Miracle Summoner

"Looks like news of my return has spread faster than I expected."

Rozen thought to himself.

He had assumed that no matter what, it would take at least a few days for news of his return to circulate. Even if it spread immediately in Tokyo, it should have taken some time to reach other cities.

However, what Rozen hadn't expected was that, over the past year and a half, under Kurahashi Genji's influence, the Onmyo Agency had expanded its authority and status, drawing far more attention to the jujutsu world than before. Even news reporters had been closely monitoring developments in this field.

For Rozen to return at such a time was like walking straight into the line of fire. It was only natural that the news had spread so quickly.

"Since that's the case, many things are likely to happen even faster than I anticipated."

Muttering to himself, Rozen turned toward the window.

Then, he activated the power of the Wise Eye, even concentrating his spirit to sense his Shikigami contracts, hoping to locate Natsume and Suzuka.

Unfortunately, Rozen couldn't "see" Natsume and Suzuka's spiritual energy, and the contract's resonance was faint and indistinct, making it impossible to pinpoint their location.

"It's one thing for the contract resonance to be unclear—after all, it's an early version of the contract, and distance naturally weakens the connection. But I didn't expect that even the Wise Eye couldn't 'see' their spiritual energy."

It wasn't just because Natsume and Suzuka were far away. More than that, it was likely because they had used high-level Concealment Arts.

After all, both Natsume and Suzuka, like Rozen, were wanted fugitives. Returning to Tokyo, the heart of the Onmyo Agency, was like stepping into the tiger's den. There was no way they wouldn't be meticulously hiding themselves.

Rozen fell into thought, then turned to Kurahashi Kyouko.

"Can you find Natsume and Suzuka's exact location using you star gazing?"

Hearing this, Kyouko shook her head helplessly.

"Star Gazing is just a form of divination. It's not an all-seeing power that can predict everything. Besides, my ability only awakened recently, and I'm still unfamiliar with it. Sometimes, if I'm not in the right state, I can't even see the stars. Even when I do succeed, the success rate is very low. Over the past year and a half, I've only successfully performed Star Reading two or three times."

Saying this, Kyouko looked troubled.

Clearly, she had struggled a lot while trying to refine her Star Gazing ability.

On the other hand, Rozen was stunned.

"If your success rate is that low, then how did you manage to find me so accurately, again and again, yesterday?"

That didn't make any sense.

However, Kyouko seemed a bit embarrassed.

"Y-yesterday, that was probably just my obsession taking over. I didn't even notice it myself… I just wanted to find you so badly that my ability activated on its own. Thinking back, even I find it unbelievable…"

As expected, the Star Gazing from yesterday had been a result of Kyouko going beyond her usual limits. That explained why her spiritual energy had been so severely depleted.

To find Rozen, Kyouko had cleared all distractions and focused solely on that single objective, unconsciously driving herself forward with sheer determination. That was the only reason she had been able to repeatedly activate it, despite normally lacking the proficiency to use it so consistently or accurately.

"Before you returned, I had also tried to use Star Gazing to find you, but I couldn't even see your star. Yet this time, I succeeded so many times in a row."

At this, Kyouko sighed with emotion.

She didn't realize that the reason she couldn't see Rozen's star before wasn't just because of her lack of skill.

It was because Rozen's star had already disappeared. His celestial presence had ceased to exist.

After all, Rozen had left this world and traveled to another.

Even if the greatest master of Star Gazing had tried, they wouldn't have been able to find Rozen back then.

And now, it was clear that Kyouko couldn't see Natsume and Suzuka's stars either.

In response…

"What if I assist you?"

Rozen proposed.

Kyouko immediately tensed up.

"If you're willing to assist me, the success rate should increase significantly."

She made such a bold claim without hesitation.

It couldn't be helped.

By now, Kyouko was well aware of how powerful Rozen's spiritual energy was.

Moreover, she was now Rozen's Shikigami.

Under these circumstances, if Rozen, as her master, fully supported her, her power would naturally rise significantly.

"Then let's begin." Rozen decided without hesitation. "We'll find Natsume and Suzuka first. Everything else can wait."

"Understood." Kyouko nodded without objection.

…

"Clack."

With a crisp sound, Kyouko, who had somehow ended up sitting cross-legged on the bed, took out an object and placed it in front of her.

It was a jujutsu tool made up of several components.

There were two square-shaped plates—

They symbolized Earth.

There was also a semi-covered circular plate—

It symbolized Heaven.

Together, these plates formed a jujutsu tool representing the balance of Heaven and Earth.

This was the Liuren Divination Disk, an ancient tool of Onmyojutsu used for divination.

Kyouko fixed her gaze on the divination disk, her pupils beginning to glow with starlight.

Seeing this…

"———— Always begin with the Moon General, align with the time of the divination, observe the yin and yang of the Sun and Day, and establish the Four Lessons ————"

Rozen raised a stack of talismans and cast them toward Kyouko while chanting an incantation.

This was the very same Divination Method Rozen had once used in the Automaton World to assist Hinowa with divination. It came from the "Senji Ryakketsu" and was an advanced divination technique.

"———— The deity above the Sun is the Sun's Yang, known as the First Lesson ————"

"———— The deity obtained at the Sun's original position is the Sun's Yin, known as the Second Lesson ————"

"———— The deity above the Day is the Day's Yang, known as the Third Lesson ————"

"———— The deity obtained at the Day's original position is the Day's Yin, known as the Fourth Lesson ————"

"———— Yang and Yin intertwine, and among the Four Lessons, those that counteract each other through the Five Elements shall be taken as the focus ————"

With far greater proficiency than before, Rozen chanted the spell like flowing water. The talismans he had thrown formed a glowing ring around Kyouko, radiating beams of light.

The beams of light converged like spotlights, focusing on Kyouko and, ultimately, onto the divination disk in front of her, causing its glowing inscriptions to flare dramatically.

"Buzz!"

Kyouko's spiritual energy immediately surged. The starlight in her eyes grew even brighter.

Seeing this, Rozen did not hesitate to pour his own spiritual energy into her through their contract, allowing her to receive an immense influx of power.

Observing this sudden burst of spiritual energy, Rozen raised an eyebrow.

"At this rate, we're bound to attract the attention of the Spirit Vision Officers and Onmyoji in the area."

So, he quickly threw out several talismans, sticking them onto the walls, door, and windows of the room, forming a barrier to suppress the spiritual energy leakage.

"This should buy us some time."

Rozen never intended to fully conceal their presence—just delay detection for a bit.

After all, they were going to move soon anyway, so it didn't matter if they were discovered later.

"Now, it all depends on this girl."

Rozen waited for the results.