Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

Actually, it wasn't many steps; we had already walked halfway when we stopped earlier.

Hirozaki took a deep breath and prepared to move the cabinet.

The moment he put his hand on the handle, something strange happened—a ghostly hand passed through the partition, struck him near the neck, and then swept across, almost grabbing his neck.

Fortunately, Hirozaki reacted quickly. Although he didn't react immediately, he forcefully fell in another direction when the ghost's arm swept across. Although he fell to the ground and lost his mobility, at least he wasn't subdued immediately.

At the same time, another ghost burst out of the adjacent compartment, attached itself to Minagawa Doto, and began to fight him. Although it was hard to imagine that he would lose, it was unlikely that he would be able to spare any time to help Hirozaki.

The funeral home manager, lying on the ground, reached out a hand to the girl who had eaten sins, pleading, "Pull me up—"

Yuri strode forward and punched the first ghost that had just emerged in the face, but this also blocked Yuka Yamanaka's path.

As compensation, he grabbed Hirozaki with his other hand, exerted force, and pulled him up, while simultaneously punching the first ghost in the face again to stop its attack. Hirozaki was shorter than Akemi, probably only 1.6 meters tall... This made it easier for Yuri to exert his strength; if Minagawa, who was about 1.8 meters tall, had fallen to the ground, it would have been difficult to pull him up.

The first ghost flailing about in the air, only managing to grab Hirosaki's leg. Before it could do anything else, Yamanaka Yuka, who had finally circled around, stuck a talisman on its head, and it fell silent.

Adjusting the angle of his arm to steady Hirozaki, he just happened to see Yamanaka Yuka on the other side sticking another talisman on the back of the ghost that was wrestling with Minagawa Dojin, thus stopping his actions as well.

Although it was a bit scary, it ended quite quickly this time. In just over ten seconds, both ghosts were half-subdued.

Yuri gestured to Minagawa, who understood and pulled the two ghosts away for a friendly chat, leaving Hirosaki, still shaken, Yamanaka, worried, and Yuri, equally lost in thought, behind. Of course, he didn't go too far, probably so he could return in time to rescue them should any other ghosts suddenly attack.

"...Anyway...thank you for your timely rescue." After catching his breath, Hirozaki began to thank Yuri for his help.

“You’re welcome, it’s my pleasure. I can’t just do nothing—and you’re not in that much danger,” Yuri replied casually. “The situation you’re facing only looks scary; it’s not a big problem.”

"Huh?" Hirosaki clearly didn't understand.

“I just had a brief exchange with that ghost, and based on the power I sensed from him… it was far too weak. His absolute strength, reaction speed, and resilience were all subpar.” Yuri searched his mind for a new word to replace his usual 'repeating machine'. “This ghost should actually still be in a dormant state, but it's being manipulated by some kind of force.”

“I have a similar feeling, but it’s a bit vague. Why do you think that?” Hirozaki frowned.

Yuka Yamanaka whispered and answered, "Of course it's because the timing of these two ghosts' cooperation was just right. They had to be able to sense the outside world through the wall to cooperate like this, and they also had to be willing to sacrifice for each other—all of this had to be done without any sound being transmitted."

Yuri nodded vigorously. "That's right, that's exactly it."

The last time I saw this level of coordination was with a group of shadowy figures—though I never figured out how they coordinated, they at least shared the same origin. The difference between these two ghosts is like that between two completely different people; how could they possibly be so in sync? These two ghosts should have no connection other than dying together.

Besides their communication with each other, they also judged the location of the people outside too well. The first ghost misjudged the reaction and missed, while the second ghost hit the target perfectly. How could he possibly know what was in front of him? Could his vision penetrate the partition?

In contrast, having someone outside observing and issuing commands remotely is more in line with the current situation.

Yuri, the prime suspect, decided to take advantage of the opportunity of having provided some help to bring this matter to the forefront. He didn't know who the manipulator was—it certainly wasn't himself, nor did it seem like the three people in front of him. Could it be some kind of ghost?

“Whoever is controlling us, they are definitely observing us through ghosts—” Yuka Yamanaka turned around, “and right now this controller is definitely watching us through the eyes of ghosts.”

“That’s right, but we don’t know when they did it.” Minagawa Dojin stepped forward, steadily dragging the two ghosts behind him. “I think everyone here is trustworthy—although I’m not familiar with this Ms. Yuri, I don’t see what benefit she would get from doing this, and she has no opportunity to do such a thing, so the manipulator is definitely not one of the four of us.”

Although Yuri was happy that his suspicions had been cleared, he wondered if it was a bit too decisive and whether he was really that trustworthy.

Yuri looked at Minagawa and received only an unreadable, encouraging smile.

Forget it, I can't exactly jump up and shout that I'm highly suspicious and demand that they come and investigate me immediately.

Yuri shifted to a safer angle: "Are there really supernatural beings capable of observing through the eyes of other ghosts?"

The Rat King can observe using the Rat Spirits, which means he has constructed a mental network, while these parrots on the scene probably don't have any mental network at all... As for the remaining two intelligent ones, although they seemed to do nothing but avoidance in the previous battles, they could indeed be manipulating things.

Yuri suspected them; to be precise, Yuri suspected from the very beginning that the manipulator was present at the scene, and these two were the most suspicious.

“The Reapers can,” Minagawa’s voice was a little heavy. “The Reapers can forcibly control ghosts, although they generally disdain to do so.”

The Reaper?

Yuka Yamanaka chimed in, “If my abilities were at their peak, I think I could remotely control other things, even ghosts… but I can’t do that now. I’ve heard that the Reapers might have the same abilities as us, so it’s not surprising that they could remotely control ghosts to launch attacks.”

Those who eat sins are truly... remarkable, they seem very powerful, able to accomplish all sorts of things.

But now is not the time to focus on that.

"The Reapers, which Reaper are you talking about?"

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.

The word "reaper" is often associated with decay and death, and it is used very widely. Yuri has seen many descriptions of the reaper as the embodiment of the spirit of death in the book... and of course, there are others.

After a brief confirmation, the "harvesters" mentioned by the sin-eaters in front of them actually referred to powerful ghosts that emerged from the underworld (Yuri's internal translation: equivalent to the level of spirit binders, level three to five). These ghosts had signed a contract with one (or several) evil underworld gods to serve him (them). Their main service was to capture ghosts left in the mortal world and take them back, regardless of whether they were good or evil, and imprison and torture them all.

If it weren't for the final part where they "torture everyone regardless of good or evil," Yuri felt the Reapers were practically heroes. Isn't this just how humans describe the soul-reapers of the underworld in mythology?

In any case, these harvesters and the sin eaters who try to free the ghosts are sworn enemies. Although they do not primarily target the sin eaters, they will not hesitate to cause them trouble if given the chance.

"Excuse me, but you're making it sound like the underworld is an unjust and incomparable hell where anyone who goes in will only suffer—have I misunderstood?"

The two people in front of them shook their heads together, and to avoid any misunderstanding, Yuka Yamanaka added, "That's right, you understand perfectly."

When you get back, you should tell Mingmei about this and see what she says.

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 was well aware that the Sin Eaters' descriptions of the Reapers might be biased, but fortunately, he wasn't foolish enough to point it out to their faces.

“What we need to do now is…” Hirosaki Katsuya glanced at his watch, “In a little over an hour, these people’s funerals will take place under the supervision of the government. As long as we successfully complete the exorcism of the ghosts, no matter who is in charge, their plan will fail.”

That sounds like it will take quite a long time.

“Of course, the bodies are not all carried out at once, but one by one… This time, Tangren will be in charge of the funeral rites and the requiem ceremony—” Hirozaki’s eyes swept over the remaining three people. “I have made arrangements. The real staff will think that someone else has been assigned this task and will not suspect anything.”

“Great, no problem.” Minagawa Dojin readily agreed.

“There’s a problem, Mr. Minagawa. You’d better change into something bigger; it looks really strange,” Yuka Yamanaka pointed out.

From Yuri's perspective, it did look a bit strange, and because of the violent movements just now, the clothes looked even more off.

“I’ll take you there once everything is arranged.” After confirming there were no other issues, Hirosaki continued, “The task of escorting the body will be assigned to Ms. Yamanaka and me. Of course, there will be other people to carry it. Our main responsibility is to prevent what just happened from happening again… It’s really bad. We’ve done similar things several times already, and it just so happens that something bad has happened when government personnel are involved.”

"..." It seems that no one has any objections to this arrangement.

"Okay, let's decide on this for now. I'll go to the warehouse to find some clothes. You can rest for a bit." Hiroki hurriedly left the room.

"What about me?" Yuri only realized what was happening five seconds after Hirozaki disappeared from the far end of the room... This guy really didn't pay attention to him.

As he hesitated whether to chase after him and ask, Minagawa walked up to him.

"Miss Yuri—"

"Just call me Yuri." Yuri wasn't used to being addressed with such a pronoun, even when it was meant to be respectful.

“Alright, Yuri—” Minagawa Toto put on a serious face, “You’re a guest, so we don’t intend to trouble you… I won’t say that, I guess you don’t care anyway.”

There is no doubt that there is a "but" here, and Yuri awaits what follows.

“But please, I beg you, don’t continue to provoke Katsuya at a time like this,” Minagawa Dojin shook his head. “He’s already a little concerned about not being a real supernatural being. If you keep making yourself seem stronger than him, he’ll get more and more frustrated.”

"..." Yuri hadn't really thought of it this way before.

"Nearly half of our society are ordinary people, and Katsuya is the one among them closest to the supernatural—in places like this with such strong spiritual energy, he can even come into contact with spirits. In terms of combat power, ordinary people are certainly not as good as us sin eaters, but in other aspects, they are not much inferior to us, and are equally indispensable to our society." Minagawa Dojin sighed, "Although this is not the most efficient way, please don't interfere with what Katsuya is doing... If it is extremely dangerous, be sure to help him, but otherwise, it's best to let him do it on his own."

Yuri understood, which was completely understandable—Hirosaki Katsuya's mental fortitude wasn't as strong as Akemi's, and he couldn't maintain his composure amidst a group of demons and monsters.

“However, I still feel I can’t just stand by and do nothing—not to mention, I haven’t received the promised spirit essence yet, I can’t just leave like this, can I?” Yuri threw the question at the other party to see what their answer would be.

“Hmm… if you don’t mind, you could wait here? Normally, Yuka should be watching over this place, but after what happened, I think she should go with Katsuya to transport the body, which would create a gap in the workload…” Minagawa Dojin thought for a moment. “It seems like I’m throwing the most dangerous task at you. If anything happens, please leave immediately instead of staying behind, and meet up with Yuka first. I’m a little embarrassed to ask this, but…”

However, this would separate him from Hirosaki and prevent further conflict.

Yuri nodded in agreement—even if all twenty-odd ghosts swarmed him, couldn't he at least run away if he couldn't defeat them? Besides, he might not even be able to defeat them.

Minagawa's last words before leaving were, "Please don't hold a grudge against Hirosaki. He just suddenly suffered a loss in front of people he didn't know well, and he's a little embarrassed. Once you get to know him, you'll know he's a good person."

137 The Sin Eaters' Society: Mystery

The way Minagawa left looked a bit... rushed.

He's probably in a hurry to catch up with Hirozaki and mend their relationship as soon as possible.

Yuri spread his hands. "He really is a worrywart."

Yuka Yamanaka nodded repeatedly, "Yes, he's basically the one who keeps us all together. He's trustworthy—"

As if she had thought of something, she immediately added, "Of course, it's not to say that there would be any irreconcilable conflicts without him, but some minor conflicts from the past would be unavoidable."

That's understandable, completely understandable. It's said that there always needs to be someone like that in a team to get things going. He was your original organizer, right? That makes it even more normal.

"It seems you sin-eaters have a tough job. Today these ghosts aren't very strong, but it's unlikely to be like this every time, right?" Yuri muttered to himself, trying to make sure the ghosts couldn't hear him.

"Actually, most ghosts in the mortal realm are at this level because... oh, you know, it's usually very difficult for ghosts in the mortal realm to improve themselves." The sin-eating girl seemed to want to say something, but in the end she gave up.

"Is it too complicated to describe?"

“It’s a long story, but just know that if a ghost wants to break through its own abilities, it must obtain something from the underworld that it can’t find in the mortal world.” Yuka Yamanaka sighed. “Even so, when such ghosts become numerous, it will bring problems. The most terrifying ones are the vengeful ghosts that crawl back from the underworld. They are far stronger than the ghosts we have now.”

"Probably at the level of spirit binding?" Yuri guessed.

"Yes—but how did you know?" Yuka Yamanaka's eyes sparkled with curiosity.

...Of course, it's because so far, every time a special ghost is mentioned, it's referred to as a "bound spirit." In Yuri's eyes, "bound spirit level" is already a ghost class, used to describe all ghosts that are stronger than newly born intelligent ghosts.

“I guessed. By the way, you Sin Eaters… are you stronger on the Spirit-Binding side, or the Sin Eater side—I mean, the Body-Binding side—?” Yuri asked, only remembering what the other had mentioned earlier.

"For the vast majority of Sin Eaters, the Spirit-Binding side is stronger, and I'm no exception. It's said that the Body-Binding side, after a long period of effort, can reach a level comparable to the Spirit-Binding side. I don't think I've accumulated that much time yet." The Sin Eater girl gestured meaninglessly. "The Body-Binding side grows faster than the Spirit-Binding side. If it can continue to grow, theoretically it should definitely catch up. But in reality, at least I've never seen a Body-Binding side that has truly caught up with the Spirit-Binding side."

Just like Yuri thought, so... "Then why didn't you ask the spirit to come out and solve this problem before?"

Being ambushed by a weak ghost is not a big deal, but at the same time, there may be a Reaper watching you. As a unit on the same level as the Bound Spirit, the Reaper is definitely stronger than your original body. In this case, it should be normal to call on the Bound Spirit to deal with and investigate.

“Summoning a spirit binder isn’t without its price, though it’s not exactly a life-threatening one, but it’s better to avoid it if possible.” The sin-eater girl spoke somewhat evasively, probably not wanting to tell Yuri the details.

As an understanding (?) and excellent spirit, Yuri decided not to investigate further in this regard, as getting too involved would only cause more trouble.

The two then chatted for a while longer.

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.

About half an hour later, Hirosaki and the staff in charge of moving arrived. Yamanaka Yuka nodded to the spirit form of Yuri and joined them.

Given her height, she could probably only play a supporting role when working with others to carry things, but as a guard, she didn't need to worry about such things.

Yuri was left alone in the cold room with a group of ghosts.

He tried to talk to the two intelligent ghosts, but they were only concerned with whether the soul-soothing ritual promoted by the sin eaters was effective, and had no intention of answering him at length. The conversation ended naturally after a few sentences.

They hesitate between their obsession with remaining in the world and their fear of living alone, and it's hard to say which side they lean towards. So, even they themselves hope that the sin-eaters will give them a push and help them make a decision.

Ordinary ghosts obviously wouldn't think that way. It seems that Minagawa had already communicated with them quite thoroughly beforehand. Yuri felt that it was best not to go up and say anything. If his efforts only strengthened the ghosts' resolve to stay, then things would get really interesting.

After all, if Yuri were to be in charge of psychological support... Yuri would prefer the type who believes "it's better to be alive than dead."

In any case, this also shows that the two ghosts probably don't care much about what Yuri is doing, so he began to observe.

This pressure might have a negative impact on the subsequent rituals... or not? But if he interferes and the rituals fail... he'll be in a very awkward position.

Yuri was determined not to let the blame for the failed ritual fall on him, so he chose the three ghost repeaters who had just started their attack as his observation targets. They had obviously been interfered with by external forces, so he figured they wouldn't say anything if he made an offensive observation of them.

Of course, a tape recorder can't speak.

The goal of focusing the mage's eye is not to find out the cause of death (which Yuri already knows), but to find out if there is any abnormality in him, or if he was affected by some supernatural effect, such as something like that.

At least that's what Yuri told himself, and the spiritual energy emanating from the other person in his field of vision did indeed become more pronounced—

In conclusion, it was all mixed up, even including a bit of Yuri's inspiration, probably picked up when punching the other person's face.

These three ghosts, without a doubt, were all at the level of complete parrots, with no hidden power whatsoever. Yuri was right earlier; if Hirosaki hadn't been caught off guard and lost his balance, and hadn't chosen to evade and call for help but instead faced them head-on, he could have handled it all on his own.

However, the circumstances at the time may not have allowed him to make such an accurate analysis. Even Yuri only discovered this after they actually fought each other, so it was even less likely that Hirosaki, as an ordinary person, would take such a risk.

Comparing the three ghosts, Yuri didn't find any significant differences—of course, ghosts as different individuals certainly have basic differences, but excluding appearance, the differences between them weren't that great.

Moreover, he did not find the "unknown spiritual energy" he had initially been trying to find.

Yuri's spells leave traceable auras, Mingmei's spells also leave traceable auras, and of course, the spells of the Sin Eaters also leave traceable auras... In other words, Yuri believes that the spells of supernatural beings should basically leave something traceable and perceptible on the recipient, and the ability to conceal one's influence is a skill rather than an instinct.

But this time his search failed, even though he wasn't prepared to follow the clues to find the mastermind—he didn't even find the clues this time.

I had wondered if the mastermind had remotely injected energy to strengthen these ghosts, temporarily giving them an advantage... In reality, I found no such trace.

There was absolutely no trace of the suspect from the outside world. Although it was difficult to determine who each group of spiritual energy came from and what effect it had, they should all be spiritual energy that Yuri had seen before, belonging to the four people he had met in the room before.

In other words, based on the existing evidence, it seems that the person responsible for this incident is one of the four individuals.

Yuri knew he hadn't done it, and the other three couldn't see any reason why he would do so... If the mastermind wasn't among the four, it meant he was very good at hiding his tracks, enough to make Yuri completely unable to find him.

Regardless of the type, the investigation can no longer proceed.

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.

After some time, there was no sign of the ghosts resurfacing, and their numbers decreased as the bodies left. Yamanaka Yuka and Hirosaki Katsuya both saw themselves and subtly greeted them, but because there were other staff members nearby, they did not speak to them.