Chapter 38 - Departure.

"Lord Saneyori!"

Kamo no Yasunori and Ono no Yasuharu approached Fujiwara no Saneyori and spoke respectfully. Fujiwara no Saneyori gave a slight nod in acknowledgment.

Seeing so many people suddenly appear, Miketsu felt a sense of unease. Since she had already handed over the magatama, she figured she should leave quickly. Yura was still lying in the forest, and it would be a disaster if she encountered a yokai or a wild beast.

She couldn't guarantee that the formation she had drawn would actually work.

"Hey, since I've handed over the magatama, everything should be fine, right? Can I go now?" Miketsu said directly, looking at Fujiwara no Saneyori. However, her tone immediately drew the dissatisfaction of Ono no Yasuharu, who was standing beside him.

"How dare you! Who are you! How can you be so rude to Lord Saneyori? Don't you know he is..."

Fujiwara no Saneyori silently raised a hand, and Ono no Yasuharu, seeing the gesture, immediately swallowed the rest of his words. While he was feeling confused, Fujiwara no Saneyori smiled and spoke to Miketsu.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible for now. We need your cooperation in the investigation regarding this yokai. You'll have to come back with us to the Onmyoryo first and explain what you encountered."

The yokai incident? Upon hearing Fujiwara no Saneyori's words, Ono no Yasuharu and the others were stunned. They all began to wonder if the young girl before them was a survivor of the yokai attack.

Meanwhile, Miketsu's heart began to pound after hearing Fujiwara no Saneyori's words. It sounded familiar, like when police in a TV drama ask relevant individuals to give a statement.

This was not good. She had no prepared story. If she faced a professional interrogation like this, she would definitely slip up.

More importantly, if she was taken away to give a statement, no one would look after Yura. She couldn't let the onmyoji take both her and Yura. If they were questioned separately without having a chance to coordinate their stories, the discrepancies would be even more obvious.

If she were questioned alone, Miketsu could claim that she was powerful to begin with and had won after a difficult battle with the centipede demon. That would have some credibility. She would just need to imagine some battle details and coordinate with Tsuruha, which shouldn't be too hard.

But if she were questioned with Yura, it would be a different story. The onmyoji could easily reconstruct the real situation before Yura fainted. Then, how could she explain how a weak girl, who was being chased all over the place, suddenly gained immense power and defeated the centipede demon in just a few moves? Where did that power come from? Why didn't she use it before? Miketsu had no way to explain this series of questions.

Therefore, she couldn't leave Yura behind, nor could they both be taken to the Onmyoryo.

"I'm sorry, the battle with the yokai has left me greatly exhausted. I need to go back and rest properly. Please rest assured, I will cooperate with the Onmyoryo's investigation, but could we do it another day?"

As soon as Miketsu spoke, a commotion arose among the crowd behind Fujiwara no Saneyori. Many looked at each other in disbelief, their faces filled with astonishment. However, with Fujiwara no Saneyori present, no one started discussing it openly.

None of them had expected that the young girl before them was the one Fujiwara no Saneyori had mentioned who fought the yokai. Not only had she survived the battle, but she was also so young!

Ono no Yasuharu shook his head, stroking his beard and muttering something under his breath. Kamo no Yasunori, on the other hand, stood frozen in place, his mouth half-open and his expression blank.

"That's alright. The Onmyoryo has excellent meditation chambers and elixirs to help you recover your strength," Fujiwara no Saneyori said after hearing Miketsu's words.

Hearing Fujiwara no Saneyori's words, Miketsu's heart tightened, and a troubled look appeared on her face.

Seeing the change in Miketsu's expression, Fujiwara no Saneyori smiled and continued.

"Heh, if you really want to go back alone, you may. After all, you are a hero for vanquishing a demon, and the Onmyoryo will not make things difficult for you. As long as you eventually return to the Onmyoryo to explain things clearly, that will be fine. But remember, it should be no later than three days from now."

Fujiwara no Saneyori clearly saw that Miketsu's reluctance to go to the Onmyoryo meant she wanted to hide something. However, he didn't point it out. In his view, it might involve some secret arts personal to her, which she might need to use for her recovery.

In the world of onmyoji, where traditions are passed down through prominent families, secret arts are very common. After all, every family has secrets that cannot be shared with outsiders. These secrets are often tied to the family's prosperity, so onmyoji place great importance on keeping their own secrets.

Because of this, Fujiwara no Saneyori found it normal that Miketsu wanted to hide something. Anyway, the various prominent families all had plenty of secrets from each other. Prying into another's secret arts was considered extremely rude among onmyoji.

So, Miketsu's earlier worry that he would press for details was unnecessary.

After hearing Fujiwara no Saneyori's reply, Miketsu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"I understand. I will come to the Onmyoryo within three days."

"Very well, but there is one small condition." Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

"What condition?"

"Leave your name."

Name? Miketsu was a bit puzzled by Fujiwara no Saneyori's words, but she ultimately chose to answer him.

Looking at Fujiwara no Saneyori and the crowd behind him, amidst the lingering specks of spiritual light in the air, the black-haired, black-eyed girl spoke.

"My name is..."

"Asakura Hao."

After speaking, Miketsu saw Fujiwara no Saneyori nod. She then turned and left, leading Tsuruha straight into the forest until they disappeared from everyone's sight.

"Asakura Hao, is it..." Watching the girl disappear into the distance, Fujiwara no Saneyori mulled over the name he had just learned, his eyes shining brightly.

Another heaven-sent genius... Fujiwara no Saneyori couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"Hao? That name doesn't sound like a woman's. Lord Saneyori, it's most likely a pseudonym..." Kamo no Yasunori was also pondering the name and shared his thoughts with Fujiwara no Saneyori.

"Heh, whether it's real or fake doesn't matter. In Onmyodo, as long as a name is sincerely accepted and actually used by the person, that is enough." Fujiwara no Saneyori replied with a smile. In Onmyodo, the concept of a name has its own definition.

A true name is certainly important, but a pseudonym that one gives oneself and actually uses can also take on some of the properties of a true name. After all, sometimes, a pseudonym used long enough becomes just like a true name.

In Onmyodo, a name is a very important thing. Knowing someone's name allows one to do many things.

For example... divination.

For an onmyoji who has reached the level of a Senior Secretary, a single name, even a pseudonym, is enough to divine many things, including the person's origins and current location.

This was why Fujiwara no Saneyori could let Miketsu go. He wasn't worried she would run away. As long as he had her name, he could find her.

Thinking of the name he had just obtained, Fujiwara no Saneyori formed several hand seals within his sleeve. Then, he froze for a moment, an expression of disbelief on his face. He repeated the hand seals several times, but it seemed he couldn't achieve the desired effect.

Fujiwara no Saneyori stood stunned, his brow furrowed in thought.