Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

Simply removing the hat wouldn't cause Yuri any harm, unless the hat was destroyed afterward, which he had already experienced... it felt like a part of his body was being destroyed, extremely painful.

Therefore, the hat can serve as another source of his magic. After separating from his body, it allows him to use magic "remotely" from a greater distance—as long as the distance remains within the range where he can sense the hat.

"Are you sure it's usable by everyone? I mean, if your guess is based on a connection—" Akemi hesitated for a moment, "You see, we're already so familiar with each other, we can be considered to have established some kind of connection, and that spirit sphere was entirely created by you, so it can naturally be considered a connection as well, but wouldn't it be a bit unreliable for strangers?"

"...Are you so confident in my guess?" Yuri's first reaction was... surprise.

To be honest, he himself lacked confidence in himself, and mentioning this conjecture to Akemi was just a casual remark, as a supplement to his strong denial that "the world is based on a certain logical setting that allows for wordplay."

“Hmm… I think, actually, sometimes you’re quite accurate, Yuri. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with this guess in my opinion.” Akemi fiddled with her hat. “The connection between each other is indeed a great way to reduce the difficulty of casting spells. It’s been mentioned in all sorts of rituals… You see, isn’t there often a practice of taking the other person’s hair to cast a curse?”

"Those spells are different from mine..." Yuri wanted to retort. However, he was now in a state where he had to use both the similarities and differences as a reference, and besides, he couldn't really guarantee that his spells were different from theirs in this respect.

Seeing Yuri fall silent, Akemi spoke again, "Alright, now, if your spells are indeed cast from a distance and spread to me through a connection, does that mean these spells can only choose the type with beneficial effects? After all, those connected to you are all your friends, right?"

“No, I can actually cast offensive spells, but…” Yuri’s shoulders slumped. “I suddenly realized that I don’t seem to know any offensive spells other than absorbing spirit essence.”

The image of a hat clinging to someone's head and desperately absorbing spiritual essence... had a strange sense of realism that sent chills down Yuri's spine. If possible, it was best not to do such a thing.

“I think you’ll learn it sooner or later. Is there anything new in that notebook?” Akemi comforted Yuri. “It seems that after you processed it, it became something that can be deciphered, right?”

“There’s nothing that can be used immediately, although it’s certainly a good reference.” Yuri shook his head. “In any case, this isn’t my only takeaway.”

Yuri waved to attract Akemi's attention, and the same shield lit up on his body... or rather, it was quite dim.

Mingmei looked at her hands; the shield on her body had not disappeared.

"You can maintain two shields at the same time? No, that doesn't seem strange..." Akemi seemed confused.

Yuri sat down next to her and held out his hand for comparison; the two shields looked almost identical.

"In fact, I can maintain two shields, that's not surprising—but this time, it's a shield. I've stretched out the existing shield again, changed its shape and position—this shield is connected to me in the air through the connection between the hat and me."

The high school girl pulled Yuri's hand over and examined it closely. "It does feel weaker overall. What's the benefit of that?"

If it's just a simple improvement to a two-person shield, there's really nothing to brag about.

“I can manipulate my spells more flexibly, Mingmei. For example, I can concentrate the protective effect of the shield the moment the opponent’s attack arrives. This will reduce the consumption and increase the effect…” Yuri’s smile paused for a moment as he thought of what he was going to say next. “Although the savings and the increase are very limited, it adds up to a considerable benefit.”

"It doesn't sound very intuitive, but it's quite remarkable. Is there anything else?" Akemi pondered something.

"This last one might not be very obvious... I'll go outside in a bit, and when you think it's appropriate, tap my hat to signal me." Yuri deactivated the shield effect.

Akemi didn't ask any further questions. She just sat on the sofa and watched Yuri float toward the window and then disappear outside.

After counting to about a hundred, Akemi tapped her hat, and a shield immediately popped up.

Ten seconds later, Yuri, who hadn't gone far (in fact, was still clinging to the outer wall), crawled in through the window.

“This doesn’t seem like a new feature. It’s just that I gave you a signal and you cast a spell, right?” Mingmei also stood up and walked to the window. “You said before that it was hard to see, and it seems that’s true—what did you do? Where is the problem?”

"The point is, I wasn't actually always waiting for you to give me a signal. No, I can't say that..." Yuri was stuck. He had to find a way to explain what he had done.

"To be precise, only a part of me was preparing; the vast majority of me was still operating normally, thinking about other things—"

This was clearly still not explained clearly, but fortunately, Akemi was still listening patiently.

“I cast a shield spell, but I didn’t release it. I separated a part of my mind and let it maintain the spell in my place, keeping it suspended and ready to be released when it receives a specific signal… for example, the signal of tapping a hat.”

This time, things should be clear.

"What's the difference between this and casting the spell only when you need it in battle?" Mingmei thought for a moment and made her judgment before Yuri could answer. "Can you cast the spell when you're completely undisturbed, instead of making a decision on the spot?"

Yuri nodded vigorously, indicating that the other party understood correctly.

How many of these spells can you maintain at the same time?

"I haven't tested the real limit, but as long as it doesn't affect my thinking ability, I can maintain three. Any more and I might get confused."

In theory, as long as Yuri can still divide himself into more parts for... this kind of schizophrenic behavior, he can maintain more of these spells. But in reality, it is very dangerous to affect normal thinking ability for this, so there are usually only three slots available.

Furthermore, Yuri could, of course, change the target of these spells to include himself—but that wouldn't be something he could do "immediately." It would require some thought and intervention from his already completed spellcasting to change the target…

It's much faster than actually casting another spell, but it's not as advantageous as casting according to a preset method.

The good news is that Yuri doesn't really have many spells that are suitable for preservation in this way. They are just a few spells that he would use, such as shields, weakening structures, and changing the shape of matter, and that he might use in a critical moment.

Having fewer skills isn't without its advantages; it saves you from being picky.

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.

"By the way, I have a question."

"What's the problem? Go ahead and ask," Yuri replied casually, engrossed in the puzzle of "which spells to choose and what status to set."

"Was this your original goal? It sounds more like a byproduct to me."

"Hahaha..." Yuri let out a dry laugh, "At least the byproduct is pretty good, right?"

Yuri initially envisioned those carriers capable of infinitely storing completely detached spells, but now... after all the crashes along the way, he still has to maintain them himself.

...It took a lot of effort for Mr. You, who declined to be named, to forget about the incident.

126 Race

“I’m very grateful, Yuri.” Before entering the bedroom, Akemi turned around and nodded to Yuri.

...What is this guy being grateful for? Yuri didn't think the other person was mocking him for doing useless work, but... but what did it mean?

"Huh? Did I do anything to be grateful for?" Yuri's bewilderment was not feigned.

“Look, you spent a lot of time researching magic, and the first thing you did was decide to use it to protect me. I’m truly grateful.” Mingmei scratched her head. “Are you going to pretend you didn’t think that way?”

You may have thought about it in some corner of your mind, but it's definitely not the dominant one; you're just being delusional—Yuri choked.

While Yuri was pondering the best words, Akemi smiled, turned around, and went into the bedroom.

He missed the best opportunity and remained rooted to the spot.

"Are you really having trouble finding the right words to tell her the truth, or is it that you're already in this situation and just enjoy being thanked by others?" A somewhat hurtful voice rose in Yuri's mind.

Oh no, Yuri remembered that he had only instructed it to handle the suspended shield issue—he shouldn't have split off a part of his mind to mock him.

“I am you. Don’t pretend you can’t see that. It just so happens that I’m here to remind you of reality. Even if you don’t specifically allocate a part of your mind to do other things, you will remember it on your own—” The heart-wrenching voice still hurt. “You are me, of course you will remember.”

Yuri wasn't sure if he should get out of this situation... In any case, when the opportunity arose, he should explain the details to Akemi—maybe, perhaps, possibly.

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.

Time flew by, and soon, Mingmei found the "excellent position" she had mentioned earlier.

To be honest, Yuri had also seen it, and it was less about being excellent and more about being dangerous. The road planned by Minmei for motorcycle movement was basically a series of steps, not too steep, but definitely not smooth either.

It was indeed too narrow for anything larger than a motorcycle to drive down—not even a three-wheeler—but if the driver was Yuri, the only possible outcome was a rollover.

However, she brushed it off with the statement, "I am confident in my motorcycle driving skills."

While Yuri hesitated about whether to continue arguing, Akemi remarked, "Maybe we don't even need to run away?"

That's certainly possible.

In any case, Yuri was prepared to materialize at a critical moment to forcibly protect the pilot... Hopefully, the shock-resistant properties of the spirit form would be helpful in this matter.

Over the past two days, Yuri has been patrolling a fairly small area and has found that the proportion of traps hidden in the repeaters has stabilized and the distribution has become much more even, with some in every place and not all in any one place.

It seems the other side is trying to search Yuri more effectively by adjusting their setup... However, Yuri doesn't necessarily need to rely on the Predator to replenish his supplies; Akemi's shrine is enough for his daily needs—which means that no information should have been leaked to the other side during this period.

Mingmei believes this will make the other side rush over faster after encountering the possible information... In short, it's a good thing.

Yuri, who was recently criticized as reckless and audacious, wasn't so optimistic about the situation... What if the other side's reaction was, "We haven't heard anything for so long, and suddenly they're sending a signal that they already know they'll send? We're not arresting idiots, there must be a trap!"

Akemi suggested that Yuri should put on a better performance at this point—find a nearby trap, step on it, and instantly panic and start running away…

In other words, she didn't have any particularly great ideas on how to solve this problem.

But... well, in any case, Yuri decided to take advantage of the last opportunity to do some preliminary preparations... better than nothing.

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.

Thirdly, Yuri asked a third conscious ghost on the street, and only then did he notice something clearly unusual about the ghost's expression.

The question was simple: "Has anyone contacted you recently to ask about my whereabouts, or the whereabouts of someone similar to me?"... The first person didn't react much and simply said no. The second person thought for a moment and then said no. The third person's face turned from pale to purple on the spot, and then he stammered, "No..."

Sigh, even if I just said it was true, it's unlikely to make Yuri more certain of it... It's not easy for him to be this flustered.

The first two may not necessarily have been unasked, but the last one has clearly been asked...

Yuri pretended not to notice and chatted with the other person for a few more minutes before instructing him, "Don't tell anyone about my affairs. If they really come looking for you and insist on asking, remember to tell them I didn't go east... no, just say I went north."

Repeating this several times, Yuri attempted to create the image of "trying to threaten the other ghosts so they wouldn't reveal their true location in XX place"—he even went so far as to grab one or two repeaters in front of them.

They put on an act of extreme hunger, but also a fear of overeating and falling into another trap.

At least Yuri is working in that direction, but whether it will turn into an overly exaggerated performance... is something he can't tell from his perspective.

First, find a ghost that gets particularly flustered when you try to talk to it—on average, one in three or four ghosts will do this.

Incidentally, their panic didn't seem to be solely due to Yuri asking about it, but Yuri couldn't bring himself to ask. Given their state, if he simply shouted, "Why are you so panicked? What's going on?!", these panicked ghosts might instinctively reveal information about the tracker.

Then when the trackers try to confirm with them, they'll find out they've been exposed. Yuri already knows for sure that these ghosts will tell the trackers the information, but he's still actively exposing himself... That's not just suspicious, it's extremely suspicious.

In short, find these particularly panicked, intelligent ghosts, then absorb some of the essence of a repeater that has been confirmed to be free of traps in front of them, acting timid yet extremely hungry—this is the most difficult part of the performance—and then rush off.

After repeating this several times, Yuri... crashed and burned.

When Yuri asked a question, a female ghost with a harsh face answered without hesitation, "Yes! That damned little brat, how dare she be so bossy..."

...What do you do when someone eagerly tells you a whole bunch of things you already know but don't want to show that you don't know them, while you're pretending not to? Yuri racked his brains...Should he just kill them?

The ghost before him was completely unaware that his life was threatened.

On the contrary, she even looked at him with a hint of expectation, "—So, sir, if you kill that little girl and her lackey, please let me join your ranks, considering my willingness to provide information without hesitation!"

What? My subordinate? What are you thinking? Yuri tried hard to control his urge to glare and suppress the growing desire in his heart to kill the ghost in front of him.

"Hmm... I could certainly consider that, but only if your information is truly accurate. Right now, I still don't trust you enough." Yuri began uttering platitudes that even he wasn't entirely sure about. "Why don't you tell me, what exactly do you know about me?"

"Um...you are a clear-minded ghost who has broken free from the anchor point and exists in the world solely by plundering spiritual essence. You maintain yourself in the human world by plundering spiritual essence, and you can move freely in the human world..." the gloomy female ghost began to mutter, "You have a particularly large appetite, which means that just a little bit of what you spill out is enough for us little ghosts who are your subordinates to eat!"

If you keep talking, I'm going to eat you without salt! Yuri was dumbfounded—it was obvious that this guy had received a lot of malicious speculation about Yuri, and it was obvious with a snap of her fingers who told her—it was definitely that tracker.

“Then I’ll give you an initial task, which is somewhat dangerous, but not too dangerous—but not everyone can benefit from it.” Yuri lowered his voice to a serious tone. “If you’re useless… you know what I mean.”

The gloomy female ghost grinned, "Please enlighten me."

“If those two come to ask you where I went next, you have to tell them I went east—” This place is east of the location Mingmei specified, so further east is the opposite direction. “If they don’t believe you, just use the excuse ‘you don’t know if it’s true or not.’ If you mess it up… humph, you don’t want to see that.”

In reality, Yuri didn't really intend to do anything, but saying it seemed to fit the "persona" that the other party had in mind.

After disappearing in front of the nodding female ghost, Yuri felt he should stop.

If one or two more opportunistic schemers with inflated ambitions were to appear, he might really lose his temper.

It's time to go back. Describing the exact location too clearly might cause the other side to head straight to the rendezvous point and lie in wait... which would leave no room for maneuver.

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 more days passed, and the best time for Mingmei to make her choice had arrived.

The plan is quite simple overall: first, Mingmei will ambush at the designated location, then Yuri will go to a nearby place where a trap has already been identified to activate it, and then choose a suitable route based on the opponent's movement speed, preferably arriving at the ambush location one after the other.

Running too slowly and getting caught halfway would be disastrous, needless to say. But if Yuri runs too fast, he'll have to stand still or run in circles. If the other side notices this, they'll realize there's a trap at the target location, which will definitely have a significant negative impact on what follows.

In the end, they chose a trap that was neither too close nor too far away...

Yuri handed the hat to Akemi in advance, thus completing all the preparations.

let's start.

Yuri approached the repeater in front of him and extracted a bit of spiritual essence—at the same time, a trap-like spiritual force erupted from inside the repeater and leaped toward Yuri.

Having made prior preparations, Yuri felt he might be able to stop or neutralize the spiritual energy before it completely took hold, but in order to achieve his goal, he did not go all out.

Then, using the senses between the two parties, they determine the distance and direction.

Yuri was quite surprised—it was too close, the two sides were now only about a kilometer apart... and the other side seemed to have realized what was happening and was moving in their direction.

For some reason, the opponent didn't seem to be going very fast at first, so Yuri decided to ignore that for now and started sprinting towards the rendezvous point. The distance between them was now shorter than the distance to the rendezvous point, and if Yuri didn't seize the opportunity before the opponent mentioned full speed and get a head start, he might not be able to outrun them this time.

On the bright side, at least this time I don't have to worry about running too fast and having to wait at the assembly point; winning is a success.

The location, which was prepared in advance as "unsuitable for vehicles larger than a motorcycle," was also unsuitable for Yuri to hitchhike. Fortunately, knowing this in advance, Yuri had done some research on how to escape.

He has prepared for both scenarios: "If the other side is facing away from the meeting point, it means a head-on confrontation" and "If the other side is too far from the meeting point, it is impossible for them not to wander around the meeting point and waste time."

Now you only need to use the simplest one... The two sides are too close, just run for your lives at full speed.

The opponent's speed was increasing, and he quickly overtook Yuri, but he was not yet in sight.