Yamiyo no Hotaru

Chapter 59

The boy never forgot that day. How could he forget? No, he could never forget.

　It was the day that his unforgettable sin was engraved in his heart.

　"Heyy!! Where are they!?"

　"D*mn it! The search curse's no good! There are decoys everywhere!

　"They're well-prepared! What cunning brats...!"

　"How ungrateful is that brat... after lying so brazenly before!"

　The house was in an uproar. No wonder, since the eldest daughter of the family disappeared without a trace along with her caretaker.

　No, if that were all, they would not have made such a fuss. There are countless shikigami inside and outside the residence, and not only the miscellaneous people, but also the hidden group people and the servants can be mobilized to pursue them. Using the techniques of these Kizuki exorcists, it would be easy to restrain them.

　The problem was that the whereabouts of the two who had disappeared were unknown.

　It was an unusual situation. It would be impossible for them to hide from the watchful eyes of the shikigami in order to escape from the residence, and with the search curse, it would be easy to find out their whereabouts no matter where they fled to.

　In this respect, the two were cunning. Or, more precisely, the miscellaneous labor who bewitched Kizuki's eldest daughter.

　The curse of searching is a technique to locate a person or an object through a catalyst. However, if beforehand the subjects procure clothes and other personal belongings by themselves as a way of breaking off ties, and then smear their own blood and bodily fluids on the personal belongings they have used as decoys, they can to a certain extent deceive the searching curses. In fact, the only things found in the places searched by the curse of searching from one end to the other are their personal belongings covered with blood. There was even a case in which a favorite brush or a small object was wetted with blood and strapped to the body of a caught rat or bird as a decoy.

　And the most crucial way of escaping from the residence was through a hidden passageway.

　The existence itself is not strange, although they have no idea where and when they found it. In a mansion of exorcists with a long history, there are many hidden rooms and warehouses for concealing spells and other items in case of emergencies. Some of them have been forgotten even by the inhabitants of the house over its long history.

　To top it all off, they bribed a child who lived in the house with sweets to receive the blessing of good fortune... The result of all the careful, deliberate, and possible efforts was the current commotion in the house.

　Now, the boy was honestly amazed and marveled at the situation. The boy understood the intelligence of the miscellaneous labor whom he loved like a big brother, but he also understood the fear of the adults. Therefore, he was surprised and respected that such grown-ups were being stirred up so much.

　And at the same time, it was painful. The Kizuki family was not an easy place to live for a boy who was a child of a concubine of a branch family, and whose father was one of the worst offenders in the family. And after that incident... the boy never knew when he might be killed.

　"I hope he's okay...."

　The boy owes them both a debt of gratitude. After all, they loved him and played with him, even though he was shunned by his family and treated as an outsider. They were his friends, his brothers, and sisters, and his family. He longed for them. Even after the incident that his father had caused, neither of them ever distanced themselves from him or shunned him. On the contrary, that man who was like a brother to him comforted him. He can't tell how happy he was to hear that.