Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

Recently, Akemi seems to have developed increasing suspicions about which of the dolls Yuri made were actually modeled after, but Yuri has managed to deflect these suspicions. This is quite easy, since Akemi is likely unwilling to admit that the cursed dolls were modeled after herself. As for Yuri having to burn the cursed dolls afterwards… let's just consider it a necessary price to pay; Yuri himself is annoyed by them anyway.

Now that this doll has transcended the level of a cursed doll and reached the standard of a normal doll, she shouldn't be angry—if she is still very angry, she can just say that Yuri sculpted himself based on a mirror.

Yuri placed the completed doll on the coffee table, watching with regret as it slumped over. While it should be fine to make the doll sit down, that wouldn't suit the armor's style, so he'd have to find a way to make it stand up.

After a few more attempts, it was clear that it was difficult for the doll to maintain its balance using only its own feet, especially since Yuri now had movable joints—it would be better to add a base to stabilize it.

Just as Yuri was about to carve a new base, a strange wave of energy came from afar, and Yuri felt dizzy, as if something was being twisted and torn apart.

The impact came and went quickly; before the dizziness had completely subsided, Yuri could no longer sense the source of the fluctuation.

In that extremely short time, Yuri only had time to determine that the source was quite far away and the general direction of the source relative to Yuri's location.

Has something happened? If so, it certainly isn't something Yuri is familiar with—he can't imagine anything that could have such an effect.

While he was trying to recall things in vain, a slight clattering sound came from Akemi's bedroom. Soon, Akemi rushed out, having simply put on some clothes.

There was no other reason than that she sensed it too.

Chapter 53 Jurisdiction

"Did you feel it too?" Akemi glanced at Yuri and the doll in his hand. From her angle, she shouldn't be able to see the doll's face—but she didn't seem to care much.

Her words were somewhat incoherent, but Yuri knew what she was talking about. There was no other possibility than the strange, twisted feeling that had erupted earlier.

“I definitely felt something was wrong; I just felt like I lost my balance.” Spirits don’t need balance, but Yuri couldn’t find a better way to describe it. “What do you think happened?”

“I don’t know, I also feel a little dizzy, as if it’s very far away—what do you think?” Akemi thought for a moment, “At least it can be said to be a supernatural influence rather than a simple real earthquake shockwave.”

Yuri also thought it was quite far away, at least not in the same neighborhood. As for it not being an earthquake, that made even less sense; unless it was due to supernatural influences, Yuri shouldn't be feeling so unwell.

Having received a definite reply, Mingmei fell silent. She straightened her clothes briefly, sat down on the sofa, and began to think.

After five minutes of silence, Yuri couldn't wait any longer. He suspected that Akemi wasn't thinking, but rather just sleeping with her eyes open. It was probably due to lack of sleep and exhaustion—having found a reason for Akemi in his mind, Yuri decided to speak up first.

"So what should we do? Now that you're awake, why don't we do something and go on a night patrol?"

This was the most direct solution Yuri could think of—since he was woken up in the middle of the night, he might as well investigate what had happened, which would put his mind at ease.

Of course, Yuri could investigate on his own, but lacking common sense about the supernatural, he might miss crucial information. It's best to do this kind of activity with Akemi; after all, someone as enthusiastic as her will definitely—

"...It doesn't seem good." To Yuri's surprise, Akemi, who was usually very brave, was very unmotivated this time. "It's too far. It should be beyond my usual range of operations."

Yuri felt somewhat embarrassed, as he was almost always outside his usual area of ​​operation.

"Why not take this opportunity to expand our operational area?" Yuri asked bluntly. "After all, no one starts out with a fixed operational area, right?"

"Um... let me explain." Akemi didn't seem to feel offended.

"First of all, human strength is limited. Everyone has certain limitations. Trying to do things beyond one's capabilities will only lead to disaster—you've already seen similar things."

"I have indeed seen it," Yuri floated to the bench opposite the sofa and "sat" down. "But this time is different, isn't it? None of us went to the scene, so how do we know the problem is serious and beyond our capabilities?"

“The Tokyo metropolitan area covers thousands of square kilometers and is home to tens of millions of people—at least an equal number of ghosts, possibly even more spirits, and no one knows exactly how many other supernatural beings there are—no one could possibly manage such a place on their own,” Akemi paused, adding a qualifier, “Of course, if one reaches the level of a god among men, that would be a different story—but obviously we are neither, and we don’t know any such heroes.”

If there really were such a thing, everyone should know, because everyone is under influence. Thinking of this, Yuri nodded to indicate that he agreed.

"Therefore, all the people I know in the Tokyo area who are involved in the supernatural quietly divide their areas of operation. There aren't many rules for dividing these areas; they're just used to remind themselves of one thing."

Yuri listened intently, then Akemi took a deep breath. "That means once you start meddling in things outside this area, it means you're starting to get arrogant. Arrogance itself doesn't necessarily lead to bad results, but it's clearly a bad sign. And I'm not particularly confident in my self-control—if I really see someone doing something, I'm likely to start meddling, and there's no end to it; sooner or later, I'll cross the line."

...Yuri remembered that Akemi had said something like "I might regret it later" a while ago. Now, the change is at least 90 degrees, if not 180. Is something wrong? — Akemi hadn't finished speaking yet, so Yuri decided to wait until she finished before asking.

"Finally, we're not the only living paranormal individuals in Tokyo. Our default activity areas overlap, so there shouldn't be any place that's unsupervised. So, in this situation, we should wait and see. If things don't improve, then we can add ourselves to the list."

Mingmei has finished her long speech.

I see. Yuri basically understood what Minmei meant—it would be reasonable if it were just two points short.

"What you're saying is based on the premise that there are people like you in that direction—but do they really exist? Are you very familiar with that person?" That's not the direction of Okumura-ya either. "Besides, you've only been here for about two months, how could you have your own area?"

“My area? That’s just an area I’m familiar with, based on my own activity range. I haven’t informed anyone else about it.” Akemi answered the second question first.

“As for the first question, the answer is of course no. But humans are very strong—as long as no one takes responsibility, some unlucky soul will always emerge,” Akemi said, her expression a little dazed. “There will always be someone who steps forward, won’t there?”

Yuri completely, thoroughly, fundamentally, and absolutely disagreed with this opinion.

However, when this was mentioned, Akemi's expression was as if it were a belief of hers, and persuading others to give up their beliefs was a very difficult thing—this time, the fact that there was no benefit to be gained was also added.

It would be best to change the perspective. Yuri racked his brains—he could think of several ways to persuade Minmei, but he still needed to choose the most suitable one.

"First, if everyone happens to stand idly by, believing that it's not their responsibility, then there might be avoidable consequences—"

As he spoke, Yuri kept observing Akemi's expression. She didn't seem to object, but she wasn't obviously interested either, so he had to continue.

“Secondly, we’re not sure if anyone there is willing or able to take care of things—if we assume someone is solving the problem but they aren’t, wouldn’t that be a huge problem?” To emphasize this, Yuri added, “This is the kind of situation where someone needs to step up—but we might be the ones who need to step up—even just confirming that the risk is high and we need to find more people is better than knowing nothing at all.”

This seemed to have persuaded Akemi, who nodded, and Yuri breathed a sigh of relief.

If that still doesn't work, Yuri might have to say, "If they're in charge but can't manage it, and they desperately need support, then if we don't go soon, something terrible might happen."

Yuri had a premonition that this rhetoric would be very effective, but it could also lead to very bad consequences—for some reason, he just didn't want to say it.

There was no definite reason to be found, so the only explanation was that it was tantamount to a threat, and Yuri did not want to threaten his friend.

A moment of doubt passed quickly, and attention immediately shifted to a new focus: since Mingmei's attitude had changed, there must be a new plan.

"Hmm... let's not go right now. Let's wait until tomorrow. If there's no strange information by tomorrow night, we'll assume the problem is being solved—if there is, then we'll go check it out."

This plan is good. Actually, Yuri also felt that rushing over immediately upon sensing something was a bit excessive, but...

“Strange information? How are we supposed to get strange information?” Yuri couldn’t think of any sources of information he could use.

"We can just ask Uncle Okumura when the time comes. Since we sensed it, they must have sensed it too. Unlike us, who have no connections, they must have some information."

It seems that the "paranormal individuals I know in the Tokyo area who can divide up their activity areas" that Akemi mentioned earlier are the spirit hunters—this sample probably doesn't represent all paranormal individuals.

But since she has already agreed to the investigation, there's no point in deliberately pointing that out.

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 they reached an agreement, Mingmei went back to bed to sleep, as she had to go to school the next day.

Yuri, meanwhile, began preparing for the next phase of the exploration.

First, we must stop the current consumption of spiritual essence—indeed, Yuri has reduced the consumption to the lowest level, but the lowest level is not zero, so we still need to conserve it.

Then, the energy must be replenished quickly.

After that, it's just a matter of adjusting your mindset and waiting for the next evening—you should be able to figure out any information by then.

Yuri floated out of the window and then moved straight down, heading towards the direction of the familiar ghost (New).

Recently, he's gotten used to this efficient way of moving around. After all, the book says that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, and the way to move beyond a line is to walk in a straight line. Why be bound by human movement patterns and go for the stairs?

It's midnight now, and nothing seems to have changed.

Of course, things change rapidly, and if you really want to find differences, you can always find them, but Yuri didn't find anything that looked like a sudden, drastic change.

Even if there are any changes, the best observation point may have already been missed.

"This isn't without a way to make amends," Yuri thought. While picking up the repeater, he searched for ghosts who could answer his questions—ghosts would have some recollection of changes in their surroundings, and Yuri just needed to find those who weren't completely withdrawn.

The first goal was achieved very smoothly, but the second one was not.

It's not that the conscious ghosts suddenly disappeared—they're all still there, and there hasn't been much change between those Yuri knew and those he didn't. Nor is it that they're unwilling to answer Yuri's questions—the "suspicious trench coat, sunglasses, and hat man" seems to have established a rather unpleasant reputation among the ghosts: "There's a very suspicious, wicked ghost in a trench coat who constantly drains the life essence of broken record players and poor newborn ghosts, known as the hunter..." They seem to have combined the two things—in short, under this very unpleasant reputation, one would expect no ghost to be unwilling to answer a simple question.

But the result was that all the conscious ghosts said they didn't know anything—they not only didn't notice any changes, but they didn't even feel the tearing sensation from last night.

Yuri questioned them repeatedly until he found the Black World gang, finally obtaining a relatively detailed description. They said that although they themselves did not perceive anything, about an hour or two after the time Yuri mentioned—that is, about half an hour ago—they saw several stray animal spirits (rats, dogs, and large insects) running frantically in the twilight (spirit world), as if they had been frightened by something.

The group of idle ghosts described in detail the situation of the little animal spirits, saying that if they were not chasing each other, they were being chased by something else together.

The ghost gang members even believed that they used spiritual essence to accelerate during their frenzied run.

If something really happened, a normal spirit wouldn't squander its energy like that.

In other words, so far, the ghosts haven't directly sensed anything, while the spirits have a very high probability of sensing that distortion.

This sense of distortion is likely related to the spirit world, though the exact connection is unclear. However, it is certainly at a level that could scare away weak spirits.

Weak spirits rarely act alone; most will band together with their kind and are unlikely to stray from their usual territory—their behavior pattern is generally similar to that of a herd. The appearance of a weak spirit running wildly alone is entirely abnormal.

What happened in the spirit world that made these weak spirits feel threatened, causing them to flee in panic?

Is it some kind of "hunter" targeting spirits? Yuri dismissed his own speculations; it wasn't impossible, but it was baseless.

Before dawn, Yuri came to a conclusion and prepared to tell the high school girl mystic who was about to go to school.

Of course, this also brings up another unexplained mystery.

If it's a world of spirits, then why would Yuri be able to sense it? Could Yuri's state still be that of a spirit?

It might be related to the mystery of the Vower, and perhaps he has the potential to use the mystery of the spirit—or maybe he has already used it unintentionally? Yuri tried to think positively, since there was no other good way to do it except to write it down.

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.

Akemi thought Yuri's reasoning was very reasonable, but it couldn't be certain that it would have an impact on human society. So, as agreed at midnight, they would wait a day, gather information, and then make a decision.

However, when Akemi returned to the house that afternoon, her attitude changed again.

"Looks like there's no need to ask Uncle Okumura anymore—there really is something going on."

The evidence was a newspaper she was waving, with the headline "Multiple spontaneous combustion incidents."

Chapter Fifty-Four: Spontaneous Combustion

Yuri skimmed through the newspaper.

The gist of the story is that several incidents of spontaneous combustion of property occurred in XX district last night, injuring multiple people, but thankfully no fatalities have been reported so far. Most of the items that spontaneously combusted were made of fabric or wood, with only one instance involving plastic.

Recalling the map from last time, the direction of the fluctuations sensed last night in this XX area is correct.

Based solely on the news reports, the locations don't seem particularly special; what we do know is that these spontaneous combustion incidents occurred in locations with no commonalities. The most dangerous location was a convenience store, because there was a warehouse storing a large amount of flammable materials not far from it. However, precisely because of this, the warehouse was always staffed, and the fire was discovered in time, contained, and kept under control until the fire department arrived.

Police cannot rule out the possibility of arson, but believe the probability is quite low. The location with the most information currently available is a relatively modern furniture store, where surveillance footage captured the bed sheets spontaneously igniting.

However, it differs from simple spontaneous combustion. According to the same surveillance footage, the fire on the bed sheet did not start from a spark and gradually expand, but rather an oval-shaped fire zone appeared in an instant and then expanded from there.

Yuri had some experience with fire, and he knew that most combustion phenomena occur when the initial part is ignited, and the heat released by the initial burning part ignites the rest.

To ignite a large area directly would require heating that entire area simultaneously—which is highly unusual for spontaneous combustion. —If you were to ignite something already burning, like a torch, by pressing it against the flame, that would fit the description. But in that case, surveillance footage should show both the torch and the arsonist.

This spontaneous combustion is highly unusual, and by extension, other spontaneous combustion incidents are likely also problematic. However, other spontaneous combustion incidents lack such detailed on-site information, although they may exist but have not been reported in the newspaper.

In short, the newspapers publicized this incident as a strange and interesting story, and incidentally mentioned advising everyone to strengthen their home security and prevent people from breaking into and damaging their homes.

A normal person wouldn't immediately perceive multiple spontaneous combustion incidents as a major crisis; at most, they'd think there was a crazed arsonist and that things would be fine once the police caught the culprit. Unfortunately, Yuri and his buddy weren't normal people; they immediately connected the strange feeling from the previous night and suspected it was a supernatural event.

Let's retrieve this information first.

After confirming that there was no other useful information in the newspaper, Yuri ran his finger around the edge of that page. What can be strengthened can also be weakened; the already fragile newspaper, after being further weakened, required almost no effort to scratch with his fingernail.

Of course, it seems to be a little torn at the corner, but it shouldn't affect its use.

To undo the impact she had brought and prevent the newspaper from crumbling at the slightest touch, she carefully stacked the removed cube and handed it to Akemi, who had already put her things away. Then the two of them set off.

It was already dusk—or rather, almost nightfall. Undoubtedly, it was due to the changing seasons; as winter approached, it got dark earlier each day. But it hadn't gotten cold yet. Akemi wasn't a good example to follow in terms of clothing choices, but the clothes people on the street wore didn't lie; many women were still wearing short skirts, so they certainly weren't cold.

The crowds on the street were still hurrying along, seemingly unaffected—no, they really were unaffected. Spontaneous combustion was merely fodder for newspaper gossip; ordinary people hadn't experienced that distorted feeling, and for them, reality remained the same uneventful reality.

"Maybe this is actually quite blissful?" Yuri thought to himself with a hint of jealousy.

It's not their fault that these people don't know about the supernatural, but Yuri's dark side seems to want to instill supernatural knowledge into everyone's minds, making them all suffer along with him.

Just think about it. Even if it doesn't cause problems, Yuri doesn't have the ability to complete this plan.

I quickened my pace to catch up with Akemi, who was getting her bearings. As Akemi said, she wasn't very familiar with the area and needed to slow down and carefully observe her surroundings in order to find her way.

The location shown in the newspaper was in the same direction as the distortion they felt last night, and even more specific, so the two chose to use the newspaper to find the location.

The first target was, of course, the furniture store that claimed to have surveillance cameras.

The furniture store was lucky; the fire department arrived very quickly after the fire started because they had just finished extinguishing another fire and were passing by when they were heading back. This is why they were able to keep the surveillance footage.

After arriving at the target street, it didn't take long to find the furniture store. Among the row of normally operating stores, the messiest one was still quite conspicuous.

The fire didn't destroy the entire shop, only some of the goods. Some people who looked like shop employees were taking stock of the damage and cleaning up the wreckage. Without a cordon, the two were able to approach the shop entrance.

According to Yuri's visual assessment, the building structure here was somewhat damaged in the fire, but the impact was not significant. It was roughly equivalent to shortening the lifespan of a house that was several decades old by three to five years. Specific figures can be discussed later.

"Do you feel anything?" Akemi asked Yuri in a low voice.

Yuri sensed something strange about the shop, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. It was the first time he'd encountered such a spiritual force, and he had no idea what it meant.

After gesturing to Akemi to stay where she was, Yuri, now in spirit form, entered the store.

As they got closer, the strange feeling became even more pronounced—Yuri believed the reason was that there was some kind of spiritual energy permeating the area. However, unlike other spiritual energy he had sensed in the past, this spiritual energy was rather inert and was waning in Yuri's perception. It was as if it simply existed there and did nothing else.