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THE residence in question was located southeast from the city center, at the corner of a street of fancy houses belonging to members of the aristocracy and financiers.
According to the materials she’d read while waiting, the house was full of expensive items. In the grand entrance hall, a grandfather clock loomed imposingly.
Recently, there had been frequent cases of Kotogami manifesting of their own will inside the homes of rich folk. Those affected had been reaching out to the Narrators’ Association via their personal connections in search of assistance.
Usually, the Association would turn a blind eye to the trinket-collecting habits of the rich, but lately they had been seizing this opportunity to round up unregistered Kotogatari and had been dispatching Narrators to these residences.
Now, Akari found herself standing outside one such home.
“All right. I’m Second Lieutenant Amagai, of the Narrator division. We are now going to perform an assessment. Make sure to stay out of the way. That means all of you. In case of resistance, I am authorized to use extreme force.”
Amagai hadn’t bothered to apologize for being late to the appointment. Instead, he jumped right in, snarling warnings at the servants and the owner of the household. Then he turned and started casually ordering Akari around.
“I’m going to do a sweep of the residence. You go through the books in the library and look for Kotogatari.”
Before she could respond, Amagai went off with the house’s owner. Heaving a put-upon sigh, Akari got to work. But not without remembering to acknowledge the head of the staff with a polite bow first.
Manners cost nothing. Besides, it was muscle memory for Akari, who, after all, worked in the corporate world herself.
“What the heck is that guy’s problem?”
Tomohito had appeared suddenly, fuming in the face of Akari’s calm resignation.
“Getting in a stew about it won’t help. Just calm down.”
“But, Mistress!”
Akari shot him a look as he continued to huff and puff. Just then Kansuke spoke up from where he was casually leaning against a wall. He’d manifested as soon as they’d been shown to the library collection.
“There’s no point getting angry over the words of a puny military man like that. Just ignore him while we’re here. The mission will be done soon enough, after all.”
Kansuke seemed at ease as he rested against the wall with his katana slung casually across his body. But it was clear he wasn’t about to take orders from anyone. And he obviously thought Amagai was as much of a twit as Akari did.
Tomohito fell silent then, which came as a relief. Akari sighed and handed him a book.
“Let’s just get on with the job, shall we? I can’t go through all these by myself.”
The entire room was crammed with books. It was going to take a long time to check them all. Tomohito nodded, in control of his emotions once more.
“…Yes, Mistress. I think it would be best if you simply held the books in your hands to sense for any irregularities. There is no need to open them. If you find any suspicious books, please give them directly to me.”
“All right. What about Kansuke?”
“Me? I’ll do my job too. Of course.”
When Akari turned around, she saw that Kansuke was sitting on the floor with his back to the wall, one knee bent casually. He didn’t look as if he was prepared to do any work at all.
They stared each other down, but Kansuke blinked first. Still, Akari decided to drop it. Rolling up her sleeves, she dove into the sea of books.
They had one day to get the job done. But thanks to Amagai being late, they were going to be cutting it very close indeed.
Akari picked up a volume and held it for a moment, waiting to feel something. There was no need to read the title.
She’d studied the materials well before coming, but she was still doubtful that she had the necessary ability to differentiate a Kotogatari from a regular book. Soon, though, one book in particular made her senses start tingling.
“…Hmm?”
The book felt warm, as if from the residual heat of someone’s hand. Or as if she were holding a small animal in her palm. Akari murmured in surprise, and Tomohito’s head whipped around.
“Good work, Mistress. There’s a malicious presence within, to be sure.”
“It’s not a Kotogatari?”
“This isn’t a spirit that’s been enshrined in a book. Instead, it’s a concentration of negative energy that has collected within a book, drawn by the story within. If we leave it be, it may cause harm to someone. We should exorcise the spirit.”
“Oh yes, that’s one of our duties as well. Let’s separate it from the rest.”
Akari recalled that the handbook she’d read had mentioned such spirits as well. She set the book aside and continued sorting. Mostly she just picked up a book from the pile on her right and immediately restacked it again on her left. Working in tandem with Tomohito, they managed to get through about half of the room’s books before Amagai came strolling in.
“What? You’re not done yet?”
Akari could practically sense Tomohito’s blood pressure shooting up, and she got to her feet to diffuse the situation. Tomohito really was a hotheaded young man.
“Excuse me, we’ve found several books housing negative spirits. Could you take care of them?”
“What? Oh. Something like that, it’d be quicker to just burn them.”
Amagai snorted at the small pile of books, then withdrew a stack of sacred paper slips from his bag. Carelessly, he slapped the slips onto the book covers.
Then, a frightening, oppressive aura began to slowly emanate from the pile.
As Akari waited, she felt the dark, heavy atmosphere in the room slowly begin to lift. The spirits had been exorcised. Potential personality disorder aside, this surly young man clearly possessed the necessary abilities of a Narrator.
“From what the owner tells me, all the books are housed in this room. I checked every room just to be sure, but I didn’t sense anything. What I’m saying is that I’ve done my part, and our job here won’t be over until you’ve finished doing yours.”