Student Masamichi has been working as Shino’s ‘servant’ for six months now and has relaxed into his new life. Shino – a ‘specter’ (or, more accurately, a once-powerful yokai/demon) – is good-looking, sophisticated and has been living in human form since his onmyoji master Tokifuyu subdued and captured him way back in Heian times. As part of the bargain that Shino struck with Masamichi when remaking his body, when the young man was left for dead after a hit-and-run, he feeds on his lifeforce from time to time. And in return for board and lodgings, Masamichi helps him in Bougyoudou, the ‘unusual’ antique shop Shino has run for many years.

After a trip to England to exorcise ghosts, Shino tells Masamichi that they’re going to Kobe and Kyoto! It turns out that Chieko Hashimoto, the elderly sister of the man who owned Bougyoudou, has been hospitalized in Kobe. Shino promised his former employer and friend to watch over her and make sure she wants for nothing – but she’s fiercely independent. Masamichi is touched when he meets her and learns more about Shino’s relationship with her brother and his wife. Shino so often seems distant and detached from his human companions (he is, after all, not human!) but this meeting enhances Masamichi’s growing feelings of warmth toward him.

And then, Masamichi is amazed and delighted when they end up staying at an exclusive onsen resort hotel which is run by Henri, another friend of Shino’s. But Masamichi guesses that Shino’s plan to visit Kyoto is to do with returning to his Heian roots – and when he spots posters advertising concerts to be given by a musician famous for performing gagaku (court music from Heian times) it reinforces his assumption. They go to sit on the banks of the River Hori, near a certain bridge, and Shino starts to tell Masamichi that this was where his master Tokifuyu died. Masamichi listens, horrified when he learns the circumstances – and that Shino, trapped inside a sealed jar to act as a magical barrier to protect the city, was able to do nothing to help his master but watch helplessly. It all seems like ancient history… but is it? Shino detects the presence of something of great significance nearby but danger is lurking nearby too. Are the tragic and macabre events from over a thousand years ago about to impact the two of them?

At last the mystery of Shino’s imprisonment for centuries and the death of his master are explained in this fourth volume of Michiru Fushino’s entertaining supernatural series of light novels The Contract Between a Specter and a Servant. And the unusual relationship between specter and servant is evolving as Masamichi feels more confident in himself and closer to Shino – and Shino, in his own non-human way, is obviously growing fond of the young man.

The Kyoto visit also allows the author to make references to the most famous onmyoji of all, Abe no Seimei, and the way he’s celebrated by anime and manga fans alike – then to contrast his fame with the fate that befell Tokifuyu. And even though the sinister threat to Shino and Masamichi doesn’t appear until the end of the novel, it’s cleverly foreshadowed and is undeniably disturbing when it’s eventually revealed.

The translation for Yen On is again by Eriko Sugita and it makes for a seamless and engrossing read. And the beautiful cover is again by Aki Aoi, featuring plot elements that are important in the story. The fifth volume of The Contract Between a Specter and a Servant has recently been slated for February 2026 by Yen On, so there’s more to look forward to in this subtly spooky saga.

Our review copy was supplied by the publisher Yen On.