Chapter 46: The Sudden Appearance of Evil Spirits
Night descended over Mitsuwa Town.
The moon drifted in and out behind the clouds, its pale light scattering across the streets in wavering silver. Above, the stars were strewn across the heavens like frost, while below, the town glowed with the warm, lively brilliance of a festival in full swing.
Lanterns swayed beneath the eaves.
Strings of colored lights ran across the streets.
One stall after another filled the roadside, selling chocolate bananas, roasted sweet potatoes, skewers fresh off the grill, tonjiru, and sizzling okonomiyaki. Nearby, children shouted around goldfish scooping basins, while other booths drew crowds with darts, beanbag tosses, and target shooting. The air smelled of sauce, smoke, sugar, and summer night breeze.
The whole town was brimming with life.
Children laughed without restraint. Adults wore relaxed smiles that seemed to come from the heart. The fear and unease brought by the supernatural resurgence felt impossibly far away here, as though they belonged to another world entirely.
"Mr. Gin, this is Mitsuwa Town's annual festival."
Tsuchimikado Natsume walked at Gin Tsumugi's side in a white yukata, wooden clogs tapping lightly against the stone path. Under the lantern light, she looked even more delicate than usual, her face lively with quiet excitement as she introduced one stall after another to him.
"A festival, huh."
Gin Tsumugi looked around at the bright streets and the sea of people, and something unreadable passed through his eyes.
"It's been a long time since I've seen one."
It was not just a casual remark.
Ever since the supernatural resurgence began, curfews had spread across many parts of Japan. Once night fell, most places turned deathly quiet. Streets emptied. Doors were bolted. Even in Tokyo, where the restrictions were looser, few people dared stay outside after dark unless absolutely necessary.
Naturally, the kind of night festivals people once took for granted had almost disappeared.
A town like Mitsuwa, shielded by the Tsuchimikado Clan and untouched by the constant eruptions of supernatural incidents, had become a rare exception.
Only here could one still glimpse the ordinary life that used to exist everywhere.
Natsume glanced at him, then smiled faintly.
"Then you should enjoy it while you can, Mr. Gin."
As she spoke, she stopped by a stall and bought two servings of okonomiyaki. She held one out to him with both hands.
"Here."
"Thank you."
Gin Tsumugi accepted it without refusing.
He took a bite and found the taste surprisingly authentic. Rich sauce, crisp edges, soft center, just the right amount of heat. It had been a while since he had eaten something like this.
What a pity.
Things this ordinary were becoming rarer by the day.
As they continued walking through the festival crowd, Natsume seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking again.
"Mr. Gin, when I was studying at the Onmyo Academy, I heard about the [White Fox Office] you founded."
"It's very famous in Tokyo. People say its success rate in resolving supernatural incidents is absurdly high."
Gin Tsumugi chewed slowly, then answered with a small smile.
"The success rate is real. The part about being famous in Tokyo is a little exaggerated."
He glanced ahead toward the lively street.
"Tokyo has supernatural agencies backed by National Level Onmyoji. Compared to them, the [White Fox Office] is still just getting started."
"That's already incredible."
Natsume's voice was sincere.
Then, after another brief pause, she turned to him more directly.
"Mr. Gin, does the [White Fox Office] plan to recruit apprentice Onmyoji from the Onmyo Academy this year?"
That question made Gin Tsumugi look at her properly.
He had not expected that.
Recruiting from the Onmyo Academy was standard practice for many supernatural agencies every year. They all hoped to find talented apprentices early and raise them into reliable personnel. Unfortunately, the truly outstanding ones usually went to the Onmyo Bureau or the Onmyo Alliance. Agencies like private Supernatural Affairs Offices mostly ended up with whoever was left.
In the past, Gin Tsumugi had never cared much for the idea.
To him, apprentice Onmyoji were more burden than help. Sending them into real incidents too early was like dragging dead weight into danger.
But now the situation was different.
The [White Fox Office] had grown too quickly.
Its reputation had risen. Its case volume would only continue increasing. If every trivial Evil Spirit, wandering grudge, or low level specter still needed him to handle it personally, then his time would be wasted on matters that offered almost no value.
His roleplaying progress would not rise from cleaning up scraps.
Under those circumstances, expanding the [White Fox Office] had become necessary.
After all, if Kasugano Sora was excluded as a special case, then the entire office only had him and Iwanaga Kotoko. Compared to other agencies of similar reputation, the staffing of the [White Fox Office] was laughably small.
It really was time to recruit.
"If there are no special circumstances," Gin Tsumugi said at last, "the [White Fox Office] should make a trip to the Onmyo Academy this year."
Natsume's eyes lit up almost imperceptibly.
Compared to most apprentices, she had never been especially interested in the Onmyo Bureau or the Onmyo Alliance. With her status as the Tsuchimikado heir, entering one of those organizations would drag her into all kinds of exhausting politics. Worse, there was also the false identity the world had placed on her head, Tsuchimikado Yakou's so called reincarnation.
Joining a private agency would be far more flexible.
And if that agency happened to be the [White Fox Office]...
Just as that thought surfaced in her heart, a shrill scream tore through the festival air.
"Ahhh!!"
The sound was so sharp that it seemed to slice the warm, festive atmosphere in half.
Gin Tsumugi and Natsume both stopped.
So did everyone else.
Heads turned in unison toward the source of the scream.
Then, for a brief instant, the whole festival seemed to freeze.
What they saw next drained the color from countless faces.
A grotesque figure stood beneath the lantern light, wrapped in thick Yin energy. Its features were twisted together into something beyond ugly. Its eyes were set vertically, yet held nothing but white, without a trace of pupils. Its mouth had grown not where it should be, but across its forehead, splitting open into a hideous grin that seemed ready to swallow anyone it faced.
It was an Evil Spirit.
A real one.
Not a rumor. Not a report on television. Not a cautionary tale told by frightened adults.
Something foul had appeared right in the middle of Mitsuwa Town's festival.
For half a heartbeat, the crowd was silent.
Then panic exploded.
"A Yokai!"
"How can that be?! Why would a Yokai appear in Mitsuwa Town?!"
"Run!"
"Run, run, run!"
"What happened to the barrier?!"
"Did the Tsuchimikado Clan's barrier fail?!"
Fear spread through the festival like wildfire through dry grass.
The joy from moments earlier vanished without a trace.
People shoved past one another, stumbling over dropped sandals and overturned stools. Children started crying. Adults who had been smiling a moment ago now fled in terror. A few fell. Others trampled past them in blind panic. Under the pressure of raw fear, the civility of ordinary life disappeared almost instantly.
Natsume's face changed.
"They're Evil Spirits!"
Her tone sharpened at once, the softness from before gone.
"That's impossible. The Tsuchimikado barrier covers all of Mitsuwa Town. Ordinary Evil Spirits shouldn't be able to break in at all."
She stared at the twisting specters with disbelief.
This was not supposed to happen.
Not here.
Not in Mitsuwa Town.
But beside her, Gin Tsumugi remained strangely calm.
He took another bite of the okonomiyaki in his hand, as though the screaming crowd and the emerging Evil Spirits did not surprise him in the least.
His eyes darkened just a little.
He understood immediately what this meant.
Dairenji Suzuka had finally made her move.
.....
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