Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

It might be a risk, although even if he fails, he's unlikely to be caught by the cultists—he's standing right in the middle of the room and none of them can actually see him, they might just sense something's wrong—but it might make them more vigilant.

Yuri prepared himself for a moment, then waited until a group of cultists left with the leaflets before appearing outside the door.

“Huff, huff—Mr. Inota, has anyone else come? The one led by the bearded man—” Yurira’s shrill voice rang out.

These believers knew each other, but weren't very close, so it was normal to encounter one or two strangers—if every group knew each other intimately, that would be considered bad luck. As for Inota, that was something he'd heard about before; there were three people in the room, and Yuri only knew one of them by the surname Inota.

"What big beard? You should call me Senior Sanlai!" An impatient scolding voice came from inside the house. "What's wrong with you? How could you fall behind?"

Luck is neither good nor bad; the people inside haven't yet suspected that the people outside aren't their accomplices, but they still need to be careful with their answers to questions.

"Because I suddenly had a stomachache, I stayed in the toilet for too long—Senior Sanlai said that if I didn't keep up, we should go back to the old place, but I'm lost again. Can you point me in the right direction?" Yuri didn't know where the old place was either, but it would be best if these cultists had an old place.

If they claim that this family workshop is their only base of operations, Yuri believes they could be removed from the list of suspects.

"What? How could you be so foolish?" The person in the room sounded quite angry.

"Oh dear, I'm a newbie," Yuri added, adding a couple of flattering remarks that might give Akemi goosebumps.

In conclusion, it at least successfully disgusted the cult members inside.

"Don't be so mushy!" Perhaps to avoid being annoyed to death by his mushy companion's strange and exaggerated manner outside the door, the person named Inota quickly gave an address.

It actually worked? Yuri thanked him profusely and then pretended to leave.

In other words, he took two steps out, transformed into his spirit form, and returned to the house.

"Inota, why did you give out the address so quickly—what if it was a reporter trying to trick you into revealing information?" Cult member B was questioning Inota.

"Were you not even listening?" Inota retorted. "I simply told that person where Sanlai often goes. Since that person already knows that Sanlai has a big beard, even if he's not one of us, it'll be easy for him to find Sanlai."

Before Yuri could even begin to feel the blow, Inota continued, "Besides, if they really were reporters, they would have found the location of our temporary church by tonight if they had just continued to follow us or others. Why would they jump out to cause trouble at a time like this? I think they are definitely one of us."

I didn't know before, but I do now.

Yuri listened for a few more minutes and realized that Inota was starting to boast about his envisioned secrecy process and fantasizing about being appreciated, reaching the top, and then leaving.

Let's go around again and see if there are any members who match Mingmei's description.

Yuri didn't think there was much hope, and his main focus was still on the temporary church in the evenings, but he figured he might as well have some free time in between.

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.

Around 5:30 p.m., Yuri returned to his residence and exchanged information with Akemi.

Mingmei highly praised Yuri's efforts and then told him about the results of her contact with the Spirit Hunters.

"They said they would select people to conduct the investigation, but they don't have enough manpower. They hope we can work harder."

It sounds like a complete excuse.

"Didn't they say they didn't have enough manpower last time too?" Yuri couldn't suppress his dissatisfaction. "Then what exactly are their people doing? Or are they doing those mysterious big things?"

What big event could be so significant? Although we were told it would take a month or two, we haven't received any information, so nobody knows what you're up to.

“This time they have a very legitimate reason—at least if they’re telling the truth.” Mingmei said helplessly, “I said the same thing as you before, but maybe I was too embarrassed, so they just told me what they were busy with.”

What are they busy with? Yuri listened intently.

"Ahem..." Mingmei began to mimic the others' speech, "Some time ago, we discovered that a high-level spirit had gone missing at sea. After conducting an in-depth investigation, it seems that it has directly returned to the Shadow Realm—but its influence has remained in the Material Realm. Now, several other high-level spirits are on the verge of war, vying for its remaining territory, and could go to war at any moment. If they really start fighting, in extreme cases, it could trigger natural disasters such as small tsunamis and hurricanes, causing massive losses. So we also have our difficulties. What you're talking about is indeed a bit dangerous, but we're in danger too—you keep up the good work for now, and if things get serious, we'll talk about it. At that time, we'll try our best to free up manpower."

...Is the missing high-level spirit you mentioned...?

Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Makeshift Investigator - Failure

“That’s right. According to their investigation, the missing high-level spirit was indeed a sea urchin.” Mingmei said helplessly, “You see, they have a lot of evidence and they are under a lot of pressure.”

Takemura! Hunter! You two! Yuri really didn't expect that after so much time, he would still be stuck with the same old problem.

"What about everyone else? What about all the paranormal people in Tokyo?"

"I don't know, should we take a gamble? Bet on whether they'll come?" Mingmei remained calm, even speaking in a flippant tone.

"Such a big bet—are you kidding me?" Yuri said, then realized what he was saying and began to observe Akemi's expression.

“Relax, relax. If the big shots don’t care, then we don’t need to worry either—” Mingmei’s words revealed an increasingly heavy sense of giving up. “First of all, we need to be clear about one thing—if a level three spirit comes, the two of us together still have a chance to win, and even if we lose, we can basically run away.”

"Really?" Although we just discussed the problem that if the situation turns unfavorable, this good thing won't happen.

"If a level four spirit comes along, the two of us together would probably be just enough to fill its teeth."

What you said makes a lot of sense.

"So what we need to do is, before we actually open a new portal to the Shadow Realm, try to figure out what this portal is all about, who opened it and for what purpose, and then interrupt them."

Akemi didn't elaborate, but Yuri completely understood what she meant. Clearly, what followed was, "If they really open it a second time, we'll just run for our lives."

"We can now be certain that this portal to the Shadow Realm was opened intentionally, right?"

That's right, we reached that conclusion about twelve hours ago. Yuri had intended to wait quietly for her follow-up, but decided that since she had specifically asked, he might as well cooperate.

After Yuri gave an affirmative answer, Akemi nodded in satisfaction. "This is great news. It means we still have a chance to stop this incident. As long as we eliminate the possibility of the Shadow Gate opening again in the future, the amount that has leaked in now is not enough to cause any major problems in the vast Tokyo metropolitan area."

“We got this information from Mr. Okumura’s file—does he have any other information?” Yuri had already silently raised the suspicion of cult members even higher in his mind.

Although they seem like a charade, what if they're performing some kind of supernatural ritual that happens to summon a spirit?

"I don't know. I plan to go to Uncle Okumura's place tonight to investigate." The high school student occultist was full of enthusiasm. "I'll leave the surveillance on the cult to you. Don't act rashly or take too much risk."

well.

They continued to split into two groups.

It's clear that, like Yuri, Akemi felt a deep dissatisfaction with this world where, after the incident, it seemed like she was the only one doing the work.

But what can be done? Those who are there can't help, and those who can help aren't there.

If all of humanity had the ability to fight danger, we wouldn't need to go through all this trouble.

Yuri banished the information that had popped into his mind.

That's impossible, almost absolutely impossible. It would take hundreds of years... if not thousands or tens of thousands of years.

Another approach, just like Mingmei's initial suggestion, is to not try to be a hero.

This method is simple and easy to implement, but Yuri really enjoys being a hero—at least he enjoys the sense of superiority that comes from successfully surpassing others.

Definitely next time.

“You can’t give up. You’ll do the same thing again next time and suffer the same losses,” a voice inside him disagreed. “You might even feel a sense of glory the more you suffer, as if you’ve made a tremendous sacrifice—”

"Shut up!"

Yuri regained his senses before he started arguing with himself—he couldn't waste time on self-criticism; he had to stop and take immediate action.

Definitely next time.

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.

It was already six o'clock in the afternoon, and the sky was getting dark. Yuri rushed to the place where the cultists often distributed leaflets. Although based on his previous experience, they might not leave until seven or eight o'clock in the evening, and Yuri had not seen any unusual behavior from them before he left, not even the number of leaflets they were carrying had changed, Yuri still wanted to make sure that his tracking was as effective as possible.

I went to the place where the flyers were distributed, but the people there had already left, which meant that the time for the rally was approaching, so I had to hurry.

On the way to the other side, Yuri saw a short, furtive woman also following the cult members, hiding herself in the crowd and the shadows around the corner while trailing behind the group of people handing out flyers.

While her hiding skills weren't particularly advanced, they were still adequate enough to prevent the cultists from discovering her.

On the other hand, these cult members probably didn't expect to be followed. They didn't have a strong awareness of counter-surveillance; although they would sometimes turn around as if suddenly sensing something, they didn't do anything particularly unusual like taking a detour. It was as if they were a legitimate organization... Oh right, they might actually be a legitimate organization, unless someone digs up evidence of their crimes.

Yuri discovered this person by a very coincidental coincidence. Just when Yuri felt he might need to hide to avoid the possibility that "there was someone in the cult who could see spirits who noticed the anomaly"—Yuri and she chose the same telephone pole.

As the two overlapped, the woman suddenly shuddered, pulled back, and looked around, but still couldn't see Yuri.

Hmm, another one. I bet you see a lot of ghosts in Tokyo.

After observing her confidently for a while, Yuri noticed the woman appeared to be in her early twenties. She was dressed casually, carrying a camera and a shoulder bag. She wasn't very tall (based on Yuri's current height), and her appearance… well, it was hard to say. She was definitely a different style from Akemi. Furthermore, she looked somewhat disheveled, yet there was no dust on her clothes. Was she deliberately wearing makeup like that? Yuri didn't yet possess the ability to immediately discern makeup, but based on a general assessment, she probably wasn't ugly.

What was that person I mentioned yesterday like...? "Simply dressed, pale, quick-moving, carrying a bag, camera, and thin"—it matches perfectly, and they were doing the same thing.

Great, but I don't know how to say hello.

The woman continued moving forward, following behind the cult members who had not stopped during this time.

Yuri suspected this person was a journalist. If so, Yuri was lucky. A journalist, for better or worse, would surely know what to look for... right? After all, they are professionals and should know.

In addition, I've met so many inspired people lately. Is it only people with this ability who do this job?

Following the cult members, the two arrived at the exterior of a residential building... a villa... a detached building somewhere between an ordinary house and a luxury villa. Yuri ultimately concluded that it was still a residential building.

The cult members entered the house and did not come out.

This looks like the end of the road, the gathering place of the believers—looking around carefully, Yuri had passed by this place many times along the way, but had not noticed anything unusual then.

You really can't find it without someone to guide you.

Right now, Yuri and a suspected reporter are hiding in a corner of an alley, observing the cultists in the distance.

Perhaps because Yuri was standing too close, the suspected reporter seemed uncomfortable all over, but the alleyway was only so big, and there was no way to avoid it.

Yuri hadn't even finished her internal apology when the reporter, seemingly a ghost, did something that startled her—she began waving a digital camera and snapping photos indiscriminately. Yuri instinctively dodged, but wasn't sure if she'd end up in one of the pictures… Probably not, Yuri thought, after all, she was a spirit.

He then moved behind the temporary reporter and looked at the photos with him. The camera was digital; he didn't recognize the model, it looked complicated, and it certainly wasn't cheap.

To Yuri's surprise, the bottom left corner of the fourth of the five photos seemed to be showing his hat! The camera must have been tampered with; Yuri made a mental note of this.

It seems the suspected reporter is a professional; she noticed this as well and took a few more pictures. However, this time Yuri kept circling behind her and ducked down in time when she took pictures of her from behind, successfully avoiding the camera angle.

I'll have to figure out how to delete this photo afterwards... or just let it go? It's just a hat, there's no way I could find myself based on that.

Just then, another group of cultists entered the residence, promptly diverting the attention of the suspected reporter; otherwise, she might have really gotten into a tug-of-war with Yuri. Unlike the previous group of cultists who strolled around, this group rushed in—Yuri noticed that one of them was indeed bald, but they were moving too fast for Yuri to get close enough to examine his fingers closely.

Then, the person suspected to be a reporter also made a move. She quickly slipped into an unoccupied house next to the target residence and then slowly began to climb over the railing between the two houses.

The railings here aren't any lower than those outside, but the cultists aren't keeping watch here, so they have more time to move around. The suspected reporter's actions were quite deliberate, as if she knew where the cultists' guards were beforehand; she must have done a lot of prior research. To be precise, her movements were quite swift, but to Yuri, who was used to seeing Mingmei climb over the wall, they seemed very slow and frustrating.

I followed the man, who appeared to be a reporter, furtively to the window and peered inside.

A deep, elderly female voice came from inside, “Unlike the newly awakened believers who are attending this gathering—if they are not awakened by the final, earth-shattering moment, the door to the future will be closed to them!—Come, let us receive together the divine decree! This will point us in the direction of our future ascension!”

—Awakening—? Yuri seemed to have heard a word that couldn't be ignored, but the word was used too broadly, so it probably wasn't what he was thinking.

The followers were meditating in a circle around an elderly woman dressed like a very old witch, who was probably the leader of the cult... or at least some high-ranking official.

The group of believers who had just entered might be the last one. As Yuri and the woman peeked through the window, the cult leader was about to finish speaking, and the followers were already very excited, with bursts of cheers erupting.

Based on the fragments overheard in those final moments, they were about to hold a séance, invoking the will of the gods to guide them towards the future. Was it time for some kind of charlatanry?

First, the cult leader put on a performance that resembled an epileptic seizure, almost foaming at the mouth. After the performance—Yuri didn't see any supernatural effects in it, so it really was just a performance—a spiritual force emanated from her and pointed at the paper and pen in front of her—the paper and pen floated up.

The congregation gasped in surprise, especially the last group to arrive. This likely reflected their varying seniority; perhaps the more senior members had witnessed this charade several times before.

As someone seeing this for the first time, Yuri also wanted to exclaim in amazement, because it was truly a remarkable feat; he didn't see any steel wires or hairdryers. The person next to him, presumably a reporter, remained silent but accelerated the pace of pressing the shutter button.

This person, suspected to be a reporter, had been snapping photos non-stop ever since they got under the window and found an angle they thought they wouldn't be seen.

Then, the cult leader took the paper and pen, and while trembling like a madman, he wrote and drew on the paper. His hand movements were very slow, and at this speed, he probably couldn't write many words.

The suspected reporter was still frantically taking pictures, but unfortunately, the angle was bad, and from her perspective, she probably couldn't see what was written on the paper.

About a minute later, as the leader stopped writing, the followers, who had been silent for a while, started making noise again.

Yuri, who recently participated in an all-night homework-writing activity, can confidently say that at her writing speed, it probably won't take more than three sentences.

"Silence! Silence! The leader is about to read out the instructions she has received!" A senior member who appeared to be of some status maintained order. This middle-aged man seemed to have considerable prestige among the members, and after he spoke, the members quieted down.

The cult leader nodded and spoke in a hoarse voice, "Everyone, I have received a decree from Heaven—first, a revolution is imminent! The gate to the primordial world is about to open, which will be the prelude to a world upheaval in which Tokyo will be utterly destroyed! In order to be pioneers in this revolution, we should dedicate ourselves even more!"

Some followers were already excited, but most were still waiting for the second one, so the commotion wasn't too great for the time being.

...You didn't write that many words, so how did you interpret so many? Or do you also know how to use extremely dense text?

“Second…” she glanced at what she had written, “There are evil spirits spying on us! Find them!”

Click. Yuri glanced at the camera raised by the man who appeared to be a reporter, who was crouching outside the window.

That's true, there really is someone spying on us.

Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Cult of the Grassroots - Inside

The woman, who appeared to be a reporter, quickly jumped up and ran away, which was spotted by the worshippers who were also jumping up and searching around.

It can't be said that she was too careless. Given the distance between the two sides, as long as nothing unexpected happened, she could have escaped by climbing over the fence before the cultists rushed out of the house.

Of course, accidents can happen all the time.

A split second later, following the actions of the person suspected to be a reporter, Yuri saw her being pulled sharply by a spiritual force from behind as she climbed the wall. She lost her balance and fell back down. Yuri turned his attention back to the cult leader—yes, the spiritual force was coming from the cult leader, but this time there was no of that usual hysterical, head-shaking performance.

It was time to risk testing whether the other party could see him. Yuri floated to the windowsill, preparing to vault into the house, ready to turn tail and run if attacked head-on.