"Huh? I didn't do anything!"
Kisaragi Akira had absolutely zero intention of admitting to anything. Before anyone put evidence in front of him—no, even if the evidence was placed right under his nose—he would still deny it with all his heart.
"General-Captain, sir, you can't just accuse someone without evidence!"
Silence instantly filled the room.The kettle on the tea furnace let out a soft glug-glug-glug, making the stillness feel strangely awkward.
For a moment, the old man looked genuinely stunned—as if he hadn't expected Akira to react like this—and the entire atmosphere froze.
Eventually, Yamamoto snapped out of it. Realizing that his usual intimidation tactics weren't working on this particular brat, his stern voice once again filled the tea room.
"Hmph. Evidence, is it?"
"It just so happens that this old man has gathered plenty of solid evidence!"
"Take a good look. Don't say I wronged you—these incidents were all committed by you, weren't they?"
With a heavy thud, he placed a stack of papers on the table.Black ink on white paper—clear, concise, and merciless.
Akira picked one up and began reading, curious what exactly he was being charged with. After all, if the situation were truly dire, the ones sent to haul him in wouldn't have been polite First Division officers—it would've been the gold-trimmed special enforcers.
In other words… this probably wasn't that big a problem.
But as he read through the documents, his brows slowly rose.
"September 13th — Performing exorcism on a female student without authorization and charging an exorbitant fee of 124 kan."
"September 27th — Publicly selling protective talismans from the Rebellion Shrine and generating a significant amount of illegal profit."
"October 11th — Privately establishing a ritual altar, offering blessings for students and several instructors, communicating divine petitions on their behalf, again generating a large amount of illegal profit."
"October 20th — Arbitrarily raising talisman prices, disrupting the normal market order."
"November 16th — Conducting an unregistered ritual inside the Shin'ō Boys' Dormitory, causing major property damage and severe negative influence."
"November 17th — Raising talisman prices again."
"November 19th — …"
After reading the entire list, Akira set the papers down, took a deep breath, straightened his expression, and declared with great formality:
"I object!"
"This is discrimination against our shrine profession!"
Yamamoto blinked. Just moments ago he'd watched the boy's face grow serious and thought he was about to deliver an eloquent rebuttal.Instead… this.
Blunt. Ridiculously blunt.
"Your objection is invalid."
His voice rose slightly.
"The old man holds final authority over the interpretation of these charges."
"Besides, all of these incidents were confirmed through testimony from others at Shin'ō Academy. Ironclad evidence. What is there to argue?"
"Admit your guilt and accept your punishment. That is the proper path."
Kisaragi Akira was outraged.To think that Yamamoto Genryūsai—the General-Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads—could be such a biased, unreasonable man!
And he had the nerve to claim he stood for justice?!
"Exorcising spirits helps people! The talismans genuinely protect the customers! The blessings were for everyone's well-being—I even asked the One-Eyed Great Deity to look after their futures!"
"As for the ritual damage—that was purely an accident!"
"And I already paid for the repairs!"
Akira rattled off his explanations at lightning speed, sounding extremely confident.
"Yes," Yamamoto replied, "and you paid using the illegal profits you earned."
He added, "Do you have anything else to say? If not, I will now deliver your final sentencing."
"For your crimes, you shall be imprisoned on the third level of Shin'ō Underground Great Prison—Fusion Hell—for one hundred and seven years."
Akira stared at him, dumbstruck.
He really thought the old man had been joking.But apparently—he wasn't.
"W-Wait, are you sure this sentencing is correct?!"
A faint panic entered his voice. Something felt off, though he couldn't quite place it.
"What could possibly be incorrect?" Yamamoto replied coolly. "Are you suggesting this old man lacks the authority to pass judgment?"
Heat filled the tea room as his spiritual pressure swelled, the temperature climbing with it.
"N-No," Akira suddenly realized, "according to Seireitei law, imprisonment in the Underground Great Prison requires approval from the Central Forty-Six!"
For a brief instant, Yamamoto's eyes widened in surprise.
He clearly hadn't expected a first-year student to know the legal system that well.
Akira relaxed, letting out a long breath.Only now did he notice there were two sets of tea cups on the table.
Who prepares tea for a criminal being interrogated?
Obviously, this wasn't a condemnation meeting.Yamamoto had called him here for some other reason.
"Alright then," Akira said casually, pouring himself tea as if he were at home, "what do you actually want from me?"
The sight made Yamamoto's brows twitch.He wasn't sure why, but this brat reminded him of a certain someone from the past.
And that was not a pleasant memory.
"Actually…"
Yamamoto took his time calming himself, drawing from decades of self-discipline to suppress his irritation. Eventually he spoke, voice steady:
"…This concerns the Rebellion Shrine."
Akira nodded. He had already guessed.
Compared to blowing up training grounds or beating up instructors, selling a few talismans was nothing.And the entire document had focused on shrine-related actions, so Yamamoto's summons must involve ritual matters—or more precisely, the deity worshipped by the Rebellion Shrine:
The One-Eyed Great Deity, Mimihagiri.
His expression grew serious.
"As the current priest of the Rebellion Shrine, you should understand everything about it," Yamamoto said gravely. "But tell me—regarding the true nature of that one-eyed, eldritch native god… do you actually comprehend what it is?"
Akira frowned slightly, hesitating only a moment before nodding again.
There was no point denying it.If Yamamoto was bringing it up, he already knew the shrine's secrets.
Seeing that, Yamamoto pressed forward.
"Her power is highly unusual."
"Anyone acknowledged by her is, in certain ways, an equally unusual existence."
"And recently, this old man has learned…"
"Someone has been abusing Mimihagiri's Divine-Eye ability."
"Based on the evidence—the culprit is most likely you."
Akira blinked—then let out a grin.
"Oh, I get it now. So the General-Captain called me here because he needs something from me."
"Fortune-telling? Marriage divination? Destiny reading? You want to know who your destined lo—"
He froze mid-sentence as a sudden, chilling sensation crawled up his spine.
His death omen had just flared.
And this time…it was his death omen.