Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

"If the mastermind thought you would do this, and that's why they split up the rat swarm attacks—which are just a bonus to them—to distract you from your actions?" Mingmei retorted. "Your activities are not without clues; the mastermind may have already included you in their calculations!"

"Of course it will take us into account. Who dares to ignore us? But this 'higher level' of iteration is endless. What if it wants us to decide to launch a rash counterattack as you think, and be defeated one by one?"

"Stop! Stop! Both of you, stop!"

Just as the conversation was about to escalate into an argument... or had already become an argument (?), Yuri intervened in time, interrupting their dispute.

"Are you really going to stay here for a long time?" Yuri quickly asked, trying to prevent them from arguing again. "Weren't you just talking about patrolling or something?"

"Yes, my mission is to move around the city as a mobile unit just in case—Aminmei, listen to me, I can't stay here watching you forever, you need to move to a safe place immediately."

Akemi seemed about to say something, but Yuri interrupted her, "Actually, I think we should leave. We can't stay here for long."

Murakami Akisa's eyes lit up for a moment, then she hurriedly told Akemi, "Listen to your friend, she seems quite composed!"

“Okay.” Akemi hesitated for a moment.

“Yuri, if Akemi is going to do anything risky, you must stop her, whether as a friend or a companion. It’s your duty. Akemi is a good friend, and you shouldn’t let her down.”

"—What do you mean—" Akemi seemed to be provoked again.

Leaving behind a single sentence and ignoring Akemi's protests, Murakami Akisa rushed away in a frantic manner.

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.

There was silence in the house.

Yuri glanced at Akemi, who was slowly and rhythmically shaking her head while placing her left index finger in front of her mouth.

He then said, "In order to leave, we may need to pack our things and take everything we might need. This will take some time."

"Do you still not completely believe what she says?" Yuri responded.

“I trust her out of good intentions, but has she really grasped the overall situation—she even got the key information from you. What if she makes a mistake again?” Mingmei’s posture remained unchanged. “In any case, I’m afraid we have to do this.”

"That's right, we can't stay here. What do we all need to bring?"

"Hmm, let me see, let me check." Mingmei pressed her finger to her lips, then put it down and began packing her things.

About a minute later, Akemi spoke again, "Yes, they should be gone for good."

"Is she so easily trusting?" Yuri asked again. "I mean, didn't her attitude towards me change too quickly?"

“She doesn’t distrust my judgment as much as she says, she just doesn’t trust it enough,” Mingmei explained casually. “If she thought you were bad, she would have come after me long ago—in our conversation just now, she wasn’t worried at all about your character—she was worried that you weren’t smart enough to lead me astray. Didn’t you notice that she didn’t question your appearance at all? She must have secretly looked at it at some point, or let someone else look at it.”

Yuri was completely unaware that he was being spied on.

“It’s obvious she really cares about you. Is she the one you met in the Spirit Hunters?” Yuri hesitated for a moment, then brought up another question, “And she looks a lot like you.”

They don't look exactly alike, but they are very similar in some ways, and you can tell they are related by blood.

“That’s right, Murakami Akisa, I should call her Aunt… or Auntie again. After my parents passed away, she claimed to have guardianship responsibility for me, but actually she didn’t do much for me, not that she didn’t want to.” Akemi’s speech was unusually incoherent, it seemed that she really cared about that person. “I don’t want to say more.”

"Fine, you two. One told me to ask Akemi, and the other told me she didn't want to talk about it." Yuri shook his head, giving up on further probing into their relationship.

Chapter 87 The Legend of the Werewolf (?)

Although I have made up my mind not to pry into the details of interpersonal relationships, there are definitely more things to pay attention to than just interpersonal relationships.

"That ear and the howling sound... a werewolf? You're not going to tell me it's a husky, are you?" This is something that can't be ignored.

"Ah, although I haven't specifically told you, yes, a werewolf." Akemi closed her eyes.

"I heard the Fire Spirit mention that they have wolf blood—are they talking about werewolves?" Yuri pressed.

“If that’s what the spirit said, then it must be referring to the werewolf.” Mingmei’s eyes remained closed.

"Are all Soul Hunters werewolves?" Yuri persisted.

“Not all of them, but most of them are.” Mingmei’s expression was quite serene.

"You say she's your aunt, so your parents are werewolves too?" Yuri persisted, even crossing the line.

Akemi's eyes suddenly opened.

Yuri suppressed the urge to jump back, after all, the high school girl in front of him hadn't rushed up yet.

“No, only my mother.” Then Yuri heard this voice. “Let’s pack up and get ready to go to the station. We’ll wait outside the station for a while before heading to our target.”

It seems like continuing to ask questions isn't a good idea.

The rats seem to be regrouping; you'd better hurry if you want to leave.

While Akemi quickly stuffed her things into her clothes full of pockets, Yuri replenished his energy at the shrine.

Yuri was about to be full after consuming about two-fifths of the shrine's current reserves.

Fortunately, Yuri had a little plan that could slightly increase the safety of this trip.

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 peeked out from the window; protected by his shield, he could withstand the rat swarm's attack for a long time.

Before the rats could gather, he quickly pounced on the surrounding rats, trying to eliminate as many as possible that came near him. This was part of the plan, and Yuri also wanted to vent his frustration.

This reduced the number of rats in the area and also provoked them, who clearly saw Yuri as an enemy.

"They're really bullies who prey on the weak. Why weren't you so excited when Ms. Qiusha came?" Yuri cursed inwardly.

But that would be even better; ideally, they could focus all their attention on Yuri.

Before the rats could surround him, Yuri leaped down from the wall, landing on the back of the rats on the ground. He then turned around and made faces at those still clinging to the wall.

The mice might not understand what a funny face meant, but they clearly knew it was a provocation and chased after it.

Only a very small number remained in place.

Excellent, the plan was a great success. Yuri had wondered beforehand what would happen if these low-level spirits, who hardly ever used their brains, could see through his plan.

Do not leave at full speed; maintain a state where only the mouse at the very front can reach you.

Yuri fought and retreated, stalling for time.

A minute later, Yuri, who felt he was putting in more and more effort to fight off the rats, finally heard the roar of a motorcycle.

Great, Mingmei has successfully resolved the problem.

The biggest problem with leaving was what to do when Akemi was attacked by a swarm of rats while starting the vehicle. It wasn't impossible to escape by running with her belongings, but losing her means of transportation just didn't feel right.

If Yuri were to deploy a large-area shield to trap Akemi within it, it would essentially provide the rats with a larger target to attack.

So the best solution is for Yuri to draw the fire, and then have Minmei drive over to help.

As they passed each other, Akemi suddenly reached out her hand, and Yuri reached out to take it—then Akemi grabbed Yuri's shoulder and lifted him up in a strange posture.

The visual effects weren't as good as I'd hoped, but at least we were free from the swarm of rats—along with some of the rats clinging to Yuri and Minmei.

They were few in number, so Yuri easily dealt with them.

After testing, Yuri could completely drain their energy through contact, but even if Yuri's current anger was enough to make him disregard the issue of future regeneration, the efficiency would still be too low—the energy in a single mouse was less than the cost of Yuri's initial investment.

"What's going on? Didn't all the rats follow me?" Rats clinging to my body are one thing, but why are there rats on the motorcycle? "Were you attacked? Are you hurt?"

“I put the stone lantern in the trunk. It was probably the rats that it attracted—some of the rats were attracted by these spiritual essences—don’t just stand there, quickly check how much was lost?” Mingmei didn’t turn around, the motorcycle continued to accelerate. “As for why I wasn’t injured, I might have been bitten twice through my clothes in the chaos, but it didn’t even touch my body.”

Yuri grabbed the rope he usually hung on, materialized into a spirit, and reached out to examine the stone lantern.

"There wasn't much loss, don't worry." It's true that the rats must have sucked some of the nutrients, but the amount was small.

Very good, that's it.

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.

As Yuri adjusted his position, Akemi's voice came from the front.

"what did she say?"

"Who, who said what?" Yuri didn't react. Akemi should have been present the whole time when Murakami Akisa was there.

"The reporter—what did the reporter say on the phone? I didn't hear it clearly at the time."

It seems the high school mystic was indeed woken up by the phone call.

Yuri described the dialogue process as comprehensively as possible, in this and that manner.

"Can you describe the victims' situations again?" Mingmei seemed to have thought of something.

"They are...feverish, vomiting, and confused. What's wrong? Have you thought of anything?"

“…Damn it, could it be that?” Akemi’s voice was very soft; she wasn’t speaking to Yuri, but rather talking to herself.

Which one? Yuri waited quietly for a detailed explanation; to Yuri, many diseases could produce this symptom.

“Plague. There are many things that can produce this sign, but if it’s related to rats, then generally we can only associate it with the plague.” Mingmei gritted her teeth.

"I think I've seen this word before..."

Yuri had heard of the plague; in Minmei's history textbook, the plague was considered an extremely dangerous epidemic—Minmei's reaction when she mentioned the word suggested that Yuri's memory was mostly accurate.

"But they were only bitten by spirit rats, they weren't exposed to any real germs!? Shouldn't this be a supernatural disease?" Yuri found it hard to believe.

"This is certainly a supernatural disease, most likely based on the plague—so Yuri, what do you think the final outcome will be for the victim? Will he recover on his own after a while?"

"Are they going to die?"

“If this problem isn’t solved soon, I suspect it will eventually lead to this.” The high school student mystic’s voice carried a heavy weight.

"..."

Yuri didn't know what to say. Given the current state of the victims, the death toll was unlikely to be low.

"Fortunately, as supernatural effects, they are not contagious, otherwise—did I miss something?" Mingmei comforted herself for a moment before interrupting herself.

“I remember you told me that if the resonance continues to grow stronger, the rat swarm can materialize and attack everyone,” Yuri responded, but it was clearly not the kind of response Minmei wanted.

“…We…” Akemi was clearly quite flustered, and Yuri felt the motorcycle starting to become unstable.

“We’ll continue to the station right now, wait there for a while, and then contact your relative.”

"what?"

"Didn't she just say she was going to scout ahead? She's definitely stronger than us. We can just share the results with her once she finds out."

Yuri didn't know what to do with the information, but there was an 80% chance that Akemi would immediately go to where the mastermind was to see if she could do anything—and then the two unprepared people would be forced to rush off.

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.

Right now, Akemi is riding a motorcycle, and she doesn't seem to want to talk.

Yuri observed his surroundings.

There were very few rats on the street they were walking on. According to Qiusha, this was probably because the rat population had been moved elsewhere.

Even so, the streets are still not absolutely safe.

Moreover, the number of people on the street was only slightly less than on a typical weekend, and although most of them were in a hurry, they didn't seem to be able to escape the rats.

There is absolutely no sign of a reduction in the number of vehicles.

The several hours of unconsciousness that have occurred today have not served as a sufficient warning to them; they may not know, or may not believe, that this would happen to them.

Yuri wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

This world is fraught with danger, and ordinary people seem to have no way to resist it.

This didn't seem right, but Yuri couldn't think of a way to improve it.

At least they are unaware, so they are quite happy... Hasn't this reason been used before?

He refocused his attention and began to visualize the spiritual veins in his mind.

Murakami Akisa did not specify the locations of the nodes that needed protection, but Yuri, referring to the map in his mind, still found a few suspicious locations.

The selection criteria included locations not far from where the incident occurred and relatively complex spiritual veins.

There are about seven or eight locations that meet this condition, which is about the same as the number of werewolves he expected. Most of them should have werewolves lurking there.

After pinpointing the location, Yuri memorized it... He might need it in the future, or very soon, if he needed to run there to seek reinforcements.

"Wolves...people...say they're guarding the node, do you think they can succeed?" Yuri asked Akemi in a low voice.

"If it's just a swarm of rats, they're unlikely to lose if they simply defend... After all, the rat swarm only has the advantage of numbers, and if their skill level is high enough, they can be ignored."

Yu the Rookie had nothing to refute, but his question went in another direction: "Do you really think the enemy is just creating a diversion and is actually doing something else?"

Akemi paused for a moment before responding, “Actually, I didn’t know. I was just being stubborn—but I don’t think what I said was unreasonable. The enemy could very well be very clever, advancing its plans to a point that threatens humanity without us even noticing. Whoever it is or whatever, it’s not appropriate to treat it as a fool. Besides…”

"Say more?"