Web of light. Part 1-7

But we still spotted one committee member. Well, what can I say: a slightly flickering aura, weaker than Shizuka's when she hid her power without the amulet. She admitted that in a normal state, without a completely severed sixth sense, she would not have paid attention to this man who was walking two children and his wife through the rows of toys on the top floor under a transparent roof... and in vain. Because he didn't lose his vigilance, and a couple of times I noticed from afar how his eyes were turning blue — I used something like a scanner spell. I had to take a chance and stay where I was: if my Mizuchi amulets couldn't even stand up to such a test... But the guy wasn't the least bit interested in us. Big deal, kids. But he didn't miss any of the strangely behaved personalities who almost turn on themselves in any crowded place. The criteria for the selection of suspicious persons became clear. Indeed, intelligent yokai who are "divorced from life" often behave "not at the checkout," like the woman who gave Rinko the "blessing." Sometimes it's more noticeable, sometimes less, but almost all spirits choose the image of "visitors" in order to somehow justify their oddities. That's how they get caught. After all, our Mizuchi has surprisingly successfully chosen the image of an eleven-year-old girl, how many times has she disagreed with such "ordinary" people without noticing each other? Something tells me that she frowned more than once. No, the inspector himself won't interfere: "call a friend" — and one of the policemen will get his ass off the chair. Or the committeemen themselves will send an elimination team with enchanted ammunition. Shibata-san often interacts with his father... and he often takes his family here on vacation. Hiroe explained innocently in response to my questioning look. Dad generally interacts with many of the middle-level employees. Everyone's computers are buggy and breaking down," a sidelong glance at Mizuchi, "you know!"

"Yes, I understand, I understand how lucky we are to have you! We really appreciate you, don't doubt it."

"And I really appreciate you all!" The one with the haircut smiled.

"The main thing is not to evaluate it as a reward." The gloomy snake muttered and almost choked on the ice cream: Kaname had such a furious look.

"I gave it to you. Word. I. Never. Not. Violating. His" Hiroe literally hissed. It even got to me — it was so unexpected.

"I'm sorry," Yokai looked away. "Me... I shouldn't have said that. To stir up the past..."

With great, obviously visible difficulty, the fragile short-haired girl regained partial composure, but the mask kept trying to slip off her face. She was speaking so softly now that I could barely hear her whisper:

"Father... he doesn't know, of course... even her mother, she considers the Committee to be just a place where money is drained from the budget... a warm, bread-filled place "for your own. But I found out... Over the past year, the Committee has had two offices in two cities... destroyed. All the people just disappeared, they were searched for and not found."

"But how? Police combat groups..."

"Yes, that's the reason. People named Tsuchimikado from five medium and small towns were transferred to Tokyo, and two more resigned. It's not so easy to find information, I had to search on social networks... "Black boxes" in cities with less than five million people are being closed... And I don't want that... so that my father would also "go missing" one day."

For a second, it seemed to me that the warm summer air was freezing like the Arctic trade wind on the White Sea. You can dislike exorcists as much as you like, and transferring magicians gave me additional "freedom of maneuver," but I absolutely did not want to get it at that price. That's why so many Yokai "limits" attacked Yuto from the canon — and this is in the city! That's why, after only five years, the Yokai feel "at home" here, and neither Himari nor the others had any problems. Again. I'll have to act again, and much sooner than I wanted to. But, thanks to Hiroe, there is still a chance to be proactive. You just need to figure out what exactly needs to be done... And don't get too worked up. There's still time. Only the whole mood to walk was gone.

chapter 105.

So we rested. So we've done our job. What happens if the combat group of magicians leaves the city? Nothing at first. Then emboldened, ever-hungry little things like "Chameleons of Dreams" and other not very reasonable stuff will make their way into the city. Usually, these comrades of magicians and yokai with a strong aura bypass the tenth way, which greatly helps to minimize any "minor" mysticism in cities, but when the number of minor yokai grows into quality, the committee members will have to release their magicians onto the streets. Or is it more correct to say "magicians"? I was very impressed with the energy level of the inspector and his family. A very low level. Even I have it eight times higher, judging by the glow of a quarter of the reserve fused into the accumulation amulet. Ask why there is no such problem in the villages. So look at the village houses: all are hung with "voices of the wind", amulets "for luck" from the nearest temple, figurines-"deceptions", and offerings are regularly left. And it's not just cats and rats that take food from the tabernacles.

So, weak committee members will take to the streets. No, they also have powerful magicians, Jinguji supplies well-trained combat groups to its structure. It's just that there aren't many of them. Just as there are an order of magnitude more magicians in the Committee than in the police, there are also an order of magnitude fewer truly powerful magicians than there were in the police. But to deal with the small fry, while the exhausted townspeople turn to temples, priests and various charlatans for amulets and talismans, there are enough of them. A strong kick is enough for most, they are not very fast, very cowardly and, to put it mildly, not smart. Thanks again to Mizuchi for the tutorial on the basics of yokai management. But stronger and, most importantly, more intelligent yokai, having seen this method, if I may say so, will understand: the magicians are gone for at least a long time. And they will go to have fun in the cities — at the expense of people, of course. Ordinary people will not be affected by this — the minuscule amount of energy that can be extracted from a person or animal without magical abilities will not interest anyone of any importance. On the contrary, the trifle will run away, the number of problems with "mysticism" will decrease. But the weakest magicians will be dealt. In such circumstances, paradoxically, employees without a gift at all are more suitable. Anyway, they perform mainly registration and reporting functions. No, you can achieve amazing success with a gun and a kind word, but in the case of a massive attack, the magicians and everyone around them are doomed. If there had been an agreement between the local especially sane spirits and the Committee Members, perhaps the problems could have been avoided. Partly. But — "not in this life." The Spirit Killers from the Tsuchimikado clan diligently maintained their reputation, and the strong Jinguji are not far behind. However, they can also be understood. There has never been a single successful contract between an organization of people and a group of Yokai in the entire written history. One asshole is enough, from either side. But my clan, the Amakawa, somehow managed. As I have already reasoned from the very beginning of my "hit" — what does Amakawa have that others don't? Obviously, a "Ferry". And I had my first vague thoughts about how the ancestors used it to achieve... no, not submission. The Amakawa Ayakashi clan, I think, was fully served. As they say, not for fear, but for conscience. Otherwise, my current knowledge and what I remember from the canon will not come together: as Himari Yuto said, "even if there was no order, I would still take care of you..."

Okay, we can think about the principles of service later. Now my task is to use the situation "in my favor", while having as few victims as possible from all sides. And something is looming. The path is even more risky and faster than I had planned: I will have to take responsibility not only for the Yokai from my "retinue" to other clans, but also to the demons for the actions of Hunters in this region. And not only in front of "my own people", but also in front of those who were not even close to me in my retinue. And, worst of all, we will have to take responsibility for the "ordinary" citizens. They really won't know about it... I hope. I thought I was nervous before the university entrance exam "there". Holy shit! Everything is learned by comparison. And the expression "the hamstrings are shaking" is not at all figurative, it turns out... And my scenario is extremely simple: I actually decided to assemble a "brigade" from an available "resource" — from yokai. That is, to make a "roof" and cover no less than a million-plus city. Yes, yes, just like that. In the spirit of our "new Russians" in the 90s, "there". If I hadn't been born a Russian, if I hadn't been a teenager who was already thinking about something in the "dashing 90s", I would have let the situation take its course one hundred percent... and this is the worst thing that can be done. Because the lawlessness in the city will provoke a raid by the Jinguji combat group now, and those, since they are waiting for them in a dozen more places at once, will not be deterred by "minimal damage" to the territory. Everything related to Ayakashi will be cut out and destroyed. A "big fish" in the form of a Mizuchi and a Devourer is likely to survive by escaping in time... and all achievements will be lost. It will be difficult for anyone to hide from the Jinguji cleanup group... and they will refuse to sit out under protective amulets... and they will do it right. Because life "after" will follow a completely different path... the rails of the canon. Where the snake hates all hunters, but also hates Yuto, who could have done something and didn't. Even if she knows with her mind that nothing could have been done. BUT IT'S STILL POSSIBLE, DAMN IT!!!

Okay, calm down. The main problem is the lack of time... Hiroe promised to get the information somehow, but we will count on a month, otherwise everyone would know, including Kaname's father and mother. That means a month or more. And the first problem will be to persuade the Death Eater and Co. to come with me. Moreover, this will have to be done literally in a few days — so that there is time left to work out the strategy and tactics of patrolling the city and come up with something for those who are on vacation. The Death Eater's group should be enough... I wonder what he would say to such a "generous" offer. I hope he doesn't try to kill me on the spot, but I'll take Mizuchi with me... When I talk you into it... Don't get distracted. The second stage will begin with Tsuchi's departure — groups of demons will enter the city under amulets and begin to catch small change and filter the flow of intelligent spirits... which will have to be exposed if they do not agree to register... still figure out how to do it... and they won't promise to break the riots, that is, the rules (and tighten surveillance!). And the rest are kicked in the coccyx (or where their tail will grow from there) — and for 101 km. Our land, fuck you all...

It started skidding again, nerves, nerves. So, when the bullshit statistics decrease proportionally more than in other cities after the departure of the Tsuchi polis, show up to the main committee for the city and present yourself in all your glory — with yokai behind your back, so that you can drive your soul into your heels with one aura... and politely, politely explain about the protectorate of the Amakawa clan... Hmm, on what grounds... Yeah, the USA! I need a buffer zone around my house. 101 km. And don't f... don't care! After that, I'll either be smeared and captured by Jinguji's battle group, or even Tsuchi... or the chief committeeman will turn out to be smart. And he will conceal the agreement with Amakawa, and Amakawa with the Yokai... more precisely, a slight distortion of information, which will give some preferences to him and me... the city authorities, who will be put under pressure by the Social Committee, should also be satisfied — there are no spent shell casings and craters from fireball explosions. And you definitely need to mix up something useful financially. Ah! The head is square! But I carefully wrote down the theses in a lined notebook "for the most important".

Now exhale. Is there anything I can do "right now"? To talk to Shizuka, maybe... And I think I'll talk...

... I'm on time. Yokai was clearly sick, and it wasn't physically bad — a half-naked girl sitting on the floor in a puddle of her own water, convulsively clenching her fists, staring at nothing with empty eyes, from which moisture continued to run. It was scary. But for once, I didn't allow myself to be careful. Sometimes you have to put everything on zero over and over and over again, because that's the only way there's any chance of winning. I sat down wearily in a puddle, propping the girl's back with my back. The dealer? It's all on zero!

chapter 106.

It's wet to sit in a puddle. It's not even cold, it's summer outside, and the water from the Mizuchi is not icy, but quite body temperature. My back was soaked too. We're sitting. We are silent. The snake cries completely soundlessly.

"We're going to have to save them now, aren't we?" Finally, she asked softly.

"If you're talking about committee members, then the expression "forcibly protect from the possibility of death" is more appropriate here."

"Not too different, you know."

"Well, considering that we're actually going to take their place. No, it's wrong, not the place, but the territory."

"Are we going to?" Yokai asked with some surprise. Huh, I almost stopped crying.

"Yes. We were talking about a just world... It's time to test our beliefs and calculations on the control platform."

"Kh-huh!" Shizuka choked on it. "You're talking about your hamsters!"

But what if you don't test the model of a society of intelligent beings on hamsters? Shizuka forced a smile:

"It's unusual to feel like a hamster... You know!"

"Well, if it makes you feel better, feel like a scientist forced to enter the experimental area... or a device for measuring the result. Unfortunately, we have to enter the experiment now... But that doesn't mean that if we don't like something, we can't change it. Have you become familiar with the concept of role-playing games?"

"Is that where a girl dresses up as a maid so she doesn't have to clean up? I didn't know you liked that, Yuto-kun! And you're so young..."