After arranging all the matters, the formal operation began. The task of purchasing a base was handed to Tamamura, while Rihyon was responsible for recruiting personnel. As for the information network, it was handled by finding the Cat Shop Owner through Konkiku.
The Cat Shop Owner had initially refused to cooperate because she feared trouble, but her attitude immediately took a complete turn once she heard that everything was being led by Owl. Not only was she very willing to cooperate, but she even requested to join the group. Since the Cat Shop Owner was one of Miketsu's few acquaintances in Choyo-machi, Miketsu gladly accepted this proposal.
Having assigned the tasks that needed to be done, Miketsu found herself quite at leisure. Thus, as usual, after finishing her meal at the Cat Izakaya, she returned to Inari Mountain.
The next day, Miketsu went to the Onmyoryo on her donkey as usual. After her customary search for usable spells in the Archives Bureau, she went to the Bumingtang of the Subjugation Bureau to see if there were any suitable missions to take.
There was no helping it; after all, she didn't know how to complete the mission specifically assigned to her—investigating Owl—for the time being. She could only set it aside for now and try taking other missions. Miketsu had seen before that even without doing that mission that trapped her, she was close to promotion simply by accumulating merit.
Originally, Miketsu wanted to ask Yura to recommend a mission as before, but unfortunately, she did not find Yura in the Bumingtang this time. Feeling somewhat disappointed, Miketsu could only select a mission herself.
For Miketsu, she would certainly choose the one with the highest difficulty—that is, the mission board with the most Vermilion marks. Before long, she found a mission plaque that met her requirements.
"Five Vermilion marks... five failures?" Taking the wooden plaque down, Miketsu carefully examined the information.
The mission location was at a place called Maochi Mountain, located to the southeast of Heian-kyo. It was about a one or two-day journey, a bit further than the last trip to Shenmu Village and slightly closer than Fangshan Castle. The distance was acceptable.
The content of the mission was somewhat intriguing. It said that villagers in the vicinity always found firelight appearing irregularly in the nearby mountains. Sometimes it was faint, and sometimes it soared into the sky. It looked terrifying, but it had never ignited a large-scale forest fire.
Villagers from several nearby villages had seen this anomaly. Although it had caused no actual damage, it still kept people in a state of constant anxiety. Thus, to gain peace of mind, they pooled their resources and sent someone to the Onmyoryo in Heian-kyo to request that someone investigate the truth behind the firelight and find a way to resolve it.
Since no casualties had occurred, this was originally defined as a Bing-rank mission. Soon, a mystic took it to investigate, but he suffered very severe burns. He didn't even see clearly what had burned him.
After that, several more mystics accepted the mission, but the results were largely the same. The last few people weren't even able to return. Such results caused the mission to be marked with five Vermilion marks and directly elevated to Jia-rank.
Interesting... it originally caused no damage, but instead, everyone who went to resolve the mission failed? It climbed to Jia-rank based on the number of failures.
Looking at the wooden plaque in her hand, Miketsu thoughtfully stroked her chin. After some consideration, she accepted it.
...
Deep night descended upon Heian-kyo once again. In contrast to the deathly still Heian-kyo, Choyo-machi welcomed its most active moment.
Inside the Cat Izakaya, Miketsu sat in her usual spot for her meal. At the table next to her were Rihyon, Tamamura, and Yamausagi. At this moment, they were all staring at a brand-new face across the table.
He was short, dressed in soaking wet black clothes, with a flat duck-like beak and webbed fingers and toes.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Sode. As you can see, I am a Kappa. I originally lived in Omi Province, but now I plan to make a home in Heian-kyo, so I want to find something to do. I heard Lord Owl was recruiting subordinates, so I came..." Speaking in a very polite tone, the Kappa named Sode said. Clearly, he was also a yokai who had been captured by the Taira clan, transported all the way to Heian-kyo, and finally rescued by Owl.
This was Rihyon recruiting personnel. Due to the prestige Owl had accumulated, a vast number of yokai came after the news was released, exceeding Rihyon's expectations. Therefore, he had to start screening them one by one. This screening had continued from day until night.
Facing the Kappa before him, Rihyon asked a series of questions. The Kappa answered them all until finally, Rihyon asked.
"You're a Kappa, right? I remember Kappa are very elusive yokai. As long as you dive into the river, humans can't do anything to you. How were you caught by humans?"
Upon hearing Rihyon's words, a trace of terror suddenly appeared in the Kappa's eyes.
"That... I was caught while trying to escape the strange fire. To avoid the strange fire, I fled from the deep mountains where I originally lived. In a place without a river, I was caught by humans!"
"Strange fire?" Hearing the Kappa's words, a look of curiosity appeared in Rihyon's eyes.
"Yes, a terrifying strange fire! It can burn an entire mountain bare! It burns all the yokai on it to death! It can even boil and evaporate streams, leaving us Kappa with nowhere to stay!" The Kappa's tone became increasingly terrified as he spoke.
"That strange fire is definitely, definitely the legendary Phoenix Fire!"
...
"Burp... Phoenix Fire?"
Tamamura took a sip of the sake from his jar and said after a wine burp.
"Yes, Phoenix Fire. Many yokai I interviewed today mentioned this rumor. They were all driven out of the deep mountains by an extremely powerful and strange flame, and only then were they caught by the Taira clan's samurai." Recalling the situation during recruitment today, Rihyon said with a frown.
"What is Phoenix Fire~?" On the other side of the table, Yamausagi said, her large eyes blinking.
"It is a yokai transformed from the flames on the body of the legendary divine beast, the Phoenix." Wiping the sake from the fur around his mouth, Tamamura continued.
"But that's just a legend. No one can give a definite answer as to whether the so-called Phoenix Fire is real..."
Not far from Rihyon and the others, Miketsu, who had just finished her meal, happened to overhear their discussion. Suddenly, she thought of the mission regarding the strange firelight she had accepted at the Onmyoryo during the day.
Could this be the strange fire those yokai encountered? Could it be the rumored Phoenix Fire?
...
I was very busy during the day today and originally planned to take half a day off, but suddenly I had some extra time to squeeze in some writing...
Rate on N.U.
