Magician in Type-Moon

Page 311

It tastes like the mountains.

The lush forest seemed to cover the sky.

The cicadas' chirping grew louder and louder. As we entered the slope connecting the foot of the mountain, we suddenly saw a huge building.

It was pitch black—so black that one might mistake it for a huge mansion painted with paint.

The walls, doors, pillars, and even every roof tile were endless black.

It was as if a shadow cast on the ground had stood up, and the shadow itself had transformed into a mansion. Combined with the dazzling summer sunlight, it revealed a strange, monstrous structure.

There are three warehouses diagonally in front of you, all of them black.

Matou Ike walked over, and unsurprisingly, was stopped.

Enchantment.

A large barrier created using history and law as a shield, supplemented by the terrain.

It is a concept used to draw boundaries and prohibit free movement.

Whether in the East or the West, mountains and forests have always been considered a form of extraterritoriality.

In Japan, even after Tokugawa Ieyasu, who became a modern hero, established the shogunate, the unique, ununified rules in the mountains and forests still existed.

Of course, if it's only this level, blasting it open directly wouldn't be a problem.

However, Matouike did not choose to do so.

I just stood quietly in front of the door.

No knocking or doorbell is needed.

The door opened slowly on its own.

Dozens of men dressed in black stood side by side on both sides of the road.

Although their hairstyles were all different, everyone was wearing black suits and black ties. Despite it being the middle of summer, they didn't seem to feel hot at all.

Japanese yakuza.

"So they really are relatives of the Ryougi family, even their career paths are exactly the same."

Matou Ike casually made a comment.

Regarding the matter previously entrusted to Ryougi Shiki and Ryougi Mikiya, the clues given for tracing the whereabouts of the Japanese divine body are here.

However, during the ongoing investigation, it was discovered that the clue pointed to a distant relative, but due to certain social factors...

This led to the matter falling into Matou Ike's hands again.

A moment later, the masked men in black turned around like a clockwork mechanism and bowed their heads in unison.

In the motionless crowd, only one person took a step.

He was the only one not wearing a mask.

It was a man whose right hand was in a cast and was slinged with a triangular bandage.

"Welcome, Mr. Hidden One."

His voice was honest and polite, but deep within it was a pressure, a pressure unique to humans against a backdrop of violence.

But for Matouike, it was just that.

He was probably in his early thirties. His short hair, tightly closed lips, and strong physique, visible even through his suit, all left a deep impression. But the most striking feature was the cut scar etched between his eyebrows.

The slanted wound appeared quite old, with light pigmentation deposited on the skin.

As for why this guy calls him the Hidden One, it's mainly because of the Clock Tower.

As the behind-the-scenes donor who funded the El-Melloi family, his absence from any events over eight years led many to believe he was a hidden mastermind plotting something.

The title thus earned.

It's kind of funny, even though he slept for eight years... but if I told you, probably no one would believe me.

"What's your name?" Matou Ike casually looked the man in front of him and asked.

"The snow letter was stolen at night," the man with the cast on his arm replied slowly.

"Where is your leader? As far as I know, you are probably like the Ryougi family, 'the people who manage such trivial matters as the organization cannot decide the true successor'."

Matou Ike's words did not mean to belittle anyone.

It's a tone that simply ignores established facts.

As they were talking, a voice came from the mansion.

"Please wait a moment, Lord Zhu Yin."

"No, I won't wait. Since they've come all this way to our door, there's no reason for us to just sit here cross-legged and not move."

There was no mask.

She was wearing a black kimono that resembled mourning attire.

The lustrous fabric must be silk. Apart from the silver ribbons, everything else is plain, like the mansion itself, as if it has absorbed the sunlight.

The woman, in her fifties, shook off the people around her who tried to stop her and walked straight towards them.

"This is the head of the family." Ye Jiexue lowered her eyes.

Matou Ike turned around and raised one eyebrow.

"So you are?"

"That's right. I am Ye Jie Zhu Yin, the current head of the Ye Jie family."

The old woman's eyes were bright and piercing.

The wrinkles are very obvious, and half of his hair has turned white.

However, the strong will in his eyes seems to have remained unchanged since he was young.

Matou Ike looked at the somewhat enthusiastic old man and felt a little strange. He had come here with ill intentions, wanting to seize the mystery of the other party's family's existence.

But such a warm welcome...

Hmm... Could it be that Kurogiri Google's abilities completely lost their effectiveness after changing his surname to Ryougi Google?

Led by masked men, Matou Ike entered the mansion.

The interior of the building was also extremely dark.

Looking at the pillars and walls from the outside, the further you look inside, the more it feels like you're delving into the entrails of a giant.

Perhaps it was because of the incense burning that the air was filled with an incredible aroma, which further enhanced this impression.

The colors and fragrance seemed to permeate the very core of the body.

The presence of black-clad masked figures both in front and behind further exacerbated this situation.

A trap? Not really.

Rather, it's more of a ritual necessary to maintain the family's mystery.

Unlike the mystery inherent in Western magic, it should be considered a branch of thought magic.

The woman in front of me, wearing a kimono, was gently swaying her shoulders.

Following behind her, my sense of distance and balance were gradually disrupted.

It's like walking through a dark kaleidoscope.

It can only be said that it is indeed related to God, or this is simply a characteristic of thought magic.

Matou Ike didn't know much about this.

I only understand the general content.

Chapter 369 Divine Body 4k

Candles were lit in the sunless corridor.

Matou Ike squinted, and in the flickering light, it seemed as if there were skulls laughing on the ceiling.

It might be an illusion, but it could also be real.

Finally, we arrived at a spacious room.

A wall covered with masks comes into view.

Hundreds of masks covered the pitch-black walls.

They all wore the same wooden masks as the men in black.

"Please forgive my slightly perverse sense of humor. Magicians are the same everywhere."

The masked men in black who had led the way went back, and Zhu Yin sat down in the room.

Matou Ike simply nodded, showing no surprise.

I just became more interested in the magic that existed here.

"Noh masks...and they're all male masks, like those for 'drinking,' 'eating,' and 'imawaka.'"

Matou Ike looked at the wall and said.

"Oh, do you know him?"

"I know some things, but not all of them."

After exchanging a few words, Matou Ike turned his gaze to the woman's back.

There was something covered with a black cloth on the jar inside.

Judging from its shape, it should be a mirror.

Matou Ike watched for a while, then looked away and said calmly:

"I've heard from the Ryougi family that there seem to be three origins of the underworld."

"Oh?"

“The unrecognized outcasts, the gamblers who ran illegal casinos, and the ‘takuya’ who often moved around temples and shrines setting up stalls or performing arts. It was not about division and isolation, but about mutual integration and exchange, which became the prototype of yakuza. In addition to drugs and prostitution, there were sumo wrestling and Noh performances, and even curses and prayers.”