Chapter 136: "Divine Child"

Seiji was sipping on tea when Natsuya returned to the main hall .

"Did you find out our enemy's name and identity?"

Although Seiji seemed calm on the surface, a pent-up rage was simmering beneath .

Natsuya sat down on a chair . "Yes, I did... it was who I expected . "

"Who you expected?" Seiji raised his eyebrows in surprise .

"I recognized the final spell which attacked you in Shika's soul and thought of a certain person," Natsuya explained while pouring tea for herself . "There's only one person I'm acquainted with who knows how to use that spell—Okubo Yoshiaki . "

She took a long sip of tea after she finished pouring it .

"He's a Yin Yang Master of the Yoshiaki family from my generation . He's one year older than me, to be exact .

"When he was young, he was viewed favorably by everyone in his family . He was known as a 'divine child,' but as he grew older, the 'divine child' didn't mature into a 'genius' as everyone had hoped . Rather, he became more and more ordinary .

"I've only met him three times . The first time was during my childhood . Back then, he was already known as a 'divine child,' and everyone in his family doted on him . He seemed prideful and haughty . Recalling how he was back then, he was basically a child that had been completely spoiled, resulting in too much arrogance . "

"My second meeting with him was... when I was a 5th-grade elementary school student . At that time, he was no longer considered as much of a 'divine child . ' He still was better than his peers, but he was already showing signs of being ordinary . The grim and dark expression on his face left me with a deep impression . "

"The third time I met him was when I was a middle school second-year student, which was two years ago..."

Natsuya took another sip of tea as her eyes flashed with a thoughtful light . She seemed to be thinking about how to describe the meeting .

"At that time, I had a bit of a heated discussion with him... an argument, really . It was a pretty bad argument . In our passion, we asked our elders to be the judges and had a Yin Yang Master duel . "

"In the end, I emerged victorious from the duel . Before the duel, he was supremely confident that he would be the ultimate victor, so... he seemed to receive a huge shock at the outcome . "

"The expression he had back then left me with quite the deep impression . Even now, I can recall it clearly . It was... an expression that couldn't accept reality . It was filled with anger, unwillingness, and... hatred . "

Natsuya paused for a moment .

 "This unplanned duel was later taken as irrefutable evidence that the 'divine child' had become nothing more than ordinary," the president stated calmly . "Another way to put it is that I was the final straw that broke the camel's back—the final blow that knocked away all his past pride . "

"It's only natural... that he would hate you," Seiji said .

"His name was included in the list of my opponent's potential identity . Now, I've confirmed it . "

Silence reigned once more in the hallway .

Seiji finally raised his own cup and took a sip of tea after he finished listening to this story .

"A fallen 'divine child' trying to take revenge and prove himself by declaring a duel against his enemy... what a cliché story . "

"But reality is made from clichés . Clichés are how many incidents begin . "

"But reality is made from clichés . Clichés are how many incidents begin . "

"Now that we finally know who our opponent is, do we have any other information? For instance, just why it was that this guy dared to treat Shika Kagura in such a way?"

This was the biggest suspicion in Seiji's mind .

Recruiting the 'Reaper's Curse' as his Spirit-branded Retainer, using her as a scapegoat, and even going so far as to place a hidden spell in her soul... Didn't this Okubo Yoshiaki fear having spectacular catastrophes befall him?

Natsuya remained silent for a few moments .

"Okubo might believe that he's really strong, to the point where he can resist against any catastrophes, or perhaps he's resolved himself to withstand any catastrophe in order to defeat me... There's also another possibility: that he has a way to control the misfortune brought about by the 'Reaper's Curse...' or to mitigate it . "

"What method is that?" Seiji felt like he was catching on to something .

Natsuya sighed . "That would be to... before a calamity befalls him, he makes one for himself . He either makes his own catastrophe or forces someone else to harm him . "

'Harm...' A flash of inspiration came to Seiji .

In his previous conversation with Chiaki, he inquired whether any disasters had befallen the Drama Club, and the answer he received had been—

"Our 'demon' vice club president has been under so much pressure lately due to the upcoming festival, so her forceful commenting and book-throwing abilities have greatly increased! Every club member, especially the club president, is suffering because of it!"

So, was it truly since Anya Saigenji, the strange person and drama club president who "captured" Shika Kagura was being harmed (trained) at the hands of the vice club president every day that no calamities befell her!?

Seiji was left dumbstruck when he thought of this possibility . 'Wtf, is this really possible!?'

What exactly was "karma," anyway?

What exactly was "karma," anyway?

Even this could help to mitigate a "heaven-sent calamity," it kind of feels like "heaven-sent calamities" aren't really that bad after all!?

Seiji kept up a stream of mental comments .

Natsuya knew what he was thinking about from his expression and couldn't help but smile wryly .

After all, she found it difficult to believe as well .

For the 'Reaper's Curse' to be mitigated in such a fashion... even though it wouldn't be completely mitigated, it still sounded a little ridiculous!

Wasn't the 'Reaper's Curse' supposed to be something more mystical!?

The exact same thoughts ran through her mind when she heard Shika explain the situation to her .

So-called misfortunes or calamities could actually be paid off beforehand like credit card debt... What the hell!!?

The contrast was as stark as the gods in heaven working as the cashiers in the bank next door; in other words, it was truly outlandish!!

Natsuya let out a small cough and cleared her thoughts

"When I heard about this method... from Shika Kagura, I found it unbelievable as well, but according to her, all her previous contractors also used this method to avoid having serious calamities befall them . "

"All her previous contractors?" Seiji asked in surprise .

"Yep, she supports herself financially by hiring herself out as a Spirit-branded Retainer to whoever pays her," Natsuya explained . "She used to live in an orphanage until a Yin Yang Master took her in . "

"This Yin Yang Master had discovered that she was the 'Reaper's Curse . ' Feeling that she was a useful tool, that person took her and trained her into a Spirit-branded Retainer . "

"Yep, she supports herself financially by hiring herself out as a Spirit-branded Retainer to whoever pays her," Natsuya explained . "She used to live in an orphanage until a Yin Yang Master took her in . "

"This Yin Yang Master had discovered that she was the 'Reaper's Curse . ' Feeling that she was a useful tool, that person took her and trained her into a Spirit-branded Retainer . "

"Afterwards, that Yin Yang Master became seriously ill . Believing it to be a calamity sent by her powers, that person exiled her . "

"After some other Yin Yang Masters learned about her nature, they contacted her of their own volitions in order to sign temporary contracts with her to use her powers... to accomplish what they wanted . Then, they would dissolve the contract after paying her the contract fee . "

"This continually happened... so without her realizing it, she became a mercenary Spirit-branded Retainer for hire . "

"The act of hiring a human to become your Spirit-branded Retainer is supposed to be registered with the Yin Yang Master Association or dealt with by a personal manager, but she was completely unaware of the regulations... Even if she knew about it, I suspect that trying to get registered or to find a manager would likely fail as well . "

That was all because she was the 'Reaper's Curse . '

Everyone wanted to take advantage of her, but also hated and feared her .

Shika Kagura had been living like this in calm isolation .

Seiji was rendered speechless upon hearing this .

"As for 'mitigation...' Having some type of harm befall yourself isn't a definite method, but it was rather effective . It was a way to make use of her without having to accept dire consequences . "

"If the 'Reaper's Curse' ability is used properly, it's an incredibly strong tool . As long as the risks are properly controlled, it has its own unique value, which was why various Yin Yang Masters would come and employ her," Natsuya concluded .

Shika Kagura was able to survive until now thanks to people paying her and hiring her .

The 'Reaper's Curse' caused her isolation, but it also maintained her life through this strange method .