458 She is a demon (1/2)

Seiji contemplated this matter.

He hadn't thought too much into it at first and had the mentality of simply trying it out. But now, upon closer consideration, was it really the best choice to ”educate” Shinobu?

Yomi's joking aside, she—Shinobu Miaki—was an artificially created product that his enemy made. Leaving her alone might cause harm to others… he didn't care if she killed Akatsuki Mitarai; in fact, he would be delighted if that happened. However, if she turned into a powerful demon that posed a danger to others, that would be a bad thing.

He felt that he should act in order to prevent harm from coming to others. But if he ”educated” her in order to prevent her from turning into a demon, wouldn't that end up benefitting Akatsuki?

Then, Seiji pondered if he should take advantage of her in killing Akatsuki off, but not letting her devour Akatsuki and turn into a demon. Was this possible?

Well, not even considering whether it would be possible, taking advantage of a ”child” to make her kill her creator who was basically like her parent… Seiji was morally against such an action.

It was true that he wanted to kill off Akatsuki Mitarai. However, inciting Akatsuki's own creation into killing Akatsuki was something that Seiji felt was wrong.

Yomi had said that Shinobu was ”a child who was just born…” Just because she was Akatsuki's creation, and likely created by some terrifying method that Seiji would rather not know about, did that mean that Seiji should treat Shinobu as an object to be taken advantage of?

Seiji felt that he shouldn't.

No matter what her creator, or ”parent”, was like, the ”child” was innocent.

Taking advantage of a ”child” to kill her own ”parent” was something he morally couldn't bring himself to do.

But if he didn't want to do that, ”educating” her seemed like a process where his efforts would merely be wasted and only benefit his enemy.

Seiji knew that he was stuck between a rock and a hard place with his dilemma.

His difficulty didn't have anything to do with Akatsuki, but rather the ”child”, Shinobu Miaki.

Just how should Seiji treat her, who was basically like a living weapon that his enemy Akatsuki had created?

This was similar yet different to Shika's original circumstances. In Shika's case, she had only been a hired temporary Spirit-branded Retainer who wasn't deeply connected to Okubo Yoshiaki. However, Shinobu had a ”parent-child” relationship with Akatsuki.

Seiji sighed after thinking about it for quite a while.

He felt like it was almost as if he was intentionally making things difficult for himself… No, wait, the source of his frustration to begin with was...

”Yomi, was it intentional on your part?”

”Hmm? I don't understand what you're referring to.”

”Heehee?” The female spirit chuckled. ”You saw through me so easily… That's right, I did it intentionally.”

”At least you admitted it so frankly.” Seiji folded his arms. ”What was your objective in doing so?”

”I just wanted to see your reaction,” Yomi told him. ”I didn't lie to you at all. I simply intentionally used some rather subtle analogies.”

”Why did you want to see my reaction?”

”Because I wanted to see it.”

Seiji was rendered speechless for a moment.

”You admit that it's a rather subtle analogy. In that case, what exactly is the truth? Just what type of existence is that puppet?” he asked in a serious manner.

”She is a demon… a newly-born demon, a demon who appears completely human but isn't. You could also call her an abnormal human,” Yomi spoke in a vague manner, her voice sounding like it came from far off in the distance. ”In a generation long ago, when the differences between demons and humans were rather ambiguous, existences like her would often be born. Some would be good, some would be evil, and some would be neither good nor evil. They aren't humans, but are similar to humans. They can communicate with humans, but there's still a distance between them and humans. Some had happy endings, some had tragic endings, some didn't leave anything behind, and some left things that might have been passed down even to today… Not everyone can see them for what they are, and they aren't capable of seeing humans for what humans really are, either. It is a Yin-Yang Master's task to act as an intermediary between humans and the spirits and demons and keep everything in balance. Yin-Yang Master Seiji Haruta, just what will you do when faced with such a child? I'm really looking forward to it, heeheehee…” The female spirit chuckled.

This time, her chuckling sounded different from before, seeming to contain something.

Seiji didn't know what to say.

He hadn't deeply considered the meaning of becoming a Yin-Yang Master before. Or, it should be said that he hadn't considered it from the mystical society's point of view. Yomi's rather literary and mystical view had given him an impact.

As a Yin-Yang Master, what should he do with a newly-born demon?

This was a specific-case scenario, but it could also be said to be a foundational question for how he wanted to treat his occupation as a Yin-Yang Master.

Uhhhhh…