The Saga of Hamavaran

"So, you really are a ghost?"

"No! I'm not even dead yet!"

"But you've never been alive either?" "Um... Yeah, I guess you could say that..."

The talkative young girl, who claimed to be a shikigami, gulped down glutinous-rice dango with such speed and intensity that Hamawaran began to worry she might choke.

"If I had to explain it, I'd say my situation is more like that of a 'ghost-calling."

"So like I said, a ghost..."

"Noooo, not that kind of ghost!"

One argument later, Hamawaran finally understood that what she called "ghost-calling" was something roughly equivalent to what in Sumeru is known as "spirit-warding." Both involve signing a pact using one's real name. The notion that you can command someone when you know their real name is common to many of the world's mystic traditions, and it highlights a core fear held by humans: the fear of being under someone else's control.

With thoughts thusly wandering, Hamawaran once again began to regret specializing in the much-neglected discipline of marine biology instead of mysticism...

First I have to sail all the way to Inazuma, then I have to go through the living hell that is a thesis defense...

But maybe running into this noisy little thing is a stroke of good luck for me...