Midnight. The dead of night.
The Onmyoji mansion was exceptionally quiet at this late hour. The human Onmyoji had long since fallen into a deep sleep, and only a few Shikigami on night watch patrolled the expansive mansion, carrying lanterns.
In the darkness, a fearsome Oni, its single hand holding a lantern with a blue-tinged flame, walked steadily along the edge of the house, its lantern-sized eyes emitting a ghostly light.
A Rokurokubi, even more ghastly and hideous than the Oni, floated high above the courtyard, its lantern-sized eyes shining brightly, scanning every corner of the garden like searchlights.
A Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, composed of all sorts of monsters, guarded the safety of the mansion.
Even though Serino Douman had been an Onmyoji for over twenty years, he always felt a bit speechless whenever he saw the mansion at midnight.
He'd wake up from a nap, and before him, demons would be dancing everywhere.
Shaking his head, Douman proceeded down the corridor. The various Oni along the way didn't stop him, but instead helpfully illuminated his path with their glowing eyes and lanterns burning with ghostly flames. It was a bit creepy, but he had gotten used to it after seeing it so many times.
Carrying a lantern, Douman walked through the mansion, eventually arriving at the cave located beneath both the Keno Clan and the Serino Clan's grounds.
Deep within the cave was a sealing barrier constructed with Shimenawa, Sealing Stones, and Talismans, which held the evil god, Antenmaru, imprisoned.
Douman stared at the cave. His eyes, brimming with Spiritual Power, glowed with a faint crimson light, giving him a villainous air.
Through his eyes, enhanced with Spiritual Power, the scene within the cave changed. Grayish, evil energy filled the narrow space, making it look foggy. This energy continuously slammed into the Shimenawa, Sealing Stones, and Talismans, slowly eroding the seal.
At the current rate of erosion, in a little over a decade, or perhaps a few decades, Antenmaru's seal would completely loosen, and the evil energy would leak out on a large scale.
"But don't worry..." Douman flicked his right hand, opening his folding fan and gently fanning himself, adding an effect that made his long hair flow. "If you're wondering why, it's because I'm here."
Antenmaru, your end has come.
道满 flicked his right hand, closing his folding fan, and whispered, "System, recharge."
The evil energy filling the cave was immediately sucked away, like dust caught in a vacuum cleaner, with nowhere to escape.
On the balance page, 道满 watched the numbers jump, the corners of his mouth lifting in a slight smirk, a look of smug satisfaction.
After a minute or two, the evil energy in the cave was sucked dry, and 道满's balance was now 35,648.
Since he had money in his pocket, there was no need to say what he would do next.
道满 entered the shop and filtered through the numerous products, selecting everything related to an Onmyoji, such as various incantations and hand seals, You-blade forging techniques, and Talisman-making skills...
Among them, the simplest, most direct, and most appealing item to 道满 was Spiritual Power Capacity Expansion.
Its effect was to increase the buyer's Spiritual Power capacity by the amount of a regular Onmyoji, costing 100 gold per purchase, and could be stacked.
Douman was very greedy, buying three hundred portions at once.
Feeling the changes within his body, Douman immediately swelled with arrogance, covering his forehead with one hand and laughing maniacally, "Hahaha... Seimei, just you wait! I'll make you pay the price soon, let you taste the flavor of failure!"
Laughing, Douman suddenly glanced contemptuously at the Sealing Stone, "Hmph! Mere Antenmaru, what strongest evil god, only worthy of becoming the food to make me stronger! Ahahahaha..."
Douman laughed wildly, disappearing into the dark passage. He could no longer control himself, eager to see Seimei's expression of defeat.
"Ahahahaha..."
Inside the cave, the Sealing Stone trembled slightly, and evil energy leaked out again, quickly filling the cave.
Antenmaru in the seal: Who just destroyed a leg hair of mine? The Keno Clan? The Serino Clan? No matter who it is, the weakening of the seal must have been discovered. I have to speed up the rate of erosion.
Back at the mansion, a cool breeze swept through the courtyard. Douman, thinly dressed, suddenly sneezed, a string of snot hanging from his nostril. His restless heart immediately cooled, and he obediently ran back to his bedroom, hugging his arms.
...
...
Inside the armory of the Shinsengumi headquarters, where weapons were stored.
Okita Sougo held a mortar in his right hand, and with his left wrist aimed at it, data beams scanned over it, and the mortar gradually turned into nothingness.
"Mortar, 80 gold." Sougo glanced at the change in his balance and said.
"Mortar, 80 gold." Kondo Isao pinched the edge of his notebook with his left hand, supporting the page with his wrist, and writing in the notebook with his right hand.
"Pistol, 20 gold." Sougo continued.
"Pistol, 20 gold." Kondo continued to record.
"Standard blades…" Hijikata glanced at the changing balance, a corner of his mouth twitching, "Negligible."
"Standard blades, not on the exchange list." Kondo Isao made a note of it seriously.
At the armory entrance, a certain afro-haired person gripped the edge of the door with both hands, quietly watching the three busy people.
The three of them worked together to figure out the value of various weapons in the armory, summarizing a rule: the more high-tech, the more valuable, and the more powerful, the more valuable.
But overall, there weren't any particularly powerful weapons in the armory, just some conventional weapons, so their values were all relatively low.
Hijikata took out a mayonnaise bottle-shaped lighter, lit a cigarette for himself, took a light puff, and exhaled a round smoke ring, "The value is too low, Kondo-san, ask the uncle for some high-tech products in the future."
"Mm." Kondo stared at the list, which barely had a few items exceeding a hundred, and felt that Jyuushichiya was right, so he said, "Jyuushichiya, help me think of some excuses for needing equipment."
"Why me?" Hijikata's face fell.
"You're the best bullshitter in the Shinsengumi, who else would I ask?" Kondo said, sounding righteous and matter-of-fact.
"Ask Yamazaki, he's even better at it than me." Hijikata immediately passed the buck.
"Then I'll leave it to the two of you." Kondo clapped his hands to make the decision.
"Kondo-san, let's count the garage too." Okita reminded him, since high-tech stuff was valuable, the garage shouldn't be overlooked.
"Alright." Kondo agreed, and the three of them walked towards the door.
The afro at the door shrank into the corner at the sound. After the three disappeared around the corner of the corridor, the afro slowly revealed itself, silently following the three in the direction they had left.
The garage, after some counting.
Kondo looked at the list in his hand and said, "We can report more car damage each month, and sell the extra cars for money."
Okita Sougo and Hijikata: "Hmm."
Outside the garage, the afro-haired Saito Shimaru returned to the bedroom and knelt before his desk, writing in his diary with a brush.
O year X month.
The Director, the Vice-Commander, and Okita Sougo, ultimately couldn't resist the allure of money and became tax evaders.
But what exactly was that method of making weapons and vehicles vanish into thin air? This question will be left for later to find the answer.
Closing the diary, Saito Shimaru crawled into bed and closed his eyes.
"Zzzzz…"
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