Chapter 1: Let's go to the countryside!
In mid-July, with summer vacation just around the corner, I was riding an old bus with Nina-chan and Irena-san. Outside the window, I could see old houses scattered here and there. Between these houses were rice fields and trees, and the houses appeared abandoned.
Naturally, the roads weren’t as neatly paved as in Tokyo; there were quite a few potholes, and some parts of the asphalt seemed to be decaying due to age.
Because of the state of the road, the bus shook a lot. To avoid getting motion sickness, I leaned my body against the vehicle and stared out absentmindedly, when the conductor announced the next bus stop. Irena-san, who had been zoning out just like me, suddenly looked surprised when she heard the name of the stop and shook Nina-chan, who had been sleeping beside me.
“Nina-chan, wake up. We’re almost there.”
“…Haa.”
When Nina-chan woke up, she let out a small yawn, and I almost yawned as well in response.
...I’m tired.
I didn’t say it out loud, but I stretched my body deeply.
It had been such a long trip.
The journey had taken three hours by train from Tokyo, and then another hour by bus. It felt like a small trip.
The reason we had come all the way out here was to observe Irena-san’s work. Renji-san, who usually lets us observe her work, was on a business trip in the Tohoku region with Aya-chan. My father, too, had gone on a business trip to the Chubu region.
So, we came along with Irena-san, who was going to show us the practical use of "Fairy Magic."
In the recent battle with the monster, I had successfully summoned the fairy—"Raikou Doji"—but that was only because I had supplemented the core required for fairy magic with a "relic." To put it simply, it was like riding a bicycle with training wheels. It would be better to remove them as soon as possible if I could.
“By the way, what kind of monster is in the place we’re going to?”
I asked Irena-san quietly from the back of the bus, which was only occupied by us. Since we were nearing our destination, I thought it would be a good idea to ask, and as soon as I mentioned monsters, Nina-chan’s body jolted slightly in response.
“I haven’t told you yet, have I?”
Irena-san said, then continued.
“The monster we’ll encounter is a man in a black suit. Apparently, he’s been showing up from somewhere every evening since last month, talking to elementary school students.”
“Talking to them?”
“Yes. As a monster, he talks about incoherent things.”
Irena-san said this, then lowered her gaze to her smartphone. It seems that modern exorcists exchange monster data via email. My father seems uninterested in smartphones, so I wonder how he manages to see such things?
“As for the content, he asks questions like ‘Is your mother there?’, ‘Are you an adult?’, and ‘Are you happy right now?’—things that are rather inappropriate for elementary school students to hear. However, the one thing that remains consistent is that he’s a man in a black suit with a black hat, and he’s two meters tall.”
Just hearing this, one might think he’s a suspicious person.
But a man in a black suit, huh...?
Hearing that, the first thing that comes to mind is probably a mourning suit. The company I used to work at had a very casual dress code, so I only ever wore a suit during job hunting. Therefore, when I hear “suit,” that’s about all I can think of.
“However, after this man started appearing, three children have gone missing in the past week.”
“Three...?”
When I reacted in surprise, Nina-chan tightly squeezed my hand.
“Feeling the danger, the police went out on patrol, but one of the officers disappeared during that.”
“...”
“And that’s when it became the exorcists' turn.”
After all, it’s not possible for a suspicious person to make people disappear.
It’s undoubtedly the work of a monster.
But as I listened to Irena-san’s story, something about it didn’t sit right with me. This is because there’s a certain correlation between the intelligence and rank of monsters. When monsters speak incoherently, it’s usually either Rank 1 or Rank 2. If that’s the case, it seems like a nearby exorcist should be able to handle it. Why would they need to call in a Rank 4 exorcist?
While I was pondering this, Nina-chan turned to Irena-san and asked,
“Hey, Mom. How were the children who got involved with the monster saved?”
“It seems that only the children who didn’t answer the questions were saved,” Irena-san replied.
Nina-chan sighed in relief at that answer.
But Irena-san didn’t pause and continued.
“However... there were cases where the man kept chasing or blocking children who didn’t answer, constantly asking the same things. It seems there were even cases where, if the children stayed silent, the number of men kept increasing.”
Nina-chan’s grip on my hand became unbelievably strong. I could tell she was scared. I understood that feeling.
Just as I was about to say something to comfort Nina-chan, the bus stopped. My legs, which had been sitting for so long, were stiff and sore. I forced them to move and got off the bus, which only accepted cash. A very quiet town greeted us.
The bus stop, covered in rusty tin, had an old, faded poster and, strangely, an outdoor ashtray—something rare these days. Looking at the faded poster, I could barely make out the year “1970” amidst the wear. How long has this been up?
On the other hand, the ashtray right by the bus stop had a fresh cigarette butt that had just been crushed and discarded. The smell of the cigarette was almost completely masked by the exhaust fumes from a passing car.
Turning around to look at the road, I saw that most of the buildings lining the street were old, their walls cracked and discolored in many places. Perhaps it was due to the rain, but where the white walls had stains, they looked like the aging skin of an elderly person.
“We arrived a little earlier than expected. Should we kill some time somewhere?” Irena-san said, glancing at her wristwatch. I had also checked the time in the bus earlier, and it was still a little past 4:00 p.m. It was too early to call it evening.
“Itsuki-kun. Nina. Is there anything you’d like to eat?”
“...Something sweet.”
Still unable to shake off her fear, Nina-chan grumbled as she held onto my hand.
To fulfill her request like a princess, we decided to look for a café.
That said, we live in the smartphone era. A quick search on the map brought up several cafés and directions to get there. The only person with a smartphone was Irena-san, who led the way while we followed behind. But as I watched her, a question arose in my mind.
It was about Irena-san's outfit. She was wearing a black, medieval-style exorcist robe. The robe, woven from materials that protect against magic, was the same exorcist uniform I had worn during my "Shichi-Go-San" ceremony.
Since the robe was created to fight monsters, the sleeves were long and made of thick fabric to prevent injury. Just looking at it made me feel hot. Even though it was already late in the afternoon, it was still July. I figured the temperature must have been over thirty degrees.
"Irena-san, aren't you hot?"
"Are you curious, Itsuki-kun?"
"Yeah. It's so hot, but you still look cool."
"Try putting your hand inside my coat."
Irena-san said this and took my free hand, placing it inside her coat.
What greeted my hand was a cool breeze, like air conditioning.
"Wow, it's cool!"
"Itsuki-kun, you can see other people's fairies, right? Can you see them now?"
Irena-san said this, unbuttoning her coat, and two fairies flew out. They were small enough to sit on the palm of my hand, resembling humans but with four wings growing from their backs.
They gently blew a breath on me and Nina-chan, and a warm breeze, like that of a fan, softly caressed us.
“These are ‘Sylphs.’ They cool the air inside the coat. If I take the coat off, I can’t keep the air trapped, so it would be even hotter.”
I recalled seeing air-conditioned clothes being sold, and I understood on my own. In my previous life, workers wearing such clothes would often come to the convenience store to buy food during the summer. Irena-san was doing something similar with magic.
The wind from the Sylphs was initially warm, but with their second breath, the temperature dropped significantly. It seemed they could even do something similar to an air conditioner. I wondered if "Threads" could do something like that.
As I was thinking about how I could cool down without using fairies, Nina-chan pouted.
"...Mom, that's unfair."
"If Nina practices, she’ll be able to do it too," Irena-san smiled at Nina-chan’s complaint and then turned her gaze forward again.
After about ten minutes of walking, we arrived at a small café, guided by the map.
The café looked like it had been around for a long time, with a nostalgic, fairy-tale-like exterior. The small chalkboard displaying the day’s specials made me feel a wave of nostalgia.
Inside the café, it was fairly busy—mostly with regular customers, it seemed.
Because of this, we stood out quite a bit. Actually, it wasn’t really me who stood out. It was Irena-san and Nina-chan.
These two, just by walking through town, attracted attention. They were blonde and blue-eyed, and beautiful.
So, in an unfamiliar place, they attracted even more attention. As for me, I was an average person, so being with them made me stand out even more, which drew even more attention.
We were guided by what seemed to be the elderly female owner of the café, and we sat at a table.
“Hey, Itsuki. Do they have anything sweet?”
“Sweet things?”
“…I can’t read all of the Japanese yet.”
Nina-chan said this as she pointed to the menu and handed it to me.
“If it’s sweet, does that mean anything will do?”
“Wouldn’t you trust Itsuki to not order anything strange?”
Nina-chan said this as she tucked her long hair behind her ear. As I thought about her difficult request, I took the faded, old menu and stared at it.
Her Japanese was so good that I often found myself misunderstanding things, but come to think of it, Nina-chan had only been in Japan for a few months. While she could manage speaking, reading the characters must be difficult for her. So, I decided to order pancakes for her. I thought about ordering something for myself too, but there was no curry bread, so I just got a drink... Well, I guess it’s normal for a café to not have curry bread.
The water arrived first, and while sipping it, we took a brief break.
While resting, I decided to ask Irena-san.
“Hey, Irena-san. Since the monster only talks to elementary school students, does that mean we’ll have to act as decoys?”
“No, that’s not necessary.”
Irena-san calmly shook her head. Then, with a serious expression, she continued.
“Now, it speaks to anyone, regardless of age. It’s probably grown stronger. The number of victims has also increased, and as of now, there are 122 people missing.”
“One hundred…?”
Wait a minute. The scale of this situation is different from what I heard on the bus. What’s going on?
As I furrowed my brows in confusion, Irena-san continued.
“Among the 122 missing people, two are second-rank exorcists.”
“So, that means this monster is…”
“Most likely Rank 3 or higher. Based on my judgment, I believe it’s Rank 4.”
A shiver ran down my spine.
Rank 4... that’s the same as the one that trapped people in boxes inside an abandoned school building.
This is going to be troublesome...
I hope this one has a normal personality, but expecting that from a monster is probably too much to ask.
“Are 122 people really missing?”
“Yes, the information that’s been provided indicates that.”
Irena-san said this and showed me the screen of her smartphone.
Looking at the small screen, I saw a PDF displaying a brief overview of the incident. They really are exchanging data electronically. At my old company, we mostly used fax machines for communication.
As I sensed a small wave of IT advancement, I scrolled through the incident summary. I stopped when I reached the list of victims. Sure enough, it said "Number of missing persons: 122." It was a terrifying number.
At that moment, the screen of Irena-san’s smartphone dimmed slightly. When I touched the screen, the brightness returned. The screen dims very quickly on her phone.
As I tapped the screen to restore the brightness, a melon soda was brought to me. It had ice cream on top. A sweet one.
Since it was a good moment to take a break, I pulled my gaze away from the phone screen and looked around the café.
The regular customers were chatting happily with the elderly female shopkeeper. The atmosphere was so peaceful, it didn’t seem like a town where 100 people had gone missing.
“But, even though so many people are missing, it feels so... normal.”
“It’s like there aren’t any monsters here,” Nina-chan agreed with my murmur.
However, just as we were thinking that, Irena-san shook her head.
“It’s not surprising that people aren’t panicking. The town’s population has been declining by an average of nearly three hundred people a year. The number of missing people is currently less than half of that,” Irena-san explained.
“Why is the population decreasing?” Nina-chan asked, clearly not satisfied with the explanation.
“They move to the cities, Nina.”
“Tokyo?”
“Yes, that’s right. Tokyo, or possibly Niigata City, which is nearby.”
I couldn’t quite understand this. I was born in Tokyo in both my previous life and this one, so I didn’t really get the feeling of leaving my hometown to move to the capital.
However, I could understand why the young people in this town wouldn’t want to stay. After all, there’s nothing here. There’s no convenience store or supermarket nearby. There’s a self-service gas station, but no family restaurants, karaoke, or large commercial facilities. Plus, I overheard on the bus that the nearest movie theater is an hour and a half away by car.
It’s no wonder young people would want to leave.
So, three hundred people leave this town every year. I don’t know how many people live here, but the number of missing persons is one-third of the outflow. If you were to say it’s insignificant, maybe that’s true.
It seems that depopulation is reducing the population more than the monsters are.
After finishing these thoughts, it suddenly occurred to me...
Wait, no. Is this really at an insignificant level?
Because normally, if three hundred people leave in a year, and now, in just one month, one hundred twenty people are missing—that’s not just a population decline, it’s a case of people going missing. If you consider the pace at which people are disappearing... Um, if I divide three hundred by twelve...
“Do you want to eat pudding?”
“Eh?”
As I was mentally calculating the figures, the shop owner brought over some pudding. I froze for a moment, distracted by the sudden question. Since I was still thinking, I couldn’t help but look at the pudding the shopkeeper had brought. It was a slightly firm pudding topped with whipped cream and a cherry. I had only seen something like this on a kids' meal before.
However, one thing was bothering me,
“I didn’t order pudding?”
When something shows up that you didn’t order, the first emotion isn’t joy, but confusion.
As I tilted my head in confusion, the woman gave a playful smile, then placed the pudding in front of Nina-chan.
“You must be hungry too, if your girlfriend is eating all the food, right?”
“Girlf...!”
Nina-chan froze with her mouth still open.
I paused for a moment, thinking about which one to respond to first, then turned to the shopkeeper and asked again.
“Is this okay?”
“It’s fine. It’s a service.”
“Thank you very much!”
When I thanked her, the shopkeeper said, “Enjoy!” and went back to the counter with the tray. She was so cool. I want to be like that when I grow up.
As I admired her, I felt a poke in my side.
Turning around, I saw Nina-chan offering me a spoon.
“Here, Itsuki.”
“Eh? Oh, uh, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“What?”
With a composed face, Nina-chan handed me a spoon and spoke in English. I had no idea what she was saying. But knowing her, she probably wasn’t saying anything strange. Probably.
“Hey, Nina. Don’t be mean to Itsuki-kun.”
“I’m not.”
With just that, Nina-chan reached for her pancakes with a knife. I followed her example and took a bite of my pudding. It was sweet. Sweet and delicious. Then, I reached for the spoon to stir the ice cream in my melting melon soda. Since being reborn in this body, my sense of taste had changed, and I could eat as many sweet things as I wanted. Come to think of it, I used to be like this when I was a kid. I stopped being able to eat this much sweet stuff at some point.
“If Nina and Itsuki-kun are having dessert, maybe I should have something too...”
Irena-san, perhaps feeling like having something as well, said this as she put her phone back in her bag and began looking at the menu.
“Irena-san, can you read Japanese?”
“This too is thanks to ‘Translation Magic.’”
With that, Irena-san lightly touched her temple. If you looked closely, you could see a semi-transparent fairy clinging to her. Fairy magic is really convenient. As I thought this, Irena-san ordered a parfait. Watching her, I suddenly realized something.
...Wait. Didn’t I have something important to think about just now? What was it?
Well, whatever. It’s no use worrying about it before the monster shows up.
With that, I decided to kill time chatting with Nina-chan and Irena-san while munching on my pudding.
That said, the topic was mostly decided.
Where we were going for summer vacation, what we were doing. I hadn’t decided yet, but it seemed like they already had plans and told me about them.
“I’m going back to England for two weeks.”
“Really? That’s a little lonely.”
“I’ll be back soon.”
I said it because I’d be missing the friend I’ve seen almost every day since April, but Nina-chan turned her head away. It felt like she was indirectly saying I wasn’t a friend, and my heart hurt.
As I was silently hurting, Irena-san spoke softly, in a voice almost a whisper, explaining the reason for the trip to England.
“It’s Nina’s father’s birthday. It’s at the end of July.”
“...I see.”
This time, I felt my heart tighten in my chest.
Nina-chan’s father is dead. He was killed by a monster while on duty. And that was the event that shattered Nina-chan’s heart... Irena-san had sealed away her memories.
“Nina probably has things she wants to talk about too.”
How should I have responded to Irena-san’s words?
I had no idea, so in my confusion, I could only distract myself by eating my pudding.
As I struggled to think of a good response, the topic shifted, and we began talking about how I didn’t have any plans for the summer vacation. However, even though I didn’t have any planned events, I was determined to practice magic over the summer. When I told Irena-san and Nina-chan this, it was met with a strong disapproval.
They both agreed that wasting the summer vacation just practicing would be a waste, and we made a promise to go to a summer festival together. I never expected my summer vacation plans to take shape in this way. I secretly made up my mind to tell my mother when I got home, but just as I was thinking this, there was a loud boom.
Looking toward the source of the sound, I saw a rare wooden wall clock, which indicated it was 5:00 p.m.
“Sorry. This shop closes at five. Could you please pay first?”
The shopkeeper looked at my half-eaten pudding as she spoke. Irena-san had finished her parfait, and Nina-chan had finished her pancakes. Was I the only one who hadn’t finished?
“Itsuki-kun, I’ll go ahead and pay, so you can finish eating in the meantime.”
“...Okay.”
Looking around the shop, I saw the regulars starting to prepare to leave, chatting as they did.
Five o’clock closing is pretty early. I guess that’s how it is with family-owned businesses.
I don’t usually go to family-run cafés, so I’m not really familiar with it. But once they say it's closing time, it's closing. Just as Irena-san stood up to pay, the shopkeeper asked me:
“Hey, is this your mom?”
“No, she’s not. She’s my friend’s mom.”
I thought it was a strange question. If Nina-chan weren’t here, maybe, but if these two were sitting side by side, it’d be obvious they were mother and daughter. So, I was about to point to Nina-chan to show that, but as soon as I turned to her, she squeezed my hand tightly. Her hand was trembling violently, and...
“...Itsuki.”
Before I could ask what was wrong, the shopkeeper spoke sharply.
“Does my mom exist?”
“Yeah. She’s here.”
As the shopkeeper spoke, the regulars walked out, saying "See you later."
At that moment, the orange hue of the setting sun shone strongly through the window.
Ah, right, I remembered that this town is in the mountains, so the sun sets earlier.
Boom—the clock rang again.
The sunlight that had entered the shop illuminated the room, stretching our shadows.
Stretching, stretching, it seemed to swallow the entire shop in darkness.
“That’s nice, I’m glad. ...Oh, I just remembered.”
“What is it?”
“Are you happy now?”
Happy? Right now? Me?
For a brief moment, I hesitated, wondering if I should nod, but then Nina-chan screamed.
“Itsuki! Wait!”
“What’s wrong, Nina-chan?”
I was suddenly yanked hard backward and almost fell onto the sofa.
But I couldn’t turn around. I didn’t know why, but I had this feeling that I couldn’t take my eyes off the shopkeeper in front of me.
“Look ahead! Why aren’t you noticing! The monster is right in front of you!”
As Nina-chan screamed, my head was suddenly engulfed in a purple mist. No, it wasn’t just me. Irena-san was caught in it too. And the moment the mist covered our heads, I felt a sharp sensation, like my head was being shaken violently.
Before I could even stagger, my thoughts suddenly switched.
“...!”
In an instant, my vision cleared. It was the same feeling as when the drowsiness from an afternoon class suddenly disappeared, and I felt refreshed. My thoughts became clear instantly.
Why hadn’t I noticed? Why had I been trying not to think about it?
...I had already suspected it from the start.
The abnormality of the situation, with 120 people gone missing!
“You didn’t notice, did you? The menu.”
“...I still can’t read Japanese.”
The shopkeeper—no, the monster—spoke with a voice full of shame, and Nina-chan responded,
"How unfortunate... Even though you can't read, just by looking, happiness—the fairy tale world—was waiting for you."
"I’m not interested."
"You say that because you don’t know the heaven of this world. Pain, sadness, it’s all just a dream world for children. Hey, miss, are you... happy right now?"
The moment those words were said, a fairy summoned by Irena-san slammed into the shopkeeper's body.
A heavy sound echoed as a man, wearing a black hat and a black suit, emerged from the shopkeeper’s body, like liquid oozing out. He was tall, humanoid in shape, but his face was gone. He had no face. Despite that, his mouth moved as if speaking, and a voice could be heard,
“Hello, exorcists. I’m just a bringer of happiness. I’d like to know your names.”
“You’re not getting them.”
It doesn’t matter how the monster talks—I don’t really care about that. What concerned me more was the magic it used earlier. Somehow, my thoughts had been subtly influenced without me realizing it.
...How did it do that?
I was intrigued, but I decided to reset my thoughts.
"That’s not a ‘hello’," I said, focusing on the immediate task at hand.
"The priority right now is to exorcise the monster in front of me."
“Goodbye.”
I began to weave the magic threads.
One of my weaknesses is that the power of my magic can sometimes be too high. Every spell I’ve cast so far was designed to be deadly, to kill monsters. But I hadn’t been able to fight them indoors or against possession-type monsters without harming people.
That’s why I needed a magic with less destructive power, and I had to create one.
I wove three magical threads, transforming the first into a sphere of water, tying the second straight toward the enemy, and using the final thread to trigger "Attribute Change: Wind." With a blast of wind, the water sphere shot toward the monster. I named this technique "Exposure."
There was a dull thud as the monster’s body bent in a sharp arc from the impact. Without a moment’s hesitation, Irena-san’s fairy grabbed the monster’s legs and threw him toward the window.
The sound of shattering glass rang loudly in our ears.
The monster crashed into the parking lot and let out a big laugh.
"Pain is a bounce. You need it to sink, then jump up. Yes, to fly all the way to Wonderland. Don’t you think so?"
No, I don’t.
Sighing, I continued weaving the magical threads in my hands.
"If you want to go to Wonderland so badly, then go alone."
"Little egoist," the monster mocked.
Egoist? No, that’s not it.
"If you can help, then help everyone. To help, you need power. You need to gain magic. You need to consume stronger exorcists!"
The man threw off his black hat, and his faceless head burst open, revealing a large mouth inside. A long, sluggish tongue slithered out of the mouth. The monster stretched out its right hand toward me, with magical threads tangled around it.
The moment I saw the threads, I knew it was too late.
The monster wasn’t intending to talk any longer.
"‘Thunderstrike!’"
A sharp sound rang from the golden relic hanging from my chest.
The thunder magic, resonating with the relic of Raikou Doji and my own magic, activated.
As it reversed direction from my hands, the monster’s head exploded with a sharp bang, and it collapsed forward. The heavy body made a loud thud as it bounced on the parking lot, slowly turning into black mist and vanishing.
As I watched the mist dissolve into the sunset, Irena-san began to handle the aftermath. She contacted "Kuro," and called an ambulance for the shopkeeper, who had been possessed by the monster, and also arranged for a repair team to fix the broken window glass—actually, the glass we had broken. I wondered if I’d have to handle things like this if I ever worked alone.
While holding the phone to her ear, Irena-san motioned with her other hand.
...Does this mean I’m supposed to come closer?
As I read Irena-san’s gesture, I approached her, and Nina-chan mimicked the same action.
As soon as I got closer, Irena-san snapped her fingers in front of us. In that instant, something like glowing dandelion fluff appeared around our bodies.
“Whoa! What’s this?”
“These are ‘Nutriquias,’ fairies that can diagnose whether you’ve been poisoned.”
At her words, I suddenly realized. If the monster had intended to kill us, it could have mixed poison into our food.
"However, from the way the monster spoke earlier, its goal seemed to be to drain our magic, so I don’t think there’s any poison in it... but just in case, let’s make sure to check."
Irena-san said this, then picked up one of the ‘Nutriquias’ and swallowed it, almost as if showing us how to do it. Watching her, we followed suit and swallowed the fairy as well.
A warm, soft sensation trickled down my throat. It was oddly ticklish.
“The fairy you just swallowed will check for any abnormalities in your body. If you’ve ingested poison, it will also detoxify you.”
"Fairy magic is so convenient," I muttered, impressed by how simple and effective it seemed.
Irena-san casually said, “Today, it’s just been a bit more useful than usual. There are times when ‘Shijutsu’ might seem more convenient.”
I wondered about that. Well, if Irena-san said so, there must be a reason. Having learned from experience, I knew that speaking out of turn with shallow knowledge usually leads to trouble, so I held my tongue.
As I made an effort to avoid embarrassing myself, Irena-san sighed deeply.
"...That was troublesome, wasn’t it?"
"Was it the monster from earlier?"
I asked, and she nodded deeply.
"Thought manipulation is the most basic form of 'brainwashing magic.' Normally, it’s magic used by Rank 3 monsters, but it seems it was already being used at Rank 2. That’s my mistake for not noticing it sooner."
"When did we fall under the influence of the magic?"
While listening to Irena-san sigh for what felt like the hundredth time, I asked the question that had been on my mind.
"The menu... or rather, the information in the PDF about the incident was probably already enchanted with it," Irena-san explained, lifting her smartphone to show me. As if reacting, the previously dark screen lit up. On it was a photo of Nina-chan, looking disgruntled, wearing her school bag. It seemed like Irena-san had set her daughter as the wallpaper, which was, well... something.
However, the screen on Irena-san's phone didn’t dim, as it had before. The time on the lock screen switched, but the brightness remained unchanged.
...Wait. Was I mistaken in thinking the screen's dimming interval was short, or was that some kind of magic trick? But the magic threads weren't visible on the phone's text. Could I have missed them?
As I was perplexed, Irena-san continued.
“Embedding magic within information is an ancient technique, but I’ve never heard of monsters embedded into an electronic device like this before. It must be a new form of magic... How troublesome.”
“What kind of magic is embedded in information?”
“It’s magic that uses pictures or text to trigger spells remotely, or at a specific timing. In the West, there is ancient magic called ‘Contract Runes,’ which involve making a contract with a monster and using it for your purposes. I think you’re familiar with it, Itsuki-kun. It’s a type of magic that faded away along with the witch hunts.”
I knew a little about that magic.
When my father had taught me about witch hunts, he briefly mentioned it. At the time, I remember him saying that “manipulating something” was seen as dangerous, but... If it’s magic that manipulates monsters, it makes sense why it would be considered dangerous.
“I’m sure this is just preaching to the converted for you, Itsuki-kun, but in Japan, spiritual talismans are more well-known.”
That was news to me. Even if she said it was preaching to the converted, I wasn’t a Buddhist monk.
...Could it be that it’s that? The "Charm" I received from Akane-san of the "Kanzatsuki" family? I thought back to the battle with Raikou Doji as I placed my hand over my clothes.
I didn’t quite understand how it worked, but now it made sense. Sometimes, things connect in unexpected ways.
“Technically, it’s called ‘Injutsu,’ or 'Seal Magic.' In Japan, it’s probably called ‘Koku-jutsu,’ but it’s a type of magic that faded out after the 16th or 17th century.”
“Wait, it disappeared?”
“Well, when you consider its practical use, it’s just not feasible. You have to prepare paper, and then bring it into battle against monsters, so you’d run into issues with running out of seals. And when you think about the magic side of things, it’s extremely inefficient. It’s much faster and more efficient to just ask a fairy, which is a concentrated ball of magic, to help you, and there’s no loss in doing so.”
Well, it’s true. Asking a fairy for help is certainly faster than writing symbols or pictures on paper to fight a monster. Using my own magic threads is likely more efficient too, compared to using paper.
I guess the shift toward paperless magic might have happened first in the exorcist community.
“Besides, with the brainwashing magic of Injutsu, you could counter it with a magic circulation. Honestly, I thought I was safe. I never imagined someone would put it into an electronic file.”
Irena-san gave a bitter smile as she tucked her smartphone into her pocket.
This was like installing antivirus software and then being caught off guard by the latest virus that ends up destroying your computer. Well, I prefer smartphones, so I’ve never had my computer broken, but judging by the way Irena-san spoke, it felt like that kind of situation.
"With new magic like this, I’ll need to file a report sooner rather than later..."
Irena-san muttered to herself, and just as she said that, a patrol car finally arrived.
After handing over the aftermath to someone from "Kuro" who came to conduct the investigation, we finally left the café and stepped outside.
The sun had already set behind the mountains, and the street facing the café was dimly lit by evenly spaced streetlights. The spacing between them was surprisingly wide, and compared to Tokyo, it made the whole town feel dark.
At the entrance to the night, I suddenly asked Irena-san something that had been on my mind.
“Hey, Irena-san. If I study the 'thought manipulation' magic the monster used earlier, could I use it too?”
“Hmm, I think it’s difficult, but…”
As she said that, Irena-san summoned a fairy and sent it out into the town. I could tell what she was doing. She was using the fairy to search for any monsters she might have missed.
“Why is it difficult?”
“Because magic that distorts a person’s thoughts is considered forbidden magic. There’s no way to learn it, not normally. Perhaps there are exorcists who know forbidden magic, but fortunately, I don’t.”
“Can't you use it on monsters?”
I didn’t really want to manipulate anyone’s thoughts.
I just thought that if I could distort a monster’s thoughts, I could exorcise it without getting into dangerous situations. But Irena-san smiled as if she had predicted my response.
“I figured you’d say that, Itsuki-kun. But the truth is, thought manipulation doesn’t work on monsters.”
“Eh, really!?”
“Yes. There have been exorcists in the past who thought the same and conducted a few experiments. None of them produced the desired results.”
“Why not?”
“We don’t know for sure, but the most likely theory is that monsters’ thoughts are already distorted from the start, so they’re less receptive to external manipulation.”
“Ahh...”
That somehow makes sense.
Among all the monsters I’ve fought, I’ve never encountered one that thought exactly like a human. The only one I think I had a proper conversation with was the Rank 5 monster I fought in the forest, but that was a newly born creature, almost childlike, so it’s not very applicable as a reference.
Raikou Doji, the sisters obsessed with either a box or a ball, and the one from earlier—all of them had distorted logic that didn’t make sense. They were all beings whose thought processes were logically explainable but didn’t align with human understanding.
As I was trying to swallow my excitement about the new magic, Nina-chan tugged at my hand. When I turned around, she seemed a little annoyed.
“Itsuki, don’t you have anything to say?”
“Something to say...?”
I was caught off guard by her sudden question and found myself at a loss for words.
Something to say... something to say... Oh!
Finally realizing what she meant, I turned to Nina-chan and thanked her.
“Thanks to you, Nina-chan, we were able to defeat the monster. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Nina-chan responded without much emotion, but I repeated my gratitude.
Looking back, if she hadn’t been there, it could’ve been really dangerous. Well, in the end, the Hama-fuda would’ve probably taken care of things, but that was really the last resort. It’s important to solve things without relying on it.
As I was thinking about this, fairies flew back from the sky. The sight was almost like shooting stars.
“There doesn’t seem to be any others. I guess it was just abandoned because this is the countryside…”
“What’s wrong?”
I asked Irena-san, who had a troubled expression, as if something small was stuck in her throat.
“I’m wondering if the monster came up with the idea to put magic into the PDF itself, or if it was something shared from another monster. That’s what’s bothering me.”
“You mean, it might’ve been taught by another monster? Can that really happen?”
“It can. It’s rare, but sometimes weaker monsters work together as part of an organization.”
As Irena-san spoke, she sent the fairies back into the night.
Watching her, I thought about how low-ranking monsters don’t really communicate well, but could they form an organization? I also thought about how I needed to be able to use fairy magic more effectively. I had a lot to work on.
Before long, the last fairy returned. After confirming everything, we were driven by the "Kuro"-driven police car to a nearby regional city.
As soon as we got in, Nina-chan leaned against me.
“I’m so tired, Itsuki.”
“Today has been a lot to deal with.”
I responded and then looked out the window of the police car for the first time.
It had been a job observation full of unresolved issues.
There was so much left to do and so much I needed to improve on.
...I need to work harder.
Thinking that, I absentmindedly played with the Raikou Dojirelic in my hands.
By the time I was lost in those thoughts, Nina-chan had fallen asleep.