B1GBUTAD0RABLE.BL0GSPOT.C0M

Frankly, I almost want to postpone my appointment with the police officials over my eyewitness account of the molestation. I want to go home and mend my broken heart. However, the police officer let me go after a brief conversation. It seems that the person I am going to meet later had given her a call.

"Can't be helped. It's the general manager herself who told me in person. I'll call you later when I need you."

She smiles. Behind her, I catch a glimpse of the molester. His head is down, staring at the floor. Eyes darken. I guess he stops acting when the officer takes her eyes off him. He has a very disturbing look in his eyes. It is hard to believe that not long ago, he was so calm and looking remorseful.

"Thank you for your consideration...miniskirt police—"

The officer's smile twitches.

She says, "...Ah, you're welcome. We look forward to hearing from you again."

I respond once more followed by a quick mumble of a mantra. Just then, the molester's body stiffens reacting to the mantra. For a moment, I can see his eyeballs turns inside out, revealing only the whites.

"Pardon?"

I guess the officer doesn't hear me well. She asks back, but when I apologize, she nods with a vague smile. Seems like she thinks that I just said something vulgar again.

What I just silently cast is not much of a curse. Maybe more like a suggestion. I made it so that if ever the molester has thought of retaliation against the victim girl, his vengeance will be converted into fear of me. I usually try not to use it, but this time is special. Because of my delay in helping her, the victim girl was forced to accuse the molester by herself. It would be dangerous if later the pervy molester discover the girl's name.

I smirk at the molester to try the mantra out. It succeeds. The molester suddenly kicks over a chair in the interrogation room and tries to run away after seeing me.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

I leave the police station with the molester being subdued by the officer and eventually arrive at the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters not even ten minutes later than I should have.

At the reception desk, I am being suspected. It's clear why. So as usual, I take out a pile of ID cards I had prepared just in case and wait quietly. The receptionist is about to call security when a man is seen rushing up to us in a panic. He is not surprised by my abnormal behavior and quickly catches up on the situation. He then apologizes in a very polite manner before leading me to the back.

I am told to wait in the meeting room. There, as my mouth continues to chant vulgar words without context, I wonder if I should go to the restroom first. Unfortunately, just a few short seconds later, a woman wearing glasses steps in. She has gray hair, but her face looks young. She is Yashiro, chief of the General Affairs Division of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department―the person who called me here.

"We had planned to have chief investigator attend this meeting, but unfortunately he couldn't make it, so I apologize in his stead."

Yashiro apologizes as soon as she enters the room. Her words and actions are completely lean. She seems busy. She doesn't seem to be in the mood to let me pee for a second.

"I'm sorry I'm late."

The man who had shown me the way here has come back with a cup of tea. His armpits clutch a document that read, "On the Establishment of Black Magic-Related Crime Unit of the Criminal Investigation Division of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department."

Yashiro sits down and exhales heavily.

"Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come here today. As I told you in writing the other day, I would like to ask Kozu-sensei to become the Metropolitan Police Department's advisor."

Since time immemorial, magic has had a tremendous influence on mankind throughout the world. In some periods, it was even the cornerstone of politics. In the modern age of science, however, its influence has waned. It has been reduced to a mere shadow of its former self in religious ceremonies, weddings, and funerals. If there are those who believes in the efficacy of curses, they are limited to fanatics and a few well-heeled individuals.

But the situation has changed drastically now. In recent years, the existence of magic has been proven. Various experiments and statistical methods around the world have shown that the power of curses does indeed exist. In Japan, a well-known example is a large-scale comparative study on the effects of jichinsai.

Thus, magic is freed from occultism and brought into the light of science, and academic institutions around the world have started to do deeper research on it.

But that is only in the front world. In the underworld, the fact that magic actually works has been widely accepted for quite some time.

Yakuza, who live in a ruthless world, tend to favor wishful thinking and jinxes, and have always had a high affinity for magic. And even more so when it comes to actually being able to kill people. With astonishing persistence, they embrace monks, shugenjas, onmyojis, shrine maidens, itakos, and other practitioners of all kinds of sects to explore the art of magic.

In their world, they sometimes ignore common ethics and social norms. Even brutal procedures that sane people would never attempt are made possible. They foolishly repeated trial and error until they come up with new enhanced efficacy spells by modifying existing curses or combining elements of multiple curses. And so, these powerful emerging spells become quite numerous and are used for crimes, including murder.

Nowadays, it is said that yakuza also buy and sell spells just as they sell drugs to the general public. Magic is now become a major source of income for them, in addition to drvgs, fravd, gambl*ng, and prostitvtion.

Nevertheless, the public still treats magic as superstition, to the point of laughing at the police who are now also starting to bring this ridiculous field into their investigations. To hell with the news of the discovery of a corpse whose head is adorned by a curse spell, or a corpse with a black mandala on its chest, or a bizarre crime scene where even the smell of blood is obscured by burned incense.

"There's no way they're cursed to death," so they said.

In the field of magic, the upperworld is far behind the underworld.

The efforts of concerned intellectuals and the use of modern scientific approaches to magic were bearing fruit, and magic was finally being recognized by the public as a realistic threat, just like guns and drugs. The existence of crimes using magic was recognized, and a systematic investigation based on knowledge of magic was about to begin.

"Thus, a unit specialized in magic-related crimes is established, ahead of many countries in the world. And we call it Black Magic-Related Crime Unit of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department."

The term Black Magic refers to killing someone with a magical curse.

"We would like to cover all crimes related to black magic, but since this is a trial operation, we will first limit ourselves to murder cases and their equivalents."

Hence, the jurisdiction is assigned to the Criminal Investigation Division.

"We would like Kozu-sensei to be their advisor. Then I would ask other divisions to consult with this division too if they ever encounter black magic-related matters. We have also provided you with a special police rôle. You will not have arrest authority or any other powers, but you will have access to the internal police files."

After that, I am made to sign several documents and given an ID card.

"...Onani member division―excuse me."

Another obscenity leaks out as I return the documents.

I hurriedly cover my mouth in a panic. Yashiro, who until now never budge from my obscenities and elegantly keeps today's matter running smoothly, for the first time hesitantly drops her eyes and smiles wryly.

"I was going to pick you up at your home today, but since you said you would drive yourself, I decided not to. There seemed to be a lapse in our communication so...I'm really sorry for that."

"Oh, is that so?!"

What a surprise. I had to endure so much humiliation during the train ride.

"Please be assured that our staff will visit your home in person from now on unless there is a particular reason for not doing so. I am sure one of our people will visit you soon regarding the case we are currently investigating."

Next time, I would very much like to see their thorough cooperation. It takes a lot of effort to explain my situation to those who have no prior knowledge of me.

"Also, Kozu-sensei may refuse our request at any time. Please give priority to your work as the Kozu family. Thank you very much for accepting our offer."

Yashiro bows, so do I―but with a very uncomfortable posture because I am forced to hold back the urge to pee.

"Atsuko-sama told me about your situation long ago."

Atsuko is the name of my great-aunt. That makes sense. No wonder she is so low profile. I haven't heard the detail, but it seems that my great-aunt owes this woman a big favor.

"Once again I apologize, Kozu-sensei. The reason I asked you to come all the way here today is because we have some urgent matters to discuss with you."

"Oh, yes. I've heard about that."

The Metropolitan Police Department has a large number of belongings and confiscated items that seem to be related to magic. However, since there is no one with knowledge of the said field and is unable to classify them, they are left in the basement in a haphazard state.

"Something like...urinary bougie―excuse me. Putting those items carelessly can make the place defiled and extremely dangerous to touch directly. Some of them are golden water...I'm sorry..."

I manage to say that much, interrupted by obscenities of course. I can't examine everything in detail in just one day, so Yashiro asks me to take back anything notably dangerous and put a barrier here.

"I'll...piss drinking play...do it."

But Yashiro shows me that troubled smile again.

"Um, Kozu-sensei, before that, if you don't mind, you can use the bathroom first..."

This curse, not only makes me blurt out the most embarrassing vocabularies that I loathe the most, it also can transmit my physiological needs in words.

"Oh, thank you, I'll use it."

...Damn, if there's a hole, I want to shove myself in it.



NOTE:

地鎮祭 (Jichinsai: ground-breaking ceremony)
イタコ (Itako, also known as ichiko or ogamisama, are blind women who train to become spiritual mediums)
修験者 (Shugenja > practitioners of Shugendō religion/ascetic practitioners)
陰陽師 (Onmyōji: yin-yang master/Onmyōdō practitioner)
厭魅 (killing someone with a magical curse) Tbh, I don't know the equivalent word for this in English so I just call it black magic in Black Magic-Related Crime Unit. CMIIW




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