The Onmyoryo is the official supernatural power organization. Their primary task is to handle national-level supernatural incidents, mainly large-scale cross-realm incursions. In addition, they also accept commissions from the populace. These commissions are uniformly announced by the Onmyoryo, and external practitioners who have passed the preliminary selection, as well as official Onmyo-sei and Onmyoji within the bureau, can accept them. Upon completion, they can obtain corresponding merits and rewards.
The Onmyoryo's mission posting office is located in the Subjugation Bureau. The Subjugation Bureau is situated at the edge of the Onmyoryo and even the entire Greater Imperial Palace. This arrangement involved tearing down a section of the Greater Imperial Palace's wall and converting it into the Bumingtang, a hall for posting missions, primarily to accommodate practitioners who cannot freely enter and exit the Greater Imperial Palace.
Having inquired about the specific route, Miketsu proceeded directly from within the Onmyoryo to the Subjugation Bureau, entering the Bumingtang from the rear. As soon as she stepped inside, a bustling scene unfolded before her eyes.
It was a spacious hall supported by several massive pillars. On the side of the hall facing outside the Greater Imperial Palace were several large, open doors arranged side-by-side. On the side facing the Onmyoryo were several long counters against the wall, behind which a group of busy Onmyo-sei worked. Between the counters were small doors leading into the Onmyoryo, guarded by samurai; Miketsu had entered through one of these.
Countless practitioners, dressed in various attires, flowed back and forth in the hall, with occasional figures of Onmyo-sei interspersed among them. The vast majority of these people gathered beneath several tall wooden racks, from which hung a pile of wooden plaques resembling ema.
Seeing this scene, Miketsu realized that quite a number of people had passed the preliminary selection. The Onmyoryo had accumulated many external practitioners over several selection rounds.
Miketsu walked towards the wooden racks where the crowd gathered. The group of practitioners, seeing Miketsu with curious gazes, voluntarily made way for her. Thus, Miketsu effortlessly cleared a path through the crowd and reached the wooden racks.
There were four rows of these wooden racks, each hung with ema-like wooden plaques. Each plaque was densely covered with characters, and next to these characters, the four large characters Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding were marked. The top row of plaques was marked Jia, the bottom row Ding, with the two middle rows ordered accordingly.
What does this mean? Is it the mission difficulty?
Just as she was wondering, a familiar neutral voice sounded beside her.
"Asakura Hao..."
Miketsu turned her head and saw a familiar figure wearing a headscarf and a mask. The moment she saw her, Miketsu's eyes lit up, and she immediately said,
"Yu..."
"Ashiya Doman." Yura's eyes, hidden behind her headscarf, glared at Miketsu for a moment, then she continued in a low, neutral voice,
Realizing that the other party was still concealing her gender, Miketsu immediately fell silent. Yura scrutinized her friend, who had changed significantly in appearance since they last met a few days ago. Then, after giving Miketsu another subtle glance, she turned and left without a word. Understanding her meaning, Miketsu followed directly.
The two walked out of the Bumingtang through the main doors, arriving outside the Greater Imperial Palace, and stopped in a quiet corner of the street.
"Haven't seen you in a few days, you've changed a lot, from your clothes... to your appearance..."
Turning her head, Yura said playfully to Miketsu, her voice having returned to a feminine tone.
"Tell me! Did you submit more magatama while I was unconscious? So many that they even appointed you as an official Onmyoji directly!" Yura grabbed Miketsu's collar and shook her as she spoke.
"Unjust, it's unjust... I only submitted one!"
"One?" Yura released Miketsu, stepping back two paces, and asked suspiciously.
"Then why did they give you these clothes?"
"Ah... well, that's a long story..." Faced with Yura's question, Miketsu was momentarily at a loss for how to answer. She hadn't yet considered how to explain what happened after Yura fell unconscious that day.
I can't exactly say I just casually learned a couple of tricks from your scroll and then slew that centipede spirit, can I?
"Hmph... If there's something you can't conveniently say, then let's leave it for now. I don't have time for long explanations anyway." Seeing Miketsu's expression, Yura sighed softly, her attitude surprising Miketsu.
"Are you sure you don't want to hear it?"
"Of course, if you don't want to say, I'm sure. After all, we've been through hardships together, saved each other, and you even dragged me out of that forest. I can't force you to tell me something you're unwilling to share, can I?
Besides, I don't have time right now. If we have a chance, let's find a place to sit down and chat slowly. Besides what happened that day, there are many other things I want to ask you."
After Yura finished speaking, Miketsu felt a little touched. It seemed the other party regarded her as a friend, otherwise, she wouldn't have said such things.
Moreover, this girl is surprisingly straightforward, so different from Seimei, who always smiles inscrutably...
"Oh, right, why didn't you get into the Onmyoryo? I remember leaving enough magatama for you, didn't I?" Miketsu asked, changing the subject. Yura's current attire clearly indicated she hadn't made it into the Onmyoryo.
"They said I was overdue. I should have been rejected outright, but considering I provided enough magatama, they made an exception and gave me an external practitioner's status," Yura said with a shrug, helplessly.
"That's really a shame..."
"Nothing to be sorry about. It just means a slight change in the original plan. After working hard as an external practitioner for a while and completing enough missions, I can still get in." As she spoke, Yura reached into her sleeve and pulled out something.
It was a wooden plaque with a string attached, covered with densely packed small characters—the same kind that hung on the wooden racks in the Bumingtang.
"A mission to investigate strange sounds... This is already the eighth mission I've done in the past few days. Fortunately, these missions are relatively simple and quick to complete. It won't be long before I can enter the Onmyoryo by accumulating merits."
"These plaques are missions? What a coincidence, I was also planning to take some," Miketsu said, looking at the wooden plaque with some curiosity.
"You want to take them too? Aren't you already an official Onmyoji?"
"Official Onmyoji also have ranks, you know. I need to get promoted too."
"Ah... that's right..." Yura nodded, then suddenly, as if remembering something, she said to Miketsu,
"Oh, right, there's a mission over there right now. It offers a huge amount of merit upon completion, definitely suitable for you."
"What mission?" Miketsu asked curiously.
"Come with me..."
Miketsu followed Yura all the way back into the Bumingtang, traversing through the crowd until they reached one of the wooden racks.
"That one," Yura said, pointing to the top row. Miketsu followed her finger and saw a distinctive Jia-rank plaque.
This Jia-rank plaque was almost identical to the others on the rack, the only difference being that one side was marked with several horizontal stripes drawn with a vermilion pen. Miketsu counted them; there were six in total.
"See those red stripes?" Yura asked Miketsu in a neutral voice.
"I see them. What do they mean?"
"Those are the number of times this mission has been accepted."
"Number of times accepted?"
"Or, to put it another way, the number of failures. But usually, failures are marked with a white pen. If a red pen is used, it means the person who accepted the mission died during it."
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