"He was worse than a trickster," Seimei says gravely. "In this incident, he just cheated in a divination contest. We were supposed to divine the contents of this closed box - there were a dozen or so oranges in it - but the person who filled the box was one of his lackeys. So when Fujiwara Kane'ie asked us what was in the box and we gave our answers, I did a little trick and said that the box was full of rats."

Seimei turns the page. The next picture shows the court scene, but a number of things have changed. The lid is now off the box: the Emperor and the courtiers have looks of shock on their faces. The ladies can no longer be seen peering around their curtains, presumably because they are hiding behind them. Fujiwara Kane'ie and Ashiya Doman are both scooting backwards on their behinds. And no wonder: there are a bunch of very ugly-looking rats erupting out of the open box.

"It was an illusion, but it was realistic enough to cause a panic," Seimei says. "I shouldn't have done that. I should have turned them into stones or birds or something more innocuous." He shrugs.

"Where was I...ah, yes. Ashiya Doman. He would kill small animals and insects with magic to impress the ministers. And he did black magic for hire, mostly at the behest of the Fujiwara family."