Reinousha Minato: Volume 01 Chapter 01

Prologue

There is a confinement area in the centre of the city for hito-shirazu[1].
There wasn’t a clear record if the people in town was forbidden to enter the area. However,
the people has been faithfully continued to protect it.
The forest of hito-shirazu was about 100 sq. meter in area with 10s meter length park-like place, the trees were tall, and within the forest there were a lot of trees branches flourishing, which appears more like of a small forest than a bush. This view couldn’t be known unless one has step into the location itself.
At the centre of which, is a sacred tree called death, although none of the locals has ever seen it before. There hasn’t even anyone who dares to walk within 50 meters of its proximity. That is the place where hito-shirazu lives.
“Hmm, it really is located in the middle of the city”
The one who said that is a group of young men in their twenty. It was around midnight, and there was not a hint of shadow from other human in the vicinity.
“Doesn’t it resembles Yahata no Yobashirazu[2] in Chiba Perfecture? The Spirited-away legend is also similar”

“Spirited away, is it? I guess it’s only a myth to keep people off the ground”
Several male student stood before the confinement area while taking pictures with their camera with a mocking laughter.
“Then, from this point onward, let’s start the field research of Meisan University Occult Study Group”
They didn’t realize in their noise, but there was no other sound in the vicinity. It might be a small town, but in the centre of the town, it was quite common to hear one or two sounds of car engine or something else, yet there was none. Even the sound of insects was hushed.
“We’re going in from this side”
There was a gate surrounded by a tight row of racks. The youngsters climbed the racks and delved across the chain while laughing.
Once they got inside, the atmosphere completely changed. The trees were tall, and the atmosphere surrounding them seemed to oppress them. The starry sky was not visible as their visions were obstructed by the dense branches.
Since there was no light getting through, the darkness of the night was felt deeper. Were it not for the flashlight, they wouldn’t even know which direction to go.

“As expected, the atmosphere is different”
Despite being swallowed by the atmosphere; they went further in and were enjoying the strolls. After walking for some 20 meters, they found something strange. It was a piece of combined giant trees.
“Isn’t this amazing?”
2 big curved trees, stood at 7-8 meters had been entwined with each other like a snake. It was arched in a manner that made them look like a giant gate.
“I wonder how they make this. It’s not like this is a different cold country, it’s unnatural for it to grow this way”
The tree trunks were extending against the gravity. It was not normal to for them to be bent at near ninety degrees.
“Isn’t it done by changing the direction to fit this shape? Just like a bonsai. It’ll take few decades to do this”
“I see. Some shrine pines have pretty weird shape too. They were growing for hundreds of years, so it may seem natural in some sense”
“But, this one makes a great picture. Look at this. I posted in the blog, I wonder how will the response be”
One of the youngsters enthusiastically raised his small liquid crystal panel camera, and walk closer to the front of the giant tree.

“Despite being a confined area, the shimenawa[3] is still brand new. Well, I guess this is a scam”
There was a shimenawa at the height of the waist stretched between the 2 gigantic trees. As he said, the shimenawa attached on the trees did not look worn out at all, it was unnaturally looked new. The shide[4] attached along the shimenawa also seemed to be untouched by the weather. On the surface of the shimenawa, there were both characters and symbols drawn closely together, in an orderly manner.
“Ah, then, this is the border of the living world and the world of the dead. Those people who were spirited away had gone pass through this tree-gate”
“There’s such meaning to shimenawa? I thought it is just a decoration”
"You guys, what are you doing here!”
Suddenly, there was a voice shouting from their back.
When they looked back, there was a teenage girl. It was as if a flower has emerged, wrapped with a bright red and white clothes in the midst of the night. Her long hair hung down at the front and was flutteringly blown by the wind. Despite the childlike appearance of her face, the crease on her eyebrows definitely showed her anger.
“You must not touch that!”

However, the youngsters disregarded the fact that she was angry. After all, a beautiful girl
appeared in the middle of nowhere at such wee hour, they were excited to meet the mysterious girl, which caused them to raise the volume of their noise.
“Dude, it’s a real Miko-san[5]. Are you perharps, someone from here?”
“You’re really cute. How old are you? What’s your name?”
They gathered around the girl in no time, they surrounded her body from all direction unreservedly.
“I’m Yamagami Saya. This is a confined area. This is not a place where you should wander around indiscriminately. Please go away before you awaken the one who slumbered in this land” Even after the girl named Yamagami Saya pointed out the way out, they didn’t seem to hint any action towards that direction.
“Out of the blue? Hahahaha, what the heck”
“You’re here too, aren’t you?”
“Hey, miko-san, are you a professional? Don’t you feel cold dressed like that? Or perhaps, you were intending to go to have your business in the water? Then, shall we go together now?” Saya gritted the back of her teeth after listening the youngsters poked fun at her with unfamiliar words for her.
“Hey, what’s that?”
One of the youngster noticed a long rod which hangs at Saya’s back. It was a bow with a length of more than one meter. When Saya took the bow by her hand, it was firm, as if its core was made out of cold steel.

“Don’t you know about Azusayumi[6]? This bow is used for quelling wild spirit”
“How do you use it when you don’t have any arrow? Isn’t it totally opposite with the holy arrow?”
“Azusayumi has no arrow. And the string looks like a guitar’s string”
The more knowledgeable young man explain to his friends.
Right at that time, Saya seemed to notice something and directed her line of sight to the big
tree where the realm of the dead bordered, behind the group of young men. She stiffened, before mustering a force to the hand which was wielding the bow.
“Hey, hey, miko-san, aren’t this place famous for spirited away legend? Can you do a little trial for us?”
One person started to run toward the shimenawa. Everyone had guessed what he was trying to do.
This time, the youngsters were having so much fun fooling around. Saya ran hurriedly toward the young man to stop him, but she hardly could close the distance between them.
“oops”

The guy who ran hooked his leg in attempt to leap over the rope, he was staggering before safely landing his foot on the other side. His friends sighed in relief when he managed to do it.
“My bad, I tore it up. Ah, how if we bring this back as a souvenir, how about this shimenawa? We can add this to our clubroom’s collection. Since it’s torn anyway, it will be more useful if we take it away right”
While delivering such theory, he was trying to pull the shimenawa attached to the other tree by brute force. Saya hurriedly came to stop him.
“Please stop!”
Saya seized the rope, while trying to tie the other end of the rope to the tree.
“Won’t you give us that, for our collection?”
Everyone laughed, except Saya. Saya was stunned and pale, she immediately shouted to the laughing youngsters after she saw that the shimenawa was torn.
“Quickly, quick, flee from here!... Qu-“
Her cry was interrupted. The characters on the surface of the shimenawa began to move like a dynamic creatures to Saya’s hand which has been holding the shimenawa.

The character danced like small insects as the shimenawa stuck to part of Saya’s skin. The shimenawa, which was supposedly new, was crumbling soon after. It was as if she was watching a fast-forwarded video.
“How can this happen---“
Saya slumped down. A vertical light emerged from the centre of the two giant trees. The light spread gradually to the surrounding. As if an invisible gate is going to open.
“Ah, aaa----“
Everyone was speechless before the phenomenon. There was another dimension emerging in the midst of the giant trees. Behind it, something was wriggling, though they were not able to open their eyes since the light which cut out the night was too intense for them.
Despite the dazzling light, the foul odour instantly spread out, choking everyone present with nausea.
“Tsk”
In Saya’s hand, a black arrow which wasn’t existed till just now emerged. She pulled her Azusayumi with the black arrow in it, and aim towards the torrent of light.
She has an unexpected amount of force despite her small body and slender arms, pulling the bow to its limit.

The light grew stronger. The foul stench worsen, and they couldn’t hold their breath forever.
The Meisan University Occult Study Group members who were about to be swallowed up in the vortex of light screamed.
Saya released her arrows in the centre of the light in a straight line.

Part 1

Several siren rang in the morning at Okura City.
Police cars and ambulance gathered around the centre of the town where hito-shirazu lives. Many onlookers were observing it fearfully from afar.
“Here. We can still make it in time”
The ambulance crew came running while carrying someone on a stretcher. From which an arm fell loosely hanging to the ground with hints of dripping blood. Outside of the yellow-coloured off-limit tape, the policemen were shouting that nobody could enter the area.
The onlookers were standing at the side of the road where the asphalt was gouged out. From the hole, the ground was broken and water was gushing out from a ruptured water pipe at the particular spot.

It was overturning the cars, crushing the trucks, tearing the guardrail and causing the canal to collapse, it was destroying the city as if it was an explosion. The very same scene was also appeared in the television cameras from the reporters.
“It’s the scene of accident that occurred in Okura City this morning. As you can see, the confusion can be seen clearly, as the authority couldn’t confirm the safety in the area. Neither the police nor the fireman is able to identify the cause of the 100 meters road failure, whether it was due to tornado, terrorism, they even mentioned some random speculation like land subsidence, the residences around the periphery…”
At the reporter and camera blind spot, a strange group was heading to the place of hito-shirazu in Fuji. There were 3 women in the centre, wearing a miko outfit. While a crowd of men walk surrounding them, as if protecting them, was wearing a pale blue-green-coloured clothes, only the chief priest has the right to wear a green coloured robe.
When the stiff looking mikos reached the place of hito-shirazu, the police officer who stood by the doorway confronted them.
“This is an off limit area. Please turn away”

Despite encountering the strange group, he did not forget his own duties. However, when the miko in the centre issued a document, the police officer immediately changed his attitude.
“We are dispatched from the central shrine to help, my name is Mizutani Risako. We have obtained permission”
“I-I’m sorry. Please proceed”
The woman named Mizutani Risako nodded lightly to the police officer and slipped through his side. She couldn’t fully conceal her impatience which was clearly visible to the police man.
“As I thought…”
Risako got on to the front of the giant tree where the border of the living lies, she muttered so in a hoarse voice.
Not only the road outside, the ground inside hito-shirazu quarter was also torn apart in a straight line through their warehouse up to the centre of the giant trees. However, it stopped right in front of the giant trees. Rather than the giant tree itself, the collapse of the ground might be caused by an unknown force.
There were quite a number of bloodstains on the ground surrounding the trees, and hence, some police officers had to do site inspection. There were white lines traces scattered on the ground. However, most of them only consisted of the upper body part of a human.
“Kuchinashi-sama, we’ve found the details about the victims”
One of the priest who had listened about the situation from police officers were reporting to Risako.

“There are victims beside the dispatched priests”
“Do you mean that outsiders had slipped in?”
“Yes. We found their student cards. They seem to be in an amateur occult study group from university”
“…. I see”
Risako who belongs to the Shinto sect was given the name of ‘Kuchinashi-sama[7]’, despite her youth, she brought a title which is considered as a high-level in the world. Thanks to a number of Specter-related incident that she must solve in the past, she had gotten used to seeing grotesque scene since she was young.
Some of the Specters were adorable as if it had come out of fairy tale, yet there were some others which were extremely cruel, like a mutilated corpse of human. There were cases where she had to face invisible being, or even cases where she was being possessed by spirit.
Brutality and mystery were her bread and butter. Yet, this incident still considered a large scale, even for her who is supposed to be used to such event.
However, she couldn’t seem to act calmly as per usual.
“So, have you managed to find all of their corpse?”
The last words of her sentences were slightly voiced out with a lower volume.

“No, Yamagami Saya’s body is not found”
“I see”
On the outside, Risako appeared to be calm as usual, but when she stood between the 2 giant sacred trees, her face immediately stiffened.
“What about this?”
She found some rotten pieces of things which fell on the ground, Risako expression was darkened.
“The wreckage of shimenawa.. As I thought, the seal has been released”
However, the shimenawa which she held felt strange. She couldn’t make it out by words, but there was something missing from it. When Risako was trying to remember it, the bushes beside her was bustling.
Risako eyes quickly turned to that direction, before widened up in surprise. The next moment, Risako ran to the centre of the bushes without giving a second glance.
“Saya!”
From the back of the hito-shirazu, there was a figure of a wounded girl who miraculously still able to stand on her own. When Risako closed in to the place where she stood, the girl’s body fell down in her arm due to exhaustion.
“Saya, be strong Saya”

Saya muttered something and opened her eyes faintly, it was not loud enough to be heard clearly. Saya immediately lose her consciousness soon after she entrusted her body to Risako.
Risako showed a relieved expression when she heard breathing sound and heartbeats from the body she was holding in her ams. However, when she saw Saya’s arm, which was hanging loosely over the shoulder, her expression changed completely.
“This is…”
Looking at Saya’s arm, Risako felt an uncomfortable feeling that was missing out from the shimenawa’s wreckage.
The shimenawa which was used for sealing, supposed to have Iruka-type of jindaimoji[8] written on its surface.
Iruka has twelve vowels, which pronounciation method is not known. Looking at its pattern, it has less characters than of modern linguistic. Even within the mystical Jindaimoji which said to have particular power, Iruka posseses a greater power, which has been used as a secret characters for curses and seals.
However, the character had disappeared from the wreckage of the shimenawa.
Instead, the creepy Iruka characters was written on Saya’s pale right arm.

Part 2

The influence of Shinto has gone a long way.
The details are unknown, but one of the oldest documents ‘Iki’ is stored in Shinto Branch at Fuji, is recorded from the era of Asuka. They were collected around Heian era, more than a thousand years from the date they were written.
The name was ordered alphabetically[9] in subset ‘Roki’, ‘Haki, ‘Niki’, from the original order ‘I-Ro-Ha-Ni-Ho-He-To’.
The language of iroha was based on a song which was produced with the basic of Buddhism’s impermanence, there was no other language could be deemed more worthy to tell the history of Shinto. However, despite the help of Shintoism, there was phrases which intersects with Buddhism’s core values.
Their mission is to subdue the Specter.
Those who make enmity with people, or harming people, will be sealed or destroyed.
The author of the song of Iroha itself is unknown, although there was a hypothesis that one particular monk’s initial like Koubou Daishi Kuukai might be the author. Although it was consistent with the timing of ‘Iki’ which has been concluded, the Kuukai theory was mostly nulled, as the song of Iroha is said to be created in a later time.

Even so, the existence of ‘Iki’ or ‘Roki’ are intriguing. They were originated from an intriguing history as well.
In any case, as the aid of Shintoism never appeared in the spotlight of history, the authority could not use them to verify the history either. They were just exist in order to subdue the Specters.
Therefore, sometimes, they make a seemingly ruthless decision.
“We can only offer Saya’s life”
The solemn-sounding voice was heard from one of the corner of the room. It was a voice of one from a dozen men who hid their faces behin a white head robe.
The sight of the white hoods in the dimly lit rooms appear to float absent-mindedly.
Risako who was sitting down in the middle of the room, was forcing herself to speak in an emotionless voice.
“I can return the exact words to you, Kaonashi-sama[10]. The spectre was unsealed is not to be blamed to Saya. It was due to the mindless people who tried to cross over the border of death. Such punishment is too harsh”
As the Kuchinashi[11], Risako’s mouth was hidden , hence, her voice was a little muffled.
“Don’t take me wrongly. It is not a punishment. We have no other choice. Our opponent is not a mere lowly figure, but a spectre who once worshipped as a god. It is hard to seal him as is even with our full force”

“It was written in the ‘Ruki’ of the song that he is a jealous one. He was turned into a spectre soon after he fell from his shrine. We cannot hold a candle against him with our current state. Not against something who can absorbed the power of 100 people”
“That seal which was created by the power of hundreds, was passed on to Yamagami Saya. The character of Jindaimoji, the 2047 characters of Iruka is embedded in the right arm of the miko”
“I understood. However, Yamagami Saya is a valuable resource which can stand against a god”
“Who coincidentally is your niece. She is your sister’s keepsake after all. Do you mix your feeling in asserting this decision?”
“That…”
Risako couldn’t utter a word.
“Give up. It’s our mission. The seal has been transferred to Saya, it’s a blessing in disguise. Albeit being a cruel reality to you.
He didn’t say a ruthless thing. It was unavoidable. Risako herself knows that very well. The previous generation also couldn’t hold a candle against him even with their full force, the spectre was only sealed after paying many sacrifices as the pricely expense. For the sake of their relatives, several people made human sacrifice, and it was banned to make such a new seal.

“We must return the spectre to the realm of the death”
“It’s unforgiable for a spectre to be present in this world”
The group of men who were called ‘Kaonashi’ stood up at once.
“This is the end of discussion”
Risako waited the Kaonashis to depart while bitting her lip.
When their footsteps ceased, Risako raised her head fearfully.
“There’s still me”
One of the kaonashi spoke out. Risako was surprised as there were no sign of his presence, and return to prostration in a hurry.
“Ye-Yes”
“Raise your head”
She rose her face, in the dimly lighted room, she caught the reflection Saya’s appearance.
“There’s no denying that Saya has been blessed with an unexpected prize. She has 5 to 6 days. Sadly to say, it should be enough time for you to say goodbye”
After saying the words of symphaty, he resigned.
Just like that, the last presence disappeard as well.
“Kuchinashi-sama”
After the both of them were left alone, Saya kept her bowing[12] posture and began to talk.
“I’m terribly sorry for this incident. I have prepared myself, please use my body…”
“Saya, look at me”
Saya raised her face, and stared at Risako for sometime, before hesitatingly smiled lightly at her.
“Risa ane-sama”
It was the first time in five years that she was called by her own name. Saya’s preparedness was visible involuntarily.
When Saya became a miko at 11 years old, even if they were close relative, a strict hierarchical relationship was adopted. As Saya was a priest, she was not allowed to call Risako, who is a higher up, with her real name, she must call her Kuchinashi-sama. Regardless of the situation, Saya always seriously obey this teaching.
“Risa ane-sama…….. I’m sorry”

Despite showing such courage, Saya spilled tears down her cheek.
In Risako’s mind, the memories of a young girl in her beautiful sister’s arms laughing innocently came up, she was a precious keepsake from her sister. When her sister died, she hugged the little Saya, and vowed to protect her.
“Don’t give up, Saya. There’s still…”
There should be a way to survive, she cut short her sentence.
She didn’t think of it. Giving Saya irrational hope in the midst of her resolution was cruel.
The only path of Shinto that could give a conclusion to this case. Spiritual power, ethereal, supernatural powers, she couldn’t even save Saya with her own power.
Then, there was no other choice but to ask of help from someone who didn’t meet all those criteria.
Even though she supposed to deny the path which he treads.
Risako has an idea of the only man who can do that.
That person’s name is Kujou Minato.

Part 3

(coming soon)

Translator's Notes

[1] Hito-shirazu: literally, the people who knows. In the context of this novel, it means the people who knows about the existence of the specters.
[2] Yahata no Yabushirazu: a forest in Chiba Prefecture which is famous for Spirited-away legend, it's a confined area (just like in the story)
[3] Shimenawa: the rope that usually tightened around a sacred area (Shintoism)
[4] Shide or Kamishide: zigzag-shaped paper streamer often used to adorn Shinto-related objects
[5] Miko: Shinto’s shrine maiden
[6] Azusayumi: Catalpa bow
[7] Kuchinashi is gardenia
[8] Jindaimoji: the small character written on the rope, it’s written in ancient Japanese characters
[9] Japanese’s furigana
[10] Kaonashi-samaà literally: faceless lord
[11] Kuchinashi à literally: mouthless
[12] Bowing: in a manner like dogeza