Chapter 15: The Name of the White Fox
Time passed swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, three days were gone.
During those three days, Kasugano Sora went from being a stranger to the White Fox Office to gradually becoming familiar with it. She was still quiet by nature, but the stiff reserve she had shown at the beginning had eased considerably.
At the same time, she began methodically helping Iwanaga Kotoko with the office's daily workload.
Under Gin Tsumugi's steady nourishment through the Shikigami Contract over the last three days, Sora's spiritual body had also become far more stable than before. Even after leaving the soul hosting wood for a while, she could now maintain her existence independently for close to a week. She had even begun learning how to use simple telekinetic force through soul power, enough to handle small tasks around the office.
From time to time, she could also briefly possess her original body and use it to do things like receive guests.
That alone was already a major improvement.
At this rate, if Gin continued feeding her spiritual power for another month, Sora's spiritual body would likely become completely stable.
The White Fox Office now officially had two employees.
Iwanaga Kotoko.
Kasugano Sora.
Which also meant that when Gin went out, he no longer had to worry about guests arriving only to find the office empty.
Just like today.
Gin did not remain at the White Fox Office as he usually did. Instead, after a long ride on the subway, he made his way to Chiyoda Ward.
His reason for coming this time had nothing to do with a supernatural incident.
Chiyoda Ward was home to the Imperial Palace, the National Diet, the Supreme Court, the headquarters of the Onmyo Bureau, the Onmyo Academy, and various other key institutions. Among all the wards in Tokyo, supernatural incidents there were among the rarest. The moment one showed signs of surfacing, the onmyoji of the Onmyo Bureau suppressed it immediately.
Because of that, property prices in Chiyoda Ward had soared ever since the resurgence of the supernatural began.
They had long since reached a level that made ordinary people despair just from hearing the numbers.
Of course, it was not just Chiyoda.
Prices in Shibuya, Shinjuku, Minato, Kyoto, and the other major urban centers had all surged upward at an astonishing rate. Meanwhile, many smaller cities had seen the opposite. Housing prices there had collapsed, and the outflow of people had reached historic levels.
It was inevitable.
Ever since spiritual disasters began appearing one after another, everyone understood one thing.
The larger the city, the stronger the defenses against the supernatural.
Some smaller towns had even been abandoned entirely after repeated outbreaks.
Putting that aside, Gin's destination in Chiyoda Ward today was the Onmyo Bureau.
He had come to update his onmyoji rank.
Now that his strength had advanced, the Professional Rank 5 designation on his onmyoji certificate was no longer accurate. Updating it would not only raise his standing within the world of Onmyodo and grant him privileges reserved for stronger practitioners, it would also help the White Fox Office continue developing smoothly.
Sometimes, hiding one's strength was not wisdom.
Sometimes, the smartest move was to turn that strength into influence while the world still had rules left to exploit.
And right now, that was exactly the kind of time they were living in.
"I might as well stop by and see how her preparations are coming along," Gin murmured to himself as he walked. "If not for how painfully slow role playing progress has become, I really wouldn't want to take this risk. It's too easy to get dragged into a whirlpool of trouble."
After getting off the subway, he chose not to call a taxi. The distance to the Onmyo Bureau headquarters was only about a twenty minute walk, so he headed there on foot while bringing up the role playing system in his vision.
[Abe no Seimei, Founder of Onmyodo]
[Role Playing Progress: Adolescence [3%]]
[Character Abilities:
Basic Talisman Compendium [Minor Accomplishment], Shikigami Contract [Minor Accomplishment], Five Pointed Star Incantation [Minor Accomplishment], Word Spirit Technique [Proficient], Uho [Proficient]
Immovable Binding Technique [Proficient], Fire Boundary Spell [Proficient]
Ghost Averting and Evil Dispelling Incantation [Advanced] ]
Gin was deeply dissatisfied with how slowly the progress bar was moving.
Over the past three days, he had not been idle at all.
Aside from turning Kasugano Sora into his Shikigami, he had also completed two separate supernatural incidents. And yet, the combined result of creating a Shikigami and handling two cases had only raised his role playing progress by three percent.
Three percent.
Back in the Childhood stage, that same amount of work would have been enough to push the progress bar up by ten percent or more. Now, it did not even reach a third of that.
The supernatural tide was growing more violent by the day. The great upheaval was drawing closer. He did not have the luxury of leisurely increasing his strength.
If he wanted to raise his role playing progress at a meaningful pace, then he needed another path.
By the time Gin finished his train of thought, he had already arrived before the headquarters of the Onmyo Bureau.
He clicked his tongue softly.
"The supernatural resurgence has really pushed the status of onmyoji higher and higher. And as a result, the Onmyo Bureau has risen right along with it."
The new headquarters had only been completed at the beginning of the year, yet it already stood like a landmark of the ward. Whether in sheer size or in internal luxury, it was no less impressive than the headquarters of some international corporate conglomerate. The gardens and greenery surrounding it were even more extravagant.
For a brief moment, it made Gin feel nostalgic for the old Onmyo Bureau building.
After entering the lobby and retrieving his onmyoji certificate from a pretty receptionist, Gin asked casually, "Is Minister Amami in today?"
The receptionist brightened at once.
"Yes, he is. Would you like me to take you to him?"
Gin smiled lightly.
"No need. Thank you."
With that, he headed straight for the elevator.
Before undergoing the official reassessment of his strength, he intended to visit the elder who had helped him quite a bit at the start.
Once Gin disappeared into the elevator, several of the receptionists immediately drifted together, their eyes still fixed on where he had vanished.
They were unable to hold back their gossip.
"So that really was White Fox."
"One of the rare genius onmyoji, and as famous as Dairenji Suzuka. He's even younger than I imagined."
"At that age, he's already reached a level most people would never touch in their entire lives."
One of them sighed dreamily.
"I wonder who's going to be lucky enough to end up with Director Gin in the future..."
Another receptionist immediately leaned closer.
"Actually, don't you think Director Gin and Lady Suzuka would make a perfect match?"
The others exchanged glances.
Then, almost in unison, they nodded.
"Now that you mention it... they really do."
.....
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