Chapter 15
Halfway through the meal, the door to the study opened.
Spencer Sawamura walked out. The Anglo-Japanese diplomat was forty-two years old, with neatly styled blonde hair and deep blue eyes. Even at home, he wore an ironed shirt and trousers. But at that moment, his eyebrows were furrowed, there was a faint shadow under his eyes, and his whole body exuded exhaustion.
"Dad," Eriri put down her spoon. "Have you eaten?"
"I'll eat later," Mr. Spencer rubbed his brow and sat down next to Sayuri. His wife naturally handed him a cup of hot tea. He took it and thanked her softly.
"Is it that bad?" Sayuri asked quietly, her usual liveliness gone from her tone.
Mr. Spencer was silent for a few seconds, then sighed. "Very bad. Sir Anderson—the British aristocrat who came to the commission last week, the deputy chairman of the Trade Commission—is dead."
Eriri's spoon stopped in mid-air.
"Dead?" She repeated. "But the news only said 'accidental death'…"
"That's the public statement," Mr. Spencer's voice was low, even though there were only three of them in the house. "In reality, Sir Anderson died very… strangely."
He took a sip of tea, as if organizing his words. "Three days ago, he stayed overnight in a hotel room in Ginza. The next morning, his assistant went to call him and found the door locked. After breaking the door down…"
Mr. Spencer paused, a flicker of something indefinable—almost fear—in his blue eyes. "The room was covered in blood. Sir Anderson's body was lying on the edge of the bed, nearly torn to pieces. The coroner's initial conclusion was that he had been 'attacked by a large wild animal.' But the problem is, this was a penthouse in the most prestigious hotel in Ginza, on the thirtieth floor. The windows were intact. The door was locked. What kind of animal could get in? And how did it leave?"
Sayuri covered her mouth. "Oh my goodness…"
"What's even more troublesome," Mr. Spencer continued, unconsciously tapping his fingers on the table, "is that there were no traces of an intruder at the scene. No fingerprints, no hair, no DNA. The surveillance cameras didn't capture anything unusual either. The police and MI6 have investigated and found nothing. Now, the higher-ups are asking for a 'reasonable explanation.' As the diplomat stationed in Japan, this happened under my jurisdiction."
He smiled bitterly and shook his head. "What can I say? 'Maybe it was an invisible tiger'? They'd think I'd lost my mind."
Eriri listened, and a chill ran down her spine.
Large animal attacks. Locked room. No traces.
Almost instinctively, she looked to the other side of the table. Genji had already put down the light novel and was quietly listening to Mr. Spencer's story, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.
"Dad," Eriri heard her own voice come out a little dry. "What… what are you going to do now?"
"What can I do?" Mr. Spencer rubbed his temples. "Tomorrow, I'm going to the scene, meeting with the Tokyo police, and writing a report that is as 'reasonable' as possible—even if I don't believe it myself. I'll say something like… Sir Anderson had somnambulism, wandered outside in the middle of the night, was attacked by a pack of wild dogs, then somehow returned to his room in his sleep and locked the door. It's full of holes, but at least it's a bit more plausible than 'invisible tiger.'"
The explanation was absurdly far-fetched. Sayuri looked at her husband worriedly and reached out to take his hand.
Eriri lowered her head and mechanically put a spoonful of curry into her mouth, but she couldn't taste anything.
Large animals. Locked room. No traces.
She remembered what Genji had said on the roof that afternoon—
"That's a cursed spirit. A product of negative human emotions. When scattered cursed energy accumulates to a certain degree, or converges due to intense emotional events, it forms cursed spirits."
"The strong ones… kill people."
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Dinner ended in a somber atmosphere. Mr. Spencer only ate a few bites before returning to his study. Sayuri was uncharacteristically quiet as she washed the dishes. Eriri helped with the dishes, then hurried back to her room under the excuse of "rushing to meet a deadline."
As soon as she closed the door, she turned to Genji.
"Is this what you were talking about?" Her voice was very low, but couldn't hide her nervousness. "A cursed spirit?"
Genji didn't answer immediately. He floated to the window and looked out toward Ginza—though nothing was visible from here.
"Very likely," he said slowly. "'Large animal attack' but 'no traces of entry or exit'—that's very consistent with the crime characteristics of some cursed spirits. They don't need doors or windows. Some can even phase through walls."
Eriri's heart tightened. "Then… what grade of cursed spirit was it?"
"Hard to say," Genji turned around, his expression serious. "Based on the description, the destructive power is at least Grade 2 or higher."
He paused, then added, "But what worries me more is the location. Ginza is one of the busiest commercial districts in Tokyo. Logically, such a popular place has a lot of traffic, and negative emotions would be diluted by the crowd. It shouldn't be able to birth a powerful cursed spirit."
"Maybe… he brought it himself?" Eriri guessed. "You said that intense emotional events can give rise to cursed spirits. If he had deep-seated negative emotions before coming to Japan…"
"Possible," Genji nodded. "But there's another possibility—this cursed spirit wasn't naturally born. It was 'placed' there."
Eriri's eyes widened. "Placed?"
"Cursed spirits can be controlled," Genji explained. "Through certain techniques or special cursed tools. In my time, there were sorcerers who raised cursed spirits as weapons. But this practice is dangerous and prone to backfire, so it was considered forbidden."
The room was quiet. The night view of Tokyo outside the window was still bright, but at that moment, in Eriri's eyes, those lights seemed dimmed.
"Can you… deal with it?" She hesitated, then asked. "Like you did with Utaha-senpai this afternoon?"
"Probably," Genji said. But there was a 'but' in his tone.
He looked at Eriri with complicated eyes. "But if I go too far from you, or use too much cursed energy, I might be detected by certain 'things.'"
"What things?"
"People from the jujutsu world," Genji said calmly. "A barrier was set up over this country by my friend. If I appear, they'll know."
Eriri understood his implication. Dealing with this cursed spirit came with risks.
"Then…" She bit her lip. "What if you don't go? Will this cursed spirit keep killing?"
"Yes," Genji answered affirmatively. "Once a cursed spirit gets a taste for 'killing,' it becomes addicted. Humanoid cursed spirits, in particular, will start seeing humans as prey and continue hunting until they are destroyed or evolve to a higher level."
Eriri thought about her father's tired face. She remembered the helplessness in his voice when he said, "I'm going to the scene tomorrow." She remembered the absurdly far-fetched explanation of "somnambulism meeting wild dogs."
If this cursed spirit kept killing, the pressure on her father would increase. If things escalated, it might even affect his career.
And all because of an invisible monster.
"Go," Eriri looked up, her blue eyes shining with determination. "I'll go with you to deal with it."