Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: #2 Bustling Street Alley, Encounter
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Despite some ups and downs along the way, I managed to reach the bustling district without any major issues.
However, thanks to what happened on the bus, I was covered head to toe—inside and out—in thick white fluid. No way could I wander around like that.
In the end, I did my best to clean up in a public restroom in a nearby park.
I wiped off the dirty spots with toilet paper and straightened out my disheveled clothes, getting myself to a somewhat presentable state.
The smell was still bothering me, but I masked my body odor with a concealment spell, and it vanished completely.
There are plenty of convenient spells like that one.
There are even spells that instantly clean your body on the spot, but they come with side effects, so I try to avoid using them if possible.
"I just went through something insane again..."
I muttered to myself while staring into the mirror at the restroom sink.
The turmoil in my heart wasn't that great. Strangely enough.
But no matter how I thought about it, the humiliation and rage boiled up at the fact that mere thugs—ordinary people—had toyed with me without me laying a hand on them.
I didn't want to just take this lying down. I'd get revenge someday, no matter what.
'That aside... how the hell did I end up like that?'
For revenge's sake, if nothing else, I needed to figure it out.
What principle allowed it? How did I end up completely helpless?
I tried recalling what happened on the bus.
Setting aside the humiliating treatment, why hadn't I resisted them? Why had I been forced to helplessly accept their toying?
...It wouldn't come to mind clearly.
'It's like there's fog over my memories.'
I felt like I'd seen something. Probably that "blessing" or whatever it was.
But I couldn't recall its shape, what it was exactly—a necklace? A ring? Nothing concrete. It felt like I shouldn't recall it.
In the end, I gave up trying to remember and stepped out of the restroom.
After coming this far and suffering that humiliation, I had to achieve something today, no matter what.
Otherwise, I'd never figure out why it happened.
I headed back to the main street, but even then, I couldn't recall what that "blessing" was.
Nor did I grasp the implications of failing to remember—what it meant, how serious and dangerous it was.
And above all, I couldn't notice that my thoughts were being unnaturally guided by someone to make it so.
From what I'd heard interrogating that yokai before, one of the Association's dispatched exorcists was apparently working at some shop in this bustling district.
That exorcist had been chosen as a "sacrifice" just like me, and to fulfill that role, they were working a job that drew people's eyes in a crowded place.
—B-but I don't know which shop...! I'm sorry, please spare me... Aaaagh...!!
What a useless informant, anyway.
Their reactions during torture were so formulaic and boring. And the info they spilled was all vague and useless.
'Hmm. As expected, I can't beat Marie in interrogating yokai. How does she torture them so viciously and extract info so cleanly? I've watched her a few times, but I still can't catch up...'
Marie was an exorcist senior I'd met at the Association.
Two years older than me, and since our fields differed, I didn't see her much. But I knew her torture skills were top-notch.
I'd witnessed her at work a couple of times, and it was truly art. I still can't forget that thrill.
I'd tried imitating her on dozens of yokai, but I couldn't reach her level.
Even a Special Grade Exorcist can't do much about this.
Marie had praised my skills as plenty good, but I knew deep down I still fell short... Ah, I want to learn her artistic torture techniques... How can I get there...?
"Don't you think so? Like, more ripping out muscles and veins one by one, pop pop... That's the hard part. Controlling the strength and all that. My temper makes me put too much force in... See, I messed up again."
A scream of "Gaaah!" rose from below my face. At the same time, the yokai's blood sprayed out with a splatter.
At my feet lay a grotesque yokai with purple skin, pinned firmly under my shoe.
It thrashed desperately to escape, but my spiritual power chains bound its limbs, leaving it helpless.
The room's floor held several more fallen men. Half human, half yokai. But considering what they'd been doing when I arrived, human or yokai—they were all trash anyway, no need to differentiate.
"S-stop! Please...! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"
"Talk? About what? You just said you knew nothing. And watch your tone—shouldn't you be more polite? I'm being so nice here."
"H-heek... I'm sorry... So, uh... It's true I don't know... But I'll tell you whatever I do know! Please...!"
"Then you should've said you 'knew' even if it was a lie. Are you an idiot?"
"Gaaaaah?!"
In my hand was a blade forged from spiritual power.
I jabbed the tip—imbued with demon-sealing and purification energies—into its shoulder and twisted it around.
A sizzling chi-ji-ji-jik sound rang out, matched by the yokai's piercing scream.
Mmm. That "Gaaah!" scream—music to my ears.
Yokai, made of yokai power, burn away when touched by pure spiritual power.
Normally, my spiritual blades would've reduced it to ash on contact, but I'd adjusted the properties to keep it from dying right away.
In other words, contact with this blade caused excruciating pain without killing it.
Yet my spiritual energy seeped through its veins, letting it feel death creeping ever closer, step by step.
'But it really seems like it doesn't know.'
This was a "labor office" on the fourth floor of a rundown building in the bustling streets.
The name sounded ordinary, but peeking inside revealed a gangster den.
In the outside world, these were practically extinct, but apparently still thriving in this era. Or so I'd heard.
And this was the place the yokai I'd interrogated earlier had pointed to, saying, "Those guys would know something...!"
"Damn it, did that idiot give me a half-assed tip without knowing properly?"
"Ugh... Gurk...?!"
"Ah, not talking about you, old man, so relax. ...Actually, no. If you try to weasel out, I won't go easy on you either. Got it? Think hard before you speak."
I thrust the spiritual blade into the pinned yokai's gut after its shoulder, twisting it around as I continued the interrogation.
Its screams had weakened—probably running out of strength—so I poured more spiritual power into the blade to pep it up. The volume returned immediately. Yes, perfect.
I politely questioned the groaning gangster yokai once more.
"Now, answer properly. Think real hard. —Tell me everything you can recall about any other exorcists besides me."
The yokai spasmed amid pained groans, spitting out answers in broken bursts.
Even I wouldn't just barge in and start assaulting or torturing people willy-nilly.
In this city, I couldn't clearly distinguish human from yokai presences.
In other words, at a glance, I couldn't tell if the people in this office were human or disguised yokai.
If this had been a normal office—or even a real gangster hideout—without certainty they were yokai, I'd have just observed.
In unavoidable cases, I could've used spells to force cooperation without harm, then erased their memories of me to leave no trace.
I'm merciless to yokai, but I don't touch ordinary people—not even evil ones.
—I don't lay hands on civilians unconnected to yokai.
—Or if I do, I never openly reveal my status as an exorcist.
That was an unspoken rule among exorcists.
With that in mind, I'd come to this "labor office," and that's when I saw it.
These scumbags openly dropping their disguises into yokai forms, terrorizing and about to gang-rape two naked women.
So I'd charged in without hesitation, leading to the current situation.
The women had been saved from rape with no injuries.
I pondered how to handle them briefly—unsure of the city's law enforcement—but erased their memories, gave them makeshift talismans for yokai protection, and sent them off.
Left in the office were yokai already dead or dying slowly in agony.
They'd croak eventually anyway, so I left them to suffer.
The remaining human trash got their memories wiped and put to sleep via spells. They'd wake once the yokai were all dead.
After cleaning up, I stepped outside, my business done.
By the time I left the "labor office," the sun was starting to set.
The interrogation took time, plus getting lost since I didn't know the area.
"Hmm... It's not nothing, but..."
Out on the street, I sighed at the memo in my hand.
Listed were the shop names the yokai had spat out moments ago.
Shops managed by their gang.
Gangster-run places? I could guess the vibe without seeing them.
But no clue which one held the "sacrifice" exorcist.
They might not be at any of them.
—W-we're a different group...! They might've hidden it and dumped her on us...! An exorcist? No way. If a bitch like you went berserk in our business, it'd be disaster! We never would've taken you...!!
From what the yokai said, even those with the same "blessing" weren't all in cahoots.
And exorcists were risky, so they'd been hot-potatoed. Like passing a bomb.
Anyway, they knew zilch about the exorcist or the "sacrifice."
I had to check each shop on this list to find a maybe-there exorcist...
'What a pain.'
I'd braced for a long task, but it still sucked.
No better options, though. Guess I'd have to visit them one by one...
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"...?"
As I pocketed the memo with a wistful sigh, a sudden commotion erupted in the middle of the street.
I turned toward it, puzzled.