Tokyo: I can enlighten all obsessions

The convenience store echoed with the muffled groans of a girl covering her nose.

Kamiki Tetsu didn't reach out to help, nor did he even move his feet an inch.

He slightly concealed the "executioner's blade" in his hand, but did not put it away.

If this seemingly reckless witch dares to make any aggressive moves, he wouldn't mind letting her accompany that vengeful spirit on its journey.

"It hurts so much..."

The girl lay amidst the mess on the ground, struggling to lift her head.

A large red patch appeared on her once fair forehead, and blood flowed down her philtrum, making her beautiful face look both comical and somewhat pitiful.

"Um... excuse me, the floor seems a bit slippery..."

She sniffed and tried to prop herself up with the hand that was holding the phone.

However, when her gaze fell upon the puddle of liquid she was pressing against with her palm, her previously embarrassed expression froze instantly.

It was viscous, pitch black, and emitted a foul stench like that of a sewer.

This is definitely not rainwater, nor is it spilled cola.

As a trainee investigator belonging to the Special Disaster Countermeasures Office, Kujou Hisana was all too familiar with this kind of feeling.

"Disgusting?!"

Kujo Hisana's eyes widened suddenly. Ignoring the blood from her nose, she leaped up from the ground like a startled cat, holding the gohei (a type of coin) horizontally in front of her.

"There was something here just now?!"

She looked around warily, her gaze sweeping over the overturned shelves, before finally fixing on the only living person in the store.

The boy's signature striped uniform shirt was now clinging to his skin, soaking wet, with large, shocking patches of black stains on the fabric.

That viscosity, that oily sheen under fluorescent light...

It's "filthy blood"!

Then, her gaze moved upwards along the foul-smelling stains, finally fixing on the boy's neck.

There was a terrifying purplish-black bruise there.

It was the shape of five fingers deeply embedded, and you could even clearly see the bruises left by the forceful pressing of the thumb against the throat.

Those were fatal marks left by something inhuman.

"He was attacked..."

According to intelligence, the "Rainy Night Wraith's" favorite way to kill is to snap the neck of its prey.

Clearly, the boy in front of us had been attacked and had even been on the verge of death.

But now, he is still alive.

Kujouhi's gaze swept over the mess on the ground.

The pool of foul-smelling black slime, and the black smoke slowly dissipating in the air.

As a trainee investigator, she knew all too well what that meant.

Those were the remains of a vengeful spirit after it had completely perished.

The "real culprit" that she had chased for two kilometers in the torrential rain was now completely gone, leaving not even ashes.

It turned into a pile of mud right there in this convenience store.

There was only one person here just now.

Kujo Hisana raised her sleeve and wiped her face haphazardly, instantly staining her white sleeve with a glaring crimson.

But she seemed completely oblivious to the fact that she was having a nosebleed.

"That thing..."

She pointed to the pool of foul-smelling mud on the ground, which was emitting black smoke, her voice muffled due to a stuffy nose:

"...Did you kill him?"

Kamiki Tetsu did not answer the question immediately.

He frowned, his bloodshot eyes still holding a hint of lingering hostility as he warily scrutinized the strangely dressed girl before him.

A soaked white shirt, a crimson hakama skirt, and that wooden stick that didn't look like it was used for sweeping at all.

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself before questioning others?"

Kamiki Tetsu's voice was hoarse, and he slightly raised the utility knife in his hand, the tip still pointing at the ground, but the muscles in his arm were taut and ready to exert force at any moment.

"Also, it's 2 AM. Running around like this in this cosplay outfit, are you a runaway delinquent?"

"It's not cosplay at all!"

The girl reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on; her shocked expression instantly turned red.

She instinctively straightened her back, trying to project the dignity of a clergy member.

If you ignore the blood still dripping from her nostrils.

She cleared her throat and said in a serious tone:

"I am a trainee investigator under the Special Disaster Countermeasures Office of the Imperial Household Agency's Ritual Division."

The girl held a gohei (a type of scepter) in one hand, adopting a somewhat unorthodox defensive stance, and announced her name to Kamiki Toru:

"Kujou Hisana".

"The Imperial Household Agency...?"

Kamiki Tetsu repeated the word to himself.

Although he didn't know what the Special Disaster Countermeasures Office was, it was impossible for him not to know the prestigious name of the "Imperial Household Agency".

That's a top-level government agency.

As for the surname "Kujo"...

Kamiki Tetsu narrowed his eyes.

He had seen the character "苗" in his high school history textbook.

One of the "Five Regent Families," a noble family that once stood at the pinnacle of power in Japan.

A government-employed civil servant, plus a heiress from a top-tier prestigious family.

Kamiki Tetsu's gaze towards the girl completely changed.

Since they are organized, well-connected officials, things will be much easier.

This means that tonight's unexpected disaster, which nearly cost him his life, has finally found someone who can absolutely afford to pay for it.

"Since they're from the government, that makes things easier."

Kamiki Tetsu nodded, picked up the calculator from the counter, tapped the keyboard heavily a few times with his fingertips, and then turned the screen around.

Five million yen.

"ha?"

Before Kujo Hisana could recover from the shock of an ordinary person defeating a vengeful spirit, she was stunned by this sudden number.

She blinked, and blood dripped from her nose onto the floor.

"W-what, five million?"

Kamiki Tetsu did not speak.

He first stretched out his finger and pointed to the pool of black mud on the ground that was emitting a foul stench.

"This is a mistake on your part."

Immediately afterwards, he raised his hand and poked heavily with his fingertips at the shocking purplish-blue marks around his neck.

"This is the price I'm paying for you."

Kamiki Tetsu stared into the girl's bewildered eyes, his tone calm:

"Compensation for emotional distress, lost wages, medical expenses for serious injuries, and hush money for almost dying."

"Five million, not a penny less."

Kujo Hiiragi seemed to have heard something utterly unbelievable.

She wiped away the still-flowing blood from her nose, stretched out a trembling finger, and pointed incredulously at the tip of her nose.

Those round eyes were wide open, as if trying to confirm whether Kamiki Tetsu had just had his brain damaged.

"I?"

The voice rose an octave due to extreme shock, even cracking slightly:

"I...give you five million?!"

This is absolutely absurd!

This is my first official mission!

It was supposed to be a perfect script of "making a grand entrance, defeating the evil spirit, and taking the money and leaving".

The results of it?

First, I got lost in Shinjuku for two whole hours, and was driven half to death by the AI ​​idiot in my phone's navigation that could only repeat "please turn around".

Having finally caught up with them, before they even had a chance to show off their skills, they banged their heads against the shelf, causing their noses to ache and their faces to be covered in blood.

Forget about getting the exorcism bonus, she doesn't even have the money for the tram back home.

Not only did the mission fail, not only was he injured, but he was also scolded by a clerk in this convenience store that reeked of mold and blood…

Now, they actually have to shoulder a huge debt of five million?

Even if it means selling her...

No, even if we pawned her special shrine maiden outfit, we still wouldn't have that much money!

"I have no money! I have no money!"

Kujo Hime shook her head like a runaway rattle, her ponytail whipping through the air, leaving afterimages, and almost splattering blood from her nose onto Kamiki Tetsu's face.

She clutched her empty pockets tightly and let out a cry of grief and indignation:

"Forget five million, I can't even come up with five thousand yen right now!"

Seemingly feeling that the amount insulted her dignity as a "scion of a prestigious family," she added:

"If I had that much money, I would have repaired the leaky roof of the shrine and restored the glory of our Kujo family! Who would brave the rain in the middle of the night to take on an exorcism request with a pay of only a few hundred thousand yen!"

Upon hearing this, Toru Kamiki felt his temples throbbing, and the excruciating pain in his head was even more intense than the wound on his neck.

He didn't despair when he was fighting the evil spirit, and he didn't break down when he was choked and almost died.

But the moment he heard the words "no money," he almost fainted.

After all that, he turned out to be a penniless nobody with the looks of someone from a prestigious family.

"No money?"

Kamiki Tetsu pressed his forehead, looking at the girl in front of him who was crying poverty, his tone filled with an unbelievable sense of absurdity:

"It has nothing to do with me whether you restore the glory of the Kujo family or whether your family's shrine leaks or not."

He took a sudden step forward, pointed to his mangled neck, and said in an icy voice:

"The key question is, who will be responsible for my losses? With this neck injury and this mess everywhere, am I supposed to pay for it all myself?"

Without saying a word, Kamiki Tetsu pulled his phone out of his pocket and pressed the dial button without hesitation.

"Since there's no money to settle privately, let's go through the official funding process."

The screen lit up, revealing the "110" interface that would terrify any troublemaker.

"I'm going to call the police."

He stared coldly at Kujo Hisana, his thumb poised to press the call button:

"For example, a suspicious person named Kujo broke into a convenience store with a weapon, not only damaging public property but also suspected of intentionally injuring a minor employee."

"Wait, wait a minute!!"

Kujou Hii panicked for a moment.

The air of a "high-society lady" that she had just tried to maintain vanished completely in the face of the words "call the police".

She lunged forward, her two hands, covered in dust and blood from her nose, tightly gripping the wrist of the man holding the phone.

If the police really come, they'll take her back to the station to give a statement...

Then her reputation as "the only hope of the Kujo family in this generation" would be completely ruined!

Not to mention being written into the self-criticism report by those old fogies in the countermeasures office, which is a social death scene that is worse than death!

"You have money! This can be exchanged for cash!"

Tears welled in her eyes as she desperately tried to stop her finger from pressing the green dial button. Pointing to the puddle of black mud on the ground, she cried out as if grasping at a last straw:

"Since you killed that 'evil spirit,' you can go and claim the reward for its extermination!"

"That's a wanted criminal with a bounty on his head by the Special Disaster Countermeasures Office! Just take his remains to exchange for the bounty, and the entire reward is yours!"

"A demon?"

Kamiki Toru caught the word, and his eyebrows rose slightly:

"What is that?"

"Huh? You don't even know this?"

The girl paused for a moment, but then, to avoid being arrested as a fraudster, she quickly explained:

"These are malignant spiritual entities that have already possessed physical form and are capable of physically killing people! They belong to the third category in the 'Disaster Classification Table'!"

She gestured the name as she anxiously added:

"These aren't like those filthy things that only give you nightmares; they're dangerous elements that must be physically exorcised by specialists! The key point is! That guy's worth 150,000 yen! A whole 150,000!"

After explaining, she raised her dirty little face again, her eyes filled with pleading:

"So please, the money is yours, just please don't call the police!"

The air suddenly became quiet.

Kamiki Tetsu looked at her, then touched the ligature marks on his neck that could easily sever his throat with a little force.

150,000 yen.

It's roughly equivalent to a little more than what he earns working a full month's night shift at a convenience store.

In other words, his near-death experience, where he had one foot in the grave, would only be worth a month's salary on the official price list.

With that amount of money, after paying the deposit and key money, you'd barely have anything left to rent a decent studio apartment in Shinjuku, where land is incredibly expensive.

If you were to get a full body check-up at a slightly better hospital, you'd probably have to pay extra.

"Oh."

Kamiki Tetsu let out a cold laugh.

Without a word, he decisively pressed the green dial button and held the receiver directly to his ear, speaking rapidly without the slightest hesitation:

"Moshi, Moshi, is this the Metropolitan Police Department?"

"I want to call the police."

"Right in Shinjuku..."