Chapter 3 - Time to Hunt 2 page

Then, five more minutes later.

A group of three customers entered the shop. The man at the bar immediately turned his body and looked back.

The three in the group were all male. The two to the left and right were dressed in suits, and only the man in the center had on a gorgeous coat, wearing casual wear to match the shop atmosphere. After noticing the man at the bar, he grinned and approached.

"............"

The man at the bar stared at the approaching three with a solemn look. The three swiftly advanced between the tables, and the two suited men stopped when they got close to the bar. Only the man in the coat smiled again and sat down in the seat next to him.

"Ah, nice to meet you, Priest Kengyou. I'm the envoy from 'Gathering'. Call me Shimoda."

"......What is this supposed to mean?"

"Hah? Ahh, these two? They're just escorts. Please don't get too much on edge."

The man in the coat - Shimoda - smiled and spoke with a flippant tone. But it was only his mouth that was smiling, as a cold light emerged in his eyes. "Tch." Kengyou quietly clicked his tongue, casting his gaze at the two standing men.

"......They're based off of 'Yaksha'?"

After he flatly pointed that out, Shimoda's wicked smile momentarily skipped a beat.

But he immediately spoke with deliberate admiration:

"As expected of a priest from the dark temple. Just as you say, they're 'G2'. Their exteriors were made extremely well, right? But I didn't think they would be seen through at a glance. It might not look like it, but I admit I spend quite a lot of effort on them."

"They're indeed superb. But what meaning is there in deliberately putting your defensive shikigami in human forms."

"Hoho. It's visible at a glance with spirit sight, but our business deals with many ordinary people. If they kept their action-figure^[11] appearances, that would give rise to some bad effects. ......I shouldn't have to explain each and every thing to a dark temple practitioner, huh?"

He maintained his smile and the cold gaze he shot over, and his voice also contained disdain.

Kengyou spoke fretfully:

"......I'm the emissary of the temple. I don't usually come in contact with 'work' directly."

"Hah, alright then. But since you wanted to throw yourself into 'Gathering', then you'll have to give that up."

"I understand that sort of thing."

Kengyou spoke resentfully after clicking his tongue again.

The dark temple that Kengyou had once belonged to was formally called Seishuku Temple. It was a Shingon temple that had accepted practitioners since ancient times, as well as one of the representative forces in the 'interior' of the magic community. The people who weren't accepted into the Onmyou Agency's management and people who fled from its grasp. There were also those who had fallen into the dark side of magic and those who used magic outside of the law. Or the people who had lost their paths due to magic karma. That temple was the society where those people who lived in the darkness of the magic community gathered.

However, last year in the beginning of winter, Seishuku Temple had been destroyed by a single Onmyouji - or so it was said. He couldn't say for sure because Kengyou had been outside the temple at the time. Kengyou's occupation inside the temple was to maintain their network of connections in society. Hence, his outside time, which was rare for someone of the monastery, was overwhelmingly abundant. That blessing had allowed him to escape the catastrophe.

The current Seishuku Temple had been taken into the Onmyou Agency's management after its destruction. Most people of the monastery had been arrested or detained. Then, a scant number of people had slipped underground and continued fleeing from the Onmyou Agency's hands. Kengyou was one of them.

Fortunately, Kengyou had the contacts he had cultivated through his maintenance of relationships. He had used the channels from his monastery time and come in contact with another organization. The envoy of that organization was the Shimoda currently in front of him.

The organization Shimoda belonged to was simply called Gathering. Rather than being an organization, it was more like a community of practitioners who would assist each other. The secret organizations of the magic community had powerful senses of loyalty, and in most occasions didn't welcome outsiders. But as for that point, Gathering - which had originally been established by a solo member - was very tolerant of outsiders coming in. Hence, he had been willing to take the risk of slipping into the Onmyou Agency's Tokyo and run here to ask them for aid.

"Well, the relationships are thin anyway, and it happens a lot that useless guys get 'cut off' before they know it. Priest, make sure to pay attention, alright?"

Kengyou nodded resentfully at Shimoda as he specially advised him. What an aggravating man. But now that he had lost the backing of Seishuku Temple, it was unrealistic for Kengyou to continue his escapade from the Onmyou Agency alone. Even if he was somewhat unhappy, all that was left for him was to ask help of Gathering.

Kengyou finished the rest of the beer in his glass cup in order to relieve his resentment.

Just then.

"Found you."

An incongruous female voice suddenly sounded inside the shop.

A slightly nasal, sweet - perhaps even 'sugary' - voice. The customers in the shop almost all inadvertently stopped their conversations, turning their heads in the direction the voice came from. Then, their gazes froze in moments.

A single woman stood at the shop entrance.

To put it nicely, she was 'seductive', or 'avant-garde'. But the woman was several times more 'strange' than that.

First off, she was very tall. She was undoubtedly over 180 centimeters^[12] - maybe she was around 190. Also, she was dressed ridiculously scantily, as if mocking the season of early January. At first glance, she looked half-clothed.

Her face was petite, but her head, limbs, and torso were extremely long. Her visible bust and hips were alluringly full, but her waist was astonishingly narrow and tight. Her strapless tube top exposed her abdomen. Though she had on a deep purple jacket right now, the sleeves were rolled up to her wrists and her hands were stuck in her pockets. Below, she wore incredibly short shorts that stuck closely to the sensual curves of her hips. Further below were the contours of healthy, beautiful legs. Those slender straight legs were matched by gorgeously-studded boots.

The customers in the shop - who were essentially all male - were first dumbfounded by her outfit and then finally raised their gazes to look at the woman's face. The woman's hair was raised in a single ponytail and she wore large sunglasses that practically covered half of her petite face. Hence, her face couldn't be seen clearly, but they deepened her glamorous image in conjunction with the lipstick that coated her full lips.

In any case, it was a woman with a very strong impact.

Then, that woman strode out on her long legs and started entering the depths of the store interior.

Step, step. With every stride, her ponytail and the bust in her tube top swayed. Though the gazes of the shop interior were focused on her, she seemed not to care - or even as if she hadn't noticed. Most of the customers watched the woman advance, stunned. Kengyou and Shimoda's eyes were similarly wide.

But not all of them were like that.

"Ah, miss. That's an unfamiliar face. You're alone? Where from?"

A group of two young men sitting at a table stepped on either side in front of the woman to block her path.

Maybe they were already dead drunk, as the faces of the two were red to their ears. They busily swept up and down the woman's body with gazes that completely exposed their inner thoughts.

"You're pretty cute~ Want to have a drink together? I'll treat you to something. Here, sit down."

During the period of time in which one of them was standing in front the stopped her, the other person forcefully hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her to a table. But the man hooked around her staggered slightly for a moment. Though he had tried to pull her forcefully, she didn't budge.

"Eh? W-What, miss? Hey - come here--"

Though he tried to get her to sit at the table again, the woman still didn't move.

The man inviting the woman had a good physique. Though he wasn't as tall as the woman, the man was undoubtedly heavier. Also, since he was drunk, he didn't know how to hold back. However, it was of no use. As if his opponent were a carved rock.

Then, the woman drew her right hand out of her jacket pocket and slowly moved it to her face, pushing her sunglasses to her forehead.

Rounded, childish eyes set with long eyelashes appeared.

"You're in the way."

She spoke with the same sugary voice as before.

"I^[13] have business with that guy over there."

After saying this, the woman extended her wrist straight out, pointing to Kengyou at the bar. Kengyou couldn't help but flinch upon suddenly being singled out, his seat scraping and making noise.

"Out of the way."

"Hah? You're so noisy. Listen, sit down. Dammit, you--"

The man got angry as he tried to pull the woman. Those watching next to him could understand that he was using all his strength. However, the woman's feet were motionless as if they were stuck to the ground. "Hey." His companion man noticed the abnormality and spoke to him. Even so, the man still didn't stop.

The woman gazed expressionlessly for a moment at the man trying with all his might to pull her to the table.

Then, she slowly raised her right hand straight up and leisurely swung it out.

A palm.

A full-powered palm strike by a woman with this kind of physique had a power not to be looked down on. But since the drunk man was using too much strength, his balance was upset by the woman's movement and he collapsed to the floor with a thud. Thanks to that, he avoided death.

Boom. The air roared.

The woman's strike whipped up a whirlwind, sending the two men and the table they were trying to pull her to flying. Along with a huge noise was the sound of shattering glass and overturning seats. The table turned a circle and broke on the floor. The cries of the patrons in the shop rang out before the sounds of destruction vanished.

On the other hand, Kengyou and Shimoda's faces paled and they stood up from their seats. They had 'seen' something even more dangerous from the abnormal scene that had suddenly happened.

"What!"

"Demonic aura!?"

The moment the woman had swung her arm, aura that she had suppressed until then had erupted out of her body. And it hadn't been a humans.

Shimoda spoke dumbfoundedly to Kengyou:

"Hey! What the hell's up with that woman!?"

"I don't know! How could I know!?"

Though Kengyou rebutted loudly, the woman had indeed singled him out. She had said she had 'business'. His breathing and heartbeat accelerated in a flash.

The interior of the shop was in an uproar. The patrons scrambled to the exit, and the sound of tables and chairs being knocked over, breaking glass, and the customers' cries echoed loudly. "Damn!" Shimoda cursed, and at the same time, the two suited men - Shimoda's defensive shikigami - stood up next to him and sprinted towards the woman. They tossed away the tables between them, barreling towards the woman and swiftly grabbing her with their momentum.

But even with the full-force collision of the two defensive shikigami, the woman still didn't stagger.

"Dammit! Why are you getting in my way!"

After she roared, she immediately lifted one of the two Yaksha that had collided with her in each arm and swung them out. Stunned, Shimoda doubted his eyes, and then took out charms in a panic. He planned on also using magic himself. Kengyou also came to his senses, reaching his hand towards the charms that he carried.

But out of a corner of his vision, he saw the shop workers escaping into the shop interior. He had a flash of insight. Perhaps there was a shortcut. Kengyou unconsciously chased after the shop workers, trying to escape the scene.

Just then--

"Hey, wait up, boy."

A deep, low male voice reached Kengyou's ears as if it passed through the din. He immediately shifted his gaze and was taken aback again. The farthest seat of the bar. A man had sat down there at some point.

He could say he didn't know when he had sat down because he definitely would have noticed it if this man had been sitting there before the commotion. He was short but abnormally stocky. As if he were a daruma^[14]. After polishing off the rum in his hand in a single gulp, he placed it on the bar and turned his stool towards them.

"Did you hear? We have business with you."

The stocky man laughed brusquely.

His hair was red. He wore sunglasses, his nose was pierced, and a thick chain necklace hung from his neck. He wore hip-hop-style clothing. A deep blue outer coat covered his small, fat body along with loose work pants. He wore blue basketball shoes on his feet.

"You're Kengyou of the dark temple, right? Why don't you come with us."

The man requested extremely naturally. He thought it was spirit language for a moment, but it wasn't. But he could feel a high-pressure aura from the voice, and more importantly from the man himself, and it made him suspect whether it was first-class spirit language.

"O-Order!?"

He immediately released a charm. Though it was a fire-element charm, the magic hadn't been readied properly, and the charm magic only had power. In any case, he resorted to using a smokescreen and tried to take the opportunity to escape.

But--

The man smiled. At the same time, high-density aura was released from the man's body and the magical energy infused into the charm was blown away by the spiritual pressure. Kengyou's mind went blank. No matter how hastily he had used the charm magic, it was extremely abnormal for it to be rendered ineffective purely by the aura from his body. Also, the man's aura wasn't a human's. It was demonic aura.

"I don't plan on eating you or anything. Settle down. ......Or, do you want me to eat you?"

The mouth below the man's sunglasses twisted and he bared his teeth as he spoke. The canines that extended from his lower jaw were strangely long. As if they were fangs.

"O-Oni......!?"

A mobile spiritual disaster. A Phase Three 'Type-Ogre'. Also, it had a clear consciousness and controlled its own power, so it was undoubtedly a 'true oni' that had existed for extremely long.

"Ahh!? Gozu^[15], how unfair! I was the one who found him first!"

"You caused the commotion yourself, Mezu^[16]. The Onmyou Agency will be here soon. Don't keep playing around."

The woman who looked in Kengyou's direction shouted with wide eyes. The man wrinkled his face at the woman who had flung away the Yaksha and stomped her feet. As expected, they were comrades. In that case, the demonic aura he had seen from the woman before hadn't been a mistake.

But...... In this case, there were two true oni?

Needless to say, Kengyou had never seen a true oni before. Most of the seniors at the monastery probably hadn't either. What was the implication of there being two at once, and also searching for him? It was like he was in a nightmare.

Then, he suddenly came to his senses and checked Shimoda's appearance, inadvertently moaning. Before he had noticed, Shimoda had already run to the entrance. He hadn't used the two Yaksha to defeat the woman, but purely to buy time. Though that was irritating, it had been an accurate situational judgment. It seemed that he had already been 'abandoned' after their meeting.

Shimoda's back vanished outside the shop, and the two Yaksha also dematerialized soon afterwards. The customers who had packed the tables before had also taken refuge without a single one remaining. The only ones left in the shop other than Kengyou were the two male and female oni.

The man - Gozu - left his stool and blocked the route leading to the shop shortcut with his stocky body. On the other hand, the woman - Mezu - stood there with her arms crossed, unhappily pouting her cheeks like a little kid. The two were no longer trying to conceal their demonic aura. The rising miasma clashed against each other and practically made him dizzy. The background music that still continued playing resounded loudly in his mind.

Just then.

"F-Fuck!?"

He heard the sound of cursing from the shop exit. It was Shimoda. Kengyou turned to look in surprise, and Shimoda who had originally planned on escaping ran back into the shop--

He fell down.

And then he was motionless. What had happened? Right after he thought that--

Thunk. Came a melodious sound.

Thunk, tap, thunk, tap. Melodious sounds approached with a regular pattern. Then--

A man entered the shop.

A man wearing a plain coat. But the moment the man entered the shop, goosebumps rose on Kengyou's skin for some reason. As if the air conditioner in the shop had caused the temperature to rapidly decrease.

The man gave off the feeling of a seasoned veteran, but he actually seemed to be still young. His glasses-wearing face looked even younger than the about thirty-five-year-old Kengyou.

But the man's hair was already almost completely white. Also, the man held a cane in one hand. His right leg was a fake leg, and it was even a wooden fake leg. The melodious sound from before had been the sounds of the cane and fake leg.

"A~hh. I messed up."

After the white-haired man entered the shop, he surveyed the terrible situation and sighed.

"Boss!" Mezu was the first to speak.

"I was the first one to find that guy! I found him!"

Mezu waved her arms and did everything she could to assert that as she moved closer to the white-haired man. The man briefly replied "Okay, okay", entering the depths of the shop with a steady pace and his hand on his cane.

Partway, he turned his head to Gozu and said:

"You've had it tough."

"......Kah. You should say 'Good work' at this kind of time. What a brat who doesn't understand manners."

"Ahh~! Gozu! You have to call that guy 'Boss'. Did you forget Doman-sama's orders?"

"Shut up. I know that! ......Anyway, this guy is Kengyou from the dark temple. The guy who's currently lying over there also called him that, so it can't be wrong."

"Yeah. Thanks."

The man who had been called 'Boss' smiled wryly and thanked Gozu who pointed his chin in Shimoda's direction. Then, he finally moved his gaze to Kengyou.

To be honest, the man's eyes were calm, but not cold or stern. Rather, they were even very gentle.

But Kengyou inadvertently gulped.

He remembered. He recalled that before the dark temple had been destroyed, he had often heard 'certain rumors' in his post responsible for contacting other organizations.

The rumor was that there was a fierce Onmyouji deep within the current magic community. That Onmyouji used three incomparably powerful shikigami, and had redrawn the balance of power in the community in the blink of an eye.

That Onmyouji had a nickname that stemmed from the three shikigami he used and the peculiarities of his body.

Three-leg.

Or by extension, 'White Yatagarasu'^[17]

"Nice to meet you, Priest Kengyou. I'm very sorry that things suddenly became like this. Just going by your expression, it seems like you understand me...... my business."

"......Could it be...... White Yatagarasu......?"

"Ahaha, how overstated. Three-leg is sufficient. Anyway, it's just a simple nickname."

The man - Three-leg - smiled casually.

"Rather, I had a reason for doing this much to visit you, Priest. Actually, I have something I want to ask you. I'm extremely sorry, but could I borrow some of your time?"

"M-Me?"

"Right. It's about the dark temple."

The moment he said that, the eyes deep beneath Three-leg's glasses flashed like a blade's edge. It was chilling.

A one-legged Onmyouji and the two true oni that he led.

Even with how he was, Kengyou was a priest of the dark temple. He had seen a wide spread of the magic community. He also knew of several monstrous practitioners - for example, Priest Jougen.

But this man's terror and sharpness felt different from others.

A hearty, leisurely, and elusive man. But that personality itself didn't give off any particularly dangerous flavor. Rather, he had an inexplicable and sincere atmosphere that made him unknowingly relax his guard even thought he was suspicious.

But the moment he felt that, the air changed. The man's personality didn't change, but the impression he gave off transformed into a chilling killing intent. A hearty, leisurely, and elusive 'danger'. He became an emotionless avatar of death.

Kengyou associated that ominous, detached man with a god of death. Right. Maybe the so-called gods of death were unexpectedly liable to show up for no reason.

"Anyway, our capturing mission has ended. Let's go back and have Doman-sama praise us."

Mezu proudly stood tall behind Three-leg's back. "Yeah." Gozu also nodded in assent from behind Kengyou's back.

"There's no meaning in staying behind for long, so let's retreat with this guy."

Thud. Gozu placed his thick hand on Kengyou's shoulder. It seemed that no one present planned on listening to Kengyou's opinion. Though the other party had said he wouldn't eat him, he felt like a fish on a hook. He didn't feel like he would survive.

Just then.

"Ah, Gozu! Are you going to steal it? That guy's mine!"

Mezu's eyes narrowed when she saw Gozu put his hand on Kengyou's shoulder. Her expression change and she tried to approach Kengyou like a child whose candy had been swiped by someone else.

Before that happened.

"Hey." Three-leg's cane rose up, stopping in front of Mezu's nose. Mezu stopped her foot in midair. "Wait, what are you doing!?" Immediately after she glared at Three-leg:

An impact that seemed to split the world in two passed through the center of the shop.

From the floor to the ceiling.

A slash.

Kengyou was knocked flying with no idea what had happened. Though Gozu immediately caught him from behind, even Gozu's expression had changed. On the other hand, Mezu who had been stopped at the last second widened her eyes and looked at the fissure that the slash had opened up in front of her. Her ponytail fluttered outwards as if it had encountered a sudden wind, and her lengthy body flashed with lag upon enduring the shockwave of magical energy.

After a momentary pause, the shop - the entire building - rumbled and shook. The ground and ceiling had been split open in a flash and dust fell. The tables in the line of the slash had been split in two - in addition, they had been smashed into pieces.

Amidst all that, Three-Leg had formed a seal with a single hand and avoided the impact with that at the last second.

"......What, we really were being spied on. Even so, what a surprise attack."

He smiled bitterly and turned in the direction of the road.

Then, Ohtomo Jin spoke quietly with a sad - but fearless - expression:

"You're quite anxious for battle, Zenjirou."

The date was about to change soon.

It seemed inconceivable that it was this cold but it hadn't snowed. More importantly, he was in a van stopped in a park. Of course the heat was on, but the frigid air outside still slowly seeped into the floor.

Yamashiro Hayato who sat in the driver's seat checked the time with his watch. Tap. He lightly tapped the steering wheel with his fingertip.

He was a young man who gave off a sharp impression. He wore a light down coat over his simple suit. Though his proper appearance looked rational, they looked slightly arrogant, maybe because of his youth. Though he currently wasn't showing any expression, he seemed to believe that it was extremely stupid to kill time on standby.

Yamashiro glanced at the rearview mirror. He wasn't sure how many times this made it, but the scenery reflected there hadn't changed even after his multiple observations.

Two men sat in the back of the van.

The one sitting in the row behind him was a man who looked around forty years old and whose hair was mixed with white. His body was long and slender, and his old-styled clothing suited him extremely well. It was just that his face looked quite poor. It didn't look like his body was unwell. His expression was also scarce, and he sat in the backseat with an expression that made one doubt whether he was a corpse, reading a book by the illumination of the car's interior light.

And sitting behind him, in the rearmost row of the van, was a pithy and poignant man of about twenty-five. He was also dressed in a suit. Though he didn't have a tie, something gentlemanly could be felt from his cool and composed atmosphere. Even in his seated posture in the van, his back was straight and it didn't feel like his muscles were relaxed. He was currently crossing his arms and closing his eyes, meditating without a sound. A katana - his trusted blade - leaned against the seat next to him.

The two were Mystical Investigators belonging to the Mystical Crime Investigation Bureau - Yamashiro's coworkers. But the two had a longer history in the Exorcist Bureau over the Mystical Investigators. Moreover, both of them were proud, first-rate Onmyouji of the Onmyou Agency.

Former Special Senser, the 'Divine Eye' of the Twelve Divine Generals, Miyoshi Tougo.

Former Independent Officer, the 'Heavenly Sword' of the Twelve Divine Generals, Kogure Zenjirou.

One was the man who had been valued as having the 'most precious ability in the Onmyou Agency', and one was the man that everyone agreed had been the youngest elite of the Exorcist Bureau. Kogure had transferred from the Exorcist Bureau to the Mystical Investigators because of last year's business, but Miyoshi had just finished transferring last month.

Independent Exorcists were the elites of the spiritual disaster purification teams. Yamashiro was also extremely astonished when Kogure, who had been admired on the frontlines, had been suddenly transferred to the Mystical Investigators. But the entire Onmyou Agency was powerfully shaken when Spirit Senser Miyoshi, who was invaluable to spiritual disaster purification, had transferred outside the Exorcist Bureau. Also, it was completely unexpected that these two would be teaming with him. Yamashiro himself was also a National First-Class Onmyouji who had obtained 'First-class Onmyou' qualifications. A Mystical Investigator team formed of three Divine Generals was probably unprecedented.

But it was certainly true that the Mystical Investigators currently needed to act this boldly because their talent was insufficient. It wasn't a problem of the number of Mystical Investigators or of lowered quality, but the cases that the Mystical Investigators were responsible for were too difficult and complex. Yamashiro and the others were on standby inside the van this night because of one of those cases.

"......Officer Miyoshi. No movement?"

Yamashiro asked, looking across the mirror.

Miyoshi, who sat behind him, said:

"Yamashiro-shi. I'm no longer a Special Senser. I'm just a Mystical Investigator now."

The huge-name newcomer Mystical Investigator rested his gaze on his book, not planning on raising his face. Yamashiro had acted together with Miyoshi once before he had transferred, when they had gone to visit Seishuku Temple. He also understood his troublesome personality. Of course, it wasn't the kind of problem where just understanding it would make it no longer irritating.

"......Miyoshi-san. Movement?"

"None."

Miyoshi replied flatly to Yamashiro's change of tone. Yamashiro moved his gaze from Miyoshi to Kogure in the mirror.

Maybe specially confirming was an impolite action. But in the end, he still asked.

"......Kogure-san. Is the information that Kengyou is coming in contact with Gathering correct?"

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 631