Chapter 99: A Call from the Old Man
Night had deepened.
Above the mountains, the sky spread wide and dark, scattered with stars that shone like fragments of glass. Now and then, a meteor cut across the silence, leaving a brief silver scar before vanishing into the endless black.
Moonlight spilled over the private scenic area like clear water. A thin mist drifted between the trees, pale as gauze, softening the ridgelines and courtyards until the whole manor seemed half real, half dream.
"I thought the daytime scenery was already impressive," Gin Tsumugi murmured, standing beside the window. "I didn't expect the night view to be even better."
From his room, he could see the mountains sinking into darkness. Farther northwest, the lights of the city shimmered faintly, Shibuya and Minato stretching under the night like a wounded constellation.
Unfortunately, those lights were no longer as brilliant as they had once been.
Before the Supernatural Recovery, Tokyo at night had been a river of neon, noise, and sleepless human warmth. Now even the busiest districts seemed to breathe cautiously after sunset. The glow remained, but the vitality had thinned. Beneath every lit window hid a trace of unease.
The world had grown quieter.
Not peaceful.
Just afraid.
Gin turned his gaze away from the city.
The room Shinomiya Kaguya had arranged for him was no less extravagant than a presidential suite in a five-star hotel.
It was spacious enough to feel excessive. A large bedroom with a soft bed, an independent bathroom, a study, an office area, a lounge, and a wide living space had all been arranged with quiet precision. Western luxury blended with subtle Eastern elegance. Modern wall lamps cast warm light over polished wood and simple decorative screens. A large sofa faced an LCD television, while an exquisite tea table sat near the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The bathroom alone was almost absurdly complete, fitted with a massage bathtub, washing area, sauna equipment, and enough space to make an ordinary apartment blush in shame.
Gin estimated that Shinomiya Manor did not have many rooms of this standard.
That much was obvious from the fact that he was not housed in the same building as the other Onmyoji.
Suddenly, the phone on the bedside table rang.
Ring, ring.
Gin did not even need to look to guess who it was.
He walked over, picked up the phone, and sure enough, the screen displayed the words: Old Man.
A helpless look crossed his face. Then he put on a faint smile and answered.
"Old Man, it's already so late. Why aren't you asleep yet?"
On the other end, Amami Daizen's voice was low and displeased.
"Brat, you caused trouble again."
"Trouble?" Gin sounded genuinely innocent. "Did I? I'm in Minato Ward right now handling a supernatural incident. How could I possibly have time to cause trouble?"
"Hmph. Still playing dumb?" Amami Daizen snorted. "Let me ask you. Wasn't it you who crippled Yamashiro Rito?"
"So that's what this is about." Gin sighed lightly. "Old Man, you should already know the details. I didn't start anything. If anything, I'm the victim here."
For a moment, Amami Daizen seemed to choke on his own anger.
Then he laughed.
"You? A victim? You crippled Yamashiro Rito and almost dragged the entire Yamashiro family into ruin, and you still have the nerve to act pitiful with this old man?"
"Let me clarify one thing first," Gin said calmly. "I did cripple Yamashiro Rito. That part is true. But the Yamashiro family has nothing to do with me. I don't have the power to destroy an entire family."
That part was not entirely false.
He had not expected things to move so quickly either.
Shinomiya Kaguya had only announced during the day that the Shinomiya Conglomerate would terminate all business cooperation with the Yamashiro family and blacklist them. Yet now, only a short time later, the Yamashiro family was already in trouble.
Should he admire the speed of the Shinomiya Conglomerate's execution?
Or lament how quickly people gathered once they smelled blood?
Gin did not understand business in any deep way, but he understood one thing clearly.
The Shinomiya Conglomerate's public stance was like painting a bloody mark on the Yamashiro family's front door.
After that, the wolves and sharks would come on their own.
"If not for you, would the Yamashiro family have collapsed so easily?" Amami Daizen asked.
"Old Man, you're overestimating me."
"Keep pretending."
Amami Daizen's tone carried a clear warning now.
"The head of the Yamashiro family, Yamashiro Rito and Yamashiro Hayato's father, personally came to the Onmyo Agency headquarters just now to apologize. He hopes we'll show mercy and leave them a path to survive."
Gin's eyes moved slightly.
"At least someone in the Yamashiro family still has a brain."
He immediately understood the situation.
Yamashiro Hayato had only recently died in the Mount Fuji Incident. The tea had not yet gone cold. There was still some residual sentiment and influence attached to his name.
At a time like this, the Yamashiro family still had room to beg the Onmyo Agency to serve as a mediator.
If they had chosen instead to use their remaining connections in the Onmyo Agency to make trouble for Gin, then Amami Daizen would not have made this call at all.
He would have suppressed them directly.
"Old Man, I understand what you mean," Gin said. "Don't worry. As long as the Yamashiro family stops looking for trouble, I won't do anything else."
"That's good."
Amami Daizen's voice softened slightly.
"As you said, this matter was indeed provoked by Yamashiro Rito. Otherwise, whether in the Onmyo Agency or the wider Onmyodo world, some unpleasant rumors about you would inevitably spread."
"Old Man, I've troubled you again."
Gin knew very well that those rumors had likely already begun to surface.
The only reason they had not spread wildly was probably because Amami Daizen had pressed them down.
"You brat. It's good that you know." Amami Daizen sighed. "Keep a lower profile for a while. Don't be so reckless every time something happens."
He was not particularly concerned about Yamashiro Rito being crippled.
That was a small matter.
What truly worried him was still the Taizan Fukun Ritual incident.
That was the real disaster waiting to erupt.
Compared to that taboo, Yamashiro Rito's business was barely worth mentioning.
After a brief silence, Amami Daizen asked in a heavier tone, "By the way, do you truly have the strength to contend with a Great Yokai?"
Gin was not surprised by the question.
The news that Shinomiya Kaguya had been marked by Shuten-dōji had long since spread throughout the Onmyodo world. The information he had given her and the fact that he accepted her commission had also spread with it.
Even if the one coming was not Shuten-dōji himself, any existence at the Great Yokai level was not something an ordinary National Level Onmyoji could face alone.
By the standards of modern Onmyodo, it required three National Level Onmyoji to contend with one Great Yokai.
And now, countless eyes in the Onmyodo world were fixed on this matter.
Everyone wanted to see whether White Fox Gin Tsumugi, the newly appointed member of the [Twelve Divine Generals] and rare genius of Onmyodo, was merely a newborn calf unafraid of tigers, or if he truly possessed the strength to stand against a Great Yokai alone.
Some watched with expectation.
Some waited to laugh.
And some, like Amami Daizen, worried.
"Don't worry, Old Man," Gin said. "I can't say I'm one hundred percent certain, but I have more than fifty percent confidence. Besides, if I truly can't win, escaping cleanly won't be a problem."
"It's good that you understand that much."
Amami Daizen let out a breath, clearly relieved.
What he feared most was not Gin losing.
It was Gin refusing to retreat because of pride, fighting to the death against a Great Yokai when the situation was already hopeless.
If that happened, his old bones might have to personally make a trip to Minato Ward.
"Some matters only require you to do your best," Amami Daizen said earnestly. "Even if you fail, no one will dare blame you. As for those rumors outside, treat them as if they don't exist."
"Mhm. I know, Old Man."
A trace of warmth rose in Gin's chest.
He understood the old man's worry.
In Amami Daizen's eyes, the odds of him facing a Great Yokai alone were clearly not very favorable. Otherwise, he would not have called so late just to lecture him.
Amami Daizen had no descendants of his own. To some extent, he treated Gin like a grandson, scolding him, teaching him, and protecting him in his own blunt way.
The two chatted for a few more minutes before Gin finally ended the call.
He placed the phone back on the bedside table and returned to the window.
Outside, the night remained still.
Mist moved between the trees. Stars hung above the mountains. The distant city lights flickered faintly, fragile beneath the vast darkness.
Gin looked at the pitch-black sky and murmured, "Once tomorrow passes, everything will have an answer."
At the same time, in another bedroom of Shinomiya Manor, Shinomiya Kaguya stood silently by her own window.
Her elegant face was reflected faintly in the glass, but her eyes were clouded with worry.
Tomorrow would decide too much.
Her life.
Her position in the Shinomiya family.
And perhaps the attitude of the entire Onmyodo world toward White Fox Gin Tsumugi.
"I hope everything goes according to plan."
Her fingers tightened slightly at her side.
"White Fox Gin Tsumugi…"
.....
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