Editing Kaze no Stigma:Volume1 Chapter1 (section)

=== Part 1 ===

"What bad taste……" 

That was the first impression he had of this client. Incidentally, this impression did not change in the slightest all the way to the end. A mansion sat arrogantly on the hill, set in a high-class residential area, displaying its design that completely disregarded the harmony of its surroundings. If one were to disregard the mansion thus far, one might have to say it was a rather magnificent view. Climbing up Governor's Hill presented a vast view of the land's rich scenery. When he saw it, he was honestly and completely stunned.
 
''(Did Turkish harems have this feeling?)''

Yagami Kazuma didn't seem to be joking when he thought that. "Don't paint the walls of a Japanese house in such wild colors!" he wanted to preach, while grabbing that person's collar. It was that kind of house. This area could probably be considered the origin of Japan's Westernization movement. The first gaslight was lit here and the very first ice cream in Japan was sold here. One would expect it to be a stylish, refined town with a distinguished history. 

''(Considering that, this is probably something like a breach of contract…)''  <!--Err??-->

He saw a decorated [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Golden Carp|golden carp]] on the roof and let out a sigh. The image that was held dear in Yokohama, had crumbled away completely, with a clattering sound.

When he accepted the job at the agency, he was given not only an address, but also a detailed map that was completely unnecessary. By asking the neighborhood residents, "what's the house with the poorest taste around here?" even a monkey could manage to find his way here.
    
- A structure painful to the eyes —— he didn't wish to call it a house —— that when seen, made Kazuma look up to the sky, begging. The sky was empty and blue.   

"Hey, at least it's work…" he muttered, trying to convince himself. 

However, this was the same Kazuma whose looks probably wouldn't by any means be called appropriate for work. Wearing a black jacket over a checkered shirt with jeans and sneakers, this 22-year-old man seemed, no matter how one looked at him, no different than a student from a nearby university. He was completely blind to his own faults though. As he continued his observations, he noticed something strange. The dark aura that covered the mansion was denser than he was told; because of this, perhaps even an ordinary person with no psychic background could sense the aura that was presently emanating and surrounding the mansion. 

''(Maybe I should just go back…)'' 

Nagged by a horribly bad premonition, Kazuma's thought was partly serious. The dark aura surrounding the mansion was somewhat more unearthly than he had expected, but it wasn't that impossible for him to deal with. For this reason, his premonition was only that of an ill omen.

<!-- Georgi: I don't get this sentence; would it mean that his premonition was not caused by the aura, or perhaps that the premonition was not trustworthy?-->Yet, something else was up. 

Judging from his experiences up until then, it was a credible and important premonition. However, he couldn't throw away this job on basis of that alone. This was his first assignment in Japan; if he broke off the arrangement with a reason like that, there wasn't a shred of doubt that he would never get any jobs from the agency in the future. He made his way toward the mansion with heavy steps and stopped in front of a ridiculously huge gate. As he stood in front of the doorbell, Kazuma was still unsure if he should continue this job. Danger signals bombarded his instincts and he couldn't help wanting to run away. However...

"Yagami-sama, I presume." 

Without any warning, a female voice came from the intercom and completely disrupted Kazuma's thinking. He jumped back with a start and stood on guard as the voice continued.

"You've been expected. Kindly enter through the door on the side."
 
Click. As she spoke, a small door towards the right side of the gate unlocked. Apparently, there was no one to escort him inside.
 
''(Compared with that "you've been expected," that's some rude treatment…)''

He felt uncomfortable, but he was dealing with a customer. He entered through the side door as instructed. Inside the fence was a large number of security cameras and sensors. 

"They must live a very shadowy life..." Kazuma muttered.

Multiple cameras followed him as he walked into the entryway. Irritation started to stir inside him, almost to the point of wanting to kill whoever put him under this rude surveillance. Still somehow, Kazuma managed to repress himself. 

"Eeek……" 

That was what he'd intended, but apparently it showed on his face. The maid who came to greet him became fearful of him as if she had just come across a man-eating bear. Kazuma hurriedly smoothed over his expression. 

"Welcome! Please, come this way." 

Somehow she changed her face of terror, as if she were being picked up and eaten, to an overly bright smile. It didn't seem possible for someone to change their expression so dramatically, forgetting their suspicions instantly, yet the maid smiled as if nothing had happened. As the maid walked ahead to lead him to the living room, Kazuma observed her gratifyingly swaying bottom. 


''(It would have been better if I'd left…)'' 

Kazuma felt deep regret at his choice as soon as he arrived at the living room and saw its insides. A thin, little man lying back with his legs outstretched, introduced himself as Sakamoto Nanigashi, the master of the mansion. Kazuma recognized him as the client, but he wasn't alone. There was also a [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Practitioner|practitioner]] in the room whose face he knew all to well. That practitioner, upon seeing Kazuma, showed fear on his face for a moment but immediately twisted his lips into a sneer and glared at Kazuma with a scornful look. 

"What? The other practitioner was you, Kazuma? You, a disinherited child of the Kannagi, owing to your incompetence, now dare call yourself a practitioner?" 

Those explanatory words were probably for Sakamoto to hear. Practitioner——Kannagi. The youngest child of the branch family, Yuuki Shinji, truly took great pleasure in mocking Kazuma. Sakamoto showed the response that Shinji expected. His expression changed as he approached Kazuma.

"Is this true? Isn't this different from what you said? You said you were a top-class spiritual practitioner, which was why I hired you!" 

Kazuma, calmly taking a step back with each step his client made, forward, answered... 

"I don't know what the person at the agency told you but if you're dissatisfied, perhaps I should leave?" 

"Hmmph, that's right." 

Sakamoto's eyes showed a faintly cunning light. Kazuma's desire to work, which was scarce even at the best of times, quickly neared zero. 

"Mmmm, how about this? Why don't you both try the exorcism and only the successful one gets paid? Ahh, naturally, I won't tell the loser to return the advance payment." 

"Good idea, yeah." 

They were flippant words, but Shinji had immediately accepted them. Then, with the face of someone who was completely made a fool of, he asked Kazuma. 

"And what are you going to do?" 

"I'm out." 

Kazuma gave an immediate reply. In the contemptible stares of the two, not even a muscle of their eyebrows moved. 

"Hmmph, coward! Sucking your finger like a baby! I'll show you a model example of an [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Enjutsu|Enjutsu]]." 

"Model example, eh? Tough talk for the youngest child of the branch family." 

"Y-you!" 

Shinji was enraged from being insulted by the person who he looked down upon. Completely forgetting about being in front of a client, he tightened a fist and lunged forward. He sent a powerful punch directed at Kazuma's face, yet Kazuma easily dodged the punch by stepping aside to his left. Shinji, who had inserted a great deal of force into his punch, lost his balance and fell. At the last moment, he managed to make it look like a feint by attempting to kick Kazuma's temple from his blind spot.

However, Kazuma, as if he had seen it coming, casually bent his head back. The heel of Shinji's left leg passed by a few millimeters in front of his eyes. Kazuma moved like the leaves of a tree swaying in the wind, without hesitation. After dodging Shinji's kick, he immediately swept Shinji's pivoting leg, making him trip and fall down on all fours to the floor. 

"Sh-shit!" 

Shinji barely managed to perform an [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Ukemi|ukemi]] and quickly got back up. Incorrigible, he assumed a fighting posture.  

"You! Do you think you can beat me in [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Taijutsu|Taijutsu]]? You were not even a match for the me from four years ago. There's no way you can be an opponent for me right now." <!-- Changed 'You're not even a match for the me from four years ago' to 'You were not even a match for the me from four years ago' since this makes more sense in the context -->

"Sh-shut up!" 

Kazuma did not show the least bit of triumph. He chided disinterestedly, as if facing a defiant child. Being looked down upon from such a securely elevated position, Shinji's reason made a sound and broke. 

"Stop it right there, you two." 

A restraining voice broke in, turning the two heads towards the speaker. Sakamoto showed great satisfaction at successfully getting both their attention. In a tone as if he was scolding a child, he shouted... 

"I didn't call you here to fight! The furnishings in this room, no matter which one you look at, are all more expensive than what I'm paying you! Any kind of rough behavior would be troublesome, okay?" 

Suddenly, around the vicinity of money talk, there was a scumbag. The person in question was probably attempting to flaunt his assets, but for the ones made to listen, it was nothing but the stink of the ''nouveau riche'' pushed up their noses. 

''(Maybe I'll leave… since I still get the advance payment...)''

With the discomfort continuing to rise with no end in sight, Kazuma's desire to work had already disappeared. He couldn't ignore the agony of simply being there. 

"Mm……?" 

Instantly, without warning, an unearthly presence began to converge...

"It's coming..." 

The unearthly presence spread throughout the mansion and directed its focus to one point in the living room. Kazuma casually moved back so that Sakamoto and Shinji were between himself and this presence.

"What's that? What just…?" 

The unearthly presence solidified into a smoky black figure. Shinji, seconds slower than Kazuma, finally noticed it too.

"Hmmm, so it came out?" 

"Wh-what? What's wrong?" 

Hesitatingly breaking the suddenly tense atmosphere, Sakamoto shouted in a shrill voice. 

Kazuma answered in place of Shinji, who was already beginning to focus his mind for the use of a [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Jutsu|jutsu]]. 

"It's time to work. The 'evil spirit', or whatever you've been struggling with just made its entry." 

While giving this offhand explanation, Kazuma felt a beyond-ordinary sense of unease.
 
''(That's no evil spirit. What kind of thing is it?)''

When Kazuma first accepted this assignment, the person at the agency said "It is just a normal evil-spirit exorcism."
 
—— Hey, your first job should be one of these, right? If you're as good as the rumors say, you should be able to take that evil spirit with one hand or another —— 

A superficial seeming man, but with definite achievements. Their kind of work was, in some sense, even more than practitioners, it was a work where confidence was life. Making a mistake this big was extremely unlikely. It wasn't an easy business, so such an irresponsible agent would not survive. 

''(Was I set up? Well, fine. Should I just observe his skill?)''

Kazuma leaned against the wall, crossed his arms, and looked about as if sightseeing. Shinji focused his mind to prepare himself for the appearance of the "evil spirit." He was apparently planning to burn it the moment it appeared. It was easy to understand that from his expression. Suddenly, the space in front of Shinji turned dark and thick. Shinji faced both his palms towards each other in order to set up a transparent ball in front of his chest. A small fire ignited between those palms. 

''Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooon……'' 

A voice full of resentment shook the air as the evil spirit revealed itself. A distorted face stood before them, projecting hatred across the room. 
<!-- The sentence structure, which is essentially the same as I've translated here, doesn't seem to indicate whether it WAS a face, or whether it a being with a face. The anime chooses to make it a face only. -->

"Eeep!" 

"HAAAA!!" 

Paying no attention to the screaming Sakamoto, Shinji released a devastating flame alongside a sharp yell. The evil spirit would be cleansed on contact with the summoned fire and would disappear without a trace... or so Shinji believed. However...

"Idiot." 

''Gioooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo……'' 

While the evil spirit's cries of agony echoed and Shinji snickered...the flame exploded. 

"Gahhhhhhhhhh!?" 

Shinji screamed as he was wrapped in the flames that he had summoned. In a moment, the entire living room was engulfed in flames.

''Kakakakakakakakakakakakakakakaka''

The entity before them had overcome Shinji's attack and had devoured the flame. The [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Youma|youma]] began to sneer with laughter.