Аннотация: Yu's entry into the Yuto group. Sato has an asthma attack. The Croissant meeting.
Part 27 Yu's entry into the Yuto group.
Chapter 123.
"...I came running like I was scalded to heal the "terrible wounds", but I found a couple of scratches, you know," Shizuka glanced ironically at the Hawk-nosed man. "And just for ten minutes of business. "However, we had to bring Yu to us - her parents would not like that their daughter returns in one stocking, I think. Well, we stayed waiting for you, we still have to decide something."
"Is there something to decide?" Shimomura asked again. "Decide about me?"
"The exorcists have banned Yokai from cities, you know. And you accidentally got into our secret," the snake explained.
"I can keep secrets," Yu promised seriously. "Besides, I want to go to "you"!"
"Just fine..." I said. No, I approve of all the actions of both Shizuka and the newly-minted "Shinji". However, it is symptomatic: the "problem" was left to me to solve. That's right, I'm in charge of this whole movement, after all. But all the same, the fact that I was given the opportunity to make a decision already says that I have become a leader for my spirits, and not just a convenient standard and tool. It warms up.
But what to do with Yu? The problem is that in the manga, Yu somehow did not get into situations that reveal her character from the side I needed. Smart? Yes. Compassionate, consistent, inquisitive, careful? Yes, as many as you want. But the question of faithfulness to the word simply did not arise...
On the other hand, why am I doing this? Our Helmet Wearer would have had enough strength to clean up the child's memory, and he would not have waited for Shizuka, knowing about her dislike of mental manipulation. Did you like the girl? I mean, not as a woman, but as a person? And so much so that he came to our house with her, where, unnecessarily, as we agreed, the yokai from the "group" do not enter or even approach. Yeah, that's what the Goddess of Rivers is secretly making fun of. The banal "we are responsible for those we saved," right? Well, it fits. By the way, Mizuchi will also not be pleased with any place to clean the head of his almost, and maybe not even almost, girlfriend- the only one in the whole class. Of course, a week and a half is not a long time, but at our age it is almost the norm. And Rinko certainly won't be thrilled with anyone's memory correction if it's "unnecessary."
"...that you want to join "us" without even knowing who "we" are or what you're joining." To which Shimomuro just shook her bangs independently and stated with unshakeable confidence:
"Chido... Shizuka is good, and you and Rinko are normal. Why not? After all, I got into all this myself, and now I have "no way back", like in a Yakuza showdown. Right?"
Mizuchi turned away, hiding a smile, the Hawk-nosed man unsuccessfully tried to portray embarrassment and regret, but Rinko... SHE NODDED! Well, now someone's going to watch gangland action movies on evening cable, under the auspices of "learning from the experience of street kendo style"! And how are the older Cousins capable of such a thing?!
"Overall, you're right," I said diplomatically, "The existence of the yokai is hidden from the majority of the population by the government, and there are a number of reasons for this. Because we are law-abiding citizens..."
[10 minutes of explanation]
"...so we decided to follow our goal."
Shimomuro, who was listening intently, nodded, calculated something, rolled her eyes, and smiled:
"Well, now everything has become clear to me!.."
Well, thank Kami!
"...I couldn't figure out why there were so many girls hanging around a guy like you..."
KSO! Shimomuro, is that your ONLY conclusion from my words?!
"...Anyway, I thought you had Hiroe in charge, but it turns out that's what it is. "The mysterious prince, the last of his kind." Like in a love RPG game about the "Create a harem" type!" At this point, the girl's glasses flashed with bright highlights.
Again, that word again! It just seemed to me that I wouldn't hear any stupid jokes from the "Yuto's harem" section in the foreseeable future (until the age of 14)!
"Y-you do play "such" games?!" Kuzaki was amazed. "And your parents let you?!"
"My parents have too much trouble with my sick little brother to watch my every move. Besides, there's nothing like that. Well, a kiss at most! The first one!"
The future "eternal elder" said with a sigh. Oh, and their cheeks are red! OOPS! And Rinko is like a tomato!
"A-a kiss?!" she whispered. "The first one?"
"Well, yes, if you kiss the "prince" first, he will "become yours." This is the meaning of the game. Well, that's if you don't play for a boy. The prince needs to have a bigger harem... hmm."
It was Yu who choked on her breath under the snake's interested gaze. And she hastened to disown:
"I have never played such a walkthrough. Well, I hardly played, it's interesting!"
"Is there any practical benefit?" Mizuchi became even more interested.
"I don't know, I haven't met any princes... earlier," Yu finished in a strange voice, and she and Shizuka exchanged glances and stared at me in unison.
WHAT?!
"Well, you know!" I ran out of my own words, especially the censored ones, and I used the vocabulary of the Goddess of Rivers. And with emphasis he said:
"Yu, you have to understand that this is really serious. Of course, I haven't told you everything just now, and I don't know much myself yet. But one word from you, said in the wrong place and by the wrong person, and this yokai, who pulled you out from under the wheels, will be killed. And it's also good if they just shoot you, and not roast you or cut you with a blade. You don't want that, do you?"
"N-no," Yu choked out, "no way!"
Great. I could have tried to steamroll Yu by making him swear an Amakawa oath, but in my heart I didn't know how it would work, not on the formed consciousness of a yokai, but on the mind of a child who was still growing and developing. I really didn't want to see Shimomuro slowly losing his will to act and his mind from year to year because of the crooked Ferry. The question "how to ensure a high degree of reliability of protection against betrayal of like-minded people" was worth thinking about. If I was even more confident about the sly Hiroe than I was about myself - the one with the haircut would not miss her luck and benefits, and Rinko's character, which I had known and observed for several years, did not even give a shadow of a thought about the possibility of deliberately or stupidly breaking promises, then Yu was a dark forest for me. However, while the problem is a single one, you can solve it in the "classic" way: communicate more, help with the study of the "practical side of the magical world" and just observe. Damn, it would be easier to erase the memory! But then it turns out that all my calculations about "peaceful coexistence in a new world" are empty words. Oh! Exactly! Why am I doing this? I've got a pretty good and even loyal object for social experimental research, so to speak, and I'm turning my nose around! It's possible that today's worries have dulled his wits. So you need to rest!
After looking at the clock, I suggested that Taki Yu go home. She might have called her mother, but she was probably worried that her daughter was hanging out with her new school friends instead of doing her homework at home. We went on foot, and Mizuchi followed me. Of course, it was almost impossible to meet anything dangerous in our quiet residential area, but I decided to make sure: since we managed to save a girl who got into trouble on her own stupidity. At the same time, let the parents get to know us... and they'll start getting used to seeing me with girls and Yu together.
When Shimomuro's house had already appeared at the far end of the street, I asked:
"Yu, your fascination with magic... Is it just curiosity or would you like to achieve something more?"
Shimomuro thought about it. In general, I noticed that the girl, in all the questions that she considered serious, tended to think before answering. A trait worthy of an adult.
"You know... I probably just wanted a miracle at first. You know, like a little kid, he wants something unusual to happen that doesn't normally happen... But now that I'm convinced that magic can be "touched". Yes, I just want to understand what it is. How do I feel about it, how does it work, after all."
"Human still don't know how electrons "work", let alone magic. But you know, if you set yourself a goal, you may well become the first. We can do everything with your help. Because, funnily enough, the yokai themselves have a hard time imagining what "magic" is, and they have absolutely no idea "how it works."
The frowning Goddess of Rivers confirmed my words with a nod. And there's nothing to frown at, people over two hundred years ago also didn't really understand what a "planet", "climate" and even "energy" were, but they figured it out, even if not completely..."
...Two days later, in the evening, after knocking on the door, I went to Mizuchi with new printouts... and I became convinced that I should have knocked MUCH louder. To the exclamation of "Kyaaaaaaaaaa!!!" (this is Rinko), Shizuka and Kuzaki literally jumped up on the chair in front of the computer, which they managed to sit on together. And then the girls jumped up at the same time, so as to block the monitor screen from me. Trying to keep my face straight, I handed the stack of sheets to the snake and left, closing the door behind me. And immediately I slid down the wall, shaking with silent laughter: in the upper right corner of the display I managed to see the inscription "Lord of the Harem_v3.1.14".
Chapter 124.
A week! No negotiations, risky experiments, deadly dangers - even I did all my homework on time. Tsuchimikado has not yet set a date for the departure of the police "mystical special forces". The Yokai from the Amakawa Group received their first salary on time and in full (and immediately got drunk in a relatively good restaurant from the rank of "for all walks of life." And they got drunk in the sense that they ate various exotic and not so good dishes). The physics club is experiencing a "construction boom" - from the series "draw three-dimensional, incomprehensible, but very necessary stuff and print it out", and suddenly modeling turned out to be necessary for everyone: in school classes in physics (details for simple devices for laboratory experiments), and geography (models of the relief of the islands of the Japanese archipelago), and even at the ISO, whose teacher timidly scratched at the door and, shyly, asked if she could try to draw something in 3D (there were 3Ds MAXa courses at the academy), so that she could transfer it to a hard copy. Since Mia-sensei was a twenty-two-year-old "yesterday's" graduate, slender, with regular features and green eyes, half of the male members of the club were lost for three days - they were setting up the only graphic station of the Art club, figuring out how to convert files into a format understandable to printer software and all that.
And I... for the first four days, I was just moving away from the whirlwind of change and action, and then I started thinking about the results of the last two crazy weeks. And I finally realized what I should have realized from the very beginning: there were only eleven spirits under my command. Eleven yokai for a million-plus city. It's not even funny! In my preliminary calculations, I took into account that I would be able to use the entire "mighty bunch" of the Corpse Eater- and there were thirty of them. That would be enough to cover the city with patrols, even at close range, even in pairs, in two shifts. But the number 11 is not even funny. Not zero, far from zero, but also not the necessary minimum. The trick Himari did in the manga could only be done here and now by Kashi, Hawk-Nose, and Shizuka. That is, to cross a rather large city in a reasonable 10-15 minutes, with big jumps over the roofs, a la Spiderman or Wolverine from the Marvel comics. Cross over and not get tired, I mean. And something had to be done about it. That is not a very pleasant "something", namely the opening of the "Mystical House" technique in Noihara. Himari was strong, fast, and most importantly, she had something unique that none of my vassals owned. And it's not what you think!!! Reputation. The Red Blade (or was the translation not accurate in the manga again, and was the Blade Purple or even Bloody?) Noihars are a brand! Both hunters and yokai. The mere presence of a cat on my side will strengthen the position of the "group" at times. Don't forget that Himari is also extremely loyal to me - Grandpa did his best to bring little Yuto and the albino spirit together. And the rest of the girls are not useless there, the spirit of a dog (or a wolf?) - first of all, it is the ability to find on the trail, which can be very useful, and the "envelope" with its "duty-free" movement of cargo or messages over long distances will very quickly come in handy in courier work, and it is much safer to send important messages with it.
So, the opening of the "House" is transferred from the category of "possible" to the category of "necessary". Shizuka and I read the tutorial on creating (and destroying) this technique together: after all, this is the first time I've encountered magic in an applied way, so to speak. No, I understand everything, but I have a lot of questions for the ancient developers of technology.: how did they, for example, come up with a technique for replicating the projection of an area, including the structure of house walls, indoor interiors, etc., to the mind of the operator? After all, this is a full-fledged scan! And almost down to the molecular level. However, after a little thought, I decided that after all, the collapsed space is tied to the real terrain, therefore the operator cannot be moved. But you still need to scan it. True, the average human magician will not be able to create a "house" more than a couple dozen meters across, but this is already such a "cheat"! It seems that people did not create the "Mystical House": the conditions of the "hollow hills" of the Sidhe, the "underground tunnels" of the Ural "white-eyed wonder", the sudden appearance of all sorts of new rooms in the complex of the Egyptian Pyramids and other numerous stories about the appearance or disappearance of "something" are very similar.
The same Mizuchi is able to create a "Hidden" in a couple of blocks in size, however, it requires a "resonator" in the form of a container with water, such as a memorable lake, like ours, but still the coverage is impressive. Of course, I won't find oil this way, but I wrote down the idea of looking for sunken ships with valuable cargo.
Money. Strangely enough, this question wasn't in front of me right now. It was a unique situation, but there were enough available funds for what could be legally purchased. Of course, I would not refuse to purchase several sets of automatic weapons, and unloading bulletproof vests would not hurt, but I categorically did not believe in the possibility of buying or otherwise "unnoticeably" obtaining such equipment. Yes, even if you manage to remain incognito, it's exactly until the first bullet gets stuck in the wall, or the cartridge case is not picked up... Right now, I need a reputation. More precisely, the "group" needs a reputation among the spirits. What for? Well, I managed to make a plan, a concrete plan for the implementation of my and my allies' goals: to a first approximation, it became like this:
By exercising control over the city by setting up patrols and introducing clear rules on the territory before mass tourism begins in the person of those interested in free food or just "to live", I will be able to create a precedent. The situation should be as follows: a yokai who comes to the city, having met with a patrol, should not run right into it (that's why you need to "rock a turnip"), but quietly and peacefully listen to the rules of the territory and commit to behave here according to them. But we do not pursue him and provide some comfortable conditions: we guarantee the non-aggression of the exorcists, disputes between the conflicting parties are settled by the "holder" of the city, the weak but sane are protected from strong violators. True, for a really long time I will be able to provide protection from non-aggression only by blocking the aura with an amulet like mine - when I learn how to make them, but this is for the best: the amulets will be given personalized, in fact, an analogue of a passport. We will have to "screw" the tag tracking function to the territory control system (also think about how to implement it), and we will get a parallel police system for nonhumans that is not entirely correct from the point of view of identity secrecy, but reliable. A city with such conditions, if I understand correctly, will attract quite a lot of non-human population, including mixed families, after spreading information among the spirits. And among them there will be candidates for vassalage and joining the "Amakawa group" (think about renaming so that there is no publicity!). The Yokai is a very unpleasant opponent in the city: when the situation opens up, and it will certainly open up, the Japanese government will suddenly discover that the population of Takamiya has actually been held hostage by an organized group of spirits and people, and without mass casualties and destruction, normal yokai who have tasted a taste of normal life cannot be expelled from here. A subtle point comes into play here: you need to throw in some kind of trick for Japan that will force financially interested circles of the government and the clans associated with them to leave Takamiya alone for a while: like the city produces a valuable resource and at least in the near future it is more profitable to cooperate. Maybe this is a close collaboration with representatives of the Japanese Self-Defense forces, where new materials from my authorship will be relevant, maybe high-capacity batteries (just not on superconductors, otherwise the city will definitely suffer the fate of Tokyo-3!) for some large corporation like Hitachi, perhaps something else. Play on contradictions... and get involved in local politics. To gain the support of local universities, industries, and an influential part of the population (funnily enough, I have even managed to take the first steps in this direction)... A decade of stability and good financial performance, and my "society" will have imitators in other cities. During this time (and behind this screen), prepare a sharp leap in technology... and "pull" into space.
I also read with satisfaction "there" a certain utopian author by the name of Rozov. And one simple thought struck me: the slowdown in the development of society at the "economic impasse" is simply due to the lack of a promising direction in which the human economy can develop expansively. It exists, this niche, and it is called "near space". But so far, structural materials and energy resources are not able to ensure profitability... more precisely, they are not capable there. But here humanity has a humble self, and I can literally provide a "leap up" with a wave of my hand. The main thing is to survive while this breakthrough is taking place, and then the locomotive of civilization will rush forward on its own... and the comrades with the "first slippers" are literally waiting for astronomical prospects!..
Damn, it's cool, of course, but I'm so intensely remembering the speech of Ostap, our unforgettable Bender at the chess tournament, right up to the imaginary bumps on his head. The problem is that I don't categorically disagree with "just living a life" - they won't let me! And nothing less global than the established system of political and economic ties between old families, in which my place is that of a sacrificial pawn, cannot be penetrated by me. And there's nothing left but to tell yourself, "do what you have to do, and come what may." In the end, I won't forgive myself if I don't even try to use this crazy, insane, almost unrealistic CHANCE!
Chapter 125.
In general, planning is such a useful thing that, on the one hand, is absolutely necessary, but on the other, nothing ever goes as planned. In general, after looking at my notes the next day with an "armed eye" (this time I just wrote in word, you can break or steal the password to the mail if you want, but now I have "friends" from the Committee), I decided that for now it's enough to keep in mind the first, clearly achievable goal.. City control.
What is territory control? Well, quite simply, everything in this territory should be the way I want it to be. Well, not everything, but everything that is important to me. And what is important to me? The execution of the rules in relation to the yokai. The fulfillment of the rules by the spirits themselves. So that the territory pays off the costs? It's also a plus. Also, so that city services and organizations would not interfere with me, but rather help me in my work and activities. Not for free, of course, but for your profit. Achievable? Well, if you think about it, yes. With this approach, there is a chance to organize everything so that they try to move me globally: hunters "eat" from the yokai resource. In fact, I'm going to use this resource as well, but in a different way. Through me, the government can get an "alternative" way to control the situation based on mystical manifestations, and this is a lever for some kind of influence on the clans. Since, as I suspect, there are levers for inter-clan struggle for every exorcist association, I will be "on the topic" and will not upset the balance, but simply expand the niche. Moreover, the perfume I need is actually less than one percent of the total. Only this information will need to be publicly leaked.
Another question is, will the Yokai want to work? Well, let's bet that some people will want it themselves. And the rest, desiring the benefits of human society, will be forced to do something like that. And, because I know that spirits can do "something like that" better than the average person (at least twice as much physical strength on average). My group (and I'm tempted to say "control") is working very efficiently. As for space... we'll see. I've read a lot of assumptions, but practice will show what really happens. But - "planes first" (c).
Okay, let's assume that I've figured out what I want to get. And now - what exactly should I do now?
First, prepare for the opening of the "hidden". It sounds like it! Secondly, to drive the "group" in patrol mode: at least let them understand what I want from them. Third- figure out what to do with the "perfume road" in the bay. And fourthly, to continue our useful activities in the field of cooperation with the Polytechnic, to do club business, and also to load the Magic club with its president. And we also need normal projection amulets, one for the whole body - that's fifth. KSO! I don't even have time to rest, it turns out. Okay, they harnessed up and dragged. Stop! Why should I be the only one planning everything? I've got an expert analyst hanging around here. Telephone. Contacts. Kaname Hiroe.
"Hiroe-chan, hello! I have an idea about a salary. Yes, that's right. I'll tell you tomorrow after school, is there any cozy cafe? Yes, I'll call the girls myself."
Chapter 126.
"It's a cool place," I said, "the amount of lace is definitely above the norm... Once every forty years!"
"It even depresses me," Yu agreed with me, "Who would have thought that we have such a place in our city."
"I would have brought you to the maid cafe," Kaname giggled, "But here's the problem, there isn't one. I have to here..."
"Pervert," Mizuchi chuckled to the side, examining the interior.
"Since everyone liked it so much, shouldn't we appoint Croissant as an operational base?" The shorn-haired woman made innocent eyes. We snorted in unison, looked at each other in disbelief, and burst out laughing.
"Well, okay", when we finally calmed down and sat down, I took the floor again, "I want to say that now such meetings will be held regularly. It may have turned out a little spontaneously, but here we found ourselves each representing our own "department" in our small, nameless society..."
"What about me?" asked Rinko.
"And you," I reassured, "You're the head of our department... Well, let it be "law enforcement"."
"Me?!" Kuzaki, who had learned a lot about herself, pressed her palms to her chest, pointing at herself.
"I also don't know how it's done," I ignored Kaname's soft "snort." "But the Internet wasn't just invented by people. The main thing is to learn from the experience of others, because, as far as we know, no one has tried to establish patrolling by Yokai forces before us."
"Rinko-san, I can help you with the search," Yu clarified, "I'm good at it! By the way, which department am I?"
"Applied and theoretical magic. Yes, I understand that you don't have the abilities, but neither do others."
"And you?" Shimomura frowned in perplexity.
"The block is up to 16 years old. I can only use my Ferry of Light, and that's not magic. It's like an innate gift. And in any case, I got the task with the technical development of our "corporation". Plus, I have overall control, personnel work with the spirits (along with Shizuka). Hiroe is an analyst and financier, and in the future, he will be a cadre among people. Shizuka is the intelligence coordinator of our society, and Kashi, who is absent here, is the spirit coordinator in general. A spiritual leader, you might say. It's a pity that I couldn't take him to the meeting: five schoolchildren in a cafe is normal, but with an adult it's already memorable and unnecessarily attracts attention. Here you go," I handed out four A4 sheets on which were printed "official duties" and the first assignments. "It is better to remember this, and tear the sheets smaller before throwing them away."
"Are we encrypted as Yakuza?" Yu smiled contentedly.
"We encrypt ourselves in order not to cause unnecessary problems with our sloppiness," I answered in the same tone as her and nodded to Shizuka.
"Here," Mizuchi placed a small gold coin with a hole in the middle on the table, with hieroglyphs around the hole, "is a golden kotesen."
The coin looked a little dim, but in his hands it pleased with its genuine weight.
"Medieval Japan," Hiroe nodded, examining the coin in turn, "Do you have many of them?"
"There aren't many of them, you know," the Goddess of Rivers shrugged, "but there are still others."
"Yeah, it's definitely not worth shouting about at every corner," Yu agreed seriously.
"The main thing is to get rid of all thoughts like "I can't do this because I don't know anything." If people approached all issues this way, the stone axe would still be the pinnacle of our civilization." I noticed the hostess of the cafe moving towards our table with a tray, and I put the coin in my pocket.
"Here, help yourself," the hostess, a rosy-cheeked, not skinny madam in her fifties in a dress, of course, with lace, in the manner of "I'm little red riding hood 80 level," put a tray in front of us. And, since we were almost the only customers, she began to chat as she set out cups and plates (with roses!).
"You don't often find such a group: one boy and four girls."
"This is our future husband," Hiroe gave it away without batting an eye, "We're dividing it up right now."
Rinko, who had time to take a bite of her signature bun, almost choked on it, and I experienced similar problems. The teapot in the hostess's hands trembled.
"Ah, ah, ah... Aren't you too young for that yet?!"
"When we're not too busy, we'll just have time to divide it up." melancholically stirring the sugar in the cup, Mizuchi joined in the conversation.
"We decided to meet with the whole staff regularly to resolve such issues," Yu flashed her glasses, nodded carefully, and waved the paper I had given her. "today we decided to sort out our future marriage contract."
With a titanic effort of will, I kept the expression "well, yes, and what's the big deal?" The painfully red Rinko buried her face in her cup. The hostess blushed, turned pale, blotched, muttered, "excuse me, please, my curiosity, dear customers," and ran behind the counter at the speed of sound. We were attacked by a "coughing fit", all except Kuzaki, who looked at us and tiredly gave us away:
"Well, you know!.."
Chapter 127.
"Here you go," Hiroe handed me a printout.
It's a big break, and the class is half scattered across the school's courtyard, roof, friends in neighboring classrooms, and clubrooms: everyone is enjoying the last weeks of warmth and sunshine. Autumn is still quite imperceptibly tinting the first leaves in gold and red. It gets a little colder in the mornings and evenings, and the days have become noticeably shorter. Just a month of summer holidays is insanely short, it seems that they rush by like an airliner taking passengers to a resort for a vacation... And it's only after a month of study that you realize how long the rest has been dragging on: the first month of school generally skips like a supersonic stealth fighter, o-o-o-one, and that's it. But this is for everyone, for me, the feeling of this month has remained completely different - as if six months have passed, so many events.
I read the printout... and he looked up at the pleased girl.
"Hiroe, I don't think I've told you this yet, but you're a genius. Without any exaggeration."
"I like to do several things at the same time," The girl with the haircut smiled flatteringly, and I returned to studying the document."
No, nothing like that, just a simple printout of the terms of reference from the government-accredited contracting portal. You know, when a private contractor is needed to do something that the authorities don't have the manpower, equipment, or just stupid time to do. Here, too, there was a similar outfit order: everything is simple and unpretentious. It was necessary to clean the bottom of large rock fragments throughout the water area to ensure the safety of local coastal and fishing navigation. It's not the easiest task, but it's not that rare either, after all, we live in an archipelago. The difference between this particular government order was in the location of the work. Exactly where the underwater island of Spirits now rests. How lovely! I especially like the amount with eight zeros that you can get for this job. No, I understand everything - renting a seaworthy barge or a special trawler for lifting heavy stones weighing up to several tons, and there are hundreds of stones, and the weather at sea is a capricious thing. Shallow depths, strong currents, tides, in short, I understand that the tender has been hanging for many years. I'm surprised that the residents of the coastal villages even pushed through these works in the prefecture. Apparently, the lack of sea communication with limited land-based road infrastructure prevents the normal development of this, perhaps to some extent, promising region... Most likely, despite the impressive amount, the expenses can eventually be covered by income only in theory. And that's not counting the risks... but in our case, it doesn't matter. Since the problem needs to be solved this way and that, then why not combine the useful with the profitable? Moreover, where a floating crane cannot cope, one water spirit can do just fine, right?
In general, the division of tasks among the headquarters of our as yet unnamed corporation (or is it still a society?) it gave quick and positive results. Where I used to have to take time to think about a topic that wasn't so interesting to me, the girls found information and made a primary analysis on their own and with great enthusiasm. For example, the same Rinko, who received the task of "sorting out" the patrol, having studied the available information about the work of the police, did not limit herself to this, but climbed to "dig" further. And she dug it up! Historical Japan, even if we take history just a hundred years before modern times, was still a patchwork of interests of local feudal lords, long-standing (or even centuries-old!) small-town gangs, certain "societies", legendary "hidden settlements" with ninja Shinobi and other crap. At least take the same "Wolves of Mibu", who adopted the motto "I destroy evil where I see it." Something in my paranoia tells me that the wolves were not without the influence of yokai, at least at the time of the creation of this organization: the name is too telling. And there are dozens of such examples!
Rinko, by the way, got so carried away with the assignment that I had to buy her a computer, because her parents were already seriously worried why their girl was sitting at my house until eleven at night, and returned with reddened eyes and a pretty stunned face. Fortunately, our brave handymen, as agreed, allocated part of their earnings for general needs, so they did not have to change the gold. Her parents brought the Internet into Kuzaki's house at my request - after our detailed report in their kitchen, when the daughter, usually slightly cold before studying, with burning eyes, dumped various kinds of historical "revelations" on them, the Kuzaki elders looked at me with a little wary respect. Yuto promised to "pull up" Rinko with classes? The kid said, the kid did!
Things weren't going well in theory and practice of magic either: after kicking out Yu's Potter-obsessed teammates, I treated the walls, floor, and ceiling of the clubroom with a Ferry, getting a pretty decent laboratory room for practicing all sorts of mysticism. Shimomuro received an upgrade of her favorite glasses from me, and the first series of experiments went off with a bang. At least one of Yu's compounds absorbed mana perfectly when I took a handful of an incomprehensible mixture and applied energy. It is noteworthy that the same composition flatly refused to absorb Shizuki's mana. Hmm. And Yu didn't calm down until she demanded a promise from me to do the processing of her room at her parents' house. They say that she has a LARGE collection of ingredients, mixtures and blanks for various amulets, which were simply ordered by the kami themselves, since there was such an opportunity. Well, she will give us a lecture on the basics of amulet building and alchemy, as she understands them based on online research. Naturally, we agreed.
It remains to be noted that throughout this period of late summer and early autumn, until events began to "fall apart" again, Hiroe had the least rest. According to my very, very rough estimates, she compiled the "yokai civil code for the city of Takamiya", compiled the internal rules of our structure, and with modifiers for people and for spirits. In general, she earned three hundred percent of the modest salary that she had set for herself from the "community". It wasn't that Hiroe needed the money, but the "principle point" was more important to her. In general, it turned out to be a good respite, almost a full month. And then the whole group of us went to visit Yu.
Chapter 128.
"First of all, I want to say that the information on the web is different, however, besides fantasies and outright nonsense, there are things that look quite reliable," We started talking about the topic of interest on the way to Yu's house. Suffice it to say that the information on the subject "Simple amulets and compounds" in the form of a lecture notebook from the British Magic School got into my hands through a closed section of our forum, scans of one girl from our "crazy bunch" were simply sent by a friend who knows about the "crazy" of his "lost" passion. Some kind of phishing via satellite, whatever it is...
"I'll tell you later," I promised, recalling various stories I had read there about what elementary ignorance of the procedures of public network resources leads to. And it would be fine if the magic, bankers managed to send information so that it lay unprotected on file balls for months. At least Google encrypts traffic using SSL. However, you can't say that I'm "five points" good at this either. And it's definitely worth investigating, because there's no way you can do without the Internet at work. He pulled out his phone and, half listening to Shimomuro, typed himself a note with a reminder: it would be extremely unpleasant to forget something planned. Like losing your phone... Kso! But calendar synchronization, if you enable this service from your provider, will also be available, even if not publicly available, but on someone else's resource. Damn it! Another note in the calendar...
"...The bottom line is that," Yu continued to tell us, leading us to her house, "that, as I understood it, magic as such can have two fundamentally different ways of "making". It could be some kind of spell: A method where a magician uses his gift to create mana... someone calls it a weave, someone a noose, someone a scheme in general, but the word "spell" occurs most often. When the spell is completed, the mana in it begins to be spent on performing a certain process: from a flash of light to the most difficult transformation. The second method is an amulet. Or alchemy. There are different directions, but as far as we were able to understand and translate the summary, in general it is the same thing. All substances and objects made of them have their own magical properties. Some substances have highly pronounced properties, and simply applying magical energy to them already leads to results. It's as if the spell is made not of mana, but of material - the principle is the same. The individual parts of the amulet or the ingredients of a solution or mixture in alchemy each give their own effect, the sum or sequence of which leads to the desired result. If you strip away all the "technical nuances", in general everything is very simple. Even two people broke away from our forum "crazy bunch" - they said that we had "killed a miracle" and they were not on their way with us. By the way, they "keep" it potteryaoi.jp.
"I hope you haven't told your "crazy company" anything about us?" Hiroe asked in an indifferent tone.
"Do you think I'm such a fool? Of course not, the Yakuza don't give away their own!"
I groaned inwardly: again! Meanwhile, Yu opened the front door with her key, and before we could take off our shoes, a small hurricane named Shimomuro Sato hit us.
In general, for technical reasons, I had to take a break: the younger brother Yu literally charmed Rinko and Hiroe, who immediately clung to him from both sides like pincers. Naturally, Fidget got tired of hugging after about twenty seconds - but fuck it, I should have run earlier! The older sister, with a vengeful smile clearly visible, explained to him that the guests should be treated with respect... and let yourself be squeezed half to death. Well, what can I say, Sato Shimomuro, you're a MAN! Sato obediently endured being pulled by the hair, stroking his head, and stupid questions like "are you already going to the potty yourself?" and other cute manifestations of gender sadism. However, his suffering paid off in just five minutes, when Rinko, in a fit of emotion, threw the child to the ceiling. AND, THANK KAMI, SHE CAUGHT IT! Well, in kendo classes, Rinko never allowed herself to "count" by strengthening her muscles...
"sister!!! You're so strong!"
for me, it's a completely stupid Japanese habit to call a friend older than yourself "sister/brother," but I bit my tongue and didn't get involved, even though I was offended. Let Kuzaki figure it out for herself.
"Otherwise, I'm the strongest girl in school! That's because I'm the district's kendo champion!"
Anyway, after a minute and a half, my neighbor and the little misunderstanding of the Shimomuro family were already learning some kata, and Rinko turned into a "sensei." Mizuchi, having taken the tea set from Yu, also found something to her liking, and we drank tea in a very family way, since Yu's parents, who had been warned about our arrival the day before, had already gone somewhere after work.
Nevertheless, an hour later we returned to the topic of the meeting. Yu's room is... well, a girly room, but not too much. Stars on the ceiling, glowing in the dark (demonstrated), a selection of paper books on mysticism, a bed, a TV on the wall with a good diagonal, a computer on the desktop. I went to the book rack and was naturally shocked: if I ignored Necromicon, considering it fake, then Lovecraft and Hammer of Witches with King on the same shelf made an impression on me. Did Yu's parents even look at them?! Facepalm...
While I was feeling the walls, floor and ceiling (the location of the ladder was known to Shimomuro), the girl pulled out an impressive box from under the bed. I opened it. And... yes! It was the largest collection of jars, cones, bundles, and even herbarium albums that I had ever seen. The content matched. And if captions like "a plantain stalk at the intersection of six roads on June 6 at 6 a.m." only led to some confusion, then after reading "cemetery land from the Jewish cemetery, midnight, Halloween," I decided to save my nerves and did not ask about the phalanges of fingers or the ears of the dead.
"You've done such a great job... work... I don't even know what word to use to express mine... admiration from... from... from your abilities!"
"Die, you can't say it better, you know!" Mizuchi whispered, just as I had seen the magnificent example of human perseverance... or stubbornness?!
"Believing in a miracle can work miracles," The future headman shrugged her shoulders in a calm and very adult way. And how does your belief in miracles feel after recent events?" The short-haired woman asked seriously. Faith has not gone away, but miracles have... Here, next to me is a yokai who can turn into water and brew a real drink of the gods from Dad's cheap tea! A miracle just needs to be seen. Okay, shall we start?
Then the routine began. Take a cone / jar / twig. Release some mana. If the response is somehow different from the standard power outage, log it. Pass the jar to Shizuka. Take the next one... Dreary, monotonous. Sato stopped by a couple of times to see what kind of nonsense we were messing with. The third time, he couldn't stand it, picked up one of the unopened vials and squeezed it in his hand too.
"Sato..."
"Yes, let it play," Yu was making notes in her ingredients catalog, "There is nothing dangerous there. And I didn't bring anything particularly nasty home."
"You don't even know what he got."
"This is the pollen of linden flowers."
"Oh, well, ok... Sato, put it down!.."
But it was too late. I have never seen in person how a person literally turns blue in five heartbeats and falls with a wheeze, unable to stand on suddenly weak legs.
"Sato!!!"
"What's going on..."
"What's wrong with him?!"
Yu picked up the child, but immediately received a poke in the side from me:
"Get the inhaler out of his medicine cabinet! Don't stand there! RUN!!!"
"It's bad, you know," Mizuchi collapsed next to me on her knees. "What's wrong with him?"
"Anaphylactic shock." as always in a period when it is necessary to act quickly, my emotions have gone somewhere. "It is necessary to flush the respiratory tract and trachea. Can you do it?"
"I'm doing it!"
The guy's eyes were already staring at the ceiling, he didn't seem to see anything, and he barely twitched when the water from the snake's palms poured into his mouth in a living stream, only to pour out in a few moments. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. Pushing the door open with a bang, Yu returned to the room with a can of inhaler.
"Mizuchi, make the solution evenly cover the throat and larynx, trachea and bronchi," I held the baby's mouth open with one hand and pressed the spray button, preventing the jet from running out. "Are there syringes and injections in the medicine cabinet in case of an attack? Yes, answer me!"
"I have syringes, but I don't know about medications. My mother was only talking about this, and calling an ambulance." Tears were continuously flowing from Yu's eyes, but she didn't even seem to notice it. Shizuka pushed the baby's chest, and he took a hoarse breath... with difficulty. The snake pulled up Sato's shirt and literally lifted and lowered his ribs with both hands, just touching his palms. The blueness subsided a little, but the clearly visible swelling on the face and upper half of the body only increased, slowly but steadily.
"The doctors won't have time, you know," Without stopping the measured pumping of air, the snake spoke, and I decided. He closed his eyes, touching the younger Shimomuro's skin, forcing his consciousness into a trance. It's quite simple. Does the body want to live? Find his desire, find all the reasons...
...When I finished, I felt myself falling sideways. I couldn't feel my legs at all-they were numb, but Sato was breathing normally, and even there was a meaningful expression in his eyes. I looked with my "ferry" vision and almost fell down again - a pattern resembling a three-dimensional visualization of the circulatory system appeared in the body, almost all tissues and organs were entangled with the smallest threads of light. I saw them with difficulty, at the limit of the detail of my ability. I was sure that even if I wanted to, I would not be able to add anything to this pattern. If only it would work, if only I wouldn't screw up anywhere!
...The boy finished feeling his chest in surprise, and, amusingly surprised, said:
"And now it's not hard at all. And your hands were glowing when you held me. What was that? How's the magic? But Dad says there's no such thing as magic..."
"Dad's right," I rested my head on the edge of the bed, "Magic wouldn't have helped you... If only because I don't know her."
Chapter 129.
I ruined my shirt again. Ferry materials are, of course, convenient and cool, but it's worth using my ability with full concentration... In the end, a solution was found - in the form of a "dimensionless" sweater ... light pink and with a red heart in the whole chest! And how naturally the girls laughed at me like that! At least it's of some use...
...I put Sato to bed, and without listening to timid objections, I made his take his temperature. Anaphylaxis is a generalized immune inflammation, and all the signs of inflammation are present: swelling, redness, fever. They hammered something into my head at the university, but there were no symptoms. Driving Yu back and forth, I made them bring me a phonendoscope and listened to the lungs in half with grief. I didn't find any wheezing, and in terms of the presence of foreign fluid, I trusted Mizuchi's diagnosis more than my own percussion abilities. It's been a long time, ten years have passed... but the hands remember, if necessary. And not just the hands.
What bothered me the most was the fact that I roughly understood what I had done. And I did nothing less than adjust the power of the immune response. Judging by the fact that the changes affected almost all tissues except the brain, the Farry additionally distorted the receptors of already proliferated cells right in place... Ha, and I thought I'd definitely forgotten about immunology... and I would prefer not to remember her like THAT.
A lovely, wonderful sweater! Instead of sitting there looking lost, the "board of directors" is trying not to laugh at me. Sato wanted to sit with us, but now he's going to have a "pleasant" time, divided between juice bags and a toilet: the body abruptly sheds immune proteins. And I can just watch, hoping only that the Farry has affected them enough to have his own immune cells... So, I'm done with the terms. And I'll try to tell Yu.
"Yu, now listen to me very carefully. What I had to apply to Sato is not a treatment per se, the removal of an acute reaction is only a consequence, one of the side effects. Do you know what happened?"
Shimomuro frowned, clutching the cup, not noticing that it was quite hot.
"Asthma attack with suffocation... Mom said it could happen... And without you, I wouldn't even have thought to carry the medicine, I'd just stand there and watch..." Yu's eyes shone treacherously again.
"Don't blame yourself... in this. And it wasn't asthma... not exactly asthma, or rather, not only asthma. It was an ultra-fast allergic reaction to the very lime pollen that he turned over in his hands and inhaled. I don't know how you got so much of it, but I want to warn you, there are large amounts of pollen on the mucous membranes (that is, in the nose, for example) they will cause dangerous allergies even in a healthy person. Allergy sufferers are generally at risk: it is always possible that the body will react to more than just that antigen... An antigen is something that causes an allergy, whether it's wool or chocolate... but also on some other one. The probability is low, but it is there. And there is always a chance that the reaction will be like this... scary. Yu's parents will probably take Sato to the clinic when they find out about the attack... but they won't find anything there. It's just that his body stopped reacting to itself as to an antigen - this is the essence of the asthma process (I'm simplifying it, of course, to make it easier to understand). Sometimes it happens for no reason, like the carrier of the "Ferry of Light". So I'm putting the responsibility for your brother on you."
"Responsibility?"
"Yes. I was acting on almost nothing but instincts, according to my feelings. Do you really think that I know what to do by Ferry in case of such a disease, if no one taught me at all? But I know a little bit about medicine... When modifying something, Ferry changes one of the parameters of the modifiable object within its capabilities... in this case, the Ferry reduced the immune system's response. I do not know how much. Yu, you have to watch your brother! If he gets even a little sick, make sure he takes his medications, especially antibiotics. I... I do not know how much the reaction has changed... The immune system is a complex thing, it protects our body from infections, and asthma - when this watchman is too timid, he starts "shooting at the bushes" without figuring out whether his own or someone else's are coming... and be sure to take away, right now, all the old medicines from your brother. Let the doctors reassign... Damn. I'm sorry, Yu, I am... I'm really afraid that I didn't do my job well enough... and you can check it just by watching..."
"But you can help if something goes wrong, right?" Shimomuro asked hopefully.
"No... The ferry is a one-time thing. There may be repeated modifications if they do not affect the previous ones... and the attempt to change by "force" - did you see what happened to my shirt?"
Yu quickly turned white, remembering the lump of white mass, or jelly, into which the threads of the upper part of my school uniform were spreading.
"So that's what you meant when you said that "The ferry is not magic."" Mizuchi nodded to herself, "and I must admit, I thought it was such a figure of speech... Even when I didn't feel like you were making amulets... You know. Impressive... You know."
"Received "The introduction of Changing Light" materials, in addition to new properties, receive new features... Just try to keep it a secret... a large deformation of an object, or if it is broken, the whole object collapses.: the same effect as when trying to change the "Ferry". I'm sorry again, Yu... I do not know what will happen if Sato has to undergo significant surgery... and it's better for him to try not to break his limbs... The Ferry was applied to the entire body at the same time, and I do not know which deformity will be critical for it..." "The loss of a limb is for sure," I thought, but I didn't say anything. Yu's face is already chalky in color.
Suddenly Rinko also turned pale:
"There, in the mountains... When we got into a fight, you were there too... That's it... I... me..."
"No, that's where the methodology was worked out... You remember asking why hamsters changed so fast... I wouldn't dare here either, if I had a chance..." We sat in silence. The cups were cooling on the table, no one else touched them. The silence thickened in the house, kind of sticky and nasty, as it always does with such conversations. For two minutes we just stared at nothing... and then Shizuka silently stood up and silently approached me. She hugged her head, hugging it to her chest.
"Yuto... You don't have to take everything on yourself... We followed you, and that means we're all responsible... And we're going to follow you anyway. Lead on and don't hesitate, leader-san!"
Ha, and Mizuchi was lying about not being a magician! When needed, she found the only true "magic words". The tension suddenly subsided, leaving only fatigue and a slight headache.
...When Yu and Sato's parents returned, we had already come to our senses. Of course, we didn't do any work anymore, but we helped Shimomuro make dinner (a normal dinner, not "warm up semi-finished products from the refrigerator"). They told them a slightly edited version of their youngest son's seizure (I just held him, Shizuka did artificial respiration while Yu ran to get medicine). Yu's mother was pretty worried, but since everything was already fine, she didn't call an ambulance, since we didn't call her, promising to make an appointment at work tomorrow and take her son for an examination. Then she hesitated for a long time, finally whispered something in the ear of the father of the family, who asked with a laugh why I was walking around in Yu sweater.
"This is payback," the Goddess of Rivers beat me to it, "one guy for four beauties like us. Let him suffer!" Yes, and I also have to amuse the neighbors with my appearance. Should I call a taxi? But I puffed out my chest and walked home: I had to maintain my reputation, even so.
Damn, the hamsters seem to have hit again. And the worst part. I haven't told anyone this yet, but a year ago I figured that Steam could be used to affect the reproduction of cells in one organ. The thymus. The key to a long active life. Experiments on rats gave them a "second youth" after the transplantation of this thymus gland. I was almost sure that I could handle the Ferry, but I postponed the experiments as they were not the most important. Life extension is a great bonus to attract allies and followers. And just today I killed the very opportunity to prolong the life of one of the family of "my" people with my own hands. Just because he didn't ask Yu to bolt the door to the room. Just because he treated serious work as "mystical stuff." And I got paid immediately. What if one of the stupid flasks detonated in response to mana? Or would it turn into a volatile poison? Damn, anything could have happened! I've been exploring unknown subjects... in the girls' room, sitting on the floor! Well, I have to admit, we all got off easy for my sloppiness. We need to turn on our heads and fix the situation before it's too late. You can't do stupid things anymore. Moreover, I am now responsible not only for myself.
Chapter 130.
That's right, they say: if it doesn't go over your head, it goes through your ass. Tested, it gets there perfectly. The story of the younger brother influenced Yu herself the most. The girl abruptly began to behave much more seriously and judiciously. It was especially funny to watch how, in her class, Shimomuro began to mildly "build" particularly wild and carefree boys and girls, surprisingly forcing the latter to behave less erratically. Anyone who tried to perform such an operation on a crowd of eleven-year-olds will understand the epic nature of this event. Now Yu looked much more like the girl from the manga I remembered: cautious, but able to arrange an adventure, reasonable... but not the "gray mouse" who is not particularly interested in anything and is not friends with anyone.
Our friendship, on the contrary, has grown stronger. Ours is in the sense of between all of us: experiencing this together is like going into battle together. And I'm so glad that everything ended without losses... while. What is happening has perfectly cleared the brains of all the "directors" of our "corporation" - each in his own way. Mizuchi found a detailed first aid manual on the Internet, studied it and asked for help to complete the courses: modern medicines should be familiarized at least in conditions "close to combat." I doubt it will help for yokai either, but the snake has set out to protect the human part of our team at least that way. Shimomuro, on the other hand, had delved into the safety regulations she had found to compile the requirements for the magic laboratory, and now she was just clutching her head at how many necessary rules we had managed to break. Just the fact that a magical object could potentially not only catch fire and shock, but also explode, give off poisonous gas, and even cause a small spatial anomaly (theoretically) required special conditions for conducting experiments. Or, better, a training ground, where these conditions could be created under the open sky and using the terrain. The idea is smart and timely: after all, even my modest magical powers are enough to create four discharges of electricity (through the amulet), piercing half a meter of air. I estimated that this is about 0.1 gigajoules of energy at least. For comparison, the muzzle energy of a revolver is only about 200-500 joules. It's okay, right? If it explodes or bursts into flames, everyone who will be around will at least not laugh: it's not funny to live with fractures and burns.
The funny thing is that the "learning" fever mysteriously struck our "artel": the younger members of the "group" persuaded Kashi... Buy an excavator! Well, not right now, but in a month, and during that time someone will take courses... For example, the Hawk-Nosed one is Shinji. Tom Sawyer sailed too shallow with his fence: it was necessary to lay down a steamship yard right away - this is at least. The enthusiasm of the Amakawa Group was overwhelming: it was enough for me to sit with the guys in the dorm and listen to their rave reviews. Well, yes. Don't forget to ask the Polytechnic students about the university courses the next time, I go to a public lecture with Taizo (we go once a week on Fridays). The university should teach all kinds of "secondary special" certifications in separate shortened courses, such as foreman or lower-level manager. We'll need it soon, I think. Because, looking at the Yokai who had won the unspoken title of "I'll solve everything" in a month, the rest of the normal hard workers from the surrounding dormitories began to intensively approach them on the subject of "working on the object together." Of course: the two-armed and smartly working spirits (who had nothing interesting waiting for them at home) could pull off almost any hopeless task on time. Especially if it's "hopeless" because of the sloppiness of previous employees. I wonder if my vassals will soon get tired of this occupation, or have they found their recognition? On the other hand, Rinko and Mizuchi will soon start chasing them in their free time - the concept of patrolling the territory was under active refinement.
Patrolling... Well, if someone had told me that the proposed scheme was developed by two girls (and even if one was under three hundred years old), I would not have believed it, to put it mildly. They decided to include three yokai in the patrol group, and they had to act like this: according to the serif from the surveillance system (oh, I feel like I have to finish it in an emergency!), the group moved out of the "office" (places should still be selected) so as to intercept the intruder. Two of them stopped him in the middle of the street (or somewhere else), and the third, using aura invisibility, had to take up a position... with a sniper rifle. Makes sense, right? In principle, the group should have had means of fighting that enhanced their not-too-good defensive abilities: remote stunners were just asking for, especially if they had at least three charges, an elephant could definitely be fried. But without the option to "eliminate quickly and quietly", the situation did not "roll" at all - if only because a potential opponent could simply run better than fight - and chase him around the city. A linear accelerator as a weapon of destruction from a long distance was just asking for it (although I can't say that it will be so silent - no one canceled the air resistance), but I have what they call "no horse lying around" in this direction. Damn, it's tin! By the way, I carefully asked if Rinko understood (I had no doubt about the snake) that the patrols would have to kill? To which he ran into a harsh and adult answer: "it's better to kill someone who came to kill everyone himself than to cry over the murdered relatives." Yes, our first encounter with the caterpillar spirit in the park is clearly not forgotten. However, why am I surprised? Children can be much more violent than untrained adults... And we already had the experience of fighting with murders.
They decided to "make" the training ground on the opposite slope of the low mountains around the city: the peaks will shield the bursts of magic from possible observers from the city. Fortunately, without disguise, Mizuchi is able to detect a strong yokai or a police magician from a long distance... We also brought Kashi with us. Firstly, because "there is never much security," and secondly, he will be with us in Noihara. We decided to clearly schedule the "storming" of my clan's stronghold for the last Sunday in October: regardless of Tsuchimikado's actions. Tired of living from one adventure to another, it's time to get used to living and thinking "like an adult." During this time, I planned to have time to visit the "landfill" at least three times: to learn how to open a Mystical House, to test a prototype of a railgun - a weapon, not just a single barrel. So that everything is as it should be: with a sight (so far without optics), with a butt and charging through the shutter. The small, inexperienced arrows were supposed to be made of good hard steel at the Department of Precision Engineering: that's why this contact was useful for the first time. Of course, officially these were not charges at all, but parts for the school physics laboratory, but no one even asked me - the help with the printer was appreciated. It probably looks a bit too presumptuous to finish something that is just a barrel to a prototype weapon, but I had a trump card - 3D printing. And the fact that the butt and charge supply elements will be made of plastic - well, gunpowder is not used in weapons, and the simplest bolt mechanism will not experience any special efforts - it does not even need to be sealed. And my ability allows me to strengthen even simple plastic to the characteristics of a building composite.
The trip turned out to be a bit exhausting: two and a half hours on mountain roads up and down at the speed of a wounded turtle in the ass: the road is narrow and winding. The only bright moment was when a bus passing through the pass taxied onto a site with a beautiful view of the lake and a part of the city lying on the shore: for a minute we just caught our breath! As a result, we were just happy to get off the bus - it was better to walk through the mountains and without a road than in this leisurely "shaker" through the remnants of the summer heat. Speaking of the heat: only Hiroe had the brains to connect "we're going to nature to train where there's water" with the opportunity not only to work, but also to relax. However, it was agreed that no one else would go into the water except Shizuka: even if this section of the river was dammed downstream, but the channel of angular granite fragments somehow did not have the potential for safe swimming. And I shouldn't have worried about the lack of a road - the Corpse Eater led us to a very nice path winding through the mountains, across the river I was looking for (an hour's walk from the highway), and even an elegant, albeit old wooden bridge was thrown.
"An abandoned temple. Regular," Kashi explained it to me.
"Great!" Hiroe stretched vigorously, unaccustomed to pulling a small backpack onto her shoulders. "In the meantime, you sort out your things and food, and we'll change our clothes."
At this point, manga heroines usually shout "don't peek!"- with a natural result, of course, but- what happiness! we're not in a manga. The girls came out from behind the rock in just five minutes: and two of the three were looking at the fourth, Mizuchi, so that they were ready to check the hole. The Goddess of Rivers was blushing for some reason. And what happened there?
"How do I look?" Hiroe spun around on her toe in front of me: a black two-piece swimsuit, of course, suited her... but along with the "mountain" boots, which, at the insistence of the corrosive Yu, we chose and bought in advance (it was still that scene in the store!)... After swallowing a comment like "at least now in a combat walker" and "I allow you to start saving the world!" I just gave a thumbs up. Surprisingly, Rinko and Yu continued to rub something with the snake, although they also, in general, had something to show off: the girls chose "children's" options for tanning, like school. I don't know how they got together to sunbathe like that, but their angular figures looked very cute (at least, this option was more suitable for shoes).
The girls noticed that I was looking at them and blushed together, and Shizuka quickly kicked off her shoes and flew like a bullet into the greenish water (only her head remained above the surface). And what does that mean?
"I'm starting, you know," the Goddess of Rivers informed me, and I began to watch the formation of the technique with all my glasses. Shizuka dived headfirst, I saw her body sink to the very bottom, and... dissolved! The glowing aura literally flooded the river from shore to shore, and shot up into the air like a torch... And three girls are missing! Oops!
The Mystical House "as it is" looked quite interesting from the outside: a column of spells above the place where the operator disappeared into the water, and a light bluish haze covering the copying area - a circle with a radius of at least two hundred meters. Strong, snake!
Basically, to interrupt the technique, it was enough to pick up a heavier rock and throw spells at its center: Shizuka can't move, and her body is vulnerable now, even though I can't see it (body). But in the case of the amulet, you will have to act differently: either smash it with a hammer (which is not too safe to do in the center of the house), or use a "mine" - a counter-charm that will interrupt the manopow and cause the spell to collapse, throwing everything inside at real coordinates. Actually, I intended to make a similar thing out of a meter-long fragment of wood, making a kind of "magical superconductor" - mana should theoretically flow through it more readily than just through the air. Here we go!
... and finished. Three hours later, I managed to steadily create a stick with the desired effect, bridging the flows so that the spell failed in about a minute: just in time to run out of the house. I felt like I was carrying bricks, and I was hungry. Plopping down on a beach towel with the girls, I saw Mizuchi come up, grab her things, and rush headlong behind the rock locker room.
"But what is it?!"
"Haven't you figured it out yet, Yuto-kun?" He asked me for Kashi. "Don't worry. It's just that Shizuka was too lazy to buy and carry a swimsuit and created clothes for herself out of her own water... And it looks like someone managed to convince her that she was naked anyway, right?"
Yu and Rinko's faces could light a cigarette - such a crimson shade! And I didn't know whether to laugh or cry- after everything that had happened to her over the years, after all our adventures together, the three-hundred-year-old Yokai was worried about what her clothes were made of?! Moreover, two eleven-year-old girls convinced her that she should worry about this! Oh, kami! Truly, if a person runs out of problems, he will invent them for himself! And not just a human!
Chapter 131.
"We need to decide what we're going to be called." Yu posed the question bluntly, leaving the empty cup. To drink the European version of tea from European mugs with roses - of course, the Croissant cafe! Well, we're not going to Mac, are we? And here it's quiet, calm, lace in such quantity that, it seems, going out on the street, you will strangle the first wearer of them...
Hiroe opened her brand-new mini-laptop P series from Panasonic and meticulously read out:
"We need to come up with a name for three organizations. For a voluntary, non-profit police assistance squad, for a construction company that will take on a contract for bottom work in the bay, and for a scientific group that will officially conduct research in the field of the latest materials and experimental equipment."
"Sign up another management company - it will be all of us."
"Logically, it is worth making formal distinctions on work right now."
"Why such difficulties?" Rinko was surprised.
"A simple precaution in case of problems with someone. Again, taxes are easier to calculate and pay," explained Yu. "What? My mom told me."
"I feel like the dumbest again." My neighbor confessed, "How do you know so much?"
"My mom taught me too, I told you," Hiroe grinned, "and then I began to understand something myself."
"Life experience, you know" Snake shrugged, draining her fifth cup of tea in small sips. Considering that every time she ordered a new tea, the poor hostess looked at her with holy horror.
"Well, I'm just an enthusiastic person, I don't like to stop halfway if I'm interested in something." Yu flashed her glasses. Interestingly, we all wear glasses, and only Yu knows how to flash them. Did you train on purpose?
"Rinko, stop suffering with nonsense!" I tried to cheer up my childhood girlfriend. "You have a different range of hobbies, why are you so worried about it? But look, here, except for you and Shizuka, no one can stand up for themselves. Do you remember how I used to hide behind you when we were eight?"
Well, it wasn't that I was hiding, Rinko had shielded me from the little jerks herself, but I was ready to admit this "shameful" fact, so that the girl wouldn't feel "inferior" or "superfluous in this company." After all, everyone in our company has problems with tact except me... Although I'm good too!
"Wow, did you really protect Yuto from bullies when you were little?" I almost knocked over Shimomuro's chair, so abruptly she leaned on the table. "This clarifies a lot! And anyway, everything is going well!"
"What's going on?" Kaname responded immediately.
"Well, you played that one... The game I recommended?"
Two nods, and Rinko blushes again. Damn, we'll have to talk about this carefully somehow... or shouldn't we get involved in girly games? Da-a-amn, they say, recruited a women's team on his head! On the other hand, somehow I don't see an abundance of guys to whom I could entrust not just my secret, but really my life. And if I introduce at least one kid into the "inner" circle, a monkey measuring of reproductive organs will immediately follow, simply because at our age hormones are definitely stronger than brains. And hormones push any teenager to try to take an alpha position in the pack, no matter how you look at it. It's better to let it be as it is.
"..Around the main character, the mysterious prince," Meanwhile, Yu continued to speak earnestly, "the one who lost his parents, the last heir of a mysterious clan with mystical powers... Yuto, did you have any problems with your memory?"
"They were," Rinko ratted me out.
"Very good! So, having memory lapses, beautiful girls suddenly appear: a "simple" childhood friend, in whom the hero suddenly begins to see not just a friend, but a beautiful girlfriend, super-smart, but too fl... Ek-ahem, I wanted to say, a very nice student from the senior class (Hiroe! I honestly wanted to say sweet!), a sensible classmate on the outside and passionate on the inside (That's me! And there's nothing to look at so incredulously!) and even a mysterious spirit girl with superpowers. Well how? Hmm... Definitely missing is a princess from another clan, with whom the hero was secretly engaged in childhood and forgot about it..."
I hit my head on the table top with a groan. Not in the eyebrow, but in the eye! But until the Kues appeared on the horizon (if it appears at all), I was not going to report it - they would only wind themselves up once again and dilute the difficulties from scratch. Fortunately, Yu mistook "the moan that's called a song" for a painful rejection of painted roles and began to agitate me for her vision of the world.
"Well, look, it's great! Four beautiful girls will fight for the right to be by your side, and in the end you will choose..."
"The harem"- suggested the kind Mizuchi.
Oh, oh, what's that blush on Shimomuro's cheeks? Hey! Why doesn't anyone object?! And what should I say to that?! And why are all four of them looking at me?!?!
"Wonderful," I concluded, feeling a slight warmth on my cheeks, but trying to speak in an even tone, "now that you have thought out my personal life in detail for me, I will no longer worry about this aspect..."
Get the grenade, fascist! More precisely, a tank - there's just a crew of four.
"...And I can ask you to focus on your work tasks again. Let's go back to the names, since there's no way without them. Suggestions for patrol organization?"
"The Night Watch!" Hiroe immediately responded. "As I understand it, the main work will be in the dark?"
"You're right, but that name makes me feel bad, so let's change it."
"Mm-hmm..." thought Yu, "What about "Breaking Dawn"? Since the patrol will be at night, it will sound symbolic - they bring light into the night. Well, and make uniforms in the form of dark purple cloaks, like the sky before dawn... Yuto? Why are you banging your head on the table?"