For those who regularly use aura convolution, the "flicker" effect is well known, which occurs as soon as the disguise is removed: the flattened energy shell spreads out and trembles, throwing even more mana into space than usual. The same process occurs if the magician has spent all the reserves of energy. The source of power inside the manauser's body begins to pump the energy shell in jerks, causing it to flicker, radiating mana outward. Several years of constant practice help to almost get rid of this reflex process, and experienced magicians, coming out of disguise, practically do not lose the stability of the aura.

Unfortunately, not only was Shibata-san not experienced, he never used concealment of his meager powers at all. Besides, he didn't know that the Amakawa amulet drained mana from him a little faster than it regenerated naturally, and none of the employees of the regional office of the Social Committee had such weak abilities. Thus, after three days of continuously wearing a flat bag with a cherry image, Inspector Yuki developed energy exhaustion and a whole bunch of side effects: hunger, headache, and a desire to hide somewhere [to restore mana in a calm environment — I'm telling you, reflex!].

Since the Committee employee was an adult and responsible person, he did not succumb to provocations from his own body, but decided to fight the approaching autumn depression (as he decided) with a well-known and well-known method: he invited three fellow colleagues from work (not magicians) to sit in a bar in the evening, drink and chat. Colleagues, who mostly have some kind of psychological education, responded. However, the body, which continues to experience discomfort, with the help of the subconscious, nevertheless found the probable cause of the discomfort: the amulet, it appeared — unpleasant sensations appeared, and the subconscious began to signal intensely: "remove the nasty object." Alas, adults and responsible people usually do not know how to listen to the subconscious...

... Shibata Yuki suddenly discovered that the thin braid of the amulet around his neck was constantly and irritatingly rubbing his skin, and he himself was lying on his chest, as if made of lead. Normally, he would have tried to ignore such feelings if he had had time to drink more — he just didn't notice anything. That's why he found himself in a dilemma — he couldn't take it off, and the evening could be ruined by fighting with himself. Hmm. What did they say about the action? A sphere with a radius of two meters? The inspector pulled a leather work briefcase towards him and put the amulet there...

..After the eighth serving of sake, Yuki-san didn't even think to carry his things with him — why? He simply forgot about the removed amulet: psychologists call it "displacement." Alas, psychologists are also people, even if they are magicians... ...The source, having freed itself from the pulling shackles of the amulet, began to rapidly inject everything it had into the spreading, trembling aura. In magical vision, it was like a match lighting up. How far is the tiny light visible? On the other hand, if it's pitch dark around...

[Sasa]

Sasa rolled his eyes: sometimes Ageha got it, and Hinoyonma stubbornly ignored the voice of reason... or just wanted to get some "yummy" stuff... While the blacksmith obediently trailed in the wake of his friend, the defender, and remained silent under the threat of wearing trousers, but when she suddenly hooted and took off, he stopped, sighed, and sauntered towards the hotel. It's not often that you get the opportunity to walk around a human city at night.

[Ageha]

Maybe it seemed like impulsive behavior, but a little annoyed by the first failure, the bloodsucker decided to stupidly comb the area of the most likely settlement of local committee workers. It's not that difficult: discard the working-class neighborhoods, discard the expensive, inconvenient city center, and voila — the wide horseshoe of neighborhoods for middle-class families turned out to be the only suitable search area. You can spend the night on this, anyway, the proofreading has not yet been sent for the "human" work... There is!

Ageha, for whom the distant fluctuation of mana sounded like a barely audible harpsichord note, broke into a run without hesitation... and after half a minute, she realized that the source was moving away. The girl ran across the intersection and raced at a right angle... Late. The source is missing. Slowing down to a steady pace, she walked in the intended direction, listening from time to time... An hour and a half later, Hinoyonma was ready to give up on everything, but then the unknown string struck a high note again, and Ageha broke into a run again... and again, she missed the direction: supersensibility, unlike an active spell, gives only a "cold-hot" effect...

After the third time, Hinoyonma's nerves broke down, and she jumped onto the nearest roof and sent a circular air wave to determine the target's location from the reflected signal... damn it! He's just kidding! Empty again!.. It was this surge of energy that the wolf's sensitive ears detected.

[Ginko, accompanied by Master Amakawa and Mizuchi]

The she-wolf ran swiftly through the deserted streets of the sleeping city: it was one o'clock in the morning, and all the respectable burghers were asleep and dreaming a second dream. On either side of her ran the Master and the master's strong vassal, the water spirit, terrifying for its invulnerability to blows from claws and fangs. Nice, nice hunting! She will drive the prey, and the leader will cling to her with his fangs... or he'll do something else. Amakawa-sama is the best leader. It's a pity, you can't howl in the city! She caught a trace of magic, a clearly visible response from Hinoyonma's power twice more, and now the squad was rapidly moving towards the point of possible intersection of their trajectories...

[Hawk-nosed, Pachi, Takahashi (turtle yokai)]

..But not nearly as fast as the Squad's patrol. Unlike Amakawa-dono, the spirits had raced through the rooftops in recent weeks and were now confidently keeping pace, ahead of the group with Suzerain and snake, although they had started from a more distant point...

[Ageha]

..She rushed past a man walking slowly with a briefcase in his hand so quickly that he reacted only to a whipping gust of wind — he was distracted from admiring the stars, lanterns and the sounds of night cicadas...

[Yuki Shibato]

..Meanwhile, he was solving a difficult moral and ethical problem. On the one hand, it's still a twenty-minute walk to the house, but on the other hand, he's a cultured man. He is a decent citizen, a good worker, and, as a father, he should not set such a bad example, especially when the beauty of the frozen night world is all around, shaken by the thunder of insect song... but then a third party reminded him that the volume of liquid had reached critical values, and either Yuki was getting rid of it somehow, or his not-so-sober body was no longer responsible for the safety of his pants. Shibato walked home on purpose to clear his head before going to bed, although he honestly warned his wife why and where he would stay.

And on the right, such a tempting little square with dense bushes began... In short, he carefully placed his briefcase on the curb and went behind the living screen...

[Ageha]

..was surprised to find that she made an intricate circle around the city and returned to the same hotel where I was staying. "It's fate." She even took a few steps towards the hall when the weak source reappeared. Harder! Close. Back? It's getting stronger! Let's go! In a fit of excitement, Hinoyonma threw herself up in a gust of wind and literally flew over the street...

[Sasa]

... with surprise, he felt his "sister-o-onka", unfolding her aura, rushing away from the hotel. What's going on out there?!

[Hook-nosed]

"There is! The bearing is at two o'clock, close! Restore your disguise, Patchi — you leave us two hundred meters behind and look for a suitable point!"

The octopus Spirit nodded and sent a bullet cone into the barrel of the railgun.

[Ginko]

"The Master! I found it!"

[street next to the park]

The inspector picked up the briefcase and only then noticed that he was no longer alone on the street: a flushed girl who had appeared from nowhere was moving her head from side to side, as if looking for someone... and she didn't pay any attention to him at all. No, she did. She whispered, "then Shibato suddenly realized that the cicadas were all silent, " "I don't believe it, it can't be," and then a powerful gust of wind hit him in the chest! So powerful that he could barely stand on his feet.... ...The overstressed cloud of steam around the amulet could not withstand the deformation and burst with a soft clang, destroying the storage... ..And the next thing Yuki-san felt were unladylike strong hands, possessively squeezing his neck, and fangs reflecting the light of the lanterns... and the terrible feeling of a strong spirit next to you!

"Gotcha, asshole! Well, now you're going to tell me how you were so good at leading me around the city for three hours! And how did you hide so skillfully! Well, can't I hear?!"

"..I'm not an asshole, I'm in the bushes in a small way... I really needed to, sorry!"

The weakest magician whispered and fell into a life-saving faint, sagging in Hinoyonma's arms.

Interlude 26. Night Takamiya. Part 2. The meeting place cannot be changed!

"So what am I supposed to do with you?" Ageha asked the unconscious body and shook it slightly by the shoulders.

The body was silent, smelled of sake, and seemed about to start snoring — the body's energy system, which had gotten rid of the press, was rapidly generating mana, taking resources from other systems. In general, "tired, do not wake up." Hinoyonma looked at the "victim" with some doubt — such a weak magician could give her as little strength boost as beer diluted with water. On the other hand, she had been chasing him for so long that compensation for moral expenses was absolutely necessary! The girl tried on the neck of the "sleeping beauty" and frowned. She's also sweaty! I had to reach into her purse (yes, yes, Ageha was running around the city with her purse, makeup, and even had time to comb her hair! And what's the big deal?!), get out the right bottle of cleansing tonic (it smells like violets!) and a cotton pad and wipe the bite site. Maybe we should give the guy a lift to the house— he probably lives somewhere nearby? If you are married, then the moral compensation for lost time will be provided by 150% — it doesn't matter to smell someone else's women's perfume, returning home at two o'clock in the morning. Hinoyonma tried on the neck of the half-magician again...

"Hinoyonma Ageha, what an unexpected meeting in an unexpected place!"

Ageha, mechanically holding the man in front of her chest, turned sharply at the voice. WHO AND HOW?! I don't feel anything... Oops! In front of the bloodsucker stood an interesting couple: a man with a prominent nose and a vaguely familiar voice and a humanoid turtle dressed in blue ribbons and glasses and clutching a short pole in his hands. Uh-uh?.. But then the girl finally remembered where she had heard that voice and, most importantly, remembered the prominent nose:

"The hawk-nosed one from the Kashi gang, how adorable! I did not think that you would decide to visit this town so quickly..."

Patchi cursed silently from the roof of a six-story building — the damned bloodsucker continued to hold the unconscious committee member in front of him, preventing him from making a well-aimed shot. His colleagues experienced approximately the same problem: the remote stunner in Takahashi's hands was useless in the presence of a human shield. It's not that they were going to shoot right away, according to the conditions, the patrolmen had to announce a specially memorized text... But it was Ageha! The bloodsucker had returned to the Islands relatively recently, and her fame was already dragging on. Thirteen years ago, she joined the Corpse Eater group (which was noticeably large at the time), and although they parted peacefully, Patchi and Hawk-Nose remembered the "vampire" well. They say she even managed to get a Blacksmith to accompany her.

Ageha, in turn, was also in a certain oh... surprised by what he saw. It's not every day that a well-known and not the strongest yokai meets you in the middle of the city (how did they find out that the city was safe, the second question is, Kashi's brain is fine too, and it's possible that the gang has its own specialized scout, even if she didn't meet him then). The question is why these two decided to interrupt her so brazenly... Hmm, a libation? Even if we assume that the turtle can be at least half of what it remembers from the Hawk-Nosed one, it's still not just too tough for them — it's dangerous. With sticks on hinoyonma, it's not even funny! And the main thing is one hundred percent concealment of power: no way at all. So the "sticks" may not be simple at all... And the girl decided to talk first:

"I didn't think that the aura could be completely disguised. Would you share a secret,

colleagues?"

"Come on, there's no secret," Shinji replied with a sugary smile. "just a little help from our partner. You see, we've decided to take over this town."

The senior member of the squad pointedly pointed to his dark blue armband on his right sleeve with lighter hieroglyphs: a compromise between night camouflage and an acceptable badge of honor for patrolmen. By the way, Takahashi had the same one.

"Ha!" choked on Ageha's impudent statement. "This is an application! And your lip is not stupid. So what's with the "little help"? I wouldn't mind getting that kind of "help" too."

Now it was Shinji's turn to think. Kashi and Amkawa-dono discussed with him the process of bringing the city "under protection" by a Mutual Aid Unit, including the mention of an amulet-"passport", which is personally customizable to the wearer with one of the functions — hiding the power of the spirit, so that they can feel safe on the streets of the city. This is a kind of "bun". Another thing is that none of the planned things were ready... but he can honestly promise the amulet to the bloodsucker if she agrees. However, she would have to talk to Yuto for that... But he's coming here anyway.

"Perhaps we can come to an agreement." The patrolman ended the conversation diplomatically. "Our boss is coming here now... You've inherited a lot, and we've spotted you. He will suggest the conditions for receiving it... Hmm, "help." In the meantime, could you leave this loser alone?"

"This is something new, Yokai stands up for the committee member," Melancholic, as Ageha said to herself and smiled. It won't work, boys. This is MY prey. And why did you start ripping an honest piece out of someone else's mouth? Somehow not according to the concepts, ne?"

1234

Предыдущая глава

↓ Содержание ↓