Chapter 92: Myriad Laws Supernatural Department
In this age, people were bound together by invisible threads.
Phones, networks, internal channels, encrypted reports, whispered messages between offices and clans—information no longer moved like water. It spread like wildfire.
Within a single day, the news swept across Japan's Onmyōdō world.
Gin Tsumugi, the rare genius known as the [White Fox], had been granted the title of one of the [Twelve Divine Generals] by the Onmyo Agency.
[White Fox] Gin Tsumugi.
One of the [Twelve Divine Generals].
The moment that name appeared on the official internal channels, it was as if the entire Onmyōdō world had been stamped with a seal of confirmation.
At the same time, another fact could no longer be hidden.
Gin Tsumugi had fully broken through to become a National Level Onmyoji.
After all, only an Onmyoji of that caliber could bear the title of [Twelve Divine Generals].
For a time, countless Onmyoji across Japan fell silent before their screens, reports, and message threads.
Some were shocked.
Some were envious.
Some felt numb.
Others could only sigh, just as Amami Daizen had, at the sheer absurdity of his talent.
Most Onmyoji spent their entire lives crawling toward a threshold they might never reach. To them, National Level was a distant mountain peak hidden beyond clouds, a realm that demanded talent, discipline, opportunity, and a lifetime of effort.
Yet Gin Tsumugi had reached it at twenty.
Worse still, everyone knew this was not his destination.
For most people, National Level was the end of the road.
For Gin, it was merely the place where the road truly began.
But amid the shock, one question puzzled many people.
Why had he joined the Onmyo Agency?
Even during the Agency's strongest years, Gin Tsumugi had repeatedly rejected its invitations. The olive branches extended to him had never been few, and every time, he had politely declined.
Now, when the Onmyo Agency's authority was visibly weakening after Mount Fuji, he had accepted the title of [Twelve Divine Generals].
It was a decision no one had expected.
To most of the Onmyōdō world, accepting that title meant one thing: he had entered the Onmyo Agency.
The idea of a nominal affiliation—similar to the relationship between the Agency and certain supernatural affairs offices—never entered their minds. The [Twelve Divine Generals] had always been a symbol exclusive to the Onmyo Agency. It was an honor, a rank, and a recognition acknowledged by the entire Onmyōdō world.
As for the true arrangement behind the scenes, Gin did not issue any statement.
That had been Amami Daizen's suggestion.
At present, the Onmyo Agency, the Onmyo Alliance, and the Onmyō Academy were all still observing from the shadows.
They were watching.
Judging.
Measuring.
They wanted to see which people and which organizations could truly shoulder the authority and responsibility being released into the world.
If the truth was announced now, it would be no different from handing out the exam questions before the test began.
Even if the final results looked good, they would feel staged.
And that was the one thing the old institutions did not want.
Inside the [White Fox Office], everything had already been packed.
"Finished…"
Iwanaga Kotoko stood in the middle of the empty office, her fingers resting lightly on the handle of her cane.
The room looked much wider now.
Too wide.
The sofa was gone. The files were gone. The old desk had been cleared. Even the familiar little odds and ends that had once filled the corners had disappeared into sealed talismans or moving boxes.
What remained was an emptiness that felt almost rude.
Kotoko looked around in silence.
She had stayed here for nearly two years.
It was not a grand place. It was not luxurious, nor was it particularly spacious. The coffee was terrible, the furniture was ordinary, and the office's reputation had been built through blood, danger, and unpaid overtime that should have violated at least three labor laws.
But it had been home.
There were too many memories here.
The first commission.
The first report written until midnight.
The nights she had fallen asleep on the sofa while pretending she was "just resting her eyes."
The ridiculous arguments with Gin.
Sora brewing coffee with the seriousness of a tea ceremony.
The old office was small, but it held all of that.
Now, they were leaving.
Kotoko turned her gaze toward the secret room.
Gin was inside, packing the last of his personal belongings.
She understood why this had to happen.
The [White Fox Office] had accepted control over the Onmyōdō forces of Shibuya Ward. They were no longer a small supernatural affairs office taking commissions from civilians and government branches.
They had become the center.
The authority that once belonged to the Shibuya branch of the Onmyo Agency and the local official forces had been gathered into their hands.
They could no longer keep operating from a cramped office beside Yoyogi Park.
No matter how reluctant she felt, moving was inevitable.
"I'll have to tell Sora later," Kotoko murmured. "It would be a little cruel if she came back and found the whole office gone."
Knowing Sora, she might simply stand in front of the empty building in silence, holding the Eight-Span Mirror Replica and wondering whether she had been abandoned.
That image alone made Kotoko decide to message her properly.
A short while later, Gin emerged from the secret room.
The ancient texts, miscellaneous ritual tools, and private documents had all been sealed away into talismans. Nothing important remained behind.
The Eight-Span Mirror Replica gifted by Shinomiya Kaguya was not here. Gin had left it with Kasugano Sora before she returned to Kyoto, partly for protection and partly because Sora was the one most likely to encounter danger while moving between the worlds of the living and the dead.
"Let's go, Kotoko."
Gin's voice pulled her from her thoughts.
Kotoko looked once more at the empty office.
Then she nodded.
"Mm."
The two walked out together.
Outside the former [White Fox Office], three black business vehicles were already waiting along the roadside.
The drivers were not ordinary chauffeurs. All of them were Onmyoji from the Shibuya branch, dressed neatly and standing with straight backs.
The moment Gin stepped out, they bowed.
"Lord White Fox."
"Lady Kotoko."
Their respect was not forced.
Over the past few days, the Onmyoji stationed at the Shibuya branch and the official supernatural armed personnel had all received confidential notice.
From this point onward, the [White Fox Office] would assume full control over Shibuya Ward's Onmyōdō forces.
Naturally, not everyone had accepted it smoothly.
There had been dissatisfied voices.
Some felt uneasy about being transferred from the Onmyo Agency's central chain of command to a young independent office. Some could not bear the thought of answering to an Onmyoji barely twenty years old. Others simply disliked change.
But Gin's reputation as a rare genius, his new title as one of the [Twelve Divine Generals], and his confirmed strength as a National Level Onmyoji suppressed most resistance before it could grow teeth.
Kohara Daisuke and Ibe Tomoya had also played a part.
As the official person in charge of Shibuya Ward's supernatural response and the chief of the Onmyo Agency Shibuya branch, they understood far more than ordinary Onmyoji.
They knew this was not merely an administrative reshuffle.
It was the tide of the age.
The Onmyo Agency, the Onmyō Academy, and the Onmyo Alliance could no longer rule the world of Onmyōdō in the same way as before. After Mount Fuji, the old system had cracked. Whether anyone wanted to admit it or not, power would inevitably disperse.
The next era would not belong to a single central authority.
It would be an era of factions.
An era of competing powers.
And from any rational perspective, Gin Tsumugi was one of the best leaders Shibuya Ward could have.
Young, yes.
But talented.
Powerful.
Clear-headed.
And most importantly, he had already saved the entire ward from becoming a cursed hell.
For the people under him, this was the time to prove their worth.
The car doors opened.
Gin and Kotoko got in.
The vehicles started, engines humming low as they pulled away from the curb.
Only when the old office disappeared from sight did Kotoko finally withdraw her gaze.
The reluctance in her chest did not vanish.
But as she looked at Gin, who sat beside her with his eyes closed in quiet rest, she suddenly felt a little calmer.
Wherever Gin Tsumugi was, that place was the [White Fox Office].
Not the room.
Not the signboard.
Not the building.
The office had never truly been tied to a fixed location.
The scenery outside the window streamed past in fragments of glass, concrete, trees, and afternoon light.
Ten minutes later, the vehicles stopped.
Their destination stood before them.
The Shibuya Building.
More than thirty stories tall, it was the tallest building in Shibuya Ward. Its glass exterior reflected the sky and the city below, giving it a cold, imposing presence.
From this day onward, the Onmyōdō forces once controlled separately by the Onmyo Agency branch and the official supernatural response division would be concentrated here.
Gin stepped out of the vehicle and looked up at the building.
"The [Myriad Laws Supernatural Department], huh."
The [White Fox Office] was now history.
The new independent organization that had absorbed Shibuya Ward's Onmyōdō forces had been renamed the [Myriad Laws Supernatural Department], taking its name from Gin's Onmyōdō Framework—Myriad Laws.
Gin Tsumugi, the [White Fox], would serve as its Director.
Its supreme leader.
Iwanaga Kotoko, Kohara Daisuke, and Ibe Tomoya would serve as the three Deputy Directors.
Kotoko would coordinate internal affairs, intelligence, case management, and supernatural investigations.
Kohara Daisuke would manage the Spiritual Armament Division and the official armed response units.
Ibe Tomoya would command the Onmyoji Division, including the former Shibuya branch personnel and field exorcism teams.
As for Kasugano Sora, her position would be arranged after her return from Kyoto.
"Director."
Kohara Daisuke was already waiting at the entrance with several senior members of the newly formed department.
He bowed.
"Welcome."
Behind him stood executives, Onmyoji officers, clerks, intelligence staff, barrier specialists, and armed personnel. Some faces were familiar from the Sitinge Mansion operation. Others belonged to people Gin had never met before.
But from this day forward, all of them would answer to him.
Gin nodded.
"Let's begin."
Under Kohara Daisuke's guidance, Gin and Kotoko entered the Shibuya Building.
The automatic glass doors slid open with a quiet hiss.
Inside, the lobby had already been cleared and remodeled in haste. Temporary spell barriers had been installed along the walls. Talismans were hidden beneath the floor tiles. Surveillance monitors displayed feeds from major spiritual disaster hotspots across Shibuya Ward.
The first three floors were assigned to reception, civilian reports, emergency dispatch, and public coordination.
The fourth to tenth floors belonged to the Spiritual Armament Division, storing modified firearms, talisman rounds, barrier equipment, anti-monster gear, and transport vehicles.
The eleventh through twentieth floors were assigned to the Onmyoji Division—training rooms, spell-testing chambers, meditation rooms, talisman archives, formation rooms, and dormitories for emergency personnel.
The upper floors housed intelligence analysis, sealed case archives, restricted supernatural materials, command rooms, and the Director's office.
At the very top was a newly prepared ritual chamber.
Not yet complete, but already covered in reinforced barriers.
Gin listened as Kohara explained each section.
Kotoko followed beside him, her earlier reluctance gradually fading as her expression turned more focused.
This was no longer a tiny office with three people handling cases through stubbornness and sleepless nights.
This was an organization.
A true power.
And along with that power came pressure.
The [Myriad Laws Supernatural Department] would no longer be responsible for one commission at a time.
It would be responsible for all of Shibuya Ward.
Every spiritual disaster.
Every yokai sighting.
Every curse.
Every case that smelled even faintly of the supernatural.
The burden was heavy enough to crush an ordinary person.
But Gin's expression remained calm.
As they reached the command floor, he stopped before the wide glass window overlooking Shibuya.
The city stretched beneath him.
Roads, buildings, parks, neighborhoods, schools, offices, stations.
A ward of millions.
A ward that had nearly become a curse-infested graveyard.
Behind him, dozens of staff members stood in silence, waiting for his first words as Director.
Gin looked at the city for a long moment.
Then he turned around.
His voice was not loud, but it carried clearly through the room.
"From today onward, the [Myriad Laws Supernatural Department] assumes responsibility for every supernatural incident in Shibuya Ward."
No one spoke.
"No matter whether it is a yokai, curse, spiritual disaster, spirit domain, forbidden ritual, or something outside existing classification—if it appears in this ward, it falls under our jurisdiction."
His gaze swept across the gathered personnel.
"The old order is changing. Everyone here knows that. Some of you may be uneasy. Some may be dissatisfied. Some may still be wondering whether this department has the right to command you."
Gin's tone remained even.
"I don't intend to convince you with speeches."
The room grew quieter.
"We will use results."
Simple words.
But everyone present felt the weight behind them.
Gin continued, "Three months from now, Yamata no Orochi will move. Before that day arrives, Shibuya Ward cannot afford internal confusion. I don't care where you came from—the Agency, the authorities, a branch unit, a field squad, or a desk buried under paperwork."
His eyes sharpened.
"From this moment on, you belong to the same department."
A faint pressure spread from him.
Not overwhelming.
Not hostile.
But unmistakable.
The pressure of a National Level Onmyoji.
The pressure of one of the [Twelve Divine Generals].
"The first rule of the [Myriad Laws Supernatural Department] is simple."
Gin looked at them and said calmly,
"We protect Shibuya."
For a breath, no one moved.
Then Kohara Daisuke bowed first.
"Yes, Director."
Ibe Tomoya followed.
"Yes, Director."
One by one, the others lowered their heads.
"Yes, Director!"
Their voices rang through the command floor.
Kotoko stood beside Gin, watching the scene unfold.
For some reason, the last trace of reluctance in her heart finally disappeared.
The [White Fox Office] had ended.
But it had not vanished.
It had grown.
And now, under a new name, it stood at the heart of Shibuya Ward.
The [Myriad Laws Supernatural Department] had officially begun.
.....
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