Chapter 35: Ten Million Swings, Dedicated with All One's Heart!

By the time Uesugi Toru rushed to the kendo hall, panting and clutching his Kaga Kiyomitsu, he found Ririko standing at the entrance, unscathed and wearing a fresh training uniform.

She just looked at him, silently.

Uesugi exhaled in relief, stepping forward to offer comfort, "Ririko..."

But Ririko raised her bamboo sword, assumed a stance, and shouted, "Halt!"

Uesugi froze in his tracks, then heard her say with grave intensity, "Do not come any closer. I do not know if you are the real Uesugi Toru."

Ririko continued slowly, "Likewise, I will not approach you. I cannot prove that I am the real Tokugawa Ririko."

"I have already seen through Aibeli’s disguise once before due to a discrepancy in her swordsmanship," she explained. "But I cannot count on her to make the same mistake twice."

Her words sent a jolt of alarm through Uesugi—she was right. How could he assume that Aibeli could only manifest one clone at a time? If the Ririko before him was yet another of Aibeli’s decoys, he would be walking straight into a trap.

Ririko was terrifyingly composed.

And so, they remained locked in a stalemate, staring each other down.

"You're right," Uesugi agreed, nodding as he drew his own Kaga Kiyomitsu and leveled it at her. "But how can we prove our identities?"

"Find Nanjo Aimi, or her superiors," Ririko reasoned. "If even they cannot distinguish the real from the fake, then there is no point in us arguing here."

"Agreed."

Uesugi nodded and immediately pulled out his phone to call Nanjo Aimi.

The first call went unanswered. He tried again...

In truth, Ririko’s suspicions had largely evaporated the moment she saw Uesugi holding the Kaga Kiyomitsu and witnessed his cautious behavior. However, she dared not gamble. She could not risk that this person was merely a more sophisticated fabrication by Aibeli.

Indeed, just as Uesugi had been lured to the rooftop by the fake Ririko, the real Ririko had encountered a fake Uesugi at the kendo hall after her shower. And the moment the false Uesugi had swung his bamboo sword, she had pierced through Aibeli's disguise, realizing instantly it was not him.

When the bewildered Aibeli asked how she knew, Ririko had replied:

"Do you think the ten million swings I have made in my life were for nothing?"

Tokugawa Ririko, only eighteen years old, had practiced kendo for fifteen years. She had swung her sword over ten million times in her life. Her mind had been as still as water at four, she had achieved unity of person and blade at eight, and she had attained the clarity of the "Sword Heart" at eighteen.

While other children cried for toys and playmates, she practiced alone. While other children attended school, she practiced alone. While other girls were discovering their first loves, she was still practicing alone.

Ririko’s entire life had been spent with her blade. Because of this, the swordplay Aibeli had displayed seemed as ridiculous to her as a clown’s parlor trick.

"It went through."

Uesugi’s voice cut through the air; on the fifth attempt, someone had finally picked up. He turned on the speakerphone, and Nanjo Aimi’s voice, thick with the rage of someone woken from sleep, exploded forth: "You little brat, what kind of trouble have you caused now? If it isn't an emergency, see if I don't beat your behind into a pulp for calling me this many times!"

It seemed the resentment of a corporate slave being roused from sleep was truly formidable.

Seeing Ririko nod, Uesugi spoke, "Sister Nanjo, Ririko and I encountered a clone of Aibeli at school. We currently cannot confirm if the other is the real person."

The moment he said this, the line went deathly silent, as if someone had hit a pause button.

"Hello? Hello? Sister Nanjo? Are you still there?"

A moment later, Nanjo Aimi’s voice returned, grave and serious:

"Stay exactly where you are! Do not move, do not go anywhere. I will be there in twenty minutes!"

Beep, beep, beep...

The call was cut off.

Uesugi shrugged and sheathed his sword. "Let's keep our distance and wait."

Seventeen minutes later, Nanjo Aimi arrived, accompanied by a Hiyoribo floating above her and a Nure-onna drifting behind her. With her was a middle-aged man with a stern expression.

"What do you think?" Nanjo asked, lagging half a step behind the man.

Uesugi felt a sharp, piercing gaze sweep over his body, making his skin crawl. Then, the middle-aged man spoke:

"Both are genuine."

Ririko frowned. "You can tell just by looking?"

The man addressed them solemnly, "Greetings. I am Kondo Tomoya, the Onmyo Magistrate in charge of the Arakawa district."

Good grief. A high-ranking official, and Nanjo’s direct superior at that. Uesugi thought to himself that the danger level of "Aibeli" must be higher than he had imagined. If the entity that had come for him earlier had been the true form rather than a clone, he would likely be cooling on a funeral pyre by now.

"The reason I can distinguish the true from the false at a glance is because my cultivation has reached the level of 'Sword Heart Clarity,'" Kondo explained. "This is also one of the reasons why Aibeli has loathed practitioners of swordsmanship since ancient times."

Uesugi blinked at Ririko, who looked just as baffled, as if asking, "How come you don't have that?"

Ririko scratched her head, signaling she had no clue.

"In any case," Kondo continued, "please return to the Special Affairs Bureau with me for further discussion. Staying at the school any longer may lead to unnecessary collateral damage."

...

Sitting in the sleek black car, the group of four soon arrived at the Arakawa District headquarters of the Special Affairs Bureau.

Uesugi took his eyes off the two stars floating in the shadows of the entrance, thinking that as expected of a district headquarters—even the gatekeeping shikigami were two-star entities.

"Follow me," Kondo said, leading the way.

On the way, Uesugi was surprised to see Shijima Manatsu and Kitano Runa arguing in front of a vending machine, seemingly debating which drink tasted better. It looked like they were doing well for themselves here.

After exchanging a smile with Ririko, they entered a conference room that required a password, fingerprint, and iris scan to open.

Kondo closed the heavy door. "This room is protected by a barrier. It ensures that our conversation will not be monitored or leaked."

He sat at the head of the table, pulling out specialized paper and a pen to record their statements. "Now, please tell me the sequence of events and the specific details of your encounter with Aibeli."

With Nanjo Aimi present and the backing of official authority, Uesugi and Ririko had no reason to hide anything from the Magistrate. Even so, the interrogation lasted for over an hour, and Kondo filled more than a dozen pages of notes.

"There is one thing that is very strange," Kondo said, frowning. "Why would Aibeli target the two of you—ordinary civilians—without reason? Killing the Youai cultists yesterday does not explain it; such things happen all over the Arakawa district."

If killing cultists were enough to attract Aibeli’s attention, Nanjo Aimi would have encountered her long ago.

In the ensuing silence, Nanjo Aimi suddenly spoke: "The Ouija board."

She stated with certainty, "There is something wrong with that board."