The next day.
Kashimo stood outside the police cordon, one hand in his pocket and the other holding his phone. An unread text sat on the screen. He opened it, and the corner of his eye twitched involuntarily.
"I'm on a mission in Sendai, so I'll leave the site investigation to you, old buddy. You got this!"
There was even a smiling emoticon at the end. Everything about it begged for a punch.
Akari Nitta stood beside him, holding a notebook.
"Only three types of cursed energy residue have been found so far. Nothing else, according to Mr. Ijichi."
Kashimo nodded, shifting his gaze from his phone to the street sealed off by the police cordon.
"Right. Thanks for your hard work." He slipped his phone back into his pocket, stepped over the cordon, and entered the deserted shopping street.
Afternoon sunlight filtered through the gaps between the buildings on either side, cutting bright bands across the ground. There was no sign of any pedestrians, only a few scraps of paper swirling in a corner, caught by the wind.
Kashimo's gaze swept from the signs at one end of the street to the vending machine at the other, then from the machine to the dark second-floor windows. Everything looked normal-too normal for a place where a cursed spirit had appeared.
He frowned.
"Was the Windows' intel wrong?"
His gaze continued upward, settling on a crossbeam connecting the buildings on either side. It was well hidden; unless someone deliberately looked up, they would never notice it.
But Kashimo saw it. Extremely faint traces of cursed energy lingered there, almost entirely dissipated. He knew that energy well-so well he could have recognized it with his eyes closed.
Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
His expression did not change, but the light in his eyes dimmed.