21st Century Necromancer

"You ask about this, dear customer? They just have bad luck; all the fruits and vegetables can’t be eaten anymore. No one knows why, but this winter, the local produce became very bitter, absolutely inedible!" The seafood shop owner, upon hearing Chen Yu’s inquiry, didn’t avoid anything and explained quite casually.

Yet, in his tone, there were unavoidable traces of worry and sympathy: "At the beginning of winter, everyone saw the fruits and vegetables growing wildly and thought there would be a great harvest since they looked so large and full. But who could have guessed that these wildly grown fruits and vegetables would be completely unfit for consumption!

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Many farmers have lost their entire investment this winter, and it’s uncertain whether the government will step in or not."

Chen Yu’s gaze turned sharp upon the owner’s reply, and he began to pay attention to the discarded agricultural produce.

If it were just one or two cases, or a particular field’s crops that had issues, it might still be a minor problem. But if it’s something that affects the entire city, then it’s clearly a big problem, likely indicating that the region’s soil has been contaminated.

Linking this to the various odd encounters he had experienced since arriving in Kanazawa, Chen Yu deeply felt that something must have happened in Kanazawa to affect the entire city!

Chen Yu then made a subtle signal to Hiromi Jounouchi, and the two of them walked into the shop, sat down, and ordered a crab. While they ate, they casually chatted with the owner to gather more information.

"Boss, we’re tourists visiting Kanazawa. My girlfriend loves to hear about local legends and strange stories. Does Kanazawa have any intriguing tales or odd occurrences?" Watching the owner quickly dismember a fresh king crab and put it on the grill, Chen Yu feigned curiosity as he continued to inquire.

"Legends and strange stories? Haha, young people like you enjoy such novelties," the owner didn’t seem to take much interest, as he’d had all types of customers over the many years he’d been running his shop and spoke quite indifferently: "Kanazawa has been prosperous since the Edo Period, so there aren’t many strange tales to tell. However, there is one recent oddity." @@novelbin@@

"Oh? What’s that, Boss? Do tell!" Though Hiromi Jounouchi didn’t know why Chen Yu was asking these questions, she still played along with a curious expression, like a young girl eager to hear an interesting story.

Watching Hiromi Jounouchi’s curious look, the owner laughed and, after setting up the prepared crab legs in front of them with some dipping sauce, continued: "At the start of this winter, for some unknown reason, Oyama Shrine suddenly had a power outage one night, and the whole area behind the shrine went dark.

But the pond behind the Oyama Shrine emitted a faint bioluminescence, and not just the pond itself - even the plants around the pond glowed. It attracted quite a crowd who went to see it at night specifically.

If you’re interested, you can still go now. The shrine people have deliberately turned off the lights at night, so you can clearly see the pond and the plants around it glowing."

Hearing what the owner said, Chen Yu instantly remembered the seal he had discovered during his last visit to Oyama Shrine. It seemed very likely that something was wrong with that seal.

However, Chen Yu didn’t press the subject any further. Instead, he continued to taste the delicious crab while talking about other topics as if they were just making small talk.

"Boss, have you been sleeping well lately? Have there been any issues with not being able to sleep at night? We just arrived in Kanazawa yesterday, and many people who came with us didn’t sleep well at the hotel last night. I wanted to ask what the issue might be," Chen Yu asked, now highly suspicious the sleep issues experienced by those attending the conference might be related to this matter.

"It seems that there is such a thing. At the beginning of winter this year, we had a similar situation. For about three to five days, everyone on the street was not sleeping well. Even the guys who came to work for me had the same issue. I thought it was due to the seasonal change as it got colder!" The owner seemed to have a vivid memory of the incident and spoke with concern.

"Is that so?" Chen Yu nodded as if understanding, not delving deeper into it.

Considering all the information collected so far, the land and crops being affected, the residents of Kanazawa also being affected, and even the wine he drank last night containing a whiff of decay...

plus the bioluminescent pond at Oyama Shrine mentioned by the owner, Chen Yu could confirm that there was a problem with the seal, and whatever was sealed underneath the Oyama Shrine was causing issues.

But what Chen Yu felt during his last visit was the aura of necromancers, yet this bizarre reaction affecting the whole city seemed different from any necromancer Chen Yu was aware of, which made him very concerned.

"Hiromi, how about we visit Oyama Shrine later? I’m also curious to see that pond that glows at night!" Chen Yu suggested to Hiromi Jounouchi, acting as though they were just a couple discussing where to go for fun.

Realizing that Chen Yu wanted to check the site personally, Hiromi Jounouchi had no objections and nodded in agreement.

Although the local agricultural produce in Kanazawa was contaminated, the impact was not too great. After all, only the crops were affected; seafood and other products were fine. Chen Yu and Hiromi Jounouchi enjoyed a wonderful meal of king crab, making up for Hiromi’s previous regret of not being able to eat crab during her last visit to Kanazawa.

After finishing their crab, they said goodbye to the owner and were about to leave Omi-cho Market when the two headed towards the exit and saw a crowd pouring in.

Seeing a group of journalists with cameras thronging around someone who looked like a politician, Chen Yu and Hiromi Jounouchi knew that these were political figures.

They were planning to stand aside and wait, but a companion of the politician suddenly stopped, said something to the people around him, and then walked over to Chen Yu and Hiromi Jounouchi.

"Doctor Chen Yu, Doctor Jounouchi, what a rare sight! Our head of the house was just wondering if he had mistaken someone else for you, but it turns out it’s really both of you! It’s been a long time, how have you been?" The one greeting Chen Yu was none other than Okumura Eren, a retainer of the Maeda Family whom they had met before.