Request for Aid

The sky was clear, the sun was bright, and the autumn air was crisp. After several days of continuous autumn rain, Heian-kyo finally welcomed a rare stretch of good weather.

Today, the Onmyoryo was as busy as ever. The sudden visit of the Sugo Unten envoy a few days prior had sparked countless people's curiosity, and the subsequent series of Senior Secretary meetings transformed this curiosity into tension. Numerous conjectures arose in people's minds; they wondered what the Tengu envoy had discussed that made the Senior Secretaries look so solemn.

However, that wasn't all. Following the Senior Secretary meetings, almost all the clans simultaneously launched a large-scale investigation targeting all Onmyodo members, meticulously scrutinizing their recent whereabouts. The Minamoto Clan, in particular, conducted one family review after another, and some of their younger members were apprehended and detained for unsatisfactory answers.

Such unusually strict scrutiny directly caused widespread panic and self-preservation among everyone in the Onmyoryo. This led to all sorts of rumors spreading everywhere, with everyone speculating about what exactly happened between Sugo Unten and Heian-kyo, and why these events had transpired.

In summary, the atmosphere within the Onmyoryo was currently very somber. Aside from occasional small groups gathering to exchange rumors, everyone kept their heads down, focused only on their own tasks. In such an environment, no one could be happy, except for certain individuals.

Standing on a high platform, Seimei gazed with an unchanging smile at the open ground not far away, where Onmyo-sei were conducting their daily jutsu-shiki practice.

Among this group of generally young Onmyo-sei, the one wearing a masked headscarf was the focus of everyone's attention. He skillfully and smoothly used various jutsu-shiki, precisely binding and capturing the Yokai used for practice. His manipulation of talismans was also very fluid, earning him countless praises.

Once again, inadvertently, the gaze of that Onmyo-sei unintentionally swept over Seimei's location, making brief eye contact with him. Then, the spell he was chanting suddenly went awry, and the uncontrolled jutsu-shiki nearly hit someone nearby, causing a small accident. This made the originally confident Onmyo-sei frantically apologize repeatedly.

Seeing the scene before him, Seimei couldn't help but let out an awkward chuckle. He then decided not to stand there and affect others' practice, so he descended the platform and walked along the long corridors of the Onmyoryo. Before long, he returned to his own workstation.

Just then, Seimei suddenly noticed a small paper crane resting on his desk. As Seimei approached, the paper crane gently flew up and circled around him. A hint of curiosity appeared in Seimei's expression, and he extended a hand, allowing the paper crane to land on it.

“A paper Shikigami? And so skillfully manipulated...” Seimei murmured with a slight sigh, looking at the paper Shikigami that remained motionless on his hand. He tried to use the spiritual power link on the paper Shikigami to locate its controller, but he failed.

The Shikigami's controller was unexpectedly far from the paper Shikigami, so far that it was beyond the range of Seimei's spiritual perception.

“It seems there are interesting characters hidden within this Onmyoryo...” Seimei stroked his chin and smiled faintly. He then picked up the paper crane resting on his hand and unfolded it. Neat handwriting appeared before Seimei's eyes.

...

Outside the southern suburbs of Heian-kyo, in a secluded dense forest, Seimei descended on a White Crane beneath an incredibly tall Goshinboku. After dismounting the White Crane, he began to survey his surroundings. Before long, he found the figure he was looking for.

In a shadow within the forest, a Yokai in a black robe, white bandages, and a single crimson eye stood there, silently watching the young Onmyoji who had just dismounted the White Crane.

Seimei was not unfamiliar with the figure before him. He had already met him once during the Vermilion Bird Seal incident several months ago.

“I've long wondered if the reason the Onmyoryo's attempts to deal with Owl ultimately failed was because he had his own undercover agents planted within the Onmyoryo. Relying on these agents, he was well aware of their movements...” Seimei said slowly with a faint smile. In his opinion, for a letter to be delivered precisely into his hands, it must have been an insider who could freely enter and exit the Onmyoryo, and yet such a human was actually serving Owl.

Undercover agents? Sorry, I only have one undercover agent on my side, and that's me.

Miketsu silently grumbled to herself, while also responding aloud.

“The feeling is mutual. The Onmyoryo also has people stationed within the demon realm of Heian-kyo.”

“Heh, truly Owl. So... Lord of the Hundred Demons of Heian-kyo, what business do you have with a humble, ordinary Onmyo-sei like me?” Seimei said to Miketsu with an unchanging smile, his words causing Miketsu's mouth to twitch.

Lord of the Hundred Demons of Heian-kyo? I have such an awesome title now? And what kind of humble, ordinary Onmyo-sei are you? Don't think I haven't heard the rumors of you being a once-in-a-century Onmyodo genius.

“Follow me...” Suppressing the urge to retort directly, Miketsu turned and walked deeper into the dark forest after finishing her words, and Seimei followed without the slightest hesitation.

Because of their previous encounter, and the rumors he had heard about Owl's demeanor, Seimei did not believe Owl intended to harm him.

Miketsu and Seimei didn't walk long before reaching their destination. It was a small clearing within the dense forest. In the center of the clearing, on the grass, Nura Rihyon and others were seated, and between them lay a Small Tengu, still fast asleep on the grass.

“This is actually... a Tengu from Sugo Unten?”

When Seimei saw the Small Tengu's attire, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. As a disciple of Kamo no Tadayuki, Seimei knew the truth behind the Onmyoryo's recent predicament. All of this stemmed from Sugo Unten being ambushed and many Tengu going missing.

Could this one before him be one of those missing Tengu?

“I rescued him by chance. He is key to this Tengu issue. You should know the seriousness of this matter now, right...”

“Yes, the high-ranking officials are already having a huge headache over this matter.” The moment he saw the Small Tengu, Seimei's expression also turned serious.

“He has a jutsu-shiki on him preventing him from waking up. Can you remove it?” Miketsu continued to say calmly. After glancing at Miketsu, Seimei walked over to the Small Tengu, bent down, and began to examine him.