Chapter 58: An Expected Answer, "My Name is Ye Chun"

On the road, the black sedan of the Special Affairs Bureau drove forward slowly.

The person sent to pick them up was an unfamiliar Special Affairs Bureau operative, rumored to be directly under the jurisdiction of the Council of Five, holding a status higher than that of Nanjo Manami in a certain sense.

Both of them sat in the back seat, but Shizuma Mafuyu sat upright, her hands resting on her knees. As soon as the car stopped, she looked out the window, occasional ripples of faint regret welling up in her heart, making her look both nervous and uneasy.

"Want one?"

A slender cigarette was extended toward Shizuma Mafuyu, the scent of tobacco mixed with a crisp hint of mint.

"Don't let my appearance fool you," Nanjo Manami exhaled a puff of smoke, her expression completely calm. "Actually, I'm pretty nervous myself. After all, we're about to meet those legendary bigwigs."

After a moment of hesitation, Shizuma Mafuyu took the cigarette and murmured a quiet thank-you.

Nanjo Manami leaned over to light it for her.

The tobacco burned slowly, and Shizuma Mafuyu stared somewhat apprehensively at the cigarette in her hand.

She remembered that back in middle school, only delinquents who couldn't advance to higher education smoked, and teachers frequently warned good students like her not to follow their example.

Have I... also become a delinquent girl?

Or perhaps, is this what they call growing up?

Shizuma Mafuyu clenched her fist, put the cigarette to her lips, and took a sharp drag as if trying to prove something.

"Cough! Cough, cough, cough!"

Immediately afterward, she broke into a violent fit of coughing, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes.

Nanjo Manami burst out laughing. "Who smokes like that?"

"Here, watch closely."

Then, Nanjo Manami demonstrated the proper technique, and Shizuma Mafuyu carefully took a tentative drag, mimicking her example.

She was still provoked into coughing a couple of times.

Yet unexpectedly, Shizuma Mafuyu found that her inner anxiety was gradually subsiding.

***

"Please enter, the Council of Five is fully assembled."

The Special Affairs Bureau operative pulled open the door of an ordinary-looking suburban house.

Shizuma Mafuyu looked puzzled. "Is this the place..."

"You can't get them all together in person offline; we should thank our lucky stars if the five adults can spare the time for a video conference," Nanjo Manami smoothed her expression and stepped into the house. "Let's go."

Shizuma Mafuyu followed closely behind.

The moment her foot crossed the threshold, Shizuma Mafuyu felt a subtle sense of dislocation, and then she noticed that the ordinary furnishings inside the house suddenly dissolved into pitch darkness.

Only five hazy figures loomed ahead.

Shizuma Mafuyu swallowed hard, not daring to show a single superfluous expression or movement.

Seeing that the two of them had taken their positions, Onmyo Gonsuke, situated right in the center, asked indifferently,

"Nanjo Manami, Minor Onmyoji of Arakawa Ward, what is your report?"

"Love Separation."

Nanjo Manami wasted no words and went straight to the point.

The effect was immediate; Shizuma Mafuyu, standing just behind her, instantly felt her mental pressure multiply manifold.

***

After a very brief silence, the five spoke in unison: "Tell us the details."

Nanjo Manami answered truthfully, holding nothing back.

When she finished, Onmyo Gonsuke said, "Wait a moment."

Immediately afterward, the members of the Council of Five engaged in an extremely rapid exchange.

Scarcely ten seconds later, silence fell over the space once again, and Onmyo Gonsuke spoke up:

"Without direct evidence, would it be possible to perform soul-searching on the individuals you mentioned, Uesugi Toru and Tokugawa Ririko?"

The figure to Onmyo Gonsuke's right spoke up: "Tokugawa is out of the question."

"Then—"

Nanjo Manami directly interrupted, "Apologies, that is outside my consideration. Furthermore, I believe it would bring immense losses to the Special Affairs Bureau."

Onmyo Gonsuke paid no mind to this minor matter. He continued:

"Is there any other direct evidence to prove the existence of Love Separation in Arakawa Ward?"

Nanjo Manami shook her head. "None at all for now."

Onmyo Gonsuke paused. "In that case, I understand."

"Then everyone, let us vote on the matter of 'whether or not to provide support to Arakawa Ward due to the potential presence of Love Separation'." Onmyo Gonsuke cast his vote first. "I oppose. The First Surge is imminent, and other major districts are severely short-handed."

Dr. Tenmon: "I vote in favor. Love Separation has reappeared after more than a hundred years, and its current strength is not yet formidable. This is a rare opportunity to capture it alive."

Dr. Onmyo: "I oppose. Over the past few days, the forces of the Ashikaga clan have pushed right to our doorstep. I don't understand how they keep parachuting wave after wave of samurai in; we can't even find their supply lines."

Dr. Clepsydra: "I oppose. I am still dealing with the dependents of the Disease of Suffering here and cannot spare the time for now. I could agree a month from now."

Dr. Rekido spread his hands. "In that case, my vote in favor is useless anyway."

"Three votes against, two votes in favor. To summarize... Minor Onmyoji Nanjo, I must offer my apologies, at least for the next month."

Onmyo Gonsuke paused. "However, personally speaking, I can rustle up two helpers for you; they should arrive in about a week."

An expected answer, Nanjo Manami thought.

Then she lowered her head slightly. "For the council to spare precious time to listen to my report, Nanjo is already more than grateful."

The five responded with silence, seemingly busy with their own affairs.

"—Then, esteemed lords, until we meet again."

With that, Nanjo Manami turned and left, just as unhesitatingly as when she had walked in.

Shizuma Mafuyu followed silently behind her.

Clearly her job had been saved, so why couldn't she feel happy?

Not until the door behind them closed did Shizuma Mafuyu finally fail to hold back, biting her lip as she asked, "Minor Onmyoji Nanjo, they..."

Suddenly, she stopped talking.

Because Nanjo Manami locked eyes with her and shook her head. "Don't blame them. Bigwigs have their own difficulties, too."

"Just as we feel uneasy in the face of the lurking Love Separation, perhaps the things witnessed and experienced by the Council of Five are far vaster and more terrifying than we can imagine."

Nanjo Manami sighed. "So from here on, we must rely on ourselves."

Shizuma Mafuyu did not know how to respond.

She thought that she could only perform her core duties more perfectly to somewhat lessen the pressure on Lord Nanjo.

***

On the other side, Uesugi Toru had safely returned home.

Needless to say—Kisaragi Station, activate!

Passing calmly through the water pressure, Uesugi Toru opened his eyes on the silent platform of Kisaragi Station.

The environment here was not hostile, and there were no wandering minor monsters around for the time being, so Uesugi Toru maintained his initial "living soul" state without transforming into the laughing hannya.

He waved his hand and summoned the Two-Footed Lady.

To his pleasant surprise, the Two-Footed Lady had actually recovered to half a star.

The girl's form was slightly more solid than before, and Uesugi Toru gave her a thumbs-up. "You've worked hard these past two days."

The Two-Footed Lady smiled shyly. "It's all thanks to Lord Toru, I just focused on eating and eating."

"That is quite impressive in itself." After offering another word of praise, Uesugi Toru pointed toward the convenience store. "Let's head inside first and see if we can find any clues."

Searching the spawn point was a must; it was Uesugi Toru's consistent and fine tradition.

Yet once again, it was quite a pity that no rare hidden items could be found within the spawn point.

However, there was one very strange thing.

"This convenience store is a bit too neat."

Uesugi Toru tore open a bag of barbecue-flavored potato chips and ate them, frowning as he rigorously evaluated, "The taste is also fresh and delicious; although manufactured in 2004, there is no sense of expiration at all."

"So, Two-Footed Lady, should we take some snacks for the road..."

Just as he turned his head, he saw the Two-Footed Lady draped in bags of snacks, her hands still busily grabbing more.

Uesugi Toru: "As long as you're happy..."

Uesugi Toru walked out of the convenience store, preparing to casually pick a set of tracks to explore.

Anyway, lacking any walkthrough clues, running into a powerful urban legend and dying straight away would still be a net profit; he could just start over with his second life.

Yet just as Uesugi Toru was about to call the happily snacking Two-Footed Lady to get moving, he heard slightly hurried footsteps approaching from not far away.

Judging by the sound, it was a single person, and it seemed to be a relatively lightweight girl.

Can there actually be people in this ghost place?

Uesugi Toru placed his hand on the hilt of his blade, ready for action.

Shortly after, he saw a short-haired girl running out from another direction of the station.

He looked toward the top of her head, but found nothing.

Is she really human?

Late at night, the vermilion scabbard at Uesugi Toru's waist was extremely eye-catching, so the girl naturally noticed him as well.

"H-Hello!"

Uesugi Toru could hear the startled delight in the girl's voice, causing him to freeze in his tracks.

"—My name is Yatsuna! By any chance, were you also brought here by that supernatural train?"