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+ l*l + Kaze no Stigma + l*l + LightNovel translated
Kaze no Stigma (風の聖痕, Kaze no Stigma? lit. Stigma of the Wind) is a Japanese light novel series written by Takahiro Yamato and illustrated by Hanamaru Nanto.
1
"What bad taste……"
That was the first impression he had of the client. Incidentally (it should also be noted) this impression did not change in the slightest all the way to the end.
In this hilly, high-class residential area the mansion sat arrogantly on display. With a design that completely disregarded the harmony of its surroundings, there were plenty of reasons to doubt the owner's true character.
If you were to disregard the bad taste thus far, you might have to say it was rather magnificent. Climbing up Governor's Hill, close by the famous Catholic girl's school, was the mansion. When he saw it, he was honestly, completely stunned.
Did Turkish harems have this feel?
Yagami Kazuma didn't seem to be joking when he thought that. He wanted to grab that person's collar and preach, "Don't paint the walls of a Japanese house in such wild colors!" It was that kind of house.
This could probably be considered the place of origin of Japan's Westernization movement. The first gaslight was lit here; ice cream was sold here first. You would expect it to be a stylish, refined town with a distinguished history.
Considering that, this is probably some kind of breach of contract…
He saw a decorated golden carp on the roof and let out a sigh. The image, held dear in Yokohama, had crumbled completely away with a clattering sound.
When he accepted the job at the agency, he was given not only an address, but also a detailed map. It was completely unnecessary, however. By asking the neighborhood residents, "Where's the house with the poorest taste around here?" even a monkey could manage to find his way here.
A structure painful to the eyes——he didn't want to call that a house——that when seen made Kazuma look begging up to the sky. The sky was empty and blue.
"Hey, at least it's work…" he muttered to convince himself.
However, this is the same Kazuma whose look probably wouldn't by any means be called appropriate for work.
Jeans and sneakers, a checkered shirt and a black jacket. His youth——at 22 years old——and his relaxed facial expression made him seem (no matter how you looked at it) no different than a student from the nearby university.
He was completely blind to his own faults. As he continued his observations he noticed something strange.
The darkness covering the mansion was thicker than he was told. Because of this, maybe even an ordinary person with no spirit sight could sense the darkness in the mansion's surroundings.
Maybe I'll just go back…
Nagged by a horribly bad premonition, Kazuma's thought was halfway serious.
The darkness that covered the mansion——it was something more unearthly than he expected, but it wasn't so much that he couldn't deal with it. For this reason, this premonition was a bad omen. There was something else up.
Judging from his experiences up to now, it was a credible and important premonition. However, he couldn't just throw away work on that alone.
This was his first assignment in Japan. If he broke off the arrangement with only a "For some reason or another," he would never get jobs in the future.
He made his way toward the mansion with heavy steps. He stopped once more, in front of a ridiculously huge gate.
While standing in front of the doorbell, Kazuma was still unsure. Danger signals bombarded his instincts. He couldn't help wanting to run away. However——
"Yagami-sama, I presume."
Without any warning, a voice came from the intercom, and completely disrupted Kazuma's thinking. He jumped back with a start, and stood on guard. The voice continued from before without concern for this.
"You've been expected. Kindly enter through the auxiliary entrance on the side."
Click.
Simultaneous with those words, a small door to the ride side of the gate unlocked. Apparently he was supposed to just go in.
Compared with that "You have been expected," that's some rude treatment…
He felt uncomfortable, but he was dealing with a customer. He entered through the side door as instructed,.
Inside the fence were a large number of security cameras and sensors. They must live a very shadowy life.
Multiple cameras followed him as he walked into the entranceway. With anger almost to the point of wanting to kill whoever put him under this rude surveillance, Kazuma somehow repressed himself.
"Eeek……"
That's what he'd intended, but apparently it showed on his face. The face of the maid, who came to greet him, was filled with a fear akin to having come across a man-eating bear. Kazuma hurriedly smoothed over his expression.
"Welcome, please come this way."
She went from a face of horror, as if she were being picked up and eaten, to an overly bright smile.
It didn't seem possible for someone to change their expression so dramatically, forgetting their suspicions, but the maid smiled as if nothing had happened. A pro.
As the maid walked ahead, Kazuma observed her gratifyingly swaying bottom, while going to the living room to wait.
It would have been better if I'd left…
Kazuma felt deep regret at his choice as soon as he was guided into the living room. There inside, was a thin little man, self-importantly lying back, legs outstretched——Sakamoto Nanigashi, the master of the mansion and client——but he wasn't alone. There was one practitioner in the room as well, a face he knew well.
That practitioner, upon recognizing Kazuma, showed fear on his face for a moment, and then immediately twisted his lips into a sneer and glared at Kazuma with a face full of scorn.
"What? The other practitioner was you, Kazuma? You became a disinherited child of the Kannagi because of your incompetence, and now you dare to call yourself a practitioner?"
Probably those explanatory words were for Sakamoto to hear. Practitioner——Kannagi. The youngest child of the branch family, Yuuki, Shinji truly took great pleasure in abusing Kazuma.
Sakamoto showed the response Shinji expected. His expression changed and he approached Kazuma.
"So this is true, then? Isn't this different from what you said? You said you were a top-class spiritual practitioner, so I hired you!"
Kazuma calmly——while retreating the same distance as the other advanced——answered.
"I don't know what the person at the agency said. If you're dissatisfied, perhaps I should leave?"
"Hmmph, that's right."
Sakamoto's eyes showed a faintly cunning light. Kazuma's desire to work, scarce even at the best of times, quickly neared zero.
"Mmmm, how about this? Why don't you both try the exorcism, and only the successful one gets paid? Ahh, naturally I won't tell the loser to return the advance payment."
"Good idea, yeah."
They were flippant words, but Shinji had immediately accepted them. And then, with the face of someone who was completely made a fool of, he asked Kazuma.
"And what are you going to do?"
"I'm out."
Kazuma gave an immediate reply. In the scornful stares of the two, not even one muscle of an eyebrow moved.
"Hmmph, coward! Sucking your finger like a baby! I'll show you a model example of Enjutsu."
"Model example, eh? Didn't you say that? Just like the youngest child of the branch family."
"Y-you!"
Having the one he looked down upon look down upon him in return enraged Shinji. He completely forgot about being in front of a client, tightened a fist, and struck out.
It was a fist intent on crushing the skull, which Kazuma handled by opening his body to the left.
In the instant Shinji's right thrust was dodged he transferred the movement energy to his left leg, without stopping the rotation of his hips.
In reaction to the shift in center of gravity his left leg flew up in a rotating kick from Kazuma's blind spot, aiming for his temple.
However, Kazuma, as if he had seen it, lightly bent his head back. The heel of Shinji's left leg passed by a few millimeters in front of his eyes.
Kazuma's movements were like the leaves of a tree swaying in the wind, without hesitation. Into the space the kicking foot had left he entered with complete spontaneity, and lightly swept Shinji's pivot leg. Shinji, his left leg still floating in the air under the power of his own rotational power, violently slammed into the floor.
"Sh-s**t!"
Shinji just barely managed to do ukemi, and quickly got back up. Incorrigible, he assumed a fighting posture.
"You—! Thinking you could beat me in Taijutsu? Even four years ago you weren't a match for me. There's no way you could be an opponent for my current self."
"Sh-shut up!"
Kazuma showed not the least bit of triumph. He chided disinterestedly, as if facing a defiant child. Being looked down upon from such a securely elevated position, Shinji's reason made a sound and broke.
"Stop it right there, you two."
However, just then, a restraining voice spoke, and the two turned at the same time to the voice's owner. Sakamoto showed great satisfaction at getting their attention. Then, in a tone as if he were an extremely important person, he scolded them.
"I didn't call you here to fight. The furnishings in this room, no matter which one you look at, are each more expensive than what I'm paying you. Any kind of rough behavior would be troublesome, okay?"
Suddenly, around the vicinity of money talk, there was a scumbag. The person in question was probably attempting to flaunt his assets, but for the ones made to listen, it was nothing but the stink of the nouveau riche pushed up their noses.
Maybe I'll leave… since I still get the advance payment.
With the discomfort index continuing to rise with no end in sight, Kazuma's desire to work had already dropped into minus territory. He couldn't help feeling how even being in this place was agony.
"Mm……?"
However, without warning, an unearthly presence began to converge, heralding a new development.
"——It's coming."
The unearthly presence spread throughout the mansion directed its focus to one point in the living room. Kazuma casually moved to put Sakamoto and Shinji between himself and this presence.
"What's that? What just…?"
The unearthly presence solidified into something black. Shinji, over 10 seconds slower than Kazuma, finally noticed it as well.
"Mmmm, so it came out?"
"Wh-what? What's wrong?"
Hesitatingly breaking the suddenly tense atmosphere, Sakamoto shouted in a shrill voice.
Kazuma answered in place of Shinji, who was already beginning to focus his mind for the use of jutsu.
"It's time to work. The 'evil spirit'―or whatever you've been struggling with―just came out."
While giving this offhand explanation, Kazuma felt a beyond-ordinary sense of unease.
That's no evil spirit. What kind of thing is it?
When Kazuma first accepted the assignment, the person at the agency said "Just a normal evil-spirit exorcism."
——Hey, your first job should be one of these, right? If you're as good as the rumors say, you should be able to take that evil spirit with one hand——
A superficial seeming man, but with definite achievements, he'd heard. Their kind of work was, in some sense, even more than for practitioners, something where confidence was life. Making a mistake this big was extremely unlikely. It wasn't an easy business, that that kind of irresponsible agency person would survive.
Was I set up? Well, fine. Should I just observe his skill?
Kazuma leaned against the wall, crossed his arms, and looked about as if sightseeing.
Shinji focused his mind to prepare himself for the appearance of the "evil spirit."
It seemed he planned to burn it away when it appeared. It was clear to see in his expression.
Suddenly, the space in front of Shinji turned dark and thick. Shinji faced both his palms towards each other in order to set up a transparent ball in front of his chest. A small fire was held between those palms.
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooon……
A voice full of resentment shook the air as the evil spirit showed itself. A melted-away face projected infinite hatred for all living beings.
"Eeep!"
"HAAAA!!"
Paying no attention to the screaming Sakamoto, Shinji released a devastating flame, along with a sharp yell. The evil spirit became cleansed due to the fire; it would disappear without a trace——or so Shinji believed.
However——
"Idiot"
Gioooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo……
While the evil spirit's cries of agony echoed and Shinji snickered——
Flame exploded.
"Gahhhhhhhhhh!?"
Shinji screamed, wrapped in flame. In a moment the uselessly large living room became a sea of flame.
Kakakakakakakakakakakakakakakaka
Shinji's flame was eclipsed by the evil spirit. The flame was completely devoured. The youma began to sneer with laughter.
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