---

The man thrust his notebook forward as if to say, “Look at this.”

Just like a police officer using his notepad to intimidate someone.

“Uh, um, the Onmyoji Agency?”

Tokitaka stammered back at the man who spoke to him with an air of authority.

“Yeah, I came from the Onmyoji Agency.”

“W-what’s the Onmyoji Agency want…?”

“What do they want?”

The man chuckled at Tokitaka’s question derisively.

“Aren’t you here to tell me what you’re doing here?”

“Uh? Yes, yes….”

“Looking at your state, isn’t it obvious why I’m here?”

“Ah, ah!”

The man folded the notebook and tucked it away.

Then, with a sighing voice, he muttered.

“Hah, damn it. It’s going to be tough to get a coherent story.”

Tokitaka looked like a person who had lost their marbles.

They called it ‘a person whose soul has left them’ or something?

Tokitaka was staring at the man with empty eyes, as if he had truly lost his soul, mouth agape with a dazed expression. Drool dripped from his jaw, and it seemed he was too out of it to even notice.

And look, he was covered in dirt after rolling around on the ground like a beast, thinking someone was chasing him.

He clearly wasn’t in a state to hear sensible responses.

“I want to slap him across the face.”

Hitting a person like that to snap them back to reality with sheer intimidation was often effective, but…

Unfortunately, such behavior was impossible now.

Back in the Empire days, maybe, but now he couldn’t just act without a care in the world. Unless he wanted to risk his fledgling career, being someone just starting out on the path to success.

How many people would lift a troublesome guy like him up to higher ground?

I would bet almost none.

Especially if he couldn’t even get the right connections.

“Tsk.”

The man looked at Tokitaka with a disdained expression and pulled a small container from his briefcase. He opened it and pulled out a stick-like item.

The stick resembled incense: thin and elongated, but unlike regular incense, it had a reddish-brown hue.

The man held the stick in his right hand and formed a hand sign with his left.

The sign quickly transformed into various shapes, imbued with magical meaning, while the talisman attached to his sleeve responded and supplied energy.

With a whoosh.

What appeared was a flame.

It was a miracle, igniting fire from thin air.

The man brought the tip of the stick to the fire he had conjured and as white smoke began to rise like threads, he brought it under Tokitaka’s nose.

“Breathe it in as much as you can.”

“Yes, yes.”

Tokitaka complied without complaint at the man’s insistence.

Hoo…

Hoo…

After about two breaths, Tokitaka felt his mind clearing and his eyesight sharpening.

“I-is this… the Resurrection Incense?”

Resurrection Incense.

An incense created by researching the vision of Anti-Soul Incense derived from China during Japan’s imperial era.

It had strong effects for awakening the mind, hence the name, meaning it could bring back the soul that had left the body.

Produced in only small quantities, it was highly sought after by countless people and was used for many purposes, both good and bad, thanks to its claimed mind-clearing effects.

The most famous method involved using it as a study aid during entrance exams.

Students crammed into one room in a camp, called a Center Camp, while incense was burned, letting them study with a refreshed and clear mind all day long, as if they had just woken from a long sleep.

Of course, such miraculous effects came with equally staggering prices.

Most would hesitate to use it unless they were exceptionally wealthy.

But here was this man, who claimed to be from the Onmyoji Agency, using it on Tokitaka.

Just to get some information.

“If you’re recalling Resurrection Incense, then your mind must be back to functioning.”

The man smirked, watching Tokitaka’s astonishment at the incense’s effects.

Then he pulled a pair of scissors from his briefcase, trimming off the ignited part and putting the remaining Resurrection Incense back in the container.

He looked at Tokitaka with a disapproving face.

“I’ve wasted this expensive Resurrection Incense, so you better cooperate.”

The man’s gaze was fierce.

As though he was saying, if Tokitaka didn’t comply, he would make him wish he hadn’t.

Although he didn’t say it outright, his eyes clearly spoke those words.

“Yes. I will cooperate.”

So Tokitaka promised the man to cooperate obediently.

“Good. Now, first, tell me your name.”

“Yasaki Tokitaka.”

“Yasaki Tokitaka? Hmm, I think I’ve heard that name before.”

The man contemplated the strangely familiar name for a moment and, as something came to mind, slowly examined Tokitaka’s face.

Then, with a sudden burst of realization, he exclaimed, “Hey, don’t you appear on TV a lot?”

“Yes.”

“Ha, it’s amazing to see a celebrity in a place like this.”

The man looked at Tokitaka with a sense of wonder.

However, it wasn’t the kind of curiosity one might have when seeing a celebrity, it was layered with something far more negative.

“Did someone like you really get involved in this?”

“Uh?”

“Yes, it’s not just me. You know, I heard someone like you got involved in this nonsense.”

It wasn’t a positive kind of wonder, but rather, a mocking skepticism filled with disdain.

“I haven’t been with the Onmyoji Agency for long,” he began, “but in this short time, I’ve come across a lot of people who develop prejudice.”

Just like you.

With a tone dripping with contempt, the man addressed Tokitaka.

“Whenever there’s a problem, there’s always someone like you at the scene.”

“You mean someone like me…?”

“Someone who pulls off ridiculous stunts, claiming it’s for a spiritual experience, only to stir up unnecessary trouble because of it, like you.”

The man shoved his smartphone at Tokitaka as if to prove a point.

The latest model displayed a map. On a certain spot of that map, strange wave patterns mixed in red and yellow kept appearing.

“Do you know where this is?”

“This is… no way.”

“Right. It’s the house you ran away from, the House of Death, or whatever you call it.”

The man let out a long sigh.

“I can’t begin to understand what people like you think. The ones who get dragged into situations always say they were looking for thrills, wanted to experience the supernatural, wished to be ‘chosen’ by spirits, or wanted to become capable people through some ghostly contract like in cartoons… It’s a parade of nonsense.”

“….”

“Sure, thinking is free. But why cause trouble for us?”

“….”

“Like, did you really need to break the seals on something obviously dangerous, causing chaos in the nearby town? Or wake up sleeping evil spirits or ghosts, filming a horror movie from the chaos? You’ve messed things up for no reason and then scream for help, berating us for not coming fast enough, saying your friend died because we were late, or complaining about taxes but not doing our jobs right… all sorts of rubbish.”

The man scoffed derisively.

“At least you’re better than those idiots. You aren’t spewing that garbage.”

But it didn’t change the fact that he considered you a fool.

With that, the man huffed, glaring at Tokitaka.

“How can you not look like a fool, wandering into a place that’s confirmed to be haunted? Right?”

“….”

“And the people you went in with are fools too.”

With reluctance, the man added, half-heartedly.

“And I’m the idiot here, forced to rescue those fools.”

“….”

“So make it quick. Tell me who you went in with for that stupid ghost experience, and who’s in that haunted house.”

The man had undoubtedly written Tokitaka off as just another fool who wandered in for a ghost experience, mocking everyone else inside as fools too. He pressed Tokitaka to respond urgently.

Yet, Tokitaka remained tight-lipped, too embarrassed to speak, only bowing his head deeper.

“Say something already! Are you messing with me?!”

This silence was more than enough to infuriate the man.

He had used expensive Resurrection Incense on Tokitaka, and now the guy just sat there silent, with a downcast head, making it utterly infuriating.

The man urged him with a threatening gesture, to speak.

“….”

But Tokitaka remained mute.

His head hung so low his expression was unseen, and he simply stayed quiet.

The man began to show visible signs of losing patience, his face twisting with frustration, nearing the edge of an explosion.

Did he pick up on the atmosphere?

Just before the man erupted with a slew of curses, Tokitaka finally spoke up.

“Understood.”

Tokitaka said.

“Please rescue the people inside.”

He kept his head bowed.

“There are quite a few people inside.”

His expression remained hidden by his lowered head.

“I was too scared, so I came out alone.”

It was clear he couldn’t see Tokitaka’s face.

“Please, save the people inside.”

But he was definitely speaking.

 

---