadanori had a phone.

Because of the work in the monastery, there was cell phone reception deep in the mountain, and there were also cell phones. But Akino naturally didn"t have one, and she hadn"t even touched one. A cell phone was one of the things Akino wanted the most.

After Tadanori noticed Akino staring wordlessly at him, he looked over. In order to avoid being viewed as being lazy, Akino hastily turned away, carrying the firewood and walking away.

But Tadanori called out to Akino as she turned her back and prepared to leave.

"Akino--"

"Y-Yes? I-I wasn"t slacking. I"m seriously preparing for dinner......"

"Yeah. That"s enough of that. I just wanted to ask you to be an envoy."

"An envoy?"

"Yes. Go to the Front Hall right now for me."

Upon hearing that, Akino inadvertently revealed the ears she had originally hidden - though she was surprised, there was some joy in that.

Just like its name, the Front Hall was outside the monastery grounds - it was a Seishuku Temple hall erected in an area at the foot of the mountain.

It had been remodeled long before Akino had been born, and it had been used by the town as a storehouse to store purchased materials up to now. To Akino, who could almost never go out, that place was like a connection to the outside world.

"Go down the mountain before it gets dark, if you can. It would be best to come back tomorrow, so hurry up and go."

Akino"s heart beat even faster when she heard that she could stay overnight. She could spread her wings and soar high tonight - and play to her heart"s content. No matter what, there were magazines from the outside at the Front Hall along with televisions. Though there were magazines, televisions, and internet-enabled computers in the monastery, Akino couldn"t monopolize any of them. Her small freedom in this moment was like a momentary breather that she felt ecstatic about.

Then,

"I-If it"s right now, then what about dinner......?"

"Go find some afterwards. There"s fast food."

She couldn"t help but feel amazed. She almost threw down the firewood to raise her arms and cheered. She could eat cup noodles there. To Akino, this was a blessing that she hadn"t had in a year. Were the thoughts in her mind reflected on her face? Tadanori"s face became overcast. Akino hastily put away her childish expression.

Only then did she notice that she hadn"t heard something important.

She carried the firewood back while asking.

"Then, Priest Tadanori? What exactly am I an envoy for?"

"Haven"t you heard? I"m going to contact Kengyou-sama now. It seems like there will be a new disciple. It seems that the person is already at the foot of the mountain."

Just then, there was a bit of a "disturbance" above her head, and Akino hastily pressed down on her head. The eyes behind her gla.s.ses became wide and round.

"He[13] has to leave soon. So tomorrow, you"ll bring that person to the monastery in my stead, alright?"

Tadanori frowned and Akino returned to the temple with him. After giving Akino the key to the Front Hall, he returned to his work. On the other hand, Akino, who was left behind, was still in a state of shock after accepting the key.

Tadanori said to bring the disciple to the monastery.

Anyway, there would be a new person at the monastery.

Antic.i.p.ation and uneasy emotions churned in her heart. It had already been several years since a newcomer. What kind of person would it be? A male? A female? How old? Would it be a gentle person or a bad-hearted individual? Would that person mock Akino if he or she saw her rabbit ears?

"......Ah, hmm? Wait! If that person"s already at the foot, that means......"

"Living at the Front Hall and bringing him or her tomorrow" meant that Akino would have to stay together with the newcomer tonight.

Suddenly, the uneasy feeling rapidly swelled in comparison to her antic.i.p.ation. It would be fine if he or she was someone easy to talk to, but if not, then she might be too nervous to sleep. What should she do!?

...Akino, whose sorrow seemed to have all gathered on her face, heard the caw of a crow from the distance as she left alone. The sky was already completely tinted with the sunset glow, and the sun gradually sank. Though Akino had confidence in her speed, it was overly dangerous to walk the mountain path at night. So she had to hurry down the mountain before the sun set completely.

She hastily returned to the warehouse, explaining the situation to her seniors.

Originally, it had been a busy time, but Akino wanted to leave, so her seniors were extremely sarcastic with Akino, but it couldn"t be delayed since it was a mission from above. Akino constantly apologized and then left the warehouse in a hurry.

The red-tinted maple leaves swayed with the wind and then quietly fell.

Since it had been a long time since she had the opportunity to come out and walk, the sky was black and the surroundings had been shrouded in darkness by the time Akino finally walked down the mountain.

She went through the mountain woods via terraced fields on the mountain"s slope. Lights from homes of farming families were spa.r.s.ely dotted through the vast depths of the gorge.

Then, the hills that surrounded this area spread out above her head just as it turned to night. The clouds in the sky were unusually eye-catching, and she could feel a heavy atmosphere. It wasn"t so much from being immersed in the faint moonlight scattered from between the clouds but rather from the feeling that it gave the deep blue sky a different color. The clouds that floated from one side of the moon to another changed their shapes bit by bit as they slowly flowed.

Akino normally lived surrounded by a tall cedar forest. In that world, Akino would occasionally come to an empty, open place and be overwhelmed by the feeling of vastness upon seeing the sky. Like a rabbit that crawled out from under the ground. She originally thought of herself as extremely miniscule, even petty, an existence like a pebble or a weed.

But on the other hand, she suddenly thought of running to some corner below that sky and suddenly had an inexplicable feeling.

Even if she didn"t know where to go - even if she could just go to some place she imagined, her heart couldn"t stop beating and she had thoughts of single-mindedly running forward. The others in the monastery probably also held the same feelings.

Akino hadn"t left the mountain.

Even Akino knew of the outside world. She had only received the most basic teachings from the adults in the monastery. Through magazines, television, internet - of course, it wasn"t complete - she had understood normal societal practices about the world outside the mountain.

But that was just knowledge, and it was the knowledge about another world. Though she wanted to go sometime, it was a foreign world after all.

Akino was a foreign body herself, as she had experienced personally all this time. Though living spirits were very valuable, it was just a rabbit living spirit. How many people who had lived in such an enclosed place since as far back as they could remember were here in j.a.pan today? Though the monastery was abnormal to the outside world, it was everything to her.

But why did she really want to run out and see the scenery across from the monastery?

Of course, her slow self definitely couldn"t give an answer to such a thing no matter how she thought.

"......Ah, I"m hungry."

It would already be time to eat dinner at the monastery. Akino clutched the key, continuing towards the Front Hall.

The front Hall was the junction between Seishuku Temple and the county road, situated in the center of a patch of narrow, flat land.

Even though it was called a hall, it looked like an old warehouse from the outside. Normally there was just an automatic defensive barrier around it, but today the outside light by the entrance for imported goods was lit, revealing a small orange-colored light.

There were two figures beneath that light.

One was a familiar face, and the other was an unfamiliar face. Akino"s heartbeat beat violently.

"Ah, aren"t you the rabbit? You were the messenger?"

"P-Priest Kengyou!? Please don"t call me that! I"ve always told you!"

"Well, even with your hips and chest, you look like a rabbit. You"ve probably grown since then, right? Hmm?"

"T-T-That......"

What was he saying so suddenly in front of a newcomer!? Akino blushed and stared at the suit-wearing man before her - Priest Kengyou.

Though Kengyou was an ajari of Seishuku Temple, he didn"t wear priest clothes nor was his head shaven bald. He was always working outside the monastery and was good in various aspects.

This women-loving depraved monk would be evaluated very badly in several aspects as a disciple. Akino seemed to still be outside Kengyou"s strike range, so she was accustomed to this banter.

"Anyway, did you hear about everything? This person is someone who hopes to enter the monastery, which we haven"t had one of for many years."

Kengyou lightly stroked his chin, speaking with an arrogant tone. Before Akino readied herself to face him again, the figure waiting behind him stepped out from Kengyou"s side.

It was a girl.

And she was very young. But she was older than Akino. Perhaps she was already a high school student. Her long black hair reflected her snow-white skin. She had a slender body and a beautiful figure. As someone of the same gender, Akino was also taken aback. This was an outstandingly beautiful girl in both features and figure.

But she gave off a very cold impression.

Was it the moonlight she was immersed in from above her head? She couldn"t see anything resembling like or dislike in her eyes that stared at Akino. That expression too, as calm and unruffled as the surface of a lake. She gave off more of a calm, thorough impression than an indifferent one. She was more hardened and solitary than dispa.s.sionate.

She wore a short coat, shorts, and long stockings. She wore fingerless gloves and somewhat short boots on her feet. A handbag in a camouflage pattern was slung over her shoulder. Rather than being boyish, it was more like she was dressed completely for efficiency and without embellishment. So, that discrepancy was clearly evident as if it dominated the girl"s characteristics.

But there were exceptions in that utilitarian outfit.

There was a pink ribbon tying the girl"s long black hair.

"......Um......"

Just as Akino was about to greet her, she immediately noticed that she didn"t know what to say.

She judged her to be the type that wasn"t very easy to talk to and even felt scared.

But though she wasn"t sure of the reasons, she felt a strange sense of wrongness. Other people might not feel anything. However, there was something palpable, gloomy, and wrong - something ominous.

Even so, she couldn"t move her gaze away from her.

The girl also wordlessly looked back at Akino, who couldn"t say anything and just stared intently at her. Then, the aroma of the mountain soil, vegetation, and the like mixed together and a faint scent surfaced to float through the surroundings.

It was the scent of incense she had never smelled.

Then,

"...Nice to meet you, I"m Hokuto."

The girl opened her mouth.

Flat words, but a pure voice.

"A-Ah, yes! I-I"m, um, uh, Akino, so......!?"

She suddenly became tense and tongue-tied. This was definitely a very bad impression. With the teasing words Kengyou had just said, this was the worst first impression. Maybe she was already being treated like an idiot by the girl who still didn"t make any particular reactions.

Kengyou was rather unconcerned about the red-faced Akino, remarking with a disorganized att.i.tude.

"Then, that"s done, right? Akino, I"ll be leaving, so I"ll leave everything else to you."

"Eh? Y-You"re already leaving?"

"You got here too late, I already finished everything. I have to return to the town today."

Kengyou checked his watch while speaking without politeness, but Akino was quickly overwhelmed by panic.

"But, you didn"t really introduce us......"

"Just do whatever you like over the evening. Come to think of it, I"m in a bit of a hurry, so I don"t have time to keep talking."

Kengyou shot a sideways glance at the girl with a cold gaze, saying that. The girl was still responseless.

Akino"s stomach had already started hurting.

"Then see you later. Don"t do anything troublesome."

Kengyou selfishly left those words, explained nothing further, and left. Just like that, he walked towards the car stopped on the county road. Akino seemed driven into the corner and stared at the girl before her as Kengyou left behind their backs.

Then,

"Ah, right."

Unexpectedly, Kengyou stopped and turned back.

"Akino, Hokuto, you guys will get along in the monastery, right? Since the two of you are comrades with the same nature."

"Eh? Wh-What does that mean?"

Kengyou smiled lightly at Akino who asked back. It was the smile she often saw in the monastery from her seniors and ajari. A smile that mocked a weakling, an expression that mocked someone in the last place.

"Because you"re both valuable living spirits, so practice as much as possible and do your best working for the monastery."

Maybe she wouldn"t be able to sleep that night.

In contrast to that pessimism, Akino ate three cups of cup ramen for dinner and slept soundly clutching her stomach until dawn. Right at nine o"clock, the newcomer girl - Hokuto, who gradually awoke - got up. People in the monastery got up early. Disciples usually got up at four. If they slept in, there were punishments.

Tadanori hadn"t mentioned a deadline for bringing Hokuto up the mountain, but she would definitely be scolded if she didn"t return before lunch. After Akino and Hokuto busied themselves eating breakfast, they departed from the Front Hall.

Stones were piled into a staircase shape, up the path continuing to the Seishuku Temple. Lush cedar forests grew all around them. Tall, st.u.r.dy, moss-covered cedar trees extended from the dense gra.s.s on the ground to the sky without limit, like pillars supporting the sky. The path stretched endlessly upwards between those cedar trees.

The mountainside was very tranquil. The only sounds they could hear were the sounds of their own footsteps and breathing. Sometimes the chirps of mountainside birds would reach them, and the echoing of the sounds seemed to add contrast to the stillness of the forest.

Akino who walked ahead climbed the mountain path while often looking behind her.

Aside from Akino who had grown up on the mountain, the mountain path would definitely be exhausting for someone not used to it - especially for a delicate female. But Hokuto basically had no issue as she carried the seemingly very heavy bag, indifferently following behind her. She didn"t seem worried about running out of breath at all. Though it wasn"t visible, it seemed that she was actually quite tough.

In that case, the next problem was the silence between the two.

Hokuto was a reticent girl.

They had watched television and eaten together last night, but Hokuto hadn"t opened her mouth to speak at all while there. At least reply to me if I talk. That was the minimum standard necessary to be tolerable. Thanks to this, she hadn"t properly introduced herself from last night until now. Even she felt embarra.s.sed.

But even so, she knew that Hokuto wasn"t as indifferent a person as the impression she gave out at first. She would actively respond if she told her something, and she was very obedient to Akino"s complex instructions without a bit of displeasure on her face. Also, last night she had let Akino choose the television channels and the flavor of cup ramen that she liked from the very start. There had only been one sofa, and Akino had invited her to sit, but she firmly refused and let Akino sit there. She hadn"t been mad or anxious when she overslept today either, elegantly making the bed. She was beautiful and elegant, simply an angel to Akino.

But when Hokuto didn"t express her emotions, she didn"t know what she was thinking about, and that was the truth. Also, the hateful feeling of wrongness she had felt when they first met each other hadn"t gone away.

If they went forward to the monastery like this, Hokuto would become a member of the disciples. The male seniors would definitely be head over heels to please her because she was such a beautiful woman. In that case, Akino would definitely be asked to do many, many things for them to get close to Hokuto.

Since she didn"t know anything at all right now, she might not treat Akino well after learning Akino"s position in the monastery, even though she treated Akino respectfully right now. She would very quickly become like everyone else and would definitely treat Akino high-handedly...... Akino thought of that kind of premonition.

...Hmm?

During that, she felt that something was wrong.

It wasn"t any very substantial reason, it was just that she couldn"t imagine that natural future scene occurring with Hokuto. Perhaps it was because Hokuto was different from the other disciples in the monastery. Because the atmosphere entwined around her was too incongruous, she couldn"t imagine the scene of her being tainted by the atmosphere of her seniors.

Of course, it might be because Akino"s imagination was insufficient.

Akino glanced at the silently climbing Hokuto a few times out of the corner of her eye.

Then,

"...We didn"t really talk yesterday."

Suddenly, Hokuto opened her mouth. Akino stopped in surprise, then instinctively covered her head with her hands.

...O-Oh no!?

Was she doomed for stopping? Akino gingerly looked back.

But Hokuto stared over dumbstruck, blinking as if a bit shocked.

It seemed that she was taken aback by her covering her head right as she was going to speak. She was probably tired and had accidentally shown her idiot attributes.

"What"s wrong? Are you alright?"

"I-It"s nothing! I"m completely fine!"

After Akino replied with a blush, Hokuto laughed quietly while wondering.

A bitter laugh. But it wasn"t a sarcastic bitter laugh like the people in the monastery. It was the first time she had seen Hokuto"s sincere expression.

Akino coughed dryly to urge herself on.

"U-Um, Hokuto-san......?"

"You can just call me Hokuto. I said that yesterday too, since I"m a newcomer."

"Ah, but, you"re older than me, and I"m not used to calling people by their name directly......"

Akino still hadn"t made a friend that she could call directly by their name. She saw Hokuto get confused, but Hokuto didn"t press the matter, smiling at Akino again instead.

"I didn"t think there would be any young people like you here."

Hokuto spoke in a calm tone.

"But it"s natural if you think about it. Since not everyone in this dark temple came here of their own will."

Hokuto"s gaze didn"t meet Akino as she said this, but instead looked in the direction of the mountain road behind her.

Akino rarely met true adults who came from outside, but they had treated Akino with this kind of att.i.tude when she had been a child. It was pathetic as her senior in the monastery, but Hokuto was more adult-like. But even so, it made her happy that she was able to sincerely converse even if she treated Akino like a child.

But.

"Dark temple?"

"Eh, uhh, sorry. That way of putting it is very rude, right?"

"V-Very rude? ......You mean Seishuku Temple?"

"You don"t know?"

Hokuto asked back as if very surprised, and Akino automatically apologized "Sorry, sorry......"

"Since I still haven"t left Seishuku Temple."

"Eh? Then Akino-san was born in the monastery?"

"Though I wasn"t born in the monastery, I was raised there as a baby...... Also, u-um, don"t call me "san", it"s a bit embarra.s.sing."

"Dark temple" was probably Seishuku Temple"s nickname outside. It was her first time hearing it.

She felt like it was an evil name. Well, if she tried thinking about it, there would obviously be many similarities.

"Then Akino-chan always lived in Seishuku Temple, huh."

"D-Don"t call me "chan" either, you can just call me Akino directly."

"Is that so? Then please call me Hokuto as well."

"Eh? Y-Yeah...... Okay......"

Akino managed to reply and Hokuto smiled.

Her att.i.tude was less estranged compared to when they had first met yesterday. Probably even Hokuto had been a bit guarded. That cold atmosphere had been a manifestation of that. But if what Akino feared showed some signs of abating, might the reason be that she had slept in this morning?

A mountain bird cried out from somewhere.

The refreshing wind blew - the scent of incense she had smelled yesterday wafted lightly from Hokuto. It wasn"t a bad scent. Living in the monastery, she had long since gotten used to smells of incenses. But the scent from Hokuto"s body was more like a subtle hint of incense than a scent that Akino knew.

The two of them started walking to the monastery again.

"Akino, do you have any idea what they do in the monastery? ...No, do you know?"

"I know. Um...... the monastery people all practice magic."

Since she was going to Seishuku Temple, Hokuto ought to know this much. Even so, Akino truthfully explained to her.

Because of the government, magic had begun to be widely used. Supposedly, half a century ago, on the eve of the Pacific War, the various magics pa.s.sed down since ancient times had been a.n.a.lysed one by one and then added into an overall system that further developed it.

Contemporary magic was managed by a national organization - the Onmyou Agency. The magic that the Onmyou Agency recognized as having real effects was named "First-Cla.s.s Magic", and one had to obtain qualifications set by Onmyou law to use "First-Cla.s.s Magic".

"The current mainstream magic can barely be called Onmyoudou. Actually, magic from other systems have all been added into it. Like Vajrayana, Shintoism, Shugendo, and other types...... Hmm? Then in that case, why is it called "General Onmyoudou"?"

"Because the great man who added those other magics and established the foundations of modern magic wasn"t a monk or a Shintoist, but rather, an Onmyouji."

"Ah, you know! He was the pract.i.tioner in the military during wartime. What was he called? I seem to remember that he was called......"

She felt like it had been a slightly unusual name having to do with light[14]. Probing the depths of her memory, Akino pondered baselessly with a "hmm".

Then,

"......Yakou."

"Eh?"

"......He was called Tsuchimikado Yakou."

"Ah, right! That was his name."

Hokuto seemed to have detailed knowledge about this aspect. Every time she said a word, she seemed to be reducing her prestige as a monastery senior. She felt ashamed.

...Ah, but......

"Right. Tsuchimikado Yakou called himself a terrorist."

The instant Akino accidentally whispered this, she noticed Hokuto shiver slightly. Noticing this, Akino turned to Hokuto.

"Hmm? Hokuto-san - no, Hokuto - you didn"t know? This time last year...... Hmm, I think it was in the summer? That Tsuchimikado Yakou"s reincarnation went around committing crimes everywhere."

This was news that even she knew. Akino tried asking, feeling surprised.

Hokuto paused slightly before her reply.

"......I know."

"Oh. So you did know. Well, he"s very famous in the magic community. I heard there was an arrest warrant issued by the nation."

Hokuto didn"t respond to Akino"s words, her expression almost frozen. But Akino didn"t notice. Her naive mood had become good upon finding out a common topic.

"That reincarnation often becomes a topic in our monastery, you know? Especially because, well, isn"t the monastery an extremely serious place that practices magic? That kind of topic spreads very easily......"

Akino glanced at Hokuto"s appearance to be a bit prudent. Even so, she didn"t need to worry. Hokuto"s face revealed that she already had an understanding regarding "Seishuku Temple"s matters".

"Speaking of hiding pract.i.tioners, do they come here because there are two important pract.i.tioners gathered together in the monastery?"[15]

Akino smiled briefly towards Hokuto"s calm tone of confirmation, replying with a "haha".

"It seems like it. Though I don"t know too much about the hiding or the two professionals......"

Right now, magic was legally regulated by Onmyou law, and most pract.i.tioners were managed by the Onmyou Agency.

But not all of them.

The first magics and the history of pract.i.tioners was even more ancient than the history of Onmyou law and the Onmyou Agency. It was baseless to say that it had a grasp on those magics and pract.i.tioners decades after the war. More importantly, there was also quite a bit of darkness concealed behind magic. What the public authorities dictated didn"t seep into all groups of people that easily.

So the Onmyou Agency"s scope of management couldn"t reach the "depths" of the magic community that formed various different networks, just the so-called "surface". Seishuku Temple that was known as the dark temple was one of the representative hubs of these networks.

Information, techniques, and talented people who never appeared on the "surface" gathered here.

For example, Hokuto, who currently wanted to enter the monastery, was quite the talented person.

"Hokuto-san, were you introduced by a branch monastery?"

"......Uh. Well."

"It"s very strange recently, but it seems like there were a lot of those people before, right? Seishuku Temple"s branch monasteries are all over the nation. I heard that it was to increase the spreading of techniques or something like that...... A lot of people with various talents come to visit the monastery......"

Akino explained to Hokuto while unintentionally becoming ambiguous.

There were various people who aimed to become pract.i.tioners, but they had something in common. That was the "spirit-sensing ability". To a user of modern magic, it was the talent and ability to "see" aura.

Everyone carried aura on their body, and everyone possessed spiritual power, but there were very few people who could feel aura and spiritual power. But magic was based on techniques that controlled spiritual power, so thinking of becoming a pract.i.tioner - becoming one of the extreme few who could use first-cla.s.s magic - was impossible without that ability.

But because the people who possessed such an ability were few, there were quite a few examples of those who were respected by others at the same time as they were abhorred and disgusted.

It was human nature to be wary of people different from oneself and treat them differently. Nowadays, information regarding magic had spread to the streets and could be picked up by normal people. But even so, people who possessed an abnormal ability - who had "superpowers" - received critical gazes from those around them. Especially in an environment that lacked an understanding of magic, it was very difficult for people possessing the spirit-seeing ability to live an ordinary life. So if the ancient magic-related portion of the spiritual-disaster-p.r.o.ne Tokyo were taken out of the picture, society"s level of understanding definitely wouldn"t be very high. Even if they tried to coexist, there would be many people who would end up meeting misfortune.

Places like the Seishuku Temple or its branch monasteries dealt with those circ.u.mstances.

The abnormals that society didn"t accept would be taken into the monastery, which would train them into mature pract.i.tioners.

The so-called "disciples" were the immature pract.i.tioners gathered in the monastery.

"......It"s very rare. Because there"s no where else to go."

There were many people with bad hearts among the "disciples" in the monastery. Twisted people, people who got angry easily, people who overly disdained others......

But they were also young people who had grown up in unfortunate environments, people with nowhere to go other than the monastery.

Akino was no counterexample. She had been abandoned in the monastery and had lived there since she had been a baby. It would definitely be quite disheartening if a baby grew rabbit ears. There was no helping it that her parents had given up and entrusted her to the dark temple that was very good at dealing with such things. Rather, it was fortunate that she had been blessed with being able to live at the monastery after being born - it was because she didn"t know her parents that she didn"t feel anything like resentment or anger towards them. She felt like things were better off this way.

"Ah, but, I actually have relatives in Tokyo, you know? Though I can"t meet them. But they"re some famous family that has to do with magic for generations...... If I do my best practicing, I might be able to live with my relatives in Tokyo someday."

Of course, Akino completely understood that such a thing was impossible. An old-timer at the monastery - Sen - had told her that she had relatives in Tokyo. She had believed him very simply when she had heard as a child, and though she still couldn"t do anything even after she heard it, she ought to thank him.

Hokuto definitely had similar situations.

......Ah.

Then, when she thought of that, Akino stopped. She thought of what Kengyou had said when they parted yesterday.

"Um, Hokuto-s-- No, Hokuto?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask something? Um, yesterday, what Priest Kengyou said......"

Hokuto seemed to realize immediately after she tactfully opened her mouth.

"About the valuable living spirit?"

Hokuto replied straightforwardly to Akino, but her expression was very complex. As expected, it had been impolite.

"U-Um!?" Akino shrank back in shame.

But Hokuto wasn"t concerned.

"Now that you mention it, Akino"s also a living spirit. I"m a water dragon living spirit."

"Water dragon?"

"Yeah."

That was indeed quite valuable. At least Akino hadn"t heard of such until now.

The so-called water dragons were a type of water spirit. Though they were a sub-type of dragons, they were treated as being in the dragon family.[16] They looked similar to snakes, but she seemed to remember that they had horns, hands, and feet. In any case, there were extremely few people who had ever seen a water dragon.

...Ah, right......

The incongruous feeling Akino had felt from Hokuto"s body might have been because of that water dragon living spirit. In any case, Akino didn"t even know what a so-called water dragon was. If she considered it seriously, the peculiar scent Hokuto gave off might be because of the effect of the water dragon.

...But if she were a water dragon living spirit, maybe......

Maybe Hokuto had something like a snake"s tail similar to Akino"s ears? Or did she even have fangs or something like a forked tongue? Though she was very interested, questioning any further was certainly no good.

"Akino, what kind of living spirit are you? Could you tell me, if you don"t mind?"

Her face unconsciously twitched at Hokuto"s question. But it would be too sly for only her to ask questions. Akino averted her gaze slightly as if having great trouble replying.

"I"m a r-rabbit living spirit."

Albeit her embarra.s.sment, she was curious about Hokuto"s response after saying that. Akino returned her averted gaze to Hokuto.

"Rabbit, huh? That"s really unusual. Come to think of it, I didn"t even know rabbit living spirits existed."

"......Are they even rarer than water dragons?"

"Yeah. Water dragons should be very rare too, but even so, there were people who were possessed by water dragons or who got close to snake spirits in the past, like the records of the people who were possessed by the Yato-no-kami[17]. Especially snakes, they"re actually a pretty large number of them. But as for rabbits......"

Hokuto gazed at Akino with a completely different look from before. Akino felt embarra.s.sed anyway and turned away to hide it.

...As expected, I"m really weird.

She didn"t need to especially ask such a thing. Hokuto didn"t mock her or get surprised either, remedying the incident. If Akino had been betrayed and taken for an idiot, she might have sunk into gloom and depression.

"A-Anyways. Get along with the living spirits at the monastery, okay? There are a lot of different kinds of people there. There aren"t just "disciples" like me, there are also many actual priests. Also, even though there"s talk about people hiding here and the two important people, everyone in the monastery lives an ordinary life."

Akino changed the topic, continuing to explain to Hokuto.

Actually, the people in the monastery weren"t legally qualified to use first-cla.s.s magic, and they were very indifferent to the fact that they were lawbreakers. Incidentally, Akino herself hadn"t noticed that the people around her were actually the equivalent of criminals.

Of course, the fact that they were able to keep from panicking with such a common practice was because the people in the monastery didn"t know what work done in the outside world was like. But that was why they were called hopeless.

Many people in the monastery just did their work to live.

"Although there are a lot of inconvenient things compared to the town outside, you get used to it when you live here for a long time. I think you"ll get used to it quickly...... ah, well, although...... right now, maybe...... it"s a bit nerve-wracking......"

"Did something happen in the monastery?"

"Hah...... well actually, the priests have had some fights starting this year...... It seems like it was because there were some opposing views......"

In the end, it was a small monastery, and a head-on open confrontation wouldn"t happen.

But it was the truth that the priests of Seishuku Temple had split into two factions. That was also the reason for Tadanori"s constant foul mood.

"Ah, but, it"s okay if you don"t worry about it. Because it"s just the priests, so it has nothing to do with us...... But anyways, it had something to do with the national Onmyou Agency organization, I think? I don"t know the details either."

"In that case, I fear it"s something related to the Onmyou legal reform."

"Eh?"

"Well, to the Onmyou Agency"s position, the dark temple is a dark spot of the magic community."

If the Onmyou Agency"s jurisdiction grew, it would catch the eyes of the people around it. They wanted to take the opportunity to reach an agreement now. The opinions in the monastery had probably disagreed on whether to accept that change or not, as well as over the monastery"s future policy.

Akino looked uncertainly at Hokuto with a "Eh? What"s that?" expression.

Why did Hokuto know those things when she was only entering the monastery now? Even the seniors among the "disciples" definitely wouldn"t know what the priests talked about.

...This person......

Who was she? The moment that thought flashed through her.

"...Ah." Hokuto stopped.

Akino reflexively looked up the steps along her gaze. "Aha." Then, she laughed quietly.

"That"s our mountain gate."

The mountain gate was lined on either side by cedar forests and also had the stone stairs leading to the mountaintop.

At first glance, an ancient, outdated gate towered over it there.

A gate with a hip-and-gable roof[18] constructed out of two wooden structures and covered with faded tiles. It wasn"t huge, but it had a great overbearing impression when it was suddenly seen in the mountains. It abruptly made the witness meld into the surrounding scenery.

It was like a judicator recognized by the mountain. Even without any words, it clearly proclaimed that starting there was divine territory.

Hokuto composed her expression.

"......There"s a barrier put up on the edges of that gate."

"Ah, you already know? But it"s alright. Because you can enter through the gate."

"......A magic I haven"t seen...... Might this barrier cover the whole mountain from here?"

"Right. That"s why you can only enter the monastery through this gate."

Seishuku Temple was near the mountaintop. So the temple"s barrier surrounded the whole mountaintop. It was quite a large-scale barrier, and outsiders - of course, pract.i.tioner outsiders - were also very surprised at the start. But that barrier had always been up since before Akino had been born, and Akino didn"t feel that it was very incredible. To Akino, it was just that kind of thing, nothing else.

"Anyway, let"s go up. Because we"re probably going to be late......"

Akino immediately walked up to the gate after saying that, and Hokuto followed right after her.

The interior of Seishuku Temple started after they pa.s.sed through the gate. Even so, the surrounding scenery didn"t change very quickly. Cedar forests still towered unchangingly around a continuous staircase laid with stone. Seishuku Temple was a mountain temple, and this sanghamara[19] was built along the mountain. The mountain gate was the formal entrance.

But even so, after they walked past the mountain gate for a while, they could see beech trees, wisteria[20], and crimson maple leaves along with the cedar trees.

Then, they could see several wooden structures on the other side of the trees - halls.

The stone steps turned into a shikyak.u.mon[21] much smaller than the mountain gate and ended halfway through. Akino brought Hokuto over the stone steps and through the gate.

The two of them had managed to reach the place on this mountain that they had set out for.

It was a courtyard-like place surrounded by the mountain forests and halls. The rolling of the surface was also very gentle, and there were old lanterns placed everywhere.

"Alright, we"re here."

Akino turned back to look at Hokuto. Hokuto stopped, casting a sharp glance around.

"The main hall is in front, and you can see the gathering hall across from it. The temples are there, and though you can"t see from here, there are warehouses inside. Then there"s the living quarters, and...... you can see the roof of the paG.o.da across the trees over there. There are a few other places inside the monastery like belfries, monk"s quarters, and smaller halls...... those kinds of buildings."

Akino pointed them out as she explained, but she didn"t know how much Hokuto heard. The girl who had called herself a water dragon living spirit narrowed her eyes wordlessly, staring attentively at the scenery in the monastery - and probably using her spiritual power to "see".

Akino"s explanation ended abruptly after noticing that Hokuto was encircled by that cold atmosphere again. Akino had great difficulty speaking to Hokuto and stood there stupidly until the end.

But.

"......Akino. It seems like there"s a racket over there."

"Eh? Hmm? It really does. What happened?"

Hokuto was talking about the gathering hall. Noisy voices were audibly pouring out from there.

"Let"s go see", Hokuto said. She walked forward without waiting for a reply and Akino hastily chased after her.

There was probably a dispute going on in the gathering hall. After Hokuto and Akino walked closer, a monk walked out from the center. He walked towards the temple and stopped after noticing Hokuto and Akino.

It was Tadanori.

"Akino, it"s this late already. What exactly were you doing?"

"S-Sorry I"m late! Um, Priest Kengyou brought a newcomer, and I already brought her over, um......"

A sharp warning as soon as they met. Akino instantly became timid. Tadanori moved his sharp gaze from Akino to Hokuto. Hokuto had her usual expressionless appearance as she quietly accepted Tadanori"s gaze.

"......Hmm, so it"s you? But it"s not a good time right now. You can"t enter the monastery as a newcomer right now."

"Eh? Um, Priest?"

"Akino. I still have other business that I have to attend to. Miss, as you see, we have some troubles to deal with."

Tadanori proclaimed selfishly, and then immediately ran towards the temple.

Hokuto, who had practically been abandoned, didn"t say anything in particular, her gaze intently pursuing Tadanori"s back. On the other hand, Akino was confused and clueless.

It was very evident that she had never been entrusted with doing anything like looking after a newcomer until now. Similarly, Akino felt completely unsuited to something like looking after a newcomer.

Eh? Ehh?

What exactly had just happened? Then suddenly, Hokuto keenly looked back from beside her.

Akino also turned around to look.

"Oh, Akino, you"ve come back."

"Ah, Sen-jiichan."

Sen had approached them at some point. He spoke with the two of them as if he had been standing in front of the gathering hall for a while.

He still had his unchanging unconcerned att.i.tude, as if the noisy monastery had nothing to do with him. Akino regained a bit of her calm in front of this never-changing Old Man Sen.

"A newcomer was going to enter the monastery, so I felt like I should come down for a welcome...... Is she the newcomer?"

"Yeah, she"s Hokuto-san...... But rather than that, what"s going on? What happened in the gathering hall?"

Akino asked with a frown, but Sen didn"t become serious at all.

"Actually, it seems like they were contacted by Kengyou-sama just now."

He responded with that.

"Eh? He contacted them? What is it this time?"

"Nnn. It"s not much. An envoy from the Onmyou Agency in Tokyo came today. That"s why everyone"s all aflutter. It"s become as chaotic as a disturbed beehive."

Akino let out an "Eh" voice when she heard this unexpected reply.

She had just talked about the Onmyou Agency with Hokuto. Akino quickly looked at Hokuto, but Hokuto was maintaining her solemn expression, listening carefully to Sen"s words.

Seeing that the two of them had nothing to ask, Sen laughed out loud while telling them about the situation in more detail.

"Also, I heard that the envoy is one of the famous Twelve Divine Generals, you know? What kind of abilities does he have? Oh my, it"s so very interesting."