"Mr. Rom, are you alright?" Yukino Yukinoshita and Miko Yotsuya were somewhat surprised by his appearance. He was perfectly sharp and energetic yesterday, but today he looked utterly dejected and exhausted.
"No, it's nothing serious. I just haven't had enough rest," Rom replied, forcing a polite smile.
Sitting down at their table, Rom selectively told the two girls about the results of yesterday's divination, deliberately leaving out the mathematically impossible connections to avoid scaring them—and himself.
'I see...' Yukino thought, her icy blue eyes narrowing slightly. 'I suppose I should have some faith in Rom's abilities after all.'
Because Yukino knew the terrifying truth. Miko Yotsuya's eyes were indeed extremely ominous. It wasn't impossible that her lethal luck might even implicate others around her. As for Yukino herself, since she had reported back to Suginami Ward yesterday, although she hadn't obtained much useful information from Seiran, she didn't need to worry about being targeted by evil. After all, she hadn't taken that "beating" in his bed for nothing… her spiritual protection was absolute.
In that case…
Yukino deliberately chose a relatively remote and quiet booth in the corner and gave Miko a subtle wink.
Miko understood instantly. She turned and looked pitifully at Saeko Busujima, who was carrying her wooden sword case.
Some things in this world are entirely beyond the knowledge of ordinary people. Once an ordinary person gains a clear, undeniable understanding of the supernatural aspect of reality, there is a very high possibility of them involuntarily "opening their eyes." Although the occult conditions for "opening one's eyes" are usually very strict, Yukino dared not gamble with her senior's life.
Because those who open their eyes through forbidden "knowledge" are often in more danger than those who possess innate spiritual vision. Almost at the exact moment of "opening their eyes," their soul essentially issues a blazing announcement to the entire underworld: I can see you.
This silent exclusion made Saeko feel very strange.
'Am I actually being disliked by these juniors...?' Saeko wondered, maintaining her polite smile. 'Perhaps there is some unspeakable reason? It does seem to be a difficult situation to discuss.'
Seeing that Saeko tactfully chose to remain in a distant seat near the window, sipping her coffee, Yukino breathed a sigh of relief.
To Yukino's mind, Saeko was an ordinary person, vastly different from Rom. She assumed Rom was a genuine superhuman with "real skills," even if he looked like a counterfeit version of one right now. "Opening one's eyes" was basically a piece of cake to handle for superhumans, right? The last counterfeit superhuman they met was incredibly weak, yet she still managed to raise a ghost child. This Rom, no matter how disheveled he looked, couldn't possibly be any worse than the last guy, could he?
"Then I'll get straight to the point..." Yukino said, her expression turning deadly serious.
Her intense demeanor made Rom slightly uneasy.
'It seems... something isn't quite right here...' Rom thought, shifting in his seat.
However, Rom couldn't quite put his finger on what that wrongness was. So he could only frown and remain silent, suppressing his inexplicable unease. He was here to seek logical confirmation that magic was fake, not to scare himself further.
"As you can see, Mr. Rom, Yotsuya-san does indeed possess eyes with spiritual vision. She is capable of seeing things that others cannot," Yukino stated plainly.
A sudden tightness gripped Rom's heart.
He first glanced at Yukino, realizing from her posture and tone that she wasn't exaggerating, nor was she lying out of morbid curiosity. Then he looked at Miko. He noticed the heavy, bruised dark circles under her eyes, looking exactly like someone who had been violently troubled for a long time and hadn't had a good night's sleep in weeks.
Upon noticing Rom's assessing gaze, Miko nodded meekly, indicating the credibility of Yukino's words.
This…
For a moment, Rom felt a freezing chill run down his spine.
'Are you two joking?! Trying to fool me?'
However, their deadly serious demeanor made Rom highly suspicious of his own skepticism. He was just joking yesterday, saying the two could see "spirits." That was merely a preemptive cold-reading strike based on eavesdropping on their vague conversation. This was a common tactic used by swindlers like him. As long as they could create a preconceived impression of omniscience, the subsequent deception would be much easier.
"Ah... another rainy day? The weather hasn't been very good lately..."
The coffee shop door opened with a chime. The cheerful voices of several ordinary young girls entering the cafe temporarily interrupted Rom's chaotic thoughts.
His mind was in absolute turmoil. On one hand, he was fiercely unwilling to believe in this so-called "spiritual vision." How many years had he been practicing fake "spiritual vision" himself? Did he not know whether or not he had it? It was simply a matter of staring wide-eyed at a gullible customer and solemnly saying, "Madam, I think you may be possessed by a vengeful spirit..." This was Rom's usual, lucrative routine.
On the other hand, his stubbornness—or rather, his unwillingness to admit defeat to Granny Mitsue's teachings—was rising again.
Extremely contradictory thoughts clashed in his mind. As a conman who had been swindling for many years, he was extremely knowledgeable in occult theory. But what was the point of a conman learning so much real theory? Because he, too, had once harbored genuine fantasies about such things. But the deeper the initial love for the occult, the heavier the cynical hatred that grew after years of fruitless waiting for real magic.
Lost in thought, he finally made up his mind.
Continue! Whether this is true or a masterful teenage prank, continuing the conversation will reveal the answer.
"So, Yotsuya-san," Rom asked, leaning forward, "can you tell me exactly what you can see? Spirits? Vengeful ghosts? Or something else?"
"This…" Hearing this, Miko truly didn't know how to answer. Because she could see everything. The grotesque, the deformed, the massive, and the small. This was precisely what troubled her most.
"I'll answer this question for her," Yukino volunteered, her voice steady. "Whether it's wandering spirits, malicious ghosts, vengeful wraiths, demons, or beings entirely beyond human comprehension, Yotsuya-san can see them all. Her eyes are quite extraordinary. But she has absolutely no means of self-protection or exorcism, so she strictly abides by the First and Second Laws of the Extraordinary."
Rom blinked. "The laws?"
Yukino nodded, laying out the absolute rules of survival:
* The First Law of the Extraordinary: Unseen is safe. All beings from the underworld will not actively hunt or harm unseen mortals from parallel worlds. This is an ironclad rule of dimensions.
* The Second Law of the Extraordinary: Ignorance is a shield. Even if something is visible to you, as long as the entity is unsure whether you can actually see them, you remain relatively safe and will not trigger a fatal interaction.
"A third kind of fatal contact has occurred recently," Yukino added softly, hinting at the Gods, "but we cannot discuss that."
This was the secret foundation of the extraordinary realm that everyone in their circle had pieced together after being informed by the grueling events at the shrines.
Silence. A somber, suffocating silence fell over the table.
Rom's mind went completely blank after hearing the girl's answer.
'A severe case of chuunibyou (middle-school syndrome)?' Rom thought desperately. 'This setting seems meticulously crafted...'
It sounded quite reasonable… but more terrifyingly, it corresponded perfectly to many of the deepest, most guarded occult theories he had learned from Granny Mitsue. According to the forbidden texts he had memorized, "opening one's eyes" was indeed a very dangerous, lethal thing. If someone was born with "opened eyes" of a high tier, they would suffer psychological torture throughout their life, inevitably dying young in a horrific "accident."
"I believe you are aware of the severity of the current situation as a professional," Yukino said, breaking the silence. "So, do you have a way to permanently resolve Yotsuya-san's eyes? To close them?"
No. I don't know anything.
Rom felt completely numb. How come the high school girl sitting in front of him seemed to know more about the functional mechanics of the underworld than he did?
And how to resolve innate spiritual vision?
He was sorry. He honestly didn't know how to resolve it. Born spiritual visionists generally met a tragic, violent end, unless they were heavily protected by powerful "humans" for their entire life. If it was an accidental "opening of eyes" through a curse, he might have had a theoretical ritual to resolve it, but for those born with the sight, there was truly no clue in any of Granny Mitsue's teachings.
"I... I can't close them," Rom admitted, his voice raspy. "I don't have a cure for that."
"I see..."
The disappointment radiating from Yukino and Miko was palpable.
If even the professional extraordinary individuals couldn't help close her eyes, then Miko probably only had one dark path left to survive.
Yukino's expression became slightly conflicted and strange as she looked at her junior. The only path left was complete submission to Suginami Ward... a path that felt akin to the "death" of one's freedom...
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