The next day.
Kanao and I climbed into the back seat of a black sedan waiting in front of the main gate of the Zenin estate.
A 'Window'—an assistant director responsible for the administrative tasks of the jujutsu world—sat in the driver's seat, guiding us toward Miyama-cho in northern Kyoto.
As the vehicle left the city center, the assistant director glanced in the rearview mirror and began the field briefing.
"The place you two are headed is the Seiryu Convalescent Hospital, located deep in a mountain valley in Miyama-cho.
An incident, currently presumed to be a case of jujutsu terrorism, has occurred inside. The entire building is on lockdown, and our agents have set up a temporary booth outside to attempt entry and establish a communication network."
Hearing his words, I tilted my head while looking out the window and raised a question.
"Hey, mister. I heard Miyama-cho is one of the most backwater villages even in Kyoto.
Is it okay to drive this car straight up to the hospital? Shouldn't we get out and walk if it's an unpaved road or a rough dirt path? This kid's still a patient, you know."
"Ah, you don't need to worry about that at all."
"Oh?"
"Yes. The main clientele of that hospital consists mostly of wealthy elderly individuals.
Well, isn't it a common story? Even if it borders on superstition, the elderly tend to prefer recuperating in a mountain valley with clean air and fresh water over state-of-the-art urban medical facilities."
The assistant director smoothly turned the steering wheel. Despite being deep in the mountains, the car didn't shake in the slightest.
"Seiryu Hospital is the place that fits that demand perfectly.
After massive capital investment, they paved every inch of the access road leading to the hospital for dozens of kilometers.
They have high-level medical staff and facilities equivalent to specialized hospitals right in the middle of a mountain valley, with guaranteed ease of transport."
Continuing his explanation, the assistant director turned on the blinker and briefly pulled over to the shoulder.
He picked up a yellow manila envelope sitting in the passenger seat and handed it to each of us in the back.
"Currently, a large number of non-sorcerers—including medical staff, patients, caregivers, and families visiting—are involved in this serious situation.
Naturally, the eyes of the media and the public are fixed on this from the outside, so both of you must be extremely careful to keep your mouths shut regarding external affairs."
Inside the envelope was an ID card in a stiff, laminated leather case.
"That's the temporary identification we've issued.
Your current public identities have been set as Special Advisory Investigators for the Public Security Department of the National Police Agency."
"Special Advisory Investigator for Public Security? That's quite a grand name."
I smirked, flicking the ID photo of myself, and the assistant director nodded seriously.
"Many regular police forces are currently cooperating to control access to the perimeter.
To ensure your investigation isn't obstructed, we've set your identities within a national security department that carries higher authority."
The assistant director started the car again and finished his thought.
"Just show that ID, and the regular police on site will follow your instructions unconditionally."
I meticulously looked over the Public Security ID from top to bottom.
I quite liked the sleek design, and my heart fluttered a bit as if I'd become a 007 agent or a member of a secret special task force in a movie.
However, the fact that the uptight Jujutsu Higher-Ups went through such a troublesome identity laundering process to deploy us made me realize this matter was no small disaster.
"So, you said you're currently in contact with the interior? Tell us exactly what's happening in there in detail."
"Yes. It all started five days ago with a report that a person had gone missing inside the hospital."
The assistant director adjusted his grip on the wheel as if recalling the details.
"Initially, thinking it might be a simple accident where someone got lost in the mountains, the hospital mobilized its security guards to search, but no one was found."
"That could happen at a mountain hospital. But why did it reach the point where we were called in, going beyond the police?"
"The problem was that the first missing person was the grandson of a local influential figure.
Despite the police mobilizing a large force to scour the inside and outside of the hospital under pressure, they found nothing. Instead, it spiraled into a serial disappearance where even the search party members went missing.
Determining it had exceeded the control of non-sorcerers, the jujutsu world exceptionally formed a team of three Grade 2 sorcerers and deployed them immediately.
However... a horrific tragedy occurred just last night."
The assistant director's voice trembled slightly.
"Last night, one of the three Grade 2 sorcerers who had entered to search the interior... was found dead."
"Dead?"
"Yes. And in a truly gruesome fashion at that. You know those giant hydraulic press machines in factories, right?
As if crushed by a factory press, the human form was... completely flattened and burst on the steel floor like a thin okonomiyaki."
"Bleh—!!"
At the vivid description, Kanao, who had eaten a hearty breakfast before we left, clutched her mouth and started dry-heaving beside me.
'Tsk, tsk. You should've emptied your stomach like I did before heading into the field.'
I clicked my tongue and patted the back of the pale Kanao.
Once Kanao's dry-heaving subsided, the assistant director let out a sigh and continued the briefing.
"Immediately after the body was found, the people remaining inside the hospital began to show collective abnormal behavior.
As if possessed by something, they all started walking toward the center of the hospital like zombies with hollow eyes."
"Mass hypnosis, or a wide-area brainwashing type? Something like that?"
"We can't confirm yet, but it might be.
As a makeshift measure, the remaining sorcerers gave up on recovering their comrade's body and immediately prioritized life-saving efforts.
But... only seven people were forcibly pulled out and rescued from whatever was drawing them in."
"Which means."
I rested my chin on my hand and stared out at the deep mountain scenery.
"Does that mean the roughly 200 non-sorcerers who couldn't be rescued are now held hostage somewhere in the center of the hospital?"
We drove for another two hours while I took a nap in the car.
Finally, at the assistant director's word that we had arrived, Kanao and I opened the car doors and stepped out.
"This is supposed to be just a local hospital?"
The hospital I saw after getting out of the car was a sophisticated, large three-story building that didn't fit the description of being 'backwater' at all.
It didn't look like a major hospital from the capital, but it looked like a sizable university hospital you'd find in a hub city.
And in the empty lot opposite the hospital's main gate, a temporary tent that looked like a field command headquarters had been set up.
Inside the tent, it was a literal war zone.
The agents inside the booth were tirelessly attempting to communicate somewhere, with headphones and microphones pressed close to old communication equipment that looked like large radios or walkie-talkies.
'Well, since there are still people alive inside, they must be trying to gather information and reassure the terrified victims through continuous contact. Good job.'
While I nodded inwardly, the Window who drove us there saluted the supervisor guarding the entrance of the booth by touching his right hand to his head.
The supervisor nodded back in return.
"I've brought the Special Investigators who came as support from headquarters."
At the assistant director's introduction, the agents' gazes focused on us.
Instead of opening our mouths, Kanao and I simply responded with a silent bow. The commander, perhaps lacking the leisure for useless pleasantries, got straight to the point.
"Thank you for coming all this way. The situation is urgent, so I'll begin the briefing immediately. Oh, and."
The commander stopped, glanced at his watch, and then gestured with his head toward the police officers who were organizing documents nearby.
"You all, step outside for about ten minutes."
The quick-witted officers promptly vacated the area.
"The current time is 9:00 AM. Just a moment ago, we dramatically established contact with the survivors who were isolated inside the hospital."
"A survivor made contact themselves?"
"Yes. The hospital director said he suddenly regained his senses at some point.
Shortly after, the other people regained their composure one by one from the hypnosis. Currently, the hospital director has rounded up the people and is communicating with us via radio as the representative of the survivors."
The commander pointed a finger at a wide 안내도 of the hospital interior spread out on the table.
"The survivors' current location is here, on the second floor.
They said the physical therapy and rehabilitation room, which takes up the entire second floor, has the largest space in the hospital and is easy to block off with large rehab equipment.
So, all survivors are currently gathered there, having set up a barricade and hiding."
"I understand the situation. In that case, I'll enter alone."
"Hey! Are you crazy?! Three Grade 2 sorcerers went in and one came out dead, it's reckless for you to go alone! I'm coming with you!"
"No."
I shook my head, drawing a firm line.
"This hospital itself might be a barrier they set up, or a Cursed Spirit's domain.
I have more than enough countermeasures against a domain, but you don't have a single means of defense like that. You little scrub~."
"S-Scrub?!"
"Don't worry. I don't plan on starting a full-scale war by myself either. I'll just go in, dig up some info on the survivors, and pull out immediately."
I patted the fuming Kanao on the shoulder.
"Instead, it's not like I'm telling you to just sit around and play outside. Keep your output warmed up so I can pull from your firepower whenever I need it."
"...Ugh. Fine, just be careful."
As I meticulously checked Muramasa and my belongings before the breach, the field commander handed me a folder.
"This is the personal record of everyone in the Seiryu Convalescent Hospital, including patients and medical staff.
Since the interior of the hospital has turned into a den of demons for unknown reasons, we can't blindly trust even the detained civilians.
Take this to identify the survivors inside."
I skimmed through the documents.
The paper was densely packed with names, but only the surnames were visible; the latter half of the names were all censored, appearing like 'Zenin ***'.
'Wait, what the hell. If you're going to hide the names, you should hide the personal phone numbers next to them too.
Why are all the numbers written out perfectly? This desk-jockey administration really makes me dizzy.'
Swallowing an absurd chuckle, I tucked the folder under my arm and threw open the hospital's main gate.
*
The first-floor lobby of the hospital after crossing the main entrance.
"It's cleaner in here than I thought."
The first-floor lobby was exactly like the landscape of an ordinary hospital information desk.
There was a goosebumps-inducing atmosphere because not a single person was visible, but there were no bloodstains on the floor, nor any signs of Cursed Residue remaining.
Above all, I didn't feel the sensation of space being completely distorted at all, unlike the Innate Domain of the subway's 'Exit 4' that I had experienced before.
"Well, I can't let my guard down just because it looks fine on the outside. Now, what about the electricity and communication..."
I vaulted over the information desk and went inside. Then, I firmly pressed the power button of a desktop computer in the corner, where nurses would likely manage patient charts.
Ta-da~ Ding!♪
With the sound of the tower whirring lightly, the monitor displayed the familiar blue hill background and the Windows XP logo, completing the boot process.
After confirming the computer turned on normally, I decided to check the internet connection as well and double-clicked the Internet Explorer icon on the desktop.
Naturally, the Yahoo Japan portal site appeared smoothly.
I closed the browser window and, this time, picked up the receiver of the old-fashioned corded phone sitting next to the computer.
Then, I pressed in Kanao's cell phone number.
Ring— Ring— Click.
- Who is this? It's an emergency out here, so if it's not urgent, I'm hang—
"It's me, Hachiro. I'm inside and calling from the corded phone at the hospital desk."
From beyond the receiver, I heard Kanao gasp in surprise. I stared into the depths of the hospital corridor and spoke.
"Just as I thought, this isn't an Innate Domain set up by a Cursed Spirit. Electricity, internet, and even external phone lines all work perfectly."