[218]: Zenin Akira

"I've been wondering… Is the Painted-Skin Ghost so powerful from the moment of birth because I created her?" Cyr muttered to himself.

If someone else had written the story, would the result have been different?

"Of course it's because of you," Gojō Haru replied with certainty.

"You know as well as I do—people like us, when we curse someone…"

He didn't finish the sentence, but the meaning was clear.

With power like theirs, if they were to curse someone after death…

There was a 99.9% chance that the cursed would become a Special Grade Cursed Spirit.

Anything born of their thoughts was inherently stronger than something born of ordinary people.

If a normal person had written the Painted-Skin Ghost story, it would have taken at least six months, maybe a year, for the entity to truly come into being.

And it certainly wouldn't be as powerful as the one Cyr had created.

"But does the Painted-Skin Ghost have a name?" Gojō Haru asked with a hint of curiosity.

He'd read the story too—nowhere in it had the ghost's name been mentioned. Nor was the unfortunate man she targeted ever named.

"Her name is Hao," Cyr said, smiling.

When writing the story, he'd spliced in elements from the original

Though her name wasn't revealed in the narrative, she was always meant to be called Hao.

"To think she's named that…" Gojō Haru tapped his folding fan against his palm.

"Tell me, do you think I could become an onmyōji?" Cyr suddenly asked.

"An onmyōji?" Gojō Haru fixed the boy with his pale blue eyes.

"Of course you could," he said naturally.

With the aid of the Six Eyes, it was certainly possible.

However… spiritual energy and cursed energy were fundamentally incompatible. They didn't blend. Trying to master both would be twice the effort for half the result.

The more cursed energy one had, the less spiritual energy they could harness.

"Because spiritual energy and cursed energy repel each other, onmyōji tend to see jujutsu sorcerers as… impure," Gojō Haru said lazily.

After all, cursed energy came from negative emotions. Compared to the pure, moonlight-like quality of spiritual energy, cursed energy was just… filth incarnate.

That's why onmyōji always felt like purifying jujutsu sorcerers—if they could manage it.

"…So that means I can't become an onmyōji," Cyr sighed.

Well, not entirely impossible. But if he did become one, his onmyōji powers would never be that strong.

Because… he just had too much cursed energy in him.

Seemed like he was destined to live as a jujutsu sorcerer in Heian-kyō.

"Jujutsu sorcerers aren't inferior to onmyōji," Gojō Haru said with a trace of exasperation.

Why did he sound so eager to switch sides? Jujutsu sorcerers were no less impressive! Everyone knew they could fight—they were practically all warriors.

"People always want what they can't have," Cyr replied nonchalantly.

Spend long enough as a jujutsu sorcerer, and of course you'd start wondering what it's like to be an onmyōji.

"But you're more free than I imagined," Cyr said, eyeing Gojō Haru.

It was said that Gojō Satoru worked practically 24/7. Compared to that, Gojō Haru's laid-back, idle lifestyle seemed downright luxurious.

Maybe it was because there were still plenty of onmyōji and jujutsu sorcerers around in this era. Plenty of them were capable fighters, too.

Unlike in the future… where only two or three strong sorcerers remained in the entire jujutsu world…

And the onmyōji clans? Likely disappeared entirely after Abe no Seimei's death.

"If even I'm busy, it means Kyoto is already on the brink of collapse," Gojō Haru said simply.

Like Abe no Seimei, his existence was a stabilizing force among jujutsu sorcerers.

They only stepped in when everyone else failed.

"Ahh…" Cyr let out a breath, more air than sound.

Sounded like Gojō Satoru had it even worse, then.

"Woof, woof!" A white dog suddenly ran into the courtyard, stopping in front of Gojō Haru and barking twice.

"Oh, Jade Hound. Where's Akira?" Gojō Haru greeted the white Shiba Inu familiarly.

"The Ten Shadows from the Zen'in clan?" Cyr reached out to pet it, but the dog backed away, avoiding his hand.

"So you do know. Looks like even a thousand years later, the Zen'in clan of your era had someone inherit the Ten Shadows," Gojō Haru said with a grin.

Seems the Big Three Clans still stood strong even a millennium later.

"Nope. The one who inherited the Ten Shadows doesn't have the surname Zen'in," Cyr replied with a sly smile.

That person's surname was Fushiguro.

"Oh? Is that so?" Gojō Haru's face lit up with visible glee.

He seemed genuinely delighted by the idea of something going wrong in the Zen'in clan.

"What do you mean, the person who inherited the Ten Shadows isn't a Zen'in?" asked a man as he walked in—tall, black-haired, dressed in black, with piercing emerald-green eyes.

Upon seeing him, the Jade Hound immediately ran to his side.

Cyr casually leaned back against the empty space behind him.

Dogs weren't as cool as his giant white tiger, anyway.

Cyr said nothing, just smiled. Gojō Haru didn't pursue the topic either and smoothly changed the subject. "This is Akira Zen'in, head of the Zen'in clan, and my… mm… friend?" he said, with a hint of uncertainty.

"Hah? Who's your friend? We're mortal enemies," Zen'in Akira snapped, arms crossed, clearly annoyed.

He didn't resemble Fushiguro Megumi much. Megumi looked aloof and brooding—classic second-male-lead energy.

Zen'in Akira, on the other hand… gave off the vibes of an irritable older brother type. The kind who'd throw hands at the drop of a hat.

Honestly, he seemed more like Fushiguro Toji than Megumi.

"This is Gojō Cyr, a junior from my family," Gojō Haru introduced Cyr next.

"Who even comes to their mortal enemy's house for tea…" Cyr muttered under his breath.

Mortal enemies just show up like that? Not afraid of being kicked out?

"You got a problem with that?" Akira sat down unceremoniously and poured himself tea like he owned the place.

"Be my guest," Cyr shrugged.

If you want to be a mortal enemy, sure. Whatever makes you happy.

Gojō Haru hid his face behind his fan, barely holding back his laughter.

"That's… your shikigami?" Akira asked, glancing at the massive white tiger behind Cyr.

That size, that look, that presence…

"Something like that," Cyr nodded slightly.

"Not bad," Akira offered, almost reluctantly.

"Sora is excellent, obviously," Cyr replied matter-of-factly.

The atmosphere cooled again.

Akira wasn't exactly skilled at making conversation. Cyr was more like a Schrödinger's chatterbox.

Sometimes he could talk nonstop, tossing out topic after topic.

Sometimes, he was just silent.

"…Ahem." Gojō Haru's face was red from holding in his laughter. He cleared his throat and finally said, "So? What brings you here?"

He turned to Akira.

°°°

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