Hana puffed out her chest and chuckled, bragging as though she were the one who’d done anything. But she came back down to earth soon enough.
“Okay, no time for getting smug over this. It being buried under all that dirt means they wanted to keep this hidden, doesn’t it?”
“I’d bet, yeah.”
“Does the talisman have some kind of effect?”
“I can’t tell anything beyond the fact that it’s imbued with a curse.”
“Even an Obsidian-rank practitioner like you can’t tell?”
“Nope. I know my stuff, but I’m not a talisman expert like the Nijouins. There’s a crapload of talismans I don’t know about. But since the Nijouin clan lord happens to be here, maybe I’ll have him take a look.”
“Ah, that final boss–looking guy. Wouldn’t it be easier to just ask Kikyou or Kiriya?”
Hana figured it wasn’t worth bothering the Nijouin clan lord over, but Saku’s expression was grim.
“No, this talisman’s stumping me, the Obsidian-rank practitioner. Besides, this has a curse involved, and that alone means I can’t entrust it to two students.”
“Ah, fair point there.”
This was serious enough that Arashi had scoured the school to find the ill presence he felt. Neither knew what this talisman could do, and that it carried a curse meant it was no job for students lacking the knowledge.
“I swear, of all the times for Kazura to go missing…”
While he grumbled, Saku tried to set a barrier around the stone. Suddenly, the stone started shaking before emitting a blinding light. Sensing danger, Saku quickly tossed the stone away.
“Whoa, what?!”
“Hana!”
By the time she’d noticed how frantic Saku sounded, he was already grabbing her close. And the next instant, the stone exploded without a sound.
Hana couldn’t see it due to Saku holding her, and since it didn’t make a sound, she had no idea what happened. Even the dust that kicked up fell in silence.
“Koff! Whegh!”
Saku let go of Hana once she started coughing, and he looked deeply into her eyes.
“Hana, are you all right?”
“You, Saku?”
“No problems here. That was a close call.”
As the dust settled, Hana noticed that Saku had enclosed them all in a barrier. What’s more, Arashi was standing in front to protect Hana and Saku. It was thanks to their quick action that they narrowly avoided the worst coming to pass.
“Arashi, are you all right?”
“Yes, it’s of no concern.”
“I’m fine, too!”
Azuha had taken refuge at some point in Hana’s hair, and with her and Arashi seeming all right, Hana was relieved. But she then saw that the ground was scooped out in a crater around the spot where the stone had just been.
“That’s not something I would have wanted to get hit by.”
“Sure isn’t. What’s more, I know I put a barrier around that stone, but it managed to break it.”
It seemed like that barrier was the reason the explosion hadn’t made a sound. He might have put it up in a hurry, but the fact that the rock broke one of Saku’s barriers made it clear just how dangerous it was.
Saku clicked his tongue.
“This just turned into a pain.”
Saku raised his gaze to the sky, as though looking at something far away.
“How so?”
“That stone’s gone, but I still have that bad feeling. Guess that means there’s more of them out there.”
“There’s more of these deadly things?!”
Hana’s eyes darted to Arashi, who nodded.
“Yes, I can still feel it myself.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding…”
Hana failed to find the words to describe how bad this was.
“And on top of that, we’ve got more people here for the school festival, so we gotta find them fast. But you said even Tsubaki couldn’t find them, right?”
Aoi and Miyabi had the same level of power as Tsubaki, so they wouldn’t have much luck, either.
“Gah, dammit! Why do all these problems have to happen right when I become the clan lord?!”
Saku did not attempt to hide his irritation. He scratched his head furiously as he shouted.
“Not exactly the time for griping, though.”
“Yeah, I’m aware.”
Saku took a deep breath to calm himself down and soon regained his composure.
“Hana, can I borrow Arashi? Tsubaki couldn’t find them, but Arashi should be able to.”
“That’s fine if Arashi’s okay with it, but shouldn’t we evacuate the people on the campus?”
“No, not when we don’t know what the person who planted these has in mind. Causing a panic might just push them to take action, so—”
“Lord Ichinomiya?”
Saku and the others snapped toward the direction of the voice. There, Saku saw Kazura.
“Oh, it’s just Kazura.”
Hana was relieved, but Saku’s bright and sunny smile was dotted with a vein popping up on his temple.
Looked like he was pretty angry.
“Where have you been until now?! I’ve tried contacting you so many times!”
“My apologies. I seemed to have gotten so focused that I didn’t notice.”
“Let me guess… You were focused on that ill presence you can feel within the campus?”
When he heard those words, Kazura’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Oh, so you’ve noticed it as well.”
“Don’t insult me. I was the youngest man to ever reach Obsidian rank.”
“How rude of me.”
Kazura placed a hand on his chest and apologized, a beautiful motion befitting a seasoned butler.
“However, it seemed that Sankourou, a fellow Obsidian-rank practitioner and future clan lord, failed to notice, so I merely assumed.”
“Well, Yukizasa’s still a fresh Obsidian. I’d cut him some slack there.”
Saku looked displeased despite backing up his old friend; it seemed he had his own thoughts about Yukizasa missing this.
“Anyway, what brings you here?”
This spot was deserted; nobody would come here without a good reason.
“I felt a strong power coming from here, so I merely came to see what it was. It seems I was too late, however…”
Kazura dropped his gaze to the crater in the ground.
“Did something happen?”
Saku pressed a palm to his head at Kazura’s question.
“It’s hard to explain without the item in question, but there was a talisman imbued with a curse hidden here. Hana’s inugami found it buried in the dirt. I was going to have the Nijouin clan lord take a look at it, but the damn thing exploded first. If Arashi hadn’t been the one to find it, people could’ve gotten hurt.”
“My, how impressive.”
Kazura looked toward Hana as though to praise her, but Hana instead chose to hug Arashi and bring attention to him.
“I’m not the impressive one—Arashi is.”
“But you really do have a god as a shikigami, no?”
Hana couldn’t tell what intentions were hidden behind Kazura’s intense stare. She chose to flee that gaze by calling out to Saku.
“Hey, Saku. If we’re gonna act, the sooner the better, right?”
“Hmm. Yeah, you’re right about that. Arashi, sorry, but I’ll need your cooperation.”
“Yes, understood.”
Just when they were about to start their search, Kazura stopped them.
“Please wait. I’ll perform the search, so you two should return to the stage where the Campus Cup is being held.”
Saku objected to this proposal, which he never thought he’d hear.
“What are you talking about? If there are any more of those talismans, then we need to find them fast to keep people from getting hurt. The one we found was buried in the ground, so whoever planted it did so intentionally. I don’t know what they’re planning, but we need to put a stop to it before they have a chance to pull it off.”
“That’s exactly why. If the culprit realizes Lord Ichinomiya is on to them, then they might perform something extreme. For now, it’s best to pretend you know nothing and have me search from the shadows. We can’t risk the culprit getting desperate and hurting someone.”
Saku had just raised this concern a moment ago, so it struck a chord. Saku was at a loss for any objections to raise.
After some hesitation, Saku opened his mouth and said with a hint of frustration:
“Yeah…got it. Kazura, can you handle it?”
“Consider it done. I’ll search for the talismans while being cautious not to let the culprit notice.”
“Oh, then, Arashi, could you tag along with Kazura?”
“Very well.”
“No, there’s no need.”
“Huh? But without Arashi…”
Hana was confused by Kazura’s rejection, but he just smiled.
“I learned what the power of that talisman felt like from that explosion earlier, so there’s no problem.”
“Is that possible?”
Perhaps it was the sort of stunt that she couldn’t pull off but Obsidian-rank practitioners could, so Hana looked at Saku. He winced like he’d tasted something bitter; it must have been hard even for him.
“Ooh, that’s Mr. Strongest Obsidian for you.”
Hana gazed at him in awe and gave a little round of applause.
“It’s an honor to receive your praise.”
With his sunny smile and rock-solid composure, Kazura felt like the most reliable man for the job.
“I’ll contact Yanagi, so the two of you can search together.”
“I’m perfectly fine on my own, though.”
“It’s just in case. I’m well aware of just how strong you are, but you never know what could happen.”
“Yes, that’s true. Then I’ll meet up with Yanagi and start the search from there.”
“Yeah, I’m counting on you. Hana, let’s get going, then.”
“You sure about this? It seems quite dangerous.”
Kazura’s search for the talismans would definitely go smoother with Arashi’s assistance, so she didn’t understand why he turned down the offer.
“Kazura says it’s no problem, so it’s no problem.”
“Well, if you’re that confident, I’ll leave it at that…”
It would’ve been stranger not to be worried about more talismans that could destroy Saku’s barriers. Especially now that her own brother, Yanagi, was going to be part of the search.
“Is my brother going to be okay?”
“He’s got Kazura with him.”
Hana could feel from those words just how much faith Saku had in Kazura.