In the training room, the statue’s whirling fists suddenly stopped, followed by the simulation dissolving as if it had never been there in the first place.
Across the facility, more then one agent was already being buzzed on their personal communications devices.
But it was likely the voice on the intercom that reached them first.
“Agents Amano, Kawahara, Mae, Murakami, Otsuka, Tachibana, Yakumo, Yamamizu, and Zhao, please report for briefing immediately.”
The voice was feminine, pleasant, and immediately identifiable as not belonging to a human being. No matter how human she sounded any Agent who had been working for Branch-092 for even a brief period would likely be able to recognize the source of the voice as the branch’s AI, AMATERASU.
Arisa, who had been moments from proceeding to Containment and volunteering for support duty, paused for a moment after she heard the request.
“I see,” she said, simply, before changing course to heading for briefing. Out of all of the on-duty agents, she was pleased she’d been selected for duty. Whatever it was, she was certain she’d succeed no matter what.
It wasn’t just a matter of pride, but because of the alternative as well.
The briefing room was large and plain, with a holographic projection screen on the far side, opposite of the seating area and the individual consoles that were available for Agents. In front of the projector were two figures.
One an older, well-groomed man with stern features and neatly-kept hair and wearing a black suit. The other, a beautiful woman whose flowing white coat and white and yellow hair only served as a stark contrast to the figure beside her.
Both were immediately recognizable.
Director of Field Operations Murata Enji and the projected form of AMATERASU.
“Welcome, Agents,” began Director Murata, “I think you all know why you’re here, so I won’t waste any more time. Amaterasu, if you will.”
The holographic screen hummed to life, showing the ruins of an old traditional mansion. At the same time, the same image appeared on each Agent’s personal screen as well.
Arisa quickly looked it over. There weren’t very many details that could be gleaned just from this image, but at the same time she could at least tell that it had to have been abandoned for a while simply due to the sheer overgrowth and state of decay the mansion had gone through.
It was something of a shame, given how stately the property must have been at one time.
“These are the ruins of a mansion once belonging to one Takemura Genjiro, in the Nagano Prefecture. He passed away with no heirs, and the mansion has since been left to decay,” Murata began, “One a week ago, a young woman who will from here be referred to as Victim A was killed while attempting to obtain ghost photos.”
With a click, the holographic image changed, revealing the body of a young woman dressed in light clothing. A puncture wound had pierced her torso, roughly in the location of her heart.
“This was ruled an accident, with the death seemingly explained by Victim A’s fall onto nearby debris,” continued Murata, “However, on Monday, there were two more victims.”
While the first death had been relatively clean, Arisa couldn’t help but grimace slightly when she saw the bodies of Victims B and C. Both were young men, and they had died quite gruesomely.
Most of Victim B’s head was entirely gone, as if a strong impact had simply blown it away. Only his lower jaw remained.
Victim C had been cut in half, quite cleanly, at the waist, his internal organs spilling onto the ground.
“You’ll note that Victim C appears to have been cut with an edged weapon,” commented Murata.
It wasn’t merely the gruesomeness of their deaths that made Arisa tense, but rather the fact they had died in the first place. None of the victims should have been there, it took an idiot to wander into a place like that when they didn’t have any particular abilities. But at the same time, they shouldn’t have had to die in the first place.
“I shouldn’t have to explain why these deaths are far less easily explained,” Murata continued, “Additionally, our drone observation of the site over the past few days observed unusual levels of spiritual activity, though no specific incidents were detected.”
After allowing the Agents to observe the bodies of the victims for a few moments more, the image returned to the ruined mansion.
“As you can see, there’s reason to suspect that there may be an anomalous entity behind these deaths,” Murata level voice added, “And so that’s where you come in. Agents Kawahara and Otsuka, you’ll be on perimeter duty.”
Agent Kawahara, a young woman with fluffy orange hair, looked immediately disappointed at the idea of being assigned to simply guarding the perimeter. Agent Otsuka, a blue-haired man of similar age, didn’t seem to react beyond a nod.
“Agents Murakami, Amano, and Yamamizu shall enter the property from the front, utilizing a combination of natural resistances and anti-spiritual wards in case of curses,” proceeded Murata, “Agents Yakumo, Tachibana, and Zhao will infiltrate the property from the rear, also utilizing anti-spiritual wards. Agent Mae is to remain on standby to provide medical services and additional combat support. Additionally, you’ve been cleared for the use of A-188 as active combat support. You shall also be supplied with a Portable A-5 Containment Unit.”
Arisa didn’t have any particular issue with this approach. Malakim-class Agents and above were typically given a degree of freedom on how to approach most assignments, and it only made sense to utilize her magical resistance to spiritual interference actively. That, and she was confident that she’d be able to counter any initial threat.
However…
“Do you expect that this Anomaly is of a higher grade then Avon?” she asked. There had to be a good reason to send so many Agents, after all.
“Tentatively, we’ve classed it as Avon,” responded AMATERASU, her smooth and pleasant voice only coming as a mild surprise after Murata’s cold tone, “However, the Director doesn’t want to take any chances, given the violent nature of the killings.”
Arisa certainly didn’t want to let this thing have any more chances, either.
“Assemble and prepare for deployment,” Murata’s voice came once again, “Utilize Agent Yakumo’s ability to reach the site. Dismissed.”
Assembly, preparation and gathering A-188 took some time.
By the point the Agents arrived, the sun had already begun to set.
The mansion’s decrepit state was no surprise, given they’d already seen it before. But for the spiritually-sensitive, the sense of general unease was new.
While Arisa wasn’t among those blessed with high aptitude for spiritual channeling and communication, she was still a magician. It felt like a tingling sensation slowly creeping up her spine, crawling over her skin like fingers.
She didn’t like it at all.
“Tch, this place feels terrible already,” she commented with no small amount of dissatisfaction as she undid the clasps on her case, “Well, there’s no reason to delay any more.”
Her fingers wrapped around it.
Ifrit’s hilt.
The blade drawn from the case couldn’t possibly fit, and it was difficult for an observer to understand just how such an enormous weapon could be wielded by Arisa with one hand.
“Aww, look, they’re going to have all the fun…” came a complaint from Kawahara, the orange-haired girl sighing heavily as she rested a large bronze-colored hammer on her shoulder.
“
Fun?”
Agent Otsuka’s voice carried with it only a small hint of incredulity.
“Wouldn’t you rather be in there, kicking its ass?” asked Kawahara, “It’d be awesome!”
By this point, Arisa was already glaring over her shoulder at the taller Agent. Awesome? While it was certainly a matter of pride for her, she couldn’t comprehend how the other Agent was talking about this like it was some kind of fun game. How did someone like that even make it to Malakim?
“What kind of an idiot are you?!”
It appeared to be a question Kawahara wasn’t unfamiliar with, given she barely reacted.
Otsuka simply sighed, one hand placed on the hilt of the katana sheathed on his left hip.
“We’ll provide backup as needed,” he said, in a level tone.
With one last glare at Kawahara, Arisa simply nodded and stepped forward.
They were on the property’s edge, now.
Whatever happened from here on out, it was all up to them.
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