Chapter 154: Aftermath
The Kyoto Incident concluded with the sealing of the Yin energy source.
This supernatural event, which had triggered the second Level One Onmyōdō Alert since the Mount Fuji Incident, finally came to a close after the Onmyo Bureau, Onmyo Alliance, and Onmyō Academy jointly announced their victory to the Onmyōdō world.
However, the end of the incident did not mean the end of its aftermath.
On the surface, the Kyoto Incident had been resolved.
But the details of what had happened began spreading one after another, not only through the Onmyōdō world, but even across Japan.
After all, too many Onmyoji had been mobilized this time.
The Onmyoji who had rushed to Kyoto came from different families, factions, schools, and private organizations. They were a chaotic mix of loyalties and backgrounds. It was simply impossible to silence all of them.
Invisible ripples continued spreading outward.
High ranking Onmyōdō figures such as Tsuchimikado Arima, Kurahashi Genji, and Tsuchimikado Yasuzumi knew there was no way to stop it.
Just as they had discussed before, they allowed the news to spread and ferment within a moderately controlled range.
Soon, the entire Onmyōdō world learned the cause and effect of the Kyoto Incident.
And the inside story was terrifying enough to shake anyone.
From the beginning, Hagoromo Gitsune, the only reincarnated Yokai, had broken the Spiral Seal and released the source of Yin energy beneath Kyoto.
Then came Keikain Yūra, a rare Onmyōdō talent, manifesting the shikigami Hagun.
The appearance of the genius Onmyoji from four hundred years ago, the Thirteenth Generation Keikain Hidemoto.
The unstoppable Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.
The emergence of several Great Yokai.
The terrifying Tsuchigumo, who could not be faced head on.
Piece after piece of news came out, each more shocking than the last.
Many in the Onmyōdō world cried out in alarm.
They had known that the Kyoto Incident, which had forced the Onmyo Bureau, Onmyō Academy, and Onmyo Alliance to trigger a Level One Alert, must have been a critical situation.
But they had never imagined the danger would be this great.
So many Great Yokai had appeared in a single incident.
Among them were existences as powerful as Hagoromo Gitsune and Tsuchigumo.
Then came the true identity of Nue.
When everyone learned that the being Hagoromo Gitsune wanted to give birth to was actually the dark incarnation of the Great Onmyoji Abe no Seimei from the Heian Period, the entire Onmyōdō world became restless.
That was the myth of Onmyōdō.
The dark incarnation of Abe no Seimei had almost been born into this era as an enemy.
For many Onmyoji who regarded him as their lifelong faith, that fact filled them with conflict and grief.
It felt as though Nue's very existence had defiled the pure faith in their hearts.
At the same time, the Onmyoji finally confirmed that the legends were true.
The mother of the Great Onmyoji Abe no Seimei was indeed not human.
She was a white fox.
The unique Great Yokai with nine flawless white fox tails.
Hagoromo Gitsune.
Hagoromo Gitsune had schemed for over a thousand years for the sake of giving birth to Abe no Seimei's dark incarnation once more.
That unwavering obsession and heavy maternal love could not be dismissed lightly, even by those who had stood against her.
For a time, the entire Onmyōdō world was curious.
How had the Onmyoji who went to Kyoto resolved Hagoromo Gitsune and Nue, the dark incarnation of Abe no Seimei?
After all, from any perspective, once Nue had successfully been born and descended, he was not an enemy the Onmyoji dispatched to Kyoto should have been able to handle.
It might sound like praising the enemy while belittling themselves, but reality was reality.
The Onmyoji who handled the Kyoto Incident already represented the majority of the Onmyōdō world's main forces. It could almost be called a full mobilization of the entire Onmyōdō world.
Unfortunately, compared to the legendary Great Onmyoji Abe no Seimei, even a dark incarnation of him was separated from them by an insurmountable gap.
Then, news even more shocking than everything before it spread.
White Fox Gin Tsumugi was actually the reincarnation of the Great Onmyoji Abe no Seimei.
He was the true reincarnator.
Unlike Nue, who was merely a fake formed from darkness clinging to soul fragments.
Furthermore, Nue had been completely destroyed by White Fox Gin Tsumugi himself.
This sensational news caused countless people to lose control of themselves for a long time.
Incredulity.
Disbelief.
Shock.
Those emotions continuously spread through the hearts of everyone who heard it.
The true Great Onmyoji Abe no Seimei had actually reincarnated into their era.
Was there anything in the world more unbelievable than that?
The name Abe no Seimei carried more weight in the Onmyōdō world and Japan than most people could imagine.
For some, the status of the Great Onmyoji Abe no Seimei had long surpassed even Japan's highest ranked primary deity of faith.
One may not know Minamoto no Yoshitsune, but one must know Lord Seimei.
The Lord Seimei in that saying referred precisely to the Great Onmyoji Abe no Seimei.
It had been a household phrase since the Edo Period, which was enough to show just how high Abe no Seimei's status was in Japan.
If not for the joint statement issued by the Onmyo Bureau, Onmyo Alliance, and Onmyō Academy, most people would have assumed they were hearing false news.
After all, rumors that White Fox Gin Tsumugi was the Great Onmyoji Abe no Seimei had circulated before.
But rumors were one thing.
An official confirmation from the three major Onmyōdō organizations was another matter entirely.
Aside from the initial disbelief and shock, the biggest change brought by the news was perhaps the housing prices in Shibuya Ward.
Within just a few days, housing prices in Shibuya multiplied several times over, rising in a straight line.
There were no true secrets in the world.
After White Fox Gin Tsumugi's identity as the reincarnation of Abe no Seimei was exposed, his residence and various affairs were examined as if placed under a magnifying glass.
This included the former White Fox Office.
And the fact that the current head of the Myriad Dharma Supernatural Department, which controlled Onmyōdō affairs in Shibuya Ward, was White Fox Gin Tsumugi.
It was precisely because of this that housing prices in Shibuya soared.
Now, even Kyoto had proven unsafe.
An area overseen by the legendary Great Onmyoji Abe no Seimei naturally became the place with the highest safety index in the eyes of countless people.
It could not be said that supernatural events in Shibuya Ward had completely disappeared.
But at the very least, with him overseeing it, a large scale supernatural incident like the Kyoto Incident would no longer occur there.
The massacre suffered by the residents who had refused to evacuate Kyoto was still fresh in many people's minds.
However, thanks to this situation, the previous personnel shortage in the Myriad Dharma Supernatural Department was completely resolved.
As the saying went, it was good to enjoy the shade beneath a great tree.
In addition to the Onmyoji who had already joined because they knew some of the inside story beforehand, the Myriad Dharma Supernatural Department welcomed another surge of personnel.
Organizations like the Onmyo Bureau and Onmyo Alliance were one thing.
They had great binding power over their own personnel. One could not simply leave just because one wished to.
But private Onmyōdō organizations, such as Supernatural Affairs Offices, were completely different.
In just a few short days, countless Supernatural Affairs Offices announced their dissolution and merged directly into the Myriad Dharma Supernatural Department.
With the three deputy directors, Iwanaga Kotoko, Kohara Daisuke, and Ibe Tomoya, together with Dairenji Suzuka, screening the incoming personnel, the problem of incompetent people slipping in just to make up the numbers was largely avoided.
Even after this screening process, departments that had previously lacked manpower, such as the Crime Investigation Section, Information Intelligence Section, and Supernatural Countermeasures Section under Gin's direct control, were now fully staffed.
Except for a few key positions in the Twelfth Division of the Supernatural Countermeasures Section that were temporarily reserved, the rest had reached full capacity.
Meanwhile, on a small hill in Kyoto near the Keikain Clan, two beautiful figures stood quietly.
There was no especially stunning scenery around the hill.
Its only advantage was that it overlooked an artificial lake.
When one's heart was troubled, quietly gazing from here could wash away some of the worries and shackles pressing on the mind.
At this very moment, two women who looked very similar, yet possessed completely different temperaments, stood there together.
Both looked into the distance in silence.
After a while, Ryōyū was the first to break the quiet.
She slightly turned her delicate face toward Shōko and gave a faint smile.
"Shōko, it has been a long time since the two of us stood together this peacefully."
Shōko gave Ryōyū a cold glance.
Then, after sensing a familiar trace from her ghostly body, she could not help frowning.
"You and him..."
Before Shōko could finish, a faint pink blush appeared on Ryōyū's face.
However, she neither refuted nor denied anything.
"The regrets of a thousand years naturally have to be made up for in this era."
Ryōyū spoke directly.
"Of course, Shōko, if you are willing, I, as your aunt, would not mind."
After saying that, Ryōyū even raised her brows at Shōko, as though encouraging her.
"Hmph. I'm not as shameless as you."
Shōko snorted coldly.
"As an elder, you stole someone else's fiancé, yet you don't feel the slightest shame."
Ryōyū did not respond to those blunt words.
Instead, Shōko continued.
"Is that not so?"
Her voice became sharper.
"I was clearly the one who came first. I am his fiancée, recognized by everyone."
"Not you."
"Shōko, a thousand years have passed."
Ryōyū's voice remained gentle.
"Saying such things now has already lost its meaning."
She looked toward the lake.
"Moreover, the status of fiancée that you speak of was closer to being a sacrificial offering from the Imperial Family."
Her gaze returned to Shōko.
"Are you truly willing to become a sacrifice for the Imperial Family and marry him under that identity?"
"I..."
Shōko wanted to argue.
But before she could finish, Ryōyū continued.
"To the Imperial Family, you were indeed his fiancée. After all, it was announced to the world by my dear brother, your dear father, Emperor Suzaku."
"But that was only the Imperial Family's unilateral view."
Ryōyū's tone was calm, yet direct.
"Back then, did anyone from the Abe Family step forward and acknowledge your status?"
"Tell me, Shōko."
"What is more important?"
"Recognition from the Imperial Family, or recognition from the Abe Family?"
Shōko fell into silence.
She did not deny her complex feelings toward him.
Those feelings were mixed together.
A mentor.
A father figure.
A lover.
All of them existed.
However, in terms of legitimacy, she truly could not compare to the fiancée before her.
Ryōyū had been recognized by the Abe Family and Lady Hagoromo Gitsune from the very beginning.
"Hmph."
After a long silence, Shōko spoke almost recklessly.
"You may be legitimate, but in the end, weren't you still a failure?"
Her words struck directly at the sorest point.
"He was still taken away from you."
"So there is no difference between us."
Ryōyū, who had always carried herself with the elegance and patience of a virtuous wife and mother, felt the corner of her mouth stiffen.
This girl really knew how to stab where it hurt.
"You have been unlikable since you were a child."
Ryōyū's voice carried rare displeasure.
"I did not expect that even a thousand years would fail to change you."
"The feeling is mutual."
The two fell silent again.
After a while, Ryōyū spoke first.
"Tomorrow, Gin will return to Shibuya Ward with Lady Hagoromo Gitsune."
"I need to go to Shinjuku Ward with Mashiro first and pack up before moving to Shibuya."
She looked at Shōko.
"Do you want to come with us?"
Shōko did not answer immediately.
Ryōyū continued softly, "Looking at the events of a thousand years ago from a bystander's perspective, the fault lies neither with him nor with you."
"If one must blame a culprit for what happened back then, it can only be blamed on the increasingly ambitious Imperial Family."
After Ryōyū finished speaking, Shōko remained silent for several breaths.
Then she shook her head.
"Forget it."
Her voice became much quieter.
"He might remember you now, but as for me..."
She lowered her eyes slightly.
"At Nijō Castle, I could clearly see it from that faintly distant look in his eyes."
"He has not remembered me yet."
"He seems to know certain things, but it is limited to knowing."
Shōko's fingers tightened slightly.
"That is not the same as what I want."
Ryōyū did not refute her.
Because Gin's current situation was indeed as Shōko described.
His memories were recovering little by little.
According to Ryōyū's analysis, the pattern seemed to be that memory points were restored in stages corresponding to the recovery of his strength.
When Ryōyū first realized this, she had also felt relieved.
After all, as long as Gin's strength continued to increase and he returned to the heights he had reached a thousand years ago, his complete recovery of memories would only be a matter of time.
It had to be said that Ryōyū's analysis was already extremely close to Gin's actual situation.
"When he truly remembers me, tell him to come find me at the Ise Saigū."
Shōko's figure began to blur.
"I will be waiting for him there."
After saying this, Shōko disappeared from the spot.
"What a stubborn and awkward little girl."
Ryōyū watched the place where Shōko had vanished and sighed softly.
"She clearly wants to see him, yet desperately suppresses the feelings in her heart."
After a pause, she smiled faintly at herself.
"Sigh. I am hardly in any position to criticize others in that regard."
A few breaths later, Ryōyū also departed.
....
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