Introduction 5

Jin looked at Iyla with a firm look of disapproval. “Professional magi train for years to get to the level where they can work independently. And even then, only a few people make a lot of money at it.”

Iyla’s enthusiasm deflated. “What’s the point of a cool magical book if I can’t even use it, or quit my job!” she grumbled.

Jin sighed. “Most people who have the ability to see Neighbors end up attracting all kinds of trouble, so they end up struggling. In a way, it’s more like a curse than a blessing.”

“Are you a magus too, then?”

Jin crossed his arms, and then started to explain.

Magus weren’t the only ones with the ability to “see” beyond the ordinary. Many people throughout the world were born with this power, and cultivated different methods of dealing with the supernatural forces. Jin himself was an onmyoji, trained in the art of Japanese divination and exorcisms.

Most of the legends and myths that were known to humanity in different cultures were actually examples of rifts opening up between “this” world and the “other” world. People in the business of dealing with the “other” world called the entities that came through the rifts “Neighbors”. When the neighbors entered this world through a rift and started roaming, there were some humans (about 5%) who were able to sense them, even if they couldn’t actually see their true forms. Their sense would manifest as something subtle, like a chill running through their body, or suddenly hearing the voices of something on the wind. Human imagination would fill in the rest, and these myths were passed on.

The two worlds were born at the same time, like twins. But unlike twins, these two realms were starting to merge and flow into each other more than usual, causing more rifts to open. These rifts were also much bigger than they used to be 200 years ago. The second largest rift was open right here, in the city where Iyla lived.

Not all Neighbors were necessarily bad, many lived peacefully among the humans, and disguised themselves as such. But there were certain beings who despised the humans, believing themselves superior. Those Neighbors tended to bring about destruction wherever they went, and it was up to the exorcists and other magically-inclined people to deal with the problem without causing panic to the masses.

Iyla turned the book around in her hands. Now that she had the ability to see them, according to Jin, it was inevitable that she was going to get mixed up in all this magical business too. Without any compensation either.

If trouble was coming to her anyways, she wanted to be prepared to deal with it.

“Is there a way that I can learn magic and stuff? This book is completely blank, and I don’t see any spells written here. Could you teach me?” Iyla asked.

“Unfortunately, like I said earlier, I’m not a magus, so I don’t know how those spells work. The only reason I knew the method of summoning the book is that the person who dropped it off told me about it. However… they also told me to contact them once someone became contracted to the book, so I think they were actually fishing for a dormant magus…like you.”

“Urgh.” Suddenly, Iyla felt less like a lucky, chosen person and more like a sucker who fell into a trap. She finished the rest of her tea quickly, feeling quite thirsty after their chat.

“Well, I guess I’ll be going then…” She got up from her seat.

“Wait!” said Jin. He pulled out a rectangular piece of paper with kanji on it and handed it to her. “Keep this talisman on you at all times. If you run into any problems, tear it in half and it will summon one of my familiars to protect you. It’ll also let me know that you’re in danger.” He also handed her a different piece of paper, but this one was just his personal phone number written with a pen.

She felt a little better knowing that she knew at least one person who understood her situation. Plus, it seemed like he was being nice enough to look out for her. Iyla originally thought he was just a grumpy shopkeeper, but she was glad to learn that he was actually a pretty reasonable person.

She took both pieces of paper gratefully, and exited the shop. Her mind was swimming with new information, but first, she was hungry and wanted to sate her appetite first.