Yayoi stood at the doorstep, giving herself an introduction in front of a speechless Polka. However, using her special ability, she was able to discern three spiritual presences within the room
This guy is not human. No human has two auras mashed into one at all. And that pencil has a lingering spirit residing within it. Just what kind of a replaced are you? Giving out divinations throughout Shinjuku.
Meanwhile, Polka had also analyzed her from the get-go
This girl's mana is fluctuating, if that's the case then what was that sudden increase in this spiritual pressure since she came in? I just hope my assumption wrong.
His assumptions about this girl belonging to the same world as he was before were just by pure instinct. Ever since he met Civil, he had pieced together their connection to his former world;
Bastard Children of Sabaramond; followers of his fellow high-ranking sorcerer, Arius Sabaramond, arrived to Earth by an artificial wormhole in a failed attempt to gather technology from here to their own. Instead they created a homunculus, implanting a faint but sufficient amount of power into him, thus creating Civil. Following a few relevant events, he, along with Lulu and Soara, defected from the organization and into Polka's side. Since then he started to become more cautious of his own environment, checking if anyone bears the same power from his former world, or is involved that organization as well.
He uses his Evil Eye one more time to double check.
Figures. Her mana is strong, but that has no semblance to anyone I have ever encountered during my previous life.
Polka takes a sigh of relief. However he can't let his guard down.
Yayoi takes a seat, still holding the elephant plushie tight as Polka delivers his readings.
"Yayoi-san, for a young girl like you, you have tread a very dark path behind and will continue to tread the same path that lies ahead. Your path stemmed from losing precious ones in an unforeseen event."
So he knows about me? As expected from a fortune-teller like him. However, if he turns out to be the same kind as the one within Dorothy, I will not hesitate to lay my hands on him and crush him.
She took a little glance at Polka and notices he was very young to be a fortune-teller.
"Aren't you too young to be a fortune teller, mister? How did you even get to register that kind of business?"
Yayoi then detects a bit of movement with the souls. The small pure-white aura from Polka begin to flail a little, as if it was in anguish. The spirit within the pen changes its aura to a little bit of grey. It seems that the pen showed a little hostility to Yayoi over that comment of hers.
Polka had no idea what she just told him, so he heed no mind with a little smile.
Hosorogi, however…
CRAP, THIS KID, HOW RUDE. Did she really have to put that bluntly?! If only that kid wasn't young and would dare tell anyone, I would not hesitate to have Misaki silence her.
The pencil was slightly rolling back and forth, expressing distress and frustration towards Yayoi. He was very annoyed at the little attitude she gave to him. However, he was also the one who inspired Polka to utilize his powers for a pseudo-divination. If he was still alive and active, it would've spelled the end of his career.
He was at a loss on what he should really feel.
At the adjacent room….
Civil was bursting with laughter after overhearing that comment. He may be from another world but at least he knows the difference between legal and illegal business.
On the other hand, Takumi expressed the same frustration Hosorogi felt.
"That darn kid!! I know you have IQ levels over 100 but your manners don't. If I were on Polka's place I would smack that foul mouth of yours and kick you out of this room this instant."
Unlike Hosorogi, Takumi has the worst luck in this job. He was to supply Polka with personal information about the client, allowing him to create his divinations accurately. If by any chance Yayoi would tell anyone to the cops, he would really be on the run.
"Back to the topic at hand, it seems that you would like to have a dream of yours interpreted. Can you elaborate further for me?"
"Yes, I do"
Yayoi starts to convey that very dream of hers in front of Polka
"I found myself wandering in a forest. The only lead I had to follow is that thick smoke ahead. Then I ended up in a cliff overlooking an empire in shambles."
The last thing she told caught his attention.
A cliff…overlooking…a fallen empire?
Yayoi noticed the change in behavior on Polka. It seems to her like he knows something about that dream of hers.
"Please continue, Yayoi" Polka muses her to carry on.
I must be imagining things
"I hid myself in a bush as I saw someone carrying a corpse"
Impossible! How could she know?
Having her continue was a mistake on Polka's part. He was surprised, his mouth was agape. He couldn't believe what he just heard:
Yayoi Hozuki just dreamed of a crucial part of Polka- of the Corpse God's past life as a sorcerer.
It was that time he murdered the very person he placed his loyalty with; the emperor of the fallen Byandy Empire, Flamrodia Byandylaz.
He can still remember what his friend told him at the cliffs:
Atone for your mistakes by living a very long life
Polka-kun, Polka-kun, are you okay? Hosorogi checked on the boy, having noticed his strange behavior
I'm fine, Hosorogi-san Polka conveyed back, trying to regain his composure
So the ghost in the pencil and the fortune teller can convey each other's thoughts, interesting. Yayoi thought as she noticed how the soul tries to check on him
I can't let her dig too deep into my real identity like this. I have to do something. Polka had thought, not wanting to drag an innocent human like Yayoi
"Yayoi, I'm afraid that I cannot interpret what that dream means to you, but I can tell that treading this trivial matter too deep will be the end of you. Therefore, it would be wise if you leave that dream of yours alone. For the sake of your own safety."
The pencil moved by itself and starts writing on the paper. Yayoi takes the paper and read its message
CURIOSITY KILLS THE CAT. JUST LET YOUR DREAMS BE
Lies, I know that dream means something to you. You really suck at playing poker faces.
That message left Yayoi even more curious. The fact that Polka urged her to stop means that her dream must have something to do with him.
All of a sudden, the Maiden appears in Yayoi's side. The same pressure they felt earlier came back to Polka and Hosorogi.
That's the same fluctuation again, but this time it's because of the girl in white? Now I get it. That heavy presence from before was not from the young girl, but from the soul of the woman who just came in. Her power is equal to that of what was implanted to Habaki.
"By the way, are you familiar with a girl dressed in white?"
That question brought an alarm within both Yayoi and the Maiden.
As I thought!! She can see the Maiden. By the looks of it, he's not your run-of-the-mill fortune-teller.
It was already certain for both of them;
Polka can see spirits
"If you can sit still and calm yourself, I can relieve you of that presence" he added.
Polka begins to summon Sanctuary. It is a spell that gives him full control to every mana he sensed within the domain he made. People affected by the spell will begin chills that makes them want to stay away from that area. He already casted this spell on four different occasions; first was when he tried to disperse Sorimura, Xiaoyu, and Lemmings; then when he first encountered Civil; third was when he fought him and his companions on the streets of Shinjuku; and lastly was when he accompanied the Agakuras' on a corpse hunt in a deserted hospital.
Back at the reception hall, people begin dispersing away from the building. Only a handful of people remain;
There's Misaki Sakimiya, the receptionist dressed in a dancer suit.
And then there's the only two persons left: Eiko Hozuki, who got back earlier after summoning the maiden, and Keitaro Gentouga. Both of them felt a strong chill on their nerves
Very surprising for this lovey-dovey couple to stay after what Polka-kun did. Perhaps they're accustomed to fear Misaki thought.
Meanwhile…
"Eiko, I'm getting a cold chill coming from the room"
"I felt it too, but we can't just chicken out while Yayoi is there"
"As I thought, this trip is already a bad idea in the first place"
Below the building, Soara and Xiaoyu were stuck having to avoid the Maiden's attacks
A few minutes since Yayoi entered the room…
Soara and Xiaoyu were headed at the entrance of the building when the presence they felt earlier begin to disappear.
"Hey Heilei kid, slow down. I felt something" warned Soara.
"I can't. I have to get to Lady Sayo-"
All of a sudden, a hand suddenly conjured out of the wall, aimed towards Xiaoyu.
Soara leapt in and tries to claw off the hand, however she ended up getting touched in the arm instead.
"Jeez, how reckless can you be? At least it seems to do nothing to us"
Xiaoyu blushed in embarrassment over being scolded when he notices the wound on where Soara was touched.
"Tiger lady, your arm is bleeding"
"Pay no mind, it will just heal by itself. Moreover, look at that."
Countless arms begin to show up everywhere in their sight. It seems that whoever did this is determined to trap Xiaoyu and Soara below for the time being.
So that sucker will cut anything its hand touches. To make matters worse, it has a number on us. Seems like they're keeping us at bay down here, I have to get back and make sure Lulu is safe.
Soara realizes that those hands may come for Lulu at any given moment, forcing her to return to the basement. Xiaoyu followed suit while evading the hands coming out from everywhere. Thankfully, Lulu was unharmed, and the hands stopped chasing them into the doorway.
Meanwhile, the Maiden sensed her arms ceasing to attack at them and immediately realizes that a somewhat more powerful energy in the basement is keeping them from attacking the trio. Sending one of her bunrei to check, she discovers the primary source of the energy: Lulu
It is too powerful for me to handle. If I harm this little girl, then the whole area will turn to ruins. Well played.
At the fortune telling room, cracks begin to surface within, and Yayoi gets a glimpse of Polka's ability.
If I could just touch her, then at least I could have her pass on
The Maiden was just staring right at Polka, completely unfazed. As an S-Ranked ghost herself, she can easily withstand the effects of Sanctuary.
Yayoi was still analyzing the spell within the room.
So that is his base curse. Enveloping an area for him to freely create any phenomena of his. It's very practical and effective for situations like this. However…
The moment the skeletal arm tries to reach out to the Maiden, a number of hands appear and touch it. As they let go of the arm, it creates a clean cut out of it, completely separating the arm from the rest of the body.
She then conjures their hands one more time, completely pulverizing the arm in the process. All of the arm's energy were being absorbed by the Maiden, amplifying her power.
What the hell? Where do the arms come from? Wait, is this the lady's spell? I just dismissed it as a lingering ghost so I would've been able to completely pass it over, but I was wrong. I never knew she would be capable of that skill
This took Polka by surprise. He never thought that a power of this caliber would be able to sever that skeletal arms of his.
That skill of yours would've been more powerful at a wider range. Thankfully, that was not the case. It lacked any offensive capability so it would be easy for the Maiden to repel anything that is conjured in that area.
Nearly satisfied with the results, Yayoi stood up and pointed at Polka with her divinity-powered thimble
"Please keep your hands away from that lady of yours that you told me. She's my comrade, and if you want to pass her on you going to have to go through me."
"So you can see spirits too?" Polka curiously asks as he uncloaks himself, revealing his Evil Eye in front of her.