HxH: Ryomen... Satoru?

Barrier techniques were considered part of an Onmyoji's skill set. As for sorcerers' use of barriers...

"I don't use barriers," Gojo Haru said cheerfully.

Most sorcerers in the Heian Era didn't care if they were seen by commoners while fighting cursed spirits.

Clearly, the "curtain" technique used by modern sorcerers hadn't been invented yet.

"…Are there any sorcerers who specialize in barrier techniques?" Cyr asked casually.

"Well... maybe you could just issue an order?" Gojo Haru suggested.

"As long as you say you're looking for someone skilled in barrier techniques, someone will definitely come to you." The man with his eyes wrapped in black cloth grinned.

He used to wear white cloth, but for some reason had switched to black.

"Ah…" Cyr suddenly realized. "Right."

His current status was basically that of a hidden emperor. He had already forced all of Heian-kyō to submit. Finding a few people skilled in barrier techniques should be a piece of cake.

Even if it was difficult, someone would dig them out for him.

"Then let all those who are skilled in barrier techniques come to me. Not just from the Three Great Families, and not just limited to sorcerers."

After thinking for a moment, Cyr made the announcement.

He had officially moved into the shrine, and Gojo Haru had naturally followed. As a result, the Gojo clan assigned a few attendants to help clean and care for their daily needs.

Because Gojo Haru… was utterly useless at housework—a young master who only knew how to be pampered.

The Zen'in and Kamo families mocked the Gojo clan for being sycophants behind their backs, but they also sent people into the shrine. Even the Fujiwara and Abe clans weren't exceptions.

To them, Cyr was like an unstable serial killer—someone who might snap and start a massacre in Heian-kyō at any moment. A proper madman.

As long as Cyr expressed a thought in front of these people, the Three Great Families would hear about it by the end of the day and start planning countermeasures.

Cyr knew why these people were being sent in, but he didn't care. He kept them around specifically to use as messengers.

"Well then, you all heard me, right? Go ahead and spread the word now," Cyr said with a bright smile, looking at the people bowing quietly on either side.

Though they looked like ordinary attendants, they were actually all sorcerers or Onmyoji.

They didn't sweep floors themselves—instead, they used paper talismans or enchanted broomsticks to do it for them.

Their general strength was around that of a Grade 2 sorcerer.

Unlike the modern era, which only had four known special-grade sorcerers, the Heian era was overflowing with powerhouses.

Grade 1s roamed freely, Grade 2s were considered mediocre, Grade 3s and 4s were relegated to menial labor, and even special-grades numbered close to triple digits.

To be clear, these were normal special-grades.

Not monsters like Gojo Satoru or Ryomen Sukuna.

Cyr himself, based on power level, was considered special-grade—but he treated fighting other special-grades like swatting weak cursed spirits...

In short, the people various families had sent were all at Grade 2 level. Sending Grade 1s or special-grades would be too much of a loss if they were killed. But Grade 2s? Totally expendable.

If they died, they died.

At that moment, as the white-haired youth spoke from above, everyone lowered their heads in silence—

Some even looked like they were preparing to die.

After all, gathering intelligence from one's own household and leaking it to others… was a good way to get yourself killed.

Everyone present thought the white-haired boy's words were a warning.

"Why aren't you moving?" Cyr looked down at them. "I told you to go, so go."

"Isn't my attitude obvious? I don't care."

"No matter who you pass this information to, I really don't care."

"Otherwise, I would've killed all of you on the very first day you were sent here." The white-haired youth hopped down from the platform and strolled past them casually, speaking without turning around.

"Play your role as messengers. Bring me those skilled in barrier techniques as quickly as possible."

"I imagine none of you want me to personally go down the mountain to look for them… right?" he asked, standing at the doorway.

The "messengers" all looked up at the boy, trying to discern whether he was serious or joking.

When they couldn't tell, they lowered their heads again and quietly exited the room one by one.

As for how they passed messages, they mostly relied on sorcery or shikigami.

In this world, there was no such thing as advanced technology—no surveillance, no cell phones, no cameras.

Otherwise, Cyr's battle with Gojo Haru back then wouldn't have gone so unnoticed, and the rumor about him gouging out Gojo Haru's eyes wouldn't have spiraled so wildly.

All things considered, their current methods of communication were still quite efficient.

Three days later, people who claimed to be skilled in barrier techniques began arriving at the shrine.

Some of them were even tied up and carried in, as if they had been abducted like village maidens.

But Cyr wasn't a bandit, and the ones being dragged in weren't maidens—some weren't even women.

"You didn't want to come?" Cyr asked one of the bound men with curiosity.

The man had been struggling fiercely along the way, but the moment he was carried through the torii gate, he gave up all resistance and slumped like a broken doll.

Even when he was untied and regained his freedom, he made no attempt to escape.

"Of course I wanted to. I just… have trouble walking," he replied as he slowly got up from the ground, watching Cyr's expression carefully while crawling to his feet.

When he finally stood up, he exhaled in relief.

So this man—who had seized the divine name of the Moon God—wasn't quite the bloodthirsty lunatic the rumors made him out to be.

"…I see," Cyr murmured with an unreadable tone, his icy blue eyes glancing down at the man's legs.

It was only then that the man realized—nothing escapes the gaze of the Six Eyes.

Be it illness or deceit, everything was laid bare.

"I'm looking for the best. Are you all… the best?" Cyr asked as he scanned the group assembled before him.

There weren't many—just twenty or thirty in total.

A mix of sorcerers and Onmyoji.

All of them appeared to be over thirty.

Well, it made sense. The longer you studied a specific technique, the more proficient you'd become.

None of them looked particularly combat-ready either—most had slender, scholarly frames, clearly more suited to support roles or technical research.

"In the realm of barrier techniques, all of us are considered highly specialized veterans," said a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties.

"We just need to know—what kind of barrier is Your Highness interested in?" another asked politely.

"A killing illusion formation, preferably large-scale, with long duration. Something that triggers as soon as someone enters—trapping them in an illusion and… killing them without them even realizing it." Cyr stroked his chin as he spoke.

"Yeah, a large barrier that spans the entire shrine starting from the torii gate. Anyone who crosses it dies because of the spell. Their blood or corpses could then be used to sustain or power the formation…" he offered his "reasonable" proposal in all seriousness.

"…Your request…" The group exchanged looks with each other.

How should they put this... It was way too much.

"You can't do it?" the white-haired youth said, looking disappointed.

As if to say: If you can't, don't bother going back.

°°°

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