As for the two supernatural incidents involving the grotesque tree spirit, Iwanaga Kotoko had not pulled the reports from the Non-Scientific Supernatural Forum.
She had gotten them from two similar sites instead—the Red Moon Tree Supernatural Forum and the Wild Wolf Supernatural Forum.
Those forums were not as official, nor as tightly regulated, but they were not worthless rumor mills either. Behind them stood several respectable supernatural investigation offices. To be more precise, those offices had created the forums themselves as a way to spread their nas, broaden their reach, and attract clients more efficiently.
Since the cases were tied to the sa monster that had once trapped Kasugano Sora, Gin could not help focusing on the details with genuine seriousness.
He read the reports one by one.
The deeper he went, the grimr his expression beca.
The contents were painfully familiar.
The language in the records, the helplessness in the testimony, the slow collapse into fear and despair—it all matched what Sora had once endured with eerie precision.
The pages in his hand seed to grow heavier.
October 13th: They ca out again. The vines. The vines...
October 15th: I want to run, but Dad is still being controlled by those vines. I can't leave him behind...
October 16th: Blank.
October 17th: Blank.
October 18th: I'm hiding in the bedroom. I'm scared to go outside...
October 19th: I saw them eating Mom and Dad. Bit by bit.
October 20th: ...
At the bottom of the form was Kotoko's investigation summary, written in her own hand.
Investigation result: Grotesque tree spirit, suspected branch growth of the sa entity type. Extrely high similarity to the Kasugano Sora incident. Uses distress ssages to lure in outside victims, then hunts and feeds.
Recomnded action 1: Imdiate extermination.
Recomnded action 2: Report to the Agency first, seal off the area, wait for the Director's return, then follow the trail and uncover the source.
Gin's eyes lingered there for a mont.
The fact that the report had ended up on his desk instead of being closed out already told him which option Kotoko had chosen.
She had contained the area.
She had kept civilians away.
But she had not destroyed the grotesque tree spirit branch.
She had waited.
Gin turned to the second form.
The contents were almost the sa.
The thod.
The pattern.
The despair.
Only the nas and locations had changed.
After reading through both, he let the papers fall lightly back onto the desk.
"This ti, it didn't even bother with extra disguises," he said quietly. "It's gotten bolder."
Before, in the case that had ensnared Sora, the thing had at least known how to cloak itself. It had disguised itself as an evil spirit, used a false supernatural identity, and deliberately confused outsiders.
Now it had abandoned that step entirely.
Or perhaps not abandoned it, Gin thought.
Perhaps it no longer had the luxury.
If soone examined the records carefully enough, it was not difficult to infer the truth. The descriptions of the vines, the predatory behavior, the grotesque feeding patterns, the lingering sense of sothing rooted and waiting—it all pointed in the sa direction.
Anyone with decent experience in spiritual investigation would eventually think of the sa na.
Grotesque tree spirit.
Kotoko folded her arms and continued, "According to what I've gathered, if we exclude the two cases currently in our hands, there have already been more than a dozen similar incidents across Tokyo in just the last few days. So of the branch growths were destroyed imdiately by other supernatural investigation offices after discovery. The authorities have also put out a public notice."
Gin looked up.
"That's unusual."
"It is," Kotoko said. "They're urging residents to report any suspicious distress ssages imdiately, and they've explicitly warned people not to investigate on their own."
Gin was silent for a mont.
He understood what that ant.
Normally, the authorities preferred suppression, not disclosure. They would smooth things over, bury the details, control the narrative, and avoid public panic as much as possible. Unless the situation had crossed a dangerous threshold, they would never issue a warning likely to spread fear on a city-wide scale.
Which ant this matter was already serious.
Very serious.
"Kotoko," he said, "start from the beginning. I want all of it."
She nodded.
"In every case we've confird so far, the hunting thod is basically the sa. The victim is controlled and forced to send out a distress ssage to lure in other people. Once that part is done—once the bait has served its purpose—the grotesque tree spirit devours the original victim almost imdiately."
She paused, choosing her words.
"It feels like..."
"Like it's in a hurry," Gin finished. "Or under pressure."
Kotoko t his gaze and nodded.
"Yes."
Gin leaned back slightly in his chair, his eyes darkening with thought.
"As soon as the bait loses its use, it's consud. No delay. No continued control. No extra manipulation." His fingers tapped once against the desk. "That suggests impatience. Or urgency. Which ans the one deploying them may be working toward sothing specific."
Kotoko gave a quiet sound of agreent, then continued.
"The second issue is distribution. Most of the confird grotesque tree spirit branches first appeared in Minato Ward. But beginning yesterday, I started getting reports from Shibuya, Nakano, Shinjuku, and Toshima as well."
Gin lowered his gaze to the forms again.
"It really is like sowing seeds," he murmured. "Spreading outward. Multiplying."
Then he turned one of the reports slightly and added, "And once you scatter them too widely, individual control weakens. Spiritual power thins out. Precision drops."
He looked up.
"So the loss of disguise probably isn't arrogance. It's overextension."
Kotoko nodded at once. "That was my conclusion too. Sora thought the sa."
Gin glanced toward Sora.
She had remained quiet during most of the discussion, but at Kotoko's words, she gave a small, almost hesitant nod.
During the days he had been away, she had clearly helped more than she let on.
Gin returned his attention to Kotoko. "So your decision was to block off these two sites and use them as live threads. Follow the trail backward and pull out whoever's behind this."
Kotoko did not dodge the point.
"If we can track the source, that would be ideal," she said honestly. "This case already has a high bounty attached to it on both the Yin and Yang Agency board and the official supernatural forums. And if it keeps spreading unchecked, all of Tokyo is going to fall into a panic."
Then, after a brief pause, she added, "But if you don't want to get involved, Director, we can move imdiately and exterminate the two branches we've isolated. That would still count as resolving the requests."
That was one of the things Gin appreciated most about her.
Kotoko was capable. Careful. Sharp enough to make independent judgnts when necessary.
But when it ca to matters tied to him—especially major decisions—she never overstepped and made the final call on his behalf.
That restraint mattered.
Gin's eyes drifted back to the two request forms on the desk.
He did not answer right away.
Because the truth was simple.
If his earlier judgnt from Sora's case had been correct, then sowhere behind the grotesque tree spirit branches stood a Great Yokai.
Maybe it had not planted them personally.
Maybe its followers had done the work.
But he had already learned from Tsuchizawa, the fallen deity, that the blood-red fruit produced by these grotesque tree spirit branches was favored by a certain Great Yokai. And the creatures serving that being loved planting them, raising them, harvesting the fruit, and offering it up in exchange for blessings or rewards.
Which ant one thing.
If he chose to pursue this incident to the end, he would almost certainly be forced into direct conflict with a Great Yokai.
Possibly more than one.
Gin rested his fingers against the edge of the desk, thinking.
Was that dangerous?
Yes.
Was it enough to make him back off?
Not really.
And that was not arrogance born from forming Myriad Laws.
His confidence ca from sothing more concrete.
His role-playing system was close to another advancent.
Once it evolved, his strength would not simply increase—it would undergo a qualitative transformation.
By that point, even if he still could not match a Great Yokai head-on, preserving his own life should not be a problem.
And if the worst ca to pass...
He still had Zenki and Goki.
That alone was enough to change the color of any battlefield.
Gin's decision settled.
"Kotoko."
Her posture straightened.
"Take over the entire grotesque tree spirit case from the Yin and Yang Agency and the official forums. Then contact every supernatural investigation office that's received related requests and have them hand over all their data on the incident to the White Fox Office."
Kotoko blinked once, then nodded without hesitation.
She understood what that ant.
Gin was not taking two cases.
He was taking all of it.
There were two reasons for the decision.
First: if left alone, this matter would keep spreading until it reached a point no one could control.
Second: Kasugano Sora now belonged to the White Fox Office.
As Director, he had no intention of letting that old debt remain unsettled forever.
At the side, Sora's eyes widened slightly.
She did not speak.
But she understood.
Part of the reason Gin had made this choice was for her.
A soft, complicated emotion rose in her chest—gratitude, disbelief, and an old sorrow sharpened by mory. She knew better than anyone that if she had been left to pursue revenge alone, she never would have reached it.
Not in this lifeti.
"I'll personally handle the coordination with the other offices," Kotoko said.
That task was simple enough. With Gin's current na and the White Fox Office's growing reputation, most other supernatural investigation offices would gladly cooperate. So would do it out of respect. So out of caution. So because they had no desire to be left holding the tail of such a dangerous affair.
Either way, the result would be the sa.
Gin gave a small nod, then shifted to the other issue.
"As for the man-eating monster case, I'll go investigate the scene myself."
He tapped the other stack of reports.
"If we want to flush it out, the cleanest thod is bait."
Kotoko's expression sharpened.
Gin continued, "Did the victims it devoured have any traits in common?"
Kotoko and Sora exchanged a glance.
Neither answered right away.
Then Kotoko said, "We didn't find anything clear."
"No pattern at all?" Gin asked.
"It's ssy," Kotoko admitted. "n, won, adults, married won, middle-aged victims... though there are also quite a few younger people among them. The only obvious thing is that there haven't been any elderly victims so far."
That was not much to work with.
Gin frowned.
If there was no discernible feeding preference—no age range, no gender pattern, no environntal link, no behavioral marker—then there was no bait profile to reproduce and no trail of intent to follow.
That made the thing far harder to lure out.
Or worse, it ant the killings were functionally random.
And random predators were always troubleso.
"Keep digging into it," Gin said. "Double the attention on that case. I want more intelligence. Anything at all—locations, timing, weather, victim routines, last-known movent, digital traces, ssage history, witness descriptions. Don't narrow the net yet."
He did not bla either of them for the current lack of usable data.
The case had only surfaced recently. It had barely been a week since he went to the Tsuchimikado family estate, and during that ti Kotoko and Sora had not been idle. They had already handled a number of other supernatural incidents while keeping the office running.
They had done well.
But now he was back.
And now the real work would begin.
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
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