"Ding!"
This was a sound that suddenly rang out in this dim room that was only lit up by a few candles.
The person who had been sitting in the center of the room suddenly opened their eyes and turned to look at a shikigami that was hanging on the wall.
They couldn't help knitting their brows when they saw which direction it came from.
"To the east…"
After a long period of silence, they suddenly stood up and said out loud, "Send word to the emperor right away! There are enemies to the east!"
There were several black figures that suddenly appeared from the shadows of this large room. They immediately landed in front of this person and bowed down to them before saying, "Yes, sir!"
Then in an instant, all of them disappeared from the room and that person was left alone.
This person that was left in the room was Takenoko Seimei, the highest ranking onmyoji of the royal court. He was the one that the emperor trusted the most out of all the royal onmyoji and said to be a once in a century genius.
The divination that he had just finished was to find the spy that had snuck into their country.
Now that he was finished with this, Seimei no longer needed to care about this and could finally relax.
But before he could go off to relax, there was another black figure that dropped.
Seimei knitted his brows when he saw this, but he didn't say a word as he waited for the black figure to report.
The black figure was silent for a while as if they were hesitating over something before finally saying, "There are reports that the Kinoko Family have started moving. It is very likely that they have something to do with this spy."
When Seimei heard this, he couldn't help knitting his brows even more.
The Kinoko Family was the royal onmyoji family of the Land of Ocean that their Land of Sea was directly in conflict with. It could be said that they were the greatest rivals of the Takenoko Family, so it wasn't that surprising that the spy would be from the Kinoko Family.
However, this still surprised Seimei for a certain reason.
After thinking about it for a bit, Seimei finally said, "Keep watching them and if the Kinoko Family really makes a move, then we'll send out our people as well."
His voice turned cold as he said, "If they really want a war, we'll give it to them."
The black figure couldn't help trembling when they heard this, but then they gave a nod and disappeared again.
However, even after the black figure left, Seimei's brows didn't relax.
After a long period of silence, he finally muttered to himself, "Didn't we already agree not to do anything? Now they're breaking their promise…"
He just stood there for a while longer before his stomach suddenly gave a growl and he was pulled back to his senses.
He had been performing the ceremony for over twenty hours now, so he was indeed quite hungry.
Rubbing his stomach, he walked out of this room and headed deeper into the Takenoko Manor. He wasn't heading to his room, but rather a forbidden room in the deepest parts of the Takenoko Manor.
This was a room that had existed before this manor was even built and it was the most taboo place in the entire Takenoko Manor.
There were rumours that there was a powerful demon sealed into it, which was why the master of the Takenoko Family, Takenoko Seimei went into the forbidden room every day to seal it up.
Only Seimei knew the truth…
When he arrived in this room, he looked at the door that was just standing there in the center of it.
This was a normal looking door that didn't have any special decorations. The only thing that was special about it was the dog paw mark that was right in the center of the door.
This was the true secret of this special room, this door that had been guarded by the Takenoko Family for decades now.
The one that had discovered it was his father and then his father had passed this door down to him.
Only those in the main Takenoko Family line knew what this door really was.
It was a passage into another world.
Since he had learned about it, Seimei couldn't help going to this other world at least once a day. If he didn't go there, he would always find that he would be filled with cravings to go there.
If he didn't go, it would be like an addict who was suddenly going into withdrawal.
Patting his stomach that growled again, Seimei opened the door and walked through.
He wasn't surprised by the sudden change in brightness since this was something that he had already experienced many times.
After walking into the restaurant, there were several people that he was familiar with who waved at him and greeted him. Seimei walked by them and greeted them in turn before finding a spot at an empty table.
When he sat down, Anna looked over at him and asked, "The usual?"
Seimei gave a nod and then relaxed in the chair.
Anna just revealed a smile when she saw this and then went to the kitchen to hand in the order.
It had already been more than ten years since Seimei had started coming to this restaurant.
The first time he came, he had been brought here by his father and they had shared a meal together. That meal was one that he had never been able to forget and to this day, he still ordered the same thing that he ate with his father back then.
After relaxing for a bit, Seimei suddenly opened his eyes and looked around the restaurant, almost as if he was looking for a person.
However, after his eyes swept over the entire restaurant and he didn't find the person that he was looking for, he clicked his tongue and muttered to himself, "They're not here yet? Then could it really be that they…"
He didn't finish his words, but he knitted his brows as he left his words hanging.
Seimei suddenly stood up and walked over to another table where there was a person in full samurai armour sitting there.
That person had been enjoying the food that they had ordered when they suddenly saw Seimei standing over them. They weren't surprised to see them, but there was a hint of annoyance that flashed in their eyes.
After they finished chewing the food that was in their mouth, they pointed at the seat in front of them.
Seimei sat down in silence and neither of them said a single thing.
Finally, the samurai couldn't take it and asked, "What is it now?"
Seimei didn't answer right away, but eventually he still asked, "Has there been anything strange happening in your country lately?"
The samurai looked at Seimei with a strange look before asking, "Strange? What do you mean by strange?"
Seimei was silent for a bit, but then he stood up and said, "Nothing. Sorry for bothering you."
The samurai's expression filled with even more confusion as he watched Seimei walk back to his own table.
This samurai wasn't just someone that Seimei had gotten to know from the restaurant, he was someone that was from Seimei's world.
Unlike the Land of Sea that Seimei came from, this samurai was from the Land of Mountains on the opposite side of the ocean.
Normally, the two of them wouldn't even have a chance to meet, but because of this restaurant, they were able to exchange information between their two lands.
Of course, they also knew each other in an official capacity.
Seimei was the highest ranking onmyoji of the Land of Sea and this samurai named Nobunaga was one of the highest ranking feudal lords of the Land of Mountains. They had already contacted each other before meeting at the restaurant through letters, so they did have a relationship.
But it was much easier to exchange information in person at the restaurant than to exchange letters.
After Seimei left, Nobunaga looked in his direction for a bit before turning his attention back to his pork loin cutlet.
But as he chewed, he couldn't help feeling that something was off with Seimei.
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and swallowed everything. He left his payment on the table and walked out of the restaurant, back to his own world.
He felt that something was wrong, so he was heading back to investigate.
After all, Seimei had a reason for his actions and he didn't believe that Seimei would just talk to him for no reason.
After Nobunaga left, Seimei's dish finally arrived.
This was a dish that had taken a long time to cook, but Seimei felt that it was well worth the wait.
Anna brought it on a large teppanyaki plate and placed it right in front of Seimei.
Atop that teppanyaki plate, there was a large okonomiyaki with bonito flakes, mayo, and special sauce sizzling on it.
The moment that Seimei saw it placed in front of him, his stomach couldn't help giving another growl.
It had already been a long time since he ate, so he really couldn't take his hunger anymore.
He lifted the chopstick and was about to dig in, but before he could, he heard the sound of the bell above the door ringing. He had turned his eyes to look over out of habit, but the moment he saw who it was, his hand holding the chopsticks stopped and he knitted his brows again.
The person that had just walked in was Kinoko Doman, the head of the Kinoko Family.