Gathering

In a forest outside Heian-kyo, on a grassy clearing, Seimei bent down, carefully examining the young Tengu. After a while, he stood up.

“How is he?” Miketsu asked from the side.

“Quite a decent curse, at least at the Junior Secretary level. Some parts are rather artfully applied, not bad,” Seimei said leisurely, his tone like a teacher evaluating a student’s homework.

Seimei’s remark made Miketsu slightly pause. Is it really appropriate for a child who isn't even a Junior Assistant to evaluate a Junior Secretary-level spell like that? she wondered.

“A Junior Secretary’s curse… This little fellow actually fell victim to such a powerful spell. But from your tone, it sounds like nothing to you. Can you lift it?” Nura Rihyon said from the side. With his years of experience, he had a rough understanding of the Onmyoji rank system. Hearing him, Seimei glanced at Nura Rihyon and replied directly.

“Do you expect an Onmyo-sei to undo a Junior Secretary’s curse?”

“Uh… What, you can’t do it?”

“Of course I can.”

“…”

Seimei fanned himself with his small fan, answering with ease. Nura Rihyon was momentarily at a loss for words. He, too, had thought that a Junior Secretary-level curse was beyond a child like Seimei, but he was surprised by the boy’s confident reply.

An Onmyo-sei capable of dispelling a Junior Secretary-level curse—such a person surely didn’t exist besides Seimei. Miketsu, standing nearby, sighed inwardly, realizing why Fujiwara no Saneyori had held her in such high regard back then. He must have seen Asakura Hao as a second Seimei.

Lightly fanning himself, Seimei scanned their surroundings and continued.

“I can dispel the curse on this Tengu, but I’ve just discovered that it’s not a simple curse. The caster deliberately added something else when applying it…”

“What did he add?” Miketsu asked directly. She knew that high-ranking Onmyoji could modify traditional sorcery to some extent to better achieve their desired magical outcome.

“I can tell that the caster didn’t want this curse undone, so he intended to add a death spell beneath the sleeping spell. As soon as the upper layer, the sleeping spell, is lifted, the death spell would trigger, killing this Tengu before it could even wake up.”

Seimei spoke calmly, his words causing many present to gasp, gaining a clear understanding of the caster’s maliciousness.

“Intended? Do you mean he didn’t successfully cast the death spell?” Miketsu, on the other side, noticed some specific wording in Seimei’s previous statement.

“Precisely. That kind of death spell is inherently difficult, and setting it to be trigger-activated, along with simultaneously casting another jutsu-shiki, makes it even harder. The caster clearly lacked that level of skill, so after one failed attempt, he gave up and instead set up a different jutsu-shiki to replace the death spell.” With a snap, Seimei closed his small fan with one hand and continued.

“What he set up instead is a warning jutsu-shiki. As soon as I dispel the sleeping spell, this warning jutsu-shiki will activate, sending an alert to the caster thousands of miles away.”

Upon hearing Seimei’s words, everyone present was momentarily stunned. According to Seimei, the hidden masterminds employed quite meticulous methods, having such contingency plans.

After listening to Seimei, Miketsu fell into thought; the situation had suddenly become complicated.

Undoing the sleeping spell on the young Tengu would inevitably trigger the pre-set alarm, alerting the hidden masterminds. This could prompt them to temporarily adjust their plans or even launch an attack, potentially leading to many unexpected complications.

However, if the curse remained, their side wouldn’t be able to learn the truth of the matter, nor could they obtain witnesses or testimonies to prevent the conflict. Their progress would be stalled.

Thus, after much deliberation, Miketsu decided to dispel the curse in the most prudent way possible to minimize risk.

With that thought, Miketsu pulled a short wooden flute from her sleeve, placed it to her lips, and blew a high, piercing note towards the sky.

A shrill, tuneless sound echoed through the surroundings, spreading across the sky in all directions. After blowing for a second or two, Miketsu put the wooden flute away, then stood gazing at the sky, as if waiting for something.

That wooden flute was given to Miketsu by Aoi when they exchanged contact methods upon parting ways last time. According to Aoi, the short flute emitted a special sound that only Tengu could hear.

This sound could travel very long distances without much dissipation. As long as Miketsu blew it, the Tengu active near Heian-kyo would surely hear it and rush over. Miketsu had promised Aoi to use it to summon them if she had any information about their comrades.

Summoning the Tengu contingent remaining in Heian-kyo, and dispelling the curse after everyone gathered—this was Miketsu’s plan to increase the level of security.

In Miketsu’s mind, once the curse was dispelled and the alarm triggered, the hidden masterminds would surely take new actions to prevent events from unfolding in a way they disliked. Once the young Tengu awoke, they would try to prevent him from returning to Sugo Ungo to relay the true situation to the Tengu.

To achieve this, the masterminds might directly launch a surprise attack on her or Aoi’s Karasu-tengu corps, either to seize the young Tengu or cut off her means of contact with Sugo Ungo. If that were the case, it would be better to summon Aoi and her group first, explain the situation, then jointly dispel the curse on the young Tengu right there. This way, the young Tengu could state the facts directly before its own kin, and Aoi could immediately relay the news back to Sugo Ungo, giving those culprits no time to react.

As Miketsu pondered, she looked towards the horizon, where several dark figures were rapidly approaching their location.

…

Aoi’s Karasu-tengu corps soon arrived at Miketsu’s location. After their arrival, Nura Rihyon and the others quickly explained the current situation. Many of them initially found it hard to believe that this was a conspiracy targeting both them and the Onmyoryo.

“What… You mean, it wasn’t those Onmyoji who did this?” Aoi, the Karasu-tengu captain, asked with an incredulous expression.

“Indeed. This matter isn’t as simple as it appears; someone is deeply hidden, manipulating everything…” Miketsu said calmly, addressing Aoi’s gravely skeptical expression.

“This, this is quite hard to believe. Esteemed one, have you perhaps made a mistake? All the clues we have point to those individuals in Heian-kyo.”

“No amount of clues or conjectures can compare to a direct account from the one involved. Let us hear it now, right here, what truly happened back then.” Miketsu said, turning her gaze towards the young Tengu lying on the grass.