After sipping his green tea and savoring it, Hayakawa said, “Because we engage in a specialized field, our organization is short-staffed, and we’re always looking for talented individuals who can become practitioners for us.”
“Practitioners…”
“That’s what we call those who work to resolve the spiritual disturbances that trouble our customers. I have some experience in the area myself. Just as there are various types of spiritual disturbances, each practitioner has their area of expertise. For example, in Mr. Tatsumi’s case—”
“He deals with artifact spirits?”
“Correct. When it comes to artifact spirits, no one is nearly as good as Mr. Tatsumi.”
“Does that mean you’re part of Mr. Hayakawa’s organization?” Masamichi asked Shino.
“Not yet,” Shino replied briefly, placing a glass of water in front of Masamichi.
“Not yet?”
“We’ve continued to approach Mr. Tatsumi for some time now, but he has yet to give me a positive response. But in view of your situation, he called me.”
“Huh?!”
“Never mind the details. Just give me your assessment, Hayakawa.”
Without allowing his stunned servant to probe any further, Shino urged Hayakawa to tell him what he thought.
Hayakawa took another sip of his tea, straightened his posture, and turned serious.
“It’s a spell that’s been formulated with considerable care. I can’t help being surprised that a specter has mastered its creation. Needless to say, the initial practitioner was skilled, but I’ve never heard of a highly secretive technique like that being taught to their apparition… Of course, you’re an exception, Mr. Tatsumi.”
“Never mind me,” Shino said in his usual sharp way. “All Tokifuyu taught me were protective spells. He didn’t teach me anything about spells that could harm humans.”
“I understand, sir. The barrier that covers this area is truly magnificent. It leaves no doubt as to Mr. Tokifuyu’s skills as a spiritual medium.”
Hayakawa stopped there and looked at Masamichi, who was unable to join the conversation and was glancing nervously back and forth between him and Shino. His expression was gentle, but Masamichi didn’t miss the cold, detached light that shone behind his glasses.
“As far as I can see, the spell that turned Mr. Adachi’s body into that of an innocent child covers his entire body like a net, leaving no room for a third party to intervene to undo it.”
“What if I tried to break that net with brute force? I don’t think it would be impossible.”
Hayakawa shook his head at Shino’s violent suggestion, which was completely out of character with his elegant appearance.
“The net of the spell extends deeply into the body of the cursed. It will probably endanger Mr. Adachi’s life if it isn’t lifted or removed properly.”
Masamichi swallowed.
He had no idea how much time had passed between him losing consciousness in the park and Shino’s arrival.
But it seemed that during that time, Kagiroi had cast a spell on his entire body. And judging by the expressions on Hayakawa and Shino’s faces, it must be an immensely powerful curse.
Shino folded his arms, looking unhappy, and Hayakawa said in a tone that would calm an agitated brat, “Mr. Tatsumi, a spell is basically something that can only be undone by the individual who cast it. Or perhaps, by that person’s death…”
“I’m well aware of that and have already told Masamichi about it. But—”
He glanced at Masamichi’s young face, which held a mix of confusion and fear.
“—this is basically a technique that a human being created. Thus, there must be a possibility that another human practitioner could deal with it, which is why I called you. How is the situation from that perspective?”
Hayakawa thought for a moment and shook his head.
“Well, sir, to be honest, practitioners today often have manuals. It’s generally the case that if we can find this manual, then it should be fairly easy to cope…”
“Manuals?! Are you saying manuals exist for cursing people?”
It was natural for an ordinary person like Masamichi to be surprised, but Hayakawa nodded as if it was common sense.
“That’s right. Surprisingly, they’re not actually hard to find, like on flea market sites…”
“Are you serious?!”
“Of course, there are both good and bad points; most are bad, and reading a manual doesn’t necessarily mean that one can easily decipher and use the curses written there.”
“Good. Well, not good, but that’s good for now.”
However, Masamichi’s relief was short-lived as Hayakawa continued to explain, his expression becoming darker and darker.
“This…Kagiroi, was it…? The spell that specter cast on you was indeed one from the Heian period. It’s far more precise and complex than modern curses, and above all, there’s no manual.”
“Isn’t there a secret scroll or something?”
Shino answered in a brusque tone, “Even if there was such a thing, it would be written in a complicated and mysterious code. Spiritual mediums at the time wouldn’t have wanted others to easily master techniques they’d spent their whole life, sometimes over generations, refining.”
“Oh! I guess not.”
“These kinds of spells and techniques are top secret. Most are passed down orally.”
“Are you saying no one will ever know the structure of the spell that Kagiroi cast on me?”
This time, Hayakawa took over.
“That would be the case. Even if we were to ask a practitioner in our organization to analyze it, it would likely take many years. And in the meantime, your body would remain as it is.”
Masamichi swallowed.
“So…are you saying I’d grow up again from this five-year-old state?”
“No, sir. The spell cast on you isn’t something that rewinds time. It fixes the body in the state you were in at a certain point in your life. You’re like an image in a photograph from long ago.”
Masamichi snapped his fingers in understanding.
“I get it! So for example, if it takes ten years to analyze this spell, I’ll be stuck like this—”
“As a five-year-old during that entire period.”
“That…would be a problem.”
It was more than just a problem. But people tended to lose their vocabulary when they got seriously upset.
Hayakawa heard Masamichi’s croak and said with sympathy, “I understand.”
“There’s no point in feeling sorry for him,” Shino said, interrupting the exchange, clearly irritated. “Hayakawa. Isn’t there any way to resolve this? If there isn’t, there’s no reason for me to cooperate with you.”
Hayakawa tilted his head to the side and thought it over.
“We’ll need a little time, but I’d like to have our staff go through our archives.”
“Your archives?”
“Yes, sir. Our organization has collected and preserved a vast amount of data on ancient arts and spells from throughout the world. Gentetsu Izumo, Kagiroi’s master; and his father, Gensou Izumo—if we can trace our information back to them, we’ll look into their ancestors as well. We’ll search through everything we have and gather information on the Izumo clan’s spell methods.”
“I see. Perhaps that will have some meaning.” Shino nodded, finally appearing to be satisfied.
Hayakawa continued in a matter-of-fact tone, “From what you’ve told me, the Izumos were spiritual mediums from the Tajima region. We’ll focus our investigation on their hometown area…and if we can find some organization that produces spiritual mediums there, we may be able to find techniques that had been common to them. Speaking from experience, that may be our quickest option.”
“I’ll leave you to it. Get on it right away.”
“Yes, sir.”
Hayakawa glanced at Masamichi and then fixed his gaze on Shino. “Unlike with practitioners, it isn’t all that difficult to increase the number of people we can mobilize for administrative tasks. However…,” Hayakawa said somewhat awkwardly, “what we will need…is…a track record…like a history of your accomplishments, in order to obtain permission from my superiors to do this.”
“I understand,” Shino said simply. “I’ll do what I have to do right away. In exchange, I need you to produce results in the shortest time possible.”
“Yes, sir! I’ll be delighted to. I promise I’ll do my very best.”
“Naturally.”
After giving the arrogant specter a light bow, Hayakawa pulled his attaché case toward him.
“I will report back to you as soon as we find the documents and discover how to deal with the situation. I’ll also arrange for a practitioner if I can find one who might be useful. But for now…”
Speaking without pausing, Hayakawa pulled out an unexpected item.
It was a cute cat brooch. About the size of Masamichi’s palm, it depicted the face of a black cat and looked like it had been cut out from a wooden board. The cat’s face was lacquered, and its huge gold eyes shone at the center.
The button nose and the smiling mouth were painted yellow, and the design was indisputably cute and funny.
“This is for you, Mr. Adachi.”
“For me? I-it’s certainly cute, but I’m not really a child…”
Masamichi openly showed his confusion, but Shino was calm and said, “Just accept it without comment.”
“Huh?!”
“Ah, Mr. Tatsumi, of course you can tell. This is no ordinary brooch. It’s cursed.”
“What?! Something cute like this is cursed?”
“Yes, sir. I thought something cute would be good since Mr. Tatsumi told me that you’d been transformed into a child. May I proceed?”
“Go ahead.”
Now that he had Shino’s permission, Hayakawa didn’t give Masamichi the brooch right away. Instead, he kept hold of the brooch and asked him, “Have you found yourself…prone to extreme fatigue since last night?”
Startled, Masamichi answered in the affirmative.
“Yes, I have. But that’s because Kagiroi stole my chi.”
“There is that, but how are you feeling now?”
Masamichi thought about how he’d been doing a while ago and glanced at Shino, who moved his chin slightly as if telling him to answer honestly.
“I get tired really easily after doing something. I was pooped after a little housework a while ago and was lying down until the two of you walked in…”
“So you do have symptoms. I’m glad I came prepared,” Hayakawa said and looked at him with pity. “Mr. Tatsumi told me about you, but I’m sure of it now that I’ve met you in person. Mr. Adachi, another spell has been cast on your body.”
“What?!”
Masamichi was so surprised that he practically jumped up from his cushion.
“Your chi is continuously being taken from your body. To put it simply, it’s like Kagiroi is sucking your chi dry with a very long straw.”
“That’s too disgusting! Oh, but you’ve made it easy for me to understand. Ugh… I hate this.”
As he shuddered, Hayakawa looked sincerely sorry for him but said in a slightly brighter tone, “However, it’s possible to deal with that curse.”
“You mean you can yank the straw away?”
“No, that’s a little difficult, like the spell I mentioned earlier.”
“Huh…? So he’s going to keep sucking me forever?”
“That’s where this comes in.”
Hayakawa smiled and held up the cute brooch with the black cat on it. Using the safety pin on the back, he pinned it to the chest area of Masamichi’s checked shirt.