Chapter 59: Signing a Shikigami
"Mr. Gin Tsumugi, you really do not need to keep feeling guilty about the Taizan Fukun Ritual. There were reasons for what happened."
Seeing the brief hesitation in Gin's expression, Tsuchimikado Natsume misunderstood it as remorse and hurriedly continued.
"The matter is over. It did not cause any real loss to the Tsuchimikado Clan, and the residents of Mitsuwa Town have already been pacified. For the few households that suffered damage or were hurt in the chaos, the clan has personally arranged compensation."
She paused, then looked at him with unusual seriousness.
"And as for Harutora and me, we should be thanking you this time."
Gin understood at once what she meant.
It was about Tsuchimikado Yakou.
"Even if I had said nothing," Gin replied, "you would have learned the truth sooner or later."
"Perhaps," Natsume said softly. "But by then, who knows how much later that would have been? During that time, Harutora and I would still have been walking around in the dark, knowing nothing, understanding nothing."
Her gaze lowered slightly.
"I hate that feeling. Being deliberately kept in the dark by your own family."
The morning breeze moved lightly through the corridor outside the courtyard, carrying with it the faint chill that remained after dawn. Natsume stood there in silence for a moment before speaking again.
After the Taizan Fukun Ritual ended the previous night, after that terrifying thing from the Underworld had been driven back, Tsuchimikado Hirotaka and Tsuchimikado Chizuru had finally told them everything.
Why Harutora and Natsume's identities had been switched.
Why the truth that Harutora was the reincarnation of Tsuchimikado Yakou had been buried beneath seals and falsehoods.
Why the clan had allowed Natsume to stand beneath that burden in his place.
The revelation had struck Harutora hard. Even now, he was still in a daze, caught somewhere between disbelief and betrayal. Natsume, on the other hand, understood more than she resented.
If Harutora's identity had been exposed too early, the malice directed at the Tsuchimikado Clan would have become far more dangerous than what she herself had been carrying. There were too many in the Onmyo Agency, too many in the world of Onmyodo, who still viewed the name Tsuchimikado Yakou with fear, hatred, greed, or suspicion. If the real reincarnation had been revealed at the wrong time, it could have dragged the entire clan into disaster.
So the Tsuchimikado Clan had chosen deception.
A necessary deception, perhaps, but deception all the same.
There was selfishness mixed into it too. Hirotaka had not hidden that part from her. Tsuchimikado Yasuzumi was not acting solely for the clan or for Onmyodo. He was also acting as a father desperate to shield his son.
Now, however, things were different.
The Tsuchimikado Clan had already been preparing to send Harutora and Natsume together to the Onmyo Academy. In truth, they had long since begun moving toward a future where Harutora would no longer remain hidden forever. That secret was never one that could be buried for life. If Gin could see through it at a glance, then others eventually would as well.
And whether anyone liked it or not, the reincarnation of Tsuchimikado Yakou would become an existence that could not be ignored in this era of supernatural upheaval.
Natsume lifted her head and looked at him again.
"So yes," she said, "I can understand why the clan did what it did. But that does not mean I enjoyed learning it so late. Or like this."
Gin was quiet for a beat, then nodded.
There was nothing false in what she said.
With the matter laid bare between them, neither of them bothered with hollow politeness. Natsume then informed him that the Senji Ryakketsu had been unsealed and that he could go borrow it that evening if he still wished.
Gin did not refuse.
He watched Natsume depart along the corridor, her figure gradually disappearing beyond the courtyard bend. Only after she was gone did he let the silence settle around him.
He exhaled softly.
"So many things that make no sense," he murmured.
Then he shook his head and pushed those thoughts aside for the time being.
Whatever the Tsuchimikado Clan was thinking, it was not a bad outcome for him.
More importantly, if he truly got to see the Senji Ryakketsu this time, the role playing system would almost certainly advance again.
With that thought, Gin called up the system panel.
[Abe no Seimei, Founder of Onmyodo]
[Role Playing Progress: Youth Stage 90%]
[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]
The increase had exceeded even his own expectations.
He had originally estimated that the Taizan Fukun Ritual, even with his direct participation, would raise the progress to around eighty percent at most. Instead, it had leapt all the way to ninety. A full twenty nine percent increase.
Of course, part of that came from more than just assisting Suzuka.
After all, he had performed the Taizan Fukun Ritual himself. He had also fought Hirotaka and the others while borrowing Hokuto's thousand years of accumulated spiritual power, reproducing techniques that belonged to that distant dream of the Heian era. Those things had clearly been recognized by the system.
Gin lowered the panel.
"At this rate, once the system advances again, breaking into National Level Onmyoji territory should not be a problem at all."
His gaze darkened slightly.
Professional Level Onmyoji had once felt strong enough. Not anymore.
Not after the frequency of supernatural incidents lately.
Not after Mount Fuji.
Not after Yamata no Orochi.
The era ahead would only grow more dangerous. If he wanted to protect himself, and the White Fox Office along with him, he needed to step into the National Level as soon as possible.
He did not return to his guest room.
He did not go to the library either.
Instead, he turned and followed a quieter route through the estate, passing garden walls, old stone paths, and unused corridors until he arrived at a remote courtyard so neglected that even the wind seemed to move more cautiously there.
At its center was a dry well.
This was where Zenki and Koki had once been sealed.
The moment Gin stepped into the courtyard, he felt the waiting presence below.
The next instant, a violent blast of air erupted from the mouth of the well.
Boom.
Two towering figures shot upward and landed heavily on the cracked earth of the courtyard. Dust scattered. The already decaying walls shuddered from the impact.
Zenki and Koki had been waiting.
The excitement in their eyes was impossible to miss.
"Awoo... Master," Zenki said, voice trembling with anticipation. "Have you come to take us away?"
Koki, standing beside him, said nothing at first, but her six eyes were fixed entirely on Gin, filled with the same restrained longing.
Before Gin could answer, another presence descended into the courtyard.
A brown yellow dragon coiled down from above, its enormous body filling the already cramped space with overwhelming pressure. Hokuto lowered its head the moment it saw Gin, its eyes bright and eager, no different from a dog waiting for its owner to finally call its name.
The arrival of that dragon instantly soured Zenki's mood.
He turned and glared.
"That detestable dragon."
Hokuto stiffened on the spot.
Its huge body trembled visibly under Zenki's gaze. The wound from Zenki's axe had already healed, but the memory clearly had not. If the Tsuchimikado Clan had not paid a considerable price to treat it, Hokuto would likely still be unable to move.
And in all honesty, it had not entirely been Hokuto's fault.
Back in the Heian era, when it had first followed its master, it had been little more than a young dragon. Its connection to that aura had never been as keen as Zenki and Koki's. A thousand years had passed since then. Hesitation was inevitable.
"Enough, Zendō," Gin said. "Stop frightening Hokuto."
Zenki immediately withdrew his killing glare, though he still snorted with obvious displeasure.
Gin then looked at the two Kishin before him.
"Zendō. Myōdō."
The two of them straightened at once.
"I may be leaving the Tsuchimikado estate tomorrow," Gin said. "Are you willing to come with me?"
For a brief second, both Zenki and Koki froze.
Then their bodies trembled.
The answer to a thousand years of waiting had finally arrived.
Koki dropped to one knee first.
"Myōdō will naturally follow Master once more."
Zenki followed immediately after.
"Zendō will likewise follow Master once more."
The ground beneath them lit up.
A pair of contract formations unfolded beneath the two Kishin, complex and ancient, carrying a solemnity that did not belong to this era. Without the slightest hesitation, Zenki and Koki offered themselves into the covenant.
Gin raised a hand.
The Shikigami Contract was completed.
In the next moment, the two Kishin vanished from sight, retreating into the surrounding spiritual space connected to him. They would remain there, guarding him unseen until he summoned them again.
From this point onward, the situation had changed completely.
With Zenki and Koki at his side, two yokai gods whose power was comparable to a Great Yokai, there were suddenly very few supernatural threats left in Japan that Gin truly had to fear.
If the increase in role playing progress had been one major harvest from this trip, then signing the contract with Zenki and Koki was the other.
The system panel flickered again.
[Abe no Seimei, Founder of Onmyodo]
[Role Playing Progress: Youth Stage 95%]
Gin's eyes sharpened slightly.
"Even signing the contract increased it by another five percent."
That meant only five percent remained before the next stage.
Even without the Senji Ryakketsu, he was now confident he could make up the final gap within a week. But if the Senji Ryakketsu could accelerate that process, then naturally he would still take the opportunity.
Beside him, Hokuto let out a low, urgent sound.
It had been waiting the whole time, watching Zenki and Koki gain their answer while it remained ignored. Now the dragon could not endure the suspense any longer.
It spiraled around Gin, enormous body encircling him almost possessively, then lowered its head and rubbed against him with undisguised pleading.
Its meaning could not have been clearer.
Gin looked at Hokuto and sighed.
"The Tsuchimikado Clan has raised you for over a thousand years. They have worshipped you, relied on you, and treated you as their guardian beast for all that time. I cannot just take you away as well."
Zenki and Koki were different.
Taking them with him would, if anything, remove two enormous hidden dangers from the Tsuchimikado Clan. Their departure was practically doing the family a favor.
Hokuto, however, was the Tsuchimikado guardian beast.
That was an entirely different matter.
He had no intention of asking for the Tsuchimikado Clan's dragon outright. He was not that shameless.
Hokuto's mood plummeted visibly.
Its head drooped.
The dragon looked so miserable that, in another context, it would have been almost funny.
Gin shook his head.
"Still, I will not sever the Shikigami Contract from last night. If the situation calls for it, I will summon you."
That much had already been discussed with Hirotaka.
To avoid misunderstanding, Gin had spoken to him about it openly after last night's battle. In exchange, he had offered the method of allowing Hokuto's spiritual power to fuse with its master's body, a technique the Tsuchimikado Clan had never possessed despite raising Hokuto for generations.
To Gin's surprise, Hirotaka had agreed almost instantly.
So quickly, in fact, that it had briefly left Gin wondering whether asking to take Hokuto altogether might actually have worked.
"Awoo..."
Hokuto let out a reluctant sound.
It clearly was not satisfied.
But after hearing that the contract would remain, the dragon's mood improved a little. In the end, it circled once more around Gin and settled nearby, remaining at his side with stubborn loyalty.
.....
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