The Live Seal

The data on empty residences provided by the Fujiwara clan was collected and recorded by a specialized agency within the court. Using their influence, the Fujiwara had these records pulled and placed before Miketsu. With just a preliminary flip through them, Miketsu found the records to be remarkably detailed.

Miketsu silently gazed at the scroll unfurled in her hands. It not only recorded basic information such as the mansion's location, area, and surroundings but also featured a simple map of the grounds. Furthermore, it noted the former owners and the reasons for abandonment... The information provided was comprehensive, causing Miketsu to nod in satisfaction.

For the choice of this mansion, Miketsu had her own standards. First, she intended to choose a base for her yokai crowd; she wouldn't be living there herself, so she didn't care about convenience or comfort. On the contrary, to ensure the yokai remained better hidden, she preferred a mansion that was as remote and desolate as possible—ideally a place in the wilderness where not a single human soul could be seen for weeks.

But would anyone really build a house in such a place? Miketsu figured she wouldn't know unless she looked. Perhaps there was a house so severely haunted that it had driven everyone in the vicinity away? Regardless, a place for yokai to live didn't need to worry about whether it was a "cursed house."

And so, with her unique standards, Miketsu unfurled the scrolls one by one. After a brief glance, she put them back just as quickly. Her gaze lingered on each scroll for no more than five seconds; she would scan them twice and set them aside. The people surrounding her watched in a cold sweat. The one reacting most strongly was the low-ranking clerk who had brought the scrolls in; seeing Miketsu's behavior, he was so nervous that he was dripping with perspiration.

He was not originally a servant of the Fujiwara clan, but a clerk from an agency within the Greater Imperial Palace who specialized in managing these records. Because he was familiar with the material, the Fujiwara had tasked him with helping Miketsu select a mansion. To curry favor with the Fujiwara, he had screened the scrolls with great care. He had placed the best of the empty residences at the very top of the pile—houses with excellent feng shui, prime locations, and no dark history of murders or hauntings.

He was confident that the high official before him would be satisfied with his selections. Who could have known that the lady wouldn't be satisfied with a single one of his carefully chosen gems, discarding each one after a mere glance? What was going on?

Looking at the good feng shui and prime locations passing by, Miketsu silently shook her head and returned the scrolls one after another. The information recorded there was useless to her. She couldn't possibly settle a group of yokai in a bustling district of Heian-kyo. Moreover, since yokai would be living there, the feng shui should ideally be poor, the Yin energy heavy, and the more it attracted ghosts, the better. Perhaps when the time came, she could exert her presence and recruit a few more underlings.

"Is that all?" After finishing the last scroll, Miketsu silently looked at the clerk and spoke indifferently.

"...Replying to your Excellency, these are all the high-quality empty noble residences in Heian-kyo suitable for living... The remaining houses are either residences of the condemned or haunted houses. The truly habitable and excellent mansions are currently held by the various great clans..." the clerk said submissively. He automatically interpreted Miketsu's attitude as her believing these houses weren't good enough to meet her standards.

"Didn't you mention residences of the condemned and haunted houses? But here there are only residences of the condemned; I see no haunted houses," Miketsu said slowly, glancing at the pile of scrolls beside her, all of which listed the reasons for abandonment.

"Uh... Your Excellency, living in a haunted house is not only bad luck but also risky. Although the monsters within have usually been cleared, the feng shui is inherently bad and the Yin energy is heavy, making them very prone to attracting yokai. Although you are an Onmyoji and do not fear monsters... it wouldn't be comfortable to live in a place that attracts yokai every few days..." the clerk continued slowly. He hadn't expected that the reason Miketsu was dissatisfied with his selection was her interest in those haunted houses.

"Don't worry about that. Since there are records of haunted houses, bring them all here," Miketsu said with a direct wave of her hand, projecting an aura that suggested she wouldn't live anywhere unless it was haunted, and the more dangerous, the better.

"As... as you command, your Excellency..."

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, the clerk hurriedly responded and beat a quick retreat. This scene caused Mokou, who was watching from the side, to look on with interest.

"You've got quite a unique taste in picking houses."

Faced with Mokou's words, Miketsu only offered a slight smile without answering. A short while later, the clerk returned, clutching another pile of scrolls, and placed them respectfully on Miketsu's table.

Miketsu continued to open the newly brought scrolls and began to review them. Sure enough, all the houses recorded in these scrolls were extremely remote, had histories of monsters or hauntings, and possessed poor feng shui—unlucky, haunted dwellings.

Unlike her previous quick scans, Miketsu began to read the information in these scrolls seriously. She spent several minutes on each one, setting the suitable ones aside as candidates before unfurling the next. This was the behavior of someone truly making a careful selection.

Miketsu carefully compared various pieces of information about the haunted and ghost-ridden houses recorded in these scrolls. After about fifteen minutes, she had finished most of them, leaving only the final scroll. However, this last scroll was distinctly different from the others.

Compared to the previous ones, this final scroll was exceptionally dilapidated in appearance. Not only was it severely yellowed, but it also showed signs of being moth-eaten. More importantly, the seal of the scroll was covered with a spell talisman.

"My apologies, your Excellency, I accidentally mixed something else in!" Seeing this, the clerk was startled. He immediately moved to take the old scroll away, but he was stopped by Miketsu, who immediately spoke up.

"What is this? Is it also a record of an empty house?"

"Yes... though this place is different from the other records; it's the place least suitable for a residence among them..." The clerk, stopped by Miketsu, stood in place and spoke. His words only piqued Miketsu's interest further.

"Different? Could it be a haunted house with a heavy malicious aura?"

"It... it's not as simple as just a haunted house, your Excellency. What is recorded on this is a mansion serving as a live seal..." the clerk said with some hesitation. As soon as he finished, Miketsu immediately recalled information regarding so-called live seals.

Generally speaking, if a yokai incident occurred in a place, once it reached a certain level of severity, the Onmyoryo would send a subjugation team composed of official Onmyoji to clear and purify the entity.

However, not all yokai could be successfully subjugated. Occasionally, the target's strength would exceed the Onmyoryo's estimates, preventing the team from exorcising the target and even resulting in casualties. In such cases, the Onmyoryo would reassess the target's danger level and send a stronger team. In extremely rare instances, events would occur that even Onmyoji of the Junior Secretary rank could not resolve.

Onmyoji were a noble profession, and every Onmyoji was a precious member of their respective clan. If a local yokai was too powerful and the risk of exorcism was too high—so high that a full effort might result in the loss of high-end combat power—the Onmyoryo would abandon the exorcism. Instead, they would simply seal off the area and prevent outsiders from entering; this was what was known as a live seal. This was a specific sealing method used for ultra-dangerous yokai that did not actively expand but remained in one place. it was a compromise made by the Onmyoryo to avoid excessive losses.

In contrast, a 'dead seal' refers to directly suppressing and imprisoning a yokai with a technique—the more conventional method of sealing.

Although Miketsu had seen many haunted houses earlier, the yokai and ghosts within them had already been destroyed by the Onmyoryo; at most, living there was just unlucky, but not particularly dangerous. The mansion in this scroll was different; it was a live seal, occupied by a yokai judged by the Onmyoryo to be high-risk, requiring too great a price to exorcise, even to this day...

"A live seal? Interesting..."

Listening to the clerk's words, Miketsu smiled slightly, then picked up the old scroll, peeled off the talisman that had lost its effectiveness due to insect damage, and carefully unfurled it.

The mansion recorded in this scroll made Miketsu's eyes light up at first glance. It perfectly met all her requirements.

First, it was large—immensely large. The largest of all the mansions Miketsu had seen previously was barely half the size of this one. Second, it was remote; this mansion wasn't even within the city walls of Heian-kyo, but located in the forests to the south. Finally, it was dangerous; the yokai inside were so formidable that even the Onmyoryo was unwilling to act after considering the cost. Absolutely no one would be willing to approach this place. It was a location custom-made for Miketsu's yokai crowd!

So, for such a large mansion, a place that could produce such a powerful yokai, whom did it belong to before? As she thought, Miketsu searched through the text on the scroll for the former owner of the mansion, and she found it in no time. It was a surname that did not feel at all unfamiliar to her.

"The Hata Clan... is it?"