Samurai from the Edo period had a really interesting saying:
Ghost in the distance
Expose its identity
Merely pampas grass
It basically meant that when someone thinks something is scary, even an ear of pampas grass could look like a ghost. Once humans are convinced of something, sometimes it’s really hard to convince them otherwise. This is partly why the world is so filled with people who believe in ghosts and fortune telling. Furthermore, that trend was even on the uprise.
I myself was completely incapable of understanding how people could believe in something without actual proof. I had doubted even my own superpower when I awakened to it. My general policy toward everything occult was to approach it first with doubt. That way, the chance of being deceived would go down.
But with that said, after the Super Water Sphere Incident, things weren’t exactly so black and white anymore. After all, we were the ones who had given proof to the rest of the world of the existence of superpowers, something that normally would be dismissed together with everything else occult.
If espers exist, then maybe ghosts and monsters from folklore do too! Maybe there are fortune tellers who’re really reading the future! Unidentified Mysterious Animals may be just living in hiding, and my neighbor may actually be a wizard! Such laughable nonsense had ceased to be laughable nonsense. The line between the imaginary and the real was falling apart.
As a result, those lucky charm keepsakes sold at souvenir shops started flying off the shelves, the viewership ratings of fortune telling TV programs made a sharp turn upward, and autobiographies written by people who claim to have met space aliens or UMAs received reprinting orders with the momentum of surging waves. It could be said that this was all inevitable.
And included within this supernatural boom were power spots.
Power spots were basically “special locations” that dotted the planet here and there. These were the so-called spiritual lands, spiritual mountains, holy sites, and holy lands that had been worshiped since the olden times. Sounds like a bunch of baloney if you ask me. Supposedly some spiritual aura or something would be gushing out from the ground, and by bathing in it, one could receive better luck or good health or some other blessing.
Of course, they were all lies. Power spots don’t bestow blessings. Back in my university days, I had also visited a ton of famous power spots. As could be expected, none of them had any reaction to my superpower. My luck did not go up noticeably. My tooth cavity did not get healed.
There’s no better way to bolster one’s superpower than diligent training. Someone who wants better luck would be much better served learning the techniques of a swindler. And a cavity? Go to the dentist already, dude.
This was reality. Clinging aimlessly to something that did not exist was very different from putting in the effort to realize a dream.
And with all that said, this time, we were going to take advantage of this human inability to discern between what’s real and what’s not. Each power spot already had its own stories and myths, so if I were to spam supernatural-seeming phenomenon at such locations, it was bound to gather the attention of the mass media and police alike. By cleverly interweaving the existing information about the power spot and the tailored supernatural phenomenon, a rather large bit of confusion and diversion could be expected. As an aside, it would also have the effect of raising the number of visitors to the power spots in question.
Of course, I did not expect mere decoys to cause Tokyo to become completely emptied out. However, at the very least, it should spread out those sniffing around and thin their numbers a bit.
Upon getting permission from Kaburagi-san, who was busy making arrangements for the traitor event, the strategy of using decoys to scatter the riff raff beforehand was agreed upon. She herself was focusing on the preparations for the traitor event itself, so the decoy strategy was going to be taken up mainly by Baba and myself. As someone with experience leading an entire country, Baba was incredibly sharp. With me making up for her unfamiliarity with common knowledge here in Japan, we could manage perfectly even without Kaburagi-san. Every once in a while, talking with Baba made me feel like a layman talking to Einstein or something.
In the strategy room located within the secret base underneath Ama-no-Iwato, Baba and I had several maps spread open, with red pins indicating the power spots that we had an eye on. For our consideration of such places within Japan, naturally we singled out the most famous ones, including Mt. Osore, the Sea of Trees at the foot of Mt. Fuji, Takachiho Gorge, and Mt. Aso. In addition, we also added a few comparatively obscure places that generally would only be known by nearby residents.
Now, it would be strange for supernatural phenomena to be limited to Japan alone, so for our overseas considerations, we included Ayers Rock, the Grand Canyon, Stonehenge, Angkor Wat, the Parthenon...... and also Mt. Everest and Easter Island for good measure.
For the briefest of moments, I did consider using telekinesis to stimulate an underwater volcano to spew out enough magma to create a whole new island and manipulate public opinion into thinking of it as the newest and biggest power spot of the 21st century, but then I stopped myself. I was afraid I would drive oceanographers, geologists, and physicists all over the world absolutely mad if I did so. And of course, there was also the rather real fear that I would accidentally use a bit more strength than I was supposed to and end up pulverizing the bedrock or cause some other cataclysmic alteration to the global environment. So in short, the perfect balance would be to draw the attention of the mass media and police without it turning into a big commotion.
While she was in the middle of sticking pins on the places that I was reading out loud while searching on my smartphone, Baba suddenly started as if something had just occurred to her, then asked, “Adding to our list is well and good, but how ever are we to cover an area so expansive? I dare say travel alone would take quite a bit of time.”
“Oh, did I not tell you that I can activate my telekinesis remotely, and that I can use it to pretty much mimic clairvoyance?”
“I have yet to hear the full extent of your capabilities. How far can you see with your clairvoyance?”
“For what it’s worth, I can see behind the rocks rolling around on Mars.”
Baba’s hand froze. For some reason, she looked at me with slightly creeped out eyes. What, got something to say?
“Allow me to set the record straight: that telekinesis of yours is sufficiently powerful to shatter the planet, can be activated from anywhere on said planet, and at any time of your choosing?”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
“I cry foul! You are a demon lord in truth......!”
“You cut me deep, you really do.”