Sendai

Minamoto Sōjun traveled south, reaching Kagoshima Prefecture.

He had heard many myths, yokai stories, and urban legends along the way, but the Flame Curse remained elusive.

He had mostly figured out the locations for the barrier setups.

He began to change course and headed north, reaching Aomori, then went back south through Iwate, and finally arrived in Miyagi.

Sendai City.

This was the final stop of his journey, the last place where the barrier location needed to be confirmed, and also the place where Minamoto Sōjun had lived for 14 years.

Minamoto Sōjun returned home and walked into the courtyard. Not much had changed; flies buzzed around, darting about in a lively manner, clearly still having some memory of the place.

Minamoto Sōjun paid them no mind.

He took out his key and unlocked the front door. Mr. and Mrs. Minamoto were still not home.

He had spoken with them on the phone the night before; they were currently in New Zealand—one of the most isolated countries in the world, with no neighboring countries within 1600 kilometers, a slow-paced, ideal place for retirement and vacation.

Minamoto Sōjun's call was soon disconnected, and he felt no emotion, accustomed to it.

The house had a thin layer of dust on it.

Thinking about it, he hadn't been gone for even a month! That short period of less than a month had been more exciting than the 14 years he had lived there.

He walked into the living room and saw the table with a few corners missing. He then went to the weapon storage, where the cursed tools had already been taken by Mrs. Minamoto. Minamoto Sōjun took care of the other weapons, cleaned the entire house, and walked out.

He was not someone attached to the past.

Walking through the city, this was actually Minamoto Sōjun's first time walking through Sendai.

It was now the time after work and school, and the crowds began to grow.

Ahead, three high school girls were walking side by side, crowding the already narrow sidewalk as they chattered about school gossip, occasionally stopping to play around.

Only the girl in the middle seemed uninterested, weakly responding to her friends.

Minamoto Sōjun casually waved his hand and dispelled the curse spirit on her shoulder.

The girl instantly felt a gentle breeze pass over her neck, bringing some sense of relief.

She turned around and was startled; the person was very tall.

The girl looked up at the man's face, paused for a moment, and quickly averted her gaze. His eyes were narrowed, and although he showed a hint of an attractive smile, there was still an unmistakable air of distance.

Her two companions noticed she had fallen behind and turned around, equally startled.

The three girls huddled together, hurriedly stepping aside and bowing repeatedly, apologizing, "Sorry, sorry, we blocked your path."

Minamoto Sōjun smiled kindly, walked past them, and ignored their whispered teasing behind him.

He had no particular destination in mind; his first choice was always some shrines and temples, followed by places with strange or eerie rumors.

Legends were often left behind by gods and spirits, and only with the strange could the divine be recognized—he had even seen urban legends like the "Kuchisake-onna."

Minamoto Sōjun walked past shrines and temples, eventually reaching the most famous, the Hachiman Shrine. It was dedicated to Hachiman, also known as Hachiman Daibosatsu.

There was no sign of anything extraordinary happening.

It seemed that he would need to work with the Togari Spoons after all.

Minamoto Sōjun found a secluded stone bench outside the shrine and sat down.

He took out the Togari Spoons.

Like the flies, Minamoto Sōjun had not erased its will, so it retained its bluish-white gourd shape.

Minamoto Sōjun had an idea; since the Yin Fire couldn't provide heat, why not awaken its Yang side?

Yin and Yang were inherently interdependent, and while curses might not follow this nature, it was fine. As long as it was assimilated as part of himself, the Yin-Yang theory would naturally make sense.

Minamoto Sōjun began to cast the inversion technique, a streak of azure light landing on the gourd, soon "corroding" a gap in it.

He immediately stopped his actions.

The energy produced by the inversion technique was the deadliest poison for a curse.

An idea flashed in Minamoto Sōjun's mind: why not simply replace the negative curse energy that made up the Togari Spoons with positive energy?

No one said that the composition of a curse couldn't be positive, right?

He plucked a bit of the bluish-white flame from the Togari Spoons, its most essential core.

He scattered its body, and azure curse energy surged, reconstructing a gourd-shaped fireball.

Finally, he placed the spark inside.

Like oil on a fire, the flame suddenly grew, and the bluish-white color began to turn red...

"Is this... an elf?!" a voice nearby called out.

Minamoto Sōjun had already noticed the newcomer, whose aura was distinctly different—if he had to describe it, it was like an ordinary person who happened to be a sorcerer. Now, it seemed, the person was a sorcerer who resembled an ordinary person.

"Have you seen an elf before?" Minamoto Sōjun looked at the ordinary sorcerer.

He was truly very ordinary—whether it was his appearance, demeanor, or anything else, he wouldn't attract a second glance in a crowd.

Only the stitched line on his forehead made Minamoto Sōjun raise an eyebrow in surprise.

Someone with that on their forehead could have just undergone cranial surgery for a brain injury.

He smiled at the other person, "That isn't common."

"There's still a few around," the newcomer sat down casually beside him, staring at the crimson gourd. "I've seen them a few times before."

He looked away and turned to Minamoto Sōjun. "What were you just doing?"

"Just studying it," Minamoto Sōjun said casually. He could almost confirm the other's identity but had no further thoughts.

"This thing is indeed strange; technically, it's considered a type of curse spirit under the elf category. It looks holy and majestic but still belongs to curses."

He shifted his gaze to the Hachiman Daibosatsu inside the main hall.

"It's just too weak."

"...So, do you think legends come first, or do the legendary objects come first?"

He seemed to be speaking to himself, "It's so intriguing."

"Legends probably come first," Minamoto Sōjun frowned slightly before quickly relaxing.

Humans are the spirit of all things, and before the eight million gods, the belief in them had to exist for the gods to be real.

He was a firm believer in the boundless potential of humanity.

The other person looked surprised at his quick response but soon returned to a calm state, eyeing him without speaking.

He preferred to search for answers himself.

Minamoto Sōjun remained silent as well, playing with the crimson gourd in his hand.

This was the Yang Fire, with the red color representing the fire spirit's Yang nature.

As more curse energy was infused, the flame grew hot and fierce, and Minamoto Sōjun quickly adjusted its temperature to prevent any effect on the surroundings.

It was weak, but there were always ways to make it stronger, just like with the flies.

Minamoto Sōjun put the crimson gourd away.

The other person also stood up, seemingly ready to leave, as if he had just come to make small talk.

He suddenly turned around and looked at Minamoto Sōjun:

"Do you... know me?"

"Hm?" Minamoto Sōjun met the other's gaze, his expression neutral. He said, "Shouldn't know you, right?"

"Oh, then that must be it. I don't remember us meeting either."

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