Her son did not return last night.
The worried and panic-stricken granny begged the villagers to conduct a search for her son.
Everyone agreed. They made use of their free time to look for him, but there wasn't even a slightest news about his whereabouts.
My husband did not return after going out this morning.
My brother had gone to the mountains two days ago and has yet to return.
Day after day, there were more and more people disappearing. By the end of February, fifteen people had disappeared.
Other than that, there were also many others who returned in a confused state-of-mind with a total change in their personality.
These people had forgotten about their past with their families. They quarrelled with their spouses and the children, and eventually left the house to live on their own.
This area belongs to Minister of the left (i.e. Akiko's father). The official in charge of this area realise the severity of the problem, and rush off to send a message to the land lord.
That happened at the end of February. However, till now, there has been no reply from the Minister of the left.
The capital was far away from here. Could it be that the minister thinks that the villagers were exaggerating, and that it was in fact, not a serious problem?
But he was still worried. If this was to continue, he feared that more people would go crazy or go missing.
Could the people who went missing be just hiding somewhere? Could it be that they had some reasons and had to leave?
That was what some people suggested. However, the few corpse that were found floating near the river bank a few days later eliminated that guess.
Those who had died seemed to have struggled before their deaths, as many of the people who dragged out the corpses from the waters were shocked at what they had seen. The victims' faces were twisted with pain, indicating that they had died a painful death.
The men, in order to get the bodies out of the river, ignored their fears and uneasiness and step into the waters.
Just then, there was a splash. Was that a fish?
At first no one was bothered by the sound, but no long later, a sharp scream was heard.
"H...Help! There's something wrapped around my leg...!"
Both the man and the body were dragged into the waters. As the man struggled, foams could be seen. Then, a four-legged demon surfaced from the waters and bit off the man's head.
The others were stunned and in shock.
Waves and strong current was building up in the once calm waters as a few black things were seen moving underwater.
Beneath the waters was a demon even bigger than the one they had just seen. Its eyes were gleaming with malice.
"Wo...Woahhhh!"
The screams from another man seemed to have broken the spell which caused the men to be rooted to the ground. Everyone rushed to get out of the waters.
The larger demon surfaced and the water splashed around.
"Bring them back..."
There was a low grumble as five other lesser demons jumped out of the waters and went after the men.
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It was the sound of the door closing.
Kochin had wanted Masahiro to get more sleep and so he's back into the small hut again.
Both Taiin and Genbu sighed at the same time. They have been trying hard not to let Kochin notice them.
They did not mean to eavesdrop on the conversation between Kochin and Masahiro. But in the end, they heard everything.
When angry, Kochin was nowhere as frightening as Touda, but she was still scary. However, she was much more reasonable, and would not get angry at small things. Compared to Seiryuu, who was always grumpy, Kochin was much calmer. There were a few occasions when she really got serious, and it was a truly frightening sight.
Then, the Eastern skies appear brighter as the sun starts to rise. Soon, it would be morning.
Taiin sat on the roof, and ruffled her hair.
"What's wrong?"
Taiin stared at the puzzled Genbu, then suddenly stood up and exclaimed, "If this goes on, Masahiro would go crazy soon!"
He had been carrying this burden, trying to bear with the pain, facing Touda, all just to let his feelings settle down.
Anyone could tell, Masahiro was not sleeping deeply. The slightest sound would wake him up. When he was eating, he seemed to be enjoying his meal, but in actuality, he was barely swallowing the food down.
Just because he had to do it.
"We aren't of any help at all."
They did not have the capability to do so. That was the same for Genbu, Rikugo and even Kochin. Rikugo could only support Masahiro, not ease his pain, and so does Kochin.
Even if Seimei or Akiko were present, Masahiro would probably not tell them what he really felt. His guilt was slowly pushing him to the edge of despair.
"I'm afraid of Touda, and it can't be helped. I do not dislike him, I'm just afraid of him."
She seemed to be confused about what she was saying. (The other translation for the same phrase above could be: Either I dislike him or I am afraid of him. So this might be the reason for why she seemed to be confused.)
Genbu was at a corner, analysing what Taiin was saying calmly. Then he frowned, he did not know what to say. Wasn't this just like Taiin?
The wind was stirred by her agitated feelings. There was a small wind and her hair was blown upwards. Genbu too closed his eyes as the wind blew past.
"But...But I can't just let Masahiro self-destruct like that...!"
"I agree."
Being unable to see the demons and spirits must have been a painful thing for Masahiro, yet he was more worried about being a burden to others.
"Sorry, could you increase your aura so that I would be able to see you guys?"
When he put it that way, it just made the shinshou even more sadden.
"So what if we are the twelve Shinshou? So what if he is the best Onmyouji? When it comes to situations like these, we can't even do a thing, how useless!"
Taiin was crying and screaming at the same time. Then, she suddenly snapped out of it, and opened her eyes wide.
The wind stopped, and the air was still again.
"...Right...An onmyouji..."
"Taiin?"
Taiin did not reply Genbu, but looked up to the sky instead.
The clouds looked thicker today. It was going to rain soon.
"I'll be right back!"
Taiin said so and summoned a gust of wind. Genbu was thrown off balance and fell off from the roof.
By the time he stood up and regained his balance, Taiin was already gone.
"This...This reckless fellow...What am I supposed to do about you?!"
The angry Genbu looked around. He really wanted to vend his anger, yet he couldn't possibly destroy a whole patch of forest for the sake of relieving his anger. Instead, a sighed deeply.
The Twelve shinshou had been around for the long time. Over the years, he had been made to look like a fool many times by Taiin.
When he returned to the capital, he must tell Byaku about her. Only he has the ability to keep her under control.
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(*After the coming of age ceremony you would be considered an adult. But I supposed in this case ,from Touda's view, Narachika probably still look like a child.)
He should be at least twenty-five.
The creature frowned and mumbled to himself "What's going on….?"
-End chapter 6-