I had been skipping the Seventh Elder's classes for several days.
It hadn't gone so smoothly at first. I owed it all to a new use I had discovered for my shadows-blocking prying eyes.
As long as I draped a shadow over myself, he couldn't detect me even if I sat right in front of him.
It was simply fantastic.
But my father-by-default came looking for me again, opening with, "The Elders are very unhappy with you."
"Not going!" I said.
Naoya Zenin had tagged along too. His expression was easy enough to read: he had just come to laugh at my expense.
The moment he heard that, before my father-by-default could even speak, he flew into a rage. "How dare you be so rude to Father! So what if you have the Ten Shadows Technique? Women have to attend Etiquette Class!"
Naobito Zenin stopped him. "Naoya!"
"Oh. Since you like it so much, you can go instead," I said indifferently.
"No! I'm a man, and I'm going to be the Young Master!" Naoya Zenin said as though it were only natural.
With Naoya Zenin stirring things up, the whole exchange ended on a sour note.
The Seventh Elder sent people to pester me over and over. I was so sick of it that everyone rubbed me the wrong way.
So I simply left.
One morning, when the sun was shining beautifully outside, I summoned my two big dogs, gave their heads a satisfying rub, and happily announced, "Let's go for a walk today!"
With such adorable big dogs, not taking them out for walks felt like a disservice to all that boundless energy.
The Divine Dogs' intense excitement reached me through our bond, and I was excited too.
Yes! I finally had a chance to get out!
I draped a shadow over myself and boldly set off with my two dogs toward a world of happiness.
At the gate, the barrier stopped me in my tracks. But my adorable, wonderfully dependable dogs savagely tore a huge hole in it. By the time the alarm sounded, we were already outside.
I was out.
I had actually gotten out.
For a moment, I felt like a bird freed from its cage. Even the air outside seemed fresher than the air in the Zenin Clan's compound.
Once my excitement subsided, I suddenly realized I hadn't thought about what I wanted to do at all.
I felt a little lost.
"Then let's just follow the street!" I decided.
Anything was fine, as long as I didn't have to go back.
As for how the Zenin Clan would react when they realized I was missing, I couldn't care less.
Help. My eyes.
Why were there so many bizarre-looking things out here?
Some were beside trash cans, some were on street signs, and some were in the road, but most clung to people.
Yet the people on the street acted as though they couldn't see them, going about their business without a change in expression.
Were these cursed spirits?
Things that only people with cursed energy could see.
Good grief.
I had assumed cursed spirits would be much like my Divine Dogs, creatures made entirely of cursed energy. Surely they wouldn't look too awful...
I had assumed wrong.
Suddenly, I felt that the Zenin Clan did have its merits.
At least its barrier was sturdy enough to keep these eyesores of cursed spirits outside.
Some of these cursed spirits had bellies covered in sharp fangs. Others were nothing but fleshy balls trailing several huge eyeballs...
Besides their sanity-draining appearances, most came with all kinds of muttering.
"Don't wanna work..."
"Insomnia... sleep... can't sleep..."
"Homework... so... much..."
"..."
I discovered that as soon as I noticed these cursed spirits, they immediately stopped wandering around and started attacking me.
Though my thoughtful dogs pounced on and tore apart most of the small fry before they could even get close.
I was deeply gratified.
Through our mental bond, I could tell my dogs were happy too.
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