Chapter 58: The Expected Answer, “my Name Is Ye Chun”
On the road, the Special Affairs Office’s black sedan slowly drove.
The one who came to pick them up was an unfamiliar Special Affairs Office specialist, who was said to report directly to the Five Person Council, and in a sense, had a higher status than Nanjo Emi.
Both sat in the back seat, but Shizuma Mafuyu sat upright with her hands on her knees, looking out the window as soon as the car stopped, with faint regret occasionally surging in her heart, appearing both nervous and uneasy.
“Want one?”
A slender cigarette was handed in front of Shizuma Mafuyu, the tobacco scent mixed with the fresh fragrance of mint.
“Don’t think just because I look like this.” Nanjo Emi exhaled smoke, her face calm, “I’m actually pretty nervous too, after all, we’re about to meet the legendary big shots.”
After hesitating for a moment, Shizuma Mafuyu took the cigarette and softly said thanks.
Nanjo Emi leaned over to light it for her.
The tobacco slowly burned, and Shizuma Mafuyu stared at the cigarette in her hand somewhat anxiously.
She remembered that in middle school, only those delinquents who couldn’t get into high school smoked, and the teachers often warned good students like her not to learn from them.
I… have become a delinquent girl too, huh.
Or is this what they call growing up?
Shizuma Mafuyu clenched her fist, stuffed the cigarette into her mouth, and took a fierce drag as if to prove something.
“Cough! Cough cough cough!”
But immediately after, she coughed violently, even choking out tears.
Nanjo Emi laughed heartily: “That’s not how you smoke.”
“Here, watch.”
Then, Nanjo Emi demonstrated for her, and Shizuma Mafuyu imitated her by carefully taking a drag.
Yet she still coughed twice from the irritation.
But unexpectedly, Shizuma Mafuyu found that the unease in her heart gradually faded.
……
“Please come in, the Five Person Council is all present.”
The Special Affairs Office specialist opened the room door in front of an unremarkable single-family home.
Shizuma Mafuyu was a bit puzzled: “This is it?…”
“It’s hard enough to gather everyone in person offline; it’s already a blessing that the five adults can make time for a video conference.”
Nanjo Emi composed her expression and stepped into the house: “Let’s go.”
Shizuma Mafuyu followed closely behind.
The instant her foot stepped into the house, Shizuma Mafuyu felt a subtle sense of displacement, and then discovered that the originally ordinary furnishings inside suddenly turned into a patch of darkness.
Only five blurry figures stood tall ahead.
Shizuma Mafuyu swallowed, not daring to show any extra expression or movement.
After seeing the two stand properly, the Onmyo Assistant in the center calmly asked,
“Arakawa Ward Onmyo Junior Official Nanjo Emi, what matter are you reporting?”
“Ai Bieli.”
Nanjo Emi got straight to the point without any nonsense.
And the effect was very significant; Shizuma Mafuyu standing behind her immediately felt the mental pressure increase by more than one level.
After an extremely brief silence, the five spoke in unison: “Tell us in detail.”
Nanjo Emi answered truthfully, without holding anything back.
After she finished, the Onmyo Assistant said: “Please wait a moment.”
Immediately after, the Five Person Council began an extremely rapid exchange among themselves.
After just over ten seconds, the space fell silent again, and it was still the Onmyo Assistant who spoke:
“Without direct evidence, can we perform a soul search on the Shangshan Che and Tokugawa Ririko you mentioned?”
The figure to the right of the Onmyo Assistant spoke: “Tokugawa is not possible.”
“Then…”
Nanjo Emi directly interrupted: “Sorry, that’s not within my considerations. At the same time, I believe this would bring great losses to the Special Affairs Office.”
The Onmyo Assistant didn’t mind this minor matter and continued asking:
“Is there any other direct evidence proving Ai Bieli’s existence in Arakawa Ward?”
Nanjo Emi shook her head: “Not at the moment.”
The Onmyo Assistant paused and said: “Understood.”
“Then, everyone, let’s vote on the matter of ‘whether to support Arakawa Ward due to the possible existence of Ai Bieli’.” The Onmyo Assistant cast the first opposing vote, “I oppose. The First Wave is imminent, and other major districts are severely short on manpower.”
Astronomy Doctor: “I approve. Ai Bieli has reappeared after more than a hundred years, and its current strength is not great; this is a rare chance to capture it alive.”
Onmyo Doctor: “Oppose. These past few days, Ashikaga forces have been hitting our doorstep; I can’t figure out how they keep air-dropping batches of samurai, and we can’t find their supply lines.”
Calendar Doctor: “Oppose. I’m still dealing with Affliction’s kin here and can’t free up hands for now. Can approve in a month.”
Calendar Doctor spread his hands: “In that case, my approval doesn’t matter.”
“Three votes against, two for; in summary… at least for the next month, sorry, Junior Officer Nanjo.”
The Onmyo Assistant paused: “However, personally, I can pull some strings to get you two helpers, probably arriving in about a week.”
An expected answer.
Nanjo Emi thought.
Then she slightly lowered her head: “For the various lords to take precious time to hear my opinion, Nanjo is already immensely grateful.”
The five responded with silence, as if busy with their own matters.
“—Then, lords, until we meet again.”
With that, Nanjo Emi turned and left, just as decisively as when she entered.
Shizuma Mafuyu silently followed behind her.
Her job was saved, but why couldn’t she feel happy?
Only after the door behind them closed did Shizuma Mafuyu finally hold back no longer, gritting her teeth: “Junior Officer Nanjo, they…”
Suddenly, she stopped talking.
Because Nanjo Emi was looking at her and shook her head: “Don’t blame them; big shots have their own difficulties.”
“Just like how we’re uneasy facing the lurking Ai Bieli, what the Five Person Council sees and hears is probably far more vast and terrifying than we imagine.”
Nanjo Emi sighed: “So from now on, it’ll be up to us.”
Shizuma Mafuyu didn’t know how to respond.
She thought she could only do her job even more perfectly to reduce some of the pressure on Lord Nanjo.
……
On the other side, Shangshan Che had safely returned home.
No need for words—Kisaragi Station, startup!
After calmly passing through the water pressure, Shangshan Che opened his eyes on the quiet platform of Kisaragi Station.
The environment here wasn’t bad, and there were no wandering minibosses around for now, so Shangshan Che maintained his initial “Living Soul” state and did not incarnate into Laughing Hannya.
He waved his hand, summoning Two-Foot Adult.
Then he surprisingly discovered that Two-Foot Adult had already recovered to Half-Star.
The girl’s figure was slightly more solid than before, and Shangshan Che gave her a thumbs up: “You’ve been working hard these past two days.”
Two-Foot Adult smiled shyly: “It’s all thanks to Che Adult; I just kept eating.”
“That’s impressive too.” After praising the girl again, Shangshan Che pointed to the Convenience Store, “Let’s go in first and see if we can find some clues.”
The spawn point definitely needed searching; this was Shangshan Che’s long-standing excellent tradition.
However, this time was also unfortunate; there were no rare hidden items in the spawn point.
But one thing was very strange.
“This Convenience Store is a bit too neat.”
Shangshan Che opened a bag of barbecue flavored potato chips to eat, frowning as he rigorously evaluated: “The taste is also very fresh and delicious; even though it’s produced in ’04, it doesn’t feel expired at all.”
“So, Two-Foot Adult, how about we take some snacks for the road…”
He had just turned his head when he saw Two-Foot Adult, covered in snack bags, still grabbing nonstop.
Shangshan Che: “As long as you’re happy…”
Shangshan Che walked out of the Convenience Store, preparing to casually pick one side of the railroad track to explore first.
Anyway, with no strategy leads, dying to a powerful supernatural phenomenon would still be a gain; he could just respawn with his second life.
But just as Shangshan Che was about to call the happily eating Two-Foot Adult to set off, he heard slightly hurried footsteps from not far away.
From the sound, it was one person, seemingly a lightweight girl.
There are people in this ghostly place too?
Shangshan Che placed his hand on the hilt, poised to strike.
Immediately after, he saw a short-haired girl running out from the other direction of the Station.
He looked toward the top of her head but saw nothing.
Really human?
In the dead of night, the crimson scabbard at Shangshan Che’s waist was very conspicuous, so the girl naturally saw him too.
“H-Hi!”
Shangshan Che could hear the surprise in the girl’s voice, so he froze in place,
“—I’m Ye Chun! Were you also brought here by that supernatural train?”
Monday update moved up to 00:01; everyone remember to check it out then.
Also, brothers, save your monthly votes and stuff me full on Monday; wanna rush the leaderboard on Monday orz
—Important things said twice!
