The selection trial? This again. Was he also in Heian-kyo for this matter? And just like that boy named Seimei, he had mistaken her for a participant, even proposing they team up?
Miketsu now felt it necessary to get things straight.
“Excuse me, I am merely passing through Heian-kyo by chance. I don't know anything about a selection trial,” Miketsu said, looking at the masked man who called himself Ashiya Doman.
“Passing through by chance!? No, that can’t be right. With a fire incantation as powerful as yours, you’re not here for the selection trial?” Ashiya Doman was clearly incredulous after hearing Miketsu's words.
“I’m rather curious, what is this so-called selection trial?” Miketsu tilted her head slightly and asked the question that had been on her mind.
“The selection trial…” After hearing Miketsu’s words, Ashiya Doman glanced around at the once-again bustling street, then continued, “This is no place to talk. Let’s go somewhere else.”
…
In a small private room in an izakaya on a street in Heian-kyo, Ashiya Doman and Miketsu sat facing each other. On the small table between them were two small cups, a flask of sake, and a dish of beans.
Seeing the scene before her, Miketsu’s eye twitched, and she said directly, “I have no money on me.”
Ashiya Doman gave Miketsu a strange look, thinking to himself that for someone so powerful, this person was surprisingly stingy. He couldn’t believe that a practitioner of such skill would be without money.
“It’s alright, my treat…” As he spoke, Ashiya Doman picked up the sake flask and began to pour for himself and Miketsu, all the while starting to explain the selection trial.
The Onmyoryo Selection Trial was a public recruitment event held by the Onmyoryo of Heian-kyo to expand its ranks, targeting unofficial practitioners from all over the country. The goal was to select those with great power and talent from among these unorthodox paths, to win them over and cultivate them, thereby strengthening the official onmyoji forces.
Since the founding of the Onmyoryo, the position of official onmyoji had been monopolized by several prominent onmyoji families in Heian-kyo. The children of these families received orthodox onmyodo education from a young age, and as teenagers, they would either remain in their clans or enter the Onmyoryo. Thus, the structure of official onmyoji was extremely closed, with the major families forming the bedrock of the Onmyoryo.
This situation had remained unchanged for hundreds of years. Until now. For some reason, over the past few decades, the activity of yokai across the country had significantly increased, especially in Heian-kyo. What was worse, the yokai were becoming more organized. The expansion of the great yokai kings into the Kinki region caused more and more yokai to flock to Heian-kyo, leaving the onmyoji families of the Onmyoryo struggling to cope. In the last ten years, many onmyoji had died in the line of duty, exorcising demons and monsters.
Due to the previous monopoly by the onmyoji families, the profession had become highly aristocratic. It took a great deal of time to train an onmyoji, and the constant deaths of the young talents from their clans caused the elders of the various families great distress. To reduce the casualties among their family members, the Onmyoryo had, for the past six years, been forced to begin absorbing the gifted individuals with innate spiritual power from among the common people. Using the orthodox onmyodo, which was originally only available to the major families, as bait, they attracted these self-taught practitioners to become peripheral members of the official onmyoji. If any among them were exceptionally talented, they could even be directly admitted into the Onmyoryo to receive formal onmyoji training.
And the selection trial was the method for choosing these individuals. The Onmyoryo held these trials periodically, and today’s was not the first.
After gaining a preliminary understanding of the selection trial, Miketsu fell into deep thought. It was obvious that she was very interested in this so-called trial. She was currently in urgent need of a way to increase her power. The plan to learn how to use her divine power from the gods was temporarily on hold, and now another path lay before her.
Perhaps I can learn onmyodo. Although I don't know if a god can use onmyodo, it wouldn't hurt to try. It's better than coming to Kyoto today and leaving empty-handed. After all, I still have no clue how to trigger my divine power. It would be good to have a few other tricks for self-defense.
It was worth checking out. As for whether she could pass the selection trial, that was another matter. Although she didn't know what methods the Onmyoryo would use for the selection, with Tsuruha by her side, it would most likely not be a problem.
After seeing Tsuruha take out three shikigami with just a single strike, she had developed great confidence in the strength of her divine messenger.
“Those who pass the selection trial can become members of the Onmyoryo’s outer bureau and can exchange missions assigned by the Onmyoryo for rewards. The most outstanding among them can even enter the Onmyoryo directly and receive direct guidance from the onmyoji families. Most of the people who come to the trial are amateurs; those with the strength of the two we saw on the street earlier are a minority. I think with your power, passing the trial will be no problem at all,” Ashiya Doman continued, clearly trying to pique Miketsu's interest. And as it happened, Miketsu was thinking the same thing.
“What you say is very tempting. I’m interested,” Miketsu, from behind her ichimegasa, nodded, clearly expressing her intentions to Ashiya Doman.
“I knew it… someone like you wouldn’t pass up this opportunity.” Seeing Miketsu’s response, Ashiya Doman was visibly pleased.
“We’ve talked so much, it’s time for a drink. Come, let’s not waste it…” Getting into the spirit of things, Ashiya Doman raised the sake cup that had been poured for some time. This gesture left Miketsu a bit puzzled.
How are you going to drink with your face covered?
Just as Miketsu was thinking this, Ashiya Doman’s other hand pulled away the cloth wrapped around his head, revealing the face that had been hidden all along.
It was a young woman who appeared to be slightly older than Miketsu. She had short hair about the same length as Miketsu’s, but it was a natural black and a bit more messy and fine. Her dark eyes were half-open, giving off a lazy feeling. Her distinctive face, lightly dusted with dirt, showed no trace of makeup.
“You’re… a woman?” Seeing this, Miketsu was stunned, her voice filled with disbelief.
“That’s right. Because I travel a lot, a woman’s appearance is inconvenient, so I wear a disguise,” Ashiya Doman continued, her voice now a normal female tone.
“And now that we are both women, there’s no need for such trouble. Cheers…” As she spoke, Ashiya Doman drained the cup in one gulp. Then, with a slight flush on her face, she looked at Miketsu, indicating it was her turn.
At this moment, Miketsu was conflicted. To drink, it would be best to take off her ichimegasa, but that meant revealing her true appearance to the other person. Given the abnormality of her features, this undoubtedly hid potential dangers.
However, the other person's actions had already shown her a great deal of goodwill. To refuse now would be to reject that kindness.
What should I do? To drink or not to drink? This depended on whether Miketsu wanted to make a friend of the person before her, or rather, whether she trusted this stranger she had only just met a few hours ago.
After a moment of thought, Miketsu made her decision. She took off her ichimegasa and picked up the sake cup from the table.
A beautiful girl with white hair and red eyes appeared before her. She was momentarily frozen in place, feeling an indescribable sense of divinity emanating from the girl in front of her. Her half-lidded eyes widened.
The sake was not strong, so Miketsu easily drank the small cup in one go, her face not showing the blush that had appeared on Ashiya Doman's. When she put down the cup, she saw that the other girl was still staring blankly.
“Is there a problem?”
“Uh… ahaha, sorry, I lost my composure for a moment. I just didn’t expect… that you have non-human blood…”
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