"Alright, come on—everyone.
I know you all have questions.
If you want to ask, then ask.As long as it's something I can say, I won't hide it."
The moment those words fell, the eyes of everyone present lit up.
Especially the High Priest and the Archbishop, who had already bowed their heads in apology yet lingered unwillingly, afraid to miss even a single sentence.
They leaned forward instinctively.
And Granny Takeda Mie's calm frankness made Yukinoshita Haruno's heart race.
Secrets.
The truth of the extraordinary.
This was temptation itself—something no one could truly resist.
Just look at who was present.
Religious forces — Hashimoto Kyoaki
Metropolitan Police Department — Sato Miwako
Landlord class — Chitanda Eru
Yukinoshita family — Yukinoshita Haruno
None of the four forces were absent.
Even though Haruno felt, faintly, like a husky that had somehow wandered into a pack of wolves—
She was here.
And that alone mattered.
Embarrassing?She could accept that.
Yukinoshita Haruno had always been clear about her position.
She was lucky. That was all.
"Before that…"
Sato Miwako was the first to step forward.
She knelt and bowed deeply, her expression solemn.
Before leaving, the higher-ups had emphasized this point again and again—
Sincerity must come first.
She placed a thumb-sized recording device on the table.
"Granny Takeda," she said earnestly,"the Metropolitan Police Department has no intention of offending you.
You understand—some matters must be known only to higher authorities, in order to maintain social order.
But they didn't dare disturb your peace, so…"
Takeda Mie waved her hand gently.
She understood.
She was not inflexible, nor ignorant of reality.
Even if she truly possessed power now, she had no desire to see modern society collapse into chaos.
"I don't care about those things," she said calmly."You're a good child. You're honest."
Takeda Mie liked honest children.
Just as she liked Yotsuya Miko in her own way—those who endured, quietly and sincerely.
Good.
Watching from the surveillance room, Megure Juzo clenched his fist.
As expected.
Sato Miwako really was worthy of being called the pride of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Among so many powerful figures, she had been the first to step forward.
The distance between them and Granny Takeda had closed—instantly.
Megure even caught the subtle nod from Superintendent Hakuba out of the corner of his eye.
His chest puffed out unconsciously.
"Thank you for your understanding," Sato Miwako said, exhaling softly.
Then she raised her head and asked the first question.
"Granny… are curses unique?"
"Or… are there more?"
That question struck directly at the heart of the matter.
If there were many such entities—
Then the order of modern Japan could not remain stable.
Invisible to the naked eye.Untouchable by human technology.Possessing terrifying destructive power.
That was not something mortals could contend with.
Silence fell.
Takeda Mie sighed softly.
That single sigh made the atmosphere tighten.
Don't sigh like that…It's terrifying…
Haruno felt her heart sink.
A bad premonition crept up her spine.
"…Curses," Takeda Mie said slowly,"are not rare."
The words were quiet—almost nostalgic.
Her aged voice carried the weight of time, as though she had seen far too much, far too often.
Everyone felt it.
This was not good news.
"Curses are only one branch."
A branch?
"Ghosts do exist in this world.
After death, people may linger for many reasons."
"These are harmless spirits."
"Harmless spirits can be divided into earthbound spirits, wandering souls…"
"And—"
"Pure spirits."
Hashimoto Kyoaki whispered the words in a daze.
It matched.
Everything matched.
This classification existed—clearly—within ancient scriptures.
His scalp tingled.
That meant the myths were not just myths.
"But harmless spirits do not always remain so," Takeda Mie continued.
"Regret. Coincidence. Hatred.
Sometimes merely seeing someone they despised in life is enough."
"Harmful spirits are divided into—"
"Curses. Vengeful spirits. Obsession-bound spirits. Impure spirits."
"Among them," she said gravely,"curses are the most dangerous."
Because the others were born from personal resentment.
A curse was different.
A curse gathered the negative emotions of others.
Once such a being fully formed—
It could bring catastrophe upon reality itself.
"As recorded in the myths—"
"Shuten-dōji. Ibaraki-dōji. Yamata no Orochi. Tamamo-no-Mae…"
"These were all fully transformed curses."
The one they had faced days earlier was still incomplete.
Had it consumed the entire cycle of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches—
It might have become a ghost king of ancient legend.
Silence.
Takeda Mie spoke calmly, as if recounting a story.
But everyone there had seen the curse with their own eyes.
The myths suddenly felt… real.
Yukinoshita Haruno clenched her jaw.
Yamata no Orochi.
A curse that could rival gods?
Cold dread surged through her chest.
Barely suppressing it, she forced herself to ask again—
"Granny… are curses common?"
Before the words even finished leaving her mouth, the answer had already formed in her mind.
Disappearances.
Unexplained deaths.
"Gas explosions."
Once you thought deeply—
Everything became terrifying.
Maybe curses were not everywhere.
But they were far from rare.
And if this one hadn't risked becoming a ghost king—
Would Granny Takeda have intervened at all?
Would they have ever learned the truth?
In that instant—
Yukinoshita Haruno realized something chilling.
The truth was not comforting.
Sometimes, being ignorant was mercy.
And once you saw beyond the veil—
There was no turning back.
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