Tokyo Sword Saint Online Dealing

"The seal is not static, and the barriers between worlds are not indestructible."

"Time is the strongest corrosive agent."

“Some powerful ghosts and gods, supported by a large number of believers, can even tear a rift between two worlds after years of accumulating power.”

At this point, Ryunosuke Akutagawa's expression became more serious.

"Ghosts and spirits cannot affect mortals who lack spiritual power, except in two cases."

"First, there are items imbued with the aura of ghosts and gods that are worshipped day and night by mortals. Similarly, this is also the way most esoteric practitioners awaken. Yokota is one such person."

"Secondly, it's near the crack in the dream mirror."

"Within a certain range around the dream rift, mortals become extremely susceptible to the influence of ghosts and gods, and their minds become very sensitive."

"If a certain deity tears open a rift in the dream and exerts influence on the mortal world day and night, then the number of mortals bewitched by him will increase exponentially, his followers will grow stronger day by day, his arrival will be faster, and the risks will be lower."

“Our daily work as collectors involves eliminating spirits that have possessed or descended upon us, as well as inspecting the cracks in the sealed dream world.”

"The crack in the Shosoin is the largest dream crack in Tokyo. It is the work of the calamity-level demon god, the dream-devouring serpent Jormungandr. We are not capable of repairing or sealing it, so we can only have the prophets develop a special display stand to draw on the extraordinary power of the collection and use that petri dish to suppress the dream crack."

"This is the biggest reason why we chose this location for our association headquarters, and the only reason why we set up our treasure vault in such a dangerous place."

"As for the origin of this dream rift, that's a much longer story. I can tell you about it slowly once the threat from Mount Ooe has passed."

As they talked, the group sat down again around the round table.

When Akutagawa Ryunosuke saw that the dust had settled and that Uesugi Kiyoshi had finally become one of his own, the smile on his face never faded.

Although he is nominally the president of the Tokyo Metropolitan Collectors Association, his situation is not good.

The arrival of a great general, especially one with even greater backing, was like sending charcoal in snowy weather, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Uesugi-kun, the agreement has been signed and the collectibles have been given to you. Because we have a cooperative relationship with the government, we also have the relevant certificates. Once they are issued, I will deliver them to you as soon as possible."

“The Metropolitan Police Department, the National Police Agency, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Defense, and even the Cabinet of the Diet all have business dealings with us to varying degrees. Collectors’ badges and insignia are sometimes more useful than police ID cards.”

At this point, Ryunosuke Akutagawa seemed to suddenly remember something.

“Look at my memory, Uesugi-kun. We collectors don’t use our real names when we’re out in public. It’s a rule of the association. We use our code names.”

"I am Rashomon, and Kudo is the detective."

"For each different code name, the association will create a unique collector's badge for you, which is a symbol of your identity as a collector."

"Please think of a code name for me, and I will immediately arrange for your badge engraving and the issuance of your identification documents."

Uesugi Kiyoshi's expression had returned to calm. The turmoil of joining the Collectors' Association and the joy of acquiring a fine sword were all concealed beneath his handsome, serene face.

After a brief silence, Uesugi Kiyoshi's gaze became somewhat profound, as if he were lost in memories.

He remembered many things.

The panic when he was first threatened by a demon, the lingering fear after escaping death and the determination to become stronger, the sword training he persevered in time and time again in the Mirage Tower with his strong will, the demons who have died by his sword over the years, the Yokota couple who were innocent but died tragically because they were targeted by demons, and the domineering duo of demons who intercepted and killed Azuma Maki in the street.

This world shouldn't be like this.

There may be a lot of injustice in this world, and people may die tragically for various reasons every moment.

But they should not be bewitched by ghosts and gods without resistance, treated as sacrifices or food, like livestock, without even the right to resist.

Murderers are punished by law, but who will punish the spirits and gods?

In a daze, Uesugi Kiyoshi roughly understood the meaning of what Akutagawa Ryunosuke had said to him on the day they first met.

"We foresee disasters, we harbor spirits, we protect this world."

This must be the core purpose of the Collectors Association.

It's a bit idealistic, but it's not wrong in any way.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do; love what you do. Uesugi Kiyoshi has a strong work ethic.

He stroked the demon face tattoo on his right arm and spoke solemnly.

"Please, Akutagawa-san."

"My code name will be [Onikiri]."

"Now that I've joined the Collectors Association and received so many benefits, I should naturally make some contributions as well."

"."

"I am willing to use my body as a sword to cut down all the evil spirits in the world, and to eradicate the delusions of humankind that are like those evil spirits!"

P.S. This is a long chapter, I won't break it up, please vote for it.

Onikiri should actually be Higekiri, the weapon used to cut down Ibaraki-doji's hands; this is a secondary interpretation.

Actually, the backstory of Onikiri in Onmyoji is quite captivating. It's my favorite story in the game. If you're interested, you can search for it.

Some plot points really can't be omitted. Glossing over them makes them more complicated to explain later, and they seem contrived, like an forced expansion of the story.

Chapter 91 A word is settled

Sometimes, it's not necessary to say everything clearly.

Uesugi Kiyoshi works for someone to earn money, not to be a slave to their stamina. The fact that he uttered the name "Onikiri" already says a lot.

The attitude was clear, and Ryunosuke Akutagawa understood and was satisfied.

Kudo Yuichi, standing to the side, squinted and smiled. He and Akutagawa Ryunosuke were old friends, but he just couldn't bring himself to respect the somewhat neurotic chairman. The other collector was a carefree person who only cared about his own enjoyment. There wasn't a single person in the entire collectors' association that he liked.

There is now.

For a moment, all three of them wore smiles, and the atmosphere became very harmonious.

"Uesugi-kun, now you can tell me what you plan to do. Do you have any good ideas about Dong Wenyu and the Demon King behind him?"

Uesugi Kiyoshi casually crossed his long legs, leaning back lazily in the chair with his hand supporting his chin. His gold-rimmed glasses were somehow back on his nose, giving him the air of a refined scholar at first glance.

The scholar's words, however, were direct and filled with murderous intent.

“I just saved Dongwen Zhenxi. According to you, Master and Dongwen are very close friends. Now I have a good reason to get involved.”

"."

"There's nothing more to say, isn't there? Let's gather our strength, annihilate Dong Wenyu, kill people and slay demons, wouldn't that be clean and efficient?"

Uesugi Kiyoshi put it simply, and it really was a simple thing.

Politicians attack each other and use their power to intimidate others, while businessmen strategize and use their wealth to sway people.

Gangs are more straightforward.

Soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals, subduing others by force.

Even Dong Wenjue, who played a grand strategy back then, was once a skilled swordsman who had participated in countless gangland shootouts. Especially in that era, it was common for gang members to be injured or killed in conflicts.

Violence is paramount, noise is the best policy; no matter how times change, the essence of the Yakuza will never change.

Today, Tokyo's colossal, dark empire is stained with blood on every brick and tile, by its own people and by the innocent.

Uesugi Kiyoshi offered a preliminary suggestion, only scratching the surface, and then waited for Akutagawa Ryunosuke's reaction.

He had recently spoken with Yuichi Kudo, who was supportive of him; now it was just a matter of what Ryunosuke Akutagawa's attitude would be.

Ryunosuke Akutagawa stroked his smooth chin, frowned and pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"Indeed, there is no good solution at the moment. We can only take advantage of Dong Wenyu's weakness and the fact that the Ghost Clan behind him has not yet descended to strike first and eliminate future troubles."

After saying that, he paused, remained silent for a few seconds, and then spoke with some difficulty.

“Uesugi-kun, I might as well tell you the truth.”

"I can help you slay demons, but the association probably can't help you with killing people."

"The current personnel structure of the Collectors Association is very abnormal."

"The internal affairs department has a very comprehensive set of rules and regulations. Although the prophets dispatched from headquarters all have some quirks, they are all capable people. Many of the managers are loyalists of the Akutagawa and Kudo families. Their abilities and loyalty are not a problem. They are more than capable of maintaining the normal operation of the association."

"But it's really hard to recruit combat personnel for field operations."

"Leaving aside the superhumans, more than 80% of the association's field personnel are special agents."

"Agents are not the combat personnel depicted in movies."

"Their training is geared towards espionage, where they play different roles in various areas of Tokyo, monitoring for possible anomalies, collecting disaster intelligence, and reporting to the association."

"Then the internal staff will classify and count the threats, determine the level of threat, and assign combat personnel to deal with them."

“Ordinary lethal disasters can be handled by fully armed task forces, while more serious cases will require the deployment of investigators.”

"Most regional disasters are handled by investigators with extraordinary abilities."

"For the Sky Guardian and National Land-level items, the collectors themselves will have to take action."

"To put it bluntly, I did all of these jobs."

Ryunosuke Akutagawa's smile carried a hint of helplessness, accompanied by a long sigh.

“Before you came, there were only three collectors. The great detective is very capable, but not in combat. The other one is unparalleled in combat, but he is elusive and I can’t control him. As a result, I have to personally handle all matters, big and small.”

He tugged at his receding hairline and sighed, "I'm only twenty-three, and I'm already losing my hair. Uesugi-kun, I'm counting on you to save me!"

Uesugi Kiyoshi pondered for a moment without comment, then countered with, "I understand, every family has its own problems, I know that, but..."

"Akutagawa-san, are all those [investigators] superhumans?"

“I heard from Yuichi that the association has as many as seventeen investigators. Why don’t you promote one or two of them as collectors to assist you?”

"Could it be that they lack the ability? I remember you said that the only requirement to become a collector is to be able to solve regional disasters on your own. You also mentioned earlier that most regional disasters are left to investigators to solve."

Is there some hidden story behind this?

Ryunosuke Akutagawa nodded slightly, his gaze becoming somewhat profound.

"There are hidden reasons, of course."

"There are two conditions for becoming a collector. The first is financial strength, and the second is that you need to have at least two collectors as guarantors and recommenders."

"Uesugi-kun, which of these two conditions do you think is harder to achieve?"

Uesugi Kiyoshi narrowed his eyes and pondered, "Could it be..."

Ryunosuke Akutagawa quickly picked up the conversation.