Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

“There’s no difference. If the Azalea Group discovered the situation there before the police, how could the people who found the scene have seen the bodies inside?” Lie Hui indicated that there was no problem. “At the same time, this is certainly good news, meaning that the Azalea Group is not fully aware of the actions of its hunters, and may even be completely unaware of the details of the operation.”

That's actually good news, because it means that as long as they don't show up in the same place again, the Dujuan Group is unlikely to track them down.

"However, there is still one more problem for me..." the reporter said as if it were just about getting a glass of water. "The hotel owner can't possibly not tell me that I installed a camera in that room, which means that I will soon be taken in by the police to assist in the investigation."

"Is this assistance in solving cases...reliable?" Yuri was deeply skeptical; this was about the Tokyo police, whose cases were never solved.

“Of course, I’ve made preparations—before leaving, I remotely transferred all the video data and modified the camera’s storage records. Now, they’ll act as if they were turned off before you arrived.” Liehui waved her finger. “Anyway, cameras can’t be controlled unless they get within a certain distance. I can easily say I was too busy and forgot about it. Now that the police are asking me to assist with the investigation, I can only say I can’t help them.”

"Thank you so much." Yuka nodded in thanks.

"But just because the camera issue is resolved doesn't mean I'm out of trouble—we still need to coordinate our statements to prevent me from accidentally letting something slip—the hotel owner knows I'm involved in occult matters, and no one would believe there wasn't some mystical force involved in the evidence left at the scene—in other words, the police officer I'm communicating with might be the special forces team that Akemi mentioned before, so it's best to be prepared in advance and not get caught."

Seeing that Yuka seemed a little worried, Leh immediately switched back to the "it's nothing serious" mode, and the following time was used to fabricate content about "what kind of judgment a journalist who knows some occult information would make when he learns certain information".

196 Settling scores after the fact

A few days later, on Christmas Eve, Yuka Yamanaka told the others some news.

“Zhongdao, who was under psychiatric ward supervision at the hospital, was taken away by someone. It is said that his younger brother announced that he would transfer him to another hospital. Then he was involved in a car accident on the way. The whole car was burned into a fireball, and no one escaped. Of course, because the fire was so severe, no intact body was found, and it was difficult to identify him.”

Lehwah thought this was even better news, meaning that the forces behind Hirosaki and his gang were inclined to back down... or, if they were incredibly lucky, Hirosaki hadn't told them the details of the forces behind him from the beginning, and it was an independent operation.

Mingmei believes that no one is likely to be so lucky, but it is very possible that the Azalea Group will decide to back down. If this hunter organization were so loosely organized, it would have been exposed long ago, and it wouldn't have been able to hide until today—but at the same time, this also means that they are good at cutting their losses and will not be bound by short-term gains or losses, nor will they fight for short-term gains over things that have no benefit.

It's like a shark swimming by and almost swallowing a small fish that's passing by—but if the small fish actually manages to pry open the shark's teeth and escape, the shark might not be so determined to keep chasing it.

It's not worth it just to deal with Yuka Yamanaka.

All of the above are speculations. It is said that Yuka Yamanaka has not only stopped going to school recently, but has also been staying at the reporter's house. It seems that they are on good terms now.

Previously, Yuri had coerced the ghosts near the reporter's house into reporting any suspicious individuals they saw—if the possibility of being ambushed and taken down is not considered, in a direct confrontation, Yuka Yamanaka's spirit binding ability is a very strong guarantee of safety.

As long as the Sin-Eating Girl herself isn't directly knocked down—or rather, even if she is knocked down, as long as her knockdown doesn't cause any harm to the Bound Spirit.

Afterwards, Yuri and the spirit binder conducted a series of tests on each other, gaining a clearer understanding of each other's strength.

Once you reach the advanced level, you can't simply use levels to describe the strength of both sides. For example, according to the spirit binding assessment, Yuri's hard attributes are "not below some spirit bindings," which means he has reached level three. He and the spirit binding are usually in the same area, but if the two of them fight one-on-one, Yuri will be chased all over the world and will have to kite his opponent. If he gets close, he will not be far from glorious death.

This is because he lacks mastery of his own spells. The Spirit Binder believes that if Yuri could thoroughly study all of his spells, he would have the upper hand even in close combat with the Spirit Binder.

In fact, Fuling frankly admitted that he had seen quite a few sorcerers (although he himself was not, never had been), but those as muddle-headed as Yuri usually did not live long enough to master this level of power—he suspected that Yuri was some kind of "foolish boy who received a divine destiny" type of guy.

Without the memory of the past, Yuri really didn't know how to refute such a statement.

Subsequently, after commissioning Yuga to conduct more detailed tests, Yuri determined the level of the Bound Spirit after Yuga's enhancement: Level Four.

Strictly speaking, the physical level is definitely not within the range of level three, but it lacks other auxiliary abilities... Only the body has been upgraded to level four, but the other parts have not kept up. Yuri decided to name this situation level three and a half.

In this situation, it's completely impossible for Yuri to distance himself from the spirit binder. He'll be caught in close combat in an instant. He can then use his magic to block a couple of attacks, and then it's up to him how long he can hold out. Winning is absolutely impossible, but since the spirit binder also lacks a way to attack directly, he might be able to stall for a little longer.

The person who could continuously fight against such a bound spirit... according to the bound spirit's evaluation, should also be in a similar state—through "some method," he forcibly elevated himself to this level—and then, due to repeated unexpected blows, he lost his mind and finally destroyed himself.

This "some method," namely the mask with the strange woman's image, requires further investigation—the sin-devouring girl claimed that she had dreamt of wearing the mask for two consecutive days and dared not keep it by her side, so she half-given it to Yuri.

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.

Mingmei's exam results came out. After running around with reporters for several days without effective review, Mingmei's grades dropped from the top three in the class to ninth. If she had accepted Yuri's assistance plan, she could have maintained her current grades, but she firmly refused the help.

It seems that she'll probably only receive help when she's taking the college entrance exam.

"Mingmei, your grades are so good?" Yuri felt that this information did not match the past. Although she did not seem to have a heavy workload, she should not be the kind of academic genius who could apply what she learned to other situations. In fact, didn't she often not finish her homework?

"What? What are you talking about?" Mingmei threw the report card aside. "I don't go to the prestigious school next door. Rather than saying I have good grades, it's more accurate to say that half of the students in my class are hopeless."

"...What exactly makes your school better than the one next door?" Yuri carefully prepared his words. "There must be some advantages, right?"

"...The entry threshold is relatively low?" Mingmei racked her brains for a moment. "...It's quite inclusive, embracing all rivers, teaching without discrimination, and... well, welcoming all comers?"

Did this high school girl almost say "mud and sand mixed together" just now?

"In short, the grades have dropped, which is not good news. We need to work even harder from now on—and hopefully someone won't fall into the same trap again and need me to rescue them." Mingmei turned on the TV and tuned to the news. "Ah, Christmas. I hope that business owner can hold on."

"Hold on to what?" Yuri couldn't recall the connection between Christmas and his boss.

"Look, a series of murders in the same room. The first one was a crime of passion, which would only make it into some third-rate tabloid—but the second one was a shooting, and the scene was extremely bizarre." The high school girl rested her chin on her left hand and tossed a remote control in her right. "The people present not only used firearms but also chemical weapons, and the room suffered extremely serious damage—I think that's what they said?"

“Yes, that’s right—the newspaper where Lehwe worked even dedicated a whole page to describing what it was like there—and it seems that Lehwe was the one who wrote the article.” Yuri felt a sense of absurdity when he thought about it. “It seems that the newspaper really couldn’t bypass her to do this report, so they had to put her on it—after all, she was practically a part of the story.”

"How did she write it again?" The high school girl continued what she was doing.

The newspaper was right there on the table, but Akemi didn't even bother to look at it and just asked directly.

"The gist is that three people were found at the scene, two of whom died under unknown circumstances. The room was filled with signs of a gunfight, and the items inside suffered extensive corrosive damage—" So far, this is similar to the police report. The rest is rather comical: "According to the speculation of our special expert, it's possible that two groups of terrorists clashed. One side arrived with a large number of prohibited firearms intending to attack the other, who then unhesitatingly used nerve gas—possibly a spiritual successor to mustard gas—to poison all the enemies present. They then immediately fled overnight with the gas, not even noticing that one enemy was only poisoned but not dead. This gas likely possesses strong corrosive properties at high concentrations, which explains the damage to items in the room. Hotel staff were also affected by the gas, experiencing confusion, partial memory loss, and signs of mental derangement. Fortunately, no staff members were harmed."

"She really dares to write that? A special expert's speculation?" Mingmei stopped what she was doing, trying hard to keep a straight face and avoid laughing out loud. "Where did she find such a nonsensical special expert?"

"It's not over yet—this coincides with the actions of the cult organization that previously attempted to attack Tokyo with poison gas, suggesting some kind of intrinsic connection between the two—the poison gas they used also has the effect of causing hallucinations in those who survive the poisoning, indirectly corroborating this point." Yuri continued reciting, "This inevitably raises suspicions: Tokyo police claim to have cracked the previous cult case, but have they truly resolved the problem completely? In peaceful and stable Tokyo, are there numerous secret organizations attempting to destroy this tranquility? Can the peaceful lives of Tokyo citizens truly be guaranteed? This newspaper will continue to follow the developments of this matter."

“Although the process was completely fabricated, the conclusion was forcibly twisted back to the correct one—it seems that Leah has quite a few complaints about the performance of the Tokyo police…” Akemi lowered the volume of the TV. “That’s right, I heard that the police treated her more like a suspect than a witness, trying to figure out whether she saw anything she shouldn’t have seen.”

“She didn’t scold me enough.” Yuri looked at the TV screen. “Didn’t they just say on TV that the case has been solved?”

"Yes, I only mentioned it once. I have no idea how they solved the case, you know?"

"Of course I don't know, but neither Yuka Yamanaka nor I were arrested."

"..."

"..."

In silence, Akemi turned the TV volume down to the lowest setting.

Something was off, but... what was going on? Yuri decided to wait and see.

"So, Yuri, what do you have a problem with me?" The high school girl didn't even look at him.

"...Why are you suddenly asking this?" Yuri became wary.

"So you think I'm hiding something from you? What do you want to know?" The high school girl continued to stare at the television screen, her profile shrouded in shadow.

"..." Yuri hesitated for a moment, then spoke, "There is indeed something I want to know, but it's not really important, and it's not a matter of hiding anything from me—"

"ask."

"Hmm... which organization does Mr. Hiroaki belong to?"

Listening to Akemi's introduction to the Hunter organizations... knowing that these organizations exist isn't necessarily a problem... these organizations might even have their own websites, such as the United Federation, and the Valkyrie Task Force might even have a clear number in the congressional audit of a certain North American country—but knowing that they are all Hunters? That's not something a normal investigation could find out.

There must have been someone else who told Akemi—this person should be Hiroaki Kakizaki, Akemi's grandfather—and he knew about the existence and general situation of these hunters, most likely he was one of them.

“Oh, this…” Mingmei paused for a moment, “He never said it explicitly, but judging from his tone, I guess he’s from the Ashford Order.”

Yuri remembered that the Ashford Order was represented by eccentric eccentrics and megalomaniacs.

"The Ashford Order, judging from the name, doesn't seem like an organization originating from Japan? Is it very influential in Japan?" Yuri pondered.

“It shouldn’t be very big, but there might be some. He’s never said anything specific about it, but even if there is, it probably won’t be very big.” Mingmei sighed. “You guessed right, it’s definitely not an organization that originated in Japan, and I’m not sure where he joined it or whether he’s left it now.”

"..." Yuri didn't know what to say. You were really raised by your grandfather?

“Don’t look at me like that. How could I possibly know what the old man went through when he was young? I’m sixteen, almost seventeen, and he must be sixty or seventy—not to mention me, even my deceased father probably wouldn’t know what he was doing when he was young.” Mingmei shrugged. “I heard from the neighbors that he smuggled himself out of the country when he was young and only came back when my great-grandfather was seriously ill. By then, he was already quite old, and that’s when he got married and had children. Thanks to Japan’s lenient household registration system, he just made up some excuse and got away with it.”

"They really are...experienced." Yuri didn't know how to comment, as if it had little to do with him.

"Yes, are you done asking?" The high school girl's voice turned cold again.

“...Yes.” Although he didn’t know why Akemi was angry or why she kept staring at the TV screen while talking to him, Yuri decided to stop rambling.

"So, you have no complaints or doubts?" Mingmei turned her head, still expressionless.

"...Yes." What's wrong with her?

"Then why did you get involved in all this yourself instead of coming to me, huh?" The high school girl turned off the TV, turned around, and threw the remote control onto the coffee table with a bang.

"What are you talking about?" Yuri's eyes widened immediately. "Didn't I call you to report the situation as soon as it happened?"

“Yes, you were reporting the situation, saying you were planning to run away—it’s been like this ever since Lehwe’s accident—no, it’s been like this ever since we went to the funeral home. You seem to really don’t want me to come with you.” Akemi narrowed her eyes. “What exactly is going on? Huh? Yuri?”

Ah, oops.

197. Sense of responsibility

Although the initial part did not last more than a month, it already constituted a large part of Yuri's memory—and a large part of a whole host of events.

If I had to start, it would probably begin with my conversation with Akisa Murakami.

But you definitely can't tell Mingmei, "Your aunt told me not to put you in danger"—saying something like that would damage more than just your relationship with Mingmei.

Moreover... I didn't do this simply because someone else told me to.

Be quick, speak before the other person's anger overflows. You can do it, Yuri!

“We’re friends, Akemi—so I don’t think I should drag you into dangerous situations you wouldn’t normally be in.” Without wasting any more time choosing his words, Yuri spoke quickly, “If something can be done by myself, then it’s best to do it by myself.”

“Friendship includes helping each other—besides, did you manage to finish it all by yourself?” Mingmei patted the back of the sofa. “Why do you think it’s dangerous for me to be in this environment?”

There were too many reasons to give, so Yuri picked one at random: "They have guns, right? You're certainly skilled, but even the best can't dodge bullets with just your skills, can they?"

"When did you find out they had guns?" Mingmei raised her right hand, flexing her fingers one by one. "Can you predict the future?"

This question is clearly not asking whether Yuri can really predict the future. Everyone knows that Yuri doesn't have that ability. If he did, would he have been tricked like this?

“No, no, no, what I mean is, this is the explanation I gave for running away later, and I said it back then—as for the part before that, weren’t you busy with your studies?” Yuri immediately changed his tune, “You have so many things to do, I won’t bother you with unnecessary things.”

"Then why did you stop me from doing what I wanted to do?" A finger swept across Yuri. "When Lehwe had that accident, I planned to go to that haunted house, and you weren't supportive at all."

"This...that..." Yuri was quickly searching his mind for an excuse that he hadn't used before and that didn't contradict what he had said before.

“And another thing!” Akemi’s voice wasn’t loud, but it successfully interrupted Yuri’s thoughts. “I’ve already asked Yuka. Before going to the hospital, you all treated it like a final battleground—such a big thing, and you didn’t mention it to me at all. I think you’re determined to exclude me from this matter—the question is, why? Yuri?”

"..." Mingmei came prepared, not on a whim. It seems she had been holding this topic in for several days, catching Yuri off guard.

Think about it again, and you'll surely find an explanation—

“Let me tell you, Yuri, I seriously doubt that you look down on my abilities.” The high school girl slowly closed her right hand. “No, I’m almost certain that’s the reason—you think I’ll be a hindrance, right?”

Yuri was speechless for a moment. Even if Akemi's words weren't exactly hitting the bullseye, they were at least not far off.

Although he preferred a milder version of events, such as, "Yuri is clearly more resilient than Akemi, and far superior in that respect, making him more suitable for frontline and reconnaissance work, while Akemi should minimize her involvement in fieldwork, as she is too prone to accidents"—this is likely just a different way of saying and a different emotional motivation than Akemi's understanding.

“That’s too harsh a term, Mingmei. You have more knowledge and experience than me, and you have more common sense, but these aren’t things you can only bring out by charging ahead.” Yuri managed to explain, “Everyone has their own specialty, and I’m better suited to taking the hits.”

Yuri never imagined that one day he would have to take all the beatings himself... But what could he say? "Then you can share the bullets with me from now on" or "I just look down on your abilities"?

"And you think you can make this decision without asking my opinion?" Akemi closed her eyes. "Do I look that unreasonable that you're not even going to try to persuade me? You're just going to keep it from me?"

Yuri felt he had found the angle from which Akemi was most angry.

“No, of course not.” Yuri shook his head in denial, acting with self-righteousness. He truly did not think that way. “I did make a mistake in this matter, but not for this reason, Akemi.”

"What is that?" Yuri's best friend didn't say anything, but Yuri felt as if he could hear what the other person was thinking.

“I do have doubts about whether you will heed my advice.” Yuri paused for a moment. “Because… because you are too smart, Minmei, probably smarter than me, and you are also very opinionated, probably more opinionated than me.”

Since we've added the possibility, there's no need to actually analyze who is more intelligent.

The critic, who was sitting on the sofa, shifted her position; she was indeed listening attentively.

“I’m not saying this is a bad thing, of course it’s not a bad thing, but… I’m an intellectually savvy person myself, so I know…” Yuri lowered his height and floated down next to Akemi, “You and I are both capable enough to convince ourselves to do something. If we find something we want to do, we can find a reason to do it no matter what.”

Yuri's words were somewhat incoherent, but Akemi seemed to understand them.

They are intelligent enough to justify their goals and can select from a number of signs those that support their desired conclusions. Unless a goal is so absurd as to be completely unacceptable (for example, immediate suicide), they can always make it sound like it is the right thing to do, as long as it is something they want to do.

Commonly known as strong argumentation, or more elegantly, "eloquence sufficient to cover up one's mistakes and wisdom sufficient to reject advice." Many people possess this ability; for example, it's obvious that Hirosaki Katsuya is one such person.

“And I know you’re a good friend, Minmei.” Yuri continued his explanation. “If I say I’m going to participate in something, the first thing you’ll think of is helping me. As soon as I tell you, that’s what you’ll think, and you’re very likely to act on it—you know there’s a risk in helping me, but… I highly doubt you’ll convince yourself that you can handle most of the risks, just like you ran to the vicinity of the battlefield after knowing they had guns.”

"You talk as if you know me very well." Mingmei seemed to chuckle. "Am I that kind? Or are you just trying to brush me off with a few nice words?"

"...There's no need to pretend about this. Although Lehwa hasn't really said it outright, she's given plenty of hints—while I was following Yuka Yamanaka around, you and Lehwa were working together, equally dedicated to searching for and dealing with ghosts." Yuri had indeed asked, and the reporter genuinely didn't answer. "Your desire to help is overflowing."

"So what? What's the problem?" Akemi tacitly agreed with Yuri's words. "Isn't this what friends should do? To offer help as much as they can within their means."

Yuri actually had some doubts. Was it possible that many friends wouldn't even reach that level? Did Akemi have unrealistic expectations of her friends because she had so few of them? But that wasn't the point.

“Yes, but… while you may be smarter than me, you’re not by much.” Yuri continued, “I make mistakes. I’ve made many mistakes in my understanding of the enemy’s strength and capabilities, many of which were almost fatal.”

—For example, Yuri confronts Hirosaki Katsuya with a gun that can't fire a bullet—Hirosaki knows the gun can't fire and that he has a protective layer that can resist bullets to some extent, but he doesn't say it. Instead, he uses this opportunity to show his courage and credibility.

Looking back, Yuri's behavior at the time was undeniably foolish. And if he had believed Hirosaki was right because of that... given Azalea's abilities, he would likely have been finished.

“Similarly, you can make mistakes too. For example, you didn’t anticipate that the enemy was the Cuckoo Group…that’s also a fact.” Yuri paused to confirm the other’s reaction.

Akemi was nodding slowly.

“And as I said before, we have enough intelligence to rationalize our judgment, even if it is wrong in fact, we can always explain the past—that’s what I’m worried about, Akemi.” Yuri spread his hands. “If I told you all these things in real time, I would be dragging you into the vortex, and then you might make a mistake, and then you might pay a price that you didn’t have to pay... Why take that risk? I made that judgment, so I didn’t tell you.”