Hello. This is Naoya-kun, who is so damn busy he feels like he's going bald.
Good grief, as expected, every single year, this rainy season is hell. The negative emotions of the masses, which have been piling up in agony due to the environmental changes from winter to spring, finally boil over with the long rains of the rainy season, and cursed spirits are born by the bucketload.
Well, ultimately, they are just cursed spirits born this year. The majority are small fry that can be lumped together, and most are opponents that are nothing special once I get my hands on them.
—But.
In everything, there are outliers and anomalies.
"Did you say a Grade 1 hasn't returned? Since when?"
"Yes. Since the day before yesterday, when Grade 1 Sorcerer Kiryu entered a tunnel where there was a sighting of a cursed spirit, contact has been lost..."
"That is iffy. Can you not see him, from outside?"
"Yes. It is likely due to the influence of the Innate Domain of the cursed spirit deployed inside the tunnel..."
"I see. He thought it was, a Grade 1 Curse, went inside, and that was it... Is it unregistered, or a new species, Special Grade?"
"The Technical College also considered that possibility, so we asked for you, Special Grade Zen'in..."
"I see. How much longer will, it take to get there?"
"Well, from here on it's an abandoned old national highway, so it will take over two hours by car..."
"Is it far away, or is the road bad? Which is it?"
"The latter. The tunnel in question is halfway up this mountain, so distance-wise it's not that far..."
"Then I will run. Show me the map please, I'll memorize. ...I just have to run, up along the road, normally? Cast a Curtain, over the whole mountain, and keep it there. I will run from here, just for a little bit."
"The whole mountain... U-Understood. I will do what I can."
"Counting on you. Well then farewell for, a little while. Do not plan on it, becoming nighttime."
"Understood. I will be waiting, Special Grade Zen'in."
I exchanged such a conversation with the Assistant Director and entered the mountain one minute ago. What appeared before me, after ascending about 5km of winding mountain roads, was the abandoned tunnel on the old national highway. Perhaps the Assistant Director worked hard just now; the Curtain had fallen, turning the midday mountain into night, and a chill faintly tinged with cursed energy was leaking out from inside the tunnel.
"I see. There is a domain, after all. Beyond the tunnel, is another world. ...What a pain, guess I'll get a little, serious."
I form hand signs, circulate cursed energy throughout my body, and cloak myself in a thin film of cursed energy. It is the so-called 'Secret Art: Falling Blossom Emotion'. It's a small technique like an auto-parry that indiscriminately drives blades of cursed energy into any technique or cursed spirit that touches the film. It would be unbearable to get hit by a 'knowledge check' instant kill right after invading a domain. Inside an Innate Domain is the cursed spirit's garden; there is no loss in being as cautious as one would be against a Domain Expansion.
While maintaining such a slight degree of caution, I entered the tunnel and passed through the boundary of the Innate Domain—stepping into a tunnel that seemed to continue infinitely, with no end in sight.
Looking back, there was an infinite tunnel behind me as well. It's 'that kind of type', huh? No wonder that Grade 1 guy couldn't get out. Unexpectedly, maybe he's just unable to leave and is still alive?
Just as I thought that, what I heard from behind were roaring 'footsteps' that sounded like the hooves of a horse at a racetrack.
—I take that back. He is definitely dead, that Grade 1 guy.
What I feel with my heightened perception and strengthened audiovisual senses is the presence of the tunnel behind me rapidly shortening every time the footsteps approach. And appearing like a bean in the distance was the figure of a 'Granny running at high speed'.
"Come on, that thing, isn't a Grade 1, right? As a cursed spirit, or a sorcerer."
I spill such a joke, but the Grade 1 whom contact was lost with is a man. Even by mistake, he isn't a granny. Most likely, he was overtaken by that granny and swallowed by the void along with the tunnel.
A tunnel at night; if you get passed, you die; a high-speed granny. There must be many who have heard of this.
"Hypothetically, let's think of it, as a Special Grade. To call it 'Jet', it runs way too fast. 'Turbo Granny', or maybe 'Mach Granny'. ...Which is it? Depending on region, is it a diff'rent name?"
While saying such things, the granny approaches rapidly, and the tunnel behind disappears. Most likely, this infinite tunnel maintains its infinite internal space with a 'Binding' that says there is absolutely no harm other than 'disappearing along with the tunnel if caught by the granny'. That said, that's just talk of the domain. Since I don't know the reaction when attacking that granny, I'll keep Falling Blossom Emotion active.
Well then, it would be bad if I got caught, so shall I run?
First, to see how it goes, shall I go at 'a light jog' of about 100km/h?
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