I, Den-O, the Contract Urban Legend

Inoue Ue was also a little hesitant. The distance issue could be ignored for the time being. If he used the time train, it would not take much time to travel from Chiba to Kyoto. The real problem was Yuyuko. He had not found her whereabouts. Going there to look for her seemed like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Moreover, Kyoto is the base camp of the Onmyoji, and it is not wise to show up there rashly. Before they find Yuyuko, they might be mistaken for monsters by the Onmyoji and be beaten up.

"Oh, this is such a hassle. I'm supposed to be helping save someone, but Mr. Inoue has to be aware of so many things..."

[Why would it be so troublesome? You can just follow Yuyuko's example and go through the sealed locations one by one. Beat up all the Onmyoji guarding the seals and let them know who's in charge!]

After a long time, Yasen's voice sounded from Inoue Ueya's mind.

Inoue Ueya was silent for a moment, then hesitated and said, "Hmm, isn't this method a bit inappropriate?"

To be honest, Inoue Ue was a little tempted, but those Onmyojis weren't really bad people. If they did that, it would be a bit excessive...

"Although innocent people will be implicated, if we reach a consensus with them sooner rather than later, the possibility of the Kyoto seal being breached will be lower, and the number of casualties will also be reduced, right?"

Inoue Ueya scratched his head, a puzzled expression on his face. "Although it sounds reasonable, I still feel like something is wrong."

[Don't think too much, it's just your illusion. ]

"Speaking of which, Yasen, have you been talking less recently?"

「Well, since there hasn’t been any need for me to appear lately, so, I just fell asleep...」

As they spoke, Inoue Ueya could sense a hint of guilt in Yasen's tone. She seemed to be hiding something, so she said, "Well, if there's anything I can help you with, you can always tell me."

"No, don't worry, I'm just sleeping like a normal person, even though I'm called 'sleeping'!"

Recently, Arsen has been using Inoue Ueya's body to move around while he is asleep. In order not to miss the opportunity to possess him, she always sleeps until night time and wakes up, so she speaks less. After all, as a personality mask, Arsen can only stay in Inoue Ueya's consciousness under normal circumstances. It is inevitable that she will feel bored. It would be more practical to just take a nap. However, when she heard that Inoue Ueya was thinking about the trip to Kyoto, she felt a little interested.

「Hmm, but there are still things I want to help with. If possible, when we go to Kyoto──」

As if he had thought of something, Arsen's voice stopped abruptly in the middle of his words.

"Well, go on. Is there anything you need me to do when we go to Kyoto?" Inoue Ueya asked curiously.

Originally, Arsen was planning to ask Inoue Ueya to ask the Onmyoji for a spell. As she inherited Inoue Ueya's memories, she also knew the story of Nuraiki no Mago. That guy named Hanakaiin Akifusa seemed to have a very useful spell, such as the "Eighty-Ryu Demon Technique". But if you think about it carefully, isn't this a perfect opportunity to try out the plan she just mentioned?

[No, it's nothing. I changed my mind.]

Chapter 197: The Boy Who Called Himself "Phantom Thief"

Several days passed, and a meeting was being held at the Hanakaiin family headquarters in Kyoto to discuss the mysterious entity that had recently appeared repeatedly at various sealed locations and attacked the guardians...

"Do you have any idea about that guy who suddenly appeared? Could it be a monster sent by Yuyuko?"

The person who spoke was an old man. He was the 27th head of Hanakaiin and also the grandfather of Hanakaiin Yuura. He still believed the information Yuura had given that the Kyoto monsters would attack the sealed location and take back their former territory.

When the seal had weakened particularly severely in recent years, the Kyoto monsters that had been lurking in the dark for a long time could not miss this opportunity, and their attack was only a matter of time. Although he, as the head of the family, had ordered people to be more vigilant and strengthen the defense of several temples that served as the seal locations, the old man was unable to do so, and most of the new Onmyoji had never heard of the name of Yuyuko and had never seen the horror of the big monsters, so they did not take the matter to heart at all.

The barrier of Kyoto is a powerful barrier in the shape of a spiral that is formed from the outside to the inside using eight locations where powerful monsters are sealed. The Hanakaiin family built temples in these eight locations and assigned Onmyoji to guard the seals to prevent them from being broken accidentally.

Judging from their attitude, if they continue like this, the Hanakaiin family may not be able to keep the seal.

In fact, the cost of training a qualified Onmyoji is very high. In addition, the Hanakaiin family, like the Nura family, is also cursed by the Feathered Fox. The eldest son of the main family will definitely die young. In order to avoid the extinction of the bloodline, they have to adopt talented people from the branch family to the main family as adopted sons.

Among this group of people, some of them studied Yin-Yang magic in a more auxiliary direction, and some of them did not even plan to fight at all. When the time came for combat power, there were probably only a few people who could really stand up and fight against Yuyuko's group of monsters.

"Several temple guardians have been defeated so far. According to their description, the guy was wearing a black windbreaker and a white bird mask on his face. He was a young man who called himself the 'Phantom Thief'..." responded another old man sitting next to him.

Upon hearing this, the twenty-seventh head of the clan frowned and murmured softly, "A phantom thief? A young man? He's not a monster?"

"It's hard to say. Although he looks like a human, he carries a vague aura of fear. During battle, a strange suit of armor appears out of thin air and covers his entire body. It's hard to tell what kind of youkai he is, but his goal doesn't seem to be to break the seal, but to challenge the guardian. Every time a guardian is defeated, he disappears."

"Hmm, armor appeared out of nowhere, could he be a Tsukumogami..."

The strength of the Onmyoji who guarded the seal was undoubtedly formidable, and among them were those who would serve as their replacements. They were definitely not to be trifled with, but that mysterious young man had defeated several guardians in a matter of days...

"Not only that, haven't you noticed? That guy attacked the guardians according to the order of the 'Spiral' barrier. This means that if he defeats the guardian, he can destroy the barrier at any time. He's provoking our Hanakaiin family!"

"It seems to be true..."

"He's too arrogant. We must teach him a lesson!"

"You're right. A mere nameless monster dared to come out and provoke the Hanakaiin family. That's unforgivable!"

"Well, it's still a bit dangerous to let one person guard the seal alone. We should add more people..."

"By the way, the new spell I developed earlier might come in handy!"

Seeing that everyone suddenly became united, the 27th head of the family was hesitant to speak. Although he always felt that something was wrong, due to the appearance of that young man, the Hanakaiin family had become united unknowingly. This should be considered a good thing, right?

He didn't think the boy was an enemy. Firstly, if he wanted to destroy the barrier, it wouldn't be difficult, but he didn't do that, and he never even killed the defeated. Secondly, he had heard of a similar existence from Yuura...

At least it seems that they are more serious than when they received the information from Yuura. Should we say that the boy came at the right time?

But that young man once called himself "Phantom Thief", so what was his goal to take away from the Hanakaiin family?

The 27th head of the clan pondered for a moment, thinking this might be a great opportunity to raise everyone's vigilance. He nodded secretly and said, "With the weakening of the barrier, the Kyoto youkai of the past could attack at any time. The current guardians can't even defeat a mere nameless youkai. You should take this opportunity to carefully consider how to respond. You can't let the Hanakaiin family's reputation be ruined by a small youkai, right?"

……

At the same time, in a classroom at Sobu High School.

"Whoosh..."

Although it was class time, Inoue Ueya was sleeping soundly on the table.

Inoue Ueya seems to be particularly sleepy recently. Even he himself doesn't know why. When he wakes up in the morning, he is never as energetic as usual. It's as if he just fell asleep and was woken up immediately. His body keeps feeling tired. He has no choice but to catch up on some sleep at school.

Seeing this, Shizuka Hiratsuka, who was standing in front of the desk, couldn't help but sigh. This was the nth time this month that Inoue Ueya seemed to be sleeping in class frequently. Although this middle school student with second-year syndrome was an excellent student, was it really okay to just leave him alone?

It is said that because his parents work in other places, Inoue Ueya basically lives alone. Could he go out to work at night?

As she thought about it, Shizuka Hiratsuka began to worry about this student's situation. She didn't know what kind of tricks he had put into Yukinoshita Yukino that made her change the Service Club to the Kamen Rider Club. But anyway, this wasn't a formal club. There were many clubs with strange names, such as the Far Eastern Magic Nap Club's Summer. She didn't care much for it...

But no matter what, there's something obviously wrong with Inoue Ueya, so I guess I should pay a little attention to him.

Chapter 198 And you didn’t even ask me to go with you!

After thinking it over, Shizuka Hiratsuka was still a little concerned about Inoue Ueya's condition, so she asked him to meet her in the guidance room after class.

"Well, Jing'ai, what do you want to talk to me about?"

Inoue Ueya looked at the extremely serious expression on Jingkeai's face in confusion, wondering why he was being targeted. He didn't seem to have done anything strange recently.

At most, I just skipped class to help Kotoko Iwanaga and catch up on some sleep during class. Is it necessary to take it so seriously?

Ok?

——Now that I think about it, it seems that it was a bit too much.

Shizuka Hiratsuka ignored the slightly awkward address and asked him about the situation with a serious look on her face, "I won't beat around the bush. Inoue, have you been working part-time lately? Are you short of money?"

"Hey, how do you know I'm short of money?"

First, because of his previous reckless behavior, Sadako fined him several months' pocket money, and later Inoue Ueya's wallet was lost again. He was indeed a little short of money, but why did Shizuka Hiratsuka know about this?

Inoue Ueya was stunned for a moment, then thought about it and reacted. He realized that what Hiratsuka Shizuka wanted to say seemed different from what he imagined in his mind. He hurriedly shook his head to deny it, "No, I didn't?"

"It's suspicious, really too suspicious. He first admitted that he was short of money, and then hurriedly denied it as if someone had discovered his secret. Doesn't this make it more obvious!" Shizuka Hiratsuka's eyes were full of suspicion.

"It's just a slip of the tongue, Jing'ai, please don't take such a small matter seriously!"

However, Hiratsuka Shizuka still didn't believe Inoue Ueya and continued, "Really? Then why do you look so tired? If you have any problems in life, you can come to me for consultation. Don't try to deal with it alone, okay?"

"Don't worry, it might be because of the change in weather. I've just become a little sleepy recently, right?" Inoue Ue responded unconfidently.

Although Shizuka Hiratsuka was a bit long-winded, Inoue Ueya didn't dislike this kind of teacher who cared about students. He just smiled bitterly. This sleepiness came a little suddenly, and he didn't know how to explain his situation.

"Well, or is this caused by living alone at home? How about making a home visit and letting me see what Inoue's living environment is like..." Hiratsuka Shizuka said to herself.

"Home, home visit?"

Hearing this, Inoue Ueya shuddered, and his sleepiness completely disappeared in an instant. "Wait, calm down a little. This doesn't need to be a home visit, right?"

"But in your case—"

"Please believe me, Mr. Inoue will definitely not fall asleep again next time, probably!"

"Can 'next time' and 'probably' be said together? What do you mean by this..." Shizuka Hiratsuka frowned.

So, the topic of sleeping in class gradually turned to whether it was necessary to visit the Inoue family, and the two talked for a long time.

After a long while, Inoue Ue finally walked out of the guidance office with a tired look on his face, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Huh, this was a close call. I finally managed to fool Jing Keai. If she really came for a home visit, it would be troublesome in many ways..."

Putting aside other things, after all, according to the school's understanding, Inoue Ueya has been living alone temporarily because his parents are working in other places. He really can't think of any reason to explain the existence of Sadako and the others.

If Shizuka Hiratsuka knew about the existence of the monster, she might come and get involved. It's already troublesome enough to take care of Yukinoshita Yukino, and if there is another cute Shizuka, the workload of herself and Kotoko Iwanaga will probably increase again.

The second young lady Yukinoshita is not as weak as before. At least she can now fight against monsters of the level of Old Rat. Occasionally, she will find time to help Iwanaga Kotoko handle commissions. It's just that because she practices spiritual power, monsters always subconsciously regard her as an Onmyoji, and have a not-so-good impression of her.

For example, beings like transformed cats and cat-shaped creatures were not very close to her, which made the second young lady feel disappointed for a while.

Inoue Ueya sighed helplessly and walked towards the Kamen Rider Club classroom, muttering softly: "In short, it's better not to sleep in Jing'ai's class recently. If she continues to misunderstand, something bad will happen sooner or later..."

A moment later, Inoue Ue also walked into the familiar classroom. When he was about to reach out to open the door, he heard the voices of Yukinoshita Yukino and Iwanaga Kotoko talking.

"I came prepared this time. I brought a whole bottle of Polygonum multiflorum with me. They won't resist contact with me, right?" There was a hint of expectation in Yukinoshita Yukino's tone.

"Naive, your idea is too naive! Listen, there are many differences between Nekomata and ordinary cats. The most obvious one is the physique of the monster. Unless you can completely restrain the spiritual energy in your body, they will not be easily fooled!" Iwanaga Kotoko said seriously.

Inoue Ueya suddenly opened the classroom door and walked in, complaining, "What the hell is going on? Aren't you guys planning to go out and handle a commission? Why are you talking like you're going to pet a cat? And you didn't even ask me to go with you!"

"No, it's because Ueya-kun has been looking so bad lately, right? Anyway, I'm just going to the nearby Nekomata group to give a little Nekomata some relationship advice. It's not a dangerous undertaking. It's enough for me to have Yukinoshita-san accompany me this time. It would be better for you to get some rest."

"Dark circles under your eyes and pale face, you must have been staying up late recently?" Yukinoshita Yukino, who was standing next to her, nodded.

Upon hearing this, Inoue Ue was silent for a while. He didn't expect that in addition to Hiratsuka Shizuka, even Iwanaga Kotoko and the second lady said the same thing. He began to doubt whether he really lacked rest.

"Alright, don't just stand there. Yukinoshita and I are leaving now. Today's club activities are ending early. Ueya-kun, you should go home and get some rest!"

As she spoke, Iwanaga Kotoko gently pushed Inoue Ueya out of the classroom.

So, Inoue Ueya walked home alone, his face full of confusion, "Oh, no matter how I think about it, I don't have any clue..."

I almost go to bed on time every night, at most I sleep a little late on weekends, and I have never stayed up all night. Why did it become like this?

"There's nothing I can do. Since I'm not in good shape, I'd better go to bed early today."

Chapter 199: Enemy, enemy attack, come quickly!

Late that night, as the train whistle rang out over Kyoto, the "Phantom Thief" wearing a black windbreaker and a white bird mask appeared in Kyoto again.

"Well, Shiye and the girls at home are starting to notice something's amiss. Looks like I need to speed up my actions."

The visitor was none other than "Inoue Ueya", or rather, Arsem who possessed Inoue Ueya. He was also the culprit for Inoue Ueya's recent poor condition. In the past few days, Arsem borrowed Inoue Ueya's body, put on his previous Phantom Thief suit, and challenged the sealed guardians of Kyoto.

Firstly, it is related to what Inoue Ueya is worried about. If the seal is not kept well, the possibility of Kyoto being massacred by monsters will be higher. Especially since she knows from the original work that the gap in strength between the two sides is too big and before Hanakaiin Yuura has fully grown up, if the Onmyoji side fights head-on with Yuyuko, it will undoubtedly be defeated. It would not be wrong to take advantage of the time when Yuyuko has not officially taken action to let them be slightly more vigilant and let them think carefully about how to deal with an invincible enemy.

Secondly, the "Eighty-Ryu Ghost Reincarnation Technique" is also one of Arsen's goals. According to the description in the original work, it is a spell that allows the shikigami to possess weapons or the body of the caster. However, when the shikigami possesses one's own body, the spirits will repel each other, which will bring a heavy burden to the caster's spirit. If the mental state is not good, there is even a risk of being possessed by the enemy, so this technique was listed as a forbidden technique by the Hanakaiin family.

"According to the original storyline, Hanakaiin Akifusa is Yuura's sworn brother and the guardian of the final seal. This forbidden technique is one of his most commonly used spells. Perhaps I can find clues to the spell by challenging him..."

Yasen is very interested in this spell, but what she cares about is not the spell itself, but the principle of the spell. Since there is a method to allow the Shikigami to possess the body of the caster, it stands to reason that there should be a way to release the "Shikigami" in the body. So, can she also use this spell to temporarily get out of Inoue Ueya's body?

Although it doesn't matter if she stays in Inoue Ueya's body all the time, she has nothing to do most of the time, and her actual combat power is not as strong as other urban legends. If there is a way to run out and take a look occasionally, Arsen is still a little tempted. If she takes the information of this forbidden technique back to Kuin for research, this might really work.

Even though Yasin can now possess Inoue Ueya's body and run out to catch up on anime or watch videos while he is asleep, her possession does not have the effect of strengthening the body like Hanako and Yashayuki's possession. In the long run, it will eventually affect Inoue Ueya's health. It is better to find a way to act independently as soon as possible.

"Following the order of the eight seals of Kyoto, I have already challenged several guardians. My next target is here..."

"Inoue Ueya" looked up at the temple standing tall on the steep rock wall in the distance, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously rose.

"The fifth seal of Seiyonagaji Temple."

……

In Qingyong Temple, a middle-aged man wearing square-framed glasses stood on the open-air platform of the main hall. He looked up at the night sky, but his expression seemed a little anxious. At this moment, he was no longer in the mood to appreciate the scenery in front of him.

The middle-aged uncle's name is Hanakaiin Haigo, he is 43 years old this year, and his dream is to become the head of Hanakaiin. To this end, he has done a lot of research on Yin-Yang magic. Although he did not become the head in the end, he unknowingly got the nickname of coach in the family, and now serves as the guardian of the fifth seal of the Kyoto barrier in Seiyoi-ji Temple.

"Well, according to the order of the seals, that mysterious man's target today is probably me, the one who is responsible for protecting Qingyong Temple?"

Attacks on guardians have been happening continuously since a few days ago. After the headquarters noticed this, they began to organize manpower to strengthen the defense of each seal, even Kiyomizu Temple was no exception.

Even though Hanakaiin Huigo is the only one here now, there are actually more than a dozen Onmyoji lurking nearby, and the temple is surrounded by a powerful barrier. When the mysterious man appears, they will directly catch the guy who tries to challenge the authority of the Hanakaiin family.

However, Hanakaiin Huigo thought that this level of support would not be of much use at all. Although it has not been confirmed yet whether the other party is a human or a monster, the person who can be the guardian of the seal is almost one of the strongest people in Hanakaiin's family. Being able to defeat guardians one after another and even control the strength of his attacks is enough to prove that guy's ease. It seems that sending more Onmyoji to support will not be able to make up for the gap. The young man in black is definitely a strong man!