Curse this wonderful world

66: [The Curse of 66]

"I'm Hinasaki Fukaha from the main hall of the shrine."

"Hmm, um! Hello. My concubine is Riko Tenouchi."

"……puff."

"Eh?"

"Pfft! 'Concubine body'—Pfft! It's really a 'concubine body'! Hahahaha, it's so funny! Hahahaha!"

What's the matter with this man? !

From nervousness, astonishment to rapid flushing, in the high-class dining room with only two people, Tenuchi Riko stared at the laughing girl opposite the long table, with only one thought in her mind.

The 14-year-old girl, who was still wearing her school uniform, put her hands on the table and protested with shame and indignation: "You, you are too rude!" How can there be a miko who comes up and talks about others like that?

"Sorry, sorry~~" Probably her dissatisfaction has been fully expressed through words.In front of Tenuchi Riko, the young miko named Hinasaki Fukaha, wearing a shrine maiden costume, with a complicated crown, and a black veil covering her eyes, tried her best to stop laughing.But even though she apologized, there was no apology in her words.

Not only that, but she exaggeratedly stretched her hand into the black veil, wiped her eyes, and said with a smile: "It's really funny. This is the first time I've heard a modern person speak like this. Pfft! It's like a Dahe drama!" —Pfft! It turns out that someone in the three-dimensional world would really say that.”

As she spoke, she couldn't help but started laughing non-stop, "The last time I heard it was the curse spirit who used 'concubine body'."

"Curse—huh?!" Tenuchi Riko's eyes widened again.

"Well, it's a super imaginary wraith named 'Network Bride'. It's super big. It can also spray steel bars. It's just that the brain is not very good. Pfft!"

"—I don't want you to explain this! And what does 'not in the right mind' mean?!"

"Ah, don't you need to be a concubine this time?" completely ignoring Riko Tenuchi's increasingly angry accusations.The black-haired girl in a priestess costume tilted her head.Suddenly he stretched out his hand to lift the black veil that covered his eyes, leaned forward, and looked up at the girl whose face was flushed with curiosity. "Hey little sister Lizi, if you talk like this, you won't be laughed at by your classmates at school? I said, you don't have any friends, do you?"

As the witch approached, the sweet aroma of her attendant came to her face.Her eyes are so beautiful, black and big——this thought just flashed across Riko Tenuchi's mind, but was overwhelmed by the anger aroused again by the priestess' impolite questioning.

Riko's face turned even redder, and she leaned back and stood up. "Who, who would say that in school!" No! "What is Little Sister Riko! Are you looking down on me?" No, not right!

"You don't have any friends!" She glared angrily at the witch who hadn't been listening to anyone since just now. "You are too strange, aren't you? Why did you call me here? Are you playing tricks?"

Impolite and incomprehensible, she can't communicate with her when she speaks on her own. When she meets her, she laughs at her way of speaking and accuses Sang Huai that she has a bad mind.This is too inexplicable!

The 14-year-old girl became more and more angry.However, even if she was questioned, the weird priestess who was not much older than herself seemed to have not heard it, and she still had a smile on her face without any tension, as if she took others for a fool and smiled contemptuously.

A girl of this age is already sensitive, and this expression added fuel to the fire.Tennei Lizi's anger immediately seeped into grievance and unwillingness.She, she was called here today from a club activity at school.Tenuchi Riko thought of everyone's disappointed faces when she left first... It's been a few days...

Just, that's it!She is an important astral body, why should she be so ridiculed by a weird witch who doesn't know her at all!

Thinking of this, Riko Tenuchi turned around sharply biting her lip, opened the paper sliding door of the box, strode out the door, and shouted loudly: "Kuroi! Kuroi! Where are you? I want gone back!"

The back of the girl with braids quickly disappeared outside the door, and then, startled by her actions, there were sudden footsteps and human voices.

"—Riko-sama? Eh? What's wrong?! What happened?"

"I want to go back! Heijing! I don't want to stay here anymore!"

"But--"

"Master Tiannei? Is the meeting over?"

"What a meeting! I—"

Probably someone stopped her, and Riko Tenuchi's angry and bright voice came to an abrupt end.Then, "...Come over here anyway... Ms. Kuroi..." accompanied by a man—well, not Shigeru Nakamura, probably the one who brought Sister Riko—comforting voice, footsteps The sound gradually faded away, and the human voice became smaller and smaller.

Really, a very energetic girl.

Shen Yu rested her chin on one hand, and looked out the door with a smile.It wasn't until Riko Tennai's voice could no longer be heard that she slowly put down the black veil and sat upright again while counting silently, and just when the hanging black veil once again blocked the girl's view, there was a sound of plural numbers hurriedly coming from outside the box. footsteps.

"Master Hinasaki! How can you-" You can talk to the astral body like this!

Thinking of the complaints he heard from the astral body just now, Shigeru Nakamura became impatient.He hurried to the door of the box and was about to complain.Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Kurosawa Koki who arrived later.

"Shut up!" The tall and straight old man frowned, stretched out his hand and pulled back the man who had long disliked him.It didn't matter that he staggered and almost lost his footing.Kurosawa Hiroki stepped forward, stood neatly outside the sliding door, lowered his eyes to the open paper door and asked, "Master Hinasaki, did something unpleasant happen?"

His posture was dignified and upright, but his tone was very gentle and soft. He didn't mention Fukaba's actions at all, and literally wrote "I want to protect my own people" on his face.From the lower edge of the black veil, Fukaha saw the old man's kimono sleeves hanging down.On the tea-brown Yuki Tsumugi fabric, the same patterns of moon-white running water and the other side of the river are printed on the black gauze that covers her eyes.

——So, Kurosawa Hiroki's "Kurosawa", is that Kurosawa?

This thought suddenly crossed Shen Yu's mind, but she didn't ask it out.Well, yes or no, it doesn't really matter.Thinking of this, Shen Yu just shook his head with a smile, and answered the old man's question: "No, nothing."

It's not unpleasant, it's better to say that she is quite happy.

"But I clearly heard—"

"Mr. Nakamura!" Interrupting the interjecting man again, Kurosawa Koki couldn't bear it and shouted in a low voice: "Please pay attention to your manners! What? Are you accusing Master Hinasaki?"

"I..." Nakamura wanted to say more, but he heard a chuckle from the room.The eccentric witch suddenly turned in his direction, reaching out to lift up the black veil that covered her.

"!" Nakamura was shocked, and by the time he realized it, he had already stepped back outside the door frame.Seeing this scene, the young priestess, who had blown away the astral body with a few words and frightened the accompanying staff sent by the director with a single action, finally couldn't help but giggled.

——Sure enough, whether it is annoying or frightening, learning Xiao Wu is the fastest and most effective.

Thinking of the annoyed reaction of Sister Lizi just now—especially when she ran away, she was just like a fierce little rabbit with red eyes, so cute.Shen Yu narrowed his eyes while smiling, and stood up, not caring about Nakamura.She walked to the door, let the black gauze hang down again, and stretched out her hand to Kurosawa Honghui.

"Mr. Kurosawa, let's go. I'm done [watching]." Supporting the old man's arm, the lips dotted with bright red under the deep feather black gauze curved happily.

"Next, it's time to report back to the senior leaders of the board of governors."

On May 5, due to the loss of contact between the second-level conjurer Angeji and the first-level conjurer Mingming during the mission, Gojo Wu, Xia Youjie and Jiarui Niuzi went to Shizuoka for support.That night, Hinasaki Fukaha met with Riko Amouchi, the astral body, in Tokyo, and "observed" her.

On May 5, the trio of second-year students from Tokyo High School successfully rescued two trapped conjurers.After a brief "friendly" exchange, it was pointed out that there was no payment.On the morning of the same day, Fukaha, accompanied by Kurosawa Koki and Nakamura Shigeru, arrived at the Spell Director's Club in the suburbs of Kyoto.

She was just saying a word.

In what should have been a spacious, luxurious and bright hall, but because of the closed doors and windows and overlapping screens, it made people feel dark and oppressive. In the room, a young maiden in a white dress and red dress covered by black gauze stood in the middle of the room.

The flickering flame of the thick white candle cast her petite and slender figure on the opaque screen.In the unnatural silence of the room, Shen Yu spoke to the person behind the screen, fully and clearly uttering the answer she had prepared.

"She doesn't want to," the girl said, "I [see] it. Astral body Riko Tenuchi, she doesn't want to assimilate with Lord Tianyuan."

This sentence was like smashing a stone on the calm water, and there were multiple noisy and surprised voices in the room that was originally too quiet.

"This is impossible!" "...There is no warning..." "Why now?——It's troublesome!" "What the hell? Didn't the following report say that everything is normal?——How did they do it?!" It's just a brat..." "This is troublesome..."

And amidst all kinds of shock, anger, dissatisfaction and cursing, in the shadow cast by the black veil, the corners of the deep-feathered bright red lips raised a high arc.

The screen will block the line of sight in both directions, Shen Yu cannot see behind the screen, and the people behind will naturally not be able to see her either.Therefore, only Shigeru Nakamura, who is the closest to Fukaba and the only one here who is not eligible for screen treatment, saw this detail.Just because he saw it, an almost absurd idea suddenly appeared in his mind.

——!Could it be? !

The man's eyes widened suddenly, his heart trembled, his heart skipped a beat because of his own associations.However, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this possibility was extremely high.And just at this moment, the witch who was much shorter than him suddenly stretched out her hand and lifted the black veil, turned her head and raised her face to accurately "look" in his direction.

Black eyes, snow skin and red lips, black hair, white clothes and red skirt.Under the flickering shadow of the dim candle, the girl's supposedly delicate and lovely face seemed to be eerily cold and ghostly. Nakamura's pair of mirror-clear black eyes, which made Shigeru Nakamura deeply afraid, looked straight at her. On his unshaded eyes.

It doesn't contain the slightest warmth and humanity, like an inorganic probe or a scalpel, it seems to be able to penetrate the skin and pierce the cold and sharp eyes into the inner soul of others.To be stared at by such gazes is as if the whole person is being dug open from the inside out, and all the secrets of thoughts are roughly and mercilessly pulled out and exposed to the scorching sun.

Coupled with the curvature of the girl's lips that can even be described as coquettish, it seems that she is looking down from a high place and laughing at the ulterior motives and selfish desires in his heart.

Momo Nakamura's weak spiritual defense completely collapsed at this moment, just as Fukaba thought, her smile and gaze became the last straw that broke the camel's back.At this moment, Shigeru Nakamura completely forgot what occasion he was in due to the panic and horror. As if to resist the gaze, he couldn't help blurting out the thoughts that had been circling in his mind since just now: "You're lying!"

The man's voice was raised so high that it almost broke all the noise, and when he found out what he had done, there was only dead silence left in the room.

Shigeru Nakamura's back was instantly drenched in cold sweat. "I, I..." He was about to change his words to make amends, but a voice came from behind the screen.

"Nakamura! Bold! What evidence do you have?! How dare you question Miko-sama!"

It was a tone of obvious anticipation mixed with the coldness of righteous anger.Even after changing the tone with spells, Shigeru Nakamura could tell from the familiar words that it was the voice of the adult he was relying on—otherwise, a little-known magician like him, let alone a mixed voice. The high-level cronies are probably already dead in the mouth of the curse spirit.It was precisely because he heard it that he was immediately unable to get off the tiger.It was too late to change his words at this moment, there were beads of sweat on his forehead, the man could only bite the bullet and continue.

"This subordinate has no evidence...but, but," he seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly increased his volume, "but! Miko-sama has no evidence either!" He didn't dare to look at Fukaba, but the more he The more I think about it, the more I think it makes sense.

"You said you [saw it], but who can prove it? On the contrary, we, who have been paying attention to collecting data and information on the astral body, have never found that she has the idea of ​​​​resisting assimilation. Not only did she not, she The daily report shows that she is looking forward to the assimilation! She has always been proud of being assimilated with Master Tianyuan!"

Shigeru Nakamura was not just running errands to be assigned a task that required contact with the main hall of the shrine's major pillar candidate and astral body at the same time.He was originally responsible for part of the work related to the astral body, and he did know something about Riko Amane.

More importantly, he thought he knew enough about the adult he served.Since that adult chose to speak at this time, it means that he does not want to give up Riko Tenuchi as the only candidate!

"In this case, you just spent a few minutes alone with her before asserting that she is unwilling to assimilate. With all due respect, at least I personally can't believe it! As for the evidence..." Shigeru Nakamura suddenly thought of a good idea idea.He suddenly turned around and looked at the screen, his eyes lit up, "My lords, why don't we contact the astral body to confirm with her directly? I believe that after so many years of training, she will definitely not let us down!"

However, no one answered behind the screen.On the contrary, outside the screen, the girl next to him chuckled.

"If you can confirm it so easily, you don't need to look for me from the beginning." She said in a very gentle and soft tone, but full of arrogance and arrogance between the lines, "Hey, Mr. Nakamura, You are so old, don't you know that human beings are creatures with different opinions?"

"I--"

"Or, let me put it another way." Shen Yu didn't let him continue to speak. Instead, she suddenly asked: "Mr. Nakamura, do you respect me?"

"Ah?" The man was taken aback by the question, and then quickly nodded slowly, "Of course!" Even if she questioned the girl just now, the other party is a candidate for Dazhu in the main hall of the shrine - she has been away from the front line for many years The exorcising curse spirit is more accustomed to subconsciously responding to the men in favor.However, as soon as he said it, his scalp went numb.

It's over, he said the wrong thing!

Sure enough, the girl suddenly laughed and shook her head with a good temper: "No, I [see] that you don't respect me. However, even if you don't respect me in your heart, when people around you ask this question, you don't respect me." Sometimes, you will subconsciously say 'yes'. Similarly, if I send you to do things, or give some orders, you should also execute them quickly without compromise. Because, compared to you, I am the 'up' One side. But even if my status is much higher than yours, if I tell you to die, you will not really be willing to die right away."

"Even a conjurer like you will do this. What's so strange about a 14-year-old girl like Astral Body not wanting to assimilate? She's still so young, and she's seen the colorful world. There are so many interesting things out there." Things, isn't it normal for her to want to live?"

As she said that, she tilted her head in confusion, "It's better to say that in this day and age, you still expect to have a normal education, and there is nothing special except that you can see the magic spirit, even things in the magic world Girls who only know fur would be willing to die for righteousness, isn't it strange what you think?"

"As for your one-sided words, then I can't help it." Shen Yu put down her hand as if she had lost interest.Letting the black veil fall in front of her eyes, she sighed pretending to be regretful. "Just as normal people can't describe colors with congenital blindness, I can't explain what I [see] to you. After all, in my opinion, your comprehension ability is too 'low-level'."

This is close to pointing his nose at him and calling him an idiot.Shigeru Nakamura's entire face turned red.But before he could speak, a voice came from behind the screen.

"Nakamura." The voice was very sharp, and it seemed to be a different person, "You should step back first!"

This voice made Shigeru Nakamura froze, and his face suddenly turned gray, but he could only obey orders.Looking at the back of the man leaving like a bereaved dog.The priestess, who was covered by a black veil, showed a contemptuous and arrogant smile again.

However, no one knew that at this moment, the eyes behind the dark feathers and black gauze had completely cooled down, and intense emotions were surging and intertwined in them.Her right hand, which was covered by the wide sleeve of the maiden uniform, clenched her fist tightly, and her nails dug deeply into the skin.

——Her plan seems to have gone wrong.

Unlike the calm appearance, Fukaha's heart was beating wildly in his chest.From just now, the high-level response was not right.The screen can block the line of sight, and the technique can confuse the tone.But the emotion contained in the tone itself will not be changed by these two.After she said that sister Lizi was unwilling, they were indeed very dissatisfied and shocked.But compared to the news she brought, their "anger" and "disappointment" are too shallow

Shen Yu didn't have much direct contact with high-level officials, and she didn't even know their respective looks, let alone their personalities.However, she has so many years of [seeing] experience.It was precisely because of this that she deliberately provoked Shigeru Nakamura's stress response, and what she saw then sent a chill down her back.

——The other steps are correct, however, at the most fundamental point, she seems to have made a mistake from the beginning.

— but now is not the time to think about that.

After Shigeru Nakamura left, the voice quickly turned to Fukaba.

"As for Hinasaki-sama's reply, we have already received it. We will consider it carefully. Thank you for your hard work this time."

——The most urgent task now is to finish the scene in front of me first.

"It's nothing. This is my duty." He casually agreed, and Shen Yu immediately stabilized his mind.She nodded, saluted, then turned around obediently and walked towards the door—according to the character design, the "arrogant" witch can be arrogant to Shigeru Nakamura, but she will not be too presumptuous when talking directly with high-level officials.

However, just as Shen Yu put his hands on the doorknob, another question suddenly sounded behind him.

"Master Hinasaki, I heard that you had some trouble with the astral body?"

"Ah, you said that." Shen Yu tilted her head indifferently, "Is it okay? It's just that [seeing] the little girl's true intentions made me a little unhappy, so I stabbed her a few words."

"……unhappy?"

"Ah. Didn't I just say that?" Just waiting for you to ask this.Turning around, the girl sneered again arrogantly at the screen full of rooms, "'There is nothing special except that you can see the magic spirit, and even the things in the world of magic are only superficial. A girl with an astral body who doesn't want to assimilate'—of course I wouldn't be happy if you compare her with such a girl."

"Everyone, what do you think?"

After a long time after the girl left, voices rang out again in the dimly lit room.

"How else can you see it? It's unlucky." Someone sneered at the speaker, "However, at first you were worried that her empathy with the astral body would affect your judgment, but now it seems... Ha, the arrogance of the little girl's film really makes people laugh. "

"But knowing now is better than knowing on the day of assimilation?" Another voice rang out, "I think she is quite a magician in this regard. It's a pity..."

"Isn't it too late to know now?" The third person interrupted, "It doesn't matter what happens to that witch, right? What matters now is the astral body. What are the adults going to do? Just give up on her and postpone the original plan." Assimilation ceremony?"

"No." The first voice replied, "Master Tianyuan's assimilation is imminent, and it is not appropriate to postpone it. And we have already put so much energy into her. Let's give up now..." He paused, as if thinking for a moment , and then decisively opened the mouth.

"Notify Heijing, pay close attention to the behavior and psychological state of the astral body, and be sure to find a way to persuade her in the past few days. If there is any abnormality or if you feel that you cannot persuade, report it immediately."

"The ceremony will not be cancelled. I hope the astral body can figure it out. Otherwise, we can only use other means to make her 'volunteer'. Fortunately, it is not like before. Even if you don't use spells, there are enough means."

"...What if this doesn't work? I mean, after all, she is an astral body. Even if it's not a spell, will doing so affect Lord Tianyuan?"

"Then what do you say?" The voice seemed impatient because of being refuted.

"Well... I think it's better to try your best to persuade according to your ideas. But if the persuasion fails, we should give up as soon as possible. There is no need for us to worry about Lord Tianyuan. The astral body only needs to "voluntarily contact Lord Tianyuan ' Even if it complies with the rules. And once she resists and refuses to touch..."

"...Assimilate to arrange personnel around the foot of Yanshan Mountain on the day of assimilation. Once Riko Tennai is found to have walked out of the Xingxing Palace alive, he will be executed immediately." The first voice said coldly.

"That's right." The proposer laughed softly, "Although I am extremely unwilling, if this is the case, I can only trouble Master Tian Yuan to be patient for a while."

"After all, there can only be one 'star plasma body' at a time. If this one is not willing, we can only change to a willing one."

However, at this moment, the high-level members of the Director of Spells gathered in the secret room did not know.Just when they thought they had the fate of a girl named Riko Amauchi in their hands, and they were talking about her life and death indifferently and arrogantly like talking about an item, the petite miko who they belittled as "arrogant" was lowering her head and arranging a party with her. The words in their mouths with extremely similar contents were entered into the mobile phone.

/Help me investigate information related to the "Astral Body" and "Tianyuan Assimilation Ceremony" in the magic world.Focus on confirming whether the "star plasma" is irreplaceable.very urgent. BY: MH/

In the hands of the girl, the characters were quickly transformed into a password that only two people knew.In the car leaving the Spell Director's Council, Fukaha pursed her lips and typed a phone number that hadn't been used for two years in the recipient field.

She didn't know if the number was still in use, and she didn't know if the person opposite the number could see the news now, and she couldn't figure out whether that person could get the information she wanted.However, she knew that at this time, he was the most likely, even, maybe the only person who could help her.

——Please, please receive it!

Thinking of this, Fukaha bit her lower lip with her teeth.Her eyelashes fluttered and she pressed the send button.Then, a quick ding-dong sounded almost immediately after her sending.This speed made Shen Yu stunned for a moment, but when she saw the content displayed on the phone screen, the girl's eyes suddenly lit up.

/ Keep your phone on and give me three hours. BY:OD/

Kurosawa Koki saw the girl who had been sullen since she walked out of the director's meeting gate and got into the car blinked, then blinked again, put her hand on her chest, and finally laughed.