01x23 - Yoruaruku Kanja

[bunniefuu]

I'm sorry, Dr. Mao.

But he said if I did this,
he'd teach me how to wield the beast...

Do you mean... Hakubi?

Let's put it to the test.

And see how well the needle works.

Mao! k*ll Hyakka!

Mao!

Is he under a spell?!

Miss Nanoka, run.

Mao!

Idiot! We said to run, Nanoka!

The puppet needle...

Mao... Snap out of it!

Nanoka...

Thank goodness...

Hakubi...!

Dammit! They got away!

That b*stard Mao...

Did he deliberately target only me?

How pathetic.

I'm sorry I wasn't much help.

Not at all.

You did quite well
for your first battle.

Keep working at it.

Yes, sir!

THE SLEEPWALKING PATIENT

Ow, ow, ow...

Ah, sorry.

Um, Hyakka...

MAO

MAO
Did I...

...do this to you?

Don't worry about it.

I thought so...

So I'm the one who hurt you.

HYAKKA

HYAKKA
I'm sorry. I let my guard down.

The one who struck you
with the needle...

...it was Soma, wasn't it?

On Hakubi's orders.

Yes. It's a pity.

I couldn't save him.

That's all?

Why aren't you mad at him?

Nanoka...

You're awake.

NANOKA KIBA

NANOKA KIBA
He totally betrayed you.

OTOYA
Miss Nanoka was furious about that.

Well, yeah!
After all you did to help him,

what Soma did to you was...

Yes.

It seems Soma's desire for the beast
was much stronger than I realized.

I owe you an apology, too, Nanoka.

Listen, you have nothing
to apologize for, Mao!

Ow!

Nanoka...

I got hurt trying to stop Mao...

She might've cracked a few ribs.

No. Nothing's broken.

How do you know?

Because I felt for any injuries
while you were unconscious.

My chest?

Yes.

BOFF! BOFF! BOFF!

BOFF! BOFF! BOFF!
It was an examination!

BOFF! BOFF! BOFF!
A medical examination!

Hyakka! You saw too?!

I didn't see anything, idiot!

We were waiting outside.

Well, I guess it's fine then.

What's that supposed to mean?!

Oh, no! The patient is gone again!

MILK HALL

MILK HALL
That patient has been

TENKO
sneaking out of his room every night,

ever since he was hospitalized.

Maybe he just really hates
being in the hospital?

Apparently he has an eye condition

and isn't fit to walk about
on his own.

What?

So that's why the nurse came
to you for help?

Yes. When morning comes,

she says he somehow
returns to his room.

And he's always covered in mud.

Mud?

Meaning he was outside?

So, Tenko, who is that man?

Dr. Mao...

Have you heard

about the spiritual healer
who was m*rder*d last month?

Yes. It was in the papers.

Apparently, the place was robbed.

Well, there's no evidence,

but there are rumors
that this man was the k*ller.

The patient?

He hasn't taken a single bite again.

Not once since he was admitted?

Yes. He hasn't touched
any of the hospital food.

Could he be eating somewhere outside?

But around here...

There aren't any places to eat,
let alone homes or fields.

It's giving me the creeps.

There's some kind of haze all around.

It's a barrier.

So that man is being controlled
by some kind of spell?

Yes.

This is troubling.

The spiritual healer
robbery-m*rder case and the mud...

Wait, a graveyard?

What?! He's eating grave dirt!

This is a curse!

W-What is he doing?!

I don't know, either.

But a curse this powerful,
combined with Earth sorcery...

Only one person could
pull this off in this day and age.

NATSUNO

Mao?

Is that Natsuno?!

Just as I thought.

Why?

What did you do to this man?

Who is this man?

Is he under a spell?

Sorry to disappoint you, Mao,

but this isn't my spell.

Then who?

I'm so tired...

Natsuno.

How are you feeling?

Oh, Masago.

MASAGO
I brought some medicinal herbs

MASAGO
from Kamon's garden.

Thank you.

Is this the medicine that
improves blood circulation?

Masago is so kind.

But this won't heal me.

What brought you here, Natsuno?

Well...

Lately...

I've been seeing strange dirt
flying through the air every night.

This man was eating grave dirt
and spitting it out.

What kind of curse is this?

Ready to go after them, Mao?

Nanoka! Otoya!

Take him to the hospital.

Damn it... Damn it...

So, what's the deal
with that guy?

There's something I heard...

That man is rumored to be the culprit in
the robbery and m*rder of a spiritual healer.

So you're saying the spiritual healer
cursed him with his dying breath?

Damn him!

That b*stard... How dare he...

Damn him!
- Quiet, please.

That damn b*stard!
Dammit!

What a foul mouth.

PRAYERS

Looks like we hit the jackpot.

This must be the spiritual
healer's prayer hall.

Dirt?!

Natsuno!

It stopped?

The Earth aura vanished.

What is this?

What's going on?

NATSUNO

GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN

Who's there?

WE WILL

MEET AGAIN

IN ANOTHER 100 YEARS...

You're awake, Natsuno?

Yeah...

That dirt we saw earlier...

There must be a sorcerer behind this.

Right.

Shall we start by talking to
the m*rder*d spiritual healer?

Oh, they're finally back.

Nanoka, how is that man doing?

Well, he died a short while ago...

I see.

Well, I suppose he got
what was coming to him.

Huh?

Turns out that man did k*ll
the spiritual healer.

Natsuno and I performed

a spirit-summoning ritual
and spoke with the spiritual healer.

At the moment
I was about to be k*lled,

I hurled dirt infused with
my spiritual energy at him.

Did you put a curse on him?

I passed my duty onto him.

Duty?

Did he mean all that?

Apparently, it was a way
to summon me here.

Summon you here?

The spiritual healer said that long ago,
someone taught him various spells.

In return, he entered into a pact

to summon an Earth sorcerer
on a predetermined date.

When we asked who
he'd made the pact with...

...his mouth disappeared.

What?

To silence him?

Any idea who it might be, Natsuno?

None.

I see.

Someone lured Natsuno out...

And showered her with that dirt...

But who?

And to what end?

Well, this is a problem.

Both of the people involved are dead.

We've reached a dead end.

Natsuno...

She left.

Doesn't it bother Natsuno?

Natsuno is hiding something.

Right...

It's been exactly 100 years.

MILK HALL

Really?!

KAMON
Are you sure, sir?

Yes. Help yourself.

Dr. Mao, Kamon is here.

PLUMP
It's delicious!

PLUMP
Enjoy all you want.

Who is that woman?

Apparently he just met her.

What? Just now?

Every now and then,
he'll bring a young woman like that

and treat her to a meal.

Oh...

So that's his type?

So...

What's up, Mao?

I want to ask you
what you know about Natsuno.

Natsuno, huh?

Back when we enlisted Natsuno's help
to reach Shiranui's shrine,

it seemed as if you didn't
completely trust her.

You're right.

You might want...

...to know about this too.

I have my suspicions.

Was Natsuno ever really...

...summoned to the Goshikido?

But the people who were summoned
to the Goshikido are like, immortal, right?

Isn't that why Natsuno is still alive?

Well, that's the part
I haven't figured out.

About a year after the downfall
of the Goko Clan,

I went to a hidenin where I had heard

HIDENIN
Natsuno was staying.

Hidenin?

It's something like
a temple-run refuge.

They care for elderly people with no family,
as well as children and the sick.

I wanted to ask if she knew where Masago
had gone after she disappeared.

The two seemed to know each other.

Was Natsuno working at the hidenin?

Yes.

Natsuno had always been devoted
to creating an Earth medicine

that was something like a cure-all.

So I assumed she was there
giving people

the Earth medicine she'd made
during her time with the Goko Clan.

Miss Natsuno...

Stay with me, Miss Natsuno!

When I went to see her,

Natsuno was gravely ill
and on the verge of death.

But she was just barely able to speak.

Oh... Kamon...

It's been a while...

I asked her if she had perfected
the cure-all she was attempting to create.

Yes...

When I arrived here,
I administered it to the residents...

But in the end, I couldn't create
an Earth medicine to cure myself...

I deeply regret it...

Excuse me.

Mr. Onmyoji...

A plague god?

Y-Yes.

Every night, something crouches
beside Miss Natsuno's bed.

I'm worried it might be a plague god that
has come to take Miss Natsuno away.

The monks at the temple have
been trying to exorcise it, but...

So, I protected Natsuno with a barrier
and waited for the plague god.

As long as she remained
inside the barrier,

Natsuno would be invisible
to the plague god.

Seiryu, Byakko, Suzaku,

Genbu, Kochin, Teidai,

Bunno, Santai, Gyokujo.

Banish!

It wasn't a plague god.

It was an earthen doll.

Earth again...

At that moment...

Natsuno!

Natsuno...

That was the last time I saw her.

Natsuno was nowhere to be found.

Why would Natsuno do something
that would break the barrier?

I don't know.

I assume she was being manipulated,
or that she did it of her own free will.

Master Kamon, is that when
you got that scar by your eye?

Yes. It won't go away.

Those who were summoned
to the Goshikido

can injure and k*ll one another.

But given the state Natsuno
was in back then,

I simply can't believe she could
have used spells that powerful.

Um...

Someone who was summoned to
the Goshikido getting weaker from an illness...

Doesn't that seem kind of?

Right. Something about that
doesn't add up.

But the fact remains
that Natsuno is alive.

It's not just the curse
of the Goshikido.

Is some other power...

...keeping Natsuno alive?

NEXT TIME

NEXT TIME
What is that?

What is that?

It looks like a mummy.

I heard a rumor about
a traveling theater troupe.

Apparently, they seek out
remote, isolated villages

and put on performances there.

It's an interesting story, but...

Natsuno, why are you
looking into that troupe?

Does this have something to do with
what happened at the prayer hall?

It left bite marks on me!

Next time: "Traveling Performers."