Volume 3
Chapter 3 Part
3
Malice Sneers
and Swallows the Cloudy Sky 3
Translator : PolterGlast
"It's about time
I went back to the academy, huh? It's easy for Master to say so."
Due to hearing Yuge
Kojou's order to go home, he pursed his lips and muttered to himself. So, for a
change of pace, Nakiri Jin went to one of Karen's bustling main streets.
―He is aware of Kojou's concern.
Tenryo Academy will
not begin officially until September.
The progress of classes
is reasonably fast, and if he were to return late, he would not be able to keep
up with his studies.
For Nakiri Jin, who is
currently in his third year of junior high school, he knows that his grades
during this period will have a significant impact on his future career.
Even so, Jin's mood
did not improve.
In fact, Jin does not
feel as much contempt for the [Treasure of the Northern Region] as Kojou might
have thought.
He knew that he could
understand the overwhelming strength of Yuge Kojou by standing up close to him.
The reason why he was
still reluctant to return to the academy was because he wanted to have as many
combat training with Kojou as possible in order to qualify for the Tenran
Tournament.
The Jinroin style,
which boasts overwhelming speed and attack range, is the fastest of any style
in battle.
The wide area of
attack is directly substituted for tactical power. In other words, maintaining
distance is synonymous with monopolizing an overwhelming advantage.
In fact, the fact that
the Jinrouin-school has never been omitted from the top three in the Tenran
Tournament is one of the Province's greatest boasts often mentioned by those
from the Hakudō Province.
Even if the [Treasure
of the Northern Region] were to win the juvenile division of the Tenran
Tournament, it would not look good for Nakiri Jin if he did not make it to the
top three.
Yuge Kojou may not be
aware of this, but as Kojou's personal disciple, the expectations placed on him
by the Nakiri family have risen beyond measure, so Jin wanted to prepare fully
for the tournament even if it meant dropping his academy grades.
However, Jin was only
allowed to stay in Karen for a week, and although he hoped to be able to
practice with Kojou, he had been ordered by Kojou to work alongside Akira,
which was a headache for him.
He walked aimlessly
through the crowd, lost in his thoughts.
He scanned the front
of the lined-up stores, but even the shopkeepers who tried to call him showed
no sign of being interested in Jin, who had no intention of buying anything.
With a sigh, he looked
around.
In Hakudō Province,
the streets are decorated in a foreign style that cannot be found even in the
capital, and the people are dressed in the fashionable attire popularized by
the civilization's opening to the outside world.
―And at that moment, Akira slipped through the gaps
between people and ran away.
"Oh, isn't that
junior? What's going- ......"
He raised one hand to
the person with whom he had just formed a friendship with, but without giving
him a glance, as if he was in a great hurry, he disappeared into the crowd.
―And then,
"Over
there!" "We have strict orders, make sure to catch him!!"
As if following his
stunned gaze, several men rush past him.
"...... What's up
with that guy? Is he involved in something strange?"
Jin furrowed his
eyebrows at the scene unfolding before his eyes.
The figure of his
acquaintance was also covered in rags and suspicious-looking, and the
atmosphere of the men who chased behind him was not that of official men
either.
It took him a while to
decide what to do about his friend who ran past him.
After a few moments of hesitation, Jin's toes
turned toward the troublesome matter that had run past him.
――――――――――
He had been chased for
quite some time without knowing where he should run to. Somehow, before he knew
it, he found himself in a corner where a row of factories stood side by side.
―Strange.
Without slowing down
his running speed, a question popped up in the corner of his mind.
Although it is almost
dusk, it is still early to get home from work.
And yet, the factories
and warehouses that surround the area are so chilly that he can't sense any
sign of life.
―A barrier to keep people away. And over such a large
area at that,
Realizing the reality
that he had been lured in, Akira gritted his teeth inwardly.
A barrier technique
that misleads the consciousness of people who were there and encourages them to
clear away from a certain area.
It is one of the most
well-known techniques in the Onmyojutsu, but when it covers such a wide area,
it is not something that can be deployed single-handedly.
They even go to such
great lengths to capture Akira alone. Even though he understood in his head
that there was no shortage of reasons to be chased, when faced with the reality
of the situation, confusion was the only thing that occupied his thoughts.
"Damn it!"
"Damn you,
brat!!"
In desperation, Akira
tried to release the metal-element offensive talisman,
―The men shot out flames of fire that rushed toward
Akira's hand and the impact sent the talisman flying.
"―These bastard!!
They don't even care about the city!"
With cursing words
stuffed down his throat, Akira kneaded up his spiritual power.
The spiritual power
that circulated in his body instantly healed his fingertips that had been
burned by the heat wave, and it overflowed from his control and dissipated with
a vermillion-gold glow.
The system of spirit
techniques is broadly divided into two systems: external and internal
techniques.
Since the spirit
weapon mainly contributes to the external technique, there is no obstacle in
exercising the internal technique even if one is unarmed.
―In addition, internal techniques are less likely to
cause damage to the surroundings.
While exercising
Aragamioroshi, Akira turned around. At once, he went on the offensive.
Diving into his
opponents' range of attack, Akira flicked two fire-element offensive talismans
toward his opponents at close range.
The man, perhaps
intimidated by the approaching Akira, turned his head and saw the fire-element
offensive talismans dancing in his field of vision.
"Fuck......!"
"I won't let
you!"
A cat was bitten by a
rat. But unfortunately for Akira, there was more than one cat.
The other one grabbed
Akira's arm as he was about to activate the talismans, and threw him onto the
ground.
The rags that covered
Akira were pulled off, exposing his petite frame.
The men were stunned
by Akira's figure seen from behind the rags.
"You're not the
old man, after all!?"
"Damn it. They
should have confirmed it when he came out of the association.
Where did they
switch!?"
Akira raised his
eyebrows at the cursing words uttered by the bewildered men.
They perceived Akira
and Gensei as different people.
―So the men were chasing an old man named Gensei, not
Akira.
If that was the case,
then there was still a silver lining to this whole mess.
"Don't hesitate!
There's no way this guy has nothing to do with Gensei.
If we catch and
torture a mere little boy like him, he will easily spill everything he
knows."
"―Indeed."
...... I wish they
would have given that part a little more thought.
Akira complained
inwardly about the shortsightedness of the men who expressed their agreement.
The saving grace is
that the obvious shortsightedness and lack of hesitation can also be seen as an
opportunity to take advantage of.
Betting on this
glimmer of hope, Akira opened his mouth to argue.
"...... Come on,
you know that a mere kid like me has nothing to do with him. If you don't get
moving and go looking for him, he's going to get away, you know?"
"Heck, no. I've
never heard of a mere kid with a bunch of offensive talismans.
All those talismans
must have been given to you by Gensei for self-defense!"
It is true that it is
a crime for a commoner, even a regular soldier, to carry a talisman except on
duty or in an emergency.
However, Akira is a
protector. Under the guise of being prepared for emergencies, he was officially
granted permission to carry talismans.
The men's conclusion
was completely off, but it was annoying to see them come up with a surprisingly
valid point from seemingly the opposite direction.
Moreover, if they were
to probe into the details of this matter, it would not be good for Akira.
After all, even
Kihouin, who has been supporting him, does not know anything about Akira's
business dealings involving talismans.
To be honest, he does
not even want to think about how Kihouin would react if they were to find out.
Currently, Akira can
use only two spirit techniques, Aragamioroshi and Hayabusa-gake.
And Hayabusa-gake is
difficult to use in a confined space due to poor control.
―Is that really all there is to it?
His memory interjects
a question. What did Fuwa Naotoshi, who taught him when he was a child, once
say?
―Onmyoujutsu is something that begins and ends with the
movement of one's sword finger.
In other words,
Onmyojutsu is the art of severance.
Construct a technique
and sever it with a sword-finger.
It can be said that
the thing that replaces the sword-finger as a weapon is the spirit vessel.
......If so,
Revealing his
determination, Akira moved his sword-finger to slash without holding any
talisman.
Kihoin-style
Spirit Technique, Shoden―
"......
Enga!"
A considerable amount
of flames gushed out of control, and tremendous pain struck Akira's fingers.
Still, the spirit
technique barely took shape, and a flying slash split the men apart.
"Damn. This kid,
he's a fallen nobility!"
"......Wait,
something's wrong."
The men turned their
attention to the motionless Akira while trying to keep their distance from him.
The enormous amount of
heat burned Akira's fingers, and the recoil that nearly caused it to go out of
control robbed his fingertips of any sensation.
―It was no surprise. The spiritual power that acquired
the orientation of the fire element, which was most prominent in its
aggressiveness, was forcefully channeled through his fingertips.
A reckless attempt. If
it were not for him being a Kanna-no-Mikura, he would have failed for sure.
"Haha~, you sure
make us nervous there.
You have no more means
of resistance, right? Just stay down and let us do our job."
"...... I have no
more means of resistance?"
Dripping with greasy
sweat, Akira raised his face. What emerged there was a determination and a
fierce smile full of fighting spirit.
He confirmed that the
sword-finger would serve as a substitute for the spirit vessel.
Then the question that
remained was where to release the recoil of the spiritual power that gained its
orientation.
―As the brilliance of the vermillion gold healed him,
Akira forcefully crossed his finger and pulled out a talisman.
He held his
fire-element talisman above his head, and with his sword-finger still in place,
he swung it down between the men, who were slow to react.
"―Kyūshou!!"
As soon as the
talisman was burnt out, the spiritual power released rolled around his
sword-finger, turning it into flames.
Instantly, one of the
men was blown away by the expanding crimson flames and slammed into the wall of
the building.
"Gah!"
A talisman is a tool
that contains spiritual power and is used to shoulder the recoil caused by a
technique. The reason why recovery talisman and offensive talismans are burned
up is because they shoulder all the recoil.
In other words, since
the recoil is shouldered by the talisman, Akira should be able to use spirit
techniques according to the number of talismans he has!
―There are only two offensive talismans left.
"You...
bastard!!"
One of the men jumped
back to avoid the impact, then released after firing offensive talismans and he
began to counterattack.
All of them, which
could be confirmed, were water-element offensive talismans. Perhaps the man
already expected Akira to use fire elements, his response was pretty fast.
Water conquers Fire. To
counter fire-elements, the best choice would be to use water-elements......
Akira's fingertips
danced as the pain receded, and the drawn offensive talisman blazed away at the
tip of his sword-finger.
The moment it
vanished, the type of talisman that was revealed was a wood-element talisman.
Water creates Wood.
The Wood Qi devoured all the Water Qi in the place, and gave Akira more
spiritual power than what was contained in the talisman.
―Akira recalled the spirit technique he had seen
several times before.
With this much
spiritual power inside the talisman, it would fully support the logic of the
jutsu.
Nonoka and Naotoshi.
The image of the two wielding such spiritual technique passed through his
memory,
It was only the
lingering trace of the Hariin-school basics that had been ingrained in his body
that assisted Akira in his recklessness.
Hariin-style
Spirit Technique, Chuden―
"Gokō,
nanakamado!!"
Akira, now a fortress,
closed the gap against the remaining man.
Even though the man
fired a few spells at him, his thin, flickering rock armor blocked all of them.
"Guh... Damn
it!!"
"It's over!"
The man's resistance
is futile.
Akira would not allow
him to escape.
Pulling out the last
talisman, he pressed the metal-element offensive talisman into his opponent.
A powerful wind blew,
and the roaring sound caused by the sudden increase in air pressure struck both
of them.
Immediately afterward,
the wind pressure that was released knocked the man's consciousness away along
with his entire body.
"......
Haaaaa~"
The battle was over,
and Akira, who was the last person standing, exhaled heavily.
The only thing that he
learned was that the men were after Gensei and not Akira.
―I guess I can't earn money as a Gensei for a while.
His income as a
protector is beginning to be sufficient. As a matter of fact, this happened
right after he began to think that it would be problematic to rely too much on
Gensei's income.
Thinking that this
might be just the right chance, he was about to turn on his heel, but then
Akira's toes froze.
There was a single
shadow of a man in the corner ahead of him. It was obvious that he was a
comrade of the enemy.
He braced himself, but
there was no talisman left in his hand.
Thinking that this was
it, he reached out his palm to the void to use his final resort,
―But, before he could do so, the man collapsed
silently, his white eyes peeling back.
"........................
Huh?"
"―Good grief, it
took me a while to find the barrier.
But, well, looks like
I made it in time for the big show."
In Akira's stunned
vision, Nakiri Jin appeared while grumbling.
Not an enemy. Seeing
Jin's harmless appearance, Akira slumped to the ground.
"You're being too
relaxed, Junior.
If I were an enemy,
what would you do?"
"It's too late
now that you have shown yourself.
...... but you saved
me. Thank you, senpai."
"Well, it's my
pleasure.
...... So, who are
these guys?"
Akira, taking Jin's
outstretched hand and standing up, tilted his head as he was asked that
question.
"Who knows?"
"What do you mean
by who knows? You-......"
"It can't be
helped if I don't know.
You see, looks like
they've got the wrong person to chase, and before I could ask for more details,
they've gone and attacked me."
Upon hearing this
response from the impish Akira, Jin involuntarily bursts out laughing.
"Haha~, so you
mean, these guys attacked you by mistake?"
"...... That's
the truth.
Speaking of which,
where's Yuge-sama?"
Three skilled men and
a barrier to ward off people. It would have been a fool's errand if they had
gone to all this trouble only to end up with the wrong person.
The truth aside, Akira
expressed his affirmation.
"He is
negotiating at the garrison headquarters to be active in your garrison.
...... So, what are we
gonna do about this?"
As Akira looked
around, the entire area around him was scorched by the aftermath of the Kyūshō.
Furthermore, there
were men who collapsed on the ground.
Even though the
barrier is still in place, it is inevitable that people will eventually return,
and Akira will be in trouble if he were to be exposed to the public eye.
―Without much worry, Akira gave his answer.
"Leave them
alone. It's none of my business anyway, and I don't want to cause any trouble
for the Kihoin-sama."
Although he was
curious about the identity of the other party, Akira didn't have the time to
investigate.
He was about to open
his mouth to quickly leave this place, when he noticed Jin turning his stern
gaze behind him.
Akira turned around
and saw the man who had been knocked unconscious against the wall getting up.
"Bastard!!"
"......Yuge? Does
this mean that Gensei is in the hands of Hakudō Province?
I must go report
this."
"Wait.
Aren't you
misunderstanding something?"
Ignoring Jin, who
opened his mouth to correct the misunderstanding, the man slammed a talisman
onto the ground.
The resulting impact
swelled up, covered the area with a thunderous blast, and kicked up a cloud of
dust and smoke.
With their eyes wide
open, Jin and Akira made their way through the billowing dust, and when the
wind cleared the area, they found the man was gone.
"He
escaped."
"...... What are
we gonna do? He made a big misunderstanding, I'm certain of it."
"Right, my bad. I
dragged you into this."
"Well, it's fine.
...... or rather,
isn't this a good opportunity?"
"Huh?"
Working to resolve
this issue would be a reason to extend his stay in Karen.
Hiding his true
intentions behind his back, Jin held Akira's shoulder and whispered to him.
"So the thing is.
Whatever they are, they misunderstood the connection between someone and the
Hakudō Province and ran away."
"...... Well,
something like that."
"Judging by their
way of working, it's a group of shadow workers with no official affiliation.
―They will definitely contact me directly. It would be
a good opportunity to find out who's in charge and who they really are."
"I don't think
it's going to be that simple, though."
"It doesn't have
to. It's none of my business anyway.
I don't care if they
even try to probe me, they won't find anything."
"...... Well,
that's true."
It's decided then.
Laughing, Jin thrust out his fist.
Although Akira was
worried about where this would lead him to, it is not good for him to keep the
current situation as it is.
...... After all, he
also wants to continue his activities as Gensei for a while longer.
―In the end, Akira gave in and bumped his fist with
Jin's.
――――――――――
Kufu. A young, thin
throat purred like a cat.
As the autumn breeze
rustled uneasily, the mouth of the young girl, who was swaying in the void,
smiled a satisfied smile.
"So you chose to
meddle with my things, huh? What a treacherous bastard.
Did you think you
could hurt Akira and get away with it?"
As the lingering
autumn sunlight quickens the footsteps of the approaching darkness, tender
fingertips, like delicate fish, dance in the air.
There is nothing to
grasp beyond it. No. In her eyes, which are filled with blue flames, there is a
reflection of silk threads colored in vermillion and gold.
The thread of fate
woven together by Shuka.
Originally, it should
be Shiro's prerogative to interfere with fate, but if it is fate that is
connected to Shuka, then there would be an exception.
Carefully, she reached
out her fingers to the silk threads. Looking for a glimpse of the future.
......The answer came
immediately.
"I saw it, I saw
it.
―Hohou~, how nostalgic."
There, the girl
spotted a foreign god who had drifted in from the outer sea, and she
scrutinized this opponent carefully with her twin eyes.
A slight touch would
not be enough to pull him into Shuka's divine realm.
However, the girl
directly extended her finger toward Akira, even though she did not intend to.
"You have finally
exposed your foolishness, huh? Gourd Catfish (Hyōtan Namazu).
That said, it would
have been a waste if I were to simply let things continue as they were."
Shuka, taking
advantage of the fact that her opponent was still unaware of his blunder,
carefully pulled the silk thread in her hand.
With this, no matter
how hard he struggles, connections will be made in the not-too-distant future.
―This is a great opportunity. If I did not make the
most of this opportunity, I would be a failure as a woman.
It is the goodwill of
the Divine Pillar to the point of arrogance, wishing for Akira's success.
Looking down at the
cityscape of Karen spreading out beside her, the Great Pillar of Fire, in the
form of a young girl, slouched happily to the side.
"Dance,
Nurarihyon.
And serve yourself to
be Akira's food to your heart's content."
A childish laugh with
a coquettish glamour added color to the breeze,
―The girl, in a manner that is unmistakably that of a
divine pillar, ridiculed her opponent, whom she could no longer trace.
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