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Bokue Keikain rarely forgot promises he'd made, but yesterday was an exception.
Having suddenly learned about Hagoromo-Gitsune's resurrection, he'd spent the entire afternoon and evening scheming how to handle the situation—completely forgetting about the dinner plans in the process.
"Sorry, sorry! I totally forgot. Something came up on my end."
Cautiously glancing at Yura, who was on the phone with Ryuji nearby, Bokue lowered his voice slightly.
"The situation in Kyoto's gotten a bit complicated. Long story short, Hagoromo-Gitsune has been resurrected..."
"Hagoromo-Gitsune? What's that?"
As expected, hearing this unfamiliar term immediately added a note of confusion to La Folia's voice.
Bokue hesitated briefly. "That's kind of complicated to explain, but you can ask Sayaka. She should know."
"Is that so?"
La Folia was quite receptive to the suggestion. The moment Bokue finished speaking, she turned toward a certain War Dancer who should also be near the phone.
"Hey, Sayaka, Bokue says Hagoromo-Gitsune has been resurrected. Do you know what that means?"
"Eh?? Hagoromo-Gitsune? That's..."
Sayaka Kirasaka sounded startled at first, then launched into an explanation.
On his end of the call, Bokue listened to the War Dancer's explanation coming through in the background.
Honestly, Sayaka covered most of the important points, but her explanatory skills left something to be desired. Even after hearing the full explanation, the silver-haired princess still seemed somewhat lost in the clouds.
But she'd gotten the gist of it.
"Ohhh, so basically a really powerful demon, right?"
"For ordinary Onmyōji, yes."
Bokue specifically emphasized the word "ordinary."
"Really sorry about this, La Folia. I only found out about this yesterday afternoon, so I spent all evening trying to figure out how to handle it. If you want to have dinner... hmm, actually we could do it now. I just finished dealing with one emergency situation, so there probably won't be a second wave for a while."
"Emergency situation? Was it that 'Night Parade of a Hundred Demons' from Hagoromo-Gitsune?"
La Folia made a sound of understanding. From Sayaka's introduction just now, she'd learned that when this Lord of Darkness who'd ruled Kyoto four hundred years ago was sealed, her subordinate demons—the so-called Hundred Demons—had also been sealed with her.
Of course, "Night Parade of a Hundred Demons" was just a term. Any other word would work just as well—subordinates, forces, whatever.
Now that Hagoromo-Gitsune had been resurrected, she'd presumably return with all her demons in tow.
"Something like that."
Bokue gave a noncommittal grunt.
Honestly, he wasn't entirely sure whether that Tsuchigumo from before was one of Hagoromo-Gitsune's subordinates.
While logically—given Yasaka's instructions—Hagoromo-Gitsune wouldn't let her subordinates run wild like that, if it was some wild demon from outside, the Keikain family's barrier should have detected it.
The whole thing was a bit puzzling.
"Hmm~ Well, if you've run into something like that, there's really nothing you can do about it. You should handle what's urgent first, Bokue-kun. As for dinner, we can always do that when you're free."
La Folia on the other end was quite understanding. Though she'd been stood up, since there were extenuating circumstances, she didn't press the issue further.
"After all, it wouldn't be very convenient with your little sister there..."
The silver-haired princess seemed to have pulled the phone away slightly as she murmured that last part.
Bokue didn't catch it clearly, but he picked up the general words.
Little sister? Not convenient?
What was she talking about?
"Did you say something just now, La Folia?" Bokue asked.
"Huh? Ah, no no, I was just talking to Sayaka."
La Folia's voice immediately came through from the other end.
"Anyway, let's save dinner for next time. It's fine, really. It's more fun to eat together when you're actually free. Otherwise, if you're stressed and rushed, you won't even be able to enjoy the meal."
"True enough."
"Mm-hmm. I'll hang up now then. Stay safe, okay, Bokue-kun?"
"I will. Thanks."
The call ended there.
Meanwhile, the young Onmyōji girl who'd just received her own call and was speaking with her biological brother Ryuji Keikain let out a disbelieving sound.
"Huh? What do you mean Fushimi Inari, Chūgū, Ryūen-ji, Seigen-ji, and Saihōgan-ji have all been breached and their seals removed, Ryuji-niisan?"
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Still at Kiyomizu-dera, on Kiyomizu Stage.
Having just finished her call with her brother, Yura turned around with a grave expression after hanging up. Facing Bokue Keikain—who remained standing in place, looking at her questioningly—and Saeko Busujima beside him, she pressed her lips together.
"This is... really bad. I just got word from Ryuji-niisan. Apparently, someone from a branch family escaped to the main estate to report that the four-hundred-year seal has weakened. Hagoromo-Gitsune has... been resurrected."
"Wow, I see. That is pretty bad."
Bokue nodded seriously.
"..."
Saeko glanced over silently.
If she remembered correctly, just seconds ago he'd been on the phone talking about Hagoromo-Gitsune's resurrection. Yet now he was putting on an act like he'd just learned about it and was shocked.
Even Saeko thought his performance was ridiculously over-the-top.
But at a time like this, Yura clearly didn't have the mental bandwidth to determine whether this was genuine or just acting.
"Currently, we know that five seals have been broken—Fushimi Inari, Chūgū, Ryūen-ji, Seigen-ji, and Saihōgan-ji. The former subordinates of Hagoromo-Gitsune sealed there have disappeared, and the Keikain branch families guarding those five locations have... all been slaughtered."
Good riddance.
Bokue thought to himself.
After all, considering these were the branch families that had once screwed him over, he found it genuinely difficult to muster any sympathy.
Yura took a deep breath and added: "As for that Tsuchigumo we just saw, there's a high probability it's also one of the demons sealed four hundred years ago along with Hagoromo-Gitsune's power. Back then, Kyoto was overrun with demons, many of whom weren't actually her subordinates."
"Makes sense."
Bokue made a sound of understanding.
That explained why a demon dared to cause trouble inside Yasaka's barrier, and why the Keikain family's barrier hadn't reacted despite a Great Demon appearing.
Yura continued: "I also told Ryuji-niisan that you and I are currently at Kiyomizu-dera. He wants us to return to the Keikain estate immediately for an emergency family council."
"Alright, let's head over then."
Bokue wasn't surprised by this arrangement. He simply walked forward a few steps and picked up the severed head portion from when he'd kicked Tsuchigumo to pieces earlier. Grabbing one of the pointed horns on the yaksha mask, he hoisted it onto his shoulder and shrugged casually.
"Perfect timing. Busujima-senpai, want to come along?"
...
Scene Shift.
Accompanied by a flash of golden light, all three appeared before the main entrance to the Keikain main family's council hall.
Saeko Busujima on the left, Yura on the right.
Bokue Keikain took the lead, climbing the steps. As they ascended, they could see that everyone from both the main and branch families who'd survived was gathered inside the council hall, kneeling in dark rows on cushions lining both sides.
The old family head of the main family sat at the very front of the hall on a grand chair.
The atmosphere was oppressively heavy.
Seeing Bokue appear, Ryuji Keikain—sitting in the front row of cushions on the right—shot to his feet, raising his hand and pointing as if about to say something.
What a familiar scene...
Bokue thought.
But this time, he didn't even give him a chance to speak. He simply hurled the still-dripping head of Tsuchigumo into the center aisle of the council hall.
In an instant, the massive object—tall enough to reach a person's height—crashed to the floor with enough force to shake the entire building. Foul-smelling blood splattered everywhere, hitting the stone floor and raising white smoke with a hissing, corroding sound.
The intensely impactful scene instantly silenced the entire hall. Even Ryuji, who'd just stood up, froze in place, unable to get a word out.
Then Bokue made a "get out" gesture toward the old family head on the main seat.
"Alright, I'll take it from here."
"..."
The old family head said nothing, simply standing and leaving.
Bokue continued forward without sparing anyone a glance. As he passed, he picked up Tsuchigumo's head again, dragging it along like a massive brush, leaving a thick trail of blood on the floor behind him.
The pungent, bloody smell quickly spread through the hall, causing quite a few Onmyōji from both branch and main families to grimace.
Bokue dragged it all the way to the far end of the council hall, dropping Tsuchigumo's head beside the main seat. He then casually leaned against it and sat down, raising his head to sweep his gaze over the crowd of silent people with their heads bowed on both sides.
"That's more like it. When I tell you to speak, you speak. When I don't, you stay on your knees like good little boys and girls... Alright, now someone tell me what the hell is going on."
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