[Part 1/4]
In the darkness, countless moans echoed.
Lewd watery sounds, pathetic cries of multiple men and women, intense panting, sticky frictional noises leaked out and could be heard.
Just how long did it continue for? The relentless intercourse. End after end, after end, after end. At last, it came to an end...
"Haa..."
Both men and women, regardless of age or number, thoroughly exhausted from the o*gy with random combinations planned by someone, let out a deep sigh as if their bodies had been overused for 2 hours. The planner themselves had also participated, and was more engrossed in the frenzied banquet than anyone. Their whole body was dirtied by who knows how many people's sweat. And not just sweat had sullied their skin.
"Oh..."
Amidst the silence as if everyone else had died sprawled on top of the futons, only the planner muttered something inane and slipped out. Despite the fatigue washing over their body, they lazily opened the shoji door of the room.
Together with the shoji door opening, the cold winter air outside blew in, sweeping away the stuffy heat of lust, and chilled the planner's exposed skin. But disregarding even that, the person in question advanced while humming a tune.
In a state of near complete undress, they leaned against the vermilion railing of the engawa porch. Their field of vision opened up to the city below.
A colorful city, a pleasure quarter... Located in one corner of the capital city of Fusō-kuni, it was a city under national control and sanctioned as a semi-state-run entity. Including large and small ones, nearly three hundred brothels, over a hundred food stalls and other shops. Walled off and surrounded by a deep moat, it was a different world of sorts.
Their amethyst-colored eyes shone as they looked at a flashy and stunning place full of immoral stuff and desecration. The amazing and enchanting city view...
"Well now. It's not my place to criticize when I'm taking advantage of it."
As if mocking, as if joking around, the planner sneered. Even among this pleasure quarter, they had rented out an entire top floor of one of the top five most famed establishments, and held a deranged o*gy there. The quality and quantity of the men and women gathered through their power and the invitations they sent out were indiscriminate. It would probably become infamous gossip in society later on. But that in itself was amusing too.
If I could make this dull and predictable world a bit more exciting on my own, I might as well start those rumors myself... The person planning this thought that way, but then they suddenly whispered to themselves.
"Who's there?"
As if responding to their murmured words, footsteps could be heard. Turning around lazily amidst the exhausted and passed out men and women, a cheerful looking man emerged from the dark depths of the room.
"Hey, are you finally finished? Mind if I have a moment?"
"...Ah, you. Yeah, you're that guy, the one who's currently an official in the Ministry of Civil Administration now, right?"
Recognizing the man's facial features after a brief confusion, the planner or the borrower of the room immediately remembered that the presence in front of him had changed bodies.
"As I recall, Assistant Official of the Ministry of Civil Administration and Principal Tax Office, right? Is it really alright for you to be coming to a place like this given your position? Won't you get caught by your colleagues over there?"
The planner asked to the intruder in a mildly insolent yet intimate manner, questioning him about his visit while pointing on the men and women who were asleep. It was undoubtedly no joke. But the intruder is in no hurry.
"Don't worry about that. I've burned some incense to make them sleep. They're tired too, so they probably won't wake up for a while. Oh, and I'm the Head Official now by the way,"
"I see, congratulations on your promotion. But could you please not burn any funny medicine on your own? And so? What business does the esteemed high court official have with me? What? Do you want to 'see' me?"
The intruder corrects his current title, and the planner faces him with narrowed amethyst eyes, questioning in a deferential yet rude manner. There was no need to 'see' that this was clearly going to be hugely troublesome.
"No, that's fine. ...There's someone from the Northern region on a Jouraku (visit to the capital) that I want you to contact and bring in. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say take in? I don't care about the means."
"Hmm... That's sudden business."
Faced with the intruder's request, the borrower showed a puzzled expression. Of course, this loosely tied 'comrade' had made requests for cooperation several times until now. But this was...
"Is there a reason...? Given you came directly instead of using a proxy, I guess this won't go smoothly?"
Recently there were whispers that the Minister of the Right, who is basically the top leader, secretly checking and getting rid of officials in the government departments. Coming directly instead of through shikigami in such a situation surely wasn't done for no reason. Especially in the case of this particular intruder.
"You're right, it probably won't go smoothly with just a direct approach since I've already failed in intervening several times."
"My my... what a headache."
It was truly troublesome. The existence before them, the ghost possessing the body, was quite the wise one even from their perspective. Setting aside his bad personality, escaping from his devilish hand several times is... It was sure to be an extraordinarily big trouble without even having to 'see' it.
"It seems to be quite the heavy burden huh?"
"It's an issue of compatibility. I judged that you're more suited than me for cornering him. Shall I send the detailed documents later?"
"To corner, huh?"
The planner held back on probing what he meant by cornering after previously saying to take him in. No use anyway. That was clear without needing to 'see' it.
"No good?"
"In the first place, I can't readily leave the capital you know? You understand my position, right? If I move around too freely, the old geezers will restrict me, you know?"
If that were to happen, it would also hinder future actions.
"Don't worry about that point. It seems some good entertainment is being planned just in time that would serve well as an excuse for you to go out. It can also be used as a pretext to contact them. How about it?"
"Entertainment..."
The planner grimaced at the being's words tinged with indifference as if it were someone else's matter. Plotted by him, even though it seems to be the case, there was no sense of being a stakeholder. It was an extremely irresponsible remark.
...Though they can't really judge others while they themselves caught up in this crazy frenzy that they can't escape from.
"...Is that really necessary for your future plans?"
The planner confirmed with the intruder about his request. They had no trust or confidence in this ghost based on his history. However, they sympathized with his schemes. The momentary entertainment to dispel boredom at the end. The unforeseeable instant when destiny rages violently. It would be the highest quality act.
That's why they confirmed. Whether it was an indispensable key to the long-awaited festival. If that was not the case, they had no intention of lending a hand. They didn't want to be used as a sacrificial pawn and drop out in the opening act of the show. They didn't desire such an uninteresting outcome.
"Certainly, it deviates from the original plan."
"I see. Then..."
"But."
The intruder interrupts the planner's refusal. Paying no heed to the accusing gaze, he sneered sinisterly.
"If you ride along, I think you'll be able to see something more interesting?"
A performance that's so captivating you can't 'see' it literally... the intruder cackled. Inciting, tempting as if to entice.
"..."
The planner responded silently to the intruder's honeyed words. After a period of silence, they closed their eyes. As if dozing off... And when they opened their amethyst eyes again, at the same time they distorted their lips into a grin. It was precisely the expression the intruder hoped for.
"Who should I trick into it? Hurry up and tell me the name already?"
The planner, a member of the 'Miyataka' family, one of the three exorcist families from the Northern region, a direct descendant of that bloodline, confronted the intruder. They asked for the name of their target, and then...
"Achoo!? ...Did I catch a cold?"
'(* ́ω`*) Are you okay?'
In response to the sudden sneeze, I reflexively said that. Leaving aside the foolish spider's reply... I didn't say it wasn't gossiping about me because that would be stating the obvious at this point.
Even at this very moment, disparaging rumors about me are undoubtedly being whispered about. If I reacted to each one, I'd be sneezing forever. Laughable.
"Well, not so funny in this world huh."
Superstitions can't be easily discarded in this world. That's why outdated practices and bad customs remain deeply entrenched and the authority of elders is pointlessly high.
Incidentally, sneezes being associated with gossip stems from the belief that the soul jumps out when sneezing. In other words, the original origin is the fear of being cursed to death. There's also the theory that the content of the rumors can be determined by the number of sneezes, like one slander two laughters three infatuations four colds... Oh, so it's because of badmouthing after all.
'( ≧∀≦)ノ Papa, I'm relying on you!'
"That's reassuring. Still..."
After giving a perfunctory response to the foolish spider's worthless encouragement, I stared at reality. I faced reality directly.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)