In every encounter before this, which Reincarnator wouldn’t give Adachi Tsukasa face when his Flame Bird Group was mentioned? So why, why was it that this time, the Faceless One before him showed him no respect at all?
Was it because the Reincarnators he had met in the past were all simply too weak?
“Aah…”
Adachi Tsukasa let out a miserable scream. But the screaming didn’t last long. The light in his eyes grew dimmer, then faded entirely, until it was gone.
Tsukiyomi Ruri, secretly watching everything unfold, remained expressionless.
This time, she hadn’t gained anything, but at least she had resolved some trouble. Still… what was to be done about the entire school staff and student body falling unconscious? Regardless of how that situation would be handled, the bodies of Kiryoki and Adachi Tsukasa, at least, were hers to deal with.
After Kiryoki died, her Book of Ghosts had dissipated. Before a Reincarnator actively initiates a trade, such items cannot be seized by others.
While disposing of the two bodies, a whimsical thought struck Tsukiyomi Ruri. Could it be that the Faceless Man legend in Natsuki City was actually created by Kiryoki herself?
Those ghosts absorbed by the Book of Ghosts were, one and all, truly without facial features. Floating about at night, it didn’t seem strange at all for them to be called the Faceless Man.
‘Forget it. It’s in the past. No point dwelling on it now.’
Tsukiyomi Ruri swiftly cleaned up the bloodstains and took the two bodies into a small alleyway outside the school grounds.
She currently had no good method for disposing of corpses. So, in the end, acting in her guise as The Faceless, she sent a message to Mizuhashi Yuzuki, asking her to come to the alley and handle it. Mizuhashi Yuzuki agreed.
Afterward, Tsukiyomi Ruri returned to the school for a brief look around. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she departed. The knockout incense that had rendered everyone unconscious had largely dissipated with the passage of time, requiring no further intervention from her.
Someone else had also discovered the mass of unconscious students and reported it to the authorities. The subsequent matters no longer needed Tsukiyomi Ruri’s involvement.
…
Carrying her injuries, Mizuhashi Yuzuki finished disposing of the corpses and headed home. On her way, acting in her identity as the Celestial Wolf Demon General, she sent a message to Inoue Keiko, informing her that the Demon Spirit Group was utterly annihilated and telling her never to recklessly join another Reincarnator team again.
Only then did Inoue Keiko understand what the mass unconsciousness at the school signified, leaving her with many questions in her heart. But Inoue Keiko’s personality was such that she wouldn’t pry into matters, which saved Mizuhashi Yuzuki the trouble of explaining.
Mizuhashi Yuzuki went once more to the public cemetery where her friend rested. Looking at the tombstone, she said, “Yui, Kiryoki is dead. The Demon Spirit Group is considered completely destroyed. Though the one who avenged you wasn’t me, no matter what, you can now rest in peace.”
…
Tsukiyomi Ruri returned home.
Seeing Leona still playing games on her smartphone, Tsukiyomi Ruri thought for a moment, then said, “Leona, Kiryoki is dead.”
Leona froze for a second.
She thought back to when she had been captured by the Demon Spirit Group, to the many ghosts imprisoned alongside her. All those ghosts had later faded into oblivion because of Kiryoki, which had also filled her with an intense loathing for the Demon Spirit Leader.
Now, hearing that Kiryoki was dead, Leona found she wasn’t as happy as she expected. After all, even though Kiryoki was dead, the obliterated ghosts couldn’t come back.
“Thank you,” Leona said sincerely to Tsukiyomi Ruri.
She didn’t need to guess to know it was Tsukiyomi Ruri who had dealt with Kiryoki.
Tsukiyomi Ruri said nothing. She sat down on the bed and took out her smartphone, browsing the Chat Section on the Reincarnator Forum.
She hadn’t been browsing long when she received a message. Opening it, she saw it was from Izumi Shirayuki.
‘She’s back from the Reincarnation World? So soon?’
Tsukiyomi Ruri was a little surprised. She opened the message to read it.
“I heard the entire faculty and student body were unconscious today. What happened? Ruri, are you okay?” Izumi Shirayuki asked.
“I took the day off and didn’t go. I don’t know the situation, Senpai. Since you’re asking, does that mean you didn’t go to school either?” Tsukiyomi Ruri replied.
“Yes, I took the day off today. But it’s good that you’re okay,” Izumi Shirayuki messaged.
“I’ve also heard about the school incident. It seems no one’s life was in danger, so we can rest a little easier,” Tsukiyomi Ruri said.
The moment that message was sent, Tsukiyomi Ruri received another one, this time from the school itself.
Tsukiyomi Ruri tapped the message to read it.
The school incident was being judged as a gas leak in the cafeteria causing the danger. The unconsciousness of all faculty and students was attributed to gas poisoning. As a result, the school planned to suspend classes for a few days, using that time to thoroughly investigate whether any more potential hazards remained on campus.
A message like this had probably been sent to every student.
‘Gas poisoning, huh… That explanation seems rather flimsy. Whatever, how the school administration glosses over it is their business.’
Tsukiyomi Ruri didn’t dwell on it.
At that moment, another message from Izumi Shirayuki arrived: “Ruri, did you get the school’s message? Classes are actually suspended for a few days, and they didn’t even say when they’d resume.”
“I received it,” Tsukiyomi Ruri replied. “Seems like there won’t be much to do these next few days. And since the Faceless Man legend has ended, shall we go to a hot spring?”
Izumi Shirayuki sent a smiley face: “Of course. I’ll do some research later on where to go. Once I find a place, I’ll contact you again.”
“Okay,” Tsukiyomi Ruri replied.
The day passed quickly.
The evening TV drama Leona wanted to watch was about to start. She even put down her phone game, turned on the TV, and waited. But since the time hadn’t come yet, she flipped through one channel after another, seeing if anything interesting was on.
“Huh? Isn’t that your school?” Leona suddenly said.
Tsukiyomi Ruri, sitting on the bed looking at her phone, raised her head to look at the TV.
The television was broadcasting the news, explaining that Aragaki Girls’ High School had temporarily suspended classes due to a gas leak incident, pointing out that this was the fourth gas leak incident this month.
“Furthermore, a suspect for this incident has been apprehended. It may have been caused by yankees operating near Aragaki Girls’ High School…” The anchor prattled on in the TV.
Yankees?
Tsukiyomi Ruri’s eyes widened.
The television played a segment of surveillance footage, showing the Ane-go and other yankees scaling the wall into Aragaki Girls’ High School. Of course, every yankee in the footage was pixelated, but how could Tsukiyomi Ruri not recognize them?
Then came another clip, this one of the Ane-go being interrogated at the police station, naturally also pixelated.
The police asked: “Why did you bring people into Aragaki Girls’ High School?”
The Ane-go gave a cold snort: “I just don’t like that school.”
The police said: “So you went to the cafeteria and caused the gas leak?”
The Ane-go looked confused: “What cafeteria? What gas leak?”
The police spoke with righteous solemnity: “Denial is useless. We will definitely uncover the truth.”
The footage was only this much. Then the anchor started rambling again, talking about what a terrible group today’s yankees were, urging everyone to be wary of all yankees and to proactively report any threats they encountered.
Tsukiyomi Ruri watched, speechless.
“So, was the incident at your school related to that person?” Leona couldn’t help but ask.
“No relation,” Tsukiyomi Ruri answered.
“Then she’s quite unfortunate, taking the fall like that.” Leona’s expression turned odd. “But she’s innocent after all. She’ll probably be released eventually, right? Probably?”
