Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

"Okay, that's all. What's your information?"

"The friends at the station are willing to help us. As long as I can get to the Rat King, he's willing to help me from a distance—I don't know exactly what the effect is, but it should be something like the scroll I saw last time."

That's right, it's the scroll that the man named Taifu gave me. It should be the same thing.

"Will this work? Our opponent might be very powerful. According to the theory, if he only attacks once and is at the same level as us, will it be enough?" Mingmei seemed a little doubtful. "I think we should also bring the Soul Hunters over and be prepared for failure on the first attack."

“Of course we should do that, the more power we have, the better—but we should use this first.” Yuri didn’t think the two things were in conflict; now they needed to use every means at their disposal.

"Is there anything I can do?" Hojo Reie asked enthusiastically.

"...There's no positive aspect, friend, but I think, although I don't know if it will help, could you keep an eye on the situation of the coma incident and, while you're at it, keep an eye out for any reports of seeing rats? This reflects the strength of the resonance—that is, whether the number of these spirit rats will increase further."

It seemed like it took Mingmei some effort to come up with these things.

"No problem, I'll keep an eye on these things while I'm finishing my press release, 'The Mysterious Plague and Its Mysterious Disappearance.'"

How come this reporter even came up with a headline? Could it be that this was premeditated... or is it just a joke?

"Then I'll be going now. You might have something else to say... Good luck, it's all up to you guys." The reporter patted Yuri's shoulder hard and turned to leave.

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.

Hojo Reie walked away with a fairly steady gait, indicating that she had recovered somewhat during her previous rest; at least there was no need to worry about her collapsing on the roadside.

After the reporter left, Akemi visibly breathed a sigh of relief, her facial expression relaxing.

Then, with a reproachful expression, she said, "Yuri, you shouldn't have let her come. She could have easily extricated herself from this, but you let her come, and now it looks like she's determined to stick it out to the end."

“This is what she wants to do. She doesn’t want to remain ignorant. Should we let her remain ignorant?” Yuri didn’t see it as a problem. “Besides, she can offer help in a safe place. I don’t see what the problem is.”

“It’s just that this time the outcome was good. What if she asked to come to the scene, or worse, she came to the scene without telling you? Can you take responsibility for that?” Mingmei shook her head. “I think we should reduce the collateral damage, especially the collateral damage that we might cause.”

“I completely understand what you mean, Mingmei—I fully support a hero stepping forward, single-handedly, to solve the problem without incurring any other costs, Mingmei. But neither of us are such heroes, at least not yet—in this situation, should we be held responsible for the actions of others?” Yuri shook his head even more emphatically. “No, we can’t. We’ve already dragged everyone into this—I can’t abandon a supporter who has volunteered to participate in this situation.”

Mingmei still didn't accept it. "She's different from us, Yuri. She has no ability to protect herself, and she can hardly even directly observe supernatural phenomena."

“…Neither do we, Akemi.” Yuri forced a heavy sigh (spirits cannot truly sigh), “We are indeed stronger than her, but our enemy is much stronger, Akemi—I don’t think we can abandon all our bottom lines in this situation, but we did not deceive her about the level of danger, she was willing, and I am sure she knows how to protect herself.”

"Then, before you talk about anything else, Akemi, do you remember how we initially got involved in this?" Yuri changed his tone.

“Yes, of course I remember.” Akemi nodded, waiting for what she would say next.

"Back then you said that people shouldn't get involved in things that are too difficult, and you were right. I've been thinking about it lately, and you were right. However, now we've dragged each other into this mess, and it's hard to extricate ourselves."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yuri sensed something was wrong. The high school girl in front of him looked as if she had been hit on the head with a wooden stick.

Incorrect wording was chosen.

Chapter Ninety-Three: Divergence

"I'm...sorry, Yuri. If you want to quit—"

Akemi looked somewhat sad.

Damn it, she got the wrong idea—Yuri realized that his words sounded like he was blaming her for leading him into this mess.

She hurriedly interrupted Mingmei again, "No, Mingmei, I don't regret getting involved in this. I do regret dragging you into it, but there's no going back now. You won't leave, and neither will I. What I'm saying is that we did it voluntarily, and that's what's called free will. She also has free will. Anyone who can make their own choices is making their own choices, at least that's true this time."

Mingmei nodded silently, seemingly still quite a distance from being truly at peace.

Is it too late to turn back time now?

“Listen, you want to solve this problem, but I don’t quite understand why.” Yuri realized his mistake halfway through his sentence and managed to get back on track. “But I do know exactly why I want to solve this problem.”

Akemi's eyes shifted slightly.

Great, she's interested in this. Keep going, keep her focused. Go Yuri, you can do it!

After encouraging himself, Yuri continued, "I'm not doing this because I'm following in your footsteps, but because I feel that this sudden change will definitely turn into a disaster and have an irreversible impact on human society—that fire spirit is irrefutable proof. Any spirit that can stay with it can't possibly be a good person, and I don't want such a guy to greatly affect my life—do you understand?"

Yuri was fully aware of his lie, but, well, lying is better than ruining a friend's mood; that's what you call a white lie, right?

"Really? You're not just trying to comfort me?" Mingmei asked, half believing her.

"I'm trying to comfort you on purpose, but it's also true; I'm telling you the truth."

Of course, that's also a lie. The good news is, spirits don't blush.

"Then I'll lead the charge."

"Yeah, right! No way!"

Akemi's complexion was improving rapidly, while Yuri's complexion was deteriorating at the same rate.

Is it appropriate for you to lie to me or launch a sneak attack just because you're in a good mood?

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.

In just two minutes, Yuri felt as if he had just been beaten up by the Fire Spirit again.

Yuri, you should repent for what you said.

"What are you thinking? I admit I misunderstood you, I'm so sorry—" The high school girl even comforted Yuri instead.

"No, that's not it, Akemi. Have you considered your next course of action?"

As long as we stop talking about personal emotional issues, he would even consider it if it involved Yuri headbutting the Rat King.

"The plan is as you said before: first, get the scroll you mentioned, then we'll go to the vicinity, launch an attack, and provide cover for the one holding the scroll to rush in and give the Rat King a good beating. You mentioned that the plan could be carried out simultaneously, and I've thought of that. The werewolves are excellent at providing cover, and they should be able to use that scroll as well. If enough of them come, we can basically just lead the way, and we won't even need to use the bait plan."

“I have no better suggestions. However, I think we could also consider bringing our root carving friend along—if we have to use the bait plan, we must avoid the energy in the shrine being depleted too quickly. It will be difficult for the driver to turn back and clean the rats on the shrine, but if we also put the doll it is currently possessing in the trunk, it should be able to deal with those small rats.”

It should be able to deal with those small rats at least when it flies by.

Mingmei believes this is unnecessary, or rather, completely unnecessary, and only adds unnecessary trouble. However, she also admits that if not enough werewolves come, it's not the time to be picky about supporters.

That's pretty much the end of the plan. In the worst-case scenario, only Yuri, Akemi, and the token of the train spirit will participate in this event...

If that's the case, Yuri should just give up.

They split up again: Yuri went to retrieve the token from the train spirit, Minmei went to find the werewolves for support, and Minmei went to dig up the root carving.

The next meeting will be near the landfill.

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 time is half past six in the evening.

Yuri arrived at the station entrance and went inside.

The guard dog spirit calmly let him in without asking a single question, simply staring intently at what was behind him.

They probably don't want to bother with it anymore.

Earlier, when Yuri approached the station entrance, he noticed that the two groups of spirits that were confronting each other had become much quieter. It seemed that even if the spirits didn't get tired from talking and roaring, they would definitely run out of words at some point.

It's not like it's a broken record; it can't repeat the same things over and over again.

After about a quarter of a day, the fighting here seems to have entered a lull.

Yuri banished the tedious sadness from his mind and went inside the station.

On the familiar platform, I didn't see Line 2, but I did see the camera.

"Isn't Line 2 here?" There seemed to be no obvious hostility (it's hard to tell if there was any subtle hostility).

"He controls more than just this one station. He's on patrol right now. Are you here to retrieve the token?" the camera spirit's voice stated matter-of-factly.

"Of course." That's true. In fact, Yuri had already sensed a fairly strong spiritual energy on a bench.

"Right on that stool, he didn't consider that you might need to find a human to trigger the token, so he made it into a version without a physical entity. If you're planning to have a mortal trigger it, you might have to find another way."

This guy's tone is a bit sarcastic.

Yuri found two spirit cards on the bench, their presence growing stronger as he approached. In fact, if he held them in his hand instead of putting them in his pocket, Yuri wondered whether other spirits would see him first or the cards first.

Although it's difficult to find a substance that corresponds to spiritual matter, the material of this card currently feels to him like paper.

There are some words written on it.

Upon closer inspection, the information reads: "Route: Unknown to this point," "Train number: Line 2," "Time: Now," "Price: Complimentary ticket," and "Location: To be discussed."

The text on the two cards was identical. Were these train tickets? And the kind of old-fashioned tickets with extremely rough workmanship?

"As you've probably noticed, neither of the tokens has been infused with any other energy. This means that anyone with enough energy can activate it. Of course, if you only infuse a little energy into it, the token will be marked, and only you will be able to use it from then on."

This was as agreed, although Yuri hadn't expected the token to be in the shape of a train ticket.

“I highly recommend that you do this immediately, but if you are planning to have someone else do it, you should have him perform the signing procedure so that the scapegoat’s death has some value.”

...It's not just a little bit, this guy is totally being sarcastic and sarcastic.

And while Yuri hesitated between leaving immediately or arguing with him, he didn't stop talking.

"Furthermore, I believe you can notice that if you work hard enough, you can turn this token into energy absorption."

"Why did I do this?" Yuri regretted it as soon as he finished speaking. This was simply giving the other party another chance to continue to criticize him.

"I don't know, but you might certainly think you can do anything."

Yuri put the card in his pocket, then carefully examined the guy in front of him who was an eyesore no matter how he looked at him.

That's right, it looks exactly like the same person as the camera spirit we saw before.

Not only in appearance, but even the feeling of spiritual energy is exactly the same.

"You didn't seem to have this much malice when I last saw you. What happened?"

Last time, although it was quite impatient talking to Yuri, it didn't seize every opportunity to argue with him. Instead, it reminded Yuri about what was going on with Akemi...

Wait, it seems its warning was completely ineffective; Akemi didn't need rescue at the time.

"I've noticed your lack of discretion; the three of you actually started a meeting in public. Therefore, I think your plan has a very low chance of success. You seem completely unaware of this, which is tantamount to you murdering your partner."

"Pause—what do you mean by 'in public'? I'm pretty sure there's no one else around that parking lot."

...Speaking of which, if no one else noticed, how did this guy find out about the three-person meeting...?

"A camera?" Yuri felt like he had caught something.

"You don't seem particularly stupid. The camera records images, and those images are communicated to the corresponding spirits, and I'm one of them, so I naturally know the specifics. — Now do you understand your mistake?"

The camera spirit's words were still harsh, but Yuri couldn't afford to be angry now.

If it can utilize all the surveillance equipment to collect information...

The impact is too widespread to be explained in just a few words.

"Can you get the information you want from any surveillance equipment?" Yuri asked cautiously.

“I cannot, but we can.” The camera spirit’s tone returned to calm. “I am powerless to control all the information on my own, but there are many of us.”

"Can you tell me about the situation at that landfill? If there are surveillance cameras there? If you really did monitor our conversation, you should know which landfill I'm talking about."

Yuri couldn't remember if the junkyard had surveillance cameras. He passed by it but never paid attention to its internal structure—the first time he did care, he was chased away by the Rat Spirit gatekeeper.

Another question is, why didn't he connect the Rat Spirit Gatekeeper with the current rat swarm sooner?

Yes, but I can't tell you.

"why?"

"It's an agreement that we, the Watchers, should remain neutral in principle. However, the overwhelming power of both sides this time has forced us to make a choice, with some leaning towards this side and others towards that side. To avoid retaliation from the victors, we will only provide information within our controlled areas. We will not disclose information from other areas, even if we see it, nor will we directly participate in the battle. Our respective allies are aware of and accept this as well."

“However, you who are the specific implementers still have your own biases, hoping that the side you serve will win, so you chose to give me a hint?” Yuri said, revealing his guess.

“That’s true. You lacked investigation and didn’t consider the existence of the surveillance system at all. Your lack of vigilance may lead you to your death.” The camera spirit began to criticize Yuri’s situation again.

While what it says is true, repeating it over and over again is a bit excessive.

The newly arrived, uninvestigated spirit Yuri switched to another topic.

"Then, can you tell me the current situation of the people attacked by the rats? Those who have already been attacked and sent to the hospital, and those who have been attacked recently?"

"The situation for the former is still deteriorating, while the number of the latter is increasing. Some are trying to hide in houses. I don't know the full picture, but the spirit rats can enter houses; they are not bound by door locks. I think they are just prolonging the time they have to lie on the ground before they are rescued." The camera spirit then summarized, "Their number growth has slowed, but the level of danger is increasing significantly."

This is not good news, as it means that if we wait any longer, there will be more victims than we initially thought.

Although he was furious, Yuri tried his best to control himself and thanked the annoying guy in front of him.

They're on the same side, and they're giving me a warning, so I'll let it go.

Yuri then turned to leave, only to hear the other person's last words behind him.

“You still lack an understanding of the current situation. I hope you can succeed, but I don’t have any hope. — I won’t tell you anything else now.”

I still can't stand him!