Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

111 Returns

During the last part of the journey, Yuri tried hard to get information out of his "old friends who do magic tricks," but to no avail. The most valuable thing he got was, "Don't investigate what they did, and if you do, don't become like them."

This guy just wouldn't talk, and Yuri couldn't do anything about it.

It's over. Although some information hasn't been released yet, it's over, no matter what.

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.

Get off at the station in the physical world and leave this area safely.

Glass Eyes isn't here. Yuri asked Line Two, who replied that since things are over, Glass Eyes has probably gone back to his old job of spying.

This answer is completely unreassuring; it seems I'll really have to do everything I can to avoid cameras when I go out in the future.

Before leaving the abandoned platform, Yuri thought of a question and asked the train spirit.

"You asked how this platform was abandoned... It's easy to understand. I made them think it was under maintenance all the time, and nobody actually took care of it—everyone thought it was in someone else's area, and then it was abandoned." The train spirit's voice carried a strange emotion. "Compared to the British and Germans of that time, the Japanese are particularly good at pretending not to know, and modern Japanese are even better at it than ancient Japanese."

"You did a good job deceiving your superiors and subordinates," Yuri said, clutching his head as he left the platform.

The scene was perfectly normal, so normal that it seemed as if the terrifying events of the previous twenty-four hours had all been an illusion.

The crowd remained busy, just like any other day. The spirits returned to their respective positions, their attitude unchanged from their first visit—neither warm nor cold… They probably didn't really know what had happened.

They had no idea what had happened, let alone the specific details... Well... Anyway, Yuri didn't really intend for them to thank him.

If he were to be greeted by thousands of cheering and lining the streets, he would definitely be terrified.

Upon leaving the station, the black and white dog spirit guarding the gate remained unchanged and silently made way for Yuri.

Sunlight streamed through Yuri and shone on the ground. Before emerging, Yuri glanced at the clock inside the station; it pointed to 11:20. That's practically noon. Unlike the sunlight in the Shadow Realm, the sun in the material world didn't cause Yuri any stress. This was normal; Mr. Helios, the sun god, was just being far too irritable.

Yuri slowly made his way through the crowd, aimlessly observing those around him to confirm that yesterday's irregular unconsciousness had indeed had no effect on them. Was this a good thing? They had unknowingly brushed past a minor disaster.

I guess so. After all, I don't know how to make them wary... Mortals are too vulnerable in the face of supernatural beings.

Facing the street, Yuri hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to hitch a ride back to Akemi's place, but ultimately decided to walk back. After a long period of aimless wandering, he now found life that required only physical exertion and no mental effort much more comfortable—or perhaps it was because he didn't have a clear physical limit to begin with.

Nothing unexpected happened on the way back. There were no Rat King's retainers who came to ambush them, no rats still running around and struggling for their lives, and of course, no werewolves.

It was as calm as if everything before had been a dream.

Normal streets, normal traffic, normal pedestrians, normal... In short, the most abnormal thing right now is Yuri, who reflexively jumps up at the slightest noise.

...Well, even the tape recorders have reappeared, though in much smaller numbers; I only found one or two after walking several blocks.

This also includes the normal frequency of murders. In this godforsaken place, it's normal for several murders to happen in one night. The world operates as if everything is in its proper place.

The straight route back to their lodgings didn't pass the junkyard, but Yuri did carefully observe any place along the way that looked like a recycling center.

A small number of spirit rats remained there, and they became very timid after noticing Yuri's gaze.

After all, they are all guys who are clearly a level weaker than Yuri... Those who are stronger may not have enough time to find a strong enough resonance to define themselves.

It seems they won't bite anymore, at least not for the time being. Yuri didn't continue to entangle with these harmless rat spirits. They weren't a threat now, and if they were to become a threat in the future, then anything he did now would probably be futile.

Is this what the spirit of the train means? If Yuri tries to wipe out all the enemies, even if he doesn't get killed, he'll be exhausted to death.

Back in Mingmei's apartment complex, the swarm of rats that had infested her floor had vanished, as if they'd never been there. However, she could still see the light membrane through the window... the anti-spirit array had been set up again. Hmm... that was a new development, making everything feel more real.

He passed through the light membrane on the door and returned to the room. The shrine was placed in the very center of the magic circle, just as it had been when he left. Good, Akemi got home before him and is probably resting, Yuri thought. Otherwise, the stone lantern would still be outside, wandering with Akemi.

Even now, it's already on the verge of running out of energy. If nothing happens, it can last for another half hour, but a single impact on the light membrane would probably deplete it. Clearly, Mingmei is using it as a symbolic alarm to buy time.

They have worked hard and made great contributions.

...The bedroom door was closed, and Ming Meiren was obviously inside. Yuri decided not to disturb her for the time being.

Go home.

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 tossed himself onto the sofa and began to rest. The biggest difference in physical sensation between the Shadow Realm and the Material Realm is that, for spirits, the Shadow Realm has gravity, while the Material Realm does not.

However, the principles behind the two are opposite: gravity in the material realm comes from the Earth's gravitational pull, while gravity in the shadow realm comes from the power of the sun god Helios's arrows of sunlight shooting downwards.

Before he could even compare for a few seconds, Akemi appeared out of the house, seemingly having gotten up a little before Yuri entered.

"Oh? You're back? That was quick." Akemi greeted her casually.

...Why doesn't this high school girl seem worried at all?

"How did you know I was back? I'm sure I didn't make a sound."

"Of course, it's because of this."

As they were talking, the high school girl tossed something over... Yuri's hat arced through the air, then twisted and landed on his head.

...It seems he gave the hat to Akemi to keep in touch, though it wasn't ultimately used. Yuri raised his hand and touched the hat...Perhaps its ability to keep his mind focused at crucial moments also contributed to its effectiveness?

It still doesn't quite seem like it. He concluded that he couldn't sense any independent thought in the hat; it should be using Yuri's ideas.

“Although my aunt was already preparing to send you an obituary when she saw the train coming down—in fact, she was almost ready to write the eulogy—I thought that if you could come back to life after death, you would definitely be reborn here with the hat, and if you couldn’t come back to life, the hat would definitely go with you.” The high school girl rubbed her eyes. “But neither of those things happened, so I’m sure you’re not dead yet. You were probably taken away by the spirit of the train.”

That makes sense.

“Then, I wasn’t sure if the Train Spirit would betray me and kill you—I worried for about ten minutes, then realized that if he intended to do so, he obviously wouldn’t hesitate, since the hat still hadn’t shown any abnormalities…which meant he hadn’t, and probably wouldn’t.” Mingmei took a deep breath. “At the same time, my aunt told me that the Train Spirit travels between the Material Realm and the Shadow Realm from time to time…usually going at midnight and returning during the day, so I immediately deduced that you would most likely have to wait until the next day to return.”

Completely correct.

“Then my aunt grabbed one of the reporters who had popped up and went to have a heart-to-heart talk with her. I came back to rest first. I put your hat next to me. Just now it suddenly tried to jump up, and I knew you were close again.” Mingmei stared straight at Yuri. “By the way, my aunt will probably grab you for a heart-to-heart talk again in a while. Be prepared.”

Yuri had almost forgotten about it.

"Wait, shouldn't we be having a heart-to-heart talk with you? Aren't you her niece?" Yuri shook his head vigorously; he had absolutely no desire to have a heart-to-heart talk with a werewolf. "First the reporter, then me? Why?"

“Firstly, because we’ve already talked to her, although you might not have heard it while you were on the kite. Secondly, because you were the one who lied directly, I didn’t call her.” Mingmei sighed heavily. “On the bright side, because of your heroic sacrifice, she still has a good impression of you. Just don’t be too timid. Your aunt likes brave men.”

Yuri shook his head violently; he felt that he had never really been associated with the word "brave" in his life.

"This attitude is definitely not going to work. You need to work harder, Yuri."

This issue also needs to be postponed.

Escaping is shameful, but escaping is useful.

"The reporter who popped up, what are you saying—"

“Hojo, you see, I knew she wasn’t being honest. She still secretly followed us. She was lucky she didn’t get too close to the garbage dump.” Akemi seemed to be suppressing a laugh. “Where she goes is her freedom, but it’s wrong of her to sneak around trying to take pictures of her aunt whose hands haven’t turned back yet.”

Yuri thought that Ms. Murakami Akisa probably liked her very much. After all, she sounded like a super hero. It takes courage to do something knowing you have the power, but it takes even more courage to do something knowing you don't have the power.

“I thought you were going to say something,” Akemi shook her head after hearing Yuri’s words. “Being able to solve a problem is called courage, but being solved by a problem is called recklessness. Even werewolves understand this principle.”

In reality, Yuri felt that he had been basically defeated this time.

"By the way, does showing more werewolf traits mean you're stronger?"

Yuri hadn't seen Murakami's full transformation into a werewolf before; it seemed only her paws had changed—her face in his memory hadn't changed much.

If getting closer to the wolf doesn't make you stronger, then there's absolutely no need to develop claws.

"In terms of physical fitness alone, that's true. There won't be much change in mental ability, if not a decline—but if a human becomes a werewolf, their physical fitness will improve by at least two levels. In other words, someone who has achieved a certain level in fitness might instantly reach the level of a world-class athlete if they become a werewolf."

"What if someone was originally weak, short of breath, and unable to even kill a chicken?"

"There aren't many examples like that, but I think that... that becoming a werewolf is probably just a matter of regular training."

"What if—" What if they were already top players...

“Same here, Yuri. The limits of werewolves are not limited by humans.” Mingmei answered Yuri’s question in advance. “Of course, basically, werewolves mostly value strength and endurance, and they are not so outstanding in agility and movement—but it is definitely not a negative effect.”

Murakami Akisa only transformed into part of a werewolf, clearly indicating that she was conserving her strength.

Even with so many rats around, Yuri didn't think she could break through them with her physical strength alone, even if she gave it her all. There were countless rats waiting in line to die, even if she could kill a whole bunch with one swipe of her claw.

“However, whether only a small part can be partially effective, I can only guess, Yuri,” Akemi said after hearing Yuri’s speculation. “I know the reason she only transformed into claws is that she didn’t want to fully transform, but she didn’t have a suitable weapon with her—so she created one herself. As for physical attributes, I’m not sure where the specific transformation limit is, but two hands probably aren’t enough.”

Werewolves are really quite fascinating.

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.

"Speaking of which, you said before that you weren't 'very familiar' with werewolves, were you lying to me?" Yuri started bringing up old grievances, "You clearly knew this perfectly well—"

“I do know quite a lot, but I’ve never specifically sought information from the werewolves. I learned everything that Murakami Akisa and Uncle Okumura told me from my grandfather.” Akemi’s expression changed slightly. “I admit that I didn’t really want to tell you about my relationship with the werewolves back then.”

"Are werewolves inherited through bloodlines? I've heard the term 'wolf blood' so many times."

Yuri had read many books on mysticism, most of which simply described the lineage of werewolves as follows: werewolf children are also werewolves, and human children who marry werewolves are also werewolves—in short, a highly contagious bloodline.

But Akemi doesn't seem to be a werewolf. Although she does like Moonlight, she has faced many crises and has never turned into a werewolf.

112 Epilogue·Oyizaki Akemi

“I’ve been thinking about something for a while now, Yuri. I think it’s time to tell you about my situation. Many of your questions can be answered by this—so there’s no need to ask now.”

Yuri floated up, let Akemi sit down, and then listened quietly to her speak.

Mingmei's story is not very short, but it is easy to understand.

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.

More than 20 years ago, Mingmei's parents met and got married. Her mother was a werewolf.

One of the ironclad rules of werewolves is that they can only have normal offspring with ordinary humans—meaning potential werewolves who behave like humans. Akemi had never witnessed this firsthand, but she had certainly heard that if two werewolves fell in love and had children… a mutated offspring called a "forbidden child" would appear. Half of these children would be stillborn, half would develop various adverse mutations, and only a very small number would live normal lives. As for why they were called "forbidden children," Akemi wasn't entirely sure of the exact origin, but she guessed it was short for "children of taboo."

Furthermore, it is said that werewolves in their full wolf form can also reproduce with wolves, and the offspring will be wolves. Her grandfather told her this, but werewolves themselves never mention it, and the reason is self-evident.

In any case, the offspring of werewolves and ordinary humans will initially appear as ordinary humans, at least most of them. They are potential werewolves, yes, but still behave as ordinary humans in every way—until one day, they are inspired by the Moon Mother and awaken as werewolves.

Unlike the full moon in Yuri's mind, in reality, every lunar omen—including the new moon—has its own corresponding werewolf. Akemi didn't know why all kinds of legendary werewolves were associated with the full moon... Perhaps it's because the werewolves born under the full moon omen are the bravest, the most outstanding, and the largest?

At the same time, many werewolf descendants will never receive the Moon Mother's call and will continue to live as ordinary people. Their werewolf bloodline will gradually thin, but before it thins to a certain extent, they may return to the werewolf path.

In addition, there are some people who fall between ordinary people and werewolves. They also start as mortals and exhibit some special characteristics throughout their lives. They do not possess true werewolf power, but are slightly stronger than ordinary people; these people are called Werewolf Heirs. Werewolf Heirs have certain werewolf traits, and their chances of eventually awakening as werewolves are much higher than those of other truly ordinary people, but it is still possible that they will not ultimately become werewolves.

Mingmei wasn't sure if the possibility of awakening was related to the concentration of werewolf blood; she felt it was more likely related to the Moon Mother's attention. If the Moon Mother deemed someone eligible to awaken, she would issue her decree, causing that person to awaken. However, the Moon Mother's will was unpredictable; at least, ordinary people or werewolves had no right to express their opinions on it, nor would they receive prior notification. In reality, only the awakened werewolf knew what decree they had received.

This is why Akemi was born an ordinary person; in fact, almost every descendant of werewolves initially appears as an ordinary person. Indeed, Akemi had heard of exceptional cases where werewolf powers were displayed at birth. In werewolf stories, these werewolves are saints who descended to earth with the will of the Moon Mother, destined to do great things. Akemi Kakizaki is clearly not one of them.

It is said that Akemi's mother awakened under the signs of a full moon, thus belonging to the Rahu category—the Rahu classification? Akemi wasn't sure what connection this classification had with the mythical Rahu. In any case, as mentioned before, the characteristics of this category are: the most courageous, but also always lacking in patience; for ease of understanding, they are usually called warriors.

Her father was a simple-minded, daring mortal who, while a scholar of mysticism, also enjoyed conducting on-site investigations. They likely met during a supernatural event, but Akemi didn't know exactly how they came together.

Even after Mingmei's birth, this couple couldn't sit still and continued to run around on the front lines dealing with the supernatural phenomena brought about by spirits... However, as the saying goes, "He who walks by the river will eventually get his feet wet." A month before Mingmei's second birthday, they went out and never returned.

They went to a village to investigate strange phenomena, but for some reason, the village cultists received advance warning and ambushed them. By the time they were ambushed, they already knew what was happening and, in their attempt to disrupt the unknown ritual, failed to retreat in time. Thus, by the time reinforcements arrived, it was too late.

The werewolves quickly considered the child's safety, took Akemi from their home, and began discussing who would care for her. Reportedly, Murakami Akisa, who was only about ten years old at the time, insisted on caring for her niece herself and was further persuading the other werewolves…

In any case, this didn't happen in the end. While the werewolves were still having their meeting, Akemi's grandfather, Hiroaki Kakizaki, kicked open the door alone, picked up a hunting rifle, and vowed to fight any werewolf who tried to stop him from taking the child away.

Because he had never approved of the marriage, the werewolves assumed he wouldn't value the child either, and were indeed caught off guard. Even so, facing dozens of werewolves alone, he had no chance of survival in a real fight.

Even a few dozen ordinary adults could easily rush up and subdue someone wielding a single-shot weapon and win, let alone a werewolf?

But... for some reason, Hiroaki Kakizaki eventually succeeded in taking Akemi away and raising her as a human.

Seven or eight years later, the now-adult Akemi Murakami Akisa found Akemi and her grandfather again, demanding to take Akemi away. She was firmly refused, and again, she didn't force the issue. It was at this time that Akemi learned about what happened in her childhood; Hiroaki Kakizaki had only ever told her that her parents had died in a tragic accident before she had any memories of it.

To be honest, when ten-year-old Mingmei learned about this from her aunt, she couldn't imagine that the old man, who seemed like a fraud, could be so brave.

Although she doesn't remember the exact time of her appearance, Mingmei exhibited many extraordinary qualities during her childhood, such as being able to see spirits that were not so weak, having exceptionally good physical fitness, and having a particularly strong regenerative ability.

Akemi's aunt and grandfather have a deep disagreement on this matter. Murakami Akisa believes that this is undoubtedly a sign of being a werewolf, and that the appearance of such signs at such a young age means that Akemi will definitely become a werewolf in the future and is very likely to do something great. However, Kakizaki Hiroaki believes that this is just a manifestation of humans with exceptionally good physical abilities. Can see spirits? I, Kakizaki Hiroaki, can see spirits too! Am I also a werewolf?!

It was after this argument that her grandfather began teaching her about human cultivators. According to Hiroaki, "Being able to see spirits means that Akemi's resistance to spirits is relatively low, but it also means that Akemi will be easier to get started as a cultivator. There's no need to waste Akemi's human talents... Besides, we can't let the child always run around causing trouble. We have to find something for our granddaughter to do to vent her energy." Clearly, Akemi's father was also learning those things from her father.

While Hiroaki's education wasn't exactly secretive, it also lacked a clear plan; it was more like he just talked about whatever came to mind. Akemi believed that perhaps her grandfather had grown up in the same way, so he naturally educated Akemi in the same way.

Under this haphazard, incoherent guidance, Mingmei could be described as proficient in all sorts of martial arts, or, to put it bluntly, as having a disorganized and sparse skill set. First, she learned meditation, then martial arts, then weapons, then memorizing encyclopedias, and so on, repeating the process several times in a completely different order.

At least in terms of martial arts and weapons, she has obtained her grandfather's apprenticeship certificate, which reads: "Mingmei, if the opponent is weaker than you, you can just go up and fight him without any problem. But if the opponent is stronger than you, I think you're doomed. In that case, just run away and don't stop."

Looking back now, it all sounds sarcastic and sarcastic, but for Akemi, who knocked the stick out of her grandfather's hand, it only brought a sense of celebration: "I passed!"

Incidentally, she's only mastered melee weapons; among ranged weapons, Akemi's bow and arrow skills aren't as good as her javelins.

Then recently, the unlicensed shrine run by her family (Yuri confirmed that it was indeed an unlicensed shrine, which also operated an unlicensed temple, an unlicensed feng shui business, and an unlicensed quack doctor business) faced a crisis. So when Akemi first came to Tokyo, her motivation was actually very simple: to get a religious certificate and go back home.

Crisis: The document checkers have come several times, but Grandpa has managed to fool them each time. However, it seems that if things continue like this, he will be exposed sooner or later.

Surely we can't really get away with "hiring spirits to knock on the investigators' windows in the middle of the night," can we?

Then, through connections—specifically, through his aunt Murakami Akisa, whom he hadn't seen for years—he was able to come to Tokyo, an important city and one of the key areas of activity for werewolves, to attend school.

Because there are simply no schools in Hokkaido that offer religious studies courses.