In the intercity Metro's Jiangshi Station, Kozeki Laida waited for her next train to come over. It was a quiet morning in the station; she tapped vehemently on her phone trying to quell Yuki's rage over it. She sighed; it wasn't as though it was her fault that they ran out of cheese the night before.
Laida looked to her left, and to her right, and there were no other people. It was odd. Even though it was quiet, she would've thought there'd be people around. It wasn't as if Jingshi station was in a very rural area, in fact it was near the city center. She relayed this minor oddity to Yuki.
"--Yuki. There's no one at the station."
"Huh? Stay there, will you?"
"Thank you. It's Jiangshi station."
"Jiangshi Station? Of course there's something there again. You do know what to do right?"
"Yes. I'll start now." Laida turned off her phone and put it inside her cute duffel bag. Plastered all across the front and back of the duffle bag, like they were pieces of armor, were fifty pins depicting Kozori-Chan posing in a cute manner. With heavy breathing, and a terrible beating in her heart, Laida spoke, "Kozori-Chan save me…"
She went into her bag and pulled out a roll of yellow rope, several blank flashcards, tape, and a marker. She then wrote down several symbols upon the flash cards and taped them to the rope. Then, she approached the four closest pillars that surrounded her, and tied the rope around them, creating a rectangular boundary.
Before she finished tying up one end of the boundary, she saw a figure on the rails. It was a child. It stood there in silence, face blanked out by the harsh lights behind it. The child was almost transparent. Though it would be best to relay this finding to Yuki, as she had already turned off her phone, this was much too late.
So she just went back to regular protocol: speak with the ghost, "Hello there!" Firstly, proper decorum. She dropped the rope and properly bowed at the ghost, then, introductions, "I am Kozeki Laida, born 15th of May. I am 26 years old, a Taurus. I live in the Rose District at Filmore Street. I am the Head Marketing Agent at The Night Parade, as well as a fashion designer for Trace Society. I'm trained in basic hand to hand combat, basic magecraft combat. Spiritual exorcism, dealing with poltergeists and the like. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!"
After finishing her lengthy introduction, Laida put her head back up and looked at the ghost child. It remained there, blankly staring. In the back of her head she thought that such lengthy introductions were not needed, but ghosts had a limited speaking capacity, even during boundary exorcisms like this.
The more information you establish, the more bullets they can use against you. However, they can never quite change those bullets. If you steel your mind hard enough, ghosts can't manipulate you, "Are you not aware of the dangers of being here?" The ghost child asked.
Laida picked up the last end of the rope and tied it around the pillar. She stepped inside the boundary and spoke once more with the ghost, "I am aware. I'm trained on exorcizing phenomena such as you, thus something as simple as this is not an issue for me."
The ghost snickered, "You really have no idea just how unbelievably dangerous I am!" It spread its arms outward and manifested a great rolling fire in front of it. The fire coalesced into a dense ball. Enough energy remained in its core to level cities, and it threw it at Laida.
But to no avail.
The barrier remained, and so did she. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes and put a piece between her lips. A bit of fire remained stuck at the edge of the boundary. Cheekily, she pulled out her cigarette and lit it up using the remaining flames before going back down the center, "You have to try harder than that, kid."
She puffed and huffed. The cigarette smoke carefully escapes the confines of the boundary. With one flick of her finger, the smoke condensed and formed into a blade made out of wind. And with another flick, she sliced down the ghost.
The ghost, sliced in half, disappeared into the aether. And she chose to stay within her bounded field. After all, there still were no people inside the station, she was still trapped. And it was better to be somewhere safe while she waited for reinforcements than to mindlessly try to solve the case on her own.
"We're gonna be here for a while so why don't you humor me?" The ghost spoke within the walls of the station, somewhere where Laida cannot simply just attack and shut it up, "After all, we might be here for quite a while?"
"Fine. But I'm trying to reduce, so if I'm still here by the time my fifth stick runs out I'm gonna have to let it out on you."
"Oooo-- scary! In any case, why do you think I chose to trap you?"
"Honestly? I don't know. I wouldn't take you for a ghost that specifically targets pretty girls. And I wouldn't think you would stalk me to know who I am. Perhaps just a coincidence that it was me?"
"Correct! And now you've introduced me to who you are. I should tell you who I am! Is that a good deal?"
"It would be my honor to learn about you, dear ghost."
The ghost cleared its throat and prepared to speak, "I am Cornelius Walter Andorious Tarrian III. If you are aware of any casual history, you may know the significance of my last name, no?"
Laida thought about it for a while, when, like a bolt of thunder, it struck her, "A nobleman!"
"Bingo! A nobleman! Or at least I was supposed to be but my father failed to defend our rights, and the father of your boss really put a number on us. So I think you know now why you're down here, with me, right?!" The child walked around the boundary, careful not to touch it, yet its voice could be heard everywhere still.
The boss, it was clear that the ghost was referring to Yuki's father, "The leader of the Great Democratic Revolution. The dead man on the mountain, so that's your plan."
"To be clear with you. I never expected you to be actually connected to her. I only ever planned to make myself known, to have people call for this little agency and lure them here. But seeing as you're connected then it makes things easier."
Laida shrugs and sits down in the middle of the boundary, "Guess we'll just have to wait for them then. It's not like they'll take a while, but then again…"
---------
"Sorry if this is a weird question but why don't we just teleport to the place?"
"Because! It's only short-range teleportation! If I were to abuse it I would run out of mana. You of all people should know this!"
"But I don't! I don't know anything!" Yuki and I argued. She was the driver of the car, and we were very much stuck in traffic over highway 13, "And besides, shouldn't we have taken the backstreets instead?"
"No. The backstreets are much more crowded at this hour. It'll just slow us down." I was in the passenger seat hanging on for dear life, mostly because a few minutes ago, Yuki was driving like a madwoman. She was screaming Laida's name in such a huge panic that it set off the entire Night Parade.
"Wait!? Aren't you a witch? Why aren't you flying us on a broom instead then?" I argued back. Was it not reasonable to assume? I did see a few of them chasing a dragon when I first arrived.
"It's because we have other people with us!"
Behind us were two people, David, the orc I met last night, and Alexandrina, the vixen I met earlier today. They held the butter knives I summoned and were eating buttered bread in the backseat, "Don't forget to mention the fact that you're not licensed yet. Try learning how to fly first, Ms. 'Greatest, most powerful witch in all of Takamagahara.'" Alexandrina giggled, "Besides. Is bringing us necessary? I know you have a bit of favoritism for your dearest Marketing Head, but still…"
"I know bringing YOU is necessary, Lady Kaiser." The title changed, it seems, "She's trapped in a spatial plane, and it would be difficult for me to set up an entrance in such a short notice."
"Right. I suppose even within the night parade your mastery of that sort of thing isn't on par with mine."
I was still confused but I refused to question them until I needed to, "What am I doing here though?" I asked.
"You're my assistant! You must know firsthand how we handle things. So of course, I'm taking you. Don't be alarmed however," She turned over to me, her eyes locked onto mine, as if to say that she knew what I was thinking at this very moment, "I'll only give you jobs I know you can handle."
I gulped. Perhaps my asceticism will be in trouble with her around.
I stared out into the window, towards the city. It was my first time seeing it in the morning. Towering skylines reflect the blue skies. Some seem to stretch as far into the heavens as it could. And yet the roads follow and go wherever it pleases. Such rough architecture.