Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

“Yes, I’ll see her every day on my way to school! At this rate, we can’t even be in the same area, otherwise I’ll be fine, but she’ll be in serious trouble.” Mingmei’s expression was very complicated.

"Hmm...should we consider adjusting our time zone?" the strategist pondered. "Let her be energetic when she sees you in the morning, and suddenly weak when she sees you in the afternoon. That way, at least we can ensure she's on time for class—stop, calm down, stop putting those prayer beads on your hands—"

Akemi threw the rosary beads at Yuri, who dodged them. The beads hit the wall with a soft thud, but thankfully, Akemi hadn't used too much force.

"Okay, I know this isn't good. There's no real difference between letting her lie down at night and lying down during the day." The pragmatic strategist quickly stopped talking nonsense.

Akemi calmed down a bit and added a new question, "What's equally bad is that right now, for the time being, we've temporarily explained it by saying that 'she came to school before she was fully recovered and then relapsed,' but if this kind of thing happens repeatedly, my and Chimi's reputations will probably suffer a devastating blow, and this matter will also be exposed to the people around us."

Yuri didn't quite understand the part about reputation, but he could still get the general idea—but what's the problem with exposing it to those around him?

Since you already have spirits and ghosts everywhere, and demons and monsters running all over the place, what's the point of deliberately maintaining the situation where ordinary people don't understand the supernatural world?

After receiving Yuri's question, Akemi thought for a moment before answering, "My opinion is that it will cause a lot of trouble, and it will cause trouble without any initiative. If we run into trouble that we can't solve, we'll have a lot of fun."

Mingmei's words make a lot of sense, but "my opinion" means there are other people's opinions, right?

"Grandpa's opinion is: In this dark world, there are risks and malicious people everywhere. They may plot against others for a long time and will stop at nothing. If you are too exposed to these people, it will cause those around you to suffer. It is best to remain alone and have no one else to protect."

...Isn't your grandfather's understanding of the world a bit excessive? Too pessimistic, isn't it?

Yuri hesitated for a moment and didn't actually say it, after all, he had already met at least two of the wicked guys, the Hunter and Takemura.

In conclusion, Mingmei is right; we should try not to cause too much of a stir and not let it become public knowledge.

"—So you think it's better for either of you to skip school. The spiritual energy will definitely be on you, but you can't be with her. Someone has to take leave, right? I think it's good for both of you. For her, there's already news of her getting sick and catching a cold, and for you, you can temporarily ignore your studies and devote more energy to the investigation." The strategist began to try again.

“I think it’s better if I don’t go,” Akemi thought for a moment. “This way I can avoid explaining too much to Chinami. Otherwise, it would be quite troublesome to explain to her that she’s in good health and staying at home.”

The two then began a strategic meeting.

First, how can I clear away the spiritual energy?

Yuri stated that after searching through a large number of books, he had found a ritual for purifying negative influences, though only theoretically. This purification ritual has three problems. First, it basically needs to be performed in a natural environment—Tokyo is definitely not a natural environment, but a park should suffice. Second, as it's a type that significantly expands the scope of influence, the time required also increases—it might take half a month in unsuitable environments. Third, even if the scope is indeed expanded, it might not include the specific type currently being performed.

It's a solution, but it's not very efficient.

Mingmei pointed out that another way to clear away spiritual energy is to find its source. She had specifically asked the first victim about it at school today. Before he suddenly weakened, he hadn't visited any patients or unexpectedly passed through any particular place—but! However, at school, while chasing and playing with other boys, he passed through a large area, which was the most unusual thing he did that day.

"School bullying?" Yuri's attention turned in a strange direction.

“It’s more likely he’s having a fit of chuunibyou (middle school syndrome).” Akemi seemed to have thought of that as well, but she didn’t think so. “Bullying is certainly possible, but he doesn’t seem like it.”

In short, it is very likely that somewhere in this area, he came into contact with something unknown, and only he came into contact with it, and then that unknown thing exerted this spiritual power on him.

Next, all we need to do in this state of complete uncertainty is find that thing, resolve it, and we can sever the root of the spiritual energy!

That's really difficult.

Akemi proposed a new solution: using spiritual energy to counter spiritual energy—as everyone knows (and absolutely not), everything except humans has a spirit—so of course there are healing spirits, unspelling spirits, and so on.

The problem can be solved in one fell swoop if suitable spirits are found and hired to help at a certain cost (usually spiritual essence).

If you happen to run into someone, you can solve the problem very efficiently; if you don't, well... that's troublesome. It depends a lot on luck and connections.

Secondly, how can we get rid of the source of spiritual energy as soon as possible and make it disappear from the root, instead of new victims appearing again and again after a period of time?

Of course, Mingmei's solution can also solve this problem.

Yuri offered his own idea. If this spiritual energy could be effectively controlled, then all that was needed was to move it to a place where it would never move out—as it stands now, regardless of the reason for its activation, it can only affect one person at a time—as long as it occupies the position, no new victims will be created.

Mingmei admitted that she hadn't thought of this approach, but wouldn't there always be a final victim? She refused to do it if this problem couldn't be solved.

Third, the priority of the above actions.

After some discussion, the two decided that exploring the school would be their top priority, no matter what. In other words, they couldn't agree on any other priorities, and Yuri was adamant about not splitting up under these circumstances.

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.

Akemi and Yuri, who knew the way well, climbed over the wall to enter the school and met up.

As Yuri entered, he paid special attention to the guardhouse—there were two guards, one old and one young, with a cane leaning against the wall. It seemed the older guard, who had been injured in the fall, had returned.

It looks like we can't look for it with the lights on.

A strong yin energy still permeated the campus, but its source was unclear. This time, Yuri carefully extracted a small amount of yin energy and absorbed it into his body.

It should be able to be converted into spiritual essence with low efficiency, which is likely what spiritual essence transforms into after it is lost.

Even if the concentration isn't high, such a large quantity... Yuri became more vigilant after warning Akemi.

Fortunately, the five hundred vengeful ghost axemen who had jumped out as he had guessed did not happen until he entered the teaching building.

This is not normal. Yuri thought about it again and again, but still couldn't figure out what was going on—this place was obviously rich in spiritual essence, and even if he needed to re-refine it, there should be ghostly figures everywhere.

But in reality, ghosts are extremely rare, and they are all just repeating the same thing. The only intelligent ghost I saw was the one I summoned by spirit writing last time—that one didn't stay long either.

The desks, blackboards, and other furniture in the teaching building look quite old. Although they are well-maintained, some are damaged in minor areas. Those damaged in critical areas have likely already been replaced. This teaching building is indeed quite old.

"Have you already searched part of it?" Yuri asked, searching for the next target to explore.

“I tried to search some classrooms in the afternoon—but there were a lot of people and not enough time to observe them carefully. So I have to look at them again more carefully.” Akemi partially denied Yuri’s statement.

"In the afternoon, right, you were still in class then. Wait—?"

Yuri suddenly thought of a question.

Akemi, who was searching the corner of the classroom, turned her head and looked at Yuri with a questioning look.

"—Were you at school this afternoon, with that spirit aura hanging up?"

"Really?" Akemi seemed unaware of the problem. "That spiritual energy doesn't work on me, does it?"

Yuri looked at the lone figure before him with a sorrowful gaze. "Let me confirm, did you see Chinami as soon as you arrived at school this morning?"

"What's wrong?" Mingmei started to feel guilty. "Of course not, she arrived just before class started. I always arrive earlier."

"...So you only have her as a friend at school?" Yuri thought that someone as lively and energetic as Akemi would easily make a bunch of friends.

"What... huh?" Akemi realized what was happening. "This wasn't my choice!" She then turned away, ignoring Yuri, muttering something like, "So what if I'm tall?"

After a while, Yuri felt he couldn't continue searching. He had thought that once he got here, he could use Akemi's spiritual energy to trace back to the source. But Akemi herself didn't feel anything special, and Yuri couldn't sense anything either.

In fact, Yuri did sense a change in the spiritual energy after arriving at the school—so it must indeed be related to something within the school. But the greater connection… Yuri could only sense the eerie atmosphere enveloping the school.

"This spiritual energy is too weak; it can't even break through the background interference," he complained inwardly.

Mingmei seemed to agree. Although she had no problem with her physical strength, searching aimlessly without any clear goal was really demotivating.

Soon, she found a seat in the classroom and called Yuri over, who was casually searching through the desks to see what was inside.

“We can’t keep searching like this. Let me go through all the places he said he went to again. Yuri, you also need to help me think about where there might be a problem.”

The plan was good, but unfortunately Yuri's intelligence level was similar to Akemi's—if Akemi couldn't think of it, Yuri probably couldn't either. Then again, what if, what if?

"He said he went to the classrooms on the first floor, the warehouse next to the classrooms, and also wandered around the elementary school next door."

"The elementary school next door?" Yuri's ears perked up.

"Yes, it's part of the same system as this school—and it's even older than the high school. It's connected to this campus by a small gate, so it's basically part of the same system."

"And junior high school—?" "We went to junior high together too."

That's really impressive, could it be...?

Before Yuri could ask, Akemi continued, "However, there isn't a university. It's said that the school administration has always wanted to build another affiliated university, but they simply can't compete with the school next door. These affiliated schools all learned their model from the school next door. — But that's not the point."

indeed.

"Then I think the problem is the warehouse. Why don't you take me to the warehouse first?"

"Because the warehouse is definitely locked, even if you can get in, I can't—hmm?"

Akemi jumped up and looked nervously out the window.

Yuri didn't notice what was over there, and then followed Akemi's gaze to take a closer look.

The dim light outside the window didn't illuminate anything.

Everything seems to be ok.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Shadow

"You really saw it, or it wasn't a hallucination from being too stressed?" Yuri didn't see anything strange.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think it's a hallucination," Akemi said, not with much confidence.

Without much hesitation, Yuri decided to trust Akemi's intuition.

I drifted to the window and carefully observed what was outside. First, there was a patch of grass, then a brick path, next to which was a manhole cover, then a lawn and ornamental trees. Through the ornamental trees, I could see what appeared to be another teaching building.

Then he noticed something in the dim shadows of the bushes that was a different color from its surroundings.

After locating the general area, Yuri focused his attention on it, and as he concentrated, the object became clearer and clearer, looking like—a dark figure hiding behind a tree. It was indeed difficult to spot in poor lighting.

Yuri pointed to the approximate location of Akemi, who had somehow appeared beside him. Before he could say anything, the dark figure began to move rapidly. Crouching low, it dashed out of the woods, leaping over the grass and brick path, hurtling towards the classroom where they were at considerable speed. Akemi retreated a few steps to the middle of the classroom, while Yuri retreated less, placing his hand on the back of the chair beside him, preparing to materialize and lift it up for a counterattack.

As the shadow approached, it became clearer and clearer in Yuri's eyes... Unfortunately, it was still just a shadow, but it was clearly human-shaped, as if a person had been painted entirely black. There was some reflection, but the color could only be described as glossy black.

As it rushed toward the window, the dark figure showed no intention of slowing down. It casually used its arm to shield its face and smashed through the glass, rushing into the classroom with a very skillful and bold move.

It's definitely not a lighting issue. Even at a distance of one or two meters, this guy is still completely black—and it couldn't have been born that way, because even the parts that look like clothes are the same color.

Or could it be that it wasn't wearing any clothes? Yuri quickly glanced at the other's genitals but didn't see anything. The humanoid figure in front of him looked a bit like a plastic mannequin in a shop window, painted black.

Looking at it now, this isn't human at all; it's merely a humanoid shape. —And it's not the time to think about it anymore.

The shadowy figure lunged straight at Akemi, but Yuri materialized in its path, blocking its way. Its charge paused temporarily but didn't give up. After abruptly ducking to avoid Yuri's swinging chair, it resumed its advance, intending to pass by Yuri. The distance between the front and back tables wasn't particularly wide, so the shadowy figure and Yuri were very close, giving Yuri an opportunity to trip it. The shadowy figure had to slow down again, stepping over Yuri's foot—and then was met with a barrage of punches from Akemi.

Taking advantage of the opportunity while the shadowy figure was stuck beside him, Yuri threw down the chair and grabbed at the figure. However, the figure did not stop because of the punch. With a movement that no human could make—requiring the spine to twist into an S-shape—he crouched down to avoid Yuri's grab and quickly retreated, causing Yuri to miss.

Now, Yuri can be certain once again that the black thing in front of him is not human, but some kind of monster.

As Yuri missed his target, the shadowy figure bounced back again—an action that no human could perform, requiring a person to spring forward the instant they landed after a backward jump—and lunged at Yuri, delivering a powerful punch.

If the shadowy figure was planning to strike Yuri before he regained his balance, he had definitely chosen the wrong target—spirits don't need to maintain balance while standing, because any spirit can float upright.

Yuri, maintaining a steep forward lean, didn't change his posture. He simply stabilized himself and retaliated against the shadowy figure. However, since the angles were different, their attacks were unrelated and struck each other almost simultaneously.

The shadowy figure's fists looked fierce, but they weren't actually that powerful. It would probably take half a minute of relentless, uninterrupted attacks for Yuri to be truly injured. The problem was on the other side—Yuri's fists struck the shadowy figure without any response.

Yes, indeed, with Yuri's attack, the abdomen of the shadowy figure was somewhat dented—but Yuri felt almost no reaction force. The fist stopped on its own after the punch, without any sense of impact, which made Yuri extremely uncomfortable physically.

Taking advantage of the lull in the shadowy figure's attack, Yuri straightened up. Had the humanoid shadowy figure in front of him been injured in the previous attack? Or was it almost immune to physical attacks? The view from the back of his head told Yuri that Akemi was going around to the other side, and had already gone halfway around.

This time, Yuri chose to take the initiative, clenching his fist and striking with all his might after setting up his protective barrier. The shadowy figure neither dodged nor evaded, directly counterattacking. For a moment, the two exchanged blows with wild, unrestrained punches.

After being hit multiple times, Yuri regretfully concluded that the protective barrier had served no purpose and had been penetrated without any damage.

This indicates that the other party is not a spirit, or at least not a ghost, and has the ability to attack with a physical object.

The lack of a clear sense of pain has its advantages and disadvantages in combat, but for a novice like Yuri, it should be more beneficial. Although it is impossible to stimulate himself to produce more adrenaline, the spirit body is not affected by this. Although it is also impossible to judge the extent of injury through pain, the spirit body has a near-intuitive judgment of its own condition.

The bad news—the other side is likely in the same boat. During the battle, Yuri tried to absorb the opponent's life force…or something else entirely. The results were minimal; although the opponent's resistance decreased after being attacked, it was far from enough to gain energy from a brief encounter.

On the bright side, it at least shows that the other party did suffer some damage, although it may be very small.

It's great that physical attacks aren't completely ineffective; Yuri chuckled at his own panic—could there really be something in this world that can completely and unilaterally ignore the laws of physics? If something can physically touch you, how can it not be physically touched?

While the two boxers were fiercely clashing, Akemi circled around to the side and launched an attack with the chair Yuri had thrown down. The shadowy figure was caught off guard and was knocked into an arc shape, which startled Akemi.

However, the shadowy figure seemed largely unaffected, quickly retreating to the shadowy corner of the classroom near the blackboard. The moonlight didn't reach this corner, making it extremely inconspicuous simply by standing there; if Yuri had truly just entered the classroom, he might have been completely fooled.

Choosing to use his back against the wall to avoid being caught in a pincer movement shows a certain level of intelligence. However, there's no table in the corner to get in the way, so the outcome shouldn't change much.

Just as Yuri was about to secure victory, something changed in the shadowy figure. The shape of its hand changed, and a long, narrow object emerged—Yuri didn't recognize it at first, but Akemi reacted first, "It looks like a dagger, be careful!"

It was a dagger that seemed to have grown out of the shadowy body, equally black and very thin—and if it were hard enough, it would certainly be very sharp.

It can be said with absolute certainty that the dagger was not hidden by the shadowy figure beforehand, but appeared suddenly, and there was even a process involved in its appearance.

Turning one's own body into a weapon? Yuri was taken aback. He had indeed considered the same thing, but the control required was too high. Not to mention failing in the end, even if he did succeed, it would take too long. For now, it could only be considered a research direction.

Theoretically, spirits shouldn't be easily harmed by daggers, but it's a different story for living people—both blunt force and bladed weapons with immense force can be fatal, but when strength is insufficient, the danger posed by bladed weapons is significantly higher. Therefore, Akemi isn't very good at handling this situation.

If Yuri goes alone, he might not be able to defeat the opponent.

After a brief standoff, the shadowy figure suddenly leaned against the wall and vanished for a moment. It then immediately reappeared in the corner near the door and the blackboard—right behind Akemi.

After appearing, he pounced on Akemi again without hesitation.

"Behind you!" Yuri shouted, moving toward Akemi as fast as he could, hoping to stop the shadowy figure.

It might have been Yuri's imagination, but the shadowy figure did indeed pause for a moment in mid-air. So, as it approached, Akemi not only turned her body but also prepared to defend herself. After taking another hit from the chair, the shadowy figure forcefully swung its dagger, only managing to graz Akemi's sleeve, sending sparks flying. Then it retreated again.

What exactly did this woman put in her trench coat sleeve?

Without time to think, Yuri charged forward again—only to miss. The shadowy figure retreated into the shadows and then returned to its previous position.