Pieces on the Board – Chapter 153
It had been a few hours since the chaos.
Ogami sat on the floor with her knees tucked neatly beneath her, looking young once more. Her Séance Technique was active again, masking her true age in the form of a woman in her twenties. She held a notebook on her lap, pen scratching slowly across the page.
Not far from her, Jiro sat with a vacant, bitter expression. His posture was slouched, and he looked like he'd aged several years in mere moments. He hadn't spoken much since he woke up—not that he had much choice.
Like Ogami, Jiro had been forced to make the same slave-like binding vow with Ren.
He was stuck. Just like her.
Jiro glared at Ogami from the corner of his eye, resentment burning in his chest.
'This is all your fault, you damned witch… You dragged me here just to see the next Gojo, you said. If I had stayed home, none of this would've happened. Dammit!'
The scratch of the pen stopped.
Ogami closed the notebook gently and turned toward Ren. With quiet steps, she approached him and lowered her head in a respectful bow as she held the notebook out with both hands.
"Master, here is what you asked for."
Ren blinked, momentarily caught off guard.
"Master?"
Ogami kept her head lowered. Her tone was smooth, reverent.
"Yes. Since I am yours now, it's only proper to refer to you as such. If you prefer something else, I will change it."
Ren stared at her for a moment, thoughtful. 'Oh? So this is her angle—play the role of the obedient servant, flatter me, make herself useful… Trying to butter me up already, huh?'
He smiled slightly. 'Not that I care. But Mei Mei—'
His eyes flicked to her.
And there it was.
Mei Mei sat a little too close to him now. Her gaze was sharp and disapproving, aimed squarely at Ogami like the old woman had just strutted into her territory.
Ren took the notebook without a word, flipping it open casually while the tension brewed around him.
{Séance Techniquee—Th user can summon either the body or soul information of a deceased person using physical remnants (like corpses, hair, nails, etc.).
This allows the user to shapeshift themselves—or a willing participant—into that person.
When only the body is summoned, the technique grants the original's physical skills without reviving their personality or consciousness. This creates a stable vessel that functions purely on ability. The soul, however, is dangerous to summon.}
Ren spoke as he scanned the page.
"What happens when you summon the soul into another body?"
Ogami flinched but answered honestly.
"Um… I've never done it myself, but from what I know, there are three possibilities:
One, the person dies immediately because their soul clashes with the summoned one. They fight for the vessel, and the body collapses. Two, the summoned soul begins to warp the host body, reshaping it to resemble the original owner. But this transformation is temporary… and it can kill the body when it ends. And three…"
She hesitated.
"The worst case. The soul curses the body. Because it's dead, it might reject the vessel entirely… and both the body and soul could mutate into a cursed spirit. Something twisted. Something neither alive nor dead."
As she finished, Ren closed the notebook slowly, his fingers tapping the cover.
'So that's how it works, huh…'
He shut his eyes for a second, the wheels in his head already spinning.
'I could use the same vow I used on Mei Mei—the one that lets me gain all of someone's cursed knowledge instantly. But… no.'
'There are two problems. One: Ogami likely knows more than Mei Mei, which means more risk. And the last time I took cursed knowledge from Mei Mei… my head almost cracked open. And two: Soul knowledge probably can't be given. It's not information—it's understanding. It has to be earned.'
His thoughts flicked to what Ogami just said.
'A soul can change a body? Yes, I knew that in the manga Yuji speaks about something like that... But a soul cursing a body?? Uh, never heard about it… and cause it to self-destruct? Uh, yeah, that makes kind of sense…
But the soul cursing the body was not in the manga.
None of that was ever explained.
So either my memory is wrong… or I'm learning things even Gege Akutami didn't write down.'
He opened his eyes again. Calm.
'Either way, Ogami is useful. Very useful. I'll need her if I want to experiment with anything related to souls…'
His gaze drifted briefly toward Jiro. 'And the old man… not strong, but good in close combat. I need better hand-to-hand skills anyway. Yeah… I see it now. The next few months. Testing. Learning. Growing. Every piece where it belongs.'
Meanwhile, Mei Mei was still staring at Ogami.
Not glaring, exactly. But definitely not glaring. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
Her arms were folded tightly.
'Ugh, why does she look like she's twenty? She's eighty! You can practically smell the mothballs when her technique turns off! And the old man? Who cares? He's a prop. But her? Why does Ren want her so badly?'
Her lips tightened.
'I mean… okay, her cursed technique is interesting, sure. And yeah, she does seem to know some seriously advanced stuff… But still! Ren, what the hell!
Does he have a thing for old women or something?!'
Her eyes flicked to him.
This time, she gave him the side-eye.
And Ren?
He was already halfway through Ogami's notes again, as if he hadn't noticed a thing.