None? How could there be none?
After scanning all the wooden shelves once more and confirming all the wooden plaques, Miketsu finally ascertained that among this pile of missions, there was nothing related to "strange noises," which left her momentarily stunned.
That shouldn't be right. Didn't the Subjugation Bureau say that tasks they couldn't complete would be upgraded and relisted? Only when the number of red marks increased would it be upgraded to a subjugation mission, handled by official Onmyoji from the Onmyoryo.
Since she couldn't find this mission, could it have been taken by someone else again? Thinking of this, Miketsu immediately went to the counter and asked an Onmyo-sei to help her directly search. These missions should all have records with them; she was even specifically asked to sign when she took a mission last time.
Miketsu's current status was Junior Assistant Onmyoji, so the Onmyo-sei naturally didn't dare to neglect her request. They immediately began to flip through the incoming archives, but the final result was still nothing; among any recent mission files, there was no record concerning "strange noises."
This result instantly left Miketsu bewildered. The mission Yura had accepted had vanished into thin air? This didn't make sense!
Miketsu gently massaged her temples, trying to recall the scene of her conversation with Yura, wondering if anything had been missed or misheard. But no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't come up with any valuable information.
"Are these all the archives here?" Turning her head, Miketsu continued to ask the Onmyo-sei.
"Yes, all recent uncompleted missions are here."
"Uncompleted ones? So, where did the completed missions go?"
"Completed mission dossiers are regularly filed into the Archives Pavilion of the Archives Bureau."
"When was the last filing, then?"
"It was yesterday."
Upon hearing this answer, Miketsu raised an eyebrow and continued to ask.
"So, is it possible that an uncompleted mission was also filed away?"
"The possibility of that is small, because we check multiple times when organizing, unless..." The Onmyo-sei continued, and as he spoke, he suddenly seemed to remember something and immediately closed his mouth.
"Unless what?" Sensing the Onmyo-sei's unusual behavior, Miketsu immediately pressed him.
"Nothing, it was just a slip of the tongue, my lady!" The Onmyo-sei quickly apologized to Miketsu, and his demeanor made Miketsu look suspicious.
Next, Miketsu continued to ask some detailed and minor questions, which the Onmyo-sei answered. Finally, having gained no more useful information, Miketsu left the Bumingtang, left Heian-kyo, and returned towards Inari Mountain in the setting sun.
...
Night once again descended upon Inari Mountain. The shrine maiden, as always, closed the shrine early and went to sleep, but in the Secret Realm behind the shrine, the small building where the deity resided remained brightly lit.
"Phew... done."
Miketsu looked at the large pile of papers in front of her, covered with various words and drawings, some of which were repeatedly folded out of shape. These were all the spells Miketsu had just copied from the Onmyoryo and used for testing.
Ever since Miketsu returned to Inari Mountain, after eating a simple meal, she had been researching the newly copied spells. Some were usable, some were not. What pleased her most was that among the useful spells, there was one she needed right now. She would use this spell to help her unravel the mystery surrounding Yura.
That afternoon, the Onmyo-sei's reaction greatly concerned her. He clearly knew something but couldn't reveal it to her, which indicated a significant issue.
What would make that Onmyo-sei deliberately hide the answer from her? Miketsu's initial judgment was that the other party had likely received someone's order or hint to conceal something.
Miketsu believed that the mission concerning "unusual sounds" might have been forcibly closed and then filed away.
Of course, these were all Miketsu's conjectures; she couldn't confirm if they were correct. And now, she intended to verify whether her conjecture was accurate.
As for how to verify it? In her original world, she would certainly continue the investigation based on clues, unraveling the mystery through deduction, and gradually approaching the truth of the incident. However, in this fantastical world, there were fantastical methods.
That was divination.
Ever since she experienced the power of her own Yu-step last night, Miketsu had specifically looked up divination texts today, hoping to find some divination techniques she could use. Sure enough, she found a very basic and simple spirit-summoning divination technique: Planchette.
Actually, Miketsu was already very familiar with this thing even before she transmigrated. It was associated with all sorts of urban legends and horror stories, and a large number of works based on it. However, Miketsu had always dismissed them, always thinking they were just psychological games for bored young girls to pass the time.
But in this world, everything was different. If there were truly gods and ghosts, then one could also summon gods and ghosts. Miketsu herself was a god; she needed to rely on the Planchette ritual to summon herself for divination. As for why she would suddenly understand things she didn't grasp before after a ritual, she didn't need to consider it. After all, it was metaphysics; why overthink it?
Miketsu learned from the texts describing this ritual that Planchette was actually a very crude and simple spirit descent ritual. It was first and foremost "spirit descent" rather than "deity summoning." Compared to deity summoning, which could only target gods, spirit descent had a much broader scope. Whether it was something from the divine realm or the demon realm, it could be summoned through a spirit descent ritual, which made the Planchette ritual very dangerous, as what would be summoned was unpredictable.
Due to the lack of offerings and professional guiding incantations, it was almost impossible for ordinary people to summon deities using Planchette. What came were various vengeful spirits and evil spirits, full of malice. Even if they helped with divination, the summoner would most likely be haunted because they couldn't send the spirit away.
Furthermore, the Planchette spirit descent ritual was so crude that it offered no protective measures for the summoner. A summoner performing Planchette was essentially opening themselves up entirely to the unknown. If any problems arose, there would be no way to remedy them, and the consequences would be unimaginable.
It was precisely for this reason that extraordinary individuals and Onmyoji with even a little power would not use folk methods like Planchette for divination. They had many better options, but for Miketsu, this was a last resort.
However, since she was summoning herself, the issue of danger wasn't a big problem.
On a white piece of paper, Miketsu drew simple patterns and Chinese characters, then began to prepare for the Planchette divination. She already had a pen; what she lacked now was another person to play Planchette with her.
"Tsuruha~ Are you not ready yet?"
Miketsu called out loudly towards the sliding door of the inner room. Soon, a familiar female voice came from inside.
"Ap-apologies, Lady Uka! I kept you waiting..."
As the sliding door opened, the one who entered the room was not Miketsu's usual fox divine messenger, but a tall, beautiful woman dressed in a light green kimono.
Her long, grayish-black hair fell straight to her legs, and a pair of pointed fox ears stood erect on either side of her head. Her fair skin was delicate, and above her slender neck were regular features and an extremely awkward expression. However, for this woman, the most striking thing was her figure.
In front of the woman's chest were voluminous forms that the kimono's lapels simply couldn't restrain. Although it was clear her owner had tried to bind them, she had not succeeded; large expanses of white skin and deep cleavage were clearly visible. As for the woman's rear, the loose clothing subtly outlined its curves.
Seeing this scene, Miketsu stood frozen on the spot. She could clearly feel her heartbeat suddenly accelerate.
"You... you are Tsuruha?" Miketsu asked with some uncertainty. After all, this stunning beauty in front of her, who could make a kimono look curvaceous and seemed to exude natural allure, was vastly different from the loyal, restrained, and sacred divine fox she knew.
Tsuruha in this form looked less like a saint who saves people and more like the fox spirit she always detested.
All of a sudden, Miketsu somewhat understood why Tsuruha disliked transforming.
Rate on N.U.
