-504- The correct payment

Dairenji Suzuka's father is the mastermind behind the spiritual disaster terror attack that occurred two years ago.

This fact wasn't too difficult to deduce.

Ever since Rozen heard the name Dairenji Suzuka, he had this suspicion.

"After all, both of you have the surname Dairenji and are among the 'Twelve Divine Generals.' Connecting you two wasn't hard at all," Rozen expressed, facing the pale-faced Dairenji Suzuka.

"And if I recall correctly, Dairenji Shidou indeed has a son and a daughter."

This, too, was not difficult information to obtain.

As people holding the title of "Twelve Divine Generals," all National First-Class Onmyoji were akin to celebrities.

Though not all of them were as prominent as Dairenji Suzuka, appearing in magazines and photobooks, becoming the image spokespersons for the Onmyou Agency, at least in newspapers and news, there would undoubtedly be reports about them.

Although the Goryo Bureau is a secret department within the Imperial Household, and its research leads them to infrequent interaction with the outside world, with few mentions of the Goryo Bureau, let alone its members, by the outside world, as the head of the Goryo Bureau, a person who secured a position among the "Twelve Divine Generals," Dairenji Shidou, even without interviews, would still have some basic information uncovered by the media, such as family composition.

Rozen remembered that the reports mentioned Dairenji Shidou having a son and a daughter.

Of course, not much was said about these children in the media.

But now it seemed...

"You are Dairenji Shidou's daughter, and you have a brother or a younger sibling," Rozen pointed out.

"As for how his situation, I believe I don't need to tell you?"

Although Rozen didn't know what had happened to Dairenji Suzuka's brother or younger sibling, he remembered that Dairenji Shidou was already dead.

In the incident of the "Jou-i Daihara," the orchestrator behind this spiritual disaster terror attack, Dairenji Shidou, was devoured by the spiritual disaster and ultimately perished.

"So, your goal for conducting the 'Taizan Fukun Ritual' is quite evident," Rozen explained, facing Dairenji Suzuka.

"If something unfortunate happened to your brother or younger sibling, leading to their demise, then you want to resurrect them."

"If your brother or younger sibling is fine and alive, then you want to resurrect your father."

This is what Rozen referred to as the two candidates.

"You... you want to resurrect Dairenji Shidou?" Natsume asked, extremely shocked, upon hearing Rozen's reasoning.

However, Natsume's subconscious words invoked a strong reaction from Suzuka Dairenji.

"Who would want to resurrect that guy!" Suzuka Dairenji exclaimed vehemently.

"I will never revive that monster! It's best for that monster to stay in hell forever!"

Suzuka Dairenji's words were full of agitation and hatred, causing Natsume to take a step back involuntarily.

Rozen also furrowed his brow deeply.

"It seems like you harbor a deep hatred towards Dairenji Shidou," Rozen commented.

"What do you think?" Suzuka Dairenji replied, laughing in a self-deprecating manner, her voice echoing.

"He's the guy who didn't hesitate to trigger a spiritual disaster for his terror activities. I am his daughter. Do you think someone like me, at my age, could become one of the 'Twelve Divine Generals' for no reason?"

Suzuka Dairenji's self-deprecating words generated a thought in both Rozen and Natsume.

"That's right," Suzuka Dairenji laughed bitterly. "My brother and I were experimented on using various forbidden techniques by him. The experiments began even before we were born and continued until he died two years ago."

That was why Suzuka Dairenji, at such a young age, became one of the "Twelve Divine Generals."

Her naturally strong jutsuryoku was a result of alteration.

Her exceptional jujutsu capabilities were a result of alteration.

Starting from before she was born, Suzuka Dairenji underwent various alterations using dangerous forbidden techniques by Dairenji Shidou, allowing her to achieve her current accomplishments.

But this was absolutely not something to be happy about.

"Do you know how many dangerous forbidden techniques we needed to endure from him every day and what kind of fear and despair we had to bear?" Dairenji Suzuka shouted.

"Who would want to revive that kind of guy!?"

Hearing this, Natsume fell into silence, and even Rozen's gaze towards Suzuka Dairenji changed.

At this moment, in Rozen's eyes looking at Dairenji Suzuka, sympathy and pity increased, but more than that, it was a kind of empathy.

At the same time, Rozen also understood.

"You want to resurrect your brother, don't you?" Rozen whispered.

That's right.

Dairenji Suzuka wanted to resurrect her brother.

"After all, being altered using so many dangerous forbidden techniques, it's a miracle to survive. It would be good if this kind of miracle happened once; the likelihood of it happening a second time is exceedingly rare," Rozen murmured.

As he said, as the girl who received the miracle, Dairenji Suzuka managed to survive.

However, it was uncertain for Dairenji Suzuka's brother.

At this point, Dairenji Suzuka's objective is finally revealed.

This young girl attempts to dabble in forbidden arts to resurrect her brother.

Or, it's for the sake of resurrecting her brother that Dairenji Suzuka chose to become an onmyoji, joining the Onmyou Agency and specializing in Taizan Fukun Ritual.

After all, the Taizan Fukun Ritual is a taboo ritual within the Imperial Arts. To achieve it, researching Imperial-Style is a necessity.

Given this, Dairenji Suzuka's previous words make sense.

"Even the study of the Imperial Onmyoudou is only for the purpose of achieving my own goals."

That's how it is.

However...

"Even so, delving into taboos is not permissible."

Natsume spoke with a mixture of sorrow and admonition.

"Since you have personally experienced so many dangerous forbidden arts, you should know how severe the consequences can be when using them. Not to mention a taboo ritual like the Taizan Fukun Ritual. If it's like what happened with Yakou in the past..."

Before Natsume could finish his words, she was interrupted by Dairenji Suzuka.

"I've said it before, the Taizan Fukun Ritual I conduct won't cause a major spiritual disaster."

Dairenji Suzuka directly cut off Natsume and voiced her conjecture.

"Abe no Seimei was the first onmyoji to use the Taizan Fukun Ritual, and during his use, it didn't result in a major disaster. This proves that Yakou's Taizan Fukun Ritual turned out that way due to some mistake."

What kind of mistake?

"Yakou didn't offer the correct payment."

Dairenji Suzuka stated this.

"Like Abe no Seimei, who used the Taizan Fukun Ritual and exchanged the souls of a monk and his disciple, successfully resurrecting them, Yakou didn't submit the souls to be used in the exchange during the Taizan Fukun Ritual, which led to the disastrous consequences."

In other words...

"As long as someone is willing to sacrifice their life and exchange their brother's soul, the Taizan Fukun Ritual can be perfectly successful."

Suzuka Dairenji unequivocally stated these words.

"On this basis, considering that the Taizan Fukun Ritual is a ritual passed down through generations in the Tsuchimikado family, if someone from the Tsuchimikado family conducts it, accidents to a certain extent can be avoided. If we add the successful case of Yakou's reincarnation, as long as the person reincarnated as him can provide the required spiritual power for the ritual, it will undoubtedly be successful."

Saying this, Dairenji Suzuka cast her gaze towards Rozen, with a last glimmer of hope burning in her eyes.

"Help me..."

Dairenji Suzuka trembled as she made this request.

"As long as you're willing to help me, I'll do anything."