Lycoris Cafe.
Mizuki Nakahara held a landline receiver between her shoulder and ear, a freshly printed report in her hands:
"Word came in from Ito City in Shizuoka Prefecture. There's been an anomalous abyss descent duration. The trouble involves a shrine faction with close ties to the Onmyoryo."
"Apparently, even one of the Twelve Divine Generals has gone missing, so the matter was reported to us."
Near Akihabara, Luo Shu's eyelid twitched as he took the call at the Secret Management Department:
"It sounds like quite a big deal, but what does it have to do with me? Why are you reporting it to me?"
Hearing that, Mizuki Nakahara said with exceptional composure:
"Because the department head is already boarding a plane to Hong Kong. She told me to contact you directly to handle it."
"Oh, before she left, she also said something like, 'You're the real number one in Japan, and she'll be taking orders from you from now on.' Have you two had an argument recently?"
"..."
That left Luo Shu utterly speechless. What on earth was all this?
"One of the Onmyoryo's Divine Generals is missing. Is it all right for us to intervene?"
At Luo Shu's question, Mizuki Nakahara said directly over the phone:
"The Metropolitan Police Department requested our assistance. They seem to want a share of the spoils from this anomalous, prolonged abyss descent incident, and they plan to use our name to intervene. After all, SDS has the privilege of intervening in any Abyss incident in Japan."
"Of course, Department Head Tachibana also intends to use the Metropolitan Police Department's name to encroach on the Onmyoryo's 'turf.' We can pass the buck to each other, after all."
Simply put, the Onmyoryo had discovered a gold vein beneath its own property, and the Metropolitan