Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

Yuka Yamanaka's low chanting seemed to be nearing its end, and her pace slowed considerably. Meanwhile, her already pale complexion worsened further.

Sweat beaded on her bloodless face, the back of her hand holding the talisman was slightly purple, and her eyes weren't locked on any specific target. Even with Yuri standing right in front of her, she looked perfectly at ease lying in the room. Of course, there was also the very peculiar phenomenon of her hair turning blue, though it had nothing to do with her health.

Yuri cautiously observed his surroundings. In his vision, Yuka Yamanaka was shrouded in an aura of death, but it did not harm her—by the standards of a sin-eater, she might even be healthier than usual.

But it's still a bit scary.

162 (A phrase implying being misled or seeing things in a mirror)

The incantation ended quickly, and the deathly aura surrounding Yuka Yamanaka began to dissipate, but her complexion did not improve.

This is understandable. During the incantation, Yuri observed Yamanaka Yuka and the spiritual aura surrounding her—this supernatural effect seemed to be invoking death, or at least a state of death, enhancing his resonance with death—making himself more "dead." His previous behavior, to put it bluntly, was somewhat like that of a corpse; this could be considered an external effect of the death resonance.

Yuri felt he could replicate the effect, though it might require some practice to improve his skill. He dismissed the idea of ​​trying it immediately; at this point, finding the mastermind was far more important than doing anything to the Gates of Tartaros.

And if he accidentally opens the door and gets sucked in with a "whoosh," he really wouldn't know how to get out.

Back to the present, it seemed the Sin Eater girl wasn't immediately thinking of telling him the information, but Yuri decided to ask anyway, not caring about offending anyone—her expression suggested a serious problem had arisen.

“What exactly happened in the mountains? I believe we can trust each other.” Yuri tried to persuade the other party to tell him the current situation.

Although he did not have high expectations for the level of "mutual trust".

Yuka Yamanaka was silent for a moment before speaking, "...I just tried to resonate with this gate to the underworld."

Indeed, the Gates of Hades did produce some fluctuations just now, but it didn't open—if it had opened, Yuri should have been able to see it—so, the resonance failed?

“I didn’t try to open it. I was trying to feel if there were any special marks on it—whoever opens the gates of the underworld will leave some marks on it, although they will fade over time, but not much time has passed this time.” The sin-eating girl rejected Yuri’s conjecture without knowing the truth. “The result was terrible.”

"No trace left?" Yuri guessed at the result, not thinking it was correct... But if it was wrong, Yuka Yamanaka would probably tell him, "Or did the perception itself fail?"

"I don't know what it is, but Yuri... don't tell anyone what I'm about to say, I'm not entirely sure either." The Sin Eater girl's expression improved slightly, but only temporarily.

Yuri nodded in agreement. What else could he do? "If you tell me, I'll definitely leak the secret"?

Previously, the girl who ate sins didn't often include Yuri's name in conversations, but her current emphasis on it... can only mean that she believes this matter requires special care.

“It’s a spirit binder, Yuri.” Yuka Yamanaka made up her mind. “I can feel it; these are the traces of a spirit binder.”

...Traces of a spirit binding? Yuri began rapidly processing the information about spirit binding in his mind.

It seems the only possible conclusion is something terrible... "Sin-eaters?"

Yuka Yamanaka nodded heavily, then shook her head. "There's a very high chance it's a sin-eater, but it could also be something worse."

Yuri stared into Yuka Yamanaka's eyes. He could see her gaze was shifting; the possibility that the Sin Eaters were behind it all was clearly putting her under immense pressure. But what was worse?

"If it's not the actions of the mastermind that prove it's definitely not the Reaper, then the Reaper is actually a possibility... and after ruling out the Reaper, then it's the Sin Eater."

……Wait a moment?

Yuri reacted quickly, "You sensed traces of spirit binding, but traces of spirit binding could also mean the Reaper?"

This is not good news, not at all.

“Strictly speaking, becoming a Bound Spirit means not being a Reaper—but before the Bound Spirit and the Bound Body are connected—before deciding to make that connection—a powerful ghost that can become a Bound Spirit might also become a Reaper.” A flicker of panic crossed Yamanaka Yuka’s eyes. “Becoming a Bound Spirit, becoming a Reaper, or remaining a normal ghost without becoming either one is the choice of a powerful ghost—they might even be able to switch back and forth between these choices, but usually this transition takes a long time, is a difficult process, and is not very comfortable, and there are no apparent benefits.”

"So you mean you sensed traces of powerful ghosts?" Yuri tentatively confirmed, seeing the other party start shaking his head. "That means, among powerful ghosts, ordinary ghosts are one type, and spirit binders and reapers are another?"

The response this time was a nod.

Great, the process is clear. Yuka Yamanaka discovered traces of a powerful ghost, different from ordinary ghosts, remaining on the Gates of the Underworld—so it must be either a spirit binder or a reaper. Furthermore, the mastermind previously released ghosts instead of capturing them and bringing them back to the Underworld, so it wasn't a reaper—therefore, only spirit binders remain.

Yuri desperately wanted him to be floating near Akemi's sofa, holding occult books, discussing these occult stories and theories with Akemi sitting on the sofa, rather than conducting this research in a situation where they could be attacked and stabbed by sin-eaters at any moment.

"Is it possible that this is a misunderstanding, and that two groups of sin-eaters are actually carrying out different activities?" Yuri quickly found the best-case scenario. "Your group is more focused on protecting the living, while their group wants to pull ghosts out of the underworld and protect them? And the ghost attacks on humans are actually spontaneous acts by the ghosts themselves, which they just haven't been able to manage—"

Yuka Yamanaka's expression shifted on the spot, first showing joy, then suddenly puzzled, and finally returning to her original depressed state, "Shouldn't they have just come out and told us about this? But no one has encountered them?"

Yuri also realized the flaw in his assumption—if such a good thing were true, how did the reporter end up in the hospital receiving an IV drip?

It seems we have no choice but to admit that the mastermind behind this is the Evil Sin Eater, that is, evil humans, Yuri thought.

"Do you know of any other sin-eaters in this city?" Yuri wanted to ask, but as Yamanaka Yuka had previously said, she was "usually excluded from activities involving contacting others," so asking her this question would be pointless.

"If sin-eaters do this, why? What benefit do they get from it?" Let's think about it from a different perspective.

So far, the mastermind's actions seem more like a charitable endeavor—helping ghosts stir up trouble everywhere, without any apparent benefit from such trouble.

"I don't know." Yuka Yamanaka couldn't figure it out either. "Is it possible that it sensed the pain of the underworld and felt that as long as the ghosts left the underworld, everything would be alright?"

"Then let the ghosts surround us?"

"..."

The two tried their best to believe that the mastermind was benevolent, but ultimately failed. Even with self-hypnosis, they couldn't convince themselves that the mastermind harbored good intentions.

“In any case, I’m sure you know without me saying it—being bound doesn’t automatically put you on the path of justice, and neither does being bound to a spirit—we may have run into a schemer this time.” The death aura around Yuka Yamanaka had dissipated, and her complexion had returned to normal. “Yuri, if we corner them in a bit, please hold back—don’t kill them outright.”

Yuri completely understood why the other party thought that way. If he could capture them alive, Yuri would also want to capture them alive, but... "Holding back would obviously be a disadvantage. Are you really sure we have the option to hold back?"

“If we can’t win by holding back, we’ll just retreat, Yuri—listen to me, if this really was the work of both the spirit and the body binder, we have to capture them alive—losing an arm or a leg is acceptable, but death is absolutely unacceptable.” Yamanaka Yuka’s words carried a certain pressure. “…Although it’s almost impossible for the police to catch you, you don’t want to become a murderer, do you?”

Before giving her reason, did the sin-eater girl pause strangely? Yuri wasn't sure why she paused, so he made a note of it before speaking, "Of course I don't want to become a murderer, but if it has to come to that..."

Based on his experience, situations where one is killed without actually killing is quite rare. Being able to choose to kill the opponent means one is stronger, and in such cases, even if one holds back, one can generally escape. This theory should be applied more to humans, since the human body has many more vital points compared to spirits and the dead, and even if one has a significant advantage, it can be reversed in an instant.

“If it really comes down to a life-or-death situation… of course, my own life is more important.” Yamanaka Yuka lowered her voice. “I mean, if choosing to kill will lead to victory, while the other options will only prevent victory without causing any other harm, then choosing the other option is better. I still have several companions; I can call them all over and resolve the situation no matter what.”

Yuri guessed that was her meaning—then of course there was no problem.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Yuri pulled Yuka Yamanaka aside and asked her to point out which part was the "mastermind's" mark.

After complex communication and simulations, Yuri concluded that he had an 80% chance of figuring out which part Yamanaka Yuka was referring to, and a 20% chance that she had also memorized the spirit field of the Gates of Tartaros.

This is a problem. Yuri doesn't know what the normal state of the Gates of Hades is, so he can't tell what new marks have appeared. This is an inherent disadvantage, and it seems that it can't be salvaged in the short term.

The two then left the morgue, where there was probably nothing left to confirm further.

Yuri had a question he didn't tell the sin-eater girl next to him.

Based on previous reasoning, the mastermind is more likely to have "knew" the Sin Eaters' Society's action plan and pre-planned the ambush, rather than having been doing so all along.

He/They have some connection with this society and know how to spread false information to the sin eaters.

Based on the previous reasoning, the mastermind behind this is very likely another group of spirit binders and body binders... who are also sin eaters.

So, when you made contact, didn't you realize anything was amiss? As members of the same clan, shouldn't there have been a clearer connection between you? —But Mr. Minagawa didn't raise this point.

While inquiring about the traces left by the mastermind, he subtly asked how strong the connection between fellow sin eaters was.

Yuka Yamanaka may not have understood Yuri's underlying meaning, or she may have understood but pretended not to. Her answer was that it depended on the strength and characteristics of the spirit bondage, but generally speaking, one would definitely recognize it upon face-to-face. At a distance of about 100 meters to 1 kilometer, without deliberately concealing it, one could sense that the other, also a sin-eater, was performing some kind of supernatural effect. What exactly it was, however, would require getting closer and careful analysis to determine.

For the harvester, the distance is shorter, but exactly how short depends on individual affinity.

The Reapers have long been ruled out, so the mastermind is the Sin Eaters... a distance of 100 meters to 1 kilometer... the hospital is large, but not that large.

The other party may have deliberately concealed it, but what if they hadn't?

There are already four sin-eaters in the hospital, and none of them have reported finding their own kind.

Is it possible that the mastermind is one of these four people? Is it an inside job?

Yuri had no evidence and did not want this outcome, but if he suspected this was the case, then Mr. Minagawa's strange arrangement would make sense.

Bringing only Sin Eaters, four people, makes it easy for someone to be left out in a reasonable way. But by bringing three ordinary people (plus Yuri who randomly joined), the number of people in the teams will almost never be left out. The group with the fewest people also includes Minagawa himself, and he and the other Sin Eater can keep an eye on each other.

Minagawa suspects there's a mole, but he lacks evidence, so he can't say it rashly? Following this line of thought, we can arrive at this reasonable conclusion.

No, that doesn't seem quite right either...

Although many things make sense, if Minagawa had suspected there was a mole beforehand, he should have considered the possibility of an ambush here, but he acted as if he hadn't thought of this situation beforehand.

Is he feigning ignorance to avoid alerting the enemy? In that case, he's really good at pretending.

Is it possible that he himself is the mole? This requires a complete reversal of the hypothesis. It's not entirely impossible, but more conditions need to be introduced. First, the purpose of bringing in ordinary people changes from "grouping and monitoring each other" to "finding obstacles for the other Sin Eaters"—but in this case, why would he bring people in only to actively hinder them? Moreover, he clearly knows the strength of several Sin Eaters, making the ambush he designed seem too weak.

Yuri built a bunch of conjectures on a few unreliable foundations, which more or less correspond to some of the current situation, but also have their own problems.

It's better than having no problems at all, but where is the problem? Which part was overlooked?

"Yuri! Do me a favor, go check the left corridor, is there a group of ghosts there?" Yuka Yamanaka's words interrupted his thoughts.

There was no point in thinking about it any further, so Yuri kept his doubts to himself.

163 An Assured Ambush

“No, not this time either,” Yuri honestly told Yamanaka Yuka his conclusion.

After visiting several more areas, the density of active ghosts seemed to have decreased somewhat, and in some places where Yuri remembered ghosts, the number of ghosts was decreasing.

This should have been a good thing, if Yuri knew why this was happening... but unfortunately he couldn't, as he had no way to monitor the whole situation.

In fact, it was Yuka Yamanaka who first sensed the decrease in the number of ghosts, and Yuri confirmed this... but neither of them knew how the number of ghosts had decreased.

It's unlikely they vanished in such a short time; even if they did, what caused them to disappear so quickly becomes a new question. —Meanwhile, if they didn't vanish, then the mastermind behind it must be plotting something again.

“The situation is changing, in the mountains. Do we really want to continue tracking under these circumstances?” If the girl in front of him were to condemn him for cowardice, Yuri would find it hard to find any words to defend himself—but he was genuinely concerned that it wasn’t particularly safe to wander around like a headless fly in an environment that was slowly changing.

“I think we have to admit that our tracking technology isn’t strong enough to find the mastermind’s location.” Yuka Yamanaka clenched her fist, seemingly trying to bolster her courage. “But I don’t believe we’ll lose in a direct confrontation. Yuri, don’t you think that if we keep searching, the mastermind will jump out and attack us?”

That's right, of course it's right. Yuri felt that if he circled around for a while longer, he would be prepared for whatever the opponent wanted to do. The question was, would he still be able to win if he did that?

"...Give me your ear." Yuka Yamanaka beckoned. "I'll tell you a secret."

Yuri gave her a suspicious look, but still leaned closer.

“I have a way to raise the power of the Spirit Binding to a higher level, but the price is that I will become incapacitated. So if any problems arise, you protect me, and leave the rest to the Spirit Binding.” The Sin Eater girl lowered her voice to the minimum, and Yuri could only vaguely hear her words. “Besides the people in the Society and you, no one should know this. We can use this to catch the mastermind off guard.”

Coincidentally, just over ten minutes ago Yuri was still suspecting you had a mole among yourselves. Yuri's latest theory is that there's a mole inside and an enemy outside, with both sides colluding—of course, the problem with this theory is that if it fits, it raises the question of why the Sin Eaters haven't all exploded yet.

But, just one level? Directly from level three to level four? Yuri was somewhat startled, and then he remembered that the level system the other party used might be different from his own.

Even if it's just enough to keep the current spirit bound and fight, it's still a big improvement. It's like going from being able to keep Yuri at bay to being able to kill Yuri quickly.

"So, shall we continue?" Yuka Yamanaka's eyes were filled with anticipation. "We've been searching for so long, we should at least find out who the mastermind is."

"..." Yuri hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

It's clear that the Sin Eater girl's expression was quite radiant after receiving Yuri's reply, suggesting that she wasn't sure beforehand whether Yuri would agree.

Although there are still some doubts, this is indeed a solution. The mastermind behind this will definitely be unable to resist showing up... And even if we can't win, at least we should be able to escape, right?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

They spent a lot of time and walked around the hospital several times, but apart from encountering a healing spirit that was making its rounds once, they didn't encounter anything new.

The healing spirit refused to speak to them; when they encountered her, they merely glanced at each other before passing by.

The number of repeaters suffering from bipolar disorder is declining at a slower pace—this is probably not because the mastermind thinks it's wrong, but rather a sign that what the mastermind is doing is coming to an end.

To be honest, Yuri thought that maybe if they found a place to sit in the hospital lobby for a few hours, they could wait for the mastermind to come to them.

However, it would be better to catch the mastermind earlier, and since the spirit doesn't have any physical problems, he has been running with them until now.

It wasn't entirely a complete loss. He was almost certain that either the mastermind wasn't in the hospital but remotely controlling the operation, just like in the funeral home, or the mastermind could sense the two people's location (excluding the spirit binding) and react in time. —The latter was more likely; if it was the former, the speed at which the ghosts reacted to Yuri's squad's pursuit was far too fast.

It was already 3:30 a.m., and soon patients would be coming to see the doctor. At that time, Yuka Yamanaka had to leave—no matter what the mastermind wanted to do, she had to do it as soon as possible.

Yuri had almost mentally prepared himself for ultimate defeat, even including preparing to comfort Yuka Yamanaka.

The girl who ate sins wasn't as pessimistic as Yuri; her understanding of the current situation was more positive than Yuri's.

For example, she believed that running like this would help avoid being surrounded by a large number of repeaters after staying in one place, and having to retreat quickly if she couldn't kill these innocent ghosts.

That's right, she never considered the possibility that the mastermind behind it all might just be trying to outlast her.

The bound spirit remained silent as usual, and according to Yuri's inner thoughts, it was very likely that it had once again stopped thinking.

Time continued to tick away, second by second.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

After crossing a familiar fork in the road for what seemed like the umpteenth time, Yuri and Yuka Yamanaka stopped together.

In the corridor I just passed, there seemed to be a large shadow flashing by.

The two exchanged a glance and simultaneously changed direction, walking into the corridor. There was no trace of the large mass of shadows, but the tape recorders squeezed to the sides of the path indicated that something had passed by, mercilessly pushing these ghosts aside.

Actually, having the bound spirit directly smash through them would have a similar effect, but previously, Yuka Yamanaka only had the bound spirit smash through them when she was surrounded by the manic repeaters—these repeaters, who had no intention of attacking, shouldn't have been smashed through before...

Yuri suddenly thought of a possibility and gestured for Yuka Yamanaka to stop.

He walked up and began to compare the faces of these tape recorders with his memory.

It is known that under certain circumstances (most likely remotely controlled by a mastermind), unintentionally aggressive repeaters can become agitated. Is it possible that these are the aggressive repeaters that were knocked away by the spirit? After being knocked away, they stood aside and, for some reason (such as the mastermind letting go), lost the will to act.