Chapter 16
Genji raised an eyebrow. "Even with the risk?"
"Even with the risk, you have to go," Eriri clenched her fists. "I can't… I can't just stand by and watch my father struggle like that. And if this cursed spirit really keeps killing, then the sooner we deal with it, the fewer people will die."
She paused, her voice softening. "Of course, if you think it's too dangerous…"
"No," Genji interrupted, the corners of his lips lifting almost imperceptibly. "It's just a cursed spirit. It doesn't make me feel 'dangerous.'"
"Okay, now show me the information about the crime scene," Eriri quickly pulled out her phone and started searching for the keywords "Ginza British aristocrat death." Soon, several news articles appeared. Although the details were vague, they mentioned the name and approximate location of the hotel.
"Ginza 3-chome, the Imperial Hotel penthouse," she read the address.
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The hour hand pointed to one in the morning.
Eriri crouched at the entrance, tiptoeing as she changed her shoes like a thief. She was wearing a dark tracksuit for easy movement—not her signature green school tracksuit, but a running outfit her mother had bought her last year, which she had only worn a couple of times.
Her long golden hair was hastily tied into twin tails. A few stray strands stuck to the corners of her forehead, slightly damp from nervousness.
The living room was dark. The door to her parents' bedroom was closed, with no light seeping through the crack—Eriri had confirmed twenty minutes ago, when she had pretended to go to the bathroom, that the light in her father's study was off and her mother was already asleep.
"Ready?" Genji's voice sounded in her ear, light as a breath of night wind.
Eriri took a deep breath and nodded. Her hands were trembling, but not just from fear—more from a mix of guilty excitement and adrenaline.
For the first time in sixteen years, she was sneaking out of the house late at night to do something no one would believe: hunting a cursed spirit with a sorcerer.
"Then let's go," Genji said.
Eriri carefully turned the lock on the door. The latch made a soft click, especially sharp in the silence of the night. She froze for a moment, listening—no sound from the bedroom. Only then did she dare to slowly open the door, slip out like a cat, and gently close it behind her.
Late April nights were still chilly. The streets were empty. The streetlights cast dim circles on the asphalt. Eriri stood outside her apartment building, instinctively pulling her jacket tighter, and looked toward the intersection—were there any taxis this late? Ginza wasn't exactly close…
"No need for a taxi," Genji appeared beside her.
In the moonlight, he was still in his indigo hunting robes, but his expression now was no longer relaxed and casual. It was focused, almost intensely calm.
He extended his right hand, five fingers pressing into the air. Some invisible vibration spread from his palm. The air around them began to twist and converge, like ink dripping into water, layers of shadows blending together.
Eriri held her breath.
The shadows grew thicker, more defined.
First came the wings—massive indigo feathers, each with a metallic sheen along the edges and dark silver veins glinting in the moonlight.
Then came the body—slender and strong, like a legendary divine beast or a celestial horse, its back broad enough to hold thirty or forty people.
Finally, the head—resembling a giant eagle, but with a spiral horn on its forehead, and eyes like molten gold with vertical pupils.
"This is…" Eriri murmured.
"A crane," Genji said, his palm stroking the lowered neck of the giant creature. "One of the ten shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique. I named it—'Shadow Crane.'"
The crane—Shadow Crane—let out a low cry. The sound didn't travel through the air but resonated directly inside Eriri's head, carrying some ancient, majestic quality. It tilted its head, its molten gold vertical pupils looking at Eriri. There was no hostility in its eyes, only an indifferent gaze.
"It can fly," Genji added. "And it's fast."
Before he finished speaking, he grabbed Eriri by the back of her jacket—so fast that she didn't even react—lifted her up like a kitten, and then lightly tossed her onto Shadow Crane's broad back.
"Whoa—!"
Eriri's exclamation caught in her throat. The fall she expected didn't come. Instead, she landed steadily on soft, springy feathers. The feathers on Shadow Crane's back were much thicker than they looked. It felt like sinking into an excellent down mattress, but not too soft—the sense of security was firmly supported.
Genji jumped up and sat down behind her. He didn't hold onto anything, just sat calmly, the sleeves of his hunting robes rustling in the night wind.
"Sit still," he said.
Then Shadow Crane spread its wings.
It wasn't "spreading"—it was "exploding." The wings instantly unfurled, their span exceeding dozens of meters, covering the entire night sky above Eriri's head.
The indigo feathers shimmered with a dark silver glow in the moonlight. Every detail looked like meticulously forged metal, yet was incredibly soft.
In the next moment, a powerful thrust came from beneath.
Eriri instinctively closed her eyes and grabbed the feathers beneath her with both hands—but the expected weightlessness wasn't that intense. Shadow Crane's takeoff was surprisingly smooth. No violent jolts, no sudden acceleration—just a continuous, steady sensation of rising, like riding in a modern elevator.
She cautiously opened one eye.
Then her breath stopped.
The ground was receding.
Apartment buildings grew smaller and smaller, like building blocks stacked by children.
Streets turned into thin lines of light. Cars were specks of light crawling along those lines.
In the distance, the orange-red lights of Tokyo Tower stood quietly in the night. Further beyond, the lights of the entire city spread out like a galaxy, stretching toward the horizon.
The wind was strong, but not strong enough to blow her away. The air currents brought by the crane's flight were smoothed out by its own cursed energy field, forming a relatively calm zone around its back. Eriri felt the cool night breeze brushing against her cheeks and heard the wind whistling past her ears, but her sitting posture remained stable—even her twin tails weren't too messy.
"How does it feel?" Genji's voice came from behind, with a smile in it.
"…Incredible," Eriri admitted honestly. Her eyes were still greedily scanning the night scene below. This was Tokyo as she had never seen it before—not the blurry silhouette from an airplane window, isolated by clouds, but a real, vibrant city that seemed within reach. "I… I'm flying."