Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

"Of course, you've already given me a lot of shocks—surprises. So maybe this is a good fit for you? Try it a few more times and then tell me your conclusion? Death and matter... I can't think of any connection between matter and you, but you've shown your connection to death many times, in various senses—maybe this is what happens when you think about something during the day and dream about it at night?"

There is a very close relationship—isn't Yuri himself a ghost? How could a ghost not be related to death?

Mingmei started looking for a water glass on the table, and after drinking it, she didn't say anything more, as if she had finished talking.

"Anyway, thank you very much." After all, she had said so much.

Yuri planned to wait until he was fully rested before attempting meditation, as he was still feeling fatigued. Right now, he needed to focus on something else—wait another half day until evening, when he could then examine his initial goals.

Is the spiritual energy around Akemi fading? It's not clear yet.

Chapter 43 Investigation Reopened

That night, Yuri discovered that Akemi's spiritual power showed no signs of weakening, and he fell into a state of self-doubt.

Although there were many clues pointing in this direction, it was still hard to accept when it was actually discovered.

They attacked the wrong wild shadow—no, not exactly wrong either, the shadow was indeed hostile, and they couldn't just let it linger. So they've got the wrong source! —Even if the shadow is a problem that must be solved, they could have tried to dispel the spiritual energy beforehand, which would have given them a better chance of success. No, it doesn't feel like they're expecting Akemi to get injured to solve the problem.

Yuri's mind was racing with thoughts, unable to calm down. He felt like the whole world was against him, and even a stone lantern seemed to be mocking him.

Akemi had been looking quite upset, but after seeing that Yuri was even more anxious than her, she almost burst out laughing, though her face still contorted in pain.

"What are you laughing at...?" Yuri instinctively questioned Akemi, but halfway through his sentence, he remembered that the person in front of him was the direct victim of Yuri's flawed reasoning, and his voice trailed off.

"Sorry, sorry, I just think it's a bit..." Mingmei swallowed the rest of her words, and Yuri suspected that it might have been a rather unpleasant metaphor... Oh well, he didn't want to hear it anyway.

"Anyway, calm down, calm down, go through this again from the beginning, where exactly did I miss?" Yuri tried to convince himself, and then shifted his focus to his memories.

First, let's rewind everything to before the shadow appeared.

At the time, we were searching based on the first person's activity history. We had almost finished searching the classrooms on the first floor, but we hadn't thoroughly checked the square in front of the building, the warehouse, or the area near the primary school.

Then the shadowy figure appeared and launched an attack, leading Yuri to believe it was definitely involved in the matter.

Damn it... oh, it seems he's already dead... Anyway, Yuri just can't figure it out. If it wasn't a spirit power from the shadow, why did the shadow have to come out and attack to take the blame?

Could it be that the reason they attacked Akemi was because she's a young girl? Do you vampires have this kind of hobby? If vampires have this kind of hobby, does their "beast inside" also have the same hobby?

Yuri tried to banish the shadowy figure, which was still trying to make its presence felt even after it died, from his thoughts.

In short, the next thing to do is to immediately search for the school again and complete the search from the first day.

If they still can't find it, they'll just have to slowly go through the exorcism ritual that Yuri found.

Then Yuri, who had convinced himself, told Akemi about the plan.

"How's your combat strength now?" Akemi wasn't entirely satisfied with the plan. "Won't something go wrong right after we meet the real source of the problem?"

The unnamed Mr. You, who suffers from a disability in his right hand, dizziness, and a feeling of spiritual emptiness, has absolutely no confidence in this matter.

"So you think the real source of the problem is unlikely to be combat?"

There's really no way to guarantee that.

"When you get there, you'll find a huge problem. Will you be able to conduct an investigation afterwards? —Without the spiritual essence, can your abilities really be fully utilized?"

Yuri could tell that Minmei completely disagreed with the plan.

"So what are your plans?"

"You should heal your injuries first, and then we'll go. Sharpening your axe won't delay your work—you can get things done more efficiently when you're in good condition, and at least you can save the time wasted by getting injured repeatedly."

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.

Two days later, Yuri, whose right hand had outwardly returned to normal, once again urged Akemi to conduct a midnight search of the school.

It's not that his appearance has improved, but he's still far from perfect. Unfortunately, an objective problem has prevented Yuri from making further progress.

He felt he had eaten too much these past two days and was suffering from indigestion, which caused him to be mentally affected by the parrots. Recently, he had developed considerable hostility towards his neighbor, whom he had basically never met, and felt that the neighbor would rush in and kill him. He felt he needed to strike first, which was clearly the influence of the parrot he had encountered before who was robbed and killed by his neighbor.

When a spirit rapidly devours other spirits in a short period and struggles to digest them, it will fuse with them in some way. This is particularly evident in spirits, and may even happen instantly. Ghosts react much more slowly, but this will also manifest when they have devoured too many.

It's hard to say that fusion itself is a purely bad thing. From a positive perspective, it may lead to the acquisition of new abilities, the expansion of one's influence, or the acquisition of some strange and unusual characteristics, such as the memories of the person being devoured.

However, for Yuri, merging with other uncontrollable spirits and becoming another person in a sense is a difficult decision to make.

He might have done it in a moment of desperation, but now is the time to play it safe, and he can't bring himself to do it. He used to be more restrained when he was taking advantage of the tape recorder, but now he's absorbed too much in a short period to treat his injuries, so he's practically overeaten.

It was still midnight, and the two of them entered the school using the same old method.

Yuri has walked this road so many times lately that he feels he could walk it back and forth with his eyes closed, even if he were materialized. Mingmei's residence is quite close to the school, which is very convenient.

Upon entering the school, Yuri glanced at the guardhouse as usual. The young guard had returned to work and was chatting with the older guard, though it was impossible to tell from the outside.

Ignoring them, Yuri went straight to meet up with Minmei.

The two briefly observed the plaza in front of the building but didn't see anything unusual—it was unlikely that the problem was there anyway, since countless students pass through here every day.

Following the edge of the teaching building toward the passageway connecting to the primary school, you will pass another important area: the school warehouse.

This warehouse is probably the oldest storage room in the school, likely built around the same time as the teaching buildings. As far as Mingmei knows, this warehouse is used to store large items that are difficult to move and that she can't bear to throw away, while smaller, more frequently used items are kept in the teaching buildings for easier access.

The cement walls were once painted, but now only remnants can be seen in the most inaccessible corners. Severe wear is visible at the four corners of the building; they have essentially become rounded, and upon closer inspection, signs of impact can be seen. There are no particularly prominent cracks on the walls, but smaller fissures are numerous.

This building is already in its twilight years. Although it is far from collapsing on its own, its ability to resist external forces has greatly decreased.

In short, this warehouse is usually deserted and unmaintained, and it looks dilapidated.

"Huh?" Yuri noticed something was wrong with this warehouse, and it was a big problem.

He discovered it just as he was trying to walk straight through the door and bumped into it.

Yuri took a few steps back and reassessed the situation.

The warehouse is about 15 meters long, and its width is slightly smaller than its length, so it should be about 12 meters wide. From the outside, it is 6 meters high, so it should have two floors.

By warehouse standards, it's neither too big nor too small. According to Mingmei, there might be a basement inside, making it three stories in total.

In the warehouse of this size, during their walk around, they didn't see a single window large enough for Yuri to enter. There were some small ventilation windows, but they were all tiny, probably only big enough for a small animal like a cat to fit through. Yuri floated up the wall to the roof to take a look; the designer hadn't been so ingenious as to include a skylight for any intruders with malicious intentions.

The double iron gate, secured with chains and padlocks, is the only normal passage for entry and exit.

This was the first time Yuri had encountered a door that could block his way.

The principle behind why he would be blocked by a wall is quite simple: human perception of walls is projected onto the twilight, or rather, the ethereal world, where they constitute an obstacle sufficient to impede the spirit's progress. This obstacle, like the spirit itself, is spiritual, and its location overlaps with the original wall; it is a spiritual wall, not a physical one, that blocks the spirit. However, doors and windows often do not enjoy this treatment because, in human perception, doors and windows are for passage, not for blocking.

In some special cases, newly constructed buildings, whose impressions are not yet strong enough to generate their own spiritual form in the twilight, cannot be blocked by spirits. Another situation is where a physical building has been destroyed, but people's impressions of it have not faded; in this case, its spiritual form will not disappear quickly—and if the destroyed building is frequently commemorated, it may even endure forever.

There may be some errors in the specific details, but Yuri believes that his understanding is correct in general direction.

So, this door is impassable... Is it because you students all think this door isn't meant for passage, and the warehouse is simply blocked off?

Yuri carefully sensed the area and was certain that there was no special spiritual energy associated with the door. It was simply that in the Twilight Realm—the world where spirits typically operate, a world that overlaps with but is distinct from the material world—there was also a door there. This door wasn't locked; instead, it was completely fused with the wall and could not be opened.

It seems that the people around them had a very strong impression of the "locked door".

We must find a way to enter from the material realm.

First, the most straightforward, but impossible, method is to physically pick the lock.

The two men studied the lock for a long time, but couldn't find a way to open it without damaging it. Although they had heard that some master thieves could open locks by fiddling with hairpins, the two men here were the kind of novices who could, after some effort, block the keyhole with the remnants of a hairpin.

If you use a rock to smash it, regardless of whether you can break it or not... isn't this taking you further and further down the path of crime? If you pick the lock, you can restore it, but if you damage the lock... Yuri selectively ignores what he did in the chemistry lab.

In short, Yuri objected on the grounds that "this would make a lot of noise and attract attention," and Akemi agreed, as openly damaging the warehouse locks seemed to be a hurdle for her as well.

Secondly, there's a more troublesome approach—having Yuri steal the key. Although Akemi doesn't know where the key is, she assumes it's in the principal's office or the security office.

Yuri was halfway to the principal's office to steal the key when he suddenly realized something was wrong and turned back.

"What's wrong?" Akemi seemed to think something had happened.

"Do you know what the key to this lock looks like?" Yuri asked the question that had just come to mind.

Mingmei spread her hands blankly, "Why don't you bring them all over and we'll try them one by one... Okay, that's not a good idea."

With both methods failing, Yuri fell into deep thought.

If we could understand the internal structure of this lock, would it be easier to pick it?

Yuri has gained some experience now and is entering special visual mode quite smoothly.

In perception, the lock itself has a rather complex structure, but it is not fundamentally different from other locks; it is simply a metal shell with a complex lock cylinder.

The key works by engaging with the lock cylinder, causing the spring that is holding the lock cylinder in place to spring to the correct position. This then causes the lock cylinder to rotate, ultimately retracting the mechanism that holds the lock head in place, allowing the lock head to disengage.

In other words, you don't need to know the internal structure of the lock cylinder. You can open it by using a key or something else to apply a few appropriate pressures to the lock cylinder from the outside.

If you can maintain this visual connection, and then use Mingmei's wire to press down the corresponding structure inside the lock cylinder, you should be able to unlock it.

Just press down the corresponding structure of the lock cylinder.

With a click, the lock popped open.

Yuri froze—because he hadn't even started talking to Minmei about getting the wire from her yet.

"...How did you open it?" Akemi asked, curious about what Yuri had done as she saw the lock spring open.

“This… um…” Yuri didn’t really know either, but there were some clues. “I observed its internal structure and applied the appropriate force to the lock cylinder—and it opened.”

How come I never discovered this skill before?

"Could it be that substance you mentioned? You can influence matter itself?" Akemi recalled what she had said before, "and you yourself didn't even know you had this ability?"

It's certainly possible, but does matter also experience forces? Yuri was very confused.

Before all this happened, Yuri was pondering whether he could create a fake key using the surrounding shadows. This would likely require meticulous work, but it should be technically feasible. The biggest problem was that Yuri wasn't sure if he would run out of spiritual essence before completing it.

Now everything has been resolved inexplicably, which feels a bit strange.

"—I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse to run into a bumbling fool like you who doesn't even know his own abilities... Don't just stand there, let's go in and take a look."

Yes, if you can't figure it out, don't think about it anymore. You still have important things to do.

Chapter 44 Light Speed ​​Clustering?

Remove the lock from the door, untie the chain that was stuck in the lock, and gently place it on the ground.

Slowly, the old door was pulled open, making a creaking sound. The sound wasn't loud, but it was quite clear in the silent, dark night.

The guards shouldn't hear us, right?

The door wasn't fully opened, just a crack wide enough for a person to pass through. The two men slipped in one after the other, bringing the chain and padlock with them.

If the guards suddenly appear and catch the thief, that's fine; the real problem is if they just lock the door. In that situation, not finding a chain and a padlock can at least buy some time.

Mingmei suggested that one person go to the second-floor window to keep watch at the entrance. If the guards noticed anything amiss, they should inform the other person immediately so that they could escape.

Yuri strongly agreed, but he thought they could search the first floor first, and only when they couldn't find anything and needed to look in another direction should they prepare to keep watch—the first floor itself could be used to observe the outside movements, so they could split up to search.

The warehouse wasn't particularly densely packed with items, but they were mostly large pieces covered with cloth. Yuri had to search through them one by one to see if there was anything worth noting. Akemi, who was wearing gloves, was doing something similar, and the two of them worked together to make the warehouse dusty.

The air quality in the enclosed space was already very poor, and with dust flying everywhere, even though Mingmei wore a mask in time, it was still not a very suitable environment for human survival.

Yuri opened the small ventilation window in the corner, but air circulation was not completed quickly. It might take several hours for these ventilation windows to complete the ventilation. By then, regardless of whether they found the target or not, the two should have already left.

Something is better than nothing, Yuri thought, and opened all the ventilation windows.

Yuri then returned to continue the search, but unfortunately, he found nothing. Most of the items were old motors and large tools, long unused, and covered in dust even when covered. Yuri didn't examine them closely, but judging by his natural eye, about half of these items were likely unusable, as their mechanisms were already rusted.

The only gain was finding a good place to hide the chains and lock—just next to a small generator, covered with a cloth. This was the reason for choosing this location.

Next up is the second floor, where it was agreed that Yuri would keep watch.

Actually, anyone could have acted as the lookout, but Yuri chose scissors instead of paper.

While Akemi searched the second floor for small items also covered with cloth, Yuri floated by the window, observing the scene outside.

Today is the new moon, and the dim moon cannot illuminate the environment below. However, it is still much brighter than a sewer. People with good eyesight should be able to vaguely see their surroundings after a little adjustment.

On the bright side, this does have one advantage: when guards come out on patrol, they will definitely be using flashlights, making them easier to spot.

The fact that no flashlight beams were shining out indicated that the two guards were still in the guardhouse.

Relieved, Yuri turned his attention to the square in front of him. The square was decorated with intricate patterns made of bricks of different colors, which must have taken a lot of effort.

Although Yuri couldn't quite make out the exact colors in the dark, he could at least see the differences in light and darkness.

There didn't seem to be much to see, so Yuri decided to check on Minmei's investigation. Then he felt like he'd missed something, like a thorn in his side.

Turn back and observe carefully.

Across the square from the warehouse should be a gymnasium, with the main gate on one side and a teaching building on the other.

The direction of the main gate is not important, nor is the direction of the teaching building...

Why does this school building look like it's emitting some kind of dark aura? Yuri looked closely, but the dark aura had vanished without a trace, as if it were just an illusion.