Innate Talent

Upon hearing Yura’s words, Miketsu couldn't help but pause. She hadn’t expected Yura to truly be inclined to accept the Minamoto clan's recruitment. However, thinking back on it, she realized this was likely the most normal course of action. Yura didn't know the hidden, darker side of the Minamoto clan as she did. For an Onmyo-sei who didn't come from a Great Clan, the invitation from one of the three major families—families with such profound heritage—was incredibly attractive. It could save Yura a great deal of effort in her path through Onmyodo. Furthermore, the Minamoto were renowned as the strongest when it came to the use of Shikigami, making their synergy with Yura’s specialty exceptionally high.

Faced with this situation, Miketsu felt momentarily conflicted. On one hand, she knew that accepting the Minamoto’s recruitment would allow Yura to improve herself much faster within the world of Onmyodo. On the other hand, she worried that Yura might be passively dragged into the Minamoto's schemes in the future. Although Miketsu understood Yura's character well enough to know she wouldn't do anything out of line just because of the clan's influence, it didn't rule out the possibility of her being used as a pawn.

"Hmm? Is there some problem with me accepting the Minamoto's recruitment?" Yura asked curiously, noticing Miketsu’s silence.

"It’s not exactly a problem, but you should realize that being recruited by an Onmyo Clan means many of your affairs and stances must align with theirs. If you accept the Minamoto's invitation, and they happen to clash with another family—say, the Kamo clan—one day..." Miketsu spoke in a casual tone, but her words immediately sent a jolt through Yura.

That’s right... what if she was forced to oppose Seimei because of the Minamoto? Yura instantly realized the weight of the problem after hearing Miketsu's prompt.

"Hmm... you do have a point. If I'm forced to take a side in some family dispute, that would indeed be..."

A look of obvious conflict appeared on Yura’s face. Miketsu, knowing exactly what she was worried about, allowed a small smile to touch her lips. She had just used Seimei’s existence to plant a seed of doubt.

"My suggestion is that you can accept their recruitment, but it's best if you ensure you can maintain your own autonomy. While you can take advantage of the resources they provide, try not to get too deeply involved. If you stay as a minor player, they likely won't give you too much trouble... Oh, and by the way, if they ever ask you to do something troubling or strange, you’d best find me and we can discuss it together," Miketsu advised. She began to think that perhaps Yura staying close to the Minamoto wasn't entirely bad; as long as she wasn't in a pivotal position, she would be safe enough. Moreover, Miketsu might be able to gather intel regarding the Minamoto clan through Yura in the future.

"Ensure my own autonomy? You’re right, that seems to make a lot of sense..." Yura nodded slowly, taking Miketsu's advice to heart.

...

After gathering as much information as possible from the Onmyoryo, Miketsu didn't linger and returned to Mount Inari. Inside the divine realm behind the shrine, Konkiku delivered another report on the intelligence coming from the demon realm.

"What? That Ubume clashed with a mysterious human of unknown origin?"

"Yes. This was seen by an Akaname residing in Heian-kyo with its own eyes. According to it, it saw a bird-yokai clutching a human infant and running across the rooftops. An individual dressed in black was pursuing her from behind. The two sides even engaged in combat, but the black-clothed figure was repelled by the bird-yokai," Konkiku reported. Her intel network, comprised of spirits hidden within human residences in Heian-kyo, allowed her to gather information on many such overlapping events.

A bird-yokai... that almost certainly confirmed the culprit was Ubume. But who was the black-clothed human who fought her? The night watchmen of the Onmyoryo didn't dress like that. Was there another human force hunting Ubume independently? As the intel accumulated, Miketsu felt that the mysteries surrounding this case were only growing larger.

She didn't try to piece together the entire truth with just this fragmented information; that would be far too difficult. Her current plan was to find a way to capture Ubume first. If she could confront the culprit of these abductions face-to-face, all the mysteries would naturally be resolved.

But how was she to find that elusive Ubume? With this question in mind, Miketsu sat tucked into her kotatsu, sipping tea and snacking on beans as she began to deliberate.

According to her thoughts, since Ubume had stayed in Heian-kyo to commit crimes for over half a month without any sign of stopping, it was highly likely she would continue her spree. If Miketsu could determine her next target, couldn't she simply lie in wait?

Combining this with the information gathered from Minamoto no Yorimitsu, Miketsu judged that Ubume wasn't kidnapping children blindly. She had certain criteria when picking her targets: one was that they were female, and the other seemed to be that the household had previously experienced strange "ill omens."

Based on Yorimitsu's hints, Miketsu suspected these so-called "ill omens" were merely a surface-level perception. Those various small, strange phenomena weren't omens at all, but something else entirely. As for what that was? A suspicion was starting to take shape in her heart.

At that moment, Miketsu recalled Menreiki describing her own past. When she was small, all sorts of strange and supernatural occurrences happened constantly. Her family had also wondered if those were omens of misfortune. But in reality, those phenomena were caused by the spiritual power Menreiki was born with—power she couldn't yet control.

"Could those strange phenomena follow the same logic as Menreiki's case? Were they caused by spiritual power that the infants were born with being out of control?"

Indeed, there were humans in this world who were born with spiritual power. While beings as anomalous as Menreiki—whose innate power alone was enough to manifest a powerful curse—were once-in-a-century occurrences, infants born with enough spiritual power to trigger minor anomalies weren't that rare. When their oblivious families saw the phenomena caused by their natural power, it was inevitable they would misinterpret them as ill omens or bad signs.

If this line of thinking was correct, Miketsu could preliminarily conclude that Ubume's targets were human infants born with spiritual power... But why would Ubume take these girls specifically? What was she planning to do with them?

Thinking to this point, Miketsu toyed with her chin playfully. She decided to begin a divination to confirm if her hypothesis was correct. If there were no issues, then Miketsu could officially set her plan in motion.