"That little rat seems to have been hiding for quite some time."
Upon noticing something amiss, Senhime Rin Getsu immediately looked up at the dim sky.
The keen vision of a Great Yokai swiftly locked onto a bird flapping its wings in the night sky.
Upon closer inspection, Senhime spotted faint paper-like traces on the creature's form.
"Paper?" Senhime murmured in surprise.
"That must be a paper Familiar Spirit—one of the Yin-Yang Arts."
Compared to Senhime, Yukari Oikawa seemed far more knowledgeable about such techniques:
"But to conceal your presence for so long before we noticed... was that the Yin-Yang Arts from the Onmyou Agency?"
"If I recall correctly, apart from the Onmyou Agency's Suzaku, the only one who can use such techniques and enter this Abyss should be that sword prodigy from the Ministry of Environment, right?"
...
"Oh no!"
In the forest below the stone steps of Kikyo Shrine.
Covering her right eye while maintaining visual connection with her Familiar Spirit, Yomi Isayama read Yukari Oikawa's lips and caught her words.
Her pupils contracted. Without bothering to retrieve her Familiar Spirit, she immediately stood up, preparing to slip into the forest and make her escape.
Yet at that very moment, Yomi Isayama suddenly felt something cold touch her cheek.
She reached up to touch it, then stared at the half-ice, half-water snowflake on her hand, her expression shifting abruptly.
Simultaneously, swirling ice crystals materialised before her in a sudden whirlwind, carrying an astonishing chill.
From within this vortex of snowflakes, Yukari Oikawa emerged, covering her lips with her wide kimono sleeve as she narrowed her eyes and said:
"You felt... fear just now, didn't you?"
Hearing this, Yomi Isayama's expression changed immediately. She bit her lip with silver teeth and said:
"So this is the Nura Clan yokai's unique Fear ability?"
"That momentary fear I felt just now is what revealed my position to you."
Speaking halfway between regret and wariness, she continued:
"Your speculation about Yin-Yang Arts and judgment of my identity - it was all deliberately said to provoke that instant of fear in me..."
"My... you're quite clever."
Yukari Oikawa smiled cheerfully at Yomi Isayama, then narrowed her eyes further:
"So then, why is someone from the Ministry of Environment spying on me?"
"I'm rather curious about that."
Yomi Isayama's gaze sharpened, her hand instinctively gripping the hilt of her treasured sword, Shishio.
But then, an odd sensation made her involuntarily shift her gaze from the tree trunk to an empty space nearby.
There, she saw Senhime Rin Getsu standing silently in her white robes upon the clearing.
Faced with encirclement by two Great Yokai, Yomi Isayama's mouth twitched involuntarily.
After a moment's silence, she released Shishio and raised her hands:
"I surrender!"
Against two Great Yokai, she held no illusions about escaping.
More importantly, she didn't believe she'd overheard any truly dangerous secrets, so the likelihood of being silenced seemed low.
Seeing Yomi Isayama's compliance, Senhime Rin Getsu remarked with some surprise:
"That face... you're the Onmyoji from before... To think we'd meet again here so soon?"
Yomi Isayama's lips moved wordlessly for a moment before she sighed:
"It seems we meet again indeed, madam."
"Oh? You know each other?" Yukari Oikawa gave Senhime Rin Getsu a surprised look, then suddenly realised something. "Was this at Tōga's tomb?"
"Has the Ministry of Environment taken up grave-robbing now?"
Senhime Rin Getsu shot her a glance but didn't refute this, instead turning back to Yomi Isayama:
"As I recall, you were working with that woman who broke into the Underworld and stole the Meidō Stone."
"Her name was... Kuesu Jingūji, wasn't it?"
"Did she send you to spy on us?"
When Senhime Rin Getsu mentioned Kuesu Jingūji, Yomi Isayama hesitated for a moment before explaining:
"Her orders were to come here and invite Shrine Maiden Kikyo to Odawara Castle in Musashi Province."
"Kikyo?" Senhime Rin Getsu was somewhat surprised. "Why would she be looking for her?"
She had assumed Kuesu Jingūji wanted to take the Dog Tribe's accumulated wealth from her, never expecting the target would actually be Kikyo.
First, Luo Shu invited her, and now Kuesu Jingūji was extending an invitation too. Was that human woman really in such high demand?
"Kuesu Jingūji?!" Yukari Oikawa paused, recalling: "I remember her... she's that notorious witch on Europe's most wanted list, isn't she?"
"Is she trying to study Kikyo's powers by inviting her?"
Yomi Isayama didn't dare refute or even make a sound, afraid that any careless remark might lead these two Great Yokai women to deduce more than she intended.
She was counting on the information she possessed to save her life.
"It seems you're unwilling to answer..."
Noticing Yomi Isayama's tight-lipped expression, Yukari Oikawa turned her gaze to Senhime Rin Getsu:
"What do you plan to do with this little one?"
Senhime Rin Getsu glanced at Yomi Isayama before turning away and walking towards the steps:
"We'll wait for Luo Shu to return."
Hearing this, Yukari Oikawa showed some surprise:
"Does that mean Director Luo is already on his way back?"
Senhime Rin Getsu gave Yukari Oikawa a sidelong glance but didn't respond, merely stating calmly:
"Take her to the main hall of the shrine. I need to make some preparations."
"Understood."
Yukari Oikawa nodded, then turned to Yomi Isayama with a smile:
"Will you come with me willingly, or shall I freeze you into an ice sculpture first and carry you there?"
Was that even a real choice?
Yomi Isayama gave Yukari Oikawa a strange look before standing up: "I'll go with you."
"Good." Yukari Oikawa nodded before leaping down from the tree trunk.
She landed nimbly on the ground, her toes leaving trails of frost crystals:
"Follow me."
Without hesitation, Yomi Isayama gritted her teeth and followed.
...
Five minutes later.
At the doorway of a room in the shrine's inner courtyard.
After confirming the deduction of 1000 Points, Senhime Rin Getsu looked up as the paper-sliding door before her opened on its own:
"How does it feel to have been tricked?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu—who emerged from behind the sliding door carrying a silver metal case—couldn't help but retort:
"Feel?"
Luo Shu glanced back at Kikyo, who was following closely behind, and curled his lips slightly:
"In a certain sense, I'd say my mood is actually rather good?"