A day later, Oswald, one of the Body Snatchers, appeared in the forest in a suit. Seeing the birds singing and the flowers blooming around him, his mood steadily soured. When he arrived at the bottom of the waterfall and found that the wooden box and skull buried together had all vanished, his mood plummeted. Just then, a hunched old woman with a staff appeared behind him.
"This won't do, Grandma. I went to the trouble of preparing a Sengoku-era role-play for you and asked you to monitor this place," Oswald said, narrowing his eyes and walking toward the old woman with a smile.
"I... I don't know. All I know is that a group of people suddenly broke in last night, killed all the spirits here, and took the wooden box with them."
"Oh? Who were they?"
"They... they seemed to be led by someone named Hōzuki Yayoi. And there were others. I don't know. I don't know anything!"
Seeing the old woman looking like she had gone mad, Oswald placed his hand on her shoulder. When he had first found the old evil spirit, given her power, and assigned her the task, she had been just like this. Now that he had the information, it was time to handle the aftermath.
"Don't worry, Grandma," he said. After he spoke, the old evil spirit's body rapidly expanded and then exploded into a puff of black smoke. Oswald took a deep breath, inhaling the miasma from the exploded spirit. "When you do something wrong, you have to bear the consequences."
Then, Oswald turned to Teikan and Dorothy. "It seems someone else took it."
"It has indeed been moved. I can feel its presence," the old monk said unhurriedly. "She's too lucky to just become a Buddha after failing to watch it."
"My apologies. I just hate people who don't listen to reason," Oswald said, putting his suit hat back on.
The monk shook his head. "We must get it back no matter what. That mummy arm is an indispensable item for our purpose."
"Then leave it to me," Oswald said, shrugging his hands.
"Then be quick. We must prepare a powerful body for the Spirit as soon as possible. We can't keep it waiting," the monk said.
"We should have plenty of time, right? After all, no one has noticed us yet." Oswald spread his hands. "By the way, any new news from Washuu Tsuneyoshi?"
"Yes, they've made contact with the rogue priests and have met with the former Holy Sword Research Institute Director, Gasper, who defected from the Church. Through him, the Ghouls have heard the voice of the executive from the God-Child Monitors."
"They said that just hearing his voice, you could sense his prestige and power. If an evil spirit appeared before him, it would probably be instantly destroyed," the old monk said quietly.
"How terrifying. And what's the situation with the exorcist from Kuoh City?" Oswald continued to ask.
"We've put a temporary stop to that. Since we heard that the God-Child Monitor executive will be operating in Hachiōji and Kuoh City next, we only need to focus on finding that arm," the monk said.
Afterward, the three Body Snatcher executives left the location. Through the network they had established over decades, they investigated and found information about Yayoi Hōzuki.
"I'll go meet her. I'm very interested in her story. Maybe she also took over someone's body, just like us," Dorothy said, raising her hand. The others had no objection. After all, the girl whose body Dorothy had possessed went to the same elementary school as Yayoi Hōzuki.
The night was dark and windy. At an abandoned factory near Hachiōji, a large number of Ghouls and rogue priests were gathered, kneeling in a posture of reverence. Their expressions were a mix of fear, worship, and fanaticism as they looked at the figure sitting on a floating throne.
He wore a long black robe that revealed a muscular, pale chest from its open collar. His long black hair cascaded down like a waterfall. He had three pairs of black, symmetrical wings, and his eyes were blood-red. The Fallen Angel executive, Kokabiel, leaned back on his throne. Just looking at him, a pressure like an abyss radiated from him.
"Gasper, how is the Holy Sword research going?"
"It's going very smoothly, Lord Kokabiel. I have already selected a suitable priest to be the vessel for the Holy Sword, and the compatibility is very high," a short man said with a subservient bow.
"I heard that some Fallen Angels secretly infiltrated Kuoh City before me and got into a conflict with the devils there. Is that true?" Kokabiel asked casually.
"It is true. They seemed to be using your name to cause trouble and even allied with the Ghoul organization there. Their goal was to seize a Sacred Gear from a human, but they were defeated by a freelance supernatural individual," Gasper explained. He had already investigated the matter thoroughly.
"Hmph! Sacred Gears... That guy Azazel has been researching those useless things ever since the war ended!" Kokabiel's voice held a hint of resentment. As for the "freelance supernatural individual" Gasper mentioned, he didn't care at all. With his status, he had first sent people to steal the Holy Swords from the Church, then carried a bunch of dead weight to transport the Holy Swords across the ocean from Europe to this godforsaken city in an island nation. It was a complete humiliation. But if he didn't do this, his goal would be difficult to achieve.