Tracking magic?
Was there such a spell in the follower platform? I had no idea.
Nanami looked utterly baffled, racking her brain to recall if the platform even had such a spell.
There was no helping it—Morpheus had stuffed the follower platform with an overwhelming number of spells.
While it wasn't as exaggerated as one hundred three thousand grimoires, there were easily over a thousand distinct types of magic.
No one could go through them all in a short time.
Nanami had only picked out a few spells suited to her, leaving the rest untouched and unseen.
Being called out by Morpheus now, she felt her face flush with embarrassment.
"I'll check it out right now."
With that, Nanami's consciousness dove into the follower platform to study the tracking magic.
Sonoko Suzuki, confused, asked, "Is it really okay to learn magic right now?"
She hadn't studied magic herself, but she knew mastering a new spell wasn't exactly a walk in the park.
Before Ran Mouri could say anything, Nanami spoke up, "I'm back, my lord."
"How'd it go?" Morpheus asked.
"I've mastered it," Nanami said, patting her chest confidently.
Ran looked bewildered.
Sonoko blurted out, "You learned magic that fast?"
Nanami instinctively replied, "Fast? Hardly. It took me about a month to learn this spell."
A month?
Sonoko grew even more confused. No matter how you looked at it, only a second had passed.
Morpheus explained, "The platform I built for my followers has a time-stabilizing spell. No matter if they spend a month or a year inside, the real world barely changes."
"You felt like only a second passed, but Nanami spent at least a month in there."
Good grief, what a place.
Didn't that mean, if you wanted, you could stay in there for decades?
Wasn't that like extending your lifespan indirectly?
Nanami turned to Ran. "Ran, do you have any of Shinichi's belongings—like stationery or clothes?"
Ran nodded quickly. "Yes, but they're at school."
Nanami said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go to the school."
Ran didn't hesitate. She was desperate to find the kidnapped Shinichi as soon as possible and sprang into action.
The group slipped out through the back door of the massage parlor and headed toward Teitan High School in Beika Town, arriving shortly after.
Teitan High was locked up tight, shrouded in darkness, with only patrolling security guards inside.
They stealthily climbed over the school's gate, sneaking into the main building.
Moonlight streamed through the corridor windows, casting a cool, mysterious glow over the silent school.
Sonoko suddenly piped up, "Hey, Ran, you know about Teitan High's Seven Mysteries, right?"
Ran let out a hum. Really, now of all times, you're bringing up ghost stories?
Morpheus couldn't help but quip, "The Seven Mysteries? Isn't that a bit cliché? Doesn't every school have those?"
Sonoko tilted her head. "Is that so?"
Nanami nodded affirmatively. "My school had similar legends—things like a doll that runs at midnight, a piano that plays itself, a vanishing thirteenth step, and Hanako-san in the bathroom."
Sonoko sighed, grumbling, "What? So everyone's school has the same urban legends?"
Morpheus raised an eyebrow at her words.
"So you're saying Teitan High's Seven Mysteries are the same?"
Sonoko nodded. "Yup, we've got Hanako-san in the bathroom, the vanishing thirteenth step, the self-playing piano, and all that."
Morpheus said, "I get it. These legends were deliberately spread."
Sonoko looked puzzled. "Deliberately spread? Why?"
Morpheus explained, "Many yokai are born from human fear. If certain urban legends spread widely enough, the yokai in those stories can manifest in the real world."
"If you went to the bathroom right now, you might actually meet Hanako-san."
Sonoko shivered, her face paling. "Is that really possible?"
Morpheus continued, "Of course. And there's another benefit: even if you defeat one of these yokai, as long as the legend persists, it'll revive from the story."
"That's why widely known urban legends like Hachishakusama or Kuchisake-onna are nearly impossible to eradicate."
"Even if you met Kuchisake-onna today and destroyed her, she'd be back in a few days, reborn from people's fears."
"Unless…"
Sonoko, engrossed, leaned in. "Unless what?"
Morpheus said, "Unless you can erase the legend of Kuchisake-onna from everyone's minds. If no one remembers the story, she'd likely vanish for good."
Nanami added, "Kuchisake-onna is a household name by now. Erasing that legend would mean altering the memories of billions of people—pretty much impossible."
Sonoko nodded in agreement. That was a massive undertaking. Altering billions of memories wasn't something she could fathom.
"There's no way anyone could do that."
"You're all too young," Morpheus said.
There were plenty of beings in this world capable of such a feat.
But they were mostly lofty Magic Gods.
Such beings existed in an entirely different realm from the likes of Hachishakusama or Kuchisake-onna.
No Magic God would bother targeting a mere urban legend.
It'd be like a president going after an ordinary citizen.
More importantly, if they did want to deal with something like Kuchisake-onna, they had countless methods.
Erasing human memories of her would be the most time-consuming and labor-intensive approach.
They could simply seal Kuchisake-onna instead.
That way, no matter how widespread her legend was, it wouldn't matter.
"We're here."
Ran, who had been silent, suddenly stopped.
Morpheus looked up and saw she'd paused at the door of a classroom.
Clearly, this was the classroom where she, Shinichi, and Sonoko studied.
The door was locked, and without a key, no one could get in.
But that was no obstacle for Morpheus or Nanami.
***
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