Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

  Seiji contemplated this matter.

  He hadn't thought too much into it at first and had the mentality of simply trying it out. But now, upon closer consideration, was it really the best choice to "educate" Shinobu?

  Yomi's joking aside, she—Shinobu Miaki—was an artificially created product that his enemy made. Leaving her alone might cause harm to others… he didn't care if she killed Akatsuki Mitarai; in fact, he would be delighted if that happened. However, if she turned into a powerful demon that posed a danger to others, that would be a bad thing.

  He felt that he should act in order to prevent harm from coming to others. But if he "educated" her in order to prevent her from turning into a demon, wouldn't that end up benefitting Akatsuki?

  Then, Seiji pondered if he should take advantage of her in killing Akatsuki off, but not letting her devour Akatsuki and turn into a demon. Was this possible?

  Well, not even considering whether it would be possible, taking advantage of a "child" to make her kill her creator who was basically like her parent… Seiji was morally against such an action.

  It was true that he wanted to kill off Akatsuki Mitarai. However, inciting Akatsuki's own creation into killing Akatsuki was something that Seiji felt was wrong.

  Yomi had said that Shinobu was "a child who was just born…" Just because she was Akatsuki's creation, and likely created by some terrifying method that Seiji would rather not know about, did that mean that Seiji should treat Shinobu as an object to be taken advantage of?

  Seiji felt that he shouldn't.

  No matter what her creator, or "parent", was like, the "child" was innocent.

  Taking advantage of a "child" to kill her own "parent" was something he morally couldn't bring himself to do.

  But if he didn't want to do that, "educating" her seemed like a process where his efforts would merely be wasted and only benefit his enemy.

  Seiji knew that he was stuck between a rock and a hard place with his dilemma.

  His difficulty didn't have anything to do with Akatsuki, but rather the "child", Shinobu Miaki.

  Just how should Seiji treat her, who was basically like a living weapon that his enemy Akatsuki had created?

  This was similar yet different to Shika's original circumstances. In Shika's case, she had only been a hired temporary Spirit-branded Retainer who wasn't deeply connected to Okubo Yoshiaki. However, Shinobu had a "parent-child" relationship with Akatsuki.

  Seiji sighed after thinking about it for quite a while.

  He felt like it was almost as if he was intentionally making things difficult for himself… No, wait, the source of his frustration to begin with was…


  "Yomi, was it intentional on your part?"

  "Hmm? I don't understand what you're referring to."

  "Don't act dumb. Did you intentionally call the puppet a 'child', and even use words like 'educate', 'mother', and 'father' as analogies to influence my way of thinking in a strange way?"

  "Heehee?" The female spirit chuckled. "You saw through me so easily… That's right, I did it intentionally."

  "At least you admitted it so frankly." Seiji folded his arms. "What was your objective in doing so?"

  "I just wanted to see your reaction," Yomi told him. "I didn't lie to you at all. I simply intentionally used some rather subtle analogies."

  "Why did you want to see my reaction?"

  "Because I wanted to see it."

  Seiji was rendered speechless for a moment.

  "You admit that it's a rather subtle analogy. In that case, what exactly is the truth? Just what type of existence is that puppet?" he asked in a serious manner.

  "She is a demon… a newly-born demon, a demon who appears completely human but isn't. You could also call her an abnormal human," Yomi spoke in a vague manner, her voice sounding like it came from far off in the distance. "In a generation long ago, when the differences between demons and humans were rather ambiguous, existences like her would often be born. Some would be good, some would be evil, and some would be neither good nor evil. They aren't humans, but are similar to humans. They can communicate with humans, but there's still a distance between them and humans. Some had happy endings, some had tragic endings, some didn't leave anything behind, and some left things that might have been passed down even to today… Not everyone can see them for what they are, and they aren't capable of seeing humans for what humans really are, either. It is a Yin-Yang Master's task to act as an intermediary between humans and the spirits and demons and keep everything in balance. Yin-Yang Master Seiji Haruta, just what will you do when faced with such a child? I'm really looking forward to it, heeheehee…" The female spirit chuckled.

  This time, her chuckling sounded different from before, seeming to contain something.

  Seiji didn't know what to say.

  He hadn't deeply considered the meaning of becoming a Yin-Yang Master before. Or, it should be said that he hadn't considered it from the mystical society's point of view. Yomi's rather literary and mystical view had given him an impact.

  As a Yin-Yang Master, what should he do with a newly-born demon?

  This was a specific-case scenario, but it could also be said to be a foundational question for how he wanted to treat his occupation as a Yin-Yang Master.

  Uhhhhh…


  "Rather than all this talking, I think it's better to see things first." After much consideration, Seiji finally spoke up. "Right now, it's not easy to make a decision. Let's go see her first."

  And so, he cast the spell that Yomi taught him before to open up the path.

  Seiji created a hand seal and uttered an incantation. His hands gradually began to glow red as runes appeared on them.

  The soul realm gradually darkened before turning pitch-black.

  Seiji extended his palms and pushed out in the darkness. The red light on his hands created a mystical spell formation that resembled a gigantic eye!

  Then, he leapt into the eye and the eye shut and vanished.

  Seiji fell on the ground as he arrived on the path to the netherworld.

  The ground was blood-red.

  Seiji stood up and observed the environment around him, which caused him to furrow his eyebrows.

  The sky and ground were both blood-red. Apart from the cluster amaryllis on the ground, there were also numerous tall black pillars that were connected by countless silver threads. A large amount of puppets as well as humans were impaled and hung from the threads and pillars!

  There were boys, girls, and… even children hung in midair as if they were specimens in a museum. They were in various strange poses.

  Apart from these complete bodies, there were also many arms, legs, heads, and other body parts… mixed in together with various puppet parts. Many of these body parts were even dripping with blood.

  There was a disgusting thick smell of blood in the air mixed with some sort of unknown preservative medicine.

  This scene seemed like it came straight out of an R-18 horror game.

  "What an unpleasant soul realm she possesses." Seiji began walking. "Is it just like last time? I should walk towards the place with the most cluster amaryllis flowers?"

  "Yes," Yomi replied.

  "Such a terrifying environment… just how was it formed?"

  "I'm unable to explain it. However, this type of environment is evidence that just as I expected, this child is currently being influenced by highly negative factors. At this rate, she'll definitely become an evil demon soon unless you intervene."

  Several seconds of silence fell between them.

  "Yomi-san, may I ask what type of demon you are exactly? Or are you actually a heroic spirit?" Seiji was quite curious.

  "Heehee, what do you think I am?"

  "Please don't answer a question with a question."

  "I would like to maintain a feeling of mystery~"

  "There's too much mystery about you! At least give me something. Please don't say again how you don't like men who ask too many questions. At the very least, I'm supposed to be your host."

  "Heehee… alright, just a little hint." Yomi chuckled. "At the very beginning, I was an existence very similar to the child you're about to go visit."

  An existence similar to Shinobu Miaki?

  "What does that mean? You were a created puppet as well?"

  "I said that I would only give you a little hint. Imagine the rest by yourself."

  "You… I suppose that's really just 'a little' hint. It's almost like telling me nothing."

  "I don't merely dislike overly greedy men, I find greedy men annoying, you know~"

  "Does this count as me being too greedy?"

  After some walking, Seiji arrived at a location filled with blooming cluster amaryllis flowers.

  Countless puppet parts and human body parts were hanging impaled on the silver threads going between the black pillars here… There was only one which had a complete form.

  A little girl who was created from puppet and human "materials."