The Mystery of Fangshi Edo

'When there is new information, you must go to the scene to confirm it with your own eyes'.

Although what he writes are basically entertainment reports for the public, Hisako Mamiya also has her own reserve as a reporter.She is used to running around to interview and confirm information sources, so she has heard a little about the existence of the 'magic world' for a long time.After all, for such a huge organization, no matter how much it hides itself, it will leave some clues.

"You can check it if you want, but you must not write the relevant content as a report... If you really write it, the manuscript will be blocked by the higher authorities."

This is what her seniors told her when she first entered the industry.

"Is it so as not to cause panic?" she asked.

"You should understand the logic of 'the more fearful a person is, the stronger the vengeful spirit will be'?" said the senior in a deep voice. It can only add unnecessary problems in vain."

"In short, if you want to do this business, sometimes you have to close your eyes."

It turned out to be the case.

Hisako Mamiya quickly agreed, because she couldn't see those things either, let alone reporting things that she couldn't confirm with her own eyes, I'm afraid even trying to understand them would be a problem.

... a little lost.

It took her a few minutes to come to terms with it, then pull herself together and start thinking about her next article on the foodie hunt.

"...But I never thought it would be like this."

At this time, the underground corridor of Salvation Ranch.

The complex structure under the pale light was like the skeleton of some huge creature. Hisako Mamiya stared blankly at the scene in front of him and couldn't help murmuring.

"What do you mean?" Fang Shi Yangming asked.

"That's right, I thought the so-called 'conjurers' were just some priests or witches, holding imperial coins and waving left and right to eliminate demons, or Taoist monks who chanted spells to save wraiths..."

In short, it's not Wujo Satoru, a superpower character who seems to come out of a science fiction movie, and he has nothing to do with this kind of modern organization.

"There should be some magicians who use that method to fight against spell spirits," Fang Shi Yangming could only reply with a dry smile, "but generally speaking, their work may be more hard-core than you think... on the physical level."

After being sent to the Salvation Ranch, Magong Hisako was in a daze for a long time, and her brain shut down due to the excessive amount of information she received, which instead made her fall into a state that seemed like a dream but not a dream.

When he came back to his senses, only Fang Shi Yangming, who called just now, was left beside him.It is said that Gojo Satoru is going to collect intelligence from all over the world, so he said hello and left.

That speed, in the eyes of ordinary people, looks like teleportation.

After digesting the information for a while, Hisako Mamiya came back to her senses, and the first thing she did was to sigh.

"Today's content should not be written as a report..."

"I'm so sorry, I was so abrupt."

In fact, not only is it impossible to write a report, after the dream is over, it is estimated that you will not remember what happened here at all.

Fang Shi Yangming said in his heart, but on the surface he still expressed his apology seriously.

"Ah, no need to apologize, I'll just say something casually." Looking at the sincere young man, Hisako Mamiya felt uncomfortable, "I also asked you to tell me the information about the weird incident, and now it's my reward willing."

Even knowing that what happened here cannot be published in exchange for recognition or understanding, her curiosity is still enthusiastic.

Probably because of this, as a city resident, she was recognized by Shinna Myoshin.

"And if, as you said, the owner of the institution here is involved in brainwashing and human experiments on children, I will do my best to help those children..."

Speaking of this, she frowned slightly.

Because I saw the elevator door at the end of the corridor that was torn open.

"……This is?"

"That may be the trace left by the battle. A magician came in here before."

The two corpses had already been disposed of by Gojo Satoru. Even in a dream, that person didn't want his best friend to be exposed to the wilderness like this. As for Mimakihara Kensaku, of course he eliminated them without hesitation.

Fang Shi Yangming saw Ma Gongjiuzi stepping forward to observe the gap carefully for a while, and finally shook his head.

"It feels more like a trace of something leaving."

The elevator doors were ripped from the inside out, and there was no battle damage or blood around them, which meant that whatever escaped here was unstopped in its path.

"Miss Ma Gong." Fang Shi Yangming said suddenly, "Do you remember Baa?"

"……Who is that?"

Sure enough, the memory in the dream reincarnation was not preserved.

Fang Shi Yangming thought about it, and then said: "It's nothing, please pretend I didn't say anything."

Afterwards, he told Hisako Magong about the Salvation Ranch and the information he knew about the magic world. The reporter wrote and drew in his notebook from time to time, with a thoughtful expression on his face.

During the conversation, the two walked into the elevator, and with the sound of machinery turning, they slowly went deep underground.

Following the memories from last time, Fang Shi Yangming went all the way to the reference room, and found the cabinet with the ranch work log with ease.

……

In order for the brainwashing of these children to proceed smoothly, they must be isolated from normal society.

This is also the reason why ranchers do not choose adults as experimental subjects—they already have the worldview and ideas of normal people, and cannot accept the concept of 'salvation'.

If the huge amount of memory is emptied, I'm afraid it will become a useless person.

"Isolated from normal society, so I believe that I can save the world, I believe that I have special abilities," Hisako Magong looked at the information in his hand, and analyzed step by step, "In other words, the conditions for obtaining supernatural abilities are probably 'Abandon common sense'."

And as long as common sense is abandoned, whether it is the black goat Miya based on the Cthulhu mythology, the dream soul messenger Mitsuji based on the "counting sheep to sleep method" that emerged in the West in the [-]th century, or various local myths, Folklore, and even the messy supernatural powers that appear in novels and ghost stories, may become reality.

"But just 'abandoning common sense' should not be enough." Fang Shi Yangming added, "It also requires the intervention of some kind of technique by the rancher himself."

Otherwise, wouldn't the mentally ill or children in the second stage of middle school in this world be per capita superpowers.

"Although I don't know what the concept of art is, it's basically like this." Hisako Mamiya nodded, "Brainwashing children to cultivate a distorted worldview and personality, and then using human experiments to catalyze it to cultivate weird The ability... Ha, it's like a fantasy."

She smiled wryly at the irrationality of the world, then rubbed between her eyes.

They found a few pages of notes left by the rancher. The first part was the adjustment and evaluation of certain children's abilities, and the later the content became more subjective.

I don't know if it's because I realized that my death is coming, but in the last few paragraphs, it has almost become a diary.

【I will die here,

This is not a hunch, but a prophecy.

But as long as the sheep are still there, the world will be saved sooner or later.

What's more, the outlier who left here on his own should be alive now...]

"Who does the 'outlier' here refer to?" Hisako Magong pointed to the text and asked, "Has anyone found this person in the magic world?"

"should be……"

Fangshi Yangming's first reaction was Miya.

But he quickly rejected this idea and took his voice back.

It can't be Miya, because she is defined as a 'failure'.

In terms of combat ability, it is necessary to fight seriously. As a successful writer, Misa Mine Mitsuji may even be swallowed by her, but due to the fatal "insufficient capacity" of the black goat, it cannot save the whole world, so the rancher will not pin his hopes on on that child.

That guy has never valued destructive power.

Therefore, it is concluded that another successful case has also escaped from here.

"Actually, I've been thinking about it." Seeing that Fang Shi Yangming hadn't spoken, Magong Hisako expressed his doubts, "Since children with supernatural powers were created with various original scriptures, is it possible to directly Based on the concept of 'savior' itself?"

……

15 years ago, Salvation Ranch.

Mitsuji woke up from her bed, glanced at the alarm clock next to the bed that was going to ring in two or three minutes, sat up and turned it off, and then lay back under the quilt.

After a while, small footsteps came from outside the house, and then there was a light knock on the door.

Mitsuji, who was only ten years old, frowned and chose to cover her head with the quilt, ignoring the child who pushed the door in.

"Sister, get up."

A certain child's voice came from outside the quilt, and it sounded like he was only four or five years old.

"It's so noisy, get out for me."

This is Mitsuji's answer.

The child was silent for a while, and then said in a calm tone: "I understand, but the rancher grandpa said that he will go out today, so I need my sister to help with breakfast."

But this time, Mitsuji didn't respond.

Then there was another sound of footsteps, and the child walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Mitsuji poked his head out.

After frowning and sighing, she changed, got up to wash, braided her red hair, and walked out the door.

Although she is only ten years old, she is already the oldest among the more than 20 existing sheep, so she has become everyone's "sister".

If something happened to the rancher when he was out, some routine matters here would be left to her.

For this trust, Mitsuji was neither happy nor disgusted, just as usual, she took it for granted.

Her ability is very convenient, not only can make people fall into a dream, but also can make people wake up from a dream, so after quickly waking up the other children with an impatient attitude, she walked into the kitchen.

But at this moment, he saw the little figure who was stepping on a stool and preparing breakfast in front of the desk.

"Ideal example...?"

She called the other person's name, and that was the child who just woke her up.

In the eyes of ordinary people, it is a code name no matter how you look at it, but to the children in the ranch, everyone is similar, either an animal or a nickname.

Even the name Mitsuji has exactly the same pronunciation as 'sheep'.

Seeing Ideal's busy movements, she felt a little sorry, and stepped forward to take over the work.

"Let me come, you go and rest first."

The child nodded, and the reddish black hair shook, revealing the dark red lines on the left forehead.

Mitsuji glanced at him, then turned to prepare breakfast.

The child was brought back by the rancher from outside three years ago.

This is nothing surprising, after all, most of the children here were sent in from outside when they were one or two years old, and then raised.

But the ideal case is somewhat different. The rancher seems to attach great importance to his potential, and has repeatedly sighed that "as long as you are here, the world can be saved".

In Mitsuji's eyes, Ideal Case is nothing more than a dumb and kind-hearted silly boy.

After eating, she took the children out to play in the yard, while she stood guard at the gate and observed the movement around her.

Basking in the sun is good for your health, but when you go out, be alert to the appearance of 'wolves'.

That's what the ranchers told them, so it's 'as a matter of course, no more thinking'.

The children were playing in the courtyard, and Mitsuji saw Lishi standing alone in a corner in a daze.

"Ugh."

This is not the first time either.

That child was different from others, when Mitsuji looked at those slightly red eyes, Mitsuji would always have the illusion of being seen through.

She walked over and asked as usual, "What's wrong?"

"Sister." The child glanced at her, and then turned his gaze to the mountains outside the fence and the birds flying on the mountains again, as if seeing them for the first time, "Why can't we go out?"

"Because we are too weak now, we will be killed by 'wolves'," Mitsuji replied, "We can leave naturally when our abilities are stable. Don't think so much, hurry up and move around."

The ideal example nodded.

Before leaving, he seemed to say something unintentionally: "Actually, I don't think they need my rescue."

"...!"

Mitsuji wanted to ask something, but the ideal case had already run away, and the speed was astonishingly fast.

Then he joined a game of catch and toss at the invitation of other children, and successfully knocked out all the supernatural children except himself within 3 minutes.

Forget it, let him do what he wants.

Mitsuji looked away.

It is the job of the rancher to save the world, and there is no need for him to intervene.

……

After that, the stable days were almost the same. I don't know how long it had passed, but on a sunny day, she saw the ideal case smiling at herself for the first time.

"I remembered something from the past, so I decided to leave here and go outside to have a look."

"Did Grandpa allow you to leave?" Mitsuji frowned, "Are you underage?"

Successful cases are usually sent to the outside world at the age of twelve or thirteen. Even if it is an ideal case, it is too early to leave at the age of five.

At this time, Mitsuji didn't think too much about detours, but was simply worried about the safety of the child in front of her.

"It doesn't matter, there are no wolves outside, and it's much better than what grandpa said... So I want to go out, help those who really want to help, and then see the world." When he said this, the expression on his face The expression didn't look like a child at all, "Do you want to leave together? I asked other people but they were all rejected. Finally, I want to ask Mitsuji."

Mitsuji noticed that this ideal example did not use 'sister' to refer to herself.

She was first surprised, then thoughtful, and finally just refused.

"I don't know why you want to go out, but...it should be wrong. Grandpa doesn't allow the sheep to leave the pasture."

The five-year-old nodded, as if he had expected such an answer, and did not insist.

"Then last, I want to tell you one thing." He said, "My name is Ji Guo Yuan Yi, not an ideal case."

"...name? Wait, what are you talking about?"

"When Mitsuji is outside, I'll come up with my own name."

After that, he turned and left.

……

"Jingle Bell"

Misamine Mitsuji opened her eyes, looked at the ceiling of her house in a daze for a while, then sat up rubbing her temples, and slapped the alarm clock off.

Today it was rare to sleep until the alarm clock rang, probably because of a dream.

"How do you remember that time..."

I am obviously not a sentimental person.

Ahh, no matter what, it’s all because of that idiot.

She pushed all the pot on Fang Shi Yangming with a single brain, and after washing, she walked outside the guest room and knocked on the door, and then said through the door: "Get up, the gold ones are organizing the shelves today, and the black ones are for the cash register."

"Huh? Wait a minute, do we have a name? A little bit of respect..."

"Tsk, it's too similar, I can't remember."

"what!?"

Listening to the movements of the two children inside, Misamine Mitsuji couldn't help showing a smile, then took out the ingredients from the refrigerator and made a few sandwiches.

"You actually cooked for us?"

Nanako who walked out had a disbelieving expression on her face, as if she had seen a ghost.

"On a whim, I'll start taking turns tomorrow." Mei Tsuji added, "No takeaway."

Mimiko retorted softly, "But we have money..."

"That's not allowed."

The morning sun fell on the table, and the three people who got along awkwardly started today's life.

Thinking about it now, the ideal case whose whereabouts are still unknown... No, it should be called Ji Guo, that guy is right in what he said.

Misamine thought in his heart.

It's certainly better out there than on the ranch.