"Spirit flame, demon fang, ha, it's truly remarkable you could come up with such a wild idea." Toga couldn't help but chuckle lightly after hearing Fujiwara no Kanehira's words, remarking.
"We only conceived of this idea after encountering insurmountable bottlenecks in our respective fields, but until now, this plan has merely been a hypothesis. Whether the final forging will succeed remains a question, as combining a spirit blade and a demon blade has never been done before," Totosai added.
"So, the fang you needed has arrived. Can you start forging today?" Yura asked curiously.
"Heh heh, if we could, we'd want to speed things up, but to achieve the best conditions, we must activate the Vermilion Bird Seal at the most opportune moment to ensure the spirit flame surging from within reaches its optimal state." Fujiwara no Kanehira chuckled, slowly stroking his beard as he spoke.
"Optimal state? When is that?"
"The power of the Four Symbols Array cycles over time, waxing and waning, differing each day. With a forty-year cycle, the powers of the Four Symbols alternately strengthen and weaken. Therefore, we must select an appropriate date for the forging. At that time, the power of the Vermilion Bird Seal must be neither too strong nor too weak, just right for forging." As he spoke, Fujiwara no Kanehira scanned the room.
"We spent several days calculating to determine the suitable date, and finally settled on an irreplaceable, excellent day: the seventeenth of Satsuki this year, which is the day after tomorrow."
Fujiwara no Kanehira and Totosai continued to explain matters concerning the sword forging, but Miketsu was now meditating on the feeling of being watched she had just experienced.
From the reactions of those present and Tsuruha's recent words, she could deduce that she was the only one who felt this sense of being watched. The difference between her and them was that she was a deity. Could this feeling be related to deities?
Upon considering this possibility, Miketsu began to subtly observe her surroundings, using her eyes hidden in the shadows to look in the direction from which the feeling of being watched originated.
Then, she discovered a strange insect currently perched on a crossbeam.
With a blue human-like face, segmented limbs with sharp claws, and large membranous wings, resembling both beast and insect, this was a yokai Miketsu had never seen before.
Upon seeing this insect yokai, Miketsu's heart tensed. The insect yokai was not perched in a particularly hidden spot; it was even directly exposed to many people's sight, yet not a single person noticed it. It was as if everyone else, except her, had overlooked it, just like ordinary humans without spiritual vision.
Although Miketsu didn't know the origin of this strange insect, she believed it might have been deliberately placed there by someone to gather information, much like the Demon-Faced Centipede could use tiny centipedes for reconnaissance.
Seeing the strange insect, Miketsu immediately gave a warning. She extended her bandaged finger and gently tapped the low table in front of her, interrupting Fujiwara no Kanehira, who was still explaining, and drawing everyone's attention.
Seeing the many confused gazes directed at her, Miketsu said nothing. She simply pointed her hand gently towards the strange insect's location, guiding their gazes there.
At that moment, everyone alerted by Miketsu suddenly felt a jolt, and then they all saw the strange insect perched on the crossbeam.
Seemingly aware of being discovered, the strange insect immediately flapped its wings and took flight. However, Toga was faster. After a blur, Toga rushed from his seat to the front of the strange insect and grabbed it.
"This is..."
"A Seimogura!?" When he clearly saw the strange insect in Toga's hand, Fujiwara no Kanehira was immediately startled. He then quickly pulled out a talisman and threw it forward. The talisman swiftly stuck to the struggling insect, which suddenly stopped moving and no longer struggled.
"It's a Seimogura! When did it get in? Were all our previous conversations overheard?" Totosai said in disbelief, looking at the strange insect in Toga's hand. Only Yura looked a bit bewildered, saying,
"Seimogura?"
"It's this kind of insect yokai... they are the eyes and ears of deities, capable of seeing and hearing everything without attracting any attention, and then relaying what they've seen and heard to the deities." Toga said slowly, frowning. The presence of a Seimogura here proved that everything they had just discussed was now known to others.
"Eyes and ears of deities? Are we being watched by deities?" Yura was even more startled upon hearing Toga's words.
"No, perhaps not deities..." It was Fujiwara no Kanehira who spoke. With a solemn expression, he extended his hand towards Toga, who handed him the subdued Seimogura.
"This Seimogura is a larva. If it were truly a deity, they wouldn't use a larva for reconnaissance. Furthermore, it bears traces of modification, hmph... the one behind this insect could be a yokai or a human..." After examining the Seimogura in his hand, Fujiwara no Kanehira said with a bitter smile.
"Yokai or human? Do you have any idea who it might be?" Totosai was taken aback, then turned to ask Fujiwara no Kanehira.
"Sigh... I cannot confirm that... After all, there are far too many entities observing Fujiwara, observing me. At most, I can only suspect a few of the most likely culprits," Fujiwara no Kanehira said with a sigh, feeling somewhat helpless.
"I never imagined such a mishap would occur at this final juncture."
Fujiwara no Kanehira clearly understood what it meant for their conversation to be overheard. It meant that their carefully planned sword forging would face immense unforeseen changes, and their preparations could very well be for naught.
"So, what do we do now? You won't be able to forge that sword, will you?" Yura asked with concern. She genuinely hoped for a stronger power to fight Oyakata. If Totosai and Fujiwara no Kanehira's plan failed, it meant such power might vanish into thin air before it was even born.
"......"
Hearing Yura's words, both Fujiwara no Kanehira and Totosai fell silent. Clearly, proceeding rashly with the original plan without knowing why the information was leaked would be highly imprudent.
"Perhaps... you could change the date? Not forge it the day after tomorrow?" Yura continued, suggesting that rescheduling the operation date was a possible remedy given the current situation.
"No... I just said that in a forty-year cycle, there is only one opportune moment when the Vermilion Bird Seal's power is just right. If we miss it, we would have to wait another forty years." As he spoke, Fujiwara no Kanehira cast an aged gaze over everyone.
"This amount of time, perhaps you can wait, but I cannot."
After Fujiwara no Kanehira finished speaking, silence fell over the room. Indeed, most of those present were yokai, whose lifespans were far longer than humans. Forty years was nothing to them, but for Fujiwara no Kanehira, who was already advanced in age, it was enough to exhaust his lifespan. And for this forging, Fujiwara no Kanehira was a crucial figure.
Rate on N.U.
