Chapter 171
"You have accumulated quite a lot of karmic debt from your past actions. Each one is incomparably petty, gloomy, and insidious. These are evil deeds that try to break down a person's spirit by repeatedly poking at it. Even if you say it's okay, I know that the resentment harbored in your heart won't be easily erased, so I will personally punish this one."
Jinseong unfolded Narumi's crumpled body. Then he briefly looked at her face groaning in a nightmare before lifting her into the air and throwing her into a corner.
Then the Saetani that had been tormenting her also moved to the corner like a dog chasing a ball, and after lingering near Narumi's mouth sprawled on the floor, it stretched out its hands and grabbed both sides of her mouth.
And it began to open her mouth wide, as if it was trying to tear her mouth and enter inside. The Saetani tried to enter by pushing its crown into the opened mouth first, and Narumi kept groaning in pain.
"Stop. Pause entering inside for a moment."
Jinseong stopped the Saetani from inserting its balloon-like shrunken head into Narumi's mouth. Then he brought his right hand to his mouth and blew softly as if blowing breath.
Then the yin energy coming from the taiji settled in Jinseong's body flowed out of his mouth and became a cold breath flowing towards where Narumi was.
And the cold breath that flowed out circled around Narumi.
The cold air instantly lowered Narumi's body temperature, which was soaked with cold sweat, and made her body tremble not from fear but from cold. Moreover, when the cold air surrounded Narumi's body in the form of a cocoon, her skin became as cold as ice, and her skin began to gradually turn pale.
Jinseong watched this closely and then waved his left hand.
Then a wind carrying warmth contrary to the cold air flowing from his mouth flew towards Narumi, and a cozy warmth like a warm spring breeze surrounded Narumi. But as if the warmth was just passing by briefly, it enveloped Narumi's body once, giving a moment of warmth, and then rose up to the ceiling, where it gathered in one place as if becoming a cloud, just waiting for Jinseong's command.
"There is darkness in the midst of brightness, and brightness in the midst of darkness. They move with each other's heads grasping the other's tail, and while bending their bodies, they draw a shape, and that is taiji."
Jinseong waved his hands a few times to connect the warmth gathered on the ceiling and the cold air enveloping Narumi's body. Then, as if being led by a thread, what had been gathered in one place began to move from top to bottom and bottom to top, alternately supplying Narumi's body with warm heat and freezing cold that seemed to freeze her body.
"Now you may enter."
And when this was completed, Jinseong allowed the Saetani to enter Narumi's body, and the Saetani, which had been waiting quietly with its head half-inserted, happily shrugged its shoulders and pushed its body into Narumi.
Then Narumi's cheeks, throat, and stomach swelled up as if swallowing something large and then instantly deflated, and after bouncing her body a few times as if convulsing, she collapsed on the floor and fell back into a nightmare.
But if there was a difference from the previous nightmare, it was that the nightmare that would befall her this time would have an effect beyond imagination.
"It's done. By alternately moving yang and yin energy around the body, I've shattered her body temperature and thrown her physical body into confusion. She will likely be hit by a much more powerful nightmare than what the Saetani had done before. Also, the physical abnormalities resulting from that nightmare will be significant."
Jinseong said this while pulling over a defibrillator attached to one side of the main hall wall and throwing it next to Narumi. Then he brought the slime that was moving its body fluffily and placed it next to her.
"Have you ever heard of someone dying from a heart attack due to a nightmare?"
"Huh? Yes."
"A bizarre flow of qi, a body confused by it, and a nightmare strongly dominating the mind. If all of these are properly combined, they could cause a heart attack in someone whose body and mind are not strong."
Jinseong said this calmly to Rise.
Rise looked at Narumi with slightly widened eyes, as if surprised.
Jinseong examined Rise's expression for a moment and then said as if to reassure her:
"Don't worry. No matter how much she has lost her divine power, her mind is no different from a sunfish, and she's the type who can only establish her existence and feel value by looking down on and tormenting others, a heart attack due to a nightmare won't happen easily. And even if it does happen, that thing waiting and wriggling will immediately move the defibrillator to make her heart beat again, so there's no need to worry at all."
Rise's expression seemed to relax a little at those words.
"No matter how evil the deed, if the punishment is excessive, that too becomes evil karma. The severity of sin cannot be easily judged, but one must be cautious about taking life. My miko with many worries, you dislike that one but don't think her sin deserves death, so for your happiness, I will respect that intention and not harm her life. But there is clearly sin, so I will give her suffering to extract the poison stemming from the evil karma accumulated in the past, and make her fulfill her duty as your successor."
Jinseong said this and then took off his suit jacket and handed it to Rise. Then he rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt to an appropriate position.
"There's no need to worry about that one. So let's hang up these clothes and have something to drink."
Rise listened to Jinseong's words, twitched her ears for a moment, and then smiled brightly.
"Yes."
She realized that his words and actions were considerate of her.
He was angry about her past, punished on her behalf, and was moving to a different place in case she might feel even a shred of guilt watching Narumi suffer.
She happily hugged the suit jacket and guided Jinseong to the reception area, hung the suit jacket on a hanger and neatly folded it, then boiled water in a kettle and took out precious tea leaves from the cupboard.
Jinseong watched Rise's actions closely and then said:
"Tea is fine. Do you have coffee?"
"Coffee, you say?"
Rise opened a drawer at Jinseong's words and took out two coffee capsules.
Then she put the coffee capsules into a small machine in the corner, extracted two cups, and brought them to Jinseong along with a few small jelly-like things in a dish.
Jinseong smelled the coffee Rise brought once, took a sip, and then lightly bit into the lokum (Turkish delight) she had brought.
"This seems to be proper lokum, did you order it directly?"
"Yes."
"It couldn't have been cheap."
"These days the omamori are selling well, and we're receiving a lot of donations from here and there, so we have some extra funds."
"Hmm."
Jinseong chuckled at her words.
"Donations, huh."
It was clear that the 'donations' she spoke of would have come from people who were deeply into ghost sex instead of drugs, and were obsessed with the effects of the 'blessing' Jinseong had given without knowing its true nature.
"Right. Nothing special happened with that bait?"
Jinseong naturally thought of the politician who would act as bait, Uchikawa Ryosuke, when he thought of politicians and rich people.
"No, nothing special happened. As before, he's being ostracized by his fellow lawmakers, all the connections he had made have been shattered, and he's not able to make proper connections. Moreover, he's on the verge of being cut off from his family as well."
"From his family too?"
"That ungrateful traitor is a politician after all, so his family background is indeed excellent, but no matter how excellent it is, what meaning does it have if everyone turns their backs on him? The noble and wealthy connections are starting to avoid him, and he's becoming distant from huge corporations like keiretsu..."
Rise smiled brightly as she answered Jinseong's question.
"It seems the Uchikawa family wasn't overflowing with love for family to the extent of embracing a family member even at the cost of cutting off all money and connections."
From olden times, those with wealth often prioritized the family name over blood relations or family.
And of course, Japan was no exception.
No, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Japan's influence on family names was even stronger than in other countries.
From ancient times, in Japan, even if blood relations were different, it was possible to advance by changing or receiving a family name. Changing one's name for one's background was basic, and it was considered natural to move between families and receive their backing.
And when the family name becomes the center like this, naturally the members also have to live for the family name and dedicate their lives to it.
Instead of raising each individual with love, they raise them to benefit the family name, arrange strategic marriages to benefit the family name instead of connecting people who love each other, and if it seems it will harm the family name, they cut off without hesitation.
For the whole rather than the individual.
For everyone rather than one.
For the community called the family name.
"He's someone who was elected solely on the backing of his family name despite lacking qualities as a politician, so if he loses his backing, he'll collapse in an instant."
Jinseong calmly muttered about the miserable future Ryosuke would face while taking a sip of coffee.
"Then he will pay the price for the worst choice he made himself. He will meet his end by getting involved with Yatate Garou-ryu."
Rise only started sipping her coffee cup when Jinseong was almost finished with his. But it seemed the bitter taste of espresso didn't suit her well, as she only drank a little and repeatedly took small bites of lokum.
"Right, by the way, is there anything special happening with Yatate Garou-ryu?"
Rise was about to take a sip of espresso and bite into lokum when she received Jinseong's question, so she put the lokum down. Then she answered while holding the bitter taste and coffee aroma in her mouth.
"Nothing special. Ah, there is an annual event of Yatate Garou-ryu coming up soon."
"Annual event?"
"Yes."
Rise answered Jinseong's question.
"Yatate Garou-ryu is a branch of Shigen-ryu. So they have exchanges with Shigen-ryu every year."
"Exchanges? In what way do they exchange?"
"Umm. The masters of the two schools have matches, and they also give teachings to promising students... That's what I've heard."
Jinseong pondered for a moment as if something bothered him after hearing her words.
"Masters of the two schools?"
"I'm not a martial artist, so I'm not sure how great they are."
"Is that so...?"
Jinseong asked her:
"Is there anyone with an appearance different from ordinary people?"
"Huh? Ah, yes."
"There is?"
"Yes. There's one person."
Rise searched through her past memories and answered Jinseong's question.
"They say he's a supreme master of Shigen-ryu. He has something like dragon scales on his body, and he's over 2 meters 50 cm tall. So they call him Kazuo (計夫) the Demon-Slaying Giant Dragon (斬魔巨龍)."